S'pore mother jailed for burning maid
S'pore mother jailed for burning maid
SINGAPORE: A doctor turned consultant was sentenced to four months in a Singapore jail after admitting to burning her Indonesian maid's arm with an iron, it was reported on Tuesday.
Lim May Ling, 42, initially faced eight other charges of abusing Lilis Suryani, 20, but these accusations were withdrawn, The Straits Times said.
District Judge Valerie Thean was told on Monday the maid had been ironing clothes on March 17 last year when Lim asked her to help carry some bags.
When she returned, Lim scolded Lilis for leaving the hot iron unattended while her three children were in the apartment although the maid had switched the iron off.
When the maid said it was not dangerous, Lim placed it on her forearm to show "it was still hot", the court heard. The maid was treated at Singapore General Hospital.
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Cambodia-security Police brace for future riots JP/11/ASEAN
Police brace for future riots
CAMBODIA: Cambodia's national police chief said on Tuesday that security forces would get crowd control training and equipment to prevent unrest like the anti-Thai riots that rocked the capital last month.
Police Gen. Hok Lundy said officers were girding themselves in anticipation of street protests organized by political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen before and after the general election on July 27.
Next month, up to 700 police officers will be trained on the use of sticks, electric shock batons and barbed wire to cordon off and control crowds.
Cambodian mobs torched the Thai Embassy and dozens of Thai- owned businesses during the riots, which was sparked by false rumors that a Thai actress claimed that Angkor Wat, Cambodia's national symbol, should belong to Thailand. --AP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Vietnam-gangster-trial Gangster trial opens, 19 face death JP/11/ASEAN
Gangster trial opens, 19 face death
VIETNAM: Communist Vietnam launched the trial of 155 suspected gangsters on Tuesday in a showpiece trial aimed at reassuring investors the government is serious about cracking down on crime.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the court in the bustling southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City as the trial began. Prosecutors have accused a 55-year-old former soldier, Truong Van Cam, of heading a gang that went on a 15-year spree of murder, gambling, illegal emigration and bribery.
A former vice minister of public security, Bui Quoc Huy, is among the mostly male defendants, along with several police officials and prosecutors.
If found guilty by two judges and a jury of three civilians picked by the Communist Party, 19 defendants face the death penalty.
About 100 journalists watched the trial from an adjoining room on closed-circuit television. Foreign media can only cover the opening day and the verdict, expected in May. --Reuters
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-MILF-rebels 25 slain in new RP fighting JP/11/ASEAN
25 slain in new RP fighting
PHILIPPINES: Thirteen people have died in new clashes between the military and Moro separatists in the southern Philippines even as Malaysia and Libya offered to mediate a solution to the 25-year insurgency.
Five guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were killed and a soldier wounded in a gunbattle on Tuesday in Buldon on Mindanao island, regional military spokesman Maj. Julieto Ando said.
A clash on Monday in nearby Pikit left four guerrillas dead and two soldiers wounded, local military commander Col. Carduzo Luna said. Two government militiamen and two civilians were also killed in an MILF ambush on Monday in Sirawai, a military report said.
Meanwhile, five communist guerrillas and seven soldiers, including an officer, were slain in scattered clashes between government forces and rebels in different parts of the Philippines on Tuesday, military officials said. --AFP