Asia Pacific

Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Marine Parade-Braddell Heights team spent a total of S$388,756 (US$301,236) on what turned out to be an election walkover, according to documents published on the Elections Department’s (ELD) website as of Thursday (May 29). The five PAP Members of Parliament (MP) are among the first 35 candidates who have declared their expenses for the May 3 General Election, and the first PAP ones...

Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FASTSINGAPORE: The United States is committed to working with its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to ensure security and prosperity in the region, said its Charge d'Affaires Casey Mace on Thursday (May 29).The region is “a leading priority for US foreign policy”, said Mr Mace, who is the current head of the US embassy in Singapore in the absence of an ambassador.Speaking to the media at the US embassy...

Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FASTTap here to return to FASTFASTSINGAPORE: Music teacher Sharon had long dreamed of studying piano in the United States. With her children now grown, she finally pursued that goal – auditioning in person, enduring multiple screening rounds and securing offers from two American universities.But on Tuesday (May 27), her plans were thrown into turmoil.An internal cable obtained by Reuters revealed that US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered consular offices worldwide to stop scheduling new visa interviews for...

Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FASTSINGAPORE: Members of Parliament from the People's Action Party (PAP) must "be shrewd in assessing the motives of people who seek to get close to them", Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Thursday (May 29) in a letter on rules of prudence traditionally issued after each election.In the eight-page letter, which remained largely unchanged from its last iteration in 2020, Mr Wong said that MPs will come across different types...

SINGAPORE: Rizaldy Primanta Putra, a 28-year-old Indonesian man, was charged with misusing over 250,000 KrisFlyer miles from others' accounts without authorization. He allegedly used these miles to purchase items at Bugis Junction and Changi Airport, facing charges under the Computer Misuse Act. If convicted, he could face severe penalties, including imprisonment and fines, after being identified through CCTV footage following a police report by Singapore Airlines. Full Article

A Spanish judge has denied the request to deport Singaporean Mitchell Ong, suspected of murdering compatriot Audrey Fang in Spain, due to concerns over the death penalty. Fang was found dead with over 30 stab wounds while on holiday, and Ong was arrested after being identified in CCTV footage. The judge ruled the deportation request did not comply with Spanish law, which protects foreign nationals from being sent to countries with capital punishment, despite the victim’s family supporting the deportation. Full Article

Read a summary of this article on FAST.SINGAPORE: A 70-year-old woman, Sanmugamnathan Shamla, was fined S$1,200 for illegally feeding wild birds in Toa Payoh, violating the Wildlife Act. Despite previous warnings and a stern warning in 2020 for similar offenses, Shamla continued her actions, disrupting NParks' pigeon trapping efforts. NParks noted her persistent illegal feeding led to significant complaints, and she was ultimately prosecuted after failed attempts to dissuade her from feeding the pigeons. Full Article

Read a summary of this article on FAST.SINGAPORE: Yale-NUS student associates were instructed to render DVDs unusable by scratching them, allegedly for security reasons, ahead of the college's closing. Two students expressed discomfort with the task, which involved using penknives to scratch around 80-100 discs, including notable titles. This incident follows an outcry over 500 library books being recycled due to an "operational lapse," leading to a broader discussion on the handling of library materials by NUS. Full Article

Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FASTSINGAPORE: An enhanced version of a locally developed large language model now understands more Southeast Asian languages and possesses code-switching and emotion recognition capabilities.The updated version of the Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network (MERaLiON) is able to handle Malay, Tamil, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia and Vietnamese, on top of English, Mandarin and Singlish.Developed by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the upgrades were announced by Singapore's...

Read a summary of this article on FAST.SINGAPORE: Liverpool fan Pandiyan Vellasami was among a group of 35 supporters who travelled from Singapore to the English city to celebrate their beloved football club’s Premier League title win. But the joyous occasion soon turned into a chaotic nightmare when a car ploughed into the crowd during the victory parade, injuring 50 people, including Mr. Pandiyan, who sustained minor injuries. The driver, a 53-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and dangerous driving, with police confirming the incident was isolated and not an act of terrorism.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRTt1XHexew Full Article