SINGAPORE, Jan 2 (Reuters) – Singapore’s economy grew in the
last three months of 2012, avoiding an expected recession as
services put in a strong showing and gross domestic product
(GDP) data for the first three quarters was revised downwards.

Singapore, whose trade is around three times GDP, has been
badly hit by the weakness in Western economies that has crimped
demand for many of its exports. The Southeast Asian city-state’s
electronic manufacturers have also failed to tap surging demand
for smartphones, unlike rivals in South Korea and Taiwan.

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Dec 29 (Reuters) – A woman whose gang
rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence
against women in India died from her injuries on Saturday,
prompting promises of action from a government that has
struggled to respond to public outrage.

The unidentified 23-year-old medical student suffered a
brain injury and massive internal damage in the Dec. 16 attack
and died in hospital in Singapore where she had been taken for
treatment.

SINGAPORE, Dec 29 (Reuters) – The Indian gang-rape victim
whose assault in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests died in
hospital on Saturday of injuries suffered in the attack, a
Singapore hospital treating her said.

“We are very sad to report that the patient passed away
peacefully at 4:45 a.m. on Dec 29, 2012 (1645 GMT Friday). Her
family and officials from the High Commission of India were by
her side,” Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive Officer
Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The condition of the medical student whose gang rape triggered mass protests has deteriorated and there are signs her vital organs have failed, the Singapore hospital treating her said.

The 23-year-old, who was severely beaten, raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi, was flown to Singapore by the Indian government on Wednesday for specialist treatment.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The condition of an Indian medical student whose gang rape triggered mass protests has deteriorated and there are signs her vital organs have failed, the Singapore hospital treating her said.

The 23-year-old, who was severely beaten, raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi, was flown to Singapore by the Indian government on Wednesday for specialist treatment.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Grieving pet owners in Singapore, known for lavishing care in life on their animals, can soon share their feelings about furred family members after they pad off to the great beyond – via obituaries in the city-state’s largest newspaper.

From Sunday, The Straits Times pets section will let pet owners publish goodbye messages to their favorite non-human companions along with an accompanying photo.

SINGAPORE, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Singapore expressed concern on
Monday over China’s plan to board and search ships sailing in
what it considers its territory in the South China Sea, as
tension grows over Beijing’s sovereignty claims in busy
Southeast Asian waters.

“Singapore is concerned about this recent turn of events,”
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to a recent
Chinese media report on new rules that will allow police in the
southern Chinese province of Hainan to board and seize control
of foreign ships which “illegally enter” its waters from Jan. 1.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – This week’s walkout in Singapore by dozens of mainland Chinese bus drivers over disparities in pay would have been considered small, calm and short-lived in almost any other nation.

But the strike, in breach of the law and mostly over by Wednesday, was the first significant industrial action in the tightly regulated Asian financial centre in more than 25 years.

SINGAPORE, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Short-seller Muddy Waters
published a long-awaited report on Olam International Ltd
with detailed attacks on acquisitions and accounting
at the Singapore commodities firm it has said may fail, but Olam
dismissed the latest salvo as lacking substance.

The battle between the two firms, which began with comments
by Muddy Waters’ founder last week and which Olam has escalated
to a Singapore court, has cast a spotlight on common accounting
practices at commodities firms.

SINGAPORE, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Eternal peace does not last
long in Singapore.

Starting early next year, workers with heavy machinery will
begin constructing an eight-lane highway across the small
country’s oldest surviving major cemetery, overriding the
objections of nature lovers and heritage buffs.