Singapore - Singapore's poorest were hit hardest by rising prices for food, housing and electricity in 2008, as the city-state's inflation climbed to its highest level in 28 years, data published by the Department of Statistics on Monday said.

Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) for general households rose by 6.5 per cent in 2008, the highest level since
1981 when it came up to 8.2 per cent.

It was more than triple the 2.1-per-cent increase of 2007.

Jakarta  - Indonesia's defence minister accused Singapore of obstructing an extradition treaty because it fears it would have to hand over businessmen who sought refuge in the city-state with huge amounts of illegally gotten money, a news report said Friday.

Juwono Sudarsono also said a defence cooperation agreement with Singapore, negotiated simultaneously with the extradition pact, appeared to have collapsed as well, according to The Jakarta Post.

"They [the agreements] are frozen," Juwono told the Post.

Singapore  - A Singapore justice on Thursday fined an editor of The Wall Street Journal 10,000 Singapore dollars (6,600 US dollars) for three articles that the city-state's government said showed contempt of its judiciary, a news report said.

Melanie Kirkpatrick, a deputy editor of the New York-based business newspaper's editorial page, had acknowledged responsibility for the publication of the articles in The Wall Street Journal Asia that the justice found to be in contempt of court.

Singapore  - A Singapore court sentenced a tattoo artist who helped a friend tattoo his wife's breasts, abdomen and forearms for suspected infidelity to two years and 10 months in jail, news reports said Thursday.

The sentence for the tattooist, 41, was two months shorter than the husband's jail term. Like the husband, who was sentenced in 2007, he will also be given six strokes of the cane, the Straits Times newspaper reported.

Singapore  - A former employee of a Singapore luxury watch retailer who allegedly made off with watches worth several million US dollars last Christmas Day surrendered to the authorities in Bangkok on Tuesday, Singapore police reported.

"Jerry Ee ... is currently in the custody of the Royal Thai Police, and more than 200 pieces of the stolen watches were recovered," a statement by Singapore Police Force said.

The 35-year-old, who was on Interpol's wanted list, is suspected of having taken more than 380 watches from expensive designer brands.

Singapore - A Singapore court on Tuesday sentenced a serial molester who preyed on children and teenagers in lifts to nine years in jail, media reports said.