Housewife fined for

Housewife fined for
pimping for RI maid

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean mother-of-three has been fined US$8,823
after pleading guilty to pimping for her Indonesian maid, court
officials said on Tuesday.

It is the first time that an employer in Singapore has been
convicted of acting as a maid's pimp.

The Min Yek, 35, admitted in court on Monday to asking
Awunningsih, who arrived from Indonesia in April, to work as a
prostitute and telling her she could provide clients.

The court was told the 24-year-old maid had sex with five men
between April 21 and early May in The's house and was paid S$80
(US$47) in total while her boss pocketed S$300.

Vice police raided The's home after a maid agency lodged a
protest.

The court heard that Awunningsih was a willing participant as
she wanted to pay off a S$2,000 debt to her maid agency. --AFP

;AP;APS;
ANPAu..r..
ASEAN-Thailand-Bird Flu
Experts, epidemiologists from region meet in Bangkok to prepare
for
JP/11/ASEAN

Experts meet to discuss
possible flu pandemic

THAILAND: Epidemiologists and laboratory experts from 11 Asian
countries are meeting in Bangkok this week to fine-tune
preparations for a flu pandemic, likely to be caused by bird flu.

The World Health Organization is working closely with these
countries at the four-day meeting, which opened on Monday, to
strengthen their health systems and ensure there is coordination
between the animal health and human health sectors, WHO officials
said.

"In this part of the world in many countries, the public
health infrastructure is not as good as ... Thailand or some
other countries," said Jay Narain, director of WHO's communicable
diseases department for Southeast Asia.

The countries have each drafted pandemic preparedness plans,
which address early detection and response. Narain urged
cooperation between the agriculture and public health officials.

"We are pushing for a multisectoral response. If we do an
effective poultry outbreak containment, we should be able to
prevent infection in human beings," Narain said.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry farms across
Asia and has been transmitted to humans, killing at least 67
people since late 2003. Almost all of the victims came into close
contact with infected birds. --AP

;DPA;APS;
ANPAu..r..
ASEAN-Thailand-Diplomacy
Former Malaysian PM hopes for end to "megaphone diplomacy"
JP/11/ASEAN

Mahathir warns against
'megaphone diplomacy'

THAILAND: Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad
expressed hopes on Tuesday that Thailand and Malaysia would drop
their "megaphone diplomacy" in dealing with the troubled southern
region that defines their border.

Mahathir suggested in talks with former Thai prime minister
Anand Panyarachun that while the insurgency in Thailand's
southern border region was Thailand's internal affair, frequent
leadership-level talks could help clear up misunderstandings
between the two neighbors, said the state-run Thai News Agency.

He also said he hoped Malaysia and Thailand would not use
"megaphone diplomacy" to solve problems, Anand said after meeting
Malaysia's senior statesman.

Mahathir, no stranger to "megaphone diplomacy" himself during
his more than 20 years as Malaysian prime minister, has irked
Thailand with his comments about the situation in the kingdom's
deep south, comprising the majority Muslim provinces of
Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala that border Malaysia.

Mahathir's suggestion that the insurgency could be ended by
granting the area autonomy sparked a fierce backlash from
Bangkok, and accusations that the former prime minister was
siding with separatist militants. --DPA