Singapore - A Singapore tycoon pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of illegally attempting to purchasing a kidney from a village on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Tang Wee Sung, executive director of the tony CT Tang Department store and owner of prime real estate, admitted arranging to pay middlemen 300,000 Singapore dollars (211,678 US dollars), and just 20,000 Singapore dollars to the donor, the Straits Times reported.

Tang also admitted falsely declaring the donor was his relative.

The charges carry a three-year prison sentence, plus a fine for false declaration.

The retail magnate said he did it because he was desperately sick and had no recourse due the lack of preventative medicine to survive.

Singapore - Foreign law firms would strengthen Singapore's economy and reputation as a regional legal center, especially in the corporate and banking sectors, a cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Law Minister Kasiviswanathan Shanmugan welcomed amendments approved by Parliament to permit foreign firms to practise, the Strait Times reported.

Five foreign law firms are to be licensed in October to hire qualified Singapore attorneys. Foreign firms are to be allowed to share up to 49 per cent of the profits of joint ventures, according to the legislation.

Taipei - Four Taiwan prosecutors flew to Singapore Wednesday to seek the city-state's help in investigating suspected money laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian.

The prosecutors want to check a bank account of Wu Ching-mao, brother of Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, because she had allegedly wired some of Chen's campaign funds to the account.

Singapore has told Taiwan that it is willing to offer legal assistance because Singapore does not allow foreigners to use its financial system to conduct illegal activities, Taiwan's Central News Agency said.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's top software exporter, has secured a multimillion dollar, back-office accounting processes contract, from Singapore Airlines Cargo (SIA Cargo).

SIA Cargo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, is the world's fourth-largest cargo airline in terms of international freight tonne kilometers. The Airline has a route network that covers more than 39 countries across the world.

Under the five-year agreement, TCS will provide service to its cargo revenue accounting back office processes.

Singapore - Singapore's rate of inflation slowed to 6.5 per cent in July after three consecutive months at 7.5 per cent, reported The Strait Times Tuesday.

The paper quoted the Statistics Department as saying that during the first six months of this year, the overall consumer price index (CPI) for households in the bottom 20 per cent income bracket rose 7.4 per cent, while the national mean was 7.1 per cent and richer households 6.9 per cent.

Singapore - Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs warned political activists from Myanmar not to ignore repeated police orders to stop illegal public protests and anti-Myanmar activities, the The Strait Times newspaper said Saturday.

A spokesman of the Overseas Burmese Patriots (OBP), a group of Myanmar activists, said the Singapore government has not renewed immigration passes for five of its members that had participated in a public protest in November.

"We do have suspicion that the rationale for the rejections might be because of the protests and our activities," Myo Myint Maung said.