Genting wins bid for casino

Malaysian gambling and leisure group Genting Bhd. has won the bid to build and run a US$4.5 billion casino in Singapore, a resort for families that will feature a Universal Studios theme park and water attractions. Genting’s proposal for the resort island of Sentosa, linked to the city-state via a causeway, trumped two other bigger bids. The casino is set to open by early 2010 with six hotels and 1,830 rooms.

King steps down

Malaysia’s 12th king, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, stepped down from his post after a five-year reign. Constitutionally, the position of king is rotated every five years among the traditional Malay rulers of nine states. The next king will be the Sultan of Terengganu state, Mizan Zainal Abidin,  44, will be the nation’s youngest monarchs ever.

Journalist’s prison sentence

A Chinese high court has upheld the five-year prison term of Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong, who was convicted of espionage. The Beijing court also ordered Ching’s political rights be withheld for one year and his property valued at C$43,099 confiscated. Ching had been working for the Singapore Straits Times during his espionage.

Bird flu drug

A Singapore-based company has extracted key active ingredients from the elderberry to create herbal lozenges that could rival Tamiflu, HerbalScience claimed. The firm claims that its pills are more effective than Tamiflu, the oral antiviral drug used against bird flu. The raw elderberry comes from a farm in Austria.

No ‘sexy’ dressing

A town in Muslim-majority Malaysia has threatened to fine non-Muslim women for wearing revealing clothes. Authorities in northeast Kota Baru, which calls itself an Islamic city, will slap fines of up to 500 ringgit (C$183) on women who expose navels, wear body-hugging outfits, or any other provocative clothing