1 Smoke smothers Sydney
Bush fires fanned by winds combined into a single giant blaze north of Sydney late yesterday, blanketing Australia's biggest city in hazardous smoke, causing weekend events to be cancelled and prompting calls for outdoor workers to stay home. The wildfires have killed at least four people since the start of last month.
2 Protests hurt HK economy
Hong Kong's protests have taken two percentage points off the city's economy, contributing to the economic contraction seen in the last quarter, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said.
3 Activity at rocket launch site
A newly released commercial satellite image of North Korea's Sohae long-range rocket launch site has shown signs of activity in what may be a preparation for engine tests as the country ramps up pressure on the United States to offer new concessions to revive their deadlocked nuclear negotiations.
4 Experts on China's Pisa win
China's world-beating showing in a recent Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) study has led to some nationalistic fist-pumping by state media. But Chinese education experts say that the results should be viewed with caution, given that the win was the result of the country being represented by its most developed cities.
5 Dangers of facial recognition
The benefits of facial recognition technology are that it offers a quick and non-invasive means of identifying people. Those are also its dangers, says Professor Simon Chesterman.
6 Turning waste into aerogel
A team of students and researchers from Singapore Polytechnic have discovered that the by-product of incinerating waste can be turned into an aerogel. It can be put to four different uses: as a replacement for sand in concrete, a water decontaminant, a sound barrier and a thermal blanket. HOME B5
7 Fined for negligent driving
A man nodded off as he was driving a car in Kampong Bahru Road in September, causing an accident that injured three people, including his 10-month-old son. The 27-year-old was fined $7,000 yesterday after pleading guilty to causing grievous hurt to his son by negligent driving.
8 Growing market for dairy
South-east Asia is a rapidly growing market for dairy produce, which is why American suppliers, processors and traders are being increasingly encouraged to look to this region for export. The United States Dairy Export Council is getting more companies to explore the region as a dairy market.
9 Stiff penalties for errant 6
Punish severely the six Young Lions who broke the team's curfew at the SEA Games, say frustrated members of the football community in the wake of the Singapore Under-22 team's third straight group-stage exit. For its part, the Football Association of Singapore has promised "stiff sanctions" on them following a disciplinary hearing.
10 Peter Pan with local flair
Peter Pan In Serangoon Gardens (above), Wild Rice's latest pantomime starring Pam Oei as Peter Pan and Siti Khalijah Zainal as Captain Hook, is staged with heart and flair, says senior culture correspondent Ong Sor Fern.
VIDEO
Earning that red beret
Find out what it takes to be an elite soldier as a group of commando trainees take on their last exercise before getting their red berets - a 72km march with combat-oriented tasks in between. str.sg/blurb93
VIDEO
Human-centred AI
Singapore's national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy has kicked off with five projects in various sectors. We look at some of the issues. str.sg/blurb94
