Downtown Line 3 station names announced

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has announced the final names for the Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) stations.

The Street and Building Names Board (SBNB) has approved the final names for the 13 stations. Three interchange stations at MacPherson, Tampines and Expo were not included as these are existing official station names.

They are:

1. Fort Canning

2. Bencoolen

3. Jalan Besar

4. Bendemeer

5. Geylang Bahru

6. Mattar

7. Ubi

8. Kaki Bukit

9. Bedok North

10. Bedok Reservoir

11. Tampines West

12. Tampines East

13. Upper Changi

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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Why are the McDonald's outlets playing the 'Muslim chant' during dinner? - asks one sotong

ORIGINAL SOURCE

>>>

This matter is also reported on asiaone.com: Man questions prayer call in McDonald's

A man who raised a question on why a McDonald's outlet was playing prayer calls for Muslims to break fast has been slammed by netizens on Facebook.

Alex Chang posted a comment on the McDonald's Facebook fanpage at 9pm on Wednesday, asking: "Why are McDonald's outlets playing the Muslim chant during dinner time in the restaurants?"

He was reportedly dining at a McDonald's outlet in Toa Payoh.

The Azan, or Muslim prayer call, is played in the evenings to mark the break fast time for Muslims in Singapore.

A reader, known only as 'SirAlexFerguson', wrote in to AsiaOne: "Living in Singapore, he should understand different cultural beliefs. Each culture should tolerate each other."

Mr Chang, who according to netizens is an employee of SingTel, has subsequently apologised by leaving a comment on the fastfood restaurant's fanpage.

McDonald's clarified in a written statement that the prayer call is not part of the company's initative, as they have a standard list of music and radio stations the restaurants are supposed to be using.

"We have heard feedback that a small number of restaurants may have tuned in to other radio stations and we have reminded them to keep to the standard playlist and selection," said the statement.

McDonald's has since removed inappropriate comments from the thread.

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Standby for S-League version 2.0

Since 1994, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) have concentrated on developing the country's own professional league and producing a steady stream of local talent to thrive in the competition.

Then came the announcement last month that a Singapore team would return to battlegrounds north of the Causeway next year, after a deal was struck with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

With the Singapore Lions - mostly made up of under-23 players, with five seniors and two foreigners - set to battle in the M-League, Malaysia Cup and the Malaysian FA Cup, the S-League, which has been at the forefront of local football for the last 15 years, could be hit hard.

This will be so even with Malaysia's under-23 team set to play in the S-League, Singapore Cup and League Cup from next season as part of the deal.

Expecting a shift in the balance of football here, FAS president Zainudin Nordin has set up a taskforce that will look into ways to boost the domestic league.

Speaking to TODAY, Zainudin said: "The intent is for us to continue to strengthen the S-League ... to move forward with the new landscape.

"Our most immediate milestone is in preparation for next season: To make next season better, something which I would like to call S-League version 2 - making it attractive and bringing people back to the stadiums."

The taskforce met for the first time on Aug 12, and they have already garnered feedback from the football fraternity. An online survey has also been put up on the sleague.com page, looking for fan input on how the league can improve.

The FAS chief revealed three key areas his taskforce will look at: To bring fans back to the game, and improving the quality of football and stadium facilities so as to create a conducive environment for the enjoyment of the game.

"These are the three areas we'll look deeper into ... and while there is no immediate timeline, whatever we can do immediately to make next season more exciting, we will put in place," he vowed.

TODAY understands that various ideas have been brought to the table, from refreshing the S-League with new foreign teams to merging local sides to ensure a bigger pot from the FAS subsidies.

Some have called for better quality foreign players, and there have also been suggestions to split the S-League into two tiers for the introduction of a promotion and relegation system.

Already, clubs in the S-League are feeling the strain.

Profits from the fruit machines, which contribute up to 80 per cent of their revenue, has fallen with the presence of the two integrated resorts and implementation of the new Private Lotteries Bill this year.

The Business Times recently reported that three social clubs have closed down their fruit machine operations, with the rest reporting an average 35 per cent to 40 per cent drop in takings.

Zainudin has surrounded himself with football minds and money-men in the taskforce line-up in an effort to improve the S-League.

"(The people in the taskforce) are of course stakeholders in Singapore football, they have experience, some with marketing backgrounds, people who are passionate about the game, former players and those on the (FAS executive) council," he said.

"We want to ensure the S-League continues to be strong, a platform to grow local talent ... and that the ideas we bring in are doable, with implementation done properly."

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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Europa League: Stoke on course as Schalke crash

FA Cup runners-up Stoke City took a step closer to the Europa League group phase on Thursday, but Champions League semi-finalists Schalke were stunned 2-0 by Finnish minnows HJK Helsinki.

Stoke, competing in Europe for the first time since the 1974-75 UEFA Cup, secured a 1-0 victory at Swiss league leaders FC Thun thanks to an 18-minute strike from midfielder Danny Pugh.

Thun, who played in the Champions League six years ago, finished the game with 10 men and defender Nicolas Schindelholz in goal after goalkeeper David da Costa was sent off in injury time for a last-man foul on Jon Walters.

Victory puts Tony Pulis' side, beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in May's FA Cup final, in pole position ahead of the return leg at the Britannia Stadium next Thursday.

>>>

Schalke were dreaming of a Champions League final place four months ago but Raul and co may have to forego European competition altogether this season after their shock defeat in the Finnish capital.

HJK boast 40-year-old former Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool playmaker Jari Litmanen in their ranks, but it was 21-year-old forward Teemu Pukki who did the damage against the Bundesliga heavyweights.

The former Sevilla player opened the scoring in the 18th minute, cutting in from the right flank and unleashing a soaring drive into the far corner with his left foot, before completing his brace in the 54th minute.

>>>

Twenty-time Greek champions Panathinaikos also had a night to forget, as they went down 3-0 at Maccabi Tel Aviv, while 2009 Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar fell 2-1 at Norwegian outfit Aalesunds FK.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

Europa League play-off first leg results:
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Vitoria Guimaraes
Celtic 0-0 Sion
FC Differdange 03 0-4 Paris Saint-Germain
Fulham 3-0 Dnipro Dnipropet'vsk
Hannover 96 2-1 Seville
Heart of Midlothian 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur
HJK Helsinki 2-0 Schalke 04
Lazio 6-0 Rabotnicki
Nacional Madeira 0-0 Birmingham City
NK Maribor 2-1 Rangers
Nordsjaelland 0-0 Sporting Lisbon
Ried 0-0 PSV Eindhoven
Slovan Bratislava 1-0 Roma
Standard Liege 1-0 Helsingborgs
Thun 0-1 Stoke City

FULL LIST

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Officer arrested for 215 counts of issuing bogus fines for traffic offences

New Orleans police officials announced minutes ago that they have booked a a 22-year veteran of the Police Department with 215 counts of injuring public records and a single count of malfeasance in office.

The investigation into Glenn Gross began when a police supervisor grew suspicious of him and reported his alleged misconduct to the Public Integrity Bureau, which investigates complaints against officers, according to the NOPD.

Gross, who works in the NOPD's information technology department, was writing bogus tickets for seat-belt violations, allowing him to collect extra pay, Superintendent Ronal Serpas said.

Rather than doing the work and writing up motorists who had violated the law, Gross wrote tickets to phantom motorists, officials said.

Officials said the investigation is continuing and that other officers, and possibly a supervisor, are also under scrutiny. They said they couldn't say how much overtime Gross collected as a result of the scam.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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Video: This is why you need a dashcam: Driver keeps reversing and reversing -- right into another car

STOMPers John and Jade were furious at this female Mercedes driver who failed to heed their honking and continued to reverse her car into theirs, cracking their car licence plate and denting the bumper.

Watch how female Mercedes driver keeps reversing car, until it hits car behind

Click on thumbnails for larger image

This incident took place at the entrance of the multi-storey carpark at Block 129, Kim Tian Road.

The STOMPers recounted:

"We encountered this lousy female Benz driver yesterday (Wed, Aug 17).

"As you can see in the video, she started to reverse towards our car.

"We honked at her a few times to warn her, but she continued to reverse until she hit our car.

"Our licence plate was cracked right down the middle, and our bumper was scratched and dented.

"We had to file an insurance claim against her because she refused to take the blame.

"She said that we had parked too near her car, that she couldn't see our car and didn't hear our honking.

"But it is clear from the video that we had stopped a good distance behind her, giving her ample space to back up.

"Please be more considerate!"

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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