There are plenty of things a couple about to get married fret about – everything from the most minute of details such as the bride’s nails to the wedding venue.
A website in Singapore, known as…
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Joseph Schooling flying home to Singapore: "Just want chye tow kway"
Singapore’s Olympic hero Joseph Schooling will be returning home with the country’s first ever gold medal on Monday morning (Aug 15).
Twitter account @sgolympics tweeted a video of our young national pride checking in at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport at 1.52am on Aug 14.
According to The Straits Times, he is scheduled to touch down at Changi Airport at 5.30am on Singapore Airlines flight SQ67 on Aug 15.
The 21-year-old made history after smashing the current Olympic record and clocked a swim time of 50.39 at the Men’s 100m Butterfly. He also beat the legendary Michael Phelps, who has won 22 Olympic gold medals at time of reporting.
Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin teased that he is on the same flight as Schooling, posting a Facebook status that he ‘brought something special’ home.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also called the 21-year-old Olympic champion to congratulate him.
According to PM Lee’s Facebook post, Joseph Schooling also told him that he was returning on Monday Morning.
Here’s Schooling on board the flight SQ 67:
Speaking to ST aboard the flight, Schooling said, “Just want to be home, eat Chye tow kway (fried carrot cake).”
The pilot of the flight announced to passengers that Schooling and his mother May are on board and congratulated the Olympic champion on his gold medal win.
The Straits Times, Reuters, AFP
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Open top bus victory parade planned for Olympic champion Schooling
SINGAPORE- Joseph Schooling’s historic achievement of winning Singapore’s first-ever Olympic gold medal is set to be widely celebrated by the Republic, with an open top bus victory parade planned for him by local sports governing body Sport Singapore…
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Olympics: Phelps signs off with 23rd gold medal
Rio de Janeiro – Michael Phelps brought down the curtain on his glittering Olympic career when he helped the USA win 4x100m medley relay gold at the Rio Games on Saturday, taking his personal tally to 23.
Phelps took the lead in the third leg, the butterfly, before Nathan Adrian brought it home as the United States won ahead of Britain and Australia.
Phelps and his teammates took the deck to a thunderous ovation and Ryan Murphy got the Americans off to a blazing start, clocking a world record 51.85sec on the opening backstroke leg.
But Adam Peaty, who twice broke the 100m breaststroke world record en route to gold in Rio, got past American Cody Miller on the second leg, pulling Great Britain from sixth to first.
That meant Phelps hit the water for the third butterfly leg with work to do, and the superstar, swimming his fifth and final Olympics, didn’t disappoint.
He overhauled Britain’s James Guy to send Adrian into the final freestyle leg with a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
The Americans won in an Olympic record of 3min 27.95sec with Great Britain’s Chris Walker-Hebborn, Peaty, Guy and Duncan Scott second in 3:29.24. Australia’s Mitch Larkin, Jake Packard, David Morgan and Kyle Chalmers took bronze in 3:29.93.
The victory continued America’s stranglehold on an event they have never lost in Olympic competition.
And it gave Phelps his fifth gold of the Rio Games after his triumphs in the 4x100m free, 4x200m free, 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, with a silver in the 100m fly for good measure.
Reuters, The Straits Times, NTUC Healthcare
J-pop group SMAP to break up on New Year's Eve
TOKYO – Popular pop group SMAP will split on Dec 31 this year, their current agency, Johnny & Associates, announced early on Sunday morning (Aug 14).
In January this year, the all-male group was reported to be on the verge of a break-up, but all the five members appeared together on live TV and expressed their intention to continue as a group.
Several members of SMAP requested the agency to break up the group, which led to Sunday’s decision. All the members will stay in the agency.
They are Takuya Kimura, Masahiro Nakai, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori.
Thai bomb attacks: Red shirts in South taken in for questioning
An undisclosed number of political leaders in the South, including some red shirts, have been detained and are being interrogated as part of an ongoing investigation into the deadly bomb attacks late last week that left four people dead and more than 30 others injured.
They were detained by local |security officers yesterday for |questioning and are likely to be sent to the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok later for further questioning, sources familiar with the matter said.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has denied any connection to the explosions and apparent arson attacks in seven southern provinces last Thursday and Friday. Thaksin has also threatened to sue anyone making “false accusations” that he was behind the attacks, according to his spokesman Noppadon Pattama, a politician from the Pheu Thai Party.
Reuters, Twitter, AFP
“People are sending messages through social media accusing Thaksin Shinawatra of being behind these events,” said Noppadon, who once served as foreign minister in a Thaksin proxy government.
“This is slander and defamation. All the former prime ministers love and worry for the country. None of them would condone such evil acts,” he said.
In order to protect his reputation, Thaksin has assigned his lawyers to file a police complaint this week against those making accusations against him, Noppadon said.
Early yesterday morning, some 30 police and military officers as well as officials from the provincial authority raided the home of Prapas Rojanapitak, a 67-year-old red-shirt leader in Trang, one of the southern provinces hit by the explosions.
He was taken to the local police station for questioning and later driven to a military camp in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Sources said the military is expected to fly him to Bangkok for further interrogation.
Prapas, a former communist insurgent, admitted that he was politically active, but said he had never thought of carrying out any violent acts. He said he had been told he would be taken to meet the Fourth Army Region commander, who is in charge of the South and that he was being detained under Article 44 of the post-coup Interim Charter.
A number of political leaders in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung provinces were also “invited” for questioning yesterday in connection with the bomb attacks. Two of them were identified as Wichien Jiamsawat, 67, and Wiroj Yodcharoen, 59.
They will be taken to the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok for “in-depth” interrogation, the sources said, adding, however, that it had not been confirmed if they were involved in the attacks.
At the Royal Thai Police headquarters, deputy national police chief Pol General Sriwara Ransibhramanakul called a meeting of investigators yesterday from units such as the Crime Suppression and Explosive Ordnance Disposal divisions.
Police investigators summoned
Sriwara however refused to disclose details of the meeting, which lasted over an hour, saying only that national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda would be able to elaborate. Another meeting would be held with investigators this morning, he said.
Police sources said that evidence collected from the crime scenes in the seven southern provinces had been taken to the Office of Forensic Science for examination.
No one has claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks, though the authorities have ruled out international terrorism, describing the attacks as acts of “local sabotage”.
Deputy police chief Pol General Pongsapat Pongcharoen said: “We are confident this was the work of a network with a mastermind.”
Pongsapat said yesterday that no suspects had been arrested, adding that only witnesses have been questioned. He also maintained that no “scapegoats” would be arrested simply to please the public.
In Surat Thani, Pol Lt-General Thesa Siriwatho, commander of Police Region 8, said yesterday that he was confident there would be “good news” within a day or two in relation to the police investigation. He also reported that to Pongsapat during a videoconferencing meeting yesterday.
Meanwhile, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) yesterday dismissed as groundless a rumour that the explosions could be the work of the military.
“The military will never harm the people. I can vouch for that with my life,” NCPO spokesman Colonel Piyapong Klinphan said.
Two explosive devices were found at the Bang Niang weekend market in Phang Nga’s Takua Pa district yesterday. The market was partially damaged by a fire on Friday, suspected to be an arson attack.
Police bomb disposal experts found that the two improvised bombs, made to be detonated with a mobile phone, had failed to work properly hence they did not explode.
Actor Kenny Baker, Star Wars' R2-D2, dies aged 81
LONDON – Kenny Baker, the British actor who starred as plucky robot R2-D2 in the “Star Wars” movies, died on Saturday at the age of 81, his agent and relatives said.
“Kenny Baker has sadly passed away and was found on Saturday morning by his nephew Drew, who was also his carer in the latter part of his life,” his agent Johnny Mans said in a statement to AFP.
He said he had been ill for some time, adding: “Kenny was truly a great friend, one of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet and a fabulous and talented performer.”
Baker’s nephew, Drew Myerscough, told local media his uncle had suffered respiratory problems for almost a decade.
Baker, who measured just one metre tall (three foot, eight inches), played the resourceful droid known for his whistles and beeps in 1977’s “Star Wars” and in the five following movies.
AsiaOne, The New Paper, AFP, Reuters, PR Newswire
Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the first three films, paid tribute to a “lifelong loyal friend”.
“I loved his optimism & determination. He WAS the droid I was looking for!” he wrote on Twitter, posting old black and white photos of them together.
20th Century Fox posted a photograph of Baker’s character and his on-screen sidekick C3PO, saying: “Rest in peace, Kenny Baker, the heart and soul of R2-D2.”
A wheelchair-bound Baker attended the European premiere in London of last year’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, in which he received a mention in the credits.
“Unfortunately he was too ill to be part of the new Star Wars films,” his niece Abigail Shield told Sky News television. “But he was consulted by certain people.”
20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Gizmodo, Wikimedia Commons
‘Loved throughout the world’
She had earlier told The Guardian newspaper: “He brought lots of happiness to people and we’ll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world.
“We’re all very proud of what he achieved in his lifetime.”
British actor Ewan McGregor, who starred in the three Star Wars prequels, wrote on Twitter: “So sorry to hear about this. It was lovely working with Kenny.”
The latest instalment of the franchise, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, is due out in December.
According to his official website, Kenny was born in Birmingham on August 24, 1934. He began performing at the age of 16 with a troupe called “Burton Lester’s Midgets”.
As well as “Star Wars”, he starred in cult movies from the 1980s such as “Time Bandits” and “Flash Gordon”.
Olympics: Green pools caused by hydrogen peroxide dump – Rio organisers
RIO DE JANEIRO – The “embarrassing” emerald green water in the pools at the Rio aquatics centre that left some athletes with itchy eyes is the result of an unplanned dump of hydrogen peroxide into the water, Olympic organisers said on Saturday (Aug 13).
A contractor added 80 litres of hydrogen peroxide to each of the diving and water polo pools last Friday but organisers said they only found out on Tuesday when the water in the diving pool turned green from its typical blue during the women’s 10m platform final.
According to organisers, the addition of hydrogen peroxide neutralised the chlorine and allowed algae to bloom.
“This is a way of cleaning swimming pools but you’re not supposed to combine it with chlorine,” Gustavo Nascimento, Rio 2016’s director of venue management, told reporters.
“We were not consulted, our contractor’s failure is our failure.”
Reuters, AFP
The green pools have become a huge headache for organisers of the Rio Games, becoming the butt of “swamp” jokes among the millions of spectators in the stands and watching in television. Some water polo players have complained about itchy eyes.
The electronic monitoring system for the pools at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center was functioning but was fooled by the chemical reaction to think that the chlorine was still working, Nascimento said.
The fact that 120 athletes were using the diving pool also increased the amount of “organics” in the water, he added.
To treat the water, which organisers said does not pose any risk to athletes, they have been stabilising the chemistry and trying to make the algae more dense to clean it up but were racing against time to avoid disrupting competition schedules.
Nascimento said 10 hours will be spent draining and replacing the water in the pool that will be used for the synchronised swimming event, which begins on Sunday, where competitors need to see each other under water.
The organisers will keep the water in the diving pool and continue treatment, as it did not seem to concern the athletes as much, they said.
By Saturday afternoon, the water in the waterpolo and synchronised swimming pool had already turned a cloudy blue, while the diving pool remained a murky blue-ish green.
Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada, who declined to answer questions on who the contractor was or who would pay for the treatment, had previously said the issue would be solved by Wednesday but admitted they had overpromised and undelivered.
“Of course it’s an embarrassment,” said Andrada. “This was probably the only issue that we were unable to solve quickly.”
Singapore football has gone wrong: R Vengadasalam
R Vengadasalam goes On The Record 938LIVE about some hard truths about Singapore football and what he and his team can deliver that the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) cannot.
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I was almost recruited into a terrorism group
Six men were arrested in Batam on Aug 5 in connection with the terror plot against Singapore.
One of them was released later. He says he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr Tegar Sucianto’s friend Hadi…
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