Singapore’s long-ruling party wins another landslide in election boost for new prime minister

Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong addresses People's Action Party (PAP) supporters, at an assembly area for the results of the general election, in Singapore, May 4, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong addresses People's Action Party (PAP) supporters, at an assembly area for the results of the general election, in Singapore, May 4, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 04 May 2025
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Singapore’s long-ruling party wins another landslide in election boost for new prime minister

Singapore’s long-ruling party wins another landslide in election boost for new prime minister
  • People’s Action Party won 87 out of a total 97 seats. The opposition Workers Party maintained its 10 seats
  • PM Wong has appealed for a resounding mandate to steer trade-reliant Singapore through economic troubles

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s long-ruling People’s Action Party won another landslide in Saturday’s general elections, extending its 66-year unbroken rule in a huge boost for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong who took power a year ago.
The Election Department announced the PAP won 82 Parliamentary seats after vote counting ended. The party had earlier won five seats uncontested, giving it 87 out of a total 97 seats. The opposition Workers Party maintained its 10 seats.
The PAP’s popular vote rose to 65.6 percent, up from a near-record low of 61 percent in 2020 polls. Jubilant supporters of the PAP, which had ruled Singapore since 1959, gathered in stadiums waved flags and cheered in celebration.
A US-trained economist who is also finance minister, Wong’s appeal for a resounding mandate to steer trade-reliant Singapore through economic troubles following US President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes has hit home. The government has lowered its growth forecast and warned of a possible recession.
Wong, 52, said he was humbled and grateful for the solid mandate for the PAP. He acknowledged voters’ desire to have more alternative voices in government, but said a strong PAP team was needed to tackle challenges ahead.
“The results will put Singapore in a better position to face this turbulent world,” he said.
Eugene Tan, a law professor at the Singapore Management University, said the opposition’s failure to make further inroads after 2020 was a surprise. “Singapore voters played their cards close to their chest. Today, they indicated that their trust is with a party that has delivered over the years,” he said.
Wong succeeded Lee Hsien Loong to become the city-state’s fourth leader. Lee stepped down in May 2024 after two decades at the helm but remained in the Cabinet as a senior minister. His retirement as premier ended a family dynasty started by his father, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first leader, who built the former colonial backwater into one of the world’s richest nations during 31 years in office.

 

 

The PAP is seen as a beacon of stability and prosperity, but tight government control and the rising cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities also has led to growing unhappiness, especially among younger voters. Widening income disparity, increasingly unaffordable housing, overcrowding and restrictions on free speech have loosened the PAP’s grip on power.
The opposition says giving it a stronger presence in Parliament will allow a more balanced political system and greater accountability. But they face an uphill task, often hamstrung by a lack of resources, fragmented support and a lack of unity. Critics said gerrymandering also gives the PAP an advantage.
Pritam Singh, leader of the Workers Party, acknowledged it was a tough contest and vowed to continue the fight for a more balanced Parliament. “The slate is wiped clean, we start work again tomorrow, and we go again,” he said.
‘Bilateral defense and security ties’
The United States government offered its congratulations to Singapore and Wong.
In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US and Singapore had shared a “strong and enduring strategic partnership and a commitment to a secure, free, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region” for almost 60 years.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with the newly elected government and Prime Minister Wong to strengthen economic growth and our bilateral defense and security ties, which benefit Americans, Singaporeans, and others across the region,” Rubio said.
While the Workers Party failed to expand its presence, it had consolidated its support with increased share vote in some areas, said Southeast Asia political analyst Bridget Welsh. Other smaller opposition parties however, failed to make a breakthrough.
Welsh said voters opted for stability amid concerns over global volatility due to sweeping US tariffs. Wong’s more approachable leadership in engaging younger voters and efforts to renew PAP by bringing in about a-third of new faces also helped swung votes, she said.
“I call this the Wong and Trump effect,” she said. “The issue of economic insecurity really did reinforce his mandate.”

 


Families hold funerals for Air India crash victims

Families hold funerals for Air India crash victims
Updated 3 sec ago
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Families hold funerals for Air India crash victims

Families hold funerals for Air India crash victims
  • Funerals were held in India for some of the at least 279 people killed in one of the world’s worst plane crashes in decades
  • Health officials have begun handing over the first passenger bodies identified through DNA testing, delivering them to grieving relatives in the western city of Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Mourners covered white coffins with flowers in India on Sunday as funerals were held for some of the at least 279 people killed in one of the world’s worst plane crashes in decades.
Health officials have begun handing over the first passenger bodies identified through DNA testing, delivering them to grieving relatives in the western city of Ahmedabad, but the wait went on for most families.
“They said it would take 48 hours. But it’s been four days and we haven’t received any response,” said Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother was a passenger on the jetliner.
There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound Air India jet when it crashed Thursday into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground as well.
“My brother was the sole breadwinner of the family,” Christian told AFP. “So what happens next?“
At a crematorium in the city, around 20 to 30 mourners chanted prayers in a funeral ceremony for Megha Mehta, a passenger who had been working in London.
As of Sunday evening, 47 crash victims have been identified, according to Rajnish Patel, a doctor at Ahmedabad’s civil hospital.
“This is a meticulous and slow process, so it has to be done meticulously only,” Patel said.
One victim’s relative who did not want to be named told AFP they had been instructed not to open the coffin when they receive it.
Witnesses reported seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains.
Workers went on clearing debris from the site on Sunday, while police inspected the area.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it went down moments after takeoff, smashing into buildings used by medical staff.
The majority of those injured on the ground have been discharged, Patel said, with one or two remaining in critical care.
Cause of the disaster
Indian authorities have yet to identify the cause of the disaster and have ordered inspections of Air India’s Dreamliners.
Authorities announced Sunday that the second black box, the cockpit voice recorder, had been recovered. This may offer investigators more clues about what went wrong.
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday he hoped decoding the first black box, the flight data recorder, would “give an in-depth insight” into the circumstances of the crash.
Imtiyaz Ali, who was still waiting for a DNA match to find his brother, said the airline should have supported families faster.
“I’m disappointed in them. It is their duty,” said Ali, who was contacted by the airline on Saturday.
“Next step is to find out the reason for this accident. We need to know,” he told AFP.
One person escaped alive from the wreckage, British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, whose brother was also on the flight.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.
Among the passengers was a father of two young girls, Arjun Patoliya, who had traveled to India to scatter his wife’s ashes following her death weeks earlier.
“I really hope that those girls will be looked after by all of us,” said Anjana Patel, the mayor of London’s Harrow borough where some of the victims lived.
“We don’t have any words to describe how the families and friends must be feeling,” she added.
While communities were in mourning, one woman recounted how she survived by arriving late at the airport.
“The airline staff had already closed the check-in,” said 28-year-old Bhoomi Chauhan.
“At that moment, I kept thinking that if only we had left a little earlier, we wouldn’t have missed our flight,” she told the Press Trust of India news agency.


Russia pulls citizens from Iran, halts Tehran consulate

Russia’s embassy in Tehran. (@RusEmbIran)
Russia’s embassy in Tehran. (@RusEmbIran)
Updated 5 min 22 sec ago
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Russia pulls citizens from Iran, halts Tehran consulate

Russia’s embassy in Tehran. (@RusEmbIran)
  • Russia’s civil aviation authority ordered airlines to suspend flights to Iran and Israel and avoid their airspace — along with that of Jordan and Iraq — until at least June 26

MOSCOW: Russia said Sunday it had evacuated several of its citizens from Iran and halted activity at its Tehran consulate after Israeli attacks on the country sparked retaliatory missile fire toward Israel.
“Due to the current situation, the consular service of the embassy is temporarily suspending its activities. The resumption of consular services will be announced later,” the Russian embassy in Tehran said on Telegram.
Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said musicians from the Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra were evacuated from Iran.
“The musicians crossed the Azerbaijani border. Yesterday (Saturday), Fyodor Bondarchuk’s film crew left Iran via the same route,” she said on Telegram, referring to the Russian director and actor.
Russia’s civil aviation authority ordered airlines to suspend flights to Iran and Israel and avoid their airspace — along with that of Jordan and Iraq — until at least June 26, following official travel warnings issued Friday.
Israel launched unprecedented strikes on Iran’s military and nuclear facilities early Friday, saying it aimed to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran has responded with multiple missile salvos targeting Israel.
President Vladimir Putin, who maintains ties with both Iran and Israel, condemned Israel’s strikes and warned of a “dangerous escalation” in the Middle East.


Trump says can broker Iran‑Israel peace using trade as he did with India‑Pakistan

Trump says can broker Iran‑Israel peace using trade as he did with India‑Pakistan
Updated 48 min 29 sec ago
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Trump says can broker Iran‑Israel peace using trade as he did with India‑Pakistan

Trump says can broker Iran‑Israel peace using trade as he did with India‑Pakistan
  • Trump’s reference to India and Pakistan pertains to military confrontation which ended with US-facilitated ceasefire on May 10
  • Iranian officials report at least 138 people have been killed in Israel’s military onslaught since Friday, including 60 on Saturday

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he could use American trade leverage to broker a peace deal between Iran and Israel, drawing a parallel to his administration’s role in facilitating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan last month.

The renewed conflict saw Iran and Israel exchanging missile and drone strikes over the past three days.

Iranian officials report at least 138 people have been killed in Israel’s onslaught since Friday, including 60 on Saturday, half of them children, when a missile brought down a 14-story apartment block in Tehran. Israel has reported at least 13 deaths.

“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!”

Trump’s reference to India and Pakistan pertains to a brief military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May, which ended with a US-facilitated ceasefire on May 10. Washington said trade and security assurances were key to the de-escalation.

He also cited other conflicts, between Serbia and Kosovo, and disputes over the Nile dam involving Egypt and Ethiopia, saying his interventions helped maintain peace “at least for now.”

“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” Trump added. “Many calls and meetings now taking place.”

Since Friday, Pakistan’s government has repeatedly pledged solidarity with Iran but urged its citizens to postpone travel to Iran and Iraq until the security situation improves. 

On Saturday, Islamabad issued a formal travel advisory asking Pakistanis to avoid travel to Iran “for a limited period” due to the Israeli attacks.

Pakistan has also condemned the Israeli strikes, calling them an unjustified violation of Iranian sovereignty, and has urged the international community to help de-escalate tensions through dialogue.


Air India crash death toll climbs to 270 as victim identification continues

Air India crash death toll climbs to 270 as victim identification continues
Updated 15 June 2025
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Air India crash death toll climbs to 270 as victim identification continues

Air India crash death toll climbs to 270 as victim identification continues
  • Only one of 242 people on London-bound flight survived
  • Doctors have identified 32 individuals through DNA matching

NEW DELHI: The death toll from the crash of an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London has risen to 270, as bodies, including those of people killed on the ground, continue to be identified.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat state on Thursday.

It was carrying 242 people — 230 passengers, two pilots and 10 crew members. Only one person, a British national sitting in an emergency exit seat, survived the crash.

It remains unclear how many people were killed on the ground as the aircraft fell on B.J. Medical College and a hostel for students and resident doctors of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.

Dr. Dhaval Gameti, president of the Junior Doctors’ Association at the college, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the hospital had received the bodies of 270 victims.

The process of matching DNA samples to confirm their identities is underway.

Dr. Rajnish Patel, additional superintendent at the hospital, told the media on Sunday that only 14 bodies had been handed over to their next of kin.

“In the Ahmedabad plane tragedy, the DNA samples of 32 deceased individuals have been matched,” the hospital said in a statement.

“The mortal remains of the deceased whose DNA samples have been matched are being respectfully handed over to their families.”

Dr. Sarbari Dutta, secretary general of the Indian Medical Association, told Arab News that at least four medical students were confirmed to have been killed when the plane crashed into the college compound.

“More than 20 students are admitted in the hospital, some of them with very severe injuries,” she said, adding that the actual number of casualties would “definitely” be higher.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the inquiry into the cause of the crash.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday, after the aircraft’s digital flight data recorder, or black box, had been found at the site of the crash, that an investigation report would be issued within three months.

“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also given an order to do extended surveillance for the (Boeing) 787 planes,” he said.

“There are 34 in our Indian aircraft fleet today. I believe that eight have already been inspected and with immediate urgency. All of them are going to be done.”


Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra

Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra
Updated 15 June 2025
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Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra

Two killed, 32 injured after bridge collapses at tourist destination in India’s Maharashtra
  • Incident occurred in Kundamala area in Pune district, which has witnessed heavy rains over the past few days
  • It was not raining when the bridge collapsed in an area frequented by picnickers, PTI news agency reported

NEW DELHI: At least two people died and 32 others were injured after an iron bridge over a river collapsed at a popular tourist destination in India’s western Maharashtra state, the state’s top elected official said Sunday.

At least six people were rescued and hospitalized in critical condition, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote on social media platform X.

The incident occurred in Kundamala area in Pune district, which has witnessed heavy rains over the past few days, giving the river a steady flow, Press Trust of India reported.

It was not raining when the bridge collapsed in an area frequented by picnickers, the news agency reported.

Police said teams of the National Disaster Response Force and other search and recovery units have undertaken rescue operations, Press Trust reported.

Rescue work at the scene has been accelerated, Fadnavis said.