It was supposed to be a non-stop trip from Singapore to Malaysia, taking just over five and a half hours — but purportedly required four stops and over nine hours instead.A disgruntled traveller has shared his bad experience with Billion Stars Express' coach service in a Facebook post on Thursday (May 14).The traveller, Facebook user Toni Tan, said he had booked an 11am coach to Kuala Lumpur through Easybook with Billion Stars Express, bound for Berjaya Times Square.After making the booking, the 61-year-old swim coach received a WhatsApp confirmation informing him that the bus would pick him up at 18 Tai Seng at 11am.To avoid missing the coach, Tan and his companions rushed from Tan Tock Seng Hospital by taxi, spending $14.77 and arriving at the pickup point at 10.35am.By 11.30am, however, the bus still had not arrived.«When I contacted the company, they apologised and said the actual pickup time should be 12pm instead of 11am,» Tan said."This is unacceptable because I booked an 11am coach and your WhatsApp confirmation also clearly stated 11am.

The goal is to reach Turkey by land.And to realise that, a family of four sold their HDB flat and car to fund their travel.A video on the family's Instagram account on Sunday (May 3) announcing the start of their adventure has gone viral having been viewed over 247,000 times, garnering over 4,000 likes.«We have been planning this for a very long time. And finally, it is happening,» read the caption.Based on their most recent video, the family has reached Penang, Malaysia.Mohammad Shahrom Mahat, 44, and his wife Mastura Natasha Malek, 40, sold their three-room HDB flat and Suzuki car to finance a six-month road trip that is estimated to cost around $100,000.Together with their two children, Nadine, five, and Seth, six, the couple will be travelling through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia before reaching Turkey.The family aims to reach China by June in a Toyota Hilux pickup truck.Mohammad is self-employed and will continue to run his photography business while Mastura left her job as an educational therapist.

Three online retailers have been caught for using urgency tactics and misleading claims to pressure shoppers into buying from their platform, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) said on Monday (May 18).The retailers —Seager Inc, Origin Sleep and Light In The Box — allegedly featured «dark practices» on their web pages.Following investigations, Seager Inc's Boarding Gate, which specialises in goods related to travel, was allegedly found to feature dynamic numbers that supposedly showed the number of people looking at products on its website or placing items in its shopping cart.This created an «illusion of real-time visitor activity and high demand» and was found to be fake after CCS examined the website's source code and determined that the numbers were randomised.Origin Sleep also allegedly featured a similar message on its website to mislead and urge customers into buying products.«The mattress retailer displayed misleading cart activity claiming 'Other people want this. XX people have this in their carts now',» CCS said.

He reluctantly answered journalists’ questions and confirmed that he had been held in a paid cell

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei emphasized that it was a legitimate right that had been unjustly taken from Iran

Esmaeil Baghaei emphasized that Iran strongly protests Middle Eastern states making their territory «available to aggressors»

The operator plans to deploy several dozen such complexes across its branches nationwide by 2028

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stressed that Tehran was in constant contact other stakeholders to develop a mechanism to ensure safe passage for all nations

US President Donald Trump has issued a new threat to Iran as indirect peace talks between the sides remain stalled Read Full Article at RT.com

Dan Shapiro noted that the US leader continued to toggle back and forth between the same unappealing options

Prime Minister Modi wrapped up his tour in Sweden with a monumental advancement in India-Sweden relations, officially turning it into a Strategic Partnership. Highlights of this collaboration include a detailed action plan for the upcoming years (2026-2030) and a groundbreaking partnership on AI and quantum computing.

[Premium Times] A verified register obtained by this newspaper from Mussa Ward councillor Peter Wabba identified 40 missing children by name, age, and family background.

[DW] Rwanda's Felicien Kabuga was once one of the world's most-wanted fugitives. He was accused of encouraging and bankrolling the 1994 genocide.

[allAfrica]

The sisters are expected to join senior royals at the wedding of their cousin Peter Phillips and fiancée Harriet Sperling next month.

The figure marked a dramatic rise from the at least 1,518 executions recorded in 2024, with Amnesty blaming a small group of states for driving the increase.

Thousands of desperate shoppers camped outside stores for days in the hope of securing one of the £335 'Royal Pop' watches.

Cuba says the US government and media are working to create a “fraudulent” rationale for an invasion Read Full Article at RT.com

Israel has approved plans for a new military compound at the location of the former UN office in Jerusalem after seizing the site in 2024 Read Full Article at RT.com

An unidentified drone has struck the electrical grid of the UAE’s nuclear power plant, officials say Read Full Article at RT.com

[New Zimbabwe] POLICE have unearthed a makeshift pharmaceutical factory, where an assortment of 'medicines' were being manufactured and packaged for sale.

[RFI] Botswana has formally repealed sections of its penal code criminalising same-sex relations, in a rare advance for LGBTQ rights in Africa. But several governments elsewhere on the continent are introducing harsher penalties for same-sex relationships.

A certain Canadian MP's visit to the Taiwan region and his meetings with officials of the Taiwan region authorities gravely contravene the one-China commitment Canada upholds and send a wrong message of support for 'Taiwan independence', the Chinese embassy said

Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev highlighted tourism as yet another promising sphere

Nikolai Azarov noted that the scenario of «Vladimir Zelensky stepping down and an interim government being formed at the helm for a transition period will be the best»

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has prepared military target plans should the US leader decide to resume the hostilities against the Islamic Republic

One person remained missing

Dear Matt, welcome to the BBC. Director general should be one of the best jobs in the world and plenty of people will be rooting for you to prove that it is.

In a Sunday Truth Social post, US President Donald Trump unleashed his latest threat to the Iranian regime.

Over the next month, we're going to hear a lot from Andy Burnham about his role in rooting out the Asian grooming gangs and getting justice for the countless children who were their victims.