Top stories from The Straits Times on Tuesday, Nov 26

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Tuesday, Nov 26.


Political reform in Hong Kong unlikely even after pan-democrats' landslide victory, say observers

Supporters of local candidate Kelvin Lam celebrate, after it was announced he won the local council elections in his district, at a polling station in the South Horizons West district in Hong Kong on Nov 25, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS

The months-long anti-government protests will continue and Beijing will tighten its grip on the city, say experts.

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Tech-enabled sexual violence cases almost triple since 2016, says Aware

(From left) Moderator Lim Xiu Xuan, senior case manager at Aware's Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC); Ms Priscilla Chia, a litigator and volunteer lawyer with SACC; Ms Monica Baey, an advocate for survivors of sexual violence; Ms Amber Hawkes, Facebook APAC head of safety policy; and Mr Benny Bong, a counsellor at The Family Therapist and president of Society Against Family Violence; during the Taking Ctrl, Finding Alt 2019 event organised by Aware on Nov 25, 2019. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Such incidents, spurred also by widespread recording devices, jumped from 46 in 2016 to 124 last year.

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Third bridge needed to ease congestion between Johor and Singapore: Malaysian Minister Muhyiddin

A photo taken on Dec 22, 2018, shows the traffic jam at the Causeway. PHOTO: ST FILE

"If the state government supports, I will ensure this initiative will be started," Tan Sri Muhyiddin said during a debate at the Johor state assembly sitting in Iskandar Puteri.

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks set to win - by default

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the launch of his Conservative Party's general election campaign in Birmingham earlier this month. He is expected to win the Dec 12 election, based on current opinion polls. PHOTO: REUTERS

This is Britain's most surreal electoral campaign, one in which Mr Johnson looks set to emerge as the winner not because he has displayed great governance skills, but because his opponents are even less convincing, says Jonathan Eyal.

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Climate change: Level of greenhouse gases hit new record in 2018, UN says

Smoke is seen pouring from the smoke stack on a container ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PHOTO: AFP

"There is no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline, in greenhouse gases' concentration in the atmosphere - despite all the commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,"said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

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Police warn bank customers not to fall for bank cards, accounts reactivation scam

In this scam, bank customers received SMS messages claiming that their bank cards were either blocked or deactivated, or that their bank accounts were locked. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: ST FILE

The police have received 12 reports of the scam this month, with total losses amounting to at least $65,000.

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Goo Hara's death: Five other K-pop stars who have made public their mental health struggles

(Clockwise from top left) Girls Generation's Taeyeon, Super Junior's Heechul, Twice's Mina, Momoland's Yeonwoo and Super Junior's leader Leeteuk. PHOTOS: TAEYEON_SS/INSTAGRAM, SUPERJUNIOR/INSTAGRAM, TWICETAGRAM/INSTAGRAM, MOMOLAND_OFFICIAL/INSTAGRAM, XXTEUKXX/INSTAGRAM

As fans reel over the death of Goo Hara, they are also worried about the effect of grief on other artists, especially those close to the singer-actress.

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Thieves grab precious jewels worth S$1.5 billion in daring German museum heist

The thieves forced their way into Dresden's Gruenes Gewoelbe, or Green Vault Museum and got away with at least three sets of early 18th century jewellery. PHOTO: DPA

They forced their way into Dresden's Gruenes Gewoelbe and got away with at least three sets of early 18th century jewellery.

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NUS team creates new metallic material which can be used to make lighter and more flexible robots

NUS Assistant Professor Chen Po-Yen (left) and doctoral student Yang Haitao were part of the team that pioneered a novel method to create a new metallic material for soft and flexible "origami" robots. PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

The material could boost cutting-edge research around the world on lightweight robots which could be used for tasks like search and rescue missions.

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Team Singapore hit by hiccups, insufficient food at SEA Games in Manila

The Singapore national football team having dinner with a wider variety of halal food yesterday at the Century Park Hotel's restaurant. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

The issues were ironed out after a chef de mission meeting involving all participating countries in Manila, said Singapore chef de mission Juliana Seow.

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