2 flu deaths in Thailand

Thailand confirmed its first two deaths from H1N1 flu as the health ministry said a 42-year-old man died on Saturday following the death last week of a woman from Bangkok. The first victim was a 40-year-old woman in Bangkok who died days ago in a private hospital. She also had heart disease. The ministry later confirmed that an engineer from Chonburi province, 80km from the capital had died at 9am on Saturday. Thailand reported its first case of H1N1 flu on May 12 and now has more than 1,000 confirmed cases.

Building collapses in Shanghai

A 13-storey residential building under construction in Shanghai collapsed on Saturday, killing one worker and highlighting the dangers of shoddy building in fast-urbanising China. The building, in the outskirts of the city, collapsed at around 6am Singapore time, with one construction worker killed. The block of high-rise residential flats was shown toppled onto its side in a muddy construction site. It appeared to be almost complete with fitted windows and a finished, tiled facade. Other similar-looking blocks in the same property development were still standing nearby.

Haze to come early this year

Smoke from the slash and burn cultivation in sumartra saw the early return of haze. Occurring once every tyo to seven years, it always brgin in september. The temperature rise would hurt crop production and worsening haze situation. Rain fall will decline during the moonsoon season. Countries near indonesia will suffer drier weather.

unwed mum kills baby

An indonesian woman slit the throat of her newborn out of shame because she was unmarried. The 29 year old domesetic maid murdered the baby immediately after giving birth alone in the Jakarta shophouse where she worked. She was taken to the hospital before being questioned by the police.

Thai monk shot dead, another wounded

Polic believed attacks could be in revenge for earlier attack on mosque. A 60 year old monk was shot dead and his younger companion wounded while they were out on their morning alms collection yesterday in south thailand. The older monk was shot serveral times and died instantly, while the other one, 24 was critically wounded by 2 gunmen on a motorcycle. Attacks on buddist monks are rare.

Mystery identity of a dead woman

The identity of a woman found floating face down in the see off Tanah Merah Coast Road in Februrary is still a mystery. She was found 400m off shore on Feb 18. Autopsy suggested that she could have been been drinking before she died. Minor abrasions are found on her, probably came from her body knocking objects.

Teen Jumps to his death

An 18 year old school dropout, fell 13 floors after sniffing glue with his friend. It started last year, he began to bet soccer online. His mother helped him pay debts and he promise that he would not bet again. In January, his father caught him sniffing glue in his room. He said he did it for fun and would not do it again. In less then 3 months, he is back to betting and glue sniffing. He went to find a friend to sniff glue to ease his anxiety. At around 7am, his friend went home to sleep after seeing him off. He came back and jumped down the building at about 7.12am

5 killed in Thai restive south

Five people were killed Friday in Thailand's far south. Police said the five men, two army rangers, two school guards and a local politician, died in four separate attacks. The politician and the school guards were killed in a drive-by. The other two army rangers died instantly in a roadside bomb.

Fewer people taking taxis

Fewer people are taking taxis nowadays as they hop on buses and trains to cut down expenses. On average, there were almost 900 thousands taxi trips made a day in the first three months of the year, lowest in five years. After deducting rental and feul costs, a taxi shared by 2 drivers working shift collected $166 a day. This work out an average of $83 a driver a day.