News Today

India acts to curb aborting of female foetuses
NEW DELHI - THE Indian government plans to set up orphanages to raise unwanted baby girls in a bid to halt the widespread practice of aborting female foetuses.Dubbed the 'cradle scheme', the plan is an attempt to slow the practice that... [Read more]

Grounded
JAKARTA - INDONESIA has grounded all of budget airline Adam Air's Boeing 737-300s after the fuselage of one of the aircraft cracked during a hard landing. The accident on Wednesday, which occurred as the plane arrived at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport... [Read more]

Haas handed tennis lesson by Gonzalez
MELBOURNE - TENTH-SEEDED Fernando Gonzalez trounced Germany's Tommy Haas 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open final yesterday. In a performance reminiscent of top-ranked Roger Federer's rout of American star Andy Roddick in the other semi-final a night earlier, the... [Read more]

What to look out for
In the wake of the jailing of a Singaporean woman in Malaysia for illegal entry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reminded travellers to ensure their passports get stamped by Malaysian immigration authorities. Here are the procedures for entering and exiting... [Read more]

Companies in brief
SALES HEAD FOR MEDIACORPMEDIACORP has appointed Mr James Yip as head of all its advertising sales across television, radio and print.The appointment, which is effective from April 1, will put Mr Yip in charge of airtime sales across all of MediaCorp's... [Read more]

Entertaining is out for Japan bank's unit
BANK of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the Japanese bank which was recently censured over improper lending practices, has asked bankers at its Singapore office to stop entertaining clients as a penance.The bank is part of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which has about 600... [Read more]

Zenden knows Barca pressure
BOUDEWIJN Zenden believes the pressure is all on Barcelona, when Liverpool step out at the Nou Camp for the first leg of their Champions League tie today.Having spent three years at Barcelona, the Dutchman knows the unique demands of playing for... [Read more]

Bourse set for further run-up
THIS week promises to be packed with action, as traders bid farewell to the lunar Year of the Fire Dog and welcome in the Year of the Golden Pig.While many will be sorry to see the curtains drawn on the Dog... [Read more]

Global impact
Investors with Japanese assets are seeing them forge ahead as the economy shows signs of real recovery. Tokyo's Topix index is at a 15-year high, while the Nikkei average is around its highest since May 2000. But global investors, in general,... [Read more]

Man battles anaconda to rescue grandson
A 66-YEAR-OLD man saved his grandson from the grip of a 5m-long anaconda by beating the snake with rocks and a knife for half an hour. 'When I saw the snake wrapped around my grandson's neck, I thought it was going... [Read more]

OSIM's net profit for full year falls by 28%
OSIM International's acquisitions pulled its earnings down last year as the massage chair maker struggled to improve profitability at its joint ventures and associated firms.The group yesterday reported net profits of $33.8 million for the year ended Dec 31, down 28... [Read more]