SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday filed a defamation suit against a blogger who accused him of misusing public funds, setting the stage for the first court case of its kind in Singapore.
Lee’s lawyer Davinder Singh told the High Court that a May 15 post by Roy Ngerng Yi Ling, a 33-year-old government health worker, contained statements that alleged “criminal misappropriation” by the premier.
Lee had earlier rejected an apology and compensation offer from Ngerng, who writes a blog called “The Heart Truths” which had more than 3,300 followers soon after the lawsuit was filed.
Ngerng, who has publicly vowed not to be silenced, is the first blogger taken to court for defamation by a political leader in Singapore.
Tanker explodes off Hyogo coast
TOKYO: A 998-tonne oil tanker was listing off the Japanese coast yesterday after an explosion and subsequent fire that sent towering columns of acrid smoke into the sky.
One person was still unaccounted for more than two hours after the accident.
The tanker had unloaded its cargo of crude oil and was stationary close to the coast of Hyogo prefecture, around 450 kilometres west of Tokyo, when the explosion happened.
Akihiro Komura, an official from Syoho Shipping, a Hiroshima-based shipping firm that owns the vessel, said that seven of the eight Japanese crew were accounted for, but the fate of the captain was not yet known.
“The ship unloaded crude oil at a port in Hyogo prefecture, and the tanker was virtually empty when the accident occurred,” he said by telephone.
Agencies
