Top stories from The Straits Times on Wednesday, March 21

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kickstart your Wednesday, March 21.


SCDF described the incident as a "massive operation" involving 128 personnel and 31 firefighting and support vehicles.

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The 64-year-old director of a family-run travel agency behind the trip died in the crash, while his wife is warded in the ICU with two others.

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Mr Wong Siak Wan, 81, donated one three years ago to his son Jack, who had kidney failure . "What I did, any parent would have done," he said.

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There are currently more than 170,000 bicycle parking spaces across the island, and plans are afoot to add another 50,000 by 2020.

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The 100ha Nongsa Digital Park is Batam's first large-scale commercial project and will bring together digital entrepreneurs from the region.

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The man, armed with a knife, had locked himself in with two of his family members. Substances believed to be controlled drugs were found in the flat.

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The decision came after a television broadcast in which Alexander Nix was recorded suggesting unseemly practices to influence foreign elections.

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Google News Initiative is aimed at curbing online misinformation and disinformation, and detecting "synthetic media" like digitally altered photos.

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The call was criticised by Republican senator John McCain, who said a US President should not congratulate dictators on winning sham elections.

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Investigators are likely to focus on this factor as they assess the performance of the technology in the first pedestrian fatality involving an autonomous vehicle.

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