Former Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan won a narrow victory to become the country’s seventh president, a sign that the popularity of the South east Asian city-state’s ruling party is eroding.

US and Singapore are negotiating a strategic security pact while Washington advances plans to redeploy tens of thousands of troops based in Europe and Asia.

Four female Singaporean navy officers were still missing today following the worst naval accident in modern Singapore’s history.

Singapore is claiming to have averted bomb attacks on military targets and embassies in the country after arresting 15 suspected Islamic militants, some of whom allegedly trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan.