Singapore's central bank said Thursday it would stop issuing Sg$10,000 ($8,000) notes to help deter money laundering, with critics complaining the note is the bill of choice for bribe-payers in neighboring Indonesia. 

A spokeswoman for the Monetary Authority of Singapore said the decision was "a pre-emptive move to mitigate the higher money laundering risks associated with large value cash transactions".

A Singaporean businessman was found guilty of corruption Tuesday after a judge ruled that he offered three Lebanese referees free services of prostitutes in return for rigging future matches.

Nightclub owner Eric Ding Si Yang, 32, could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to Sg$300,000 ($240,000) for bribing referee Ali Sabbagh, 35 and assistant referees Ali Eid, 34, and Abdallah Taleb, 38.

Malaysia's navy has fought off a pirate attack on a tanker off its east coast in the South China Sea, the International Maritime Bureau said Sunday.

The Malaysian force was assisted by the Indonesian and Singaporean navies in fending off the attack late Saturday, said Noel Choong, head of the IMB's Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Center.

Singapore said Tuesday it has filed criminal charges against a shipping firm based in the city-state accused of helping smuggle missiles and other military hardware from Cuba to North Korea.

The foreign affairs and home affairs ministries said in a joint statement that the charges were filed against Chinpo Shipping Company Pte Ltd and a Singapore citizen identified as Tan Hui Tin.

Pirates have released an Indonesian-bound Thai tanker after stealing its oil cargo, in the latest attack in Southeast Asian waters, the International Maritime Bureau said Monday.

MT Orapin 4, with 14 crew aboard, arrived at Sri Racha Port in Thailand on Sunday, the IMB's Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Center said.

A Thai tanker is thought to have been hijacked on its way from Singapore to Indonesia, the International Maritime Bureau said Saturday, following a number of pirate attacks in Southeast Asian waters.

The diesel oil tanker MT Orapin 4, with 14 crew aboard, lost contact with its owner after departing the city-state on Tuesday, IMB's Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Center said.

The president of Singapore is to make the first state visit from his country to Britain in October, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday.

President Tony Tan and his wife Mary have accepted an invitation to visit Britain for three days from October 21, the palace said.

Even if searchers are able to miraculously pluck Malaysia Airlines flight 370's "black box" from the depths of the vast Indian Ocean, experts say it may not solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

Planes, ships and state-of-the-art tracking equipment are hunting for any trace of the passenger jet, which Malaysia said crashed in the forbidding waters after veering far from its intended course.

Singapore said Tuesday it will ban from its ports and naval bases an Indonesian navy ship named after two marines who bombed an office complex in the city-state in the 1960s.

Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said the ship will be barred as part of a dispute over the Indonesian navy's decision to name the refurbished frigate after the two marines, Usman Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said.

Singapore is ready to invest $2.43 billion to modernize its F-16 fighter jets in an arms deal with the United States, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

The Defense Department informed Congress of the planned sale that would involve new radar, navigation systems, missiles and other advanced equipment for Singapore's aging fleet of F-16s.