Sumatra's 6.5-magnitude quake felt in parts of Singapore

A 6.5 magnitude quake hit the Indonesia island about 560km from Singapore at 10.51am.The tremor shook telephone and electricity as panicking Indonesian fled their homes.There were no immediate report of injuries. Singapore's National Environmental agency said it received reports of shock in Kampong Glam and Whampoa.They said they felt tremors in the southern and eastern part of the island.

Have we Become Greener?

Six months after the start of the Bring Your Own Bag campaign,have we become greener.If the aim is to inculcate the habit of recycling, we would have succeeded only if people take their own bag every time -rather than just a appointed day-they visit the supermarket. The problem with such campaigns is that people no longer are enthusiastic about them once the novelty wears off.However according to BBC poll of 22,000people in 21 countries, four out of five people are prepared to alter their lifestyle due to climate changes.

New Words
inculcate-> to fix something firmly in somebody's mind through frequent, forceful repetition
novelty-> something new, original, and different that is interesting or exciting, though often for only a short time

Malibu fires;Hollywood celebs among homeless

Hollywood stars were among thousands of people who found themselves homeless yesterday after wind-driven wildfires gutted nearly 50 multi-million-dollar homes in the celebrity enclave of Malibu and forced scores of local resident to flee. Fire erupted before dawn on Saturday,spreading rapidly through tinder-dry brush as winds packing gusts of up to 80km per hour fanned the inferno. By early yesterday, around 1,800ha had been scorched and 51 buildings, including 49 homes,had been destroyed.A further 27 structures had been damaged, said Los Angeles County Fire Department officials.

New Words
enclave-> a distinct group that lives or operates together within a larger community

Vietnamese woman enslaved and totured for 13 years

For 13 years, a Vietnamese couple abused and tortured a young woman they kept as a virtual slave,until she was finally rescued by a compassionate neighbour.The couple used electric cables, wooden sticks and pliers to torture her.They had kept her as an unpaid maid and let her sleep only three hours at night. Scars covered 37 per cent of her body. Her suffering only ended after a 70-year-old neighbour spirited her away to a farm outside Hanoi.She had reported the abuse to local police three times,but they did nothing. The couple first denied,then admitted the barbarous treatment.

New Words
virtual->being something in effect even if not in reality or not conforming to the generally accepted definition of the term

GARBAGE OUT,CASH IN

The Jurong Town Council is set to launch the first GRC-wide "cash for trash" drive to send their message that it pays to care for the environment. From Dec 9,Jurong residents will be able to cash in on their trash every Sunday from 7.30am to noon at the recycling kiosks around the estate. They managed to gather over 128,000kg of rubbish and they paid the resident $26,000.

Gerif tributes for dragon boaters

After finishing a race on Cambodia's Tonle Sap, the trio,along with physical education teacher Stephen Loh,31, and student Chee Wei Cheng,20, vanished when their dragon boat capsized in a freak accident.Seventeen other Singapore teammates were rescued.Yesterday, the bodies of the five were fished out of the murky river, following a 30-hour search involving about 200 fisherman, soldiers and a team from the Singapore Navy's diving unit.Two of the bodies had drifted some 4km from the accident site.

New Words
doused->to plunge or submerge somebody or something in water