NewsLite

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Computer scientist Louis Castricato was in his eighth year studying large language models — the artificial intelligence technology behind chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude — when he started to feel like he was hitting a dead end.

"We basically have passed the point of doing real fundamental LLM research," Castricato said. "Now it's just applications."

The researcher quit his doctoral studies at Brown University and started a new company, called Overworld.

Its ambition is in its name: AI that can understand and navigate a world, not just words.

The police are appealing for information on the whereabouts of a 12-year-old boy, Caleb Vhonext Fulgencio Delos Reyes, who was last seen in Jurong.

Police said in a news release on Sunday (June 28) that Caleb was last seen at about 9.30am on Sunday at 553 Jurong West Street 42, wearing a grey t-shirt with black shorts and black slippers.

The address is in the vicinity of Jurong Spring Neighbourhood Park.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness .

On my very first overseas trip without my parents, the airline lost my luggage for almost 24 hours.

I was headed to Madrid, Spain, and had a layover in Zurich, Switzerland.

It was there (probably while I was drooling over gourmet Swiss chocolates in the airport) that my luggage somehow got left behind.

It caught up to me the next day, magically appearing at the reception area of my accommodation in Spain.

Despite murmurs of Workers' Party (WP) cadres being disgruntled and aiming to unseat him at the party's internal elections on Sunday (June 28), Pritam Singh has been re-elected as its leader.

In a news release issued to the media at 5.50pm, Singapore's largest opposition party – with 12 seats in Parliament – announced that the 50-year-old has been re-elected as its secretary-general, with Sylvia Lim, 61, continuing as chairperson.

Meanwhile, 12 other members, including MPs for Aljunied GRC, Gerald Giam and Kenneth Tiong; Sengkang GRC MPs, Louis Chua, He Ting Ru, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim and Abdul Muhaimin bin Abdul Malik; and Hougang SMC MP Dennis Tan, were also elected to WP's Central Executive Committee (CEC).

"A vote was taken on whether Pritam Singh would remain as Secretary-General, and I would say that a supermajority voted for him to remain as the Workers' Party's Secretary-General," Giam said, who was chairman of the Special Cadre Members' Conference.

Victims of online harms will be able to seek redress through the Online Safety Commission (OSC) which begins operations on Monday (June 29).

The OSC was formed to support the office of the Commissioner of Online Safety as part of the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025 (Osraa) , which aims to protect online users from harm.

The Bill was tabled in Parliament last October, giving the Government powers to order social media platforms and app providers to take down harmful content.

While there may be 13 separate online harms that the OSC is set to address, it will begin with five and progressively incorporate the remaining eight.

Local Mercedes-Benz fans, rejoice; the brand has just launched the all-new, all-electric GLB on our sunny shores.

This sees two new additions to the GLB's all-electric lineup: The GLB200 electric Progressive and the GLB250+ electric AMG Line Sport.

At the front of the new GLB's exterior is a panel with the illuminated Mercedes-Benz pattern comprising of the large central Mercedes-Benz star and 94 chrome-look stars.

It features a boxy SUV silhouette with an upright front, a steep windscreen, and short overhangs.

A 32-year-old flat at 46 Bendemeer Road has just set a record resale price for an executive flat in the Kallang/Whampoa area.

The 1,549 sq ft flat, which sits on the 19th – 21st floors, changed hands for a record $1.412 million when it was sold this week, the price translates to $911 psf on the floor area.

This trumps the previous price high of $1.318 million ($838 psf) which was set in August 2024 by another executive flat in the same HDB block.

That 1,571 sq ft flat is also on the 19th – 21st floors. The price gap is a marginal $94,000.

As an orthopaedic surgeon, Lieutenant-Colonel (NS) Dr Wayne Yap Ming Quan is used to performing under pressure.

That important trait helped the commanding officer of the Singapore Army’s 3rd Combat Support Hospital (3CSH) lead his unit to win the Best (NS) Combat Service Support Unit in the SAF Best Unit Competition (BUC) for the second consecutive year.

"I think the most important, key point here is that your men will follow you and grow with you along the way if they find value to what they do," the 41-year-old told AsiaOne in an interview on Wednesday (June 24).

He pointed out that the unit's continued excellence as well as consistency throughout the years have led to its success.

A 50-year-old man reported missing has been found dead in the waters off Coney Island.

Tony Hou Wen Li was last seen in the vicinity of Block 178 Edgefield Plains in Punggol at about 5.20am on June 23.

Police said in an appeal for information the same night that he was wearing a dark-coloured shirt and shorts, and carrying a black backpack.

They withdrew the appeal for information on Sunday (June 28) morning.

On any weekend evening, the contrast between the main historic districts in Singapore is hard to miss.

Most of the crowd in Chinatown empties out by 10pm and Little India holds to its weekday rhythm. But Kampong Gelam, especially Haji Lane and Bali Lane, fill up with different crowds.

This heritage area, which stretches from Rochor Road to the Kallang River, sees a throng of crowds in the daytime that explore the various vintage, fashion, and the photo-booth concepts that have multiplied along Haji Lane.

But in the evening, the diners spill onto the street which turns into a vibrant pedestrian-only zone from 3pm to 1am on weekdays, and from 12pm to 1am on the weekends and public holidays.