ESM Goh in Tokyo for conference

SINGAPORE • Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong is in Tokyo from yesterday until Wednesday to attend the 23rd International Conference on the Future of Asia, "Globalism at a Crossroads - Asia's Next Move". The event is organised by Nikkei.

Mr Goh will speak today at the keynote dialogue at the conference, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He will also meet Japanese political and business leaders during the visit.

Plane crashes into Japan mountain

TOKYO • Four men aged between 21 and 57 years old were killed when a single-propeller Cessna aircraft crashed on Saturday into a snow-covered mountain in central Japan, local police said yesterday.

Bad weather and thick fog hampered rescue efforts and prevented emergency workers, including a rescue helicopter, from locating the aircraft, police said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

China, Taiwan hit by heavy rain

BEIJING • Heavy rain hit parts of central, southern and eastern China from yesterday and will continue till tomorrow , the National Meteorological Centre said yesterday, according to Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, heavy downpour continued to batter Taiwan over the weekend, causing massive flooding in many parts of the island, reported Taiwanese media.

Local polls a test for Hun Sen

PHNOM PENH • Millions of Cambodians voted in local polls yesterday, testing the political temperature of a country rife with tension between its strongman premier, Mr Hun Sen, and an embattled opposition determined to end his three-decade rule.

The vote in more than 1,600 communes - village clusters - is viewed as a warm-up for next year's national elections. Results were trickling in yesterday evening.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE