Top stories from The Straits Times on Thursday, Nov 30

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kickstart your Thursday, Nov 30.


US urges all countries to cut off ties to North Korea, in response to latest ballistic missile test

A pedestrian in Tokyo walks past a TV screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Nov 29, 2017.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

"We call on all nations to cut off all ties with North Korea," US Ambassador Nikki Haley told an emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.​

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Apex court seeks enhanced sentencing powers to protect young and vulnerable victims

The apex court is asking Parliament to consider affording it the power to "enhance the permitted punishment to one-and-a-half times the prescribed maximum penalty for certain offences".PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER

The Court of Appeal's request to Parliament for enhanced powers comes after it increased the jail term in July of a woman who abused her four-year-old son so violently that he died.

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Lessons for MRT from the New York subway

Ridership on the New York City subway has risen, but reliability has fallen to its lowest since the city recovered from a transit crisis in the 1970s. Apathy resulted in funds being diverted away from the metro since then; maintenance expenditure has fallen and there is not enough money to hire technicians. PHOTO: NYTIMES

The New York City metro has been making headlines for the wrong reasons - not unlike Singapore's MRT system - this month for mishaps and reliability issues.

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Amid en bloc fever, temperatures rise in Pine Grove

A Whatsapp chat group started by Pine Grove residents to discuss the sale has since splintered into three because of disagreements. Meetings on the plans for the sale have also become increasingly heated. PHOTO: ST FILE

An ongoing attempt to sell the condominium en bloc has turned ugly with residents reporting heated meetings, residents forming factions and even a lawsuit for alleged defamation.

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Medical group apologises to family of toddler for distress over cough syrup prescription

Belinda Lum, 33, and her 14-month-old son were seen by a doctor at YSL Bedok Clinic and Surgery, and given a bottle of Fedac syrup, with instructions to take 10ml of the medicine three times a day. PHOTO: BELINDA LUM/ GIVE.ASIA

Qualitas Medical Group, the parent company of a clinic in Bedok, also offered compensation of his medical bills to the family of a 14-month-old boy who was allegedly prescribed the adult dose of a cough medicine by mistake.

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NBC News fires Today show co-host Matt Lauer for sexual misconduct

Popular Today show host Matt Lauer was fired after a colleague complained about inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

NBC News had received what it called a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace.

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'This is what real happiness means': Vivian Balakrishnan shares tips on marriage and love

The Foreign Minister shared an insight into his personal life on Facebook when he posted a video of a speech he made at his daughter Natalie's wedding three years ago.

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The Lives They Live: A man of many professional lives

At 85, Mr Johnnie Franklin Siregar is the oldest guide at an exhibition about active ageing that opened at the Singapore Science Centre three weeks ago. PHOTOS: ALPHONSUS CHERN, COURTESY OF JOHNNIE FRANKLIN SIREGAR

His resume reads like that of job-hopping millennials but 85-year-old Johnnie Franklin Siregar has clocked up more years in the workforce than they have been alive.

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Invade CEO Kent Teo is disrupting retail

Mr Kent Teo says he has had offers to take the yet-to-run creative market concept Flashbang to Johor Baru.PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG, DIOS VINCOY JR FOR THE STRAITS TIMES

If retail is in a slump, then Mr Teo - whose company runs some of Singapore's largest flea markets - is perhaps the person to poke it in the small of its back, straighten its hunched shoulders and set its face in the right direction - on an experimental new path.

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Football: Sterling rescues Man City, Rooney lifts Everton

Raheem Sterling scored a stunning 96th-minute winner as Manchester City dramatically edged Southampton 2-1 to preserve their eight-point lead at the Premier League summit.

Raheem Sterling scored a stunning 96th-minute winner as Manchester City dramatically edged Southampton 2-1 to preserve their eight-point lead at the Premier League summit.

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