A Singapore Airlines flight from Milan to Singapore was diverted to New Delhi due to a drunk passenger on board.
When contacted, the airline confirmed that SQ367 was diverted to the Indian capital on Thursday. No other details were given.
The plane landed in Singapore on Friday morning.
Source: www.straitstimes.com
A Portuguese man who punched and kicked a police officer as he tried to find out where he lived was jailed for a month on Thursday.
Video editor Carlos Eduardo Da-Cruz Ferreira, 34, was drunk and fell asleep in the back of a taxi when the cabby asked police at a road block to enquire where he lived.
After it pulled to the side of Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 last June 21, two cops tried to wake Da-Cruz Ferreira, who reeked of alcohol.
They called out to him but there was no response. Sergeant Mushawwir Adrus, 23, tapped Da-Cruz Ferreira on the shoulder, causing him to wake up briefly. The cops identified themselves and asked where he lived.
Da-Cruz Ferreira responded by punching the policeman in the right eye. Sgt Mushawwir then held his hands and asked where he lived – but was kicked in his lower abdomen. Necessary force was used to remove him from the taxi.
Staff Sgt Mushawwir, whose contact lens was dislodged, needed treatment at Alexandra Hospital.
Urging the court to jail Da-Cruz Ferreira, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said police officers are on the front line and must know they have the full protection of the law.
“The court must send a consistent signal that violence towards police officers cannot be condoned,” she told District Judge Ng Peng Hong.
Lawyer Shashi Nathan said his client, whose father is a High Court judge in Portugal, had then just gone through a severe and traumatic break-up with his then girlfriend.
He said the one-off incident was triggered by his client’s intoxicated state. He said Da-Cruz Ferreira has voluntarily undergone therapy for his alcohol dependence and was found to be suffering from depressive and anxiety disorders.
Da-Cruz Ferreira, who pleaded guilty, was allowed to defer sentence until April 2 to resolve his personal matters. Another charge of abusing the cop was taken into consideration.
For causing hurt to deter a public servant in carrying out his work, he could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or received any combined sentence.
Source: www.straitstimes.com
More children in Singapore have been afflicted with Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD) in the last 11 weeks, compared to same period in 2014.
Latest figures by the Ministry of Health showed that just last week, there were 609 cases, almost twice the number of cases compared to the same period last year.
Two childcare centres – PCF Sparkletots Boon Lay and Sunflower Preschool @ Balestier – have seen more than 10 cases and prolonged transmission. PCF Sparkeltots Boon Lay, located at Jurong West, has seen a total of 16 HFMD cases from Mar 3 to 12.
Health experts said current trends suggest that the number of weekly cases may continue to remain higher than last year’s.
More information can be found at the Health Ministry’s website.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
Mr Desmond Choo is rejoining the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
The 37-year-old, who resigned from NTUC in May 2013 as its deputy director of industrial relations, is set to make a comeback as NTUC’s new director of youth development next month, after a foray into the private sector.
Besides the new post, he will also be appointed deputy director of industrial relations, and will be involved in other aspects of union work such as implementing wage ladders for industry sectors, said NTUC in a statement.
Mr Choo quit after failing to win the Hougang single constituency seat in the 2011 General Election, and again in the 2012 By-election.
While his return to NTUC could see Mr Choo being fielded again by the People’s Action Party (PAP) as a labour candidate at the next General Election, it is unlikely that he will be returning to contest the Hougang seat, which has been a Worker’s Party stronghold since 1991.
In September last year, Mr Choo was named as the second adviser to grassroots organisations in Tampines East, a ward in Tampines GRC. The ward’s MP is former national development minister Mah Bow Tan, 67, who stepped down from the Cabinet after the 2011 elections.
Source: www.straitstimes.com
The Singapore Police Force has issued a statement on a police report made about PAP activists’ distribution of flyers in Aljunied GRC.
Activists had gone around last week, urging residents to question opposition Workers’ Party Members of Parliament about accounting and governance lapses by Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).
In a statement on Thursday (Mar 19), police said: “In consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the police report made on the distribution of flyers at Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, it has been determined that there is no offence disclosed.”
“The distribution of flyers in itself is not an offence in Singapore,” police added.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com