Singapore - The global economic downturn is putting the brakes on Singapore's tourism industry as visitor arrivals fell 12.9 per cent year-on-year in January to
771,000, the Singapore Tourism Board said Friday.

The average occupancy rate in Singapore's hotels was estimated at 67 per cent last month, a fall of 17.7 percentage points from January 2008.

Room revenue came to 124 million Singapore dollars (80 million US dollars), down 29.9 per cent from January last year.

Singapore - United Overseas Bank, one of Singapore's biggest lenders, on Friday posted a 34-per-cent slump in net profit for the fourth quarter.

Net profit from October to December reached 332 million Singapore dollars (215 million US dollars), down from 506 million Singapore dollars from the same period of
2007, the bank said in a statement.

United Overseas Bank attributed the result to higher writedowns for bad debt and lower income from activities in the capital market.

"As an Asian bank, we are not spared the impact of the global financial turmoil," deputy chairman and chief executive officer Wee Ee Chong said.

Tata Consultancy Services would continue to provide IT services to Singapore Airlines for another three years, providing all basic application solutions to the airlines for its efficient working. The airline chose the Indian IT firm in a formal vendor selection process under existing terms and conditions.

Singapore - The Singapore High Court confirmed on Thursday a life imprisonment for an Indonesian maid who killed her employer's 75-year-old mother in 2005, media reports said.

The maid, who was identified as Barokah, 29, pushed Wee Keng Wah from their ninth-floor flat after the elderly woman scolded her for sneaking out to meet a man. In 2007, the maid was sentenced to life imprisonment and appealed.

However, a re-hearing into the case did not change the judge's mind, the online edition of the Straits Times newspaper reported. The second hearing was ordered to evaluate if the life sentence was appropriate.

Singapore  - A Singapore court fined a restaurant manager 500 Singapore dollars (326 US dollars) Thursday for tying up a sex worker who subsequently fell to her death from a window of the man's ninth-floor flat, a news report said.

Edmund Peter Anthony had taken the 27-year-old Thai woman home and had sex with her on October 15, 2007, the online edition of the Straits Times newspaper reported. Before he went to the bathroom, he tied her hands and ankles with neckties.

Singapore  - The Singapore economy grew by 1.1 per cent in 2008, compared with 7.8 per cent a year earlier, the Ministry of Trade said Tuesday.

However, the city-state's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 4.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter after posting flat growth in the third quarter.

On an annualized, seasonally adjusted basis, GDP slumped by 16.4 per cent from October to December last year, following a 2.1-per-cent contraction in the previous quarter, the ministry said.