2 h. ago 7 years’ jail for Singaporean who sexually assaulted jobseeker after dinner

A man reached out to a 21-year-old woman who had declined a job offer from his employer and arranged to meet her for dinner in Singapore. After dinner, they went to a park where the man went into the woman’s toilet cubicle and sexually assaulted her and attempted to get her to perform sex acts on him. The assault was stopped only when the man heard footsteps outside and left in a hurry. The sex offender, 34-year-old Singaporean Choy Zisheng, was sentenced on Monday to seven years’ jail and four...

Events

19 h. ago Putin invited to Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ on Gaza and global conflict, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts globally and overseeing governance and reconstruction in Gaza, the Kremlin said on Monday. Moscow for years tried to balance relations with all major players in the Middle East – including Israel and the Palestinians. But since the Israel-Gaza war and Russia’s assault on Ukraine, Putin has moved away from Israel, boosting ties with its foes like Iran. Moscow has...

Politics

23 h. ago Silver steps out of gold’s shadow as Southeast Asian investors chase record prices

As silver prices surged past S$100 (US$78) an ounce in recent weeks, Singaporean Faris Ghani saw a long-running bet finally begin to pay off. The 35-year-old relocation consultant has been quietly accumulating the metal since he was 21, betting that silver – long overshadowed by gold – would one day have its moment. That moment appears to have arrived. On Monday, spot silver traded near record highs of about US$94 an ounce, more than tripling from around US$30 an ounce a year earlier. The surge...

Economics

23 h. ago Type 075 amphibious assault ship, the PLA’s ‘light aircraft carrier’ that is key to Taiwan

December was a record-breaking month and busier than ever for the Hainan, China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship and one of Beijing’s most important assets in the event of any potential military operation against Taiwan. The Yushen-class vessel, one of the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, made an appearance during the People’s Liberation Army’s large-scale military drills around the self-ruled island in late December, the first time a Type 075 took part in such...

Events

23 h. ago Type 075 amphibious assault ship, the PLA ‘light aircraft carrier’ key to Taiwan strategy

December was a record-breaking month and busier than ever for the Hainan, China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship and one of Beijing’s most important assets in the event of any potential military operation against Taiwan. The Yushen-class vessel, one of the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, made an appearance during the People’s Liberation Army’s large-scale military drills around the self-ruled island in late December. It was the first time a Type 075 took part in such...

Events

3 d. ago Musk’s xAI sued over Grok deepfakes – this time, by mother of his child

The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his AI company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually exploitative deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress. Ashley St Clair, 27, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist, alleged in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images have included a photo of her fully dressed at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, and others showing...

Politics

3 d. ago Man found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of San Francisco Thai grandfather

A man has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an older Thai man whose 2021 killing in San Francisco helped spark a national movement against anti-Asian-American violence. A jury did not find Antoine Watson, 24, guilty of murder when it returned a verdict on Thursday for the January 2021 attack on Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84. Jurors found Watson guilty on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault. The office of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins...

Politics

3 d. ago Malaysia’s Umno chief denies he ‘sidelined’ Najib to secure his own legal freedom

The president of Malaysia’s Umno has denied abandoning disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Razak to save himself, as fissures emerge in the former ruling party over the mixed legal fortunes of two of its top leaders. Umno grass-roots members have urged President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to quit Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government in protest after the High Court blocked Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest last month. It also handed the one-time party figurehead a...

Politics

4 d. ago What’s cooking? Hong Kong restaurants thinking outside the box in bid to survive

Scroll through Tam Jai International’s mobile apps and you will encounter a wave of perks, menu offerings and other choices laid out to tempt you to the Hong Kong restaurant group’s staple offering, noodles. The apps are among several strategies, along with filling all dining segments from breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner with new menu items, that the chain has introduced in the past few months to win back diners who continue to cross the border in droves for leisure and dining. Ronald Wong...

Society

4 d. ago Trump administration wins appeal to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a freed pro

A federal appeal panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist. A three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeal in Philadelphia instructed the lower court to dismiss Khalil’s habeas petition, a court filing that secured his release. The panel ruled that the federal district court in New Jersey did not have jurisdiction over...

Politics

5 d. ago Malaysia says X must prove Grok is safe before ban is lifted: ‘abuse is not freedom’

Malaysia is amenable to lifting its ban on Grok – but only if Elon Musk’s microblogging site X proves that its AI chatbot can no longer be used to generate sexualised images of women and minors, according to its communications minister. “X must prove that there will no longer be incidents of videos or images that can be misused by users. If that is settled, we can release the temporary ban,” Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Thursday. Over the weekend, Malaysia and Indonesia became...

Events

5 d. ago Musk’s Grok barred from undressing AI images after global backlash

Elon Musk’s platform X on Wednesday announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, following global backlash over its generation of sexualised photos of women and children. The announcement comes after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into Musk’s xAI - the developer of Grok - over the sexually explicit material and multiple countries either blocked access to the chatbot or launched their own probes. X said it will “geoblock the...

Politics

5 d. ago Jailed Chinese AI chatbot developers appeal in landmark pornography case

In a landmark case in China, two AI chatbot developers have appealed against their convictions on pornography charges over software that generated sexual content for paid users. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court began on Wednesday hearing the appeal by the two defendants against an earlier decision by a lower court to sentence one of the developers to four years and the other to 1½ years in prison for “creating pornographic material for profit”. The hearing has been adjourned,...

Events

5 d. ago Malaysian gets 12 years’ jail in Singapore for Caucasian ‘sugar daddy’ sextortion scam

A Singapore court has sentenced a 38-year-old Malaysian man to 12 years in prison and 15 strokes of the cane for posing online as a wealthy Caucasian “sugar daddy” and coercing women into sex while extorting money with threats to release explicit material. The man, Rajwant Singh Gill Narajan Singh, was convicted of two counts of cheating and one count each of extortion and attempted extortion involving two victims, identified in court documents as PW1 and PW2. “By his horrific and perverse...

Events

5 d. ago China's Hyped Radars Useless During US Air Assault on Venezuela

China's Hyped Radars Useless During US Air Assault on Venezuela  Business Insider

Events

5 d. ago Philippines ‘comfort women’ demand apology during Japan foreign minister visit

An advocacy group representing Filipino victims of wartime sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers will renew its decades-old demand for a formal state apology and reparations as Japan’s foreign minister visits the Philippines this week. The group, Lila Pilipina (League of Filipino Grandmothers), said it plans to press its appeal during the visit of Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who is set to arrive on Thursday. “We demand a formal public apology and reparation based on the apology,” said...

Politics

6 d. ago Can Singapore’s farming future grow in Malaysia’s US$123 million agriculture hub?

Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city state with high prices and little vacant land. The to-be agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbours, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is...

Economics

6 d. ago Japan’s Princess Kako falls victim to Grok AI’s ‘put her in a bikini’ deepfakes craze

Grok-generated deepfake images of Japan’s Princess Kako, the niece of Emperor Naruhito, in a bikini circulating online have renewed scrutiny on Elon Musk’s X chatbot. Since the AI assistant started allowing users to manipulate any posted image, a nudification trend has gained traction online, with people asking Grok to generate sexualised deepfakes using prompts such as “put her in a tiny bikini” or even “undress her”. Princess Kako, second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino, became the latest...

Politics

7 d. ago ‘Mr and Mrs Ho’ in Hong Kong court unrepresented as assault case draws crowds

Hong Kong internet couple “Mr and Mrs Ho” still have no legal representatives in a domestic violence dispute that escalated into a criminal case, which has drawn wide public attention and filled the courtroom. The District Court heard on Tuesday that Ho Huen, 77, widely known as Mr Ho, and his 44-year-old wife, Ye Xiuding, known as Mrs Ho, had yet to hire lawyers to defend themselves after being charged in May last year with unlawfully and maliciously wounding each other. Judge Stanley Chan...

Events

7 d. ago ‘Mr and Mrs Ho’ still without lawyers in Hong Kong court as assault case draws crowds

Hong Kong internet couple “Mr and Mrs Ho” still have no legal representatives in a domestic violence dispute that escalated into a criminal case, which has drawn wide public attention and filled the courtroom. The District Court heard on Tuesday that Ho Huen, 77, widely known as Mr Ho, and his 44-year-old wife, Ye Xiuding, known as Mrs Ho, had yet to hire lawyers to defend themselves after being charged in May last year with unlawfully and maliciously wounding each other. Judge Stanley Chan...

Events