Lee Soomi – From SeeYa To 5dolls To A Solo Singer
SEOUL: Korean girl group 5dolls’ leader, Lee Soomi, has decided to leave the girl group, reported Korean media.
After making her debut as a member of the Korean ballad girl group Seeya, and a successful stint as the leader of 5dolls, Lee has decided to leave 5dolls in order to pursue a career as a solo artiste.
However, 5dolls won’t be forced to rename themselves 4dolls because of Lee’s departure – a representative of 5dolls’ management agency, Core Contents Media, said Friday that they have already found a replacement for her.
“New member Han Nayeon has stepped in to take Lee Soomi’s place in 5dolls,” said the representative.
Han is said to have an “innocent image” and “possess strong musical ability in the piano, flute, guitar, and more”.
The representative added that 5dolls will be managed by GM Contents Media, Core Contents Media’s sister company, following this internal reshuffle.
- CNA/lp
Channel News Asia
Defence, Education & Transport Ministries Get Bulk Of Budget Expenditure
SINGAPORE: More money has been set aside for the Defence, Health and Transport ministries.
The Defence Ministry continues to top the expenditure estimates list with S$12.3 billion set aside, which is four per cent higher than last year’s.
The Health Ministry gets S$4.7 billion – about 18 per cent higher than last year’s figure.
There will be more spending to ramp up infrastructure such as hospitals and nursing homes, and more subsidies for healthcare institutions.
The Transport Ministry’s expenditure will go up by 18 per cent to S$5.3 billion, for infrastructure development such as the downtown line (DTL) and new bus interchanges.
The Environment and Water Resources Ministry too, is getting a bigger budget of S$1.3 billion – up by about 16 per cent.
The bulk of the spending goes to major drainage and sewage projects.
The social sector is also getting a bump up.
The Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry will see a 15 per cent increase in its expenditure to S$2.1 billion.
This goes into areas such as parenthood programmes, grants to voluntary welfare organisations and social assistance schemes.
The Home Affairs Ministry’s expenditure will go up by 10 per cent to S$3.4 billion, where it’s expected to beef up on resources for frontline policing.
- CNA/cc
Channel News Asia
Germany’s President Resigns
BERLIN : Germany’s president resigned on Friday after a string of scandals, handing Chancellor Angela Merkel a political headache at home as she battles to lead Europe from its debt crisis.
“I am … today stepping down from the office of federal president to free up the way quickly for a successor,” Christian Wulff said in a three-and-a-half-minute televised statement from his Bellevue palace.
Germany needs “a president that enjoys the trust of not only a majority, but a broad majority of citizens,” said a sombre Wulff, with his wife Bettina at his side.
“The developments of the last days and weeks have shown that this trust and therefore my effectiveness have been damaged.
“For this reason, it is no longer possible to carry out the office of president both domestically and abroad the way it needs to be done,” added the head of state.
“I have made mistakes, but I was always honest,” he said.
Prosecutors in the Lower Saxony state where Wulff was formerly premier said late Thursday they had asked parliament to lift his immunity in order to investigate allegations he abused his position.
Merkel’s hand-picked choice for Germany’s head of state has been battered by almost daily allegations in the media that he accepted favours when he was premier of Lower Saxony.
Wulff is from the same conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party as Merkel who cancelled a planned trip to Rome to meet Italian premier Mario Monti on the euro crisis to make her own statement later.
Wulff’s role is largely ceremonial but carries important moral weight and the announcement by the prosecutor in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, marks the first time the German parliament has been asked to lift presidential
immunity.
The 52-year-old president has been rocked by scandals and allegations since mid-December largely over his connections to wealthy businessmen, initially over an advantageous home loan from a friend’s wife.
He then faced claims he tried to hush up the story, as well as reports of free holidays accepted from friends.
But the Hanover prosecutor’s case focuses on his relationship with film producer friend David Groenewold who is also facing investigation over dealings between his firm and Lower Saxony while Wulff was state premier.
He also reportedly picked up the bill for Wulff’s hotel during a short holiday in 2007. Wulff’s lawyers have said he repaid the money in cash later.
Speculation about whether Wulff could remain in office reached fever pitch after the prosecutor’s announcement following two months of almost daily media reports about Wulff.
“I assume that the parliamentary commission for immunity and the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) … will vote in favour of the request by the Hanover prosecutor,” deputy head of the CDU parliamentary group Michael Meister told Deutschlandfunk radio.
“It’s over now, Christian Wulff must resign,” demanded the influential Bild daily in a Friday editorial.
Wulff landed in hot water in December when Bild reported he had failed to declare a 500,000-euro (US$660,000) home loan at an advantageous interest rate he accepted in 2008 while premier of Lower Saxony.
He then left an angry voicemail for the paper’s editor-in-chief over the story and publicly crossed swords with him over claims he had tried to hush up the article’s publication.
Wulff’s presidency was rocky from the start.
His election in 2010 proved humiliating for Merkel as members of her own coalition broke ranks and refused to vote for him in parliament amid a strong challenge from a former East German dissident, a political outsider.
Wulff, who had once been considered a potential challenger to Merkel, only eked out a victory in the third round.
- AFP/ms
Channel News Asia
Bail Extended For S’porean Wanted By The US
SINGAPORE : Bail has been extended for one of the four Singaporeans wanted by the United States government for allegedly conspiring to evade an American trade embargo against Iran.
A High Court judge ordered that Lim Yong Nam be given another week on bail.
Lim and three others – Wong Yuh Lan, Lim Kow Seng and Benson Hia Soo Gan – had been ordered to be extradited to the US by a District Judge on February 10.
Lim is out on bail of S$100,000 while the rest are in custody.
His passport has been impounded.
The District Judge ruled that Lim has severe psychiatric conditions and is not suitable to be in detention.
On Friday, the prosecution’s Mark Jayaratnam asked High Court Judge Choo Han Teck to revoke the bail ordered by the District Judge.
But Lim’s defence lawyer, Hamidul Haq, submitted in his court documents that the District Judge understood that detaining Lim would be “detrimental to his life and health”.
The defence urged Justice Choo to take this into consideration when making his decision.
He said Lim “would only suffer a severe relapse of his psychiatric condition” if he is detained.
Mr Haq also suggested in court documents that Lim could be committed to Mount Elizabeth Hospital as an alternative to a prison environment.
He urged Justice Choo not to hold Lim in custody at the Institute of Mental Health as it is against the advice of the accused’s psychiatrist.
The case has been postponed to next Thursday.
The four are accused of exporting electronic components from a US company to Iran, which ended up in explosives in Iraq.
At least 16 radio frequency modules were discovered by US forces in Iraq in bombs that were remotely detonated.
The US believes the bombs were the possible cause of about 60 per cent of American combat casualties in Iraq between 2001 and 2007.
- CNA/ms
Channel News Asia
Over 92% S’poreans Covered Under MediShield
SINGAPORE: As of last year, more than 92 per cent of Singaporeans were covered under MediShield, said Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong.
Mr Gan said the coverage for those aged between 21 and 65 years old is the highest.
More than 95 per cent are insured under the scheme.
Coverage for those below 21 years old stands at 94 per cent, up from the 55 per cent in 2007.
Mr Gan said this was due to the introduction of a new auto cover point for newborns in 2007 and a one-time auto cover exercise for all those below 21 years of age.
Coverage of the elderly aged between 76 and 85 years old is about 65 per cent of the population.
Mr Gan gave the update in a written reply to Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam.
- CNA/wk
Channel News Asia
Public Urged To Use Shuttle Services To Access S’pore Airshow
SINGAPORE: Organisers of the Singapore Airshow 2012 have urged visitors to the event to use its shuttle services to access the Changi Exhibition Centre.
The buses operate from the coach stands of Changi Airport Terminals 2 and 3.
They start operating from 8.00 am.
The Airshow opens to the public on the weekend of February 18 and 19.
Only vehicles with a Singapore Airshow 2012 car park label will be allowed to enter the show site.
Car park labels cannot be purchased onsite.
Limited public day entrance tickets are available on-site for S$30 per adult and S$15 per child.
Taxi surcharges of S$8 apply for cabs departing from the event site.
Extra train trips will be added between the Tanah Merah and Changi Airport train stations.
From 9.00 am to 7.30 pm on February 18 and 19, the headway between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport stations will be seven minutes, from the current nine to 12 minutes.
- CNA/cc
Channel News Asia
India Asks For Review Of Vodafone Tax Ruling
NEW DELHI : India’s tax authorities filed a request on Friday for a review of a Supreme Court ruling dismissing a US$2.2 billion tax bill imposed on British phone giant Vodafone.
Indian tax authorities imposed the 112.2 billion rupee (US$2.2 billion) bill and sought an equal sum in penalties over Vodafone’s 2007 acquisition of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa’s Indian mobile subsidiary.
But the Supreme Court ruled in January that Indian tax authorities “had no jurisdiction to tax Vodafone” over the US$11.1 billion purchase.
Vodafone’s clear-cut win in the bitter legal battle was seen as delivering a shot in the arm to India’s battered reputation among foreign investors who have been rattled by the country’s uncertain regulatory climate.
But in a review petition lodged in the Supreme Court on Friday, the income tax department asked that the judgment be reconsidered and argued the tax act “has not been correctly interpreted”.
Vodafone said that it had noted the the filing, which will be evaluated by the same bench that ruled on the case in January. “We have no further comment to make at this stage,” it added.
The company, the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has argued it was exempt from tax on the deal because it took place in the Cayman Islands and both buyer and seller were foreign.
Vodafone’s purchase of Hutchison Essar, now renamed Vodafone India, was intended to expand revenues in the face of saturated cellular markets in Western Europe.
But despite securing 147 million subscribers, or 17 per cent of the Indian market, it has faced a rough ride.
Two years ago, it took a writedown of US$3.4 billion, reflecting a disappointing performance in a cut-throat sector where competition has forced down call rates to below a cent a minute.
- AFP/ms
Channel News Asia
Japan’s ANA To Boost International Service
TOKYO: Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) on Friday said it would aim to boost its international capacity by 22 percent within two years and begin fresh routes as part of a new business strategy.
The carrier, the first to fly Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner late last year, said the plan for fiscal 2012-2013 was “designed to strengthen ANA against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty, the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, high oil prices and fluctuating foreign exchange rates”.
It also comes as it faces tough competition from a growing budget sector and days after an announcement by rival Japan Airlines (JAL) that it would buy more Dreamliners to build on its recovery from bankruptcy.
On Wednesday JAL said it would buy 10 new Dreamliners — to add to an existing order for 35 of the planes — as part of a five-year capital expenditure plan worth more than six billion dollars.
ANA said it will introduce new services linking Tokyo’s Narita airport with Seattle and San Jose in the year from April 2012, using the fuel-efficient Dreamliner.
The airline said in a statement that it will adopt multi-brand strategy — which will include its new budget carrier, Peach Aviation — and aim to reduce group costs by 100 billion yen during the period.
It said the move comes “in the face of increased competition from a new wave of low cost carriers, other carriers in the region.”
ANA will “strengthen network carrier business model, focusing especially on ?long-haul? and ?connection demands?” it said.
Japan’s aviation market has long been dominated by ANA and JAL, but 2012 will see the launch of a number of new low cost carriers that are expected to provide competition to these established marques.
ANA last year set up Peach with a Hong Kong investment fund, with flights scheduled to start in March.
JAL has joined forces with Australia’s Qantas and Mitsubishi Corp. to launch Jetstar Japan, with five routes slated to begin in July.
AirAsia Japan, a tie-up between ANA and Malaysia’s AirAsia, will begin flying in August.
ANA’s business plan also outlines plans to increase operating profit to 130 billion yen ($1.64 billion) by March 2014, up from the 90 billion yen it recent forecast for the year to March 2012.
- AFP/cc
Channel News Asia
Feng Fei Fei’s Son Speaks Out Against False Reports About Her Final Months
HONG KONG: Late Taiwan music legend Feng Fei Fei’s only son, Zhao Wen Lin, spoke out against recent media reports that claimed Feng had died a lonely woman with only her four pet dogs for company, in a statement to the media on Friday.
Some tabloids had previously reported that Feng, who died of lung cancer on January 3, had actually called her manager Huang Jin Fu in June last year, after finding out she was in the final stages of lung cancer the month before.
The reports claimed that Feng had pleaded with Huang not to put down the phone so quickly, as she felt “bored being alone, facing my four dogs every day” and said Feng passed away a lonely woman.
However, Zhao, who had taken time off his studies in the UK to handle Feng’s funeral rites in Hong Kong, said in a statement that these reports are “completely untrue” and “must be corrected”.
Zhao explained that Huang was “not my mother’s manager”, adding that it was impossible for Feng to have faced her “four dogs every day” as the reports had claimed, simply because they “have not kept any dogs as pets in their household for the past four to five years”.
The 23 year old also disputed the claim that his mother died a lonely woman, and said Feng spent her final months in the company of her closest friends as well as Zhao himself.
“My mother has a few very close friends in Hong Kong, who would often have tea with her, chat with her. She was not friendless like the articles say.
“I would also return to Hong Kong to spend time with my mother whenever there is a vacation, and did not let her live alone,” said Zhao.
“While my mother was ill, I and Aunt Yong Chun (Feng’s assistant Zhou Yong Chun) had been with her, right until she passed away.”
Apart from speaking out against these media reports, Zhao also revealed in his statement that he intends to retrieve and organise the files in his mother’s computer, which contain Feng’s private notes, along with some valuable video clips and audio recordings she had left behind.
Zhao said he will share his findings with the public through his mother’s lawyer when he has completed this task.
-CNA/ha
Channel News Asia
Outrage Over NUS Group’s ‘Disrespectful’ Mission Trip Posters
SINGAPORE – Posters and online comments denigrating other religions have sparked an outcry at the National University of Singapore (NUS), leading to their removal and a reminder by the university’s provost yesterday to respect the religion and beliefs of others.
The posters and comments were made by the NUS Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), which has since apologised and promised to be “watchful of future actions”. The Singapore CCC is a Christian non-profit organisation active in tertiary campuses.
The posters were to spread awareness of the group’s coming mission trips and contained comments about the pervasiveness of Buddhism and Islam in Thailand and Turkey respectively.
A posting on the NUS CCC’s Facebook page yesterday said: “We humbly apologise for the distress we have caused you though the poster of ours that has gone viral online. We recognise that our choice of words used should have been more sensitive and tactful. We acknowledge that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and it is definitely not our intention to force anyone to believe in what we do.”
An NUS spokesperson said the university was alerted to the posters on Wednesday evening. It contacted the student group and removed the posters put up on campus.
The spokesperson said: “The student group has also removed all related postings at their website. The student group has also posted an apology on its Facebook page, and the students involved have been counselled.”
She added that guidelines are in place for students and student groups organising events that concern areas such as religion, language and politics. They are to submit proposals and publicity materials to the NUS Office of Student Affairs for approval but “in this instance, the posters were not sent to the office for review”.
The spokesperson added: “As far as we know, this is the first time that an incident of this nature has taken place.”
The incident prompted NUS provost Tan Eng Chye to send a circular to students yesterday. He said NUS had been alerted to “disrespectful and insensitive remarks about other religions and communities contained in posters and website comments” by the NUS CCC.
He added: “NUS is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious community … The university does not endorse any comment or action by members of our community that disrupts religious harmony or disparage the diverse communities that live in Singapore and overseas.”
Contacted yesterday, the Singapore CCC said it was aware the students would be publicising the mission trips available in the middle of this year among members within their respective campuses.
“We would like to appeal to everyone to understand that there was never an intention to cause hurt to any individual or religious group, and we apologise to anyone who has been has hurt by this incident,” it said.
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