Anwar in hospital with back pain

PETALING JAYA • Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim was taken to hospital yesterday after complaining of shoulder and back pain on his return from Turkey. "However, his health remains stable," said Mr Fahmi Fadzil, communications director of Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Mr Anwar has previously undergone shoulder surgery.

REUTERS

Local cooks rule just a suggestion

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran said yesterday his call for restaurants to only hire local cooks was just a suggestion, after restaurant owners facing a shortage of workers expressed their shock at the announcement. Mr Kulasegaran had said on Friday that all restaurants serving Malaysian food are required to recruit only locals as cooks from Jan 1.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

PM Lee congratulates NZ PM

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has written to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to convey his congratulations on the birth of her first child, according to a press statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I was delighted to hear of the birth of your daughter, and would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to you and Clarke on this joyous occasion," PM Lee wrote. Ms Ardern and her partner, television fishing personality Clarke Gayford, welcomed a baby girl weighing 3.3kg on Thursday afternoon.

Teen held for crossing border

OTTAWA • A young Frenchwoman visiting her mother in Canada says she spent two weeks in a US detention centre after inadvertently crossing the border while jogging on the beach. Ms Cedella Roman, 19, ran across the border between Canada's British Columbia and the US state of Washington on May 21, she told local media.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE