News Today

SME clinic
AFTER months of research, my newly formed company will produce biodiesel on a small commercial scale. We need technical and financial assistance to jump-start this venture. What assistance can we expect from Spring? You may wish to explore the following programmes.... [Read more]

Cheney reassures Japan over N. Korea deal
TOKYO - US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney worked yesterday to ease Japanese concerns about a landmark deal with North Korea and told its Iraq war allies that Washington will never adopt 'a policy of retreat'. With Japan refusing to contribute funds to... [Read more]

Booming tourism sector set five records last year
HOTELS added the icing on the tourism cake last year by hitting all-time highs for room rates, occupancy and total revenue.In all, five out of seven tourism indices set new records in a sterling year, one in which Singapore saw its... [Read more]

Europe wants to force carmakers to go 'green'
BRUSSELS - THE European Commission aims to force carmakers to make an 18 per cent cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars by 2012.The commission, which will unveil its plans today, expects a 25 per cent cut in car... [Read more]

More market volatility likely ahead of Fed meeting
VOLATILITY'S the buzzword this week as money managers and investors alike try to make sense of the huge array of economic data and corporate earnings due out in the next few trading sessions.While stocks, led by banking and property issues, generally... [Read more]

7 die in collapse
Rescue workers carrying a victim from the rubble after a library under construction collapsed. The 19m-high library building at Guangxi Medical University in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, collapsed on Monday afternoon.Three workers died at the scene while four... [Read more]

Outward bound
MR JEK Tan became an executive chef at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dalian, China, a year ago. He has come a long way since his trainee days at hospitality school Shatec, where he got his skills for the industry. Recently, he... [Read more]

Google to open sales office here
INTERNET giant Google is in the process of setting up a sales office in Singapore - its first in South-east Asia - to attend to both advertisers and users of the search engine.Interviews have begun to hire personnel, with some candidates... [Read more]

Woman in coma in Perth hospital
A SINGAPOREAN tourist was in a coma in a Perth hospital last night after she nearly drowned on a diving trip off the west coast of Australia on Monday. Miss Serene Teng's boyfriend, who was with her during the dive, was... [Read more]

Alarm in Germany over rising brain drain
ESCHBORN (GERMANY) - A STEADY exodus of professionals over the years has recently become topic No. 1 in Germany, already saddled with one of the most rapidly ageing and shrinking populations in the West.With evidence that more professionals are now leaving... [Read more]

Kimono-makers' needles laid to rest in tofu beds
TOKYO - KIMONO-makers laid their old needles to rest during the hari-kuyo needle festival at Buddhist temples all over Japan yesterday. They stuck the needles into soft chunks of tofu to 'thank' them. Japan's throwaway culture may rival that of any... [Read more]