ALL 82 of the government-run wet markets in Singapore will remain in government hands, along 'with the smell, the sound and the sight', Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim told Parliament on Monday.

As for the rest of the 19 wet markets run by private companies, he reiterated that approval from the Housing Board would be needed for their sale and any change of their uses.

ONLY 200 out of some 5,300 HDB blocks built before 1990 will not be getting lifts that stop at every floor.

They do not qualify for the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) because it would cost more than $30,000 per unit to install a lift in these blocks.

This is in spite of innovative and cost-effective solutions by the Housing Development Board to bring costs down, Parliament heard on Monday.

ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN'S military vowed on Monday to target the Taleban leadership in the ground and air offensive launched against the Taleban in South Waziristan which it said had so far killed 78 militants.

'The last 24 hours, reportedly 18 terrorists have been killed in various incidents and security forces losses are two soldiers and 12 injured,' Major General Athar Abbas told the first news conference on the operation.

SINGAPORE officials have been given access to Mas Selamat Kastari, the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group's regional leader now detained in Malaysia, Parliament was told on Monday.

'Malaysia authorities have given our security officers access to Mas Selamat. He was, however, uncooperative during the interview, and refused to talk. So at this point, the Internal Security Department's assessment is that he remains defiant,' Senior Minister of State (Law and Home Affairs) Ho Peng Kee disclosed.