The Straits Times

August 13, 2009 Thursday

Updated

Straits Times Headlines

H1N1 outbreak may have passed its peak

Fugitive terrorist Noordin Top still at large

$95m jewellery heist in London

Inside

China the creditor seeks vainly for an exit route

View Points

Owes $31m but freed from bankruptcy

Horrors of war through art

1,000 cut off by Typhoon Morakot found alive

Tioman flash flood: Water was too strong, says survivor

Bali freak wave: Suddenly they were in open sea

Genting crash: Horror drive down winding roads

Robbers raid top London gem store

Breaking News

S'pore offers Taiwan aid

Harassed for the third time

Marriage for Wong on cards?

The accidental writer

Glorious Gaga

$721 sovereign bond issued

Sally's No. 1 at the Bird Park

ComfortDelGro boosts gains

US inventories fall 1.1 per cent

Retail sales fall, jobless up

TV fined for attack on official

No use in closing schools **

English remains master

ENGLISH will remain Singapore's master language even as the country nurtures more bilingual talents who can do business with China, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said on Thursday.

'The command of English is a decisive factor for the career path and promotion prospects of all Singaporeans.

Foreign talent necessary

MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday warned Singaporeans of the dangers of closing the country's door to foreign talent.

Without educated foreign residents, Singapore faces the threat of a declining economy with a shrinking labour force, he said in a speech stressing the importance of accepting and embracing them.

No use in closing schools

BRUSSELS - THERE is no point in pre-emptive school closures or delaying the start of the new term in order to tackle swine flu, EU experts said on Thursday.

Decisions to stop classes are for individual governments to take on a case-by-case basis, a European Commission spokesman stressed.

SIA on Most Admired list

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has once again been ranked among the World's Most Admired Companies (WMACs) by Fortune magazine. The national icon is one of only six Asian companies to make it to this year's list of Top 50 WMACs. It has been the sole Singapore firm to win the accolade for several years running.

Apple is the world's most admired company for the second consecutive year, followed by Berkshire Hathaway and Toyota Motor. The other Asian companies in the Top 50 list are Toyota Industries, Honda, Sony and Samsung.

Retail sales fall, jobless up

WASHINGTON- NEW US jobless claims rose by 4,000 in the past week to 558,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday in a weaker-than-expected snapshot of current labor conditions.

The survey for the week to August 8 showed a rise from last week's revised total of 554,000, and was worse than the consensus analyst estimate of 545,000.