MFA issues travel notice for Turkey, urges Singaporeans to reconsider travelling to Ankara, Istanbul
Singaporeans have been advised to reconsider the need for non-essential travel to Ankara and Istanbul in the wake of the recent series of terror attacks in Turkey, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in its latest travel notice.
Word came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency, vowing to hunt down the "terrorist" group behind last week's bloody coup attempt.
The state of emergency was needed "in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt," Erdogan said at the presidential palace in Ankara.
Corrupt officials used Malaysia state fund 1MDB as private bank account: US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch
US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch said that a number of corrupt officials had treated Malaysia state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as their private bank account.
She was delivering prepared remarks to announce a new legal action to seize more than US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) in assets including luxury real estate and a jet allegedly bought with money pilfered from the 1MDB state investment fund.
Lynch said the US would not allow itself to become a platform for money-laundering, while an FBI official in the Malaysia case said the Malaysian people had been defrauded on an enormous scale.
Merkel accepts Britain's decision to delay triggering Brexit
Germany and Britain agreed that Prime Minister Theresa May needed time to prepare for talks to leave the EU, after London took the first step towards Brexit by giving up its presidency of the European Council.
On her first foreign trip since taking office in the wake of Britain's seismic referendum, May told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that her government would not ask to leave the European Union before the end of 2016 in order to plan a "sensible and orderly departure".
Merkel, who is expected to play a pivotal role in the Brexit talks, said it was in the interests of all that Britain had a "well-defined position" before beginning the negotiations.
Iranian radiation student held in Brussels bomb false alarm
A language mix-up with an Iranian radiation student triggered a five-hour bomb alert in central Brussels before police detained the man for questioning, police and officials said.
Police backed by bomb disposal teams cordoned off part of the Belgian capital where they surrounded the man, who aroused suspicion because he was wearing a long winter jacket with wires protruding from it on a hot day.
But Ghent University said he was in fact a student carrying equipment to compare radiation levels in the city and the countryside who was unable to answer police questions because he did not speak French or Flemish, which are Belgium's languages.
Football: Sam Allardyce set to be named England manager - Sky Sports
Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce is set to be appointed England's next manager in the next 24 hours, British media reported.
England have been without a coach since Roy Hodgson stepped down following their Euro 2016 exit to Iceland in the last 16 and Sky Sports said Allardyce would be ratified as his replacement at a Football Association board meeting on Thursday.
Allardyce, 61, has been manager at Sunderland since last October and managed to steer them clear of relegation last season.
