East-West line service fully restored after 6-day disruption; What to know about VEP for Singapore vehicles: Singapore live news

Singapore's home prices are finally taking a hit for the first time since 2023. An index of private home prices saw a drop of 1.1 per cent last quarter from the previous three months.

The city state is now on course for its worst year in new home sales since the global financial crisis.

However, public housing prices are still increasing due to continued demand. A price index for second-hand HDB flats estimated prices to have risen by 2.5 per cent in the third quarter.

This is the largest jump in two years, and the 18th consecutive rise.

For a full analysis of Singapore's housing market, read here.

Lee Hsien Yang, estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, announced on Sunday (29 Sept) that he has paid a total of $619,335.53 for defamation.

In the same Facebook post, he claimed that the amount was equal to "13.6 months rental for the two Ridout houses", and that he paid it to "to try to honour my father's wishes in connection with his home".

Both Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan have responded with statements on their own via Facebook.

The statements, which are largely similar, addressed firstly, the issue that they should have sued Lee in England. Shanmugam argued that they sued him for libels that were published in Singapore, and "which were primarily meant for, and concerned, Singaporeans".

Both ministers also said they had urged Lee to cross-examine them during the trial, but he was a no-show.

They also reiterated that the damages Lee paid will be donated to charity.

As for Lee's claim about paying the money to "honour" his father's wishes, Shanmugam and Balakrishnan described it as "extraordinary".

"Mr Lee Hsien Yang knows that the defamation cases have nothing to do with Mr Lee Kuan Yew," they wrote.

They added, "It is also rich of him to claim that he tried to honour Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes when he knows that his conduct, vis-à-vis his father, has been the subject of scathing remarks by the Courts."

To see Shanmugam and Balakrishnan's remarks in full, read here.

Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin revealed that the band's 12th album will be its last "proper album".

Martin revealed that in an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe and explained, "Because less is more and, for some of our critics, even less would be even more! It’s really important that we have that limit."

The band's 10th album, Moon Music, releases on 4 Oct.

By self-imposing the limit, the band is able to make quality songs as "the quality control is so high right now".

Additionally, making an album involves a lot of people and Martin wants to "give the others some of their life for themselves".

The end of Coldplay's studio albums doesn't mean the end of the band's music journey, though.

For more on what Chris Martin has planned for Coldplay, read here.

It would have been a collector's item for many Swifties, but for this Texas man, it was the object of his displeasure.

During an auction to support agricultural education for local youth, an authentic, signed Taylor Swift guitar was sold for US$4,000.

In a video that has gone viral, the winner can be seen taking a hammer to the guitar and smashing it repeatedly.

An organiser for the event confirmed the authenticity of the guitar to The Independent.

One event attendee told the publication that it "wasn't unheard of" to auction a Taylor Swift guitar, but that the phones "came out" when the winner announced his intention to destroy it.

He added that the part of Texas where the auction was held is heavily conservative.

Swift drew the ire of Trump, and by extension his supporters, when she publicly came out in support of Kamala Harris for the upcoming US presidential elections.

After her announcement, Trump went on his Truth Social platform and wrote, "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!"

To see the video of the Taylor Swift guitar being wrecked, read here.

Celebrated singer, songwriter and stage actor Gavin Creel died on 30 Sept.

He was 48 and lost his life amid treatment for a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma. Creel was diagnosed with metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma in July 2024.

Creel was beloved among the community and counted stars like Sara Bareilles, Andrew Rannells, Sutton Foster, Jane Krakowski, and Aaron Tveit among his close friends.

As an out, gay actor, he also used his platform to fight for racial equality and LGBTQ rights.

He won his first Tony Award in 2017, playing the role of Cornelius Hackl on the revival of Hello, Dolly! alongside Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce.

Creel's death was confirmed by his partner, Alex Temple Ward.

For more on Creel's achievements in theatre, read here.

Reel life is set to imitate real life, should Donald Trump be elected the US President this year.

During his Pennsylvania rally on Sunday (29 Sept), the 78-year-old claimed that crime in the US is "at a level we’ve never seen". He added, "We have to let police do their job, [even] if they have to be extraordinarily rough."

To further drive his point, he said, "If you had one day, like one real, rough, nasty day … If you had one really violent day... One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately.”

His remarks led to netizens drawing comparisons to the horror film series The Purge where all crime is legal for one night a year.

When asked about his comments, a campaign official said Trump was "clearly just floating in jest".

Read here to find out more on Trump's suggestion of "one really violent day".