Friday Poll: Which 'Star Wars' character should get the first spin-off film?

Will your favorite character get a spin-off?

(Credit:
Lucasfilm)

First, Disney bought Lucasfilm and "Star Wars" fans everywhere had mixed feelings. Then, a rumor became reality as J.J Abrams signed on to direct the next "Star Wars" movie. Now, almost everybody is feeling hopeful about the future of the franchise.

To put a cherry on the sci-fi sundae, we've now been told that a series of character spin-off movies are in the works that will follow along with individuals from the series.

When the idea of "Star Wars" spin-off films first came up, everybody was talking about Yoda. Now, Entertainment Weekly is saying the first two side projects will follow young versions of Han Solo and Boba Fett. The rumor comes with plenty of caveats about how plans can change, meaning those two movies aren't set in stone.

If Disney came knocking at your door and asked you which character it should start the spin-offs with, which would you choose? You might want to see Yoda when he was less wrinkly or meet Princess Leia as she learns how to braid her hair. Some characters should be pretty easy to rule out. I'm guessing "Jabba the Hutt: The High School Years" isn't likely to happen.

Maybe you're rooting for a different character entirely. Chewbacca, anyone? After surviving the "Star Wars" holiday special, I don't think I want to see much more of Wookiee life. Which "Star Wars" character deserves the first spin-off movie? Vote in our poll and talk it out in the comments.

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Bratton on "chilling" memento ex-LAPD cop sent to network

(CBS News) More than a dozen local, state, and federal authorities have joined the three-state manhunt for Christopher Dorner, the ex-LAPD officer suspected of killing three people in a vendetta against the police force.

Thursday afternoon, the search shifted to the snowy mountains around Big Bear Lake, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, where police found his burned-out pickup truck and tracks leading away from the vehicle.

Bill Bratton, Los Angeles Police Chief while Dorner served on the force said Friday that the truck was "possibly a diversionary tactic to just draw people up into that area when he's actually heading south."

Bratton said that despite the increasingly complex search, "the LAPD is superbly equipped for" the hunt.

"The Southern California police community is incredibly well networked with each other," Bratton said. "The manhunt that is underway is coordinated, sophisticated, and very complicated."

This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer with former Police Chief William Bratton.

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AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department

Bratton does not remember Dorner personally but did pose for a photo with him before he was deployed to serve in the Navy. Referencing the photo, Bratton said "chances are this is when he was being deployed into the military. I bring them up into my office and wish them well ... and give them a good luck charm."

The good luck charm -- a ceremonial coin -- was one of the props Dorner used, along with a lengthy manifesto, to indicate his targets. Dorner mailed CNN a package and the manifesto referencing Bratton. The package included the ceremonial coin, with Bratton's name on it and three bullet holes in it.

"[It's] very chilling when you see that," Bratton said. "It's a custom that you give as a sign of respect, a good luck charm for those who are going overseas. When you see that that a coin that was given in friendship and respect has three bullet holes, it's certainly very chilling."

Turning to the tactical elements of Dorner's rampage, John Miller -- CBS News senior correspondent and former head of the LAPD Major Crimes Division -- said the attacks likely took a "remarkable amount of pre-staging" and added that "somebody who put that much pre-staging planning into a series of events ... it's doubtful that they didn't put the same amount of planning into the end game ... It makes you wonder what his plan is for the end game."

Bratton said he found it "very surprising that now with all this attention he has brought onto himself, he has not started to reach out to the media to exploit it ... it's very interesting that he has stayed quiet."

Miller explained that Dorner "cut off all his cell phones and other connections" on Jan. 31 and Bratton said, "he's aware that anything he uses electronically can be immediately zeroed in on so he's possibly staying quiet because of that understanding.

As they look to bring the manhunt to an end, "the police are certainly on edge," Bratton said, emphasizing that Dorner is "an incredibly dangerous individual."

Miller added, "He has brought this to a certain pinnacle. It seems like he is going to be moving towards however he wants this to wrap up.

For more with Bratton and Miller on "CTM," watch the video above.

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Monster Blizzard Takes Aim at Northeast

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions is set to strike the Northeast, starting today and bringing up to 2 feet of snow and strong winds that could shut down densely populated cities such as Boston and New York City.

A storm from the west will join forces with one from the south to form a nor'easter that will sit and spin just off the East Coast, affecting more than 43 million Americans. Wind gusts will reach 50 to 60 mph from Philadelphia to Boston.

"[It] could definitely be a historic winter storm for the Northeast," Adrienne Leptich of the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y., said. "We're looking at very strong wind and heavy snow and we're also looking for some coastal flooding."

The snow began falling in New York City shortly before 7 a.m. ET. The snow is expected to mix with some sleet and then turn back into snow after 3 p.m.

New York City is expecting up to 14 inches, which is expected to start this morning with the heaviest amounts falling at night and into Saturday. Wind gusts of 55 mph are expected in New York City and Cape Cod, Mass., could possibly see 75 mph gusts.

Boston, Providence, R.I., Hartford, Conn., and other New England cities canceled school today. Boston and other parts of New England could see more than 2 feet of snow by Saturday.

Weather Forecast: Northeast Braces for Monster Blizzard Watch Video

Winter Storm to Hit Northeast With Winds and Snow Watch Video

Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible from New Jersey to Long Island, N.Y., and into New England coastal areas. Some waves off the coast could reach more than 20 feet.

"Stay off the streets of our city. Basically, stay home," Boston Mayor Tom Menino warned Thursday.

Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Jersey and New York's Long Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, including Hartford, New Haven, Conn., and Providence. The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine.

To the south, Philadelphia was looking at a possible 4 to 6 inches of snow.

Thousands of flights have already been canceled in anticipation of the storm. Amtrak said its Northeast trains will stop running this afternoon.

Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service says travel conditions will deteriorate fairly rapidly Friday night.

"The real concern here is there's going to be a lot of strong winds with this system and it's going to cause considerable blowing and drifting of snow," he said.

Parts of New York, still reeling from October's Superstorm Sandy, are still using tents and are worried how they will deal with the nor'easter.

"Hopefully, we can supply them with enough hot food to get them through before the storm starts," Staten Island hub coordinator Donna Graziano said.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows and 250,000 tons of salt were being put on standby.

"We hope forecasts are exaggerating the amount of snow, but you never can tell," Bloomberg said Thursday.

Residents of the Northeast have already begun to hit stores for groceries and tools to fight the mounting snow totals.

The fire department was called in to a grocery store in Salem, Mass., because there were too many people in the store Thursday afternoon trying to load up their carts with essential items.

"I'm going to try this roof melt stuff for the first time," Ian Watson of Belmont, Mass., said. "Just to prevent the ice dam. ... It's going be ugly on that roof."

ABC News' Max Golembo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Violence mars funeral of slain Tunisian opposition leader

TUNIS (Reuters) - Police and mourners clashed at the mass funeral on Friday of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has plunged Tunisia deeper into political crisis.

Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people turned out to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans.

It was Tunisia's biggest funeral since the death of Habib Bourguiba, independence leader and first president, in 2000.

Violence erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze. Police also used teargas against protesters near the Interior Ministry, a frequent flashpoint for clashes in the Tunisian capital.

Tunisia, cradle of the Arab uprisings, is riven by tensions between dominant Islamists and their secular opponents, and by frustration at the lack of social and economic progress since President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January 2011.

Belaid's assassination has shocked a country which had hitherto experienced a relatively peaceful political transition.

"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners in Tunis, who also sang the national anthem.

Crowds surged around an open army truck carrying Belaid's coffin, draped in a red and white Tunisian flag, from a cultural center in Jebel al-Jaloud towards the leafy Jallaz cemetery, as a security forces helicopter flew overhead.

"Belaid, rest in peace, we will continue the struggle," mourners chanted, holding portraits of the politician killed near his home on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle.

Some demonstrators denounced Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party. "Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal," they chanted. "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."

Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs in the southern mining town of Gafsa, a stronghold of support for Belaid, witnesses said.

Crowds there had chanted "The people want the fall of the regime", a slogan first used against Ben Ali.

CRADLE OF REVOLT

In Sidi Bouzid, the southern town where the revolt against the ousted strongman began, about 10,000 marched to mourn Belaid and shout slogans against Ennahda and the government.

Banks, factories and some shops were closed in Tunis and other cities in response to a strike called by unions in protest at Belaid's killing, but buses were running normally.

Tunis Air suspended all its flights because of the strikes, a spokesman for the national airline said. Airport sources in Cairo said EgyptAir had canceled two flights to Tunisia after staff at Tunis airport joined the general strike.

After Belaid's assassination, Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali, an Islamist, said he would dissolve the government and form a cabinet of technocrats to rule until elections could be held.

But his own Ennahda party and its secular coalition partners complained they had not been consulted, casting doubt over the status of the government and compounding political uncertainty.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, a lawyer and secular opposition figure.

His family have blamed Ennahda but the party has denied any hand in the shooting. Crowds have attacked several Ennahda party offices in Tunis and other cities in the past two days.

"Hope still exists in Tunisia," Fatma Saidan, a noted Tunisian actor, told Reuters at Belaid's funeral. "We will continue to struggle against extremism and political violence."

She called for national unity, saying: "We are ready to accept Islamists, but they don't accept us."

SECULAR SYMBOL

While Belaid had only a modest political following, his criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.

Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theatres and bars in recent months.

The economic effect of political uncertainty and street unrest could be serious in a country which has yet to draft a new constitution and which relies heavily on the tourist trade.

Mohamed Ali Toumi, president of the Tunisian Federation of Travel Agencies, described the week's events as a catastrophe that would have a negative impact on tourism, but he told the national news agency TAP no cancellations had been reported yet.

France, which had already announced the closure of its schools in Tunis on Friday and Saturday, urged its nationals to stay clear of potential flashpoints in the capital.

The cost of insuring Tunisian government bonds against default rose to its highest level in more than four years on Thursday and ratings agency Fitch said it could further downgrade Tunisia if political instability continues or worsens.

(For an interactive look at Tunisia please click on http://link.reuters.com/tub85t)

(Additional reporting by Alexander Dziadosz in Cairo and Brian Love in Paris; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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US trade gap shrinks to S$38.5b in December

WASHINGTON: The US trade deficit shrank more than expected in December, to $38.5 billion, as imports dropped sharply, Commerce Department data released on Friday showed.

The trade shortfall was well below the average analyst estimate of $45.4 billion and followed three months of widening deficits.

The Commerce Department revised November's reading down to $48.6.

In December, exports totalled $186.4 billion, up $3.9 billion from November. Imports of $224.9 billion were $6.2 billion less than the prior month's reading.

On a 12-month basis, exports were up 4.9 percent and imports fell 2.0 percent.

- AFP/al

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Sprint's coming identity shift offers hope

Sprint's flagship store in the Flatiron Building in Manhattan.

(Credit:
CNET/Marguerite Reardon)

Sprint Nextel is in for a massive overhaul.

The nation's third-largest wireless carrier will finally rid itself of the Nextel albatross -- both the service and the name -- by the end of the first half. It will merge with SoftBank, giving it access to cash to speed its network deployment. It will also acquire full control of Clearwire, giving the company the best spectrum position in the nation, according to one industry official.

The changes represent a massive identity shift for Sprint, and one that brings hope and optimism to the company and its leadership. Sprint, which has long struggled to juggle both networks while attempting to turn around several quarters of losses and customer defections, may finally be turning a corner with the big changes set to take effect in the coming months.

"We'll exit 2012 on a strong basis once you get past the first half when all the noise is cleared," said Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer, his excitement about getting past the next few months evident in an interview with CNET.

Once Sprint merges with a holding company formed by SoftBank, the resulting company will be known only as Sprint, finally dropping the Nextel name that has hung around the business like a stench that just wouldn't go away.

The Sprint Nextel name was part of the merger of equals that combined the two wireless companies -- now regarded as one of the worst deals in the history of the industry. Right off the bat, the executives at the time demonstrated a lack of focus and execution in running the networks, allowing the once-vaunted Nextel service to deteriorate and spur an exodus that the company never really got over.

Sprint reported today more than 1 million customers from the Nextel side of the business left the service in the fourth quarter. The company, however, was able to recapture about half those subscribers and move them over to Sprint.

Sprint has been focusing a lot of its marketing dollars and efforts on bringing back customers lost on the Nextel side, but Euteneuer warned that the rate would fall to 30 to 40 percent in the coming months as the company lets some of the less profitable customers go.

Once the Nextel network is shut down, Sprint will only have to focus on its core service and continued network upgrade plans. Euteneuer said that much of those marketing dollars would be repurposed and used to go after organic growth. Once Nextel's network is shut down, the numbers should start to look better, with Sprint having added 683,000 customers in the fourth quarter, although that was more than offset by the losses at Nextel.

"Sprint has had consecutive growth over the last eight quarters," Euteneuer said. "With Nextel gone, you'll actually be able to see that."

A more focused Sprint will hopefully mean a more competitive carrier. The company has let AT&T and Verizon Wireless widen their respective leads, with Verizon in particular running away from the competition with its 4G LTE network.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse acknowledged that there had been delays and issues with the 4G LTE rollout last year, but said the company was working hard to catch up. Euteneuer said most of those issues, which included equipment inventory shortages, delays with permits, and the timing of getting backhaul services in place, have been resolved.

Of course, Sprint is refocusing itself just as the wireless industry is beginning to mature. In particular, the bread and butter business of smartphones and contract services are starting to see slowing growth.

"Clearly, the smartphone market is maturing, as 80 percent-plus of postpaid phones being sold now are smartphones and an increasing number of prepaid phones, as well," said Tavis McCourt, an analyst at Raymond James. "We expect 2013 smartphone growth in the U.S. to be up about 5 percent or so and, again, to be skewed towards the next iPhone launch quarter."

AT&T and Verizon are already pushing to get other devices connected, and Sprint will have to do the same. T-Mobile, meanwhile, is looking for a turnaround of its own, and has promised to get aggressive to achieve its goals.

It's a big challenge for Sprint, but fortunately the carrier will be a lot nimbler and better financed in the coming months.

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Winter nor'easter sweeping into Northeast

A major snowstorm is passing through the Great Lakes Thursday morning, and by Friday night could make travel nearly impossible in parts of the Northeast.

CBS News weather consultant David Bernard says there is a potential for historic snows and blizzard conditions across the Northeast, with as much as 2 feet of snow in some areas.

The National Weather Service says this nor'easter-type storm system will bring strong winds and heavy snow to the region, with eastern New England experiencing the greatest effects. A blizzard watch was issued for Boston and surrounding areas, including Rhode Island, and has now been extended to the eastern end of Long Island and most of Connecticut.

A coastal flooding watch also is in effect for some shore communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island.

Beginning late Thursday most of the Northeast will be under a winter storm watch. The snow will start Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts dumped going into Saturday as the storm moves past New England and upstate New York, the weather service said.

Bernard says the storm system - an area of low pressure over the Carolinas - is going to rapidly move to the Northeast during the day Friday; by Friday evening it may start as rain along the coast, but inland areas will get snow.

Late Friday night into Saturday morning, Bernard said, it should be all snow across the Northeast and New England. He said up to 2 feet of snow is not out of the question.

"This has the potential for being a dangerous storm, especially for Massachusetts into northeast Connecticut and up into Maine," said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather agency's National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

The storm would hit just after the 35th anniversary of the historic blizzard of 1978, which paralyzed the region with more than 2 feet of snow and hurricane force winds.

In New York City Friday's rain will turn to snow, with the potential of 6, maybe 12 inches of snow, Bernard said.

Assuming the snow clears out by the weekend with no major problems, ski areas in Massachusetts were excited by the prospect of the first major snowstorm they've seen since October 2011.

Tom Meyers, marketing director for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, Mass., said that at an annual conference of the National Ski Areas Association in Vermont this week, many participants were "buzzing" about the storm. He said the snow will arrive at an especially opportune time — a week before many schools in Massachusetts have February vacation.

"It is perfect timing because it will just remind everybody that it is winter, it's real, and get out and enjoy it," Meyers said.

"We'll be here with bells on," said Christopher Kitchin, inside operations manager at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford, Mass. "People are getting excited. They want to get out in the snow and go snow-tubing, skiing and snowboarding."

At Mount Snow in Vermont, spokesman Dave Meeker said the true value of the storm will be driving traffic from southern New England northward.

"It's great when we get snow, but it's a tremendous help when down-country gets snow," he said. "When they have snow in their backyards, they're inspired."

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Ex-LA Cop Sought in Shootings of 3 Cops, 2 Slayings

Police in Southern California say they suspect that a fired cop is connected to the shootings -- one fatal -- of three police officers this morning, as well as the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in the suspect's online manifesto.

Former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who's a U.S. Navy reservist, has been publically named as a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old fiancé, Keith Lawrence, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday night.

"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department said.

Police say Dorner shot at four officers in two incidents overnight, hitting three of them: one in Corona, Calif., and two in Riverside, Calif.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD said two LAPD officers were in Corona and headed out on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.

The Riverside Police Department said two of its officers were shot before one of them died, KABC-TV reported. The extent of the other's injuries is unclear.
Police suspected a connection to Dorner.

"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lt. Guy Toussant of the Riverside police department said.

Missing Ohio Mother: Manhunt for Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video

A badge and identification belonging to Dorner have been found in San Diego, according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Dorner's LAPD badge and ID were found by someone near the city's airport, and turned in to police overnight, The Associated Press reported.

Police around Southern California are wearing tactical gear, including helmets and guns across their chests. The light-up signs along California highways show the license plate number of Dorner's car, and say to call 911 if it is seen. The problem, police say, is that they believe Dorner is switching license plates on his car, a 2005 charcoal-gray Nissan Titan pickup truck.

Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex in Irvine Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.

"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.

Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.

The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, apparently blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.

"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over," he allegedly wrote.

One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it reads. "I'm terminating yours."

Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.

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Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them.

"Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of Iran's air force carried on his official website.

"If some people want American rule to be established again in Iran, the nation will rise up to face them," he said.

"American policy in the Middle East has been destroyed and Americans now need to play a new card. That card is dragging Iran into negotiations."

Khamenei made his comments just days after Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership. "That offer stands but it must be real and tangible," Biden said in a speech in Munich.

With traditional fiery rhetoric, Khamenei lambasted Biden's offer, saying that since the 1979 revolution the United States had gravely insulted Iran and continued to do so with its threat of military action.

"You take up arms against the nation of Iran and say: 'negotiate or we fire'. But you should know that pressure and negotiations are not compatible and our nation will not be intimidated by these actions," he added.

Relations between Iran and the United States were severed in 1979 after the overthrow of Iran's pro-western monarchy and diplomatic meetings between officials have since been very rare.

ALL OPTIONS STILL "ON THE TABLE"

Currently U.S.-Iran contact is limited to talks between Tehran and a so-called P5+1 group of powers on Iran's disputed nuclear program which are to resume on February 26 in Kazakhstan.

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said he was skeptical the negotiations in Almaty could yield a result, telling Israel Radio that the United States needed to demonstrate to Iran that "all options were still on the table".

Israel, widely recognized to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, has warned it could mount a pre-emptive strike on Iranian atomic sites. Israel sees its existence as directly threatened by the prospect of an nuclear-armed Iran, given Tehran's refusal to recognize the existence of the Jewish state.

"The final option, this is the phrasing we have used, should remain in place and be serious," said Meridor.

"The fact that the Iranians have not yet come down from the path they are on means that talks ...are liable to bring about only a stalling for time," he said.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but Western powers are concerned it is intent on developing a weapons program.

Many believe a deal on settling the nuclear issue is impossible without a U.S.-Iranian thaw. But any rapprochement would require direct talks addressing many sources of mutual mistrust that have lingered since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

Moreover, although his re-election last November may give President Barack Obama a freer hand to pursue direct negotiations, analysts say Iran's own presidential election in June may prove an additional obstacle to progress being made.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by William Maclean and Jon Boyle)

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WP's Low says government driving with "upside down" population road map

SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang on Thursday said that the Singapore Government was "driving with an upside down (population) road map".

Mr Low, who is MP for Aljunid GRC, said that Singapore's low birth rate and ageing population were caused by a social and physical environment that is not conducive for family life. Therefore, solutions should focus on promoting quality of life for families, he said.

The WP chief also pointed out that the White Paper was still proposing incentives to have more babies under the Marriage and Parenthood package, when previous incentives had not worked.

"Without a TFR (Total Fertility Rate) recovery plan with clear targets, our birth rates are not going to go up. So when 2030 arrives, what solution are we going to turn to? Immigration again?" said Mr Low.

"The problem with the government is not that it lacks 20-20 foresight in infrastructure development, but (that) it fails to recognise that the problem is its immigration policy," he added.

Mr Low said that the key plank in the Workers' Party's proposal is to increase Singapore's resident workforce by encouraging women and senior citizens to work.

He noted that economic restructuring is necessarily painful and that the government can help ease the pain by providing more support to local SMEs as they go through the economic transition.

"Based on the upper end figure in the White Paper, our population is again expected to grow a million a decade up to 2030, and the 'Singaporean core' will drop to almost 50 per cent. The White Paper is not maintaining a strong Singapore core. It is shrinking it further," said Mr Png Eng Huat, MP for Hougang SMC.

In his speech, Nominated MP Laurence Lien proposed his own population parameter.

"Let me suggest that the long term policy should be to cap the total population by 2030 at 6 million… We should also slowdown the intake of new naturalised citizens to 10,000-15,000 of new births, otherwise, the impact on social cohesion and the building of our social identity will be too adverse," he said.

Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How, however, argued that with about 18,000 deaths each year, 10,000 new citizens would not be enough to even make up for those who pass away. Mr Heng also made several proposals to tap the silver workforce.

"I ask the tripartite partners to start working on further extending the re-employment age limit from age 65 to 67… A key part of this would be to ensure that employers in both private and public sector value their older workers as assets, pay them fairly even as they enter re-employment and not make mechanical cuts to their pay and benefits," said Mr Heng, who also MP for Whampoa SMC.

Mr Lim Swee Say, who is chief of the National Trades Union Congress as well as MP for East Coast GRC, called for consensus to address the population issue.

"I hope we can come to a clear consensus on the key priority areas for us to move forward. I hope we can speak in one voice, act in one heart and serve our people in one Parliament. Let us serve our people together regardless of parties, regardless of idealism, let us work together to maximise the upside, minimise the downside of a growing population," he said.

Former deputy prime minister and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Mr Wong Kan Seng said that the White Paper is the government's effort to prevent a repeat of history.

"The point is that is not whether the population size should be 5.9 (million) or 6.9 (million). It is about how we keep our economy growing at a sustainable rate, create better jobs for Singaporeans and provide care and support for elders. These objectives are the key responsibilities of the government. But it must have the people's support," said Mr Wong.

- CNA/jc

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