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