Damage to track and trackside equipment. (PHOTO: SMRT, Getty)
And that's a wrap. Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch y'all again next week!
Hello to all our readers! Yahoo Singapore will be bringing you live news updates today.
The East-West Line (EWL) train disruption enters the third day on Friday (27 September). The disruption began Wednesday morning, stranding 850 passengers after a power fault affected multiple stations. Investigations have since revealed that there is extensive damage to the MRT track and trackside equipment due to a defective train axle box on a train that had dropped. With services still suspended between Jurong East and Buona Vista, SMRT has said that there will be no train service on the EWL between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on Friday. Free regular and bridging bus services remain available. Find out more below and plan your journey.
Chinese-founded fast-fashion online retailer Shein has laid off about two dozen employees at its Singapore headquarters. Find out why it's doing this amid a plan to offer an initial public offering in London.
On the topic of work, a new survey by job portal Indeed has found that some 78 per cent of employer-respondents in Singapore are concerned about productivity losses if they committed to not contacting their workers outside of contracted work hours. This, despite 88 per cent of these employers acknowledging that they might lose talent if they fail to respect work-life boundaries. Soon, employers in Singapore will have to consider flexible work arrangements (FWA) such as work-from-home (WFH) days, where formally requested by employees when a new set of guidelines kick in on 1 December 2024.
And in the US, which is in the midst of election fever, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has launched a collection of branded watches for US$100,000 each. See what they look like.
Do you feel the urge to check your phone every chance you get? Or do you feel like something's missing if you're not checking your mobile every few seconds? Smartphones certainly aren't all bad. But constantly checking your phone can have negative effects on your job performance, relationships, sleep, and possibly even physical safety. Find out how you can stop checking your phone every 10 seconds.
Instant noodles are no longer cheap university dorm room eats – Gen Zs are turning this humble quick-to-cook item into gourmet meals, and the trend is driving up sales. How do you like your noodles?
And wrapping up for the weekend, do you love the rice in chicken rice? Find out where in Singapore you can get it free-flow! Bon appetit!
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER10 updates
Featured
Esther Au Yong
SMRT aims to restore full service on EWL MRT line by Monday, 30 September
The East-West Line (EWL) train disruption enters the third day on Friday (27 September). The disruption began Wednesday morning, stranding 850 passengers after a power fault affected multiple stations. Investigations have since revealed that there is extensive damage to the MRT track and trackside equipment due to a defective train axle box on a train that had dropped.
Damage to track and trackside equipment. (PHOTO: SMRT, Getty)
SMRT said in a statement that it found "a total of 34 rail breaks across 1.6km of tracks between Clementi and Dover stations, and damage to three point machines which are used to divert the train to different tracks; the third rail which supplies power; as well as power cables and rail clips".
With services still suspended between Jurong East and Buona Vista, SMRT has said that there will be no train service on the EWL between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on Friday. Free regular and bridging bus services remain available.
SMRT had earlier shared that it was exploring the possibility of operating a shuttle train service between the stations. "We had tried our best to make this option work by expediting the repairs on one of the tracks. We have since determined that it can be done, but it would mean slowing down the repairs on the parallel damaged rail as repairs cannot be done when the shuttle train service is in operation," SMRT said in a statement early on Friday.
SMRT added, "On balance, it is better to prioritise repair and expedite restoring full service earlier, rather than run a 20-minute shuttle between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations. SMRT is aiming to restore full service on Monday 30 September, and running the shuttle train could risk delaying full restoration by at least a few days."
Singapore's transport minister has also apologised to commuters. "On behalf of the One Transport Family, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to all our commuters for the disruption. Our workers are doing their best to safely restore train services as soon as possible," Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said in a Facebook post.
At Boon Tong Kee's new casual dining concept called Chicken Ka Kee in Woodlands, the rice is refillable.
According to our reviewer, besides the Chicken Rice (from $7), available in both poached and roasted versions with free-flow fragrant Rice ($2.50), other highlights include Chicken Ka Kee's set meals that offer affordable options like Pao Fan ($8), and the Crispy Prawn Paste Fried Chicken Wings ($12).
Gen Z is 'pimping up' instant noodles, driving up sales
Instant noodles. (PHOTO: Getty)
Instant noodles are no longer cheap university dorm room eats – Gen Zs are turning this humble quick-to-cook item into gourmet meals, and the trend is driving up sales.
Sales of instant noodles have spiked by 50 per cent year-on-year on the British online supermarket Ocado, while searches for ramen noodles have jumped by 35 per cent, the Guardian reported.
How fancy are these noodles churned out by influencers and celebs who show them off on Tik Tok and other social media channels?
Think "Firecracker Carbonara Ramen", which are noodles with bacon, chilli, eggs and more. Or Kylie Jenner's instant ramen with butter, garlic and egg.
In a statement, police said that "this is part of efforts by the Ministry of Home Affairs to standardise the Sender IDs used by the Home Team Departments". "The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) uses the SMS Sender ID 70995 as part of its 995 emergency call service," police said. "It caters to callers who are deaf, mute, or have speech impairments. They can correspond with SCDF by SMS at this number during emergencies such as fires or medical emergencies."
The digital world "is a huge call on energy", said its CEO Leong Wei Hung. The surge in demand is a "boon for energy", but there’s also a flip side "in the sense that you can't build infrastructure fast enough", he said in an interview on Thursday (26 September).
According to a Bloomberg report, the boom in data centres and artificial intelligence is starting to outstrip available power supply in some parts of the world. With tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft pledging to invest billions of dollars in data centres in Southeast Asia, Singapore is aiming to increase the amount of power it allocates for data centres by as much as 35 per cent.
He had allegedly admitted to the killings during the initial proceedings in the 1960s, but then retracted his confession, which he said was made in the course of a brutal police interrogation.
Well, according to Maxi Heitmayer, a teaching fellow who studies human-computer interaction at the London School of Economics and Political Science, a small 2022 experiment found that only 11 per cent of people’s smartphone checks were in response to a notification. The other 89 per cent of the time, they checked their phones totally unprompted, often without thinking through why they were doing it.
Shiri Melumad, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, calls mobile phones "adult pacifiers".
Smartphones certainly aren't all bad. But constantly checking your phone can have negative effects on your job performance, relationships, sleep, and possibly even physical safety.
US presidential nominee Donald Trump launches collection of watches
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Mosack Group warehouse on 25 September 2024 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. (PHOTO: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The watches are said to be made out of 18 carat gold, encrusted in diamonds, and display the "Trump" name and his signature prominently on the watch face.
'Right to disconnect': New survey shows 78% of employers fear productivity losses if they promise not to contact workers after hours
Office workers walk out for a lunch break at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore. (PHOTO: Roslan RAHMAN / AFP)
A new survey has found that some 78 per cent of employer-respondents in Singapore are concerned about productivity losses if they committed to not contacting their workers outside of contracted work hours. This, despite 88 per cent of these employers acknowledging that they might lose talent if they fail to respect work-life boundaries.
The survey by global matching and hiring platform Indeed was conducted by Censuswide from 29 August to 4 September and involved 500 employers and 500 employees in Singapore.
In addition to talent retention challenges, the survey shed light on the broader issue of employee well-being. Survey data shows that 59 per cent of respondents reported disruptions to their personal lives due to after-hours contact, and 37 per cent indicated negative impacts on their mental and physical health.
Shein restructures, retrenches some employees at Singapore HQ
A view of a Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore on 4 April 2024. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo)
Fast-fashion online retailer Shein has laid off about two dozen employees at its Singapore headquarters, and the workers were notified on Wednesday (25 September). It told South China Morning Post that the employees who are affected by the lay-offs are part of its global IT research and development centre.
The e-commerce firm is restructuring a part of its business amid plans for an initial public offering in London.
According to Shein, it has more than 16,000 employees and serves customers in more than 150 countries.
Warren Buffett is more than just a big name in the investing world -- he's a legend. With a net worth of around $144 billion, people are all ears when he's speaking about business or money matters....
CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. continues to invest in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, announcing Thursday that it will spend about US$700 million to build new crude oil and natural gas pipelines in the gulf for the recently sanctioned Kaskida development, operated by BP Exploration & Production Co.
TC Energy's liquids pipeline spin-off, South Bow Corp, edged lower on its first day of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, tracking a broader weakness in Canadian energy stocks. South Bow was spun out of Calgary-based TC to help TC reduce its debt load and focus on moving natural gas. Shareholders received one South Bow common share for every five TC common shares held.
There are going to be many factors that help you determine if you’re ready to retire to $90k per year for as long as you’ll need it. Withdrawing too much too soon heightens the danger of depletion, so determining a safe and sustainable withdrawal rate in retirement is crucial to ensure savings last your lifetime. […] The post We’re in Our Early 60s with $1.4 Million in Investments. Can We Afford to Withdraw $90k Per Year in Retirement? appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
Crude oil futures surged by up to 5% after President Biden expressed support for Israel striking Iran's oil facilities, with potential market impacts discussed by analysts.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A civil rights group is suing the city of Albuquerque, its police department and top officials on behalf of a man who was among those arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and allegedly forced to pay bribes to get the charges dropped.
Chinese chip-packaging and testing giant Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Tech (JCET) has completed its acquisition of an 80 per cent equity stake in the Shanghai plant of US flash memory maker SanDisk, the latest example of a transition in the global semiconductor value chain. JCET Management, a subsidiary of JCET, obtained that stake through a joint venture with SanDisk Semiconductor (Shanghai), with US$272 million in registered capital, Shanghai-listed JCET said in a filing on September 25. The
HOUSTON/DENVER (Reuters) -The oil industry and markets have had a muted reaction to growing conflict in the Middle East, a sign of just how well stocked oil supplies are as U.S. output grows and OPEC+ prepares to lift production. The global oil benchmark Brent jumped 5% on Tuesday after Iran, a key producer and member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, attacked Israel in retaliation for its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Oil futures settled up just 34 cents on Wednesday after the U.S. reported a large build in oil stocks.
The two biggest oil and gas projects approved for development in the UK’s North Sea over the past two years could be delayed or never completed as the hurdles to oil and gas drilling in Britain are becoming higher.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -France, Greece, Italy and Poland will vote on Friday in favour of tariffs of up to 45% on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) made in China, sources said, enough to push through the European Union's highest profile trade measures, risking potential retaliation from Beijing. The European Commission, which is conducting an anti-subsidy investigation into EVs made in China, has put its proposal for final tariffs to the EU's 27 member states for a vote expected on Friday.
Milchanowski, who was previously with accounting giant EY, will focus on charting a roadmap for the bank to adopt AI, including applications in data, robotics and analytics. "Additionally, she will focus on data management and data governance across the organization, deepening the bank's robust and established culture of innovation and accountability," the Canadian lender said in a statement. Banking executives have said the spread of AI-based systems offers big opportunities for financial services firms but some businesses face higher stakes than other consumer-facing units because they manage sensitive information.
Anglo American Plc will not be an "inevitable" takeover target after its unbundles its diamond, platinum, nickel and coal assets, CEO Duncan Wanblad said on Thursday. The mining giant is restructuring its business to mainly focus on energy transition metal copper after fending off a $49 billion takeover offer from bigger rival BHP Group in May.
CALGARY — Cement producer Lafarge Canada Inc. says it has installed a new facility at its Exshaw, Alta., plant that will use construction waste to reduce the plant's reliance on fossil fuels.
The claim filed in Los Angeles on Thursday by Jane Roe alleges a series of incidents beginning in 2019 The post Garth Brooks Accused of Rape in Lawsuit From Former Makeup Artist appeared first on TheWrap.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday night, Berkshire said it sold 8.55 million Bank of America shares this week for about $337.9 million. Berkshire still owns about 10.2% of the second-largest U.S. bank, or a slightly higher percentage if Bank of America has yet to disclose recent stock buybacks. Thereafter, investors must likely wait for Berkshire'squarterly financial reports or quarterly stock holdingsdisclosures to learn if the Omaha, Nebraska-based company soldmore.
