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Straits Times
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Senior EU official says Gaza crisis 'looks very much' like genocide
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Palestinians inspect the site surrounding an evacuated UNRWA clinic where displaced people were taking shelter, following an overnight Israeli strike, in Gaza City August 6, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas BRUSSELS - A senior member of the European Union's executive said the displacement and killing in Gaza looked very much like genocide, the first commissioner to level that accusation and publicly break with the body's position on the conflict. "If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning," Teresa Ribera - the European Commission's second-highest ranking official - told Politico in an interview published on Thursday. Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of carrying out genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel's mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ribera is the European Commission's Executive Vice President, second only in seniority to President Ursula von der Leyen. The Spanish socialist, whose portfolio includes climate and anti-trust issues, is not responsible for EU foreign policy. "What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death," Ribera told Politico. Her statements went further than the European Commission, which has accused Israel of violating human rights in Gaza, but stopped short of accusing it of genocide. The Commission last week proposed curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme after calls from EU countries to increase pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Teen's love of dance powers her through cancer to perform at NDP2025 Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Business S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined $90k over water company's failure to disclose information on Tuaspring Asia Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis World Trump's 100% semiconductor tariffs may hit chipmakers in Singapore, other SEA nations In that proposal, the Commission said Israel had violated a human rights clause in an agreement that governs its relations with the EU. "With its intervention in the Gaza Strip and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe, including thousands of civilian deaths and rapidly rising numbers of spreading extreme malnutrition, specifically of children, Israel is violating human rights and humanitarian law," it wrote. Israel has fended off accusations of genocide, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as "outrageous". The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, were killed, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Israel's military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel has repeatedly said its actions in Gaza are justified as self-defence and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, a charge the militant group denies. REUTERS
Straits Times
07-08-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Solomon Islands blocks US, China, Taiwan from Pacific's top political meet
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Mr Manele said his Cabinet had decided no dialogue partners would be invited to the 2025 event. SYDNEY - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has said that 21 donor countries, including the United States and China, will not be invited to the region's top political meeting, a move that follows pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan. China's biggest security ally in the Pacific Islands, the Solomon Islands is hosting the annual meeting of the 18-member bloc's forum in September. Three island states have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China, and they had expressed concern Taiwanese officials would be blocked from entering the country. Solomon Islands switched ties from Taiwan to China in 2019, and removed Taiwan from a list of countries eligible for concessional entry in April. Beijing, which has deepened its ties in the Pacific, claims Taiwan as its own territory. Mr Manele told the Solomon Islands Parliament on Aug 6 his Cabinet had decided no dialogue partners would be invited to the 2025 event, because a review of each country's relationship with the Pacific nation had not been completed. He said he had informed the forum's 18 leaders of the decision this week. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Teen's love of dance powers her through cancer to perform at NDP2025 Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Business S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined $90k over water company's failure to disclose information on Tuaspring Asia Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis World Trump's 100% semiconductor tariffs may hit chipmakers in Singapore, other SEA nations The World Bank, Asia Development Bank and civil society groups would attend, he added. Opposition party politician Peter Kenilorea Jr, chairman of the Parliament's foreign relations committee, said the decision was "a massive missed opportunity" for Pacific Island countries to meet global donors. "We know this issue is all about China and Taiwan," he told Parliament. After forum leaders were told of the decision, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine criticised interference in the forum's affairs in a speech to the Taiwan ally's Parliament. China had "interfered" at 2024's meeting in Tonga to change the language of the leaders' communiqué, Ms Heine said. References to Taiwan were removed after Chinese diplomats complained. The Pacific Islands is among the world's most aid-reliant regions, and on the frontline of rising sea levels. The region has also been a focus of increasing security competition between the United States and China. While US allies Australia and New Zealand are the largest forum members, neither Beijing nor Washington are part of the group. Mr Kenilorea Jr said he feared that China, which has a strong presence in Solomon Islands, will hold bilateral meetings with Pacific leaders on the margins of the forum regardless. "This could be seen by some PIF leaders as a betrayal of the collective and could risk an even bigger rift of the group," he said in comments to Reuters. China's embassy did not respond to a request for comment. The forum's foreign ministers will meet in Fiji next week. REUTERS
Straits Times
07-08-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Timah Partners CEO Dennis Chua (right) with Mr Kelvin Ho, the inaugural candidate of the firm's CEO succession programme. SINGAPORE - SME owners without successors may be able to get help on two fronts – they can sell to a newly incorporated company, which will also groom and provide a next-generation leader who can help preserve their legacy. Timah Partners, a permanent holding company that will focus on acquiring and operating businesses for the long term, said its CEO Succession Programme (CSP) will target founders and leaders of growth-stage companies in the services sector here. Even though the services sector contributes over 70 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product, many companies in this space face a critical succession challenge, a gap that often hinders leadership renewal and sustained business growth, said Timah Partners founder and chief executive Dennis Chua. This challenge is especially pressing for first-generation towkays approaching retirement, many of whom have no family members willing or able to take over the reins of their businesses. In a 2021 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, just around a quarter of the 80 Singapore family business leaders polled said they have documented a succession plan. Mr Chua said the CSP aims to close this gap with a structured succession training programme. The services sector, which includes businesses from landscaping to pest control and waste management, is also not widely seen as an attractive career destination, said Mr Chua. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Teen's love of dance powers her through cancer to perform at NDP2025 Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined $90k over water company's failure to disclose information on Tuaspring Asia Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis World Trump's 100% semiconductor tariffs may hit chipmakers in Singapore, other SEA nations 'The biggest issue these SMEs face right now is not capital, it's talent. That is the problem we want to solve with the CEO succession programme.' He added that the CSP will focus on grooming local leadership talent, and aim to attract applicants from more diverse backgrounds in the longer term. Mr Chua, who returned to Singapore in 2025 to set up the firm after a decade in asset management in the US, said Timah Partners' main focus will be on buying companies valued at $10 million to $50 million with an operating profit ranging from $2 million to $10 million. Its sole aim is growing these SMEs for the long term, as opposed to selling or listing them. The CSP will run in parallel with Timah Partners' core role as a private permanent holding company, which Mr Chua says is modelled after Berkshire Hathaway, the US conglomerate led by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Inspired by CEO-in-training initiatives run by investment firms and conglomerates globally, the programme could offer local SME owners greater assurance about preserving their legacy, especially as many worry about the future of their businesses after a sale. Mr Chua said: 'Many of these towkays are worried about new ownership that could turn out to be problematic, leading to customer dissatisfaction or worse still, legal troubles that could disrupt their retirement. 'With the CSP, we can reassure them that we can preserve and steward their legacy in a positive direction, without a major restructuring or overhaul meant to flip their companies later on.' He added that cost cuts are not at the core of the firm's strategy, and ultimately newly appointed CEOs from the programme would be responsible for the majority of their companies' operational decisions. He said: 'We hope our CEOs will learn the values of being long-term greedy and not take short-term actions at the expense of sustainable growth. 'We believe offering a permanent home for these companies, combined with a talent solution, is a sustainable solution for the local SME problem. A few years of temporary leadership is simply kicking the can down the road.' The launch of the programme comes after Timah Partners raised US$50 million (S$64.4 million) in June in its first major round of external funding, backed by the founders of US-based holding companies such as TransDigm, Danaher and 3G Capital. The firm said it has no plans to raise additional capital for now, and will focus on completing its first acquisitions, which are intended to generate cash flow to finance future deals. More on this topic ST explains: How Trump tariffs could affect Singapore SMEs, jobs and markets It has identified fire protection, waste management and telco-servicing companies as potential targets for acquisition. Mr Chua, a Harvard Business School graduate, described the programme as akin to an MBA programme with a practical corporate attachment. He added that while there are private funds like Temasek-owned Heliconia that also focus on SME growth, Timah Partners' operating model is the first of its kind in Singapore. The CSP, which will take two to three years to complete, will select candidates through a vetting process that involves extensive reference checks and case study assignments. Successful applicants will learn the ropes of deal-making in the programme's first phase, before beginning a training phase embedded in one of Timah Partners' portfolio companies. Thereafter, they will commence their trial as a 'CEO in training' where they will be assessed on their ability to lead a company on their own. Throughout the programme, they will also receive support from the firm's advisory board that comprises business leaders. They include Ms Ellen Teo, chief executive of Union Energy Group; Mr Tan Boon Khai, former chief executive of JTC Corporation who currently sits on the board of Singapore Aerospace Manufacturing and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust; and Mr Ming Maa, former president of Grab Holdings and current chief executive of US autonomous electric vehicle start-up Moove AV. Mr Chua added that CSP candidates will receive above-market compensation during the duration of the programme. While Timah Partners is yet to acquire a company, the programme will go ahead with its inaugural candidate Kelvin Ho, who was most recently head of business at healthcare start-up EVYD Technology. Mr Ho, who is 44, has previously held leadership roles in the Economic Development Board, reinsurance company Swiss Re and biotechnology firm MiRXES. As the programme's first candidate, Mr Ho will also be instrumental to designing the programme, noted Mr Chua. Mr Ho said he had already been on the lookout to acquire or helm a company as the next chapter of his career, and the CSP offers him the platform to help strong businesses build meaningful and lasting impact in society. He said: 'SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy, many of which are supporting multinational corporations. There are many great businesses that are now at an inflection point, and I want to help these companies build on their strong foundations for continual growth. 'Joining Timah's CSP is an opportunity for me to demonstrate that not just as an operator, but also as a long-term steward of a company's next chapter.'
Straits Times
07-08-2025
- Straits Times
Fine for man who damaged PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Seng Guan Heng was fined $5,300 after he pleaded guilty to one count each of harassment, mischief and causing annoyance while drunk. SINGAPORE – After drinking more than five bottles of beer at a coffee shop with his friends, a man left and came across campaign materials from the People's Action Party (PAP) for the 2025 General Election. Upset at the results of the election, he decided to tear down the materials and hurled vulgarities at the volunteers . On Aug 7, Seng Guan Heng, 57, was fined $5,300 after he pleaded guilty to one count each of harassment, mischief and causing annoyance while drunk. At 11.20pm on May 3, which was Polling Day, Seng came across a lorry that was being used by the PAP to campaign during the 2025 General Election at an open space carpark in Hougang Avenue 5. There were various party campaigning materials, including party posters and flags, that were being displayed on a lorry at the time. As he was upset with the results of the election, Seng decided to rip off five election posters that had been affixed to the side of the lorry with cables. He also tore off two flags from the lorry by breaking the flag poles. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Teen's love of dance powers her through cancer to perform at NDP2025 Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Business S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined $90k over water company's failure to disclose information on Tuaspring Asia Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis World Trump's 100% semiconductor tariffs may hit chipmakers in Singapore, other SEA nations The court heard he had caused more than $200 worth of damages with his actions. Seng later took one of the flags and walked around the area shouting vulgarities, before throwing it on the ground. He returned to the location less than 10 minutes later and saw a group of PAP volunteers, before hurling vulgarities and pointing his middle finger at the group. His actions were captured on video by one of the volunteers. In mitigation, Seng – who was unrepresented – said he had been under a lot of stress at the time as his father and sister were both in the hospital. He said he had originally gone to drink with his friends to forget about his stress. Seng said he has stopped consuming alcohol as a result of the incident. The area where the incident took place falls under Hougang SMC, where lawyer Marshall Lim represented the ruling party against Workers' Party candidate Dennis Tan, who is also a lawyer.
Straits Times
07-08-2025
- Climate
- Straits Times
Japan PM Ishiba vows action on health as record heat grips nation
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox More air conditioners should be installed in school gymnasiums to help protect children, Mr Ishiba said. TOKYO – Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Aug 7 pledged to boost public health protections as the country grapples with a severe heatwave that has seen the national temperature record broken twice in recent days. Temperatures in Isesaki city, about 90km north-west of Tokyo, rose to 41.8 deg C on Aug 5, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. That followed a reading of 41.2 deg C in Hyogo prefecture, in western Japan, on July 30, which topped a previous extreme first recorded in 2018. 'We ask that relevant government agencies closely coordinate efforts, monitor progress, and implement all possible measures,' Mr Ishiba said on Aug 7, at a meeting in Tokyo with officials including Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao. More air conditioners should be installed in school gymnasiums to help protect children and also as the locations often act as evacuation sites, Mr Ishiba said. Officials should also promote the use of cooling shelters in communal spaces like libraries to help reduce risks from heatstroke, particularly in the nation's elderly, he said. More than 2,000 people died from heatstroke in Japan in 2024, which is roughly comparable to the number of fatalities from traffic accidents, according to Mr Ishiba. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Teen's love of dance powers her through cancer to perform at NDP2025 Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Business S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined $90k over water company's failure to disclose information on Tuaspring Asia Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis World Trump's 100% semiconductor tariffs may hit chipmakers in Singapore, other SEA nations Of those, 80 per cent of deaths in Tokyo were among the elderly, and 80 per cent involved people who were not using air conditioning, he said. A total of 9,507 people were sent to hospital emergency rooms due to heatstroke in the week of July 28, the third highest total this summer, according to preliminary data from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Since June, Japan's government has taken a tougher stance on protecting workers who are exposed to extreme heat, implementing revised rules that will see employers fined if they fail to provide adequate precautions. In addition to human health, heatwaves in Japan this summer have had an impact on livestock and crops like rice, according to Professor Masahiro Watanabe at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo. 'This widespread influence was beyond expectation,' he said. Hotter temperatures are also adding to electricity demand for cooling. Natural gas power generation in Tokyo on Aug 6 rose to the highest level in 17 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Governments globally are contending with the impacts of more extreme and less predictable weather on both populations and economies. 2024 was the hottest year on record , and for the first time breached the 1.5 deg C threshold identified by almost all countries in 2015 as a crucial long-term target for limiting planetary warming. Individuals need to closely monitor heatstroke advice and should aim to use air conditioning, hydrate and consume salt, Mr Ishiba said. BLOOMBERG
