There was a flurry of activity at the Charis Tabernacle church in Paya Lebar on the morning of New Year's Eve as about 150 volunteers worked to package humanitarian aid bound for Gaza.A hefty 18 tonnes of aid, consisting of 60,000 packs of ready-to-eat bean soup meals and 3,000 pieces of 10-litre collapsible jerry cans will be shipped to Jordan in January and then delivered to Gaza via land crossings or airdrops.The latest tranche of aid facilitated by non-profit organisation Humanity Matters is worth $204,000. It is hoped that the relief supplies will reach Gaza in time for Ramadan, which is expected to start around Feb 18, 2026.At the relief packing event on Dec 31, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said the situation in Gaza is «still very dire» despite news of a ceasefire in October.«It's not a very happy new year if you're in Gaza right now, nor is it particularly happy if you're in Ukraine or Sudan or Yemen,» he observed in his speech as the event's guest of honour.

Emotions ran high, and fingers were pointed after a commuter was allegedly not allowed on board a bus, supposedly due to durian.A TikTok user, who wanted to be known as Fuse, told AsiaOne that she witnessed the spat at Woodlands Bus Interchange at about 9.45pm on Saturday (Dec 28).The video which she uploaded online shows a SMRT bus captain of service 911 in a stand-off with a woman in a red top.«Bring it out!» says the driver repeatedly as the woman shouts unintelligibly, pointing a finger at the former, while other commuters are seen trying to pacify her.A shriek is heard at one point, after which the bus captain sits down and appears to disengage from the situation.Fuse told AsiaOne that she was not aware of what sparked the dispute, which had attracted the attention of other passers-by.«A few people tried to calm (the woman) down. But it did not work,» she said.Several netizens speculated that durian could have been the cause, noting that it is not allowed on public transport because of its strong smell.

Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers have foiled two attempts to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore at Tuas Checkpoint.The incident happened on Dec 12, according to a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec 30). ICA said that radiographic image analysts spotted anomalies in the scanned images and directed the vehicles for enhanced checks.The first case involved a truck containing more than 2,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden within a consignment declared as «tool box and drawer storage».A second truck with 1,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden within a consignment declared as «furniture» was also interrupted on the same day.Three Malaysian men, aged 27, 28, and 33, were arrested in connection with these cases, and the exhibits and suspects referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation.Buying, selling, conveying, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods is considered serious offences under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act. 

A local influencer filed a police report after his 12-year-old son was threatened during a TikTok livestream. The father, Singapore-based influencer Alex Lee, posted a subsequent video, which has since garnered over 2.6 million views, describing the incident.According to Lee, a netizen allegedly threatened to beat up his older son Daken at his new secondary school during the livestream. Lee added: «I don't know whether this person is a senior in his new school or just a random person on the internet, but no one threatens my son and gets away with it. »I have screenshots and (a) video recording of the interaction and I've made a police report. I'm waiting for the investigation officer to get back to me."Lee is married to Bonita Ma, the founder of Basic Models Management, with whom he has two sons — Daken and Raiden. Daken recently received his PSLE results and secondary school posting — both of which were documented on their TikTok page. Lee also urged the public to be mindful about their speech and actions, especially in the online space. 

Almost a million Singaporean HDB households will receive rebates on their utility and conservancy bills in January, in the fourth quarterly disbursement for Financial Year 2025. Eligible households will receive U-Save and Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates in January next year as part of the permanent GST Voucher scheme and the enhanced Assurance Package, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in a statement on Tuesday (Dec 30). The rebates help to offset the utility bills and conservancy charges for lower- to middle-income HDB households and are disbursed quarterly each financial year, said MOF. Households will receive rebates according to their HDB flat type. For instance, households living in a one- or two-room flat will receive $190 worth of U-Save and half a month of S&CC rebates. Eligible households do not need to take any action and will have the rebates automatically credited to their utilities accounts by SP Services and their town councils respectively. 

Two male motorcyclists were arrested during a two-day enforcement blitz targeting errant motorcyclists on expressways. In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 30), the Traffic Police (TP) said they conducted checks on 132 vehicles as part of the operation on Dec 15 and 16. The two motorcyclists, aged 21 and 33, were arrested for driving without a valid licence and for using a motor vehicle without insurance coverage. Over the two days, a total of 154 summonses were issued for various traffic offences, including speeding, riding on road shoulders, stopping on road shoulders, and using unapproved helmets, said the police. For driving without a licence, offenders may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three years, or both. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $20,000, jailed up to six years, or both. The vehicle may also be forfeited. For using a motor vehicle without insurance coverage, offenders may face a fine up to $1,000, a jail term of up to three months, or both. Offenders will also be disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles. [[nid:727423]]

The police are looking for one of two prime movers involved in an accident which resulted in the death of a 61-year-old motorcyclist on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) on Monday (Dec 29) evening. The fatal accident occurred in the direction of Tuas after Clementi Road at about 5.45pm. In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said the male motorist was declared dead at the scene by a paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defence Force. «Efforts to trace one of the prime movers are underway,» it said, adding that investigations are ongoing. A video filmed by an eyewitness shows an overturned motorcycle and trails of blood streaking the rain-soaked road, reported 8world. A taxi driver, surnamed Fu, told Shin Min Daily News that it was a «horrific» accident. The Chinese evening daily reported that the victim is believed to have fallen after being hit by one of the prime movers and then run over by the other heavy vehicle. Fu said that a person had placed an umbrella over the victim to shield him from the rain while waiting for first responders to arrive. 

More than 80kg of rhinoceros horns, lion and tiger bones were seized in Johannesburg on Dec 1, following a joint operation between the National Parks Board (NParks) and South African authorities.In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 30), NParks said it was alerted to a suspicious shipment transiting through Singapore Changi Airport from South Africa on Nov 11.The cargo «bore similarities» to a previous shipment seized by NParks on Nov 8 and found to contain 35.7kg of rhino horns worth $1.13 million and other animal parts, it added.Following an assessment, NParks did not seize the shipment but instead coordinated with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and initiated a controlled return of the shipment to South Africa to enable further investigation. On Dec 1, the DPCI's Serious Organised Crime Investigation’s Wildlife Trafficking Unit launched an operation which traced the shipment to a storage facility in Johannesburg. There, four boxes containing 17 rhinoceros horns weighing 55.4kg, along with 26.2kg of lion and tiger bones, including skulls and claws, were seized.

Households will see lower electricity and gas bills from January to March, following a drop in energy and fuel costs. Electricity tariffs for households will go down by 0.84 cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while gas tariffs will decrease by 0.67 cent per kWh, before goods and services tax (GST).  PHOTO: SP Group In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 30), grid operator SP Group said the electricity tariffs, including for non-households, will decrease by 3.1 per cent from the previous quarter. Families living in four-room flats can expect a decrease by $3.17 before GST on their average monthly electricity bill. In another statement on the same day, gas provider City Energy said that the gas tariff for households will drop by 0.67 cent per kWh, from 22.35 cents to 21.68 cents, from January to March.