Daily Archives: July 19, 2009

South Korea will seek the extradition of fugitive crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon, prosecutors told AFP Friday, after the Terraform founder was arrested in Montenegro and hit with US fraud charges.

Non-constituency Member of Parliament Leong Mun Wai has updated his Facebook post, which was the subject of a heated exchange in Parliament with Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam. The post questioned the government's alleged double standards and the characterization of Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs. Lee Suet Fern as "absconders." Mr Shanmugam accused Leong of violating parliamentary procedures and demanded him to delete his post and to apologise. In his amended post on Friday, Mr Leong admitted his mistake in suggesting the guilt of the Keppel Offshore & Marine corruption case executives and has amended his post on Monday accordingly. However, he declined to delete the entire post, stating that other points were valid and not objected by members of the House.

Sembcorp Marine Ltd has issued an announcement on Singapore Stock Exchange informing its investors that the company has come to its knowledge that the...

Chinese authorities have detained five employees of US due diligence firm Mintz Group's Beijing office and closed its operations there. Mintz has retained legal counsel and requested the authorities release its employees, stating it operates transparently and ethically, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations in China. The firm specializes in conducting investigations into fraud, corruption and workplace misconduct allegations, as well as background checks.

New genetic evidence of raccoon dogs present at the Wuhan market has reignited debate over the origin of COVID-19. The researchers who found the genetic data say it supports the theory that the virus may have originated in animals and then jumped to humans at the market. However, this is still uncertain, and the virus's origin continues to be a divisive issue for the scientific community. Some believe it leaked from a Wuhan lab, while others argue it likely originated in animals. The WHO has called for more data to shed light on the start of the pandemic.

The UN's goal to cover every person on the planet with early warning systems by 2027 is facing challenges as it requires more data and expertise. Building early warning systems involves assessing risks using meteorological data, forecasting impending problems using modelling, preparing populations ahead of time, and sending out alerts to those expected to be impacted. Unique issues arise at each step, including a lack of local expertise, digitizing weather data that only exists on paper, and getting alerts to remote populations.

Former Singaporean political activist Tan Wah-Piow accused Minister Shanmugam of misleading Parliament and unfairly attacking Lee Hsien Yang and his wife. Tan argued that LHY was not obligated to assist the police and was pushed into being a "fugitive from injustice." He also criticized the Minister for character assassination and the People's Action Party for targeting perceived political threats.