H1N1 deaths up 700 in a week

The number of swine flu deaths jumped by 700 in a week, reaching more than 5,700 worldwide since the virus was first uncovered in April. The biggest rise was recorded in the Americas region, where 4,175 deaths have now been reported to the WHO, up 636 from data published last week. Fatal cases in Europe also climbed to at least 281, while those in Asia-Pacific rose to 1,070.

3 TVs stolen at West Coast Rd

3 television sets on a delivery truck were stolen on Wednesday at an open-air carpark near Block 504 West Coast Road. The driver had parked the vehicle at around 10.20am that day and realised later at another deliery location that the TV sets, worth $3700, were missing from the lorry. The padlock used to secure the lorry's side door was also found to be missing.

Zoo cleaner's death suicide

Zoo cleaner Nordin Montong, 32, deliberately got himself mauled to death by two white tigers on Nov 13 last year. The night earlier, he had told his cousin, who was then also working here, that he intended to go back to Sarawak the very next day as he missed his parents. Witnesses were however certain that he did not try to defend or save himself when the tigers attacked him.

Prata man whips up poem

Govindarajan Elangovan, 36, whips up pratas and curries at his food stall. Sundays though are for poetry. That is when his stall in Bukit Batok Crescent is closed and he can write. It is hard going, but the father of two's perseverance has paid off. He won second prize for Tamil poetry at the Singapore Press Holdings-National Arts Council Golden Point Award competition.

4th typhoon hits Philippines

A powerful typhoon crashed into the Philippine capital on Saturday with pounding rain and strong winds, causing a massive power outage, downing trees and bringing fresh floods to areas still partially submerged from a recent deadly storm. Rescue teams were dispatched to the flooded communities but were having difficulty moving in light trucks. Strong winds toppled trees and power poles, slowing traffic on some highways, radio stations reported.

Charged with theft from taxis

A store manager was charged in a district court on Friday with two counts of theft and attempted theft from parked taxis at multi-storey carparks. Lam Kam Wah, 46, believed to be involved in a series of similar cases, allegedly tried to steal items from a taxi at the multi-storey carpark at Block 687 Woodlands Drive 75 at 1.17am on Wednesday.

Child trafficking ring busted

Police in north China have busted a ring of baby traffickers suspected of pocketing up to 400,000 yuan (S$80,800) through the sale of 52 children. Police arrested 42 suspected ring members who allegedly trafficked 19 boys and 33 girls in northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces as well as eastern Shandong and the capital Beijing.