Briefs, February 17, 2013
Sri Lanka's navy yesterday rescued 38 Myanmar nationals who were drifting off the island's east coast, the second batch of boatpeople to be saved in as many weeks.
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's navy yesterday rescued 38 Myanmar nationals who were drifting off the island's east coast, the second batch of boatpeople to be saved in as many weeks. Sri Lankan naval craft, responding to a distress call, plucked the 38 people from a rickety boat drifting about 400 kilometres off the east coast. Four of those rescued needed treatment for dehydration. They were being taken to the southern port of Galle. AFP
SINGAPORE - Former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is recovering in hospital after suffering from an irregular heartbeat. Lee, 89, would remain at Singapore General Hospital for a few days, his son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said. The problem happens when blood flow to a part of the brain stops briefly, according to an official, adding that a person who suffers from this "will have stroke-like symptoms which clear in less than 24 hours". AFP