A diagnosed paedophile who sexually abused 11 girls over 33 years, with the acts ranging from molestation to rape, was sentenced by a Singapore court on Thursday to 21 years’ jail. The victims were as young as five, and included his daughter, granddaughters, nieces and students at an enrichment centre he ran with his wife. The judge noted that the jail term should not be crushing or amount to a life sentence for the 71-year-old man, who suffers from a rare blood cancer called myelofibrosis. At...

Hang Ten Systems has raised an additional US$53 million in seed funding, just five weeks after closing its first seed round, as large enterprises search for ways to move artificial intelligence from experimentation into core operations. The new round was led by Xora, a Temasek-backed fund focused on AI and deep tech. Mayfield, which led […] The post Temasek-backed Xora leads Hang Ten’s US$53M seed round appeared first on e27.

Authorities in Malaysia have seized several more Israel-bound shipments at one of the country’s biggest ports, according to people familiar with the matter, an apparently new level of scrutiny in a nation where anti-Israeli sentiment runs high. Three containers bound for Ashdod Port south of Tel Aviv were detained at Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas port in mid-August and to date had not been released as authorities investigate their contents, the people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be...

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr has won a burst of online support among Filipinos who see him as one of Manila’s most outspoken senior officials against China, with some already asking whether it could give him enough political momentum to carry him into the 2028 elections. His latest boost came after a viral moment at the Seoul Defence Dialogue on September 8, where he read out a handwritten note reiterating Beijing’s rejection of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has called for stricter regulations and sanctions against those who use slash and burn methods to clear land, as the country struggles to contain wildfires that have been raging for weeks. Indonesia is battling its most intense wildfires in 11 years, with “super El Nino” weather parching ‌the country’s forests and fields. The islands of Borneo and Sumatra have been the worst hit, with the hazardous haze causing a spike in respiratory illnesses. Transboundary...

Databricks is putting more weight behind Singapore as large companies across Asia shift from experimenting with artificial intelligence to trying to run it safely inside their core operations. The US data and AI company said it will invest more than US$350 million in Singapore over the next three years, expand into a new 32,000-square-foot regional […] The post Databricks doubles down on Singapore with US$350M AI investment plan appeared first on e27.

Here’s a simple way to think about FinSight Ventures: it is a late-stage fund that likes the places most investors avoid, and it has a one-line rule for deciding when to write a cheque: 35 per cent a year, in dollars, or it walks. The US-based VC fund with operational hubs in Cyprus and India […] The post Why FinSight thinks Physical AI is mispriced by a decade of data, not dollars appeared first on e27.

Picture the scene. The lights dim. A drone shot. A cello. Employees smiling at the camera. Then the line: We are changing the world. The film was beautifully made. The investor picked up his phone ten seconds in. I didn’t set out to start a company over that. But a founder I was coaching kept […] The post Nobody gives you time to explain. That’s the real fundraising problem appeared first on e27.

Electronic payment providers need to be more diligent in vetting companies that use their platforms to protect people from fraud, the Philippine central bank said. The requirement came after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas found thousands of illegal businesses on the payment platforms, including many online casinos masquerading as more ordinary companies like beauty salons and bakeries. “We want to protect consumers from online fraud, illegal activities and also from money launderers,” Deputy...

Bitcoin rose 0.82 per cent in 24 hours to US$76,318.25. Ethereum gained 0.80 per cent to US$2,418.94. The total crypto market cap increased one per cent, and the broader crypto market rose 0.99 per cent. These numbers point to a single conclusion. A relief bounce tied to the Federal Reserve lifted the entire asset class. […] The post Why did Bitcoin and Ethereum move in near-perfect lockstep after the Fed rate hike? appeared first on e27.