Singapore’s Senior Minister K. Shanmugam and Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Tan See Leng have each been awarded S$145,000 (US$113,000) in legal costs following their successful defamation suit against Bloomberg and its journalist.

A court earlier this month ruled that a December 2024 Bloomberg article on Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions had defamed the ministers. Bloomberg and its reporter, Low De Wei, were ordered to pay S$230,000 in damages to each...

An apparent communication breakdown between US and South Korean militaries led South Korean troops to train their weapons on an American drone launched during a joint exercise on Thursday, triggering an evacuation alert near the inter-Korean border.

The incident highlights the need for a comprehensive review of the allies’ command-and-control coordination, operational procedures, air defence capabilities and troop training, according to military experts.

The near-friendly-fire episode was...

The police and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have opened investigations after British trip-hop band Massive Attack expressed support for the Palestinians at their concert in Singapore on Wednesday.

“Police confirm that reports were lodged and investigations are ongoing,” the police and IMDA said on Thursday. “IMDA is also investigating a possible breach of licence conditions.”

The band shouted “Free Palestine” during their performance at The Star Performing Arts Centre,...

Singapore fashion retailer Love, Bonito said that some customers’ personal data may have been exposed after a security vulnerability on its website allowed unauthorised access to account information.

In an email to customers on Thursday, CEO Dione Song said the company identified the vulnerability on Sunday and resolved it on the same day.

Based on its investigations, the data that may have been affected includes customers’ names, dates of birth, email addresses, shipping addresses, phone...

Search-and-rescue teams have recovered four bodies near the site of an avalanche that left 10 climbers missing in northern Pakistan, police said on Friday.

“Preliminary reports indicate that four bodies have so far been recovered,” Gilgit-Baltistan region’s police spokesperson said in a statement on Facebook, adding that the condition of the remaining climbers was still being verified.

A search operation ended for the day and would resume on Saturday, police said.

Ten international mountaineers,...

China has won approval for domestically developed surgical robots to be used in Vietnamese hospitals, marking a major step forward as the country’s high-end medical equipment makers push to challenge Western dominance overseas.

The Chinese-made surgical robots had been registered and installed at several leading medical facilities in the Southeast Asian nation, according to China’s National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA).

The two countries would also deepen cooperation in robotic...

Malaysian police are investigating three reports of alleged vote-buying ahead of Saturday’s Negeri Sembilan state election.

Negeri Sembilan police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Alzafny Ahmad said on Friday two reports had been lodged in Seremban and one in Port Dickson.

The first involved a 69-year-old man from Sikamat, who claimed a group of men handed him 300 ringgit (US$74) in cash to vote for a particular candidate.

“The men, who arrived in a car, allegedly gave him the money in an envelope before...

Japan and South Korea’s prominent roles in this year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises have fuelled speculation over whether the two neighbours might set aside their historical grievances and deepen defence cooperation.

Held in waters off Hawaii, this year’s Rimpac is the world’s largest maritime exercise, involving 30 nations, more than 30,000 troops and an armada of aircraft, surface ships and submarines.

Running from June 24 to July 31, the exercise saw South Korean Rear...

Russia used a North Korean missile for a strike on a village that killed five members of the same family, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, in what would be the first time such a weapon has been fired in the ‌war in nearly a year.

Russia has launched North Korean missiles at Ukrainian targets before, but their first deployment since August points to a fresh stock of weapons that Moscow can draw on as it steps up missile attacks, a military source said.

Russia pounded...

Hongkong Land will acquire Singapore’s Wheelock Place for about S$1.1 billion (US$900 million) through its Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund (SCPREF), marking the fund’s first acquisition since its launch in February.

The mixed-use commercial property on Orchard Road is being acquired from an entity owned by Hong Kong-listed Wharf Real Estate Investment Company, according to a statement released by Hongkong Land on Thursday. The transaction is expected to conclude by the end of...