Russian 'Jungle Book' girl adapting to daily life

• A five-year-old girl Russian who was shut away with dogs and cats is adapting to normal life after being rescued and transferred to a clinic
• she had been found living with the animals in the filthy apartment in Eastern Siberia
• "Everything is fine. Other medical tests will be carried out but she is in good health," the director of the rehabilitation centre Tatyana Missnik told the RIA Novosti news agency.
  "The one problem is that at five years old she doesn't speak. We don't know why."
• Police announced Wednesday that child protection officers had taken the girl into care at the "Nadezhda" (Hope) children's rehabilitation centre.
• Doctors said the girl pushed aside a spoon offered for eating, preferring instead to lap up food.
• police said her father -- with whom Natasha had lived -- had been briefly detained and could face a criminal investigation
• "The mother says that the father stole the girl from her. The father said that the grandmother of his wife suggested he bring up the girl himself, which he did."
• In March, President Dmitry Medvedev urged action on child abuse, saying 760,000 children were living in "socially hazardous conditions".
  

Susan Boyle loses talent show

• she lost out to a group of young street dancers in the final of the British talent show
• 48-year-old graciously accepted second place
• she enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame over the past two months after video footage of her audition piece for the show, "I Dreamed A Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables", was posted on video-sharing website YouTube.
• It has had about 100 million hits
• brought her celebrity fans including actress Demi Moore and rock star Jon Bon Jovi and seen her feted in the media from the United States to China, Japan and Australia
• Judge Piers Morgan said it was the "greatest performance I've seen on the history of Britain's Got Talent -- you should win the competition, I loved it."
• Boyle lost out to a group of ten young dancers, named Diversity
• "I want to thank people for all the support they've given me," she said.
• Boyle put in a shaky performance of "Memory" in the show's semi-finals last weekend, singing occasionally out of tune and out of time, and some fans on YouTube had questioned whether she could handle the weight of expectations.
• The British media had also reported some erratic behaviour over the past week, including how she had lost her temper in the foyer of the London hotel
• Morgan said that she even considered quitting, describing her in his blog as a "frightened rabbit in headlights".
• Boyle said: "I hope to get an album out -- I'll just play it by ear."
  She added: "What a journey -- unbelievable, and very humbling. Thank you for everything."

Dragon boat festival

Today-- 28th May 09, is the chinese dragon boat festival;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Boat_Festival

Malaysia jails Singapore radical Mas Selamat

• Malaysia's government has imprisoned the suspected leader of a Singapore radical Islamist group linked to the 2002 Bali bombings, the country's prime minister said on Wednesday.
• Mas Selamat Kastari, escaped from a Singapore prison in February 2008, was caught in the southern Malaysian state of Johor on April 1.
• Earlier state news agency Bernama said, citing unnamed sources, that he had been imprisoned for two years under Malaysia's Internal Security Act, which allows imprisonment without trial.
• Prime Minister Najib Razak, asked whether Mas Selamat would be extradited to Singapore, said that "for the time being he will be detained in Malaysia".
• "He's a threat to national security, that's why he's under arrest," Najib told reporters when asked about the arrest.
• Singapore officials described Mas Selamat as a leader of the Singapore cell of Jemaah Islamiah
• alleged mastermind of a plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport and had planned truck bomb attacks at several sites across the island state.
• Bernama said he swam across the strait separating Singapore an Malaysia in the dead of the night, after hiding out for four days in the city state following his jail escape.
  

NZealand zookeeper killed by white tiger: police

• A zookeeper was mauled to death by a white tiger at a wildlife park in New Zealand's north
• while cleaning an enclosure in Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens
• A report said visitors k had seen the attack, this was not immediately confirmed by police
• An Auckland man told the Fairfax newspaper group he had seen the mauling-- It was very, very frightening
• Despite the efforts of the second keeper and a rapid response from other wildlife park staff, the tiger would not let the park worker go and he died at the scene, police said.
• tiger was later destroyed by wildlife park staff
• Fairfax's Stuff website reported eight foreign tourists at the park were understood to have witnessed the incident.

Singapore confirms first case of H1N1 --27May2009

• Singapore has confirmed its first case of Influenza A (H1N1)
• patient is currently being treated at the Communicable Disease Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and is in stable condition
• patient is a 22—year—old Singaporean woman who was in New York from May 14—24.
• She arrived back in Singapore from New York on SQ25 on 26 May at 6.30am.
• She began to develop a cough while onboard
• She passed the thermal scanner uneventfully as she did not have fever then.
• Later in the morning, she consulted a GP who decided to send her to TTSH via a 993 ambulance, given her travel history
• Laboratory confirmation of her infection by midnight of 26 May
• Health Ministry says it has initiated contact tracing of her close contacts. They will be quarantined and provided with antiviral prophylaxis
• Passengers who had travelled in the same flight and were seated in rows 52 to 58 are urged to call the hotline at 1800—333 9999 to enable the MOH to check on their health condition.
• The MOH adds that all medical practitioners and healthcare institutions should continue to be vigilant to suspect cases.
• Singapore will continue with temperature screening for passengers entering Singapore at all checkpoints (land, sea and air).

Cyclone Aila kills nearly 200 in Bangladesh and India

Main points

• Nearly 200 people have been killed by a cyclone
• millions remained marooned by floodwater or forced to live in shelters
• death toll in Bangladesh rose to more than 130
• Indian officials said at least 64 people had died in West Bengal state
• Cyclone Aila slammed into parts of coastal Bangladesh and eastern India Monday, triggering tidal surges and flooding that forced people from their homes.
• Heavy rain triggered by the storm also raised river levels and burst mud embankments in the Sundarbans delta in the neighbouring eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
• Large areas of crops were destroyed in both countries by the cyclone,
• Aila swept many areas still recovering from Cyclone Sidr in November 2007, which killed 3,500 people in Bangladesh and made at least a million homeless.
• Bangladesh officials said at least 100 people were missing after Monday's cyclone.
• Witnesses said many cyclone survivors faced a shortage of food and drinking water in areas still under storm surge.

10 witnesses, including "online wife", testify in Widjaja inquiry

SINGAPORE: Day four of the coroner’s inquiry into the death of Indonesian student David Hartono Widjaja saw 10 witnesses taking the stand on Monday.
One of them was Widjaja’s so—called ’online wife’, 18—year—old Singapore Polytechnic student, Chua Jia Yu.
They had met in cyberspace last November.

Obama signs credit card reforms

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - President Barack Obama Friday signed sweeping credit card reforms into law, aiming to shield consumers from predatory fees and shock rate hikes, despite complaints from the industry.

YouTube star Susan Boyle through to talent show final