16/07/2026

THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2026 7 Jakarta cracks down on online gambling JAKARTA: Indonesia has blocked access to about 3.7 million websites and online content linked to online gambling and shut down thousands of bank accounts since late 2024, as authorities intensified a crackdown on the illicit industry. Communication and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said the government crackdown now extends beyond blocking gambling websites to dismantling the broader ecosystem that supports the illicit activity. “The eradication of online gambling must be carried out comprehensively. It is not enough, nor should it stop, at merely blocking access to websites. It must target the entire ecosystem,” she said at a forum here on Tuesday. Meutya said the broader approach involves closer cooperation between the ministry, Financial Services Authority (OJK), Bank Indonesia, the banking industry and law enforcement agencies to disrupt the financial networks underpinning online gambling. Since late 2024, the ministry and OJK have identified about 38,000 bank accounts suspected of being linked to online gambling, with about 32,500 subsequently closed following a cleansing process. Meutya said blocking gambling websites must be accompanied by cutting off the financial lifelines of online gambling syndicates through the closure of intermediary bank accounts, adding that such collaboration was key to breaking the chain of digital crime. – Bernama Vietnam probes gem smuggling ring HANOI: Vietnamese police are investigating an international diamond syndicate accused of smuggling 28,000 gems worth nearly US$11 million (RM44.7 million), with the country’s largest jeweller caught up in the probe. The former head of Phu Nhuan Jewelry’s (PNJ) gem certification subsidiary was arrested earlier this month along with more than 30 others accused of involvement in a syndicate operating over several years. Police have raided more than 20 establishments, including jewellery stores and homes of the accused, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City, the Public Security Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. State media reported yesterday that a number of establishments linked to the investigation have suddenly closed. Dang Ngoc Thao, the former director of PNJ Laboratory, is accused of falsely certifying gems sourced in India for resale in Vietnam, removing laser inscriptions and replacing them with the company’s own identification markings. Police have seized 1,239 diamonds in the investigation along with jewellery “for which no invoices or documents proving their origin could be produced”, the ministry said. The suspects used sophisticated methods to source diamonds from India and ship them via Hong Kong into Vietnam, it added. PNJ said it “acknowledged” the investigation into its former employee but claimed the “matter involves individual legal liability”. It said diamond products certified by its subsidiary are “fully traceable and of guaranteed quality”. – AFP

Bloomberg ordered to pay two ministers S$460,000

o News agency says its stands by reporter

He said in court that when Bloomberg received a correction direction issued under Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, the company responded by lifting the paywall on the article and publicly stood by it. A Bloomberg editor said in an affidavit that the company had lifted the paywall so that readers could see the correction notice. The hearing was told that the notice was placed at the top of the story on its website, along with a statement that Bloomberg “respectfully disagrees” with the direction and stood by its reporting. In her ruling, the judge said Low had been reckless and false in describing the opacity of local government records for non-caveated bungalow transactions. She said such records were in fact maintained in public records and made searchable through the Singapore Land Authority Integrated Land Information Service, a fact Low knew from making searches as a reporter himself. “I find that Bloomberg’s conduct in removing the paywall pertaining to the article also demonstrates malice,” said the judge. – Reuters

The law firm that represented the ministers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In her judgment, Justice Audrey Lim wrote: “The dominant purpose behind the article was to publish a story about the claimants, in particular about their (good class bungalow) transactions. The broader narrative of how wealthy individuals in Singapore use non caveated transactions and trust structures to keep their dealings secret or ‘off-radar’ was the cover devised to carry that story.” Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng had sued Bloomberg and one of its reporters for defamation over the December 2024 article on secrecy around expensive property transactions that mentioned deals involving the two ministers. Bloomberg had defended the story as reporting on trends related to transactions of luxury properties, saying both ministers were newsworthy examples of such deals. The news organisation told the court the article did not allege wrongdoing by the ministers. The lawyer for the ministers had called for aggravated damages to be awarded and said the defendants had showed malice.

SINGAPORE: Bloomberg News and one of its reporters were ordered to pay S$460,000 (RM1.5 million) in damages after an article it published was found to have defamed two ministers, the city-state’s High Court said. Bloomberg and the reporter Low De Wei are liable to pay S$230,000 to each minister, comprising S$170,000 in general damages and S$60,000 in aggravated damages, said the judgment released on Tuesday. Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said he was disappointed by the ruling, adding that the company stands by its reporter and the newsroom. “We argued at trial that our reporting was accurate and served an important public interest, and we continue to believe that the ministers have imposed an extremely strained meaning on what was a solid story,” he told Reuters in an email. He did not say whether Bloomberg was planning to file an appeal.

MILESTONE OF STRENGTH ... The world’s longest reigning living monarch, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah inspecting the royal guard of honour during celebrations at Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien in Bandar Seri Begawan yesterday. – REUTERSPIC his 80th birthday

Thai pub fire death toll rises to 32 BANGKOK: The death toll from an explosive fire at a Bangkok live music pub has risen to 32 after two people died of their injuries, police said yesterday, as investigations focused on the possibility of negligence as a factor in the blaze. city’s northern Chatuchak area close to midnight on Sunday, with witnesses describing an explosion, a horizontal burst of fire and smoke engulfing the single-storey venue.

Experts say they think combustible material that decorated the stage to improve acoustics ignited to produce extreme heat, smoke and toxins, choking the trapped patrons. The use of flammable materials and decorative items, crowded conditions and unusable emergency exits in Thai establishments have been previously flagged. – Reuters

to ensure fire exits are unobstructed and that venues are safe. The pub had undergone an inspection in April. The pub, located at a busy intersection next to train stations and two shopping malls, is one of a cluster of similar bars often crowded on weekend nights, serving food, drinks as well as offering live music and televised sports.

Authorities believe the fire was probably sparked by an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner. Police are investigating the possibility of negligence and if emergency exits were obstructed, as the government vows to tighten regulations over entertainment venues, including random inspections

The Erawan Emergency Medical Centre said 30 people were still being treated in hospitals in the city, with 15 of those in intensive care units. A total of 44 people have been discharged.

The fire, one of the deadliest in recent years in Thailand, tore through the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub in the