16/03/2026

MONDAY | MAR 16, 2026

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S’pore recalls two more milk products SINGAPORE: The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has recalled two additional formula milk products for infants and children, following the detection of cereulide toxin. In a joint statement with the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), the SFA said the products were Nestle NAN HA2 from Switzerland and Nature One Dairy Organic Toddler Milk Formula - Stage 3 from Australia. “Since our last update on Jan 30, there have been no additional cases who had developed mild symptoms likely associated with cereulide exposure after consuming the affected products. All three earlier cases have since recovered. “There are no definitive clinical laboratory tests available to confirm cereulide poisoning,” it said yesterday. The CDA is working with the SFA and has conducted surveillance with medical practitioners to monitor for potential cases of cereulide poisoning in children. – Bernama The new designated structures comprise the ruins of Fort Martello and the grave of Mohammad Hoesni Thamrin in Central Jakarta, while the only cultural item added to the registry is a statue dedicated to poet Chairil Anwar. – Bernama Merdeka Palace among 16 new heritage sites in Jakarta JAKARTA: Indonesia’s capital has added 16 sites, including Merdeka Palace and Sarinah Building, the country’s first modern department store, to its cultural heritage registry. Jakarta Culture Office head Mochamad Miftahulloh Tamary said the designation covers 13 buildings, two structures and one cultural item. He said the sites were assessed by cultural heritage experts who evaluated sites based on historical, scientific, educational, religious and cultural significance. The Merdeka Palace, built in 1873 during the Dutch colonial era, serves as the president’s main ceremonial residence and office, while the Sarinah Building, opened in 1966 under the initiative of President Sukarno, is widely recognised as the country’s first modern department store. The newly designated heritage buildings include the PGI Hospital and its chapel in Cikini, the Anglican Church of Indonesia, Santa Theresia Catholic Church, the Cultural Heritage Conservation Centre building in West Jakarta, as well as the Balai Yasa Manggarai Water Tower and the Nusantara Building, Mochamad Miftahulloh said. Educational institutions such as Public Junior High School 3 Jakarta and Public Elementary School Gunung 05 Pagi were also included.

Ethnic minority citizens line up to cast their ballots in the northern Vietnamese province of Tuyen Quang. – AFPPIC

One-party Vietnam holds parliamentary election

Among the new parliament’s first tasks when it sits next month will be to confirm top leaders selected by the party at its congress in January. Top leader To Lam was reaffirmed as

lampposts and traffic lights, extolling the “national festival” where people “eagerly cast ballots”. Elderly voters, well-dressed in suits

helm, slashing bureaucratic red tape and pushing major infrastructure investments as he aims to boost economic growth. The party rallied around his bold vision at the January congress, electing several of Lam’s allies to its highest decision-making body. Aside from his reappointment as general secretary, however, the party did not publicly announce the other main “pillars” of Vietnam’s collective leadership structure. The president, prime minister and head of the national assembly will all be confirmed by lawmakers’ votes. Lam would be the first person to have secured the top two jobs at a party congress, rather than stepping in following a holder’s death. After voting, Lam said on live television that the election aimed “to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country to more development”. – AFP projects in the Himalayas. He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 for his environmental work and contributions to reforming local schooling in Ladakh. India split Ladakh off from Kashmir in 2019, imposing direct rule on both. Ladakh has since called upon New Delhi to include it in the “Sixth Schedule” of India’s constitution and have its own local legislature to make its laws and policies. India’s army maintains a large presence in Ladakh, which includes disputed border areas with China. Troops from the two countries clashed there in 2020, killing at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. – AFP pioneering water conservation

HANOI: Polls opened in Vietnam yesterday with voters casting ballots for members of the National Assembly, the country’s top legislative body that serves mainly to ratify decisions by the Communist Party. The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million is both an economic success story, boasting 8% growth last year, and a repressive one-party state that often jails its critics. Out of 864 candidates for the 500 seat parliament, only 65 are not members of the Communist Party, down from 74 in the last vote five years ago. In the capital Hanoi, patriotic red and-yellow banners flutter from o ‘No big surprises expected at the vote’

or traditional costumes, were some of the first to cast their ballots. “I do expect top leaders after this election will make major changes to make our country better,” said Nguyen Thi Kim, 73, at a polling station set up in a community room of a high-rise residential block in Hanoi. But in a country where major policies and projects are decided by senior cadres, many

general secretary, but he is widely expected to become president as well – a post that requires approval by lawmakers. “There won’t be any

big surprises at the vote,” said Nguyen Khac Giang of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “However, top personnel selections, particularly the prime minister and the president, will carry significant implications for the reform process,” he said. Lam has implemented dramatic changes in nearly two years at the Apex Body, which spearheaded last year’s protests, said Wangchuk was released from jail in the western city of Jodhpur soon after. The Home Ministry said it remained “committed to fostering an environment of peace, stability, and mutual trust in” Ladakh and have “meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders”. The decision also comes as the Supreme Court continues to hear a petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo, challenging the legality of his detention. The fate of that case remains unclear now that Wangchuk has been released. An engineer by training, Wangchuk is best known for

Lam ... focused on more development.

citizens feel lukewarm about elections. “I don’t vote because I think my vote doesn’t matter,” said Phuong Anh, 25, an administrator in Da Nang.

India frees Ladakh activist Wangchuk NEW DELHI: India has ended the preventive detention of prominent Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, freeing him six months after he was held over protests in the Himalayan region. communities, land and fragile environment. Authorities in the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan, at the time said the order, issued by the district magistrate of Leh, was needed to “maintain public order”.

Wangchuk, 59, an environmental advocate who became a key figure in Ladakh’s movement for greater autonomy, was held in September and later charged under India’s National Security Act following protests that left four people dead and dozens wounded. New Delhi had blamed the violence on “provocative speeches” by Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal

Under the stringent National Security Act, a suspect can be detained for up to 12 months without being formally charged. The Home Ministry said in a statement on Saturday it had decided to end Wangchuk’s detention “with immediate effect” after “due consideration”. It is not clear if the charges against Wangchuk were dropped. Mustafa Haji, a lawyer for the Leh