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1.  An indefinite curfew has been imposed in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh after fighting broke out between rival government troops. The violence has forced the closure of the international airport. Some Airlines, including Silkair, have suspended their flights into the country. Gunshots and explosions echoed across the capital Phnom Penh during the encounter. At least 4 people were killed, and 13 others wounded. Witnesses say troops loyal to second Prime Minister Hun Sen, were moving towards a military base, controlled by 1st Prime Minister Ranariddh's forces.

The soldiers exchanged shots near the base. And a General loyal to Prince Ranariddh, said 100 of his soldiers have been captured. The whereabouts of the 2 prime ministers are not known. But Mr. Hun Sen had gone on radio, to say that the fighting did not signal the start of a civil war. He also accused Prince Rannaridh, of trying to smuggle Khmer Rouge defectors into Phnom Penh. A charge denied by the office of the Prince.

2.  It's been reported that Hong Kong will hold it's first post handover polls, on May 24th next year. It's the first time, a specific date had been mentioned for polls, to return the first Legislative Council for Hong Kong under Chinese rule. The Hong Kong Economic Times, quoting sources, said details of the election rules, would be decided by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, and his inner cabinet on Tuesday. The report said a decision will be made, on the method of election, which will include geographical constituencies, and functional constituencies, based on industry sectors. China disbanded an elected legislature, when it took over the territory on July 1st, and replaced it with a provisional body.

3.  North Korea's Kim Jong-il looks set to reshuffle his government next week. According to a Japanese newspaper, the reshuffle will start, once the official three-year mourning period, of the late president Kim Il-sung, ends next Tuesday. Although Mr. Kim has been in control of the state, since his father's death, crucial positions, such as the Worker's Party General Secretary's post, and the State Presidency have not been filled. Reports say Mr. Kim is likely to take up the 2 positions.

4.  India's Janata Dal party has split. Supporters of party president, Laloo Prasad Yadav, formed a breakaway faction today, calling it Rash-triya Janata Dal, or the National People's Party.

5.  For the first time in 20 years, and only the third time in history, a space probe has landed on Mars.

6.  A European Union panel, has recommended banning a planned merger between aircraft giant Boeing, and its small rival McDonnell Douglas. The European Commission, said the move would create an excessively big company, and possibly unfair competition.

7.  Nine persons were fined in May and June, for illegally deploying or employing foreign maids to do non-domestic work. The Labour Ministry, said the maids were deployed by their employers, to work as shop and stall assistants. They were employed at mini-marts, a restaurant, foodstall and florist shops. Fines ranged from 1,000 dollars for deployment of such workers, to almost 10,000 dollars for hiring them for non-domestic jobs. The Labour Ministry reminds employers it's illegal, to deploy their maids in jobs not specified in their work permits, or to work for others.

8.  Local handphone and paging subscribers, could not be contacted this afternoon, after a software fault in Singapore Telecom's network. A SingTel spokesperson, said this led to a congestion in one of its switches, linking its fixed line, and paging and mobile networks. Singtel says it has successfully rectified the software fault in the affected inter-connect switch, so, paging and mobile services on all networks were normalised at about 9.30 this evening.

9.  US technology giant Digital Equipment wants to be a partner in Singapore One. To achieve that - and develop new technology for its OWN - Digital launched its first Asia-Pacific research centre today. The 14 million dollar lab is located at its Ang Mo Mio plant.

10. The slogan for this year's courtesy campaign is, once again, Try a Little Kindness. The focus is on the young and the elderly, with special attention to gestures of courtesy between the two groups. The campaign was launched by  Minister for Education Teo Chee Hean earlier this evening.

11. Contractors installing air-conditioning units in high rise buildings, will need a certificate from Monday to do so. This the first such regulation here.

12. The ballot papers for the 1997 General Election were burnt today, closing another chapter in Singapore's political history. According to the law, the ballot papers and other documents, must be sealed and kept for 6 months, before they're destroyed.

13. And some good news for park lovers. Parks in Singapore may in future have restaurants, sporting clubs and even pet shops, developed and operated by the private sector. These are ideas that the national parks board is toying with, following tonight's opening of the fort canning club, at historical Fort Canning park. It's the first club to be built in a park here. The former Headquarters of the British Military forces, Fort Canning Club was retrofitted and restored at a cost of 40 million dollars. Minister for National Development Lim Hng Kiang said it was a good example of how the private sector can work with the public sector in the planning and development of parks.

14. Over half a million dollars has been set aside, to help develop and run counselling programmes - but only for the professionals in the business.  Minister for Community Development , Abdullah Tarmugi, announced this today, at the launch of Temasek Poly's first Specialist Diploma in Counselling and Guidance.

15. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, has stressed the importance of having sufficient facilities, to study TAMIL at kindergarten level. Speaking at the Opening of the Saradha Kindergarten at the Ramakrishna Mission, he said there are now 45 kindergartens island wide, offering Tamil. This is the result, of the government taking up a recommendation, by the Advisory Committee on Indian Education, to have at least 40 such kindergartens.

16. Now sport. Argentina beat Uruguay 2 -1 in the final of the world youth cup football tournament in Kuala Lumpur. And in the Tiger Beer S-league SAFFC are almost the champions, as the league leaders humbled defending champions Geylang United 3-nil, at Bedok Stadium. Meanwhile, closest rival Woodlands Wellington crashed at Yishun Stadium. Over at Yishun Stadium, Woodlands lost ground on the Warriors, when they were beaten 2-nil by Sembawang Rangers. But Tiong Bahru have a slim chance of catching SAFFC, when they thrashed Tampines Rovers 5-1 at Queenstown Stadium. And Balestier Central also had it easy, with a 4-1 thrashing of Home United.

17. Next, the Inter-Constituency Cross Country Championship. Ang Mo Kio CSC, with wins in two categories, retained their crown in the competition held at the MacRitchie Reservoir today. 44 constituencies competed for the $2,000 team championship prize money.
18. Rugby - the Standard Chartered National Under-20 Championship. One of the tournament's favourites, Combined Schools, bounced back from their defeat in midweek against SAFSA, by trouncing Bedok Kings 64-nil at Farrer Park this afternoon.