Work on Changi Airport's Jewel project and T1 expansion begins - Singapore Transport News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/work-changi-airports-jewel-project-and-t1-expansion-begins-20141205

Work on Changi Airport's Jewel project and T1 expansion begins

SINGAPORE - Work on Changi Airport's "Jewel" project and the expansion of Terminal 1 has started.

The project, which was earlier announced to cost $1.47 billion, will now cost $1.7 billion.

It will be built in front of the terminal where an open-air carpark now sits, the retail-cum-airport structure will have five floors above ground with five basement levels.

When it is completed by 2018, travellers and visitors can expect to be wowed by a 40m-high indoor waterfall - expected to be the tallest of its kind in the world. The waterfall will feature a light and sound show with special lighting effects at night.

A five-storey high indoor garden will contain thousands of trees, plants, ferns and shrubs, said Jewel Changi Airport Trustee - a joint venture between Changi Airport Group and CapitaMalls Asia - on Friday.

Designed by a team led by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, 76, - the man behind Singapore's other architectural gem, the iconic Marina Bay Sands - the new structure will be linked to T2 and T3 via air-conditioned pedestrian bridges.

Close to 70 per cent of "Jewel's" total gross floor area of about 134,000 sq m will be set aside for retail. Also being planned is a 130-room hotel.

The remaining space is reserved for airport facilities like passenger lounges and check-in counters.

To sell Singapore as a fly-cruise hub, the complex will house a dedicated lounge where travellers who arrive at the airport, for example, can pick up their cruise boarding passes and check in their bags.

As part of the upgrading of T1, the arrival hall and baggage claim area will be expanded, and the check-in area revamped to offer travellers more self-service options like do-it-yourself check in.

Ground transport facilities will be improved to add more lanes for drivers to drop off their passengers.

Changi Airport Group's chief executive officer, Lee Seow Hiang, who is also chairman of Jewel Changi Airport Development, said at Jewel's ground-breaking ceremony on Friday afternoon: "An important hallmark of Changi Airport's growth over the past thirty-odd years has been continual change and innovation. In charting the airport's future, this spirit continues to underpin our strategy.

"Faced with intensifying competition, we challenged ourselves to rethink what an airport can be - not just as a gateway for flights but as a tourism destination on its own."

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said at the event: "We are operating in a dynamic and increasingly competitive environment. Passengers today are spoilt for choice as air hubs around the world actively pursue new ways to boost their appeal as destinations and as transit points."

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2014 poised for hottest year on record: UN - More World Stories News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/more-world-stories/story/2014-poised-hottest-year-record-un-20141203

2014 poised for hottest year on record: UN

LIMA (AFP) - This year may end as the hottest on record, the UN's weather agency said Wednesday as it recounted a tale of rising seas, crippling droughts and floods since January.

"The year 2014 is on track to be one of the hottest, if not the hottest, on record," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reported on the sidelines of the UN climate talks in Lima.

Provisional data for 2014 shows that 14 out of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century, it added.

"There is no standstill in global warming," WMO chief Michel Jarraud said in a press statement.

"What we saw in 2014 is consistent with what we expect from a changing climate. Record-breaking heat combined with torrential rainfall and floods destroyed livelihoods and ruined lives," he said.

"What is particularly unusual and alarming this year are the high temperatures of vast areas of the ocean surface, including in the northern hemisphere." The global average air temperature over land and sea surface for January to October was about 0.57 deg C above the average of 14 deg C for a reference period from 1961-1990, the WMO said.

It was 0.09 deg C above the average for the decade 2004-2013.

"If November and December maintain the same tendency, then 2014 will likely be the hottest on record, ahead of 2010, 2005 and 1998," the WMO said.

"This confirms the underlying long-term warming trend."

The interim report for 2014 aims at guiding 195 countries striving for a global climate change pact, due to take effect by 2020.

At the deal's centre is a roster of national pledges to roll back carbon emissions – invisible, heat-trapping gases released by burning coal, oil and natural gas.

"Our climate is changing and every year, the risks of extreme weather events and impacts on humanity rise," said Christiana Figueres, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change staging Dec 1-12 talks in Lima to draft the outlines of the pact.

It must be signed in Paris in December 2015, and will seek to meet a UN target to limit warming to 2 deg C over pre-industrial levels.

The WMO said the sea surface temperature for the year so far was the highest on record – about 0.45 deg C above the 1961-1990 average.

It was particularly high in the tropical Pacific, approaching, but not triggering, the threshold for the destructive El Nino weather phenomenon.

For January to June, ocean heat measured to depths of 700m and 2,000m were both the highest on record, reflecting the ocean's role in absorbing heat from the warming atmosphere.

HEATWAVES, FLOODS AND DROUGHT

Other highlights from the statement:

- Heatwaves occurred in South Africa, Australia and Argentina in 2014, while exceptional cold waves occurred in the United States in winter, in Australia in August and in Russia in October.

– Sea levels in early 2014 reached a record high for the time of year, driven by thermal expansion as the oceans warmed and runoff from melting icesheets and glaciers.

– Flooding struck Britain, parts of the Balkans, Argentina, Russia and the southeastern and eastern US. In August and September, millions of people were hit by flooding in northern Bangladesh, northern Pakistan and India.

– Severe drought gripped the southern part of northeastern China, and parts of the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins failed to get even half of the summer average rainfall.

Worrying rainfall deficits were reported in parts of central America, central Brazil and the city of Sao Paulo, as well as parts of California, Nevada and Texas and the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland.

– On the positive side, tropical cyclone activity has been below normal, so far. As at November 13, 72 tropical storms were recorded, fewer than the 1981-2010 average of 89.

On Nov 20, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said global temperatures in October, as well as for the entire year so far, were the hottest on average since record-keeping began in 1880.

The Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in a massive report finished this year, said warming on current emission trends was on track for roughly double the UN target.

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16 Singaporeans injured in Hokkaido tour bus accident discharged from hospital - East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/16-singaporeans-injured-hokkaido-tour-bus-accident-discharged-hospital-201

16 Singaporeans injured in Hokkaido tour bus accident discharged from hospital

Sixteen tourists from Singapore suffered slight injuries when the tour bus they were travelling in veered off an icy road in Hokkaido yesterday.

The group was taken to hospital, where the Singaporeans were treated for minor injuries such as facial cuts. It is understood they have all been discharged, and were resting in Sapporo city last night.

The accident took place just before noon (Japan time) on Highway 237 near Shimukappu Village.

The bus was travelling from Noboribetsu, a hot spring resort, to Sounkyo, which is also famous for its hot springs.

The 52-year-old driver of the bus was quoted by reports as saying: "I stepped on the brakes just before the T-junction, but the bus skidded." Police said the roads were icy because of intermittent snow all morning.

Reports said the group of 16 included a four-year-old child, and that the oldest person was 68 years old. A Japanese tour guide was also injured in the crash.

The group had arrived in Japan only a few days ago, and was on an eight-day tour of Hokkaido. They were scheduled to travel to Beijing after the Hokkaido trip before returning to Singapore.

In October, a group of 33 tourists from Singapore was involved in another accident in Hokkaido, when the tour bus they were in collided with a truck. The drivers of the bus and truck were both killed in the crash.

Several members of the group sustained minor injuries, and one was warded overnight.

Hokkaido is a popular destination for Singaporeans, especially during the winter season.

wengkin@sph.com.sg

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Many slam A*Star scientist's protest against her scholarship bond - Singapore Education News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/education/story/many-slam-astar-scientists-protest-against-her-scholarship-bond-20141

Many slam A*Star scientist's protest against her scholarship bond

SINGAPORE - The scientist and dancer who is protesting against her six-year scholarship bond because her job is "not aligned with her interests" has drawn mostly negative views, with many people disapproving her actions.

The Straits Times reported last week that Dr Eng Kai Er, a Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) scholar, had criticised the bond in a blog and set up a grant to give $1,000 a month from her salary to support arts projects for a year.

The newspaper has since received several forum letters and more than 840 comments, likes and shares on its Facebook page about the story. Most people felt the 30-year-old's actions smacked of a sense of entitlement and ingratitude after she received funding for two university degrees.

Mr George Er posted: "Why deprive others who deserve the scholarship more and who are willing to serve? Spending so many years graduating and then sweep it off as 'not my interest'?"

Many readers also said she ought to honour the scholarships by serving the full bond, before she goes on to pursue another interest.

Dr Lee Hock Seng, a Forum letter writer, said: "Scholarship holders are very fortunate people who were given financial support by their fellow citizens to further their studies, in view of their desire, commitment and potential capability to serve as leaders in specific fields, either in public service or in the private sector."

"Not keeping their end of the bargain after successfully completing their studies is not merely a breakdown of a transaction between the scholarship holder and the Government, but also a grave affront to the trust, honour and respect that we normally reserve for recipients who served our society humbly and dutifully," he added.

Some, like Mr Loh Wai Poon, wondered why she had taken up a second degree in science if she was not interested in it.

He said: "When she took the first one, she might be naive, inexperienced, unsure of what she wanted, but to take up a second scholarship in science which now she says she hates is just too incredible to believe."

Several readers were more sympathetic. Mr Kairin Simo said: "Wow the amount of anger from comments here is astounding. Instead of seeing her (Dr Eng's) action as a constructive thing, people are quick to judge her."

Mr Ace Kindred Cheong wrote to the Forum pages, saying: "I do not approve of her actions, but I can understand her predicament of having to work in a field in which she has no interest. Instead of simply criticising her, it is better to help her find a career she can contribute to."

Dr Eng, who has served two years of her bond, works in an A*Star research institute studying infectious diseases. She previously did an undergraduate stint at Britain's prestigious Cambridge University and a PhD in infection biology at Swedish medical university Karolinska Institute.

In a blog post last week, she wrote: "Eng Kai Er is not interested in science at all, but has to serve her bond or pay, as of 30 September 2014, around $741,657.37 in order to quit her job."

"Since she understands the pain of having a paid job that is not aligned with her interests, she wishes to change the world by having more instances of paid jobs aligned with people's interest."

It is believed she had unsuccessfully tried to transfer her bond to the National Arts Council.

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Baby body parts found in Bangkok package destined for US

BANGKOK (AFP) - The body parts of several babies have been found in a parcel destined for the United States, Thai police said on Sunday.

A baby's head, several feet and "sheets of skin" - including one taken from an adult and bearing a large tattoo - were discovered on Saturday after staff at a Bangkok parcel company scanned the package.

"They were not from one body," Police Major General Chawalit Prasopsin told AFP on Sunday.

"They have been sent for forensic examination to confirm if they were from babies who died after delivery or in the womb," Chawalit said.

The parts were found preserved in containers filled with formaldehyde solution, leading Chawalit to speculate they could be for "a collection or for educational purposes".

Police said they are investigating but did not reveal further details of where the packaged was addressed to in the US.

Local media, however, reported it was destined for an address in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 2012, Thai police discovered six human foetuses which had been roasted and covered in gold leaf as part of an apparent black magic ritual.

The grisly discovery was made in the luggage of a British citizen of Taiwanese origin. They were due to be sent to Taiwan.

In Thai black magic rituals, also observed among some Chinese communities, preserved foetuses are believed to bring good fortune to the owner and are often kept in shrines within homes or businesses.

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/baby-body-parts-found-bangkok-package-destined-us-20141116

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Celebrations begin for Berlin Wall's fall 25 years on

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany kicked off celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the epochal fall of the Berlin Wall on Friday, set to culminate in rock stars and freedom icons joining millions at an open-air party.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, was leading three days of commemorations for those killed trying to flee the repressive state, ahead of a giant festival on Sunday marking the joyous breach of Europe's Cold War division on Nov 9, 1989.

"I think you never forget how you felt that day - at least I will never forget it," Merkel, 60, said in a recent podcast.

"I had to wait 35 years for that feeling of liberty. It changed my life."

The festivities under the banner "Courage for Freedom" are remembering the peaceful revolution that led communist authorities to finally open the border after 28 years in which Easterners were prisoners of their own country.

Germany would reunite within the year, on Oct 3, 1990.

The city set up an ambitious installation featuring nearly 7,000 white balloons pegged to the ground along a 15km stretch of the Wall's former 155km path and dramatically illuminated them at dusk.

The glowing orbs, which from above look like a long string of pearls, are to be released on Sunday from their ropes and set free into the night sky, to the stirring strains of Beethoven's Ode To Joy.

Mayor Klaus Wowereit said the world's eyes would once again be trained on the now reunified German capital this weekend "with joy, goodwill and the knowledge that Berlin today is an open, tolerant and globally recognised metropolis in the heart of Europe".

'WRETCHED REMAINS'

Earlier on Friday, dissident singer Wolf Biermann, who was kicked out of East Germany in 1976, performed his protest song Ermutigung (Encouragement) in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, in a tribute to those who resisted the regime.

He used the opportunity to take a swipe at the far-left Linke, which has roots in East Germany's ruling party and had criticised Biermann's invitation to appear at the session.

"Your punishment is to have to listen to me here - enjoy," he called out to heckling Linke deputies, calling them "the wretched remains of what has fortunately been surmounted".

The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose "perestroika" and "glasnost" reforms helped pave the way for the Wall's fall, greeted crowds at the former Checkpoint Charlie border crossing.

Gorbachev, 83, who is revered here for having refrained from a bloody crackdown on protesters in 1989, will on Saturday join former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher for a debate about the legacy of those heady days, and the resurgence of tensions between Russia and the West.

That evening, Merkel will attend a memorial concert at Bertolt Brecht's historic Berliner Ensemble theatre opposite the former "Palace of Tears", where Easterners said goodbye to visitors returning to West Germany.

And on Sunday she will open a major exhibition on Bernauer Strasse, a street divided by the Wall that saw harrowing scenes of families and neighbours ripped apart overnight when the Wall went up in 1961.

Following a ceremony at the elegant Gendarmenmarkt square, at least two million people are expected to gather for an outdoor "citizens' festival" at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German unity.

There, Gorbachev and former Polish president and freedom icon Lech Walesa, 71, will join German head of state Joachim Gauck, 74, a former pastor and rights activist in the East, and Hungarian ex-premier Miklos Nemeth, 66.

Entertainment will range from the Berlin State Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Barenboim to a fireworks display and performances by East German rock band Silly and techno musician Paul Kalkbrenner.

British singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel will perform the Wall anthem Heroes, which David Bowie recorded when he lived in then West Berlin.

The East German authorities built the Wall, which they called an "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart", in August 1961 to halt a mass exodus to the West.

On Nov 9, 1989, East German border guards, overwhelmed by large crowds, threw open the gates to West Berlin, allowing free passage for the first time since it was built.

At least 389 people lost their lives trying to escape communist East Germany, according to an official toll, although victims groups put the figure much higher.