What's News: October 03 2015

Scientists have warned that the haze blanketing South-east Asia is on track to become among the worst on record, as a dry spell hinders efforts to curb the crisis that has persisted for about 20 years. The impact of the haze could turn out to be as bad as the one in 1997 - widely regarded as the worst in history, the experts said.

A new queueing system for boarding the train is now being tested at Bishan, Buona Vista and Jurong East MRT stations. At these stations, there are arrows and markings to guide commuters to line up in two rows at each side of the doorway.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (photo) said yesterday that the country's terrorist rehabilitation programme had achieved a 95 per cent success rate, and shall be the benchmark for Asean in its combat against rising terrorism. The programme was adapted from one used to reintegrate former communist guerillas back into society.

Student survivors at a United States college described scenes of horror and bloodshed after a 26-year-old gunman shot to death 10 people and wounded seven others. The killer, who neighbours described as skittish and always looking over his shoulder, allegedly took aim at Christians, saying that he was sending them to meet God before he opened fire.

People with mental illness struggle to live as people of worth, writes Dr Chong Siow Ann as he reflects on how others misjudge them out of fear and ignorance. The theme of this year's World Mental Health day, which falls next Saturday, is dignity.

A new residential home for adults with intellectual disabilities such as autism will be built in Sengkang by 2018. With room for about 200 people, it will help to reassure parents who are worried about what will become of their adult children after they are gone.

The deaths of two Bangladeshis in a fire in a dormitory in Geylang in April were "tragic misadventures", the state coroner ruled yesterday. The fire was found to have been caused by connecting portable socket outlets to similar ones.

Singapore's largest and oldest venture capital firm is going global, with a war chest of US$600 million (S$856 million). The infusion of cash will allow Vertex Venture Holdings to invest in start-ups in the hot seats of innovation and technological disruption in the United States, Israel and China.

Singapore's top female paddler Feng Tianwei (photo) settled for a bronze at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Thailand, after losing to the same opponent as in the previous biennial tournament.

China's world No. 8 Chen Meng beat her 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 in the singles' semi-finals in Pattaya.

A coffee capsule that dissolves instead of having to be thrown away, a bicycle with a cargo compartment, and a home dialysis kit that reduces the risk of error and infection are the three winning concepts from Singapore at the Red Dot Award: Design Concept this year. Started in 2005, the awards celebrate design prototypes and innovative ideas.

Pixar Animation Studios will debut its first Asian-theme film with the short Sanjay's Super Team next month. The seven-minute work, which will screen in cinemas here before Pixar's upcoming feature, The Good Dinosaur, tells the story of an Indian boy who imagines Hindu gods as superheroes.