The Straits Times media bias and reliability
Media Bias/Fact Check places The Straits Times as leaning right. We have seen it on 552 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is The Straits Times biased?
Media Bias/Fact Check places The Straits Times as leaning right. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is The Straits Times left or right?
Media Bias/Fact Check places The Straits Times as leaning right. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Right.
Is The Straits Times reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for The Straits Times are Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What The Straits Times has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with The Straits Times’s own report linked underneath.
Saudi Aramco has cancelled or delayed crude oil deliveries to European refiners. The disruption follows an attack on the kingdom's East-West pipeline, a key route for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
The Straits Times reported it asSaudi Aramco will not supply European oil refiners with crude in October: Sources (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Denmark is speeding up and increasing its support package for Ukraine to 1.8 billion Danish kroner, primarily for air defense. The decision follows an incident where a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish helicopter in international waters.
The Straits Times reported it asDenmark speeds up Ukraine aid package after Russian warship fires flares at helicopter (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Russia's economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Germany's AfD party are preparing to meet next year to discuss resuming Russian gas supplies. The meeting depends on a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Possible locations include Israel, the UAE, or India.
The Straits Times reported it asPutin envoy and far-right AfD prepare talks to get Russian gas back for Germany, sources say (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Researchers have identified a new wild cat species, Leopardus tilcayo, in Bolivia's Yungas forest. The small feline, measuring about 45-46 cm and weighing 1.4 kg, is the first new wild cat species described in more than 100 years.
The Straits Times reported it asNew cat species identified in Bolivia, first in over a century (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stated that U.S. President Donald Trump clearly wants dialogue with North Korea. Lee also confirmed that South Korea will not deploy troops to intervene militarily in the Iran war.
The Straits Times reported it asTrump ‘clearly’ wants dialogue with Pyongyang: South Korean President (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The US Department of Defense issued mandatory testosterone deficiency screening guidelines for active-duty and reserve service members aged 30 and older. Men will undergo blood tests, while women will be screened for fatigue and menstrual cycle disruptions. Treatment remains optional.
The Straits Times reported it asPentagon resumes mandatory testosterone testing for service members (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The Federal Register website used Alibaba's Qwen AI model for a search tool that allowed users to find proposed regulations. The FBI accused Alibaba of "malicious" copying of Anthropic's technology, leading to the tool's removal.
The Straits Times reported it asUS government website used AI search tool from China that FBI said copied Anthropic (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The United States has imposed new sanctions on eight Cuban companies and three military officers. The companies are linked to mineral exploitation, including nickel extraction, and military research and development. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the sanctions aim to prevent Cuban resources from sustaining the security apparatus.
The Straits Times reported it asUS sanctions Cuban nickel reserves, military enterprises (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
US President Donald Trump announced significant progress toward establishing a US military base in Poland. He stated the location would be announced soon and described the potential base as a historic step for the US-Poland alliance. Polish President Karol Nawrocki was credited for his leadership.
The Straits Times reported it asTrump says progress made toward establishing US Army base in Poland (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended the mandate of experts monitoring sanctions on Iran. The vote creates a gap in oversight as the sanctions themselves remain in effect.
The Straits Times reported it asRussia, China end mandate for independent monitoring of UN sanctions on Iran (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call on Thursday, September 17, 2026. They discussed preparing for future high-level interactions and the situation in West Asia, ahead of an anticipated meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.
The Straits Times reported it asChina, US diplomats discuss high-level interactions ahead of Xi-Trump meeting (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to address the European Parliament. This follows a proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for Canada to become the EU's first associate member, a move US President Donald Trump has criticised.
The Straits Times reported it asHighlights from Canadian PM Mark Carney's speech in Strasbourg (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Argentina's government has introduced a bill to Congress that would impose sanctions, including up to 20 years imprisonment, on companies exploiting natural resources in the Falkland Islands without Argentine authorisation. The islands are administered by the UK but claimed by Argentina.
The Straits Times reported it asMilei submits bill to strengthen sanctions against Falklands activities (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
A single-engine Cirrus SR22T plane crashed in the Swiss Alps, killing all three people on board. The incident occurred near Leukerbad in the canton of Valais. The cause of the crash is currently unknown, and the identities of the victims are still being determined.
The Straits Times reported it asTwo Britons among three people killed in plane crash in Switzerland (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The US House of Representatives has passed a sanctions package aimed at Russia over its war in Ukraine. The bill includes warnings of 100% tariffs on nations buying Russian oil and targets the country's 'shadow fleet' of tankers. The Kremlin stated these measures will make peace talks harder.
The Straits Times reported it asRussia says new US sanctions, if signed by Trump, would make Ukraine peace deal harder (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs or halt trade with the European Union if Canada is granted associate membership. He described the prospect as 'laughable' and a 'hostile act', while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed a desire for Canada to be the bloc's first associate member.
The Straits Times reported it asTrump derides EU pitch to Canada as 'laughable', threatens more tariffs (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Global freshwater reserves have fallen significantly, with the World Meteorological Organization reporting 2025 as one of the driest years for river flows in 35 years. The UN warns the water cycle is becoming more unpredictable, potentially exacerbated by El Niño.
The Straits Times reported it asWorld’s water cycle becoming more unpredictable, UN warns (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
President Donald Trump stated the war in Iran will conclude immediately after the US midterm elections in November. He accused Iran of prolonging the conflict to influence the election outcome and suggested the country seeks nuclear weapons.
The Straits Times reported it asTrump says 'hopefully we are towards end' of Iran war (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Huawei has announced plans to release four new Ascend AI chips within the next three years, aiming to compete with Nvidia. The Ascend 950 chip will feature proprietary high-bandwidth memory, a key technological advancement for China. The company also plans new computing power supernodes.
The Straits Times reported it asHuawei set to unveil China’s best answer to Nvidia AI chip reign (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum to identify and remove Canadian-origin goods from U.S. federal civil government procurement. The move escalates an ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.
The Straits Times reported it asTrump bans Canadian goods from US government purchases (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
Who says so
One organisation has published a rating for this outlet. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
- Media Bias/Fact CheckleanRightCheck it
How reliably it reports fact
A rating of the newsroom in general, by others, and a different thing from the Trust score we publish on each story, which judges one piece of reporting.
High factuality
- Media Bias/Fact CheckhighCheck it
Who owns it
- Singapore Press HoldingsMedia Conglomeratedirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Singapore, Singapore
- Official site
- straitstimes.com
- Seen publishing on
- straitstimes.com
- Access
- Metered: some articles are readable, some are not
- Wikipedia
- Entry
What we have seen ourselves
Counted across the stories this site has published, which is the only denominator a reader can check: every one of them has a page, and every page lists the reports it was written from.
- Stories
- 552
- Reports listed
- 599
- We could read
- 4
- First seen
- 3 August 2026
595 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 4 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 97 of those stories, outlets rated right were largely absent from the coverage and The Straits Times ran the story anyway.
Across the 553 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than The Straits Times’s on 6 of them. Overall it filed a median of 15 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 18 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 18 September 2026. Ratings pulled 2 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as The Straits Times, also publishing from Singapore, ordered by how often we have seen them on a story. Sharing a rating is not the same as being alike.
Think this page is wrong?
The leanings above are published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and we republish them rather than make them. If you think one is misapplied, the strongest place to say so is with the organisation that made it, and every verdict here links to their page.
What we are responsible for is everything else: the ownership chain, where The Straits Times publishes from, which of our stories we have listed it on, and whether we have the right publisher at all. Tell us what is wrong and an editor reads it.
Report something wrong on this page
Anything we correct is written up in the public corrections log. We do not publish reader votes as a rating, because an unattributed rating is the thing this site exists to argue against.
Every rating on this page is a named third party’s published work, republished with its author and, where one exists, a link to it. Our own coverage record is the section we measure ourselves. Neither is a judgement of any individual report: those are scored story by story, and the reasoning is on our methodology page.