Search police find body in church
By Jenson Goh,WNS Cambridge CorrespondentCAMBRIDGE - Police investigating the disappearance of a Canadian student in Cambridge have found a body concealed within the church where she was last seen. Police said they had not yet identified the body and a post mortem examination was expected to take place on Saturday to establish the cause of death. Angela Markel, a 20-year-old student, had been living at St Patrick's Church in the William area of the city. She was reported missing on Monday after she failed to turn up for work. Police said the body was discovered at 2000 hrs on Friday, after a detailed search of the church premises. Earlier on Friday, police revealed that the man last seen with Ms Markel was a registered sex offender. The man previously thought to be John Brighton was identified as 60-year-old Peter Timble. Mr Timble had been doing odd jobs in the church for the past six weeks. Cambridge Police said his last known address was in the Ashley area. Mr Timble was considered a potential risk to members of the public.
Ms Markel was on a working holiday to fund her studies at Linapore National University. She was due to return home on 2 October and had bought her ticket.
Holiday bookings to Thailand will not drop despite coup
By Derrick James,WNS Malcom Business CorrespondentMALCOM - Year-end holiday bookings to Thailand are not expected to drop at the biggest annual travel fair happening this weekend (Sept 29 - Oct 1) at Malcom Convention Centre, despite the Kingdom being under military rule at present. The National Association of Travel Agents Linapore or NATAL says Thailand will remain the top 10 most popular destinations among Linaporeans. Linaporeans throng the NATAL Travel Fair every year, searching for the best holiday deals, and not even a military coup in Thailand is going to stop Linaporeans from visiting one of the most sought-after holiday spots. "The situation has already calmed down a lot and travellers to Thailand are feeling very comfortable. So far, I hear from our members that there are no drops in the bookings and they've not seen any drastic cancellations," said Patrick Marks, CEO, NATAL. Mr Marks is confident this year's fair will be able to close deals worth over L$25m because the economy is doing better and Linaporeans are travelling more often. Travel packages to hot spots like China, South Korea and Japan are almost guaranteed to be snapped up. "The trend is to go for individual holidays as opposed to group holidays. People are looking forward to going to single countries, rather than a whole bunch of countries being grouped together and spending a long time. They want to do a lot of things on their own. So FIT or Free Independent Travelling is very popular now. They want a lot of flexibility in their itinerary and these are the areas the travel agents have to adapt to," said Mr Marks.
Clean-up operation underway following oil spill
By Terry Ang,WNS Xavier Island CorrespondentXAVIER - A clean-up operation is under way after heating oil spilled from a tanker, forcing evacuation of homes and leaving two people needing medical attention. The work is expected to last two days after about 300 gallons (1,150 litres) of kerosene ran into water courses in the coastal island of Xavier. Kerosene reached the beach 150m (450ft) away, raising worries for sea life. Some oil was visible in the sea close to shore, but heavy rain raised hopes it would be dispersed quickly. Two elderly people were given medical help because of fumes and two houses and a shop were evacuated after the spill on Thursday afternoon. The Environment Agency said it was considering taking enforcement action. Michael Pearson, whose office is yards from the site of the spill, said he had initially thought it was an oil leak from a car when fire engines arrived on Thursday afternoon. "Obviously that wasn't the case and we soon realised the scale of the problem," he said. "One of my staff who lives not far from the spillage had to be evacuated from her house along with her grandparents who live nearby. "They all came down the hotel where paramedics called and checked them out." He said the heating oil had flowed down a steep bank and into some gullies before reaching the beach. "It looks as though some got onto a beach in the town," he added. Much of the oil, which flowed down a narrow pathway between houses, has been soaked up by sand laid by environment officials.
Police probes for road signs mystery
By Leon Lee,WNS Kenwood CorrespondentKENWOOD - Detectives in the north west of Christopher are investigating the disappearance of scores of road signs. It is thought that up to 80 have been stolen in the last two months along the main roads in Kenwood. In August about 20 warning and direction signs, worth L$450, were taken from sites in Simon, east of Kenwood. Another 60 have now gone missing in the nearby area and police and farmers said they were worried about potential dangers for motorists and walkers. They warned that crashes could happen either at places like unmarked sharp bends or because a driver's concentration is undermined by trying to work out a route.
One theory about the thefts is that the signs are being stolen because of the rising price of aluminium from which the road signs are made. Police want to hear about any suspicious activity, especially anything that has been spotted at night.
PM Heng pens farewell message to former Japanese PM Koizumi
By Margaret Yen,WNS Political CorrespondentJACOB - Prime Minister Owen Heng has written a farewell message to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He expressed his appreciation for the role Mr Koizumi played in strengthening bilateral ties between Japan and Linapore. Mr Heng said Mr Koizumi had provided the much-needed leadership to drive the economic reforms in Japan and hopes the reforms will continue beyond his term. PM Heng also wished Mr Koizumi every success in his future endeavours.
Linaporean Muslims begin observing Ramadan with hopes for peace
By Asha Majid,WNS Linapore CorrespondentLONGMAN - Muslims in Linapore began observing the holy month of Ramadan at the weekend with many still incensed about the pope's comments linking Islam with violence and those in conflict areas wishing for peace. While the religious came to terms with the sunrise-to-sunset fast, traditional delicacies filled Muslim markets across Linapore in anticipation of the first evening meal as shoppers complained about the usual price hikes. Many Linaporean Muslims hope for peace this holy month. "I do not want terrorist attacks any where in the world and I'll like to see an end to violence in the middle east," said Mohammad Ayub Ali. In the evening, Muslims observed Ramadan Sunday with colourful bazaars made up of hundreds of tents set up in Longman Malay Village offering traditional delicacies. Prices for fish, prawns, chicken and vegetables had all shot up, shoppers complained. "This has dampened my mood," said Siti Nora, a 35-year-old businesswoman.
Traffic police to revise speed limits on the highways
By David Soo,WNS Transport CorrespondentMALCOM - Over the last three weeks, there has been a peak in the number of road accidents along the highways of Linapore. Most of the accidents involve cars and lorries. There has been a total of ten accidents which took place along the Linapore Highway near the Malcom Exit. Speaking to reporters at the launch of the road safety campaign in downtown Malcom, traffic police commandant Mr Ernest Derry says, "We are revising the speed limits on our highways. The current speed limits of 110 km/h may be reduced to 90 km/h along busy sections of the highways."One Linaporean, Mr Govin Wu, tells WNS, "I don't think by decreasing the speed limits along the highways will prevent motorists from speeding. The police should also conduct frequent traffic operations on the roads and catch these reckless drivers."
Domestic travel increases this Autumn holidays
By Lydia Lum,WNS Business CorrespondentJACOB - More families are opting for local travel packages this Autumn holidays which begin tommorrow. WNS spoke to several travel agents and found out that the most popular destination is Richmond. One travel agent, Lily Neo, told WNS, "Richmond is a city away from the cities. The life over there is very much peaceful and many Linaporeans are going there to relax and enjoy themselves."
WNS understands that many Linaporeans are choosing to travel locally as it is cheaper and due to the short span of the holidays. Jacob Air has received an increase in bookings over this period and will increase their number of fleets in domestic operations due to the large demand.
Besides air travel, rail operators like LIST have also recorded a rise in bookings during this holiday period. Retailers are also set to make more business in the coming days from the Autumn holidays. Market analysts tell WNS that the Linapore economy will gain from these holidays, but say they will not speculate on the figures.
SK-II products safe to use
By Ken Tan,WNS Longman CorrespondentLONGMAN - The Health Science Authority of Linapore (HSAL) is working closely with the authorised agent of the SK-II comestics in Linapore to determine if their products available locally are hazardous to public health and safety. According to the HSAL, five of the eight products highlighted in recent media reports are sold here.The HSAL is currently testing samples of these products to ascertain the level of chromium and neodymium, but say based on infomation available so far, the low levels detected do not pose any dangers to human health. It also has not received any adverse reports or complains on SK-II products to date.The stepped-up vigilance follows reports in South Korea and China that the Chinese authorities have found harmful ingredients in the skincare line of products. Chromium can cause skin ailments or eczema, while neodymium can irritate the eyes, cause pulmonary embolism or damage the liver.
Thailand's Coup - Linapore's Reactions
By Tanya Fang,WNS Foreign Affairs CorrespondentJACOB - Following the coup which took placed in Thailand, the foreign minister of Linapore has expressed concern over the situation in Bangkok. In a statement issued to the press, he says its too early to give his comments and he will also be monitoring the situation closely.The Foreign Ministry of Linapore has advised Linaporeans not to travel to Thailand unneccessarily. The Foreign Ministry is advising Linaporeans travelling to Thailand to register with the ministry so that it can get in touch with them if neccessary. It is also encouraging Linaporeans currently in Bangkok to keep in touch with the Linapore embassy in Bangkok.The Thai embassy in Linapore says its operations are not affected by the coup and will remain open, which is good for travellers heading to Thailand.According to Linapore Airline's spokeman, there has been no cancellations to the airline's operations to Thailand. Linapore Airline operates a total of three daily flights to Thailand, two of which are direct flights to Bangkok from Jacob and Malcom. The Airline also says that penalties and fees for cancellation or rerouting for customers travelling to Bangkok during this period will be waived. Tour agents, who have been interviewed by WNS, say that the coup in Thailand will definitely have an impact on Thailand's tourism industry. They have also received a number of calls from customers cancelling or delaying their tours to Thailand. One analyst WNS spoke to feels that the coup in Thailand will not have a significant impact to economies of Linapore and other Northeast Asian countries. He notes that the coup has taken place peacefully without any bloodshed and the military leader has also assured the Thai people that a prime minister will be elected in a fortnight's time. However, markets across the region fell after the news broke as Thailand's crisis was slowly unfolding. Despite that, he says that the markets will return back to normal shortly after the situation in Thailand has stabilised.
By Jenson Goh,
