Maid jailed for threatening employer
Maid jailed for threatening employer
SINGAPORE: An Indonesian maid was jailed for two months for threatening her employer with a knife after she was told she would be sent home for refusing to have a haircut, a report said on Tuesday.
Sulasmi Paiman, 21, had refused to have a haircut and was told she would be sent back to Indonesia, the Straits Times said.
She then brandished a knife at her employer Chan Fong Yin, who had to be shielded by her in-laws with a chair during the incident on Saturday.
Police arrested the maid, who pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal intimidation, the report said. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Vietnam-drugs drug traffickers to face death penalty in Vietnam JP/9/ASEAN
15 drug traffickers to face death penalty
VIETNAM: At least 15 people will face the death penalty for drug trafficking in twin trials being held in central Vietnam this week, local courts said on Tuesday.
The Ha Tinh provincial court on Monday started a four-day trial against 18 people for trafficking seven kilograms of heroin from neighboring Laos, a court official said.
At least three of the defendants are facing the death sentence. The ring admitted it had smuggled the heroin between 1998 and 2001.
They are accused of trafficking nearly 40 kilograms of heroin and 254 kilograms of opium. Up to 12 of the accused will face the death penalty if convicted.
Last year, Vietnam sentenced 55 people to death for drug offenses compared with 85 in 2000. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-RP-polio Philippines suffers polio relapse, orders nationwide vaccination JP/9/ASEAN
RP suffers polio relapse
PHILIPPINES: President Gloria Arroyo has ordered the vaccination of 12 million Filipino children following the discovery of three new cases of polio, a year after the Philippines declared itself free of the virus, an official said on Tuesday.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said the three separate cases monitored last year were from a "mutant strain" of the virus.
Arroyo has since issued a proclamation ordering the health department to administer oral vaccines to all children not more than 59 months old on Feb. 2-8 and again on March 2-8, Dayrit said.
Poliomyelitis, or polio, is an acute viral disease caused by the polio virus. It is characterized by fever, motor paralysis, and atrophy of skeletal muscles, often leading to permanent disability and deformity. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Thai-cannon risk Old cannons to be removed from fort for security reasons JP/9/ASEAN
Old cannons to be removed from fort
THAILAND: Eight cannons dating back more than 200 years are to be removed from Bangkok's historic battlements because they could still be used to fire on motorcades carrying royalty and other VIPs, government officials in Bangkok said on Tuesday.
The cannons are mounted on remnants of Bangkok's old defensive wall, near which many motorcades carrying foreign and local dignitaries as well as members of Thailand's royal family pass. The Grand Palace is located nearby.
The cannons were placed on the ramparts when many historic areas were renovated in 1982 as part of the capital's bicentennial celebrations.
But police have warned that shells or other devices could still be fired from the cannons, according to district chief Kittinan Khaosut. --AP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-S'pore-chopper Two air force pilots injured as helicopter makes emergency landing JP/SINGAPORE
Chopper makes emergency landing
SINGAPORE: Two Singapore air force pilots were injured when their helicopter made an emergency landing while on a training flight, the Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.
The aircraft was severely damaged in the incident on Monday but both pilots sustained only minor injuries, the ministry said in a statement, adding it was investigating the incident. --AFP