New pilot scheme to fund youth projects which promote family bonding

SINGAPORE: The National Family Council has launched a pilot scheme to encourage youths to start projects that promote family values and bonding,

The scheme, called Project Superglue, will provide successful applicants a one-time funding of up to S$10,000.

Some of these projects will be showcased in June 2013 as part of the council's National Family Celebrations.

One group which received funds created a collection of tales called "Happily Ever After...Now What?" They put their own spin on well-known fairy tales, incorporating information about fertility issues.

Nanyang Technological University undergraduate Chan Luo Er said the group plans to distribute their books in universities here.

She said: "Fertility is a hard topic, so fairy tales are actually a softer way to draw our audience in, before we actually educate them about the hard facts. The storylines are really short, they're a bit snarky. Youths of our age would be able to relate to them better because they're kind of sarcastic."

-CNA/ac

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Grammys show aims for spectacle, not drama

LOS ANGELES: The music world gathers in Los Angeles on Sunday for the Grammys, with veterans like Elton John and Sting joining the latest stars -- including oddly named indie pop band fun., hoping to win big.

Security could be even tighter than usual for the industry's biggest awards show, as LA police watch out for a fugitive suspected cop killer, on the run for three days after threatening to murder more officers.

Organizers will be hoping to avoid drama which the Grammys seem to attract -- last year with the death of Whitney Houston on the eve of the show; and a few years before, the infamous Chris Brown-Rihanna domestic assault.

Rihanna is among the stars set to take the stage Sunday night at the Staples Center, along with the likes of Frank Ocean, The Black Keys, Jack White, Kelly Clarkson and Gotye.

But New York band fun. topped nominations announced in December, shortlisted in six categories including the key ones of best album ("Some Nights"), song ("We are Young"), record (for producers of "We are Young") and best new artist.

Rap artist Frank Ocean also scored six nominations, including for best album (the critically acclaimed "Channel Orange"), record of the year ("Thinkin Bout You"), best new artist and best urban contemporary album.

Also vying for best album are three-time Grammy winners The Black Keys for "El Camino," British rock-folk group Mumford & Sons for "Babel" and rocker Jack White for "Blunderbuss."

Record of the year contenders also include The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy," Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

Last year's Grammys were dominated by British soul songstress Adele, who collected six awards, including album of the year for "21" -- only the second woman in Grammy history to collect so many awards in a single go.

Nominated for best song this year were British balladeer Ed Sheeran's "The A Team," Miguel's "Adorn," Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and Clarkson's "Stronger," alongside "We Are Young."

In the Grammy show's traditional In Memoriam segment, Elton John will join fellow British stars Mumford & Sons and others in paying tribute to Levon Helm, the late drummer and singer with The Band.

Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar, who died in December, is set to receive a posthumous lifetime achievement Grammy. US singer-songwriter Carole King, known for hits like "You've Got a Friend," is also honored for her whole career.

And Chris Brown could not steer clear of drama, wrecking his Porsche in Beverly Hills, and blaming paparazzi for the crash, police said.

No one was injured in the crash, and Brown was photographed being hugged by Rihanna, his on-again Barbadian-pop star girlfriend, after the incident.

LA police already were due to be out in force to protect the stars and crowds -- but also on the lookout for former cop Christopher Dorner, accused of killing three people and threatening to kill more officers, in a chilling online manifesto.

A vast manhunt has been under way since Thursday, but he has so far evaded capture. Former LA deputy police chief John Miller said Dorner could be attracted to the large concentration of police.

"There will be the Grammys Sunday in Los Angeles, where you will have a major police command post," said Miller.

"One problem is, can they get enough cops to police the Grammys, when they have had everyone out deployed on this?"

On the eve of the show, a leaked letter from US television network CBS -- which broadcasts the Grammys live -- warned stars not to reveal too much skin on stage Sunday night.

"Please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered... Thong-type costumes are problematic. Please avoid exposing bare flesh under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack," it said.

- AFP/ck

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Japan suggests hotline to Beijing over island spat

TOKYO: Japan has suggested setting up a military hotline with China to avoid clashes between the two countries, which are at loggerheads over a group of disputed islands, Tokyo's defence minister said Saturday.

The proposal came after Tokyo accused a Chinese frigate of locking its weapons-tracking radar on a Japanese destroyer -- a claim Beijing has denied.

The incident, which Japan said happened last week, marked the first time the two nations' navies have locked horns in a territorial dispute that provoked fears of armed conflict breaking out between the two.

The neighbours -- also the world's second and third-largest economies -- have seen ties sour over the uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Tokyo and Diaoyu by Beijing, which also claims them.

"What's important is to create a hotline, so that we would be able to communicate swiftly when this kind of incident happens," Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.

He said Tokyo told Beijing on Thursday through its embassy in China that it wants to resume talks on creating a "seaborne communication mechanism" between military officials of both countries.

In 2010 China and Japan agreed to establish a hotline between political leaders following a series of naval incidents, but the plan has yet to materialise.

Defence officials of the two countries also agreed in 2011 to set up a military-to-military hotline by the end of last year, but the talks stalled due to heightened tensions over the territorial row.

Onodera also said Japan was considering disclosing evidence to bolster its accusation of the lock-on incident, after Beijing rejected the charge.

"We have evidence. The government is considering the extent of what can be disclosed", because it includes confidential information on Japan's defence capability, Onodera said.

The comments came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanded Beijing apologise and admit the incident took place.

Tokyo has also charged that last month a Chinese frigate's radar locked on to a Japanese helicopter, in a procedure known as "painting" that is a precursor to firing weaponry.

For both alleged incidents, on January 19 and January 30, China's defence ministry said in a statement to AFP that the Chinese ship-board radar maintained normal operations and "fire-control radar was not used".

Onodera said on Saturday that Japan could prove the frigate used a fire-control radar, instead of an early-warning radar that China insists was used as part of normal operations.

"An early-warning radar turns around repeatedly, while a fire-control radar keeps pointing to a moving ship that it targets at," Onodera said.

"We have evidences that the radar followed after our ship for a certain period of time," he said, adding that Japan recorded a radio frequency that is peculiar to a fire-control radar.

The long-running row over the islands intensified in September when Tokyo nationalised part of the chain, triggering fury in Beijing and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China.

Beijing has repeatedly sent ships and aircraft near the islands and both sides have scrambled fighter jets, though there have been no clashes.

"Activities of Chinese official ships around Senkaku islands have calmed", since Tuesday, when Japan disclosed the radar incident, Onodera said.

Abe, the hawkish Japanese premier, on Thursday called the incident "extremely regrettable", "dangerous" and "provocative", but also said dialogue must remain an option.

- AFP/ck

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29 killed in Iraq car bombs against Shiites

BAGHDAD: A spate of car bombs in Shiite areas of Iraq, including two blasts minutes apart at a popular bird market, killed at least 29 people on Friday, the latest in a spike in violence amid a political crisis.

The attacks, which left nearly 70 others wounded, primarily targeted marketplaces that are often crowded on Fridays, the weekly holiday in Iraq, and took the death toll from a week of violence to more than 100.

Twin explosions that struck at a bird market in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah, site of the shrine of a revered figure in Shiite Islam, killed at least 16 people and wounded 43 others, security and medical officials said.

The two car bombs were set off just after 9:00 am in the market, which is typically packed with people on a Friday.

Militants have targeted Baghdad's crowded bird markets in the past.

On February 1, 2008 -- also a Friday -- 100 people were killed by two explosions in such markets in central and east Baghdad.

The explosives were strapped to two mentally-impaired women and then triggered by remote control in coordinated blasts, a top Iraqi security official said at the time.

And in the predominantly-Shiite Iraqi province of Babil on Friday, two car bombs in the town of Shomali, south of Baghdad, killed 13 people and wounded 26 others, according to security and medical officials.

The first explosion went off on the town's outskirts, while the second was detonated in a market. Among the casualties were women and children, the medics said.

Sunni militants, including Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, often target Shiite neighbourhoods with deadly attacks in a bid to push the country back to the sectarian bloodshed that blighted it from 2005 to 2008.

The violence is the latest in a spike in unrest in Iraq, which has been struck by waves of car bombs and suicide attacks in recent weeks amid a political crisis and weeks of rallies in Sunni-majority areas calling for the ouster of Shiite prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.

A total of 102 people have been killed in violence nationwide in the past week, and January was the deadliest month in Iraq since September according to an AFP tally.

Among the attacks since Saturday was a string of three suicide bombings in as many days.

- AFP/xq

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Emergency calls to SCDF up 9%

SINGAPORE: The total number of calls to the Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) Emergency Ambulance Service rose by over 8 per cent - from 131,806 cases in 2011 to 142,549 cases in 2012.

Emergency calls rose 9 per cent from 125,966 cases in 2011 to 137,341 cases in 2012. SCDF said the increase reflects the growing demand for ambulance services from an ageing population.

The data was released in SCDF's annual Fire, Ambulance and Enforcement Statistics.

For emergency calls, SCDF said there was an increase of almost 11.8 per cent of medical emergency cases from 89,944 cases in 2011 to 100,541 cases in 2012.

SCDF saw a significant drop of over 25 per cent in the number of non-emergency calls received - 2,232 cases in 2012 compared to 2,995 cases in 2011. SCDF attributes this reduction to the higher level of public awareness about the misuse of the Emergency Ambulance Services.

On the fire incidents and fire safety enforcement front, SCDF responded to a total of 4,485 fires in 2012 - a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent from the 4,470 fires in 2011. Of the 4,485 fires, 46 per cent involved rubbish and discarded items in residential premises.

SCDF said fires involving discarded items especially at common areas in HDB estates remains a concern.

These fires form the second biggest component of residential fires, accounting for almost a quarter of the total number of residential fires in 2012.

Last year, 18 people were injured in fires that involved discarded items.

So SCDF will step up public education on the dangers of discarding items at common areas in HDB estates.

The main cause of fires is what is termed as "dropped light". This refers to the indiscriminate disposal of lighted materials like lighted cigarette butts that were not completely extinguished, embers from charcoal, lighted incense sticks and matchsticks.

Last year, over 53 per cent of 4,485 cases of fires were caused by "dropped light".

Assistant director of the Operations Department at SCDF, LTC G Gobiselven, said: "Such fires can be big in nature. And being so near to residential units, in fact, there were 18 casualties arising from such fire incidents last year.

"To tackle the problem, the SCDF and its partners have recently launched a campaign to increase public awareness on the dangers of leaving discarded items at the common areas of residential premises. This includes fire safety radio messages and stickers with pictorial fire safety advisory on the lift doors of HDB flats."

- CNA/ck

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Bill introduced to protect private home buyers

SINGAPORE: Amendments to the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Bill was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday to protect the interests of home buyers of uncompleted private residential properties.

Last year, the Housing Developers Rules were amended to better protect home buyers.

Developers now have to provide scaled location plans, unit floor plans and detailed breakdowns of a unit's floor area to home buyers to enable them to make better-informed decisions.

Key amendments to the Act have been made in the areas which include more comprehensive and timely information to the public, enhancing governance of developers and increasing the penalties for offences.

- CNA/fa

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MP proposes amendment to motion on White Paper on Population

SINGAPORE: Member of Parliament (MP) for Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency, Liang Eng Hwa, has proposed an amendment to the original motion being debated in Parliament on the White Paper on Population.

He said reflecting the concerns raised by Singaporeans, he proposes to amend the motion to further reinforce the point that Parliament supports maintaining a strong Singaporean core.

This is by encouraging more Singaporeans to get married and have children.

He said: "A key thrust of strengthening our Singaporean core in the workforce is to help enhance the employability of Singaporeans and prepare Singaporeans for the competition. We need to help our citizens better maximise our so-called 'home ground advantage' and benefit from the job opportunities available and get higher salaries.

"What would work against the strengthening of Singaporean core is where foreigners are seen to be taking up jobs that Singaporeans can do. There are clearly still many examples of that in some sectors. We need employers to be more conscious of that."

Mr Liang also wanted to add clarity to the motion by recognizing that the population projection beyond 2020 is for the purpose of land use and infrastructural planning and not a population target.

The MP stressed that Singapore's leaders will not get the buy-in from Singaporeans on the country's long term plans if it has not demonstrated that the government is serious in resolving the current bottlenecks.

He said: "We need to invest big to create space and capacity to cope with higher population and to sustain a high quality living environment. We also need a long term economic strategy that can continue to create good and fulfilling jobs for our citizens.

"Bearing in mind, come 2020, we will have at least 16,000 Singaporeans per year graduating from local universities and many others from the polys and ITEs. We need to keep creating good employment for these graduates every year.

"Economic growth sustains our financial ability to pay for the higher social spending so that our retired citizens can age with dignity and security. Too low an economic growth will change that equation and things may balance out. That is exactly what this population White Paper and Land Use Plan is all about. And I agree with DPM Teo that it is about doing the balancing acts. And that every issue is interlinked with one another and so you can't just take one piece and say we should do more or do less."

Mr Liang said the government also needs to assure Singaporeans that the population policies are meant to benefit citizens.

- CNA/xq

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Asian shares end mixed following late profit-taking

SINGAPORE : Asian markets were mixed on Monday as late profit-taking offset a rally on Wall Street that was fuelled by upbeat jobs data out of the United States.

The euro and US dollar eased slightly against the yen after racking up healthy gains in New York on Friday.

Tokyo closed 0.62 percent higher, adding 69.01 points to a 33-month high of 11,260.35, while Seoul slipped 0.23 percent, or 4.58 points, to 1,953.21, and Sydney fell 0.28 percent, or 13.6 points, to 4,907.5.

Hong Kong fell 0.16 percent as dealers cashed in profits after the index spent most of the day in positive territory and around one-and-a-half-year highs.

The Hang Seng Index fell 36.83 points to end at 23,685.01, while Shanghai rose 0.38 percent, or 9.13 points, to 2,428.15.

US traders sent the Dow to a more than five-year high Friday on the back of the latest jobs data.

The labour department report showed employers added 157,000 jobs in January, fewer than expected, and the jobless rate inched up to 7.9 percent.

However, revised data for all of 2012 showed net job growth at an average of 181,000 a month, up from a prior estimate of 153,000.

The Dow rallied 1.08 percent to 14,009.79, above 14,000 points for the first time since October 2007. The index is just shy of the record high 14,164.53 seen on October 9, 2007.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 1.01 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 1.18 percent.

"The economic momentum in the US is quite good," Khiem Do, head of Asian multi-asset at Baring Asset Management in Hong Kong, told Dow Jones Newswires.

"The US is basking in good news at the moment because the debt negotiations have kicked the can down the road," he added, referring to a delay until May to negotiations on raising the country's debt ceiling.

And UniCredit's Harm Bandholz in the United States said the updates to the 2012 data "highlight even more how remarkably resilient the US labor market has been over the last two quarters".

The jobs figures sent the dollar and euro higher against the yen on Friday, and the units dipped on profit-taking Monday in Tokyo forex trade.

The US dollar bought 92.74 yen against 92.80 yen in New York late on Friday, while the euro sat at 126.16 yen and $1.3604, compared with 126.60 yen and $1.3637.

Eyes will turn later in the week to China, which is due to release key data on inflation and trade ahead of the Chinese New Year public holiday.

Australia's central bank will also announce the outcome of its policy setting meeting, with analysts expecting it to keep interest rates on hold.

In other markets:

Taipei rose 0.86 percent, or 67.19 points, to 7,923.16. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 1.48 percent higher at Tw$103.0 while Fubon Financial Holding rallied 3.56 percent to Tw$39.3.

Manila rose 1.86 percent, or 117.37 points, to 6,435.98, a new record. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. added 2.13 percent to 2,880 pesos and Ayala Corp. gained 4.8 percent to 574 pesos.

Wellington ended flat, edging up 0.47 points to 4,246,40. Air New Zealand was up 2.38 percent at NZ$1.29 and Fletcher Building slipped 2.23 percent to NZ$9.19.

- AFP/ch

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Govt has to and will deliver high quality: K Shanmugam

SINGAPORE: Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said the range of views expressed about the 6.9 million population projection set out in the White Paper are completely understandable.

He was speaking to reporters at a hong bao presentation ceremony at his Chong Pang Division.

He said businesses are unhappy about the lack of growth in the labour force but there are also those who are concerned about the 6.9 million figure.

"They say 'I have difficulties with infrastructure, transport, housing with today's population and you want to increase it even more, doesn't make sense,' - that's a reaction and it is understandable.

"The government has got to explain two points. The first is we have to and will solve the current infrastructure problems and second for this long term planning, whatever the size of the population, 6.9 million is not the target, the infrastructure must be adequate and deliver high quality of life.

"That has to be a cast iron position that the government has to deliver and will deliver," he said.

- CNA/ck

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Projected 6.9m population basis for healthcare planning: Gan

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the projected 6.9 million population by 2030 in the White Paper will serve as a basis for planning efforts to ensure sufficient capacity in the healthcare sector.

He also said his ministry is adjusting its plans to be able to meet future healthcare needs.

Mr Gan stressed that the 6.9 million figure is not a target.

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Taiwan premier resigns over flagging economy

TAIPEI: Taiwanese Premier Sean Chen said Friday he has stepped down for health reasons, after the cabinet he heads came under fire for its poor handling of the economy.

"I have some health problems ... and I need to completely change my life and work style to reverse the situation," the 63-year-old finance expert told a press conference to announce his resignation.

"I believe that the economy will improve in the coming year. We have worked very hard on the planning for long-term issues and I hope everybody will continue to support the new team."

Deputy premier Jiang Yi-huah, 53, a scholar-turned-politician and a former interior minister, will take over his job, Chen said.

Chen's departure came as Taiwan's economy grew 1.25 percent in 2012 from a year ago at the slowest pace in three years due to shrinking exports.

Chen, who previously headed the Financial Supervisory Commission, the main industry regulator, had a tense term since taking office as premier in early 2012.

His cabinet frequently came under attacks over the sluggish economy and other controversial policies, with the opposition repeatedly demanding his resignation.

Last year, Chen survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote - only the second in Taiwan history - over what opposition lawmakers deemed as his cabinet's failure to curb rising unemployment and inflation.

Under Taiwan's political system the premier heads the cabinet and is appointed by the president.

- AFP/de

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Four arrested for suspected thefts from the elderly

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested four men suspected of stealing from the elderly.

On January 10, police received reports of theft in some housing estates by men who approached the victims and offered to pray in their residences.

The suspects targeted elderly victims who were alone at home during the day.

The four suspects, aged between 21 and 55 years, were arrested along Syed Alwi Road on Thursday.

Four men will be charged in court on Friday.

- CNA/de

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Greater community support helps ex-offenders

SINGAPORE: Greater community support for ex-offenders has paid off -- with overall fewer ex-inmates imprisoned for re-offending -- according to the Singapore Prison Service's annual report card.

However, drug offenders who were released from Drug Rehabilitation Centres recorded a higher percentage of re-offending.

For some inmates who have no family support, they might not have a job or a home to return to after they are released.

Chavez Ong, a specialist in correctional rehabilitation with the Singapore Prison Service, said: "We actually work together with our partners, like the HDB -- we've been liasing with them to look into the (housing) issue.

"We also look into halfway houses for placement. And we also try to reach out to their families again, because for us, family involvement during the rehabilitation process is one of the very crucial factors."

The greater community support for ex-prisoners has paid off. The Singapore Prison Service said that the overall recidivism rate -- which is the rate at which prisoners re-offend and return to jail within two years of release -- fell to 23.6 per cent for those released in 2010, down from 26.7 per cent for those who were released in 2009.

On average, about 9,000 local inmates are released from prison each year. In 1998, the recidivism rate was 44.4 per cent, but in recent years it has hovered around 26 to 27 per cent.

About 20 per cent more employers have joined the effort to hire ex-offenders, which means more inmates found jobs before they were released.

The number of employers who are part of the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises now stands at 3,457, compared with 2,872 in 2011, and 2,459 in 2010. Most of the jobs are in manufacturing, logistics, and food & beverage.

For a third year running, more inmates found jobs before they were released.

More volunteers have also joined the community outreach programme to support the families of these inmates. The programme now has 390 registered and trained volunteers -- an increase of 69 per cent from 2011.

But for drug offenders, a higher number re-offended. The recidivism rate for those released from the drug rehabilitation centres in 2010 was 27.5 per cent -- slightly higher than the 27.1 per cent of 2009.

To tackle this, repeat drug offenders at higher risk of re-offending must now go through a more robust mandatory supervision programme upon their release.

Besides urine tests and electronic monitoring, there will also be compulsory case work and counselling.

Rubiana Shamsul, a reintegration officer with the Singapore Prison Service, said: "So basically these offenders will actually face challenges when they go back to their old neighbourhood and they would be facing their old circle of friends and that's where the temptation would come in. So from there, we're trying to curb this by having our regular counselling sessions.

"Another challenge they would be facing is finding gainful employment -- we'd like to motivate them to have pro-social activities in their leisure time, so they don't have the temptation to go back to doing what they were doing before."

About 1,000 drug offenders are expected to be supervised this way in 2013 and 2014.

-CNA/ac

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North Korea threatens "merciless" retaliation on South

SEOUL: North Korea on Tuesday vowed "merciless" retaliation against the South for its support of UN sanctions, as Seoul urged Pyongyang to step back from a widely expected nuclear test.

The perennially tense situation on the Korean peninsula has been stretched to its limit in the past week, with almost daily threats from the North that it is preparing to conduct a nuclear test as a riposte to the expanded sanctions.

A lengthy commentary published on Tuesday by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reiterated that the sanctions resolution passed by the UN Security Council was tantamount to a "declaration of war".

Noting what it called the South's "despicable" support for the resolution, KCNA said it was an act of gross provocation that would not go unanswered.

"The provokers will meet only merciless retaliatory blows," it said.

The commentary made no specific mention of the nuclear test that the North's top military body had explicitly signalled in a statement carried by KCNA last week.

The National Defence Commission had said the test was aimed at "arch-enemy" the United States, which had proposed the UN resolution penalising Pyongyang for a banned rocket launch in December.

In Seoul, the foreign ministry on Tuesday noted that the UN resolution had warned of further "significant action" against the North it it proceeds with another test.

"The government once again strongly urges North Korea to pay heed to the continued warnings from the international community and not push ahead with any further provocations, including a nuclear test," spokesman Cho Tai-Young said.

"I don't really understand why North Korea is sticking to an act that threatens security in the region at a time when its people are struggling from a lack of food," Cho said.

South Korean defence officials have said they believe the North is capable of conducting a nuclear test "any time" and announced on Tuesday the creation of a special task force to monitor the site of its two previous tests in 2006 and 2009.

The task force was set up by the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff and is studying data and intelligence being collected by state institutions and independent experts, defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters.

The state-run Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has set up a situation room to receive and process seismic information that might indicate when a test is conducted, he added.

The institute detected an "artificial earthquake" about 40 seconds after the North's second nuclear test in 2009.

- AFP/al

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EU calls for more entrepreneurs

BRUSSELS: Policy makers in Europe want to convince more people to become entrepreneurs in order to bring back jobs and growth to the struggling bloc.

Critics have argued too many start-ups in a volatile financial climate will only struggle to survive while others said business-minded self-starters are born, not bred.

Policy makers in Brussels are more and more adamant that self-made businessmen and women will become the job creators Europe desperately needs.

The EU wants more entrepreneurial training at schools and universities, tax reductions for small businesses and the revision of insolvency rules countries so that honest failures don't inhibit entrepreneurs from trying again.

EU commissioner for enterprise, Mr Antonio Tajani, said: "We focus on entrepreneurs because entrepreneurs are innovative and they are the ones who come up with ideas. Even small entrepreneurs create jobs and growth over the last few years."

Traditionally, Europeans have been reluctant entrepreneurs. Last year, only 37 per cent of citizens were willing to launch their own business compared to levels of over 50 per cent of people in the US, China and Brazil.

Oliver Witmeur, from the Solvay Business School Entrepreneurship Academy said: "In the US and UK, entrepreneurship is positive. In Europe, we are more complicated. We don't like failure and success."

At the Solvay business school in Brussels, the Entrepreneurship academy has been running for thirty years. Despite the crisis and thanks to the growing role of technology, more and more students are singing up to the course.

Many point to Europe's complicated and inflexible labour laws as a key obstacle to more jobs and growth. However, there are voices who argue that more startups may be enough to jumpstart Europe's recovery.

Mr Witmeur said: "If you look at the big firms, the number of jobs is more or less decreasing. If you take the very small firms, there is same number of people coming in and exit. But the real growth drivers are growth in small number of companies in what we call the "gazelle" and they are creating new jobs"

Europe's unemployment crisis will force many into entrepreneurship out of necessity.

On the positive side, it may mean many out of a job will decide to pursue a life-long business idea, in hope that the EU's new action plan will inject some inspiration and make it easier for them.

- CNA/fa

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Sri Lanka hotel in hot water over 'Buddha Bar' dinner

COLOMBO: Two hotel managers have been arrested in Sri Lanka for organising a "nirvana-style" dinner with "Buddha Bar" music that hurt the religious feelings of locals, police said Sunday.

The executives from a deluxe beach hotel at Beruwala, outside of the capital, were remanded in custody till Monday after allegations that their promotional material offended Buddhists, police spokesman Prisantha Jayakody said.

"The two managers were arrested on a charge of causing offence to Buddhists," Jayakody told AFP. "We took them into custody a few days ago and produced them before a magistrate after a complaint from a Buddhist monk."

The hotel management said an internal memo to staff described the dinner last week as a "nirvana-style" buffet with Buddha Bar music, but they meant no offence to any religious group.

Sri Lanka has slapped a de facto ban on albums of Buddha Bar, the trendy Paris nightspot known for its lounge music.

The majority Buddhist nation has also been sensitive to the use of Buddha images on clothing such as T-shirts and bikinis.

Sri Lanka's extreme nationalists who are mainly followers of Buddhism have stepped up a self-appointed role of religious police in recent months, causing tension among minorities on the island.

- AFP/ck

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Body of last Japanese victim in hostage crisis arrives in Tokyo

TOKYO: The body of the last of 10 Japanese nationals killed in the Algerian hostage crisis arrived in Japan on Saturday as the prime minister proposed setting up a security council to deal with future threats.

The body of Tadanori Aratani, 66, a former vice president of engineering firm JGC, arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport on a commercial flight accompanied by vice foreign minister Minoru Kiuchi.

The seven Japanese survivors of the siege at the In Amenas gas plant in the Sahara desert and the bodies of nine of the ten dead arrived a day earlier as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke of the nation's "deepest grief".

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida was at the airport on Saturday, along with JGC officials, to welcome back the body of Aratani. Flowers were laid on the coffin and mourners offered a one-minute silent prayer.

Dozens of foreigners were killed during a four-day standoff that ended in a bloody showdown with Algerian commandos last week, with reports of summary executions.

JGC employed, directly or indirectly, all the Japanese caught up in the siege.

Japan's body count of 10 is the highest of any nation whose citizens were caught up in the crisis and an unusual taste of Jihadist anger for a country that has remained far removed from US-led wars in the Muslim world.

Abe, at a meeting of his senior ministers on Friday, said the nation was in mourning for those killed, while at JGC headquarters in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, mourners paid respects in front of a makeshift altar.

In an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun published on Saturday, Abe proposed setting up a national security council to enable the government to take swifter action in times of crisis.

The plan to set up a Japanese version of the US National Security Council comes after the government struggled to collect information on the fate of Japanese nationals during Algeria siege.

"The function of the prime minister's office as a control tower should be strengthened," Abe said, adding that his government may submit legislation to parliament by July.

The aim is to improve the gathering of information relating to national security, enabling the government to take swifter action to reduce potential risks to national interests and its citizens overseas.

- AFP/fa

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AXA, estate of Ma Chi reach deal on compensation

SINGAPORE: The insurers of the Ferrari car involved in a high-speed crash that left two others dead and two injured have reached a settlement with the estate of the deceased driver Ma Chi.

AXA Insurance Singapore and Ma's estate jointly announced that they have mutually agreed on a deal.

They will settle all financial claims between the parties.

All third-party victims or their families will get compensation.

AXA will not look towards the estate of Ma for any payment of compensation made to the third-party victims or their families.

These parties will not make any more claims against each other.

They have also agreed to keep the details of the settlement, including the amount that will be paid, confidential.

In the crash on May 12, 2012, Ma, a 31-year-old Chinese national, is said to have beaten the red light along Victoria Street.

His car hit a taxi, which then hit a motorcycle.

The taxi driver Mr Cheng Teck Hock and his passenger Ms Shigemi Hito died, while two others were injured.

In July, AXA Insurance Singapore notified the family of Ma that it regards the incident as a collision, not an accident.

It won't provide insurance coverage for the family but would settle the claims of third-party victims and then get Ma's family to reimburse it.

The family challenged AXA's stand.

AXA had also asked the injured victims - Mr Muhammad Najib Ghazali, 26, and Ms Wu Weiwei, in her 20s - and the families of Mr Cheng Teck Hock and Ms Shigemi Ito to submit their claims.

- CNA/fa

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Dreamliner battery probe rules out voltage surge

TOKYO: Officials probing the emergency landing of a Boeing Dreamliner said Thursday they will dismantle its battery pack, after the investigation found no evidence of a sudden surge in voltage.

A fire risk from overheating powerpacks emerged as a major concern after pilots were forced to land the domestic All Nippon Airways flight in western Japan on January 16 due to smoke thought to be linked to the plane's battery.

Investigators later released a picture showing the blackened remains of the battery in the ANA plane.

But on Thursday, they said there were no signs of a battery fire, while data gleaned from the flight's digital data recorder showed the powerpack did not suffer a rapid surge in voltage.

The pack's voltage, in fact, had been at normal levels before it rapidly plunged just before the system alert that forced the emergency landing, a Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) official told AFP.

But he said the pack -- made up of eight individual lithium-ion batteries -- would have to be dismantled to inspect each of the units, which are similar to those used in mobile phones and tablet computers.

"It was a very normal level of voltage for a lithium-ion battery (shortly before the emergency landing)," the official said.

"But you still cannot rule out the possibility that some of the individual batteries might have been overcharged."

Officials from the JTSB and US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would dissect the pack at the offices of Kyoto-based GS Yuasa, the maker of the next-generation aircraft's batteries, he said.

The powerpack's charger would be sent to its US manufacturer for a closer look, investigators said.

Boeing's fuel-efficient planes suffered a series of problems earlier this month, prompting a global alert from the US Federal Aviation Administration that has seen all 50 operational Dreamliners grounded since last week.

An international team, including engineers from French multinational Thales, which designed the Dreamliner's electrical system, carried out a CT scan of the battery unit at a Japan space agency facility in Tokyo this week.

An NTSB-led investigation is also probing the cause of a fire on a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner in Boston on January 7.

That investigation has ruled out battery overheating as the cause, but the powerpack's charger and related components were still being tested.

- AFP/ck

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Malaysia citizenship-for-votes probe stirs outrage

KUALA LUMPUR: For years, charges have swirled that a secret Malaysian scheme gave citizenship to huge numbers of illegal migrants in a politically important state in exchange for votes for the ruling coalition.

Now, an inquiry is finally airing detailed allegations that have the government on the defensive ahead of elections that pose the greatest threat yet faced by the ruling bloc that has controlled Malaysia for 56 years.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry opened last week with ex-officials admitting they gave citizenship to Filipinos and Indonesians in resource-rich Sabah, one of two Malaysian states on Borneo island.

One former official said some 100,000 identity cards (ICs) were handed out in 1993 ahead of a crucial state election, Malaysian news reports said. Another admitted signing hundreds of thousands of ICs in the 1990s.

The testimony has revived accusations of treason against former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is alleged to have masterminded the scheme to shore up support for his government.

As head of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, Mahathir dominated Malaysia for 22 years until he resigned in 2003.

Current prime minister Najib Razak is now battling to rally support for the BN ahead of polls he is expected to call within months, in an era when the coalition's power grip has slipped.

But outrage over "Project IC", as the alleged scheme is widely known, is undercutting his claims that the national electoral roll is free of fraud.

The opposition and election-reform advocates allege massive fraud in voter rolls nationwide and have seized on the testimony as proof of government vote-tampering.

"What we are concerned about is that this is still going on. That's what we want to stop," Ambiga Sreenevasan, head of the clean-elections activist coalition known as "Bersih", or "Clean", told a press conference on Tuesday.

The outlines of "Project IC" have been whispered about for three decades and have bolstered the view of Sabah as a reliable "fixed deposit" of votes for the BN to help it weather challenges elsewhere.

The government allegedly targeted Muslims from neighbouring Indonesia and the predominantly Muslim southern Philippines.

More than half of Malaysia's 29 million people are Muslim ethnic Malays, but indigenous tribes, many of them Christian, predominate in Sabah.

They have bridled at the foreigners, blaming them for crime, drug abuse and economic competition, and alleging their homeland was being stolen.

Najib last June gave in to calls for an inquiry, but the move could backfire, said Ibrahim Suffian, head of independent polling firm Merdeka Centre, calling the revelations "explosive".

"It probably will create a wave of resentment and dissatisfaction among native Sabah voters. This confirms their worst fears," he said.

The population of Sabah, a region of rugged mountains and powerful rainforest rivers that is about the size of Ireland, has surged from some 600,000 citizens in 1970 to more than three million -- more than double the national growth rate.

Malaysia's opposition alleges some 700,000 may have illegally received ICs. A one-time battleground state, Sabah has been pro-BN since the mid-1990s.

The once all-powerful BN suffered a shock setback in 2008 national elections, and analysts predict a close fight with a formidable opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy premier, raising fears that government fraud could play a role.

Najib insists the national electoral system is clean and has highlighted recent reforms such as plans to use indelible ink to prevent multiple voting.

"Let the commission do its work and find out," Najib was quoted as saying by state media, warning against a rush to judgement in Sabah.

Mahathir, still a vocal and influential conservative figure, has denied the existence of "Project IC," but admitted at a press conference last week that foreigners in Sabah were given citizenship, saying no laws were broken.

No one has yet directly implicated him before the commission, but witnesses said last week they were directed by officials close to Mahathir. There has been no testimony yet suggesting "Project IC" was still active.

Hearings will continue for weeks, with some 170 witnesses expected to testify. The commission has until late March to investigate.

The commission's final recommendations are not legally binding, but could lead to pressure for a crackdown on illegals.

- AFP/xq

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