MORNING MINUTES: What will make headlines today, March 12, 2015

Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break today and which we think you'd be interested in. It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

Budget Debate 2015: Day 8

Parliament will discuss the budgets of three ministries today - the Ministries of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Health, and Social and Family Development.

Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim is expected to give an update on Malay/Muslim community issues, while MCCY Minister Lawrence Wong will likely speak on heritage and community issues, as well as on Singapore football and the upcoming SEA Games and Asean Para Games, both of which Singapore will host later this year. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong will likely give an update on healthcare infrastructure, as well as on universal healthcare insurance scheme MediShield Life.

Other issues likely to be raised include ageing and tobacco control. Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing may also speak on the social service sector, as well as childcare and pre-school issues. - ZAKIR HUSSAIN

Thai ex-senators face impeachment vote

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Thailand's military-appointed assembly will vote today on whether to impeach 38 former senators, a move that could disqualify them from politics for five years. The vote comes after the national anti-graft agency indicted the former lawmakers for supporting a 2013 Bill to make the then half-elected Senate a fully elected one.

This is seen as a development that could clip the wings of politicians aligned with exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. -- TAN HUI YEE

New Climate Change Trail for Earth Hour

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Earth Hour is here again. This year, instead of just encouraging people to switch off the lights for one hour on March 28 to make a stand against climate change, the organisers here will also launch a Climate Change Trail.

Visitors to the trail will be able to see and feel how climate change will impact their lives, through experiences such as sweating it out during a heatwave, wading through floods and learning how to survive on food rations. - SAMANTHA BOH

Thein Sein heads to Malaysia

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Myanmar President Thein Sein arrives in Kuala Lumpur for a two-day state visit that was pre-empted by protests at the Myanmar embassy there. Malaysia is home to tens of thousands of Myanmar refugees, primarily Rohingya fleeing sectarian violence in the Rakhine region. - SHANNON TEOH

SP students develop app to aid dyslexic students in mathematics

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Singapore Polytechnic students have developed a maths assessment app to help students with dyslexia cope better in the subject. The app allows them to take various maths tests, which will help identify areas they find challenging. The app is one of many solutions to be highlighted today at Render 2015, a showcase by the polytechnic's School of Digital and Information Technology. - CALVIN YANG


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