Singapore  - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday named Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean as his new deputy, saying the appointment was part of a cabinet reshuffle aimed at renewing leadership and preparing younger office holders for broader responsibilities.

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Singapore  - Tourist arrivals in Singapore dropped 15.2 per cent in February from the same month a year ago to 689,000 visitors, the Singapore Tourism Board said Thursday.

Indonesia with 103,000 visitors, China with 80,000, Australia with 51,000, Britain with 47,000 and Malaysia with 46,000 accounted for Singapore's top five visitor-generating markets, accounting for 48 per cent of the February arrivals.

The board said Singapore's hotel room revenue dropped 28.7 per cent last month to 123 million Singapore dollars (81.5 million US dollars).

Singapore  - Singapore police is investigating a report by a Myanmar national that he was beaten up in a local prison, the Straits Times reported Thursday.

Hong Guo, who served one year in Changi Prison and received cane strokes for slashing a taxi driver, was hospitalized with a head injury that required surgery to remove part of his skull last November.

The 24-year old hospitality student was declared fit for travel by the hospital surgeon before being repatriated last week, but Guo lodged a report of prison beating before he was sent home.

New Delhi, Mar. 25 : The annual bilateral naval exercises between the Indian Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy `SIMBEX 2009' commenced in the Andaman Sea on Wednesday.

SIMBEX, an acronym for `Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise', was formalised a decade-and-a-half ago, when RSN ships began training in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) with the Indian Navy, in 1994.

As a part of the 16th annual SIMBEX, exercise units will also exercise in the South China Sea until 02 April 2009.