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FORMER People's Action Party Hougang candidate Desmond Choo is leaving the labour movement for the private sector. Mr Choo, 35, is the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) deputy director of industrial relations and the National Transport Workers' Union's (NTWU) deputy executive secretary. He will leave NTUC at the end of this month. Yesterday, he told The Straits Times that resigning from the labour movement was not an easy decision and that he remains committed to workers' causes. "But I thought that after spending most of my working life in the civil service and some of it in NTUC, I should get more exposure in the private sector," said the former police scholarship holder who joined NTUC in 2010. He has found a job in the private sector but declined to give more details. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...sector-20130509

Source The man who played Top Gear driver The Stig has joined rival show Fifth Gear. Ben Collins, 35, will debut on the Five programme when the new series launches next week. He will appear unmasked because The Stig is a BBC trademark. 'I'm delighted to be joining the Fifth Gear team,' he says. 'And I'm looking forward to a new set of exciting challenges...apparently with and without the helmet. Former Formula Three star Ben was identified as The Stig last month after the BBC lost a High Court bid to block the publication of his forthcoming autobiography, in which he outs himself. He is the second driver to take on the role - he slipped into the hot seat vacated by Formula 1's Perry McCarthy, 49, in 2003. Top Gear bosses are expected to hire a new Stig now. ================================================================================ =================

ESPN Soccernet report : Forward Benzema joins Real Madrid from Lyon Karim Benzema is poised to become the latest big-name arrival at Real Madrid after Lyon accepted a bid from the Spanish side for the highly-rated France international. The 21-year-old is set to join Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo in signing a six-year contract at the Bernabeu after his French employers agreed to a 35m euro (

- Rapid climb from 11th in 1999 global rankings to 5th place in 2007 - Kia Motors to continue improvements in quality, design, eco-friendliness and brand innovation (SEOUL) July 1, 2008 -- With global sales of 3,961,629 units in 2007 the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has emerged as the world's fifth largest automaker moving up from sixth place in 2006, according to Automotive News' 2008 Global Data Book published yesterday. "We are extremely proud of having achieved this goal in such a short period of time," said Ik-Hwan Kim, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Kia Motors. "We have been stressing the value of our products over the last few years and our efforts have not gone unnoticed by the public or the industry, neither quantitatively or qualitatively. Kia will continue to focus on producing a new generation of quality vehicles with distinctive design for those who are young-at-heart to keep the momentum of our brand growing. As a top global automaker, we are set to move in new directions with continuous improvements in quality, design, eco-friendliness and brand innovation for years to come." The Group has seen remarkable growth since its foundation. It ranked as the world's eleventh largest automaker in 1999, the year Hyundai-Kia Chairman Mong-Koo Chung took over the helm as CEO. Since then, it has moved steadily up the rankings ladder as under Chairman Chung's leadership the Group accelerated the push to globalize operations by building new manufacturing plants in the United States, China, India, Slovakia, Czech, Russia and Brazil. Counting the export sales of 185,114 complete knock-down kits which are assembled by overseas partners, the Group's 2007 global sales reached 4,146,743 units. Automotive News' methodology excludes CKD sales. 2007 Global Sales Rankings 1. Toyota-----------9,366,000 2. GM----------------8,902,252 3. Volkswagen-----6,191,618 4. Ford--------------5,964,000 5. Hyundai-Kia-----3,961,629 6. Honda------------3,831,000 7. Nissan------------3,675,574 8. PSA/Peugeot----3,428,400 9. Chrysler----------2,676,268 10. Fiat---------------2,620,864 Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) -- a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart -- was founded in 1944 and is Korea's oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world's premier automotive brands. More than 1.4 million vehicles a year are produced in 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 165 countries. Kia today has over 40,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of almost US$17 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. Kia is an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World Cup -- as well as a EUROTOP partner of UEFA. Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan -- "The Power to Surprise" -- represents the company's global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation. Extracted from Kia Global Website

Is this a bogus monk then, asks a STOMPer, who came across this sight. YC Ngor told STOMP: "Saw this monk queuing to place a bet at the Singapore Pools outlet. "A policeman was walking past that shop and was caught in the shot. "Did he stop to think if that monk is a fake (given the recent issues of fake monks and nuns in Geylang area)? Go figure." Monks Go Geylang How ? [smash]

will prices of these cars from japan shoot up??? ST 19/7 TOKYO - HONDA Motor Co joined other Japanese automakers in cutting production after an earthquake caused a shortage of parts and forced car assembly lines around the country to grind to a halt. Honda will suspend part of its production on Friday and Saturday because of difficulties buying piston rings from Riken Corp, which was badly affected by Monday's quake northwest of Tokyo. Some 2,000 vehicles would have been produced by the affected assembly lines on Friday alone, said a spokesman. Toyota, Japan's top-selling automaker, said on late Wednesday it would suspend production at all of its domestic plants from Thursday evening until Saturday because of problems buying parts from Riken Corp. The suspension was unavoidable given the lack of parts, said Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe. 'I hope rather strongly that they will recover as soon as possible,' he said in an interview with national broadcaster NHK. Nissan Motor Co has said it will suspend part of its production from Friday at two of its three plants in Japan until next Monday, while Suzuki Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru vehicles, are also reducing output. The problems have highlighted the industry's heavy dependence on one supplier and the fragility of the 'just-in-time' inventory system, where parts arrive at a plant just when they are needed so as to keep costs down. -- AFP

America's racing sweetheart has joined Andretti Green. So she is not jumping into NASCAR. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...ts/15138835.htm http://www.andrettigreenracing.com/ Check out her cool website: www.danicaracing.com Cool music and cool pics. If only the F1 boys got such a website to compete!

Yes you heard me right. Toyota will put a car up to race in NASCAR. What car they are using? Our ahpek Camry. They will start in the 2007 season. Uses a Toyota developed 358cid carburetted V8 for this. Currently found in Toyota Tundra trucks competing in many races. With it being a Toyota engine, they might be the only competitor to race with only one engine in the entire season w/o a mechanical breakdown.

News from AutoExpress on the new Volvo C70 that will be unveiled in September's Frankfurt Motor Show this year....... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lift-Off For Volvo As C70 Joins Fold The C70 is out in the open! Undisguised and in full view of our spies, Volvo's new drop-top has been caught centre stage during a brochure photoshoot. The sensational pictures in this week's Auto Express reveal the new model in all its glory ahead of the official unveiling at September's Frankfurt Motor Show. Based on a mixture of mechanical parts from the S40 and S60 saloons, the cabrio will take on BMW's forthcoming 3-Series CC (see Page 25 in this week's mag) with a combination of style and versatility. Our exclusive images show the sleek profile of the new Swedish model, with the manufacturer's familiar light clusters at the rear. The unique body shares only the bonnet with the S40, and is wider and longer than its sibling. In our main picture, the two-door model has its massive bootlid up. That gives the game away on what bosses hope will be the C70's strongest selling point: its folding metal hard-top. The rear deck obviously drops down flush with the waistline, but also flips up the other way thanks to hinges at the back. At the touch of a button, the roof and rear screen will appear, with the help of electric motors, to create a coup

Read here http://www.carpages.co.uk/daewoo/daewoo_ch...&echo=192626035