What's News: Aug 8, 2017

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan (above, centre) said yesterday that Singapore had to focus on soft skills in aviation while it expanded its infrastructure. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO

TOP OF THE NEWS

Halimah resigns from posts

Madam Halimah Yacob relinquished her political and party posts yesterday in preparation for her presidential bid.

Her resignation as MP and People's Action Party member was accepted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who expressed support for her candidacy. It also prompted calls for a by-election by some opposition parties.


TOP OF THE NEWS

Call for focus on soft skills

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday that Singapore had to focus on soft skills in aviation while it expanded its infrastructure.

Aviation continues to be a bright spark in the global economy and Singapore must anticipate demand and plan ahead, he added, as thousands showed up for a glimpse of Terminal 4 at Changi Airport.


WORLD

409 arrested in KL terror raid

A huge operation by the Malaysian authorities to weed out potential terror threats in Kuala Lumpur ahead of this month's SEA Games has yielded hundreds of illegal migrants, as well as a suspected leader of a passport forgery syndicate. A total of 409 arrests was made during Sunday's raids.


WORLD

Aussies to vote on gay marriage

Australia's ruling Liberal party voted last night to hold a national vote on legalising same-sex marriage following an urgent meeting over a divisive issue that threatens to undermine the leadership of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The Australian leader has struggled to control the conservative wing of his party.


OPINION

Return to multilateral order

The empires continue to strike back as the international order continues to collapse. The best check is a return to a liberal rules-based multilateral order, says Jean-Pierre Lehmann.


HOME

Lawyer fined for contempt

Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, 42, was fined $6,000 for contempt of court yesterday for posting a 22-line poem on Facebook scandalising the judiciary. He said he was "demoralised" when he posted it on the day of his client's execution for drug trafficking.


HOME

Condo can remove cooling tower

Leonie Towers condo may go ahead and demolish the cooling tower for its 35-year-old air-conditioning system. The High Court ruled the objection raised by a resident was a technicality and the management corporation had the right to go ahead with improvements.


BUSINESS

ESR in talks to buy Sabana Reit

Warburg Pincus-backed e-Shang Redwood (ESR) is in advanced talks to buy struggling Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial Reit, in a likely first consolidation step in Singapore's mid-cap industrial trusts sector. ESR, an Asian logistics developer, has been conducting due diligence on Sabana Reit and is set to complete its talks in a few months, sources said.


SPORT

Orchids named after swimmers

Paralympics champion Yip Pin Xiu has set her sights on a podium finish at next month's World Para Swimming Championships, and will use the preceding Asean Para Games as a final tune-up for the top-level meet. In a ceremony yesterday at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, she and Joseph Schooling became the first local athletes to have orchids named after them.


LIFE

Singapore's criminal minds

The faces of some of Singapore's most brutal murderers leer at readers from the grungy cover of Guilty As Charged, a collection of 25 true-crime stories that have shaken Singapore since 1965. Straits Times associate news editor Abdul Hafiz Abdul Samad worked with the police to narrow down a list of crimes that have left their impact on the minds of Singaporeans.


Straits Times Digital

VIDEO

Dear departed

The Fong family gets the help of an yi fengshui practitioner to exhume the grave of an ancestor at Choa Chu Kang Cemetery. str.sg/grave

VIDEO

Sleight of hand

Australian illusionist Cosentino shows Straits Times Life journalist Benson Ang how to perform a few magic tricks. str.sg/magicman

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 08, 2017, with the headline What's News: Aug 8, 2017. Subscribe