Straits Times Interactive - PRIME NEWS

F-15 training cements ties with US

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE (IDAHO): Singapore's already-strong friendship with the United States has reached another milestone with the opening of a new long-term defence training detachment in the American state of Idaho.

The detachment - the country's fourth in the US - will enable Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) personnel to carry out training on its newest F-15 fighter jet in the wide open spaces of the American Northwest.

Online-drug crackdown nets four

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

FOUR people here have been caught peddling drugs illegally online in a worldwide sting to crack down on unapproved Internet sales.

Six taken to court so far this year

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

SIX people have been prosecuted so far this year for selling prescription drugs online. The offence under the Poisons Act carries a maximum penalty of two years' jail and a $10,000 fine.

60th year of Buddhist Federation

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong clasps his palms in greeting Venerable Kwang Phing, secretary-general of the Singapore Buddhist Federation (SBF), at its new premises in Lorong 24A Geylang yesterday.

Inside

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

THIERRY Henry yesterday said the fairest solution to the controversy over his handball in the World Cup playoff between France and Ireland would be to replay the game. But his plea may be too little too late, says The Straits Times' Rohit Brijnath.

No Obama mania please, we are Chinese

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

THE arrival of United States President Barack Obama in China this week posed a tricky problem for his hosts: How do you dim the lights on a political superstar?

View Points

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

The Health Ministry and the National Dental Centre explain, in response to complaints, that heavy subsidies to ensure the needy can afford dental care have resulted in long waits for elective specialist treatment. Polyclinics should then do a better job of screening to refer patients appropriately. Patients can also be helped with more information, including estimates of waiting time and fees. It could steer them towards private clinics with shorter waits, if prices are comparable.

Maybank offers retirees one-off sum

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

MAYBANK has become the first bank here to pledge that it will give a one-off payment to employees who cannot be rehired beyond retirement age.

Pace-setters

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

The fast ladies from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch team hit the road with oodles of style for yesterday's Bull Charge 2009 - the charity event that gets the financial types out from behind their desks and high-tailing it around the streets. More than 3,000 runners dashed and sometimes dawdled around a 3.2km route that took in Marina Promenade and Collyer Quay.

Singapore's F-15 flying men

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean sticks a Peace Carvin V detachment patch on the sleeve of Second Warrant Officer Jaswant Singh during an inauguration ceremony for the F-15SG fighter detachment at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.

Deluge a 'once in 50 years' event

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

THURSDAY'S deluge which submerged parts of Bukit Timah was a 'freak' event that occurs once in 50 years, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.

Damaged cars towed out of carpark

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

ONE by one, cars left the Tessarina condominium in Wilby Road yesterday - not driven, but towed to workshops for repairs.

'Human fat' killer suspects held

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

LIMA: Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

PM: Always be mindful of harmony

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday underlined the need for religious groups to remain mindful of Singapore's multi-religious society even as they increase collaboration with international groups.

Parliament to get tough on loan sharks

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

STIFF measures to combat loan sharks and their assistants are set to be introduced when Parliament sits on Monday.

SIA chief warns of 'green tax' risk to travel

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

TRAVELLERS from Singapore to London will have to pay as much as £100 (S$229) more per round trip compared to someone flying a shorter distance if Britain increases its departure tax next year as planned.

6th century golden cross restored to original glory

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

VATICAN CITY: One of the gems of the Vatican's priceless religious art collection - a sixth-century reliquary containing what is revered as fragments of the cross on which Jesus was crucified - has been restored to its Byzantine-era glory.

Muslim nations seek treaty to ban blasphemy

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

GENEVA: Four years after cartoons of Prophet Muhammad set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery - essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.

Obama picks new envoy to Singapore

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has nominated Mr David Adelman, a close political ally and state senator from south-eastern Georgia, as the next United States Ambassador to Singapore.

Fish scientist key player in genome study

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

HE IS a scientist whose hunting grounds span the high seas, whose collaborators are fishermen, and whose dissection centre can be a chopper and makeshift table at the roadside.

$69m project to decode 10,000 species

20 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

THE Genome 10K project is a massive international effort which aims to sequence the genomes of 10,000 vertebrate species - one in six of all known creatures with backbones. The US$50 million (S$69 million) project has roped in 68 scientists and is split into six groups - mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and policy decisions.