RIDDLED with bacteria, it took 10 weeks of antibiotics to clear a young man's blood and lungs of infection. However, his injuries were mainly internal, with very few external signs visible, the High Court heard on Monday.

The former prison inmate, who accuses three cellmates of assaulting him last year, was so badly injured that his ribs were broken in multiple places, causing a part of his rib cage to be separated.

IT HAS only been half a year, and the Education Ministry has already surpassed its earlier target of recruiting 3,000 teachers and 680 allied educators this year.

As of last month, MOE has hired about 3,040 teachers and 720 allied educators - the number of teachers employed has gone up by 20 per cent compared to last year.

BOSTON - MICROSOFT Corp will release a free version of its dominant Office software that users can access over the Web, catching up with products that arch rival Google Inc launched three years ago.

The world's largest software maker will offer a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software and a note-taking program with the same look and feel of their counterparts in the Office suites that it sells for personal computers.

IF THE current recession seems less painful than previous downturns, part of the reason could be that Singaporeans are richer this time around.

While consumers in the United States and Europe have been spending with abandon and piling up loans in the boom years, Singaporeans have saved, invested and paid down debt.