Animal coverings

GEORGE TOWN: A retired teacher has claimed trial to unreasonably causing pain and suffering to a cat. Cosmos Chong Say Hun, 79, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to him in Mandarin by a court interpreter before Judge Mazdi Abdul Hamid at the Sessions Court here on Thursday (March 18). Chong was charged with throwing a 1m-long sharp metal rod at the female cat, described as white with black spots, in the compound of a house in Lengkok Tembaga, Island Park here at about 6.40pm on Nov 15. He was charged under Section 29(1)(a) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 (Act 772) covering cruelty to animals which provides a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000, or a jail term of up to three years, or both upon conviction. Ng was represented by Simon Murali while Veterinary Services Department prosecuting officer Roziman Awang Tahrin prosecuted. The cat, now named Baby, was brought to court as evidence. The cat is said to have been paralysed owing to Chong's alleged act. Mazdi ... » Learn More about Ex-teacher claims trial to animal cruelty charge, paralysed cat produced as evidence

A UN expert has published a bombshell report about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying there is "credible evidence" linking the Saudi crown prince to the killing and cover-up. Here are highlights from the 100-page inquiry published Wednesday by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, about Khashoggi's murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Riyadh responsible The report concluded that the murder of Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, "constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible." She found Saudi Arabia had taken only "timid steps" towards addressing its responsibility through prosecution and reparations. The report also found that Saudi Arabia's closed-door trial of 11 unidentified suspects did not meet global standards and should be stopped. Crown Prince implicated The report found "credible ... » Learn More about ‘Sacrificial animal’ : UN expert report details Khashoggi murder

“My wish is to set up the world’s largest ant enclosure!” proclaims John Ye boldly. John is the owner of Singapore’s first ant shop, Just Ants, located at Blk 928, Yishun Central 1. The outgoing and knowledgeable entomophile (or insect lover) quit his job as a distributor of wholesale electronics to set up Just Ants in 2019 because of his pure passion for these creatures, which – get this – outlived the dinosaurs and have been around for over 120 million years! Apart from interesting ant facts (did you know, for instance, that all worker and soldier ants are female? #girlpower), John shares with us five lessons that the humble ant has taught him about life. 1. “The Ant Philosophy: Never give up. Look ahead. Stay positive and do all you can.” – Jim Rohn, American business philosopher “Once, I saw an ant with two missing legs, and although she was struggling badly and limping weakly, she really persevered and pushed on. I was both touched and motivated by the determination ... » Learn More about What ants have taught Singapore’s Ant Man that you should take note of too

SINGAPORE - Firefighters rescued 19 puppies on Saturday morning (April 10) after a fire broke out in a pet store in Upper Thomson Road, near the planned site of the Upper Thomson MRT station. Eyewitnesses said the puppies were carried out of the smoking store in boxes and a group of passers-by helped to hold and soothe the animals. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at 197 Upper Thomson Road at about 1.15am. The unit is occupied by Wellfond Pets. Its website lists another outlet in Tanjong Katong Road. Firefighters made a forced entry into the premises and extinguished the blaze with one water jet. They thanked several passers-by who had helped by taking care of the puppies outside the store while firefighting operations were ongoing. An SCDF spokesman said 19 puppies were rescued from the store and The Straits Times understands there were no deaths nor injuries reported. The cause of the fire involved a dehumidifier in the ... » Learn More about 19 puppies rescued from Upper Thomson pet store fire

As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. In yet another example of why we should never incur their wrath would be a cheating husband. The result? She's now auctioning her cheating husband's Yu-Gi-Oh! card collection as payback. The collection, seen here on Yahoo! Japan's auction page, appears to be in pristine condition and unopened. The woman is auctioning off 26 multi-pack boxes of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, many of which are from early series in the game's history. The sets include packs from the Magic Ruler, Pharoah's Servant, Curse of Anubis, Thousand Eyes Bible, Mythological Age, and Spell of Mask booster sets. Bidding starts at just one yen when it opened last Saturday (April 10) and has since amassed bidding prices up to JP¥20,503,000 (S$252,000). Accompanying the auction listing is an honest and straightforward explanation of the collection and why she's decided to auction them. "This is my first listing on Yahoo! Auctions. As an act of revenge against my ... » Learn More about Japanese woman auctions cheating husband’s Yu-Gi-Oh! card collection for $250K

Firefighters working on extinguishing flames in Chiang Mai’s Si Lanna National Park managed to get to a turtle in time. Park officials along with local villagers and volunteers spent all Thursday morning putting up fire breaks to contain the fire that broke out inside the park, which covers 260,800 acres of mountainous area in Phrao, Mae Taeng, and Chiang Dao districts. “We saw wildlife running away from the flames, including this turtle that was trying to escape the fire that was consuming its home, ” the national park chief, Phuphichit Chuaybamrung, said. The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry on Thursday dispatched three helicopters to get water from a dam in Mae Taeng district to help put out the fire. It took more than 10 flights before the fire was put out. As of Thursday Chiang Mai reported 48 hot spots caused by forest fires, of which 37 were in protected forest land and nine in conserved forests. “Please stop setting fire to wooded areas to hunt wild animals ... » Learn More about Turtle pulled to safety in time from forest fire

Commentator Murray Walker poses with a Formula One car in 2002. (Photo: Reuters) In former times when a commentator became known as "the voice of" the particular sport they covered, you knew they had reached the pinnacle of their trade. In Britain, Bill McClaren was definitely the "voice of rugby" and the same way boxing wasn't the same without Harry Carpenter's authoritative tones, while tennis was synonymous with Dan Maskell. Likewise, the name you would immediately associate with Formula one was Murray Walker who sadly passed away last weekend at the age of 97 after a 52-year broadcasting career. A tank commander during World War II, Walker took up motorcycle racing and reached a decent standard. He later became a successful advertising executive, but motorsport was where his heart lay. In 1962, he became the BBC's chief motorcycling commentator, occasionally covering F1 races. In 1978, when the BBC decided to step up their F1 coverage, Walker was picked to lead the ... » Learn More about The unforgettable voice of Formula One

SINGAPORE: Planting trees has long been described as a strategic and “politically safe” climate action. Targets for the Singapore Green Plan 2030 announced on Feb 10 included planting 1 million trees by 2030. Elsewhere, the UK government has pledged to plant 30,000 hectares of trees annually until 2025. Even notorious climate change denier Donald Trump committed the US’ support for the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Trees initiative when he was in office. The argument is simple: Trees store a large amount of carbon, so planting more of them will help remove significant amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Amidst an ongoing debate about reforestation, scientists however, are now arguing that the climate benefits of tree planting are inflated, while the potential adverse social and environmental impact is downplayed. READ: Visitors to Clementi, Dover forests should be mindful of trees prone to falling: SLA, NParks A scientific estimate ... » Learn More about Commentary: Planting trees is a safe climate action but are its benefits inflated?

Almost every financial advisor you meet will ask if you have an emergency fund in place. You know what the unfortunate thing is? Too many Singaporeans don’t have one! If you’re not too familiar with what an emergency fund is and how you can build one – you’ve come to the right place. Why do you need an emergency fund? An emergency fund is a sum of money set aside for accidents, sudden injury, or an unexpected loss of income. It’s essentially what you keep aside “for a rainy day”. Unpredictable events can be life-altering as well as expensive, resulting in financial emergencies. An emergency fund gives you the buffer you need to pay out-of-pocket expenses, so you don’t have to turn to loans or credit cards to cover the short-term lack of cash. At this point, you may be thinking: Isn’t that what insurance is for? Yes, if you have insurance to cover any of the financial emergencies above, it’s a great way to cover the bulk of your medical expenses. But even with insurance, you ... » Learn More about Why every Singaporean needs an emergency fund – and how you can build yours

LOS BANOS, Philippines - Researchers wearing headlamps and protective suits race to untangle the claws and wings of bats caught up in a big net after dark in the Philippine province of Laguna. The tiny animals are carefully placed in cloth bags to be taken away, measured and swabbed, with details logged and saliva and faecal matter collected for analysis before they are returned to the wild. The researchers call themselves the “virus hunters”, tasked with catching thousands of bats to develop a simulation model they hope will help the world avoid a pandemic similar to Covid-19, which has killed nearly 2.8 million people. The Japanese-funded model will be developed over the next three years by the University of the Philippines Los Banos, which hopes the bats will help in predicting the dynamics of a coronavirus by analysing factors such as climate, temperature and ease of spread, to humans included. “What we’re trying to look into are other strains of coronavirus that have the ... » Learn More about By catching bats, these ‘virus hunters’ hope to stop the next pandemic