Singapore - Singapore share prices slid Thursday, reflecting a gloomy economic outlook and the regional downward trend.

The Straits Times Index fell 3.1 per cent, or 51.64 points, to close at 1,613.95.

Trading volume on the Singapore Exchange was thin, totaling 950.5 million shares. The exchange closed the day with 324 losers and 140 gainers.

Singapore shares have been under pressure all this week as the city-state's and regional corporations try to weather the impact of the global financial crisis, economists said.

Singapore - A Singapore research team has made a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes by using embryonic stem cells to develop pure insulin-producing cells in mice, a news report said Thursday.

Dr Lim Sai Kiang and Dr Li Guodong from the Institute of Medical Biology were able to develop an unlimited number of the cells, which when transplanted into diabetic mice, causing the high blood glucose levels of the rodents to decrease, Channel News Asia reported

The pure insulin-producing cells are similar to those found in the human pancreas, the pan-Asian news network said.

Singapore - Singapore shares drop

Singapore  - A Turkish national was slapped a 656 US dollar fine for spreading the word that a plane getting ready to take off from Singapore's Changi Airport would blow up, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.

Ismet Nurcin, 30, was also jailed for a month by a Community Court on another charge of using criminal force on an airport auxiliary police officer in the transit lounge of the airport's Terminal 1 on August 29.

Singapore - The Singapore government Monday recalled a statement made earlier in the day saying the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) had sent a 20-man medical team to Afghanistan as the city state's contribution to the multinational reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

A corrective statement from the Singapore government said the previous statement, saying an SAF team comprising medical and nursing officers was deployed, had been sent to news outlets in error.

Singapore  - The Singapore government is looking at ways to help both the small and medium enterprises and individuals soon, the Channel News Asia reported Sunday.

Foreign Minister George Yeo told a local community gathering on Saturday that the measures can be expected in the next few days.

Export-oriented Singapore's SMEs are calling on the government to help with high operating costs during the global financial crisis.