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1.  Starting December the 1st, the Housing and Development Board will moderate or reduce the rentals for its commercial and industrial properties. National Development Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the move's aimed at helping tenants tide-over, the present difficult market conditions.

2.  Singapore's financial 'deregulation plans' would be based more on American and European experience than on Japan's model. Deputy Prime Minister Brigadier-General Lee Hsien Loong who heads Singapore's financial sector review committee. Said this after he was briefed by Vice Minister Eisuke Sakakibara on Japan's deregulation during his visit there.

3.  The Indonesian army chief-of-staff hopes to expand the scale of the annual joint army exercise between his country and Singapore. General Weeranto says enlarging the scope of the Safka Indopura Exercise will allow the two armies to cover more ground in terms of training.

4.  NTUC Fairprice today met the Indonesian Ministry of Agribusiness to discuss how the cooperative could source food from Indonesia, particularly vegetables. The move follows Fairprice's decision to seek alternative sources of supply, apart from traditional sources in Malaysia. Fairprice says it will look into buying good quality vegetables from nearby Indonesian islands or from the Sumatran highlands. The cooperative has already been importing vegetables from Brastagi in Northern Sumatra since 1993.

Earlier this month, NTUC Secretary General Lim Boon Heng said Fairprice was looking into ways to diversify its food supply. He said fresh food from Malaysia, had been reaching Fairprice outlets late because of the Causeway jam, and had caused inconvenience to consumers.

5.  All but 7 United Nations weapons inspectors have left Baghdad, to guard a U.N. monitoring centre there. The rest - 78 in all, including non-Americans, are in Bahrain, awaiting orders from New York. They were flown out after Iraq ordered their American colleagues to leave the country; A show of defiance the U.N. has strongly condemned.

6.  The King's long awaited approval of the new cabinet, came this evening. Even with his new government barely in place, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has already swung into action. Today, he met International Monetary Fund Managing Director Michel Camdessus, who is making his rounds through the region. Earlier, I asked our correspondent in Bangkok, Geraldine Goh, what were some of the significant points that have come out of today's talk.

7.  To help revive the battered economy, Thailand's tourism authority hopes to lure cash-rich visitors. And one way to do this - "The Amazing Thailand Grand Sales", which kicks off this week. It's aimed to generate more than four billion Singapore dollars "worth of revenue". And Geraldine Goh tells us the month-long event is banking-on the "dropin the Thai baht's value", to pull-in the shopping crowd.

8.  In Philippines, over 400 employees of the Asian Development Bank staged a demonstration, outside the bank's headquarters in the capital. They were demanding higher salaries in the wake of the recent currency crisis that hit the region.

9.  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has called on his people to take measures to lessen the impact of the weak ringgit on the economy. He urged Malaysians to cut back on imports of consumer and capital goods and to promote local products. Taking another swipe at foreign funds, he told consumer groups to condemn those who have cause the Malaysian currency to depreciate. And today, more of his countrymen voiced support for Dr Mahathir in the face of a resolution tabled in the U.S congress. It's asking him to apologise or resign as Prime Minister for making anti-Jewish remarks. Among the latest to speak-up-for him are the Malaysian Chinese Association, Gerakan and Malaysian Trades Union Congress.

10. China has postponed a seminar, aimed at boosting "economic and trade ties" with Taiwan after accusing Taipei of politicising the meeting. The problem appeared to have started when both sides disagreed on who should represent Taiwan at the seminar. China had invited the second-ranking official in the Straits Exchange Foundation. But Taipei wants the head of the foundation to attend instead. Beijing's decision to delay the seminar, has dashed further hopes of China and Taiwan resuming high-level talks. Ties between the two sides have been tense since 1995 when Taiwanese President Lee Teng Hui made a private visit to the U.S.

11. More efforts will go into fighting forest fires in Indonesia, next year. A local newspaper quoted Forestry Minister Jamaludin Sur-yo-hadi-kusumo as saying the government will increase the forest fire fighting fund although no actual figures were mentioned. Details of the fund are still being discussed, the minister said. But he's assured, resources should reach various provinces before the next dry season. The widespread bush fires, mostly blamed on farmers and logging companies who use "slash and burn tactics" to clear land are said to cause the worsening haze problem, faced annually by the region. In fact, this year's crisis is not over latest reports show the haze is spreading across the Bay of Bengal, heading towards India's southern coast. The Sri Lankan Meteorological Department has also confirmed a layer of smoke over Colombo and other parts of the country.

12. In Sri Lanka, hundreds of troops are searching for bombers who've set off explosions at a thermal power station in the capital Colombo. They've rounded up dozens of suspects from the vicinity. The defence ministry is pointing fingers at the Tamil Tiger rebels, although there has been no confirmation. This latest incident comes just a month after a truck bomb devastated the heart of the city's financial district, killing 20.

13. The maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is looking to introduce penalties for ship operators who don't heed navigational warnings. The announcement as made after an appreciation ceremony hosted by Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan for organisations involved in the oil spill clean-up operations.

14. And in court today, alleged football bookie Ng Ek Seng, was convicted of giving bribes to Balestier Central player Manap Hamat through a middleman in August last year. Ng, a printer, was sentenced to 3 months jail.

15. For the first time, there's a set of guidelines doctors to follow when certifying the fitness of public transport drivers. The Singapore Medical Association issued these directives in a bid to standardise medical examinations.

16. 4 babies infected with the AIDS virus, were detected in Singapore as of last month. Of these 2 have died, revealed "Action for Aids", a non-governmental body which "looks after the interest" of AIDS patients.

17. Information and the Arts Minister George Yeo has been speaking of how Southeast Asian ideas can spread to other parts of the world. He says one unique quality of the region is its "outward looking" approach. Noting that great religions and philosophies converge in Southeast Asia without conflict.

18. Latest URA figures show occupancy rates in the third quarter have fallen for all residential and commercial space, compared to the previous quarter. Analysts say this is due to increased supply, which compounded by the oncoming stream over the next few years, will lead to further pressure on prices.

19. Analysts welcome the HDB's revised rental scheme for commercial and industrial properties. Saying the changes will bring rents more than in line with market rates.

20. A look now at the market's closing numbers. Singapore shares finished slightly higher in reaction to Wall Streets overnight rise. But investors were mostly sidelined ahead of Singapore's third quarter trade figures out next week. Volume leader was Singapore Telecom, losing 12 cents to close at two-58, despite better than expected half time results released yesterday. SPH Foreign was top gainer, up 90 cents. Biggest loser, Creative Technology, lost a-dollar-30. Hong Kong shares rose 2.4 percent on selective bargain hunting, following gains on Wall Street.

Dealers say the market didn't react to US Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's remarks that problems in Asia were set to dent growth prospects in America and the world. In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell below the key 15-thousand point level for the first time in over 2 years, before short-covering lifted shares slightly to close some 2 percent lower.

21. The verdict on ex-GIC manger Eddie Taw's appeal was deferred for another 2 weeks from today. Pending further elaboration on the Prosecution's submission. Eddie Taw was sentenced to 9 years and 3 months jail and fined some 2.4 million for corruption charges. In the appeal submission, various points raised by the defense were not fully addressed by the prosecution. Among them was the issue of equal treatment under the constitution. As a Singapore citizen, he was liable to be tried for corruption charges whereas a non-citizen was not. The Prosecution had not established whether this was applicable in this case.

22. Bariston Investments is calling off its proposed acquisition of Sesdaq-listed Ho Wah Genting. Bariston says in view of current stock market conditions, it's not able to complete the sale and purchase of the option shares in Ho Wah and therefore will not be making a general offer for the company.

23. Mainboard listed Econ International says the nearly 67 million US dollars it will pay for a 31 percent stake in P.T. Centralindo Panca Sakti will now be paid partly with 32 and a half million Econ International shares at about a-dollar-and-8-cents per share. The balance will be in cash.

24. Asia will not follow in the footsteps of the European Monetary Union in terms of a having a single currency. This was the conclusion of panelists today at the fourth Futures and Options World exhibition seminar.

25. The outlook for internet advertising is highly positive, says Jerry Yang - the co-founder of America's leading internet media firm, Yahoo Inc.

26. Rumours that Liem Swee Liong - Indonesia's wealthiest man and patriarch of the Salim group - had died has been refuted by none other than the man himself. Business Day tracked the man down and found him alive and well in Singapore. Lim was outraged by the speculation which triggered runs on two of his banks in Indonesia today. His company further retorted saying he's in such good nick - he was just eating Laksa.