KL wants S'pore pay more for water
KL wants S'pore pay more for water
MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur is willing to supply water to Singapore
for another 100 years after the current pact expires 2061, but
the city-state must be open to paying a higher price, a minister
said on Friday.
Foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar said he was optimistic of
progress in talks with his Singaporean counterpart S. Jayakumar
in Kuala Lumpur on July 1 and July 2 to iron out outstanding
bilateral issues.
Singapore obtains half of its daily water needs from
Malaysia's neighboring Johor state at three sen (less than 1 U.S.
cent) per 1,000 gallons. Its two water agreements with Malaysia
expire in 2011 and 2061.
Malaysia has accused Singapore of profiteering from cheap
water supplied by the state of Johor under agreements dating back
to the early 1960s and is demanding a higher price.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad reiterated on Thursday it was
"ridiculous" to sell water to Singapore at three sen when Hong
Kong buys water from mainland China at eight ringgit (US$2.10)
per 1,000 gallons. --AFP
;REUTERS;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-S'pore-Germany-crime
Singapore jails German woman for 5 years for drugs
JP/9/ASEAN
S'pore jails German woman for 5 years
SINGAPORE: A young German woman was sentenced on Friday to five
years in a Singapore jail after pleading guilty to three drug
charges.
Julia Suzanne Bohl, who turned 23 in detention on Tuesday,
escaped the gallows after lab tests showed the cannabis found in
her rented flat in March was less than the limit warranting the
death penalty under Singapore's strict drug laws.
Bohl's divorced father and mother, Wolfgang and Suzanna, left
the court without speaking to the media.
Three Singaporeans charged along with Bohl, including the
alleged drug dealer, also had capital counts reduced when a
pharmacist's report on the 687 grams of vegetable matter found by
police showed it contained only 281 grams of cannabis.
In Singapore, the death penalty is mandatory for trafficking
in 500 grams or more of cannabis, 15 grams of heroin or 30 grams
of cocaine. --Reuters
;REUTERS;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Vietnam-media-scandal
Vietnam orders media to limit scandal coverage
JP/9/ASEAN
Media ordered to limit scandal coverage
VIETNAM: The ruling Communist Party has moved to rein in official
media coverage of a scandal linking the mafia to high places,
warning newspapers they have overstepped the mark with unusually
probing reports.
Nguyen Khoa Diem, head of the party's Culture and Ideological
Commission, said some media had not followed its guidance in
reporting official links to a notorious gang led by crime kingpin
Truong Van Cam, alias Nam Cam.
"Some stories and interviews have revealed internal matters of
state organs, which is not allowed," he told the justice
ministry's Phap Luat (Law) newspaper in an interview published on
Thursday.
In recent months, official newspapers have been dominated by
unusually probing reports about the "Nam Cam" scandal, which
diplomats believe have been prompted by a play for power ahead of
a Cabinet reshuffle due to be announced in mid-July. --Reuters
;AFP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Thailand-passports
Thai police blame fake passport production on foreigners
JP/9/ASEAN
Police point finger at foreigners
THAILAND: Thai police admitted on Friday the existence of gangs
producing fake passports and other travel documents in Bangkok,
but said they were run by foreigners.
Thailand's national police chief Gen. Sant Sarutanond said on
Friday most falsified documents were produced by overseas
nationals using Thailand as a base.
The admission was in response to allegations by European Union
interior ministers that Thailand is a key production point for
counterfeit documents used by worldwide terrorist networks, which
were made in a secret report.
A senior Thai immigration police officer confirmed that
Thailand was a cradle for gangsters from Middle Eastern
countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan who falsify and alter all
kinds of travel documents, including passports. --AFP