TODAY’s brief, Friday, Feb 13

Parliament to continue debate on AGO report on AHPETC

After a lively start yesterday, the debate on a motion moved by National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on the Auditor-General’s audit on the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), will continue today. The report, which flagged several major lapses in “governance and compliance”, prompted hard-hitting remarks from Law Minister K Shanmugam and National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, with Mr Shanmugam calling the town council’s conduct “unlawful”. Mr Khaw yesterday also announced that the Government would strengthen laws regulating town councils.

Where do Pakatan Rakyat go from here?

Top leaders of the three-party Opposition Alliance, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), will meet today in the first discussion since Tuesday when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was incarcerated for five years on a sodomy charge. The meeting is likely to focus on the way forward for the opposition alliance since Anwar is now out of the picture. Unity of the fractious alliance will be further tested with the passing away last night of Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the veteran spiritual leader of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) who had been the strongest advocate of the PR alliance since its formation in 2008.

Indonesia may be moving Australians nearer to execution

Australia has made last-ditch efforts to save two of its citizens as Indonesia ordered Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran be moved to another prison ahead of their impending executions after they were convicted of trying to smuggle heroin from Indonesia to Australia. Local authorities yesterday received a permit letter ordering the men be moved from Kerobokan prison in coming days. A meeting will be held today where their execution date is expected to be decided. The men will be transferred on a commercial flight as soon as possible. Australia has not ruled out recalling its ambassador if Indonesia moves ahead with the executions.

German minister to visit Athens

Germany’s European Affairs minister, Michael Roth, will visit Athens to meet his Greek counterpart Nikos Chountis today, the Greek foreign ministry said. It would be the first visit to Greece by a German minister since Greeks elected the radical left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Greece and Germany are currently at an impasse over Tsipras’s demands for an end to European-imposed austerity and a renegotiation of Greece’s debt burden.

US FBI director to take on race, cops in speech

The FB. director, James B. Comey, on Thursday (today, Singapore time) will wade into the national debate about the relationship between police officers and African-Americans that was highlighted by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, in August. It will be the first time one of the bureau’s directors has publicly addressed the issue of race at length. In a speech at Georgetown University, Mr Comey is expected to say that much research shows that people in a society with a majority of whites unconsciously react differently to blacks. The text of Mr Comey’s speech has not been released by the FBI, but several bureau officials described parts of it. He also plans to say that in areas where non-whites commit a majority of the crimes, law enforcement officers can become cynical and develop mental shortcuts that lead them to more closely scrutinize members of minority groups.

Bulls and Cavs look to go into All Star weekend on strong note

Control of the NBA Eastern Conference’s Central Division is at stake as leaders Chicago Bulls host the second-placed Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center on Thursday (Friday morning, Singapore time).

Chicago will have the in-form Pau Gasol, who had 26 points and 16 rebounds for his NBA-leading 34th double-double and career best 13th in succession, and is just nine short of matching his career best which he set with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010-2011.

LeBron James and Cleveland will head into the game on the back of a win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

FA to announce if Crystal Palace will be sanctioned over Coloccini incident

Crystal Palace are set to find out on Thursday (this morning, Singapore time) if the Football Association would punish them after a Palace fan threw a coin at Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini on Wednesday.

The coin hit Coloccini as he celebrated Newcastle’s goal by Papiss Cisse in their 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park with Newcastle’s interim boss John Carver calling on the FA to take action for the incident. Television pictures focused on Coloccini reacting to being hit and then showed a steward picking up the coin from the turf.

Weather forecast

Today is expected to be fair and occasionally windy. The temperature is expected to range between 23°C and 32°C.