The Singapore government will contribute US$100,000 (S$129,000) as seed money to support the Singapore Red Cross' (SRC) public fundraising efforts for the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The contribution will supplement the SRC's pledge of S$50,000 to supplement the immediate needs of affected communities in Sri Lanka, said Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday (Dec 12).According to the Disaster Management Centre, Sri Lanka's death toll from Cyclone Ditwah climbed to 639 on Dec 11. Most of the fatalities were attributed to landslides triggered by torrential rainfall exceeding 300mm in the first 24 hours as the cyclone lashed Sri Lanka on Nov 28, leaving its eastern and central regions most severely affected. At least a million people have since been affected by the ensuing heavy rains and floods that swept through large parts of the country, forcing some 200,000 people into 1,275 shelters, said the centre in an earlier statement. Sri Lankan authorities have estimated that they would need around US$7 billion to rebuild homes, industries and roads. 

In the first 10 months of this year, at least $615,000 were lost to concert ticket scams, the police said on Friday (Dec 12).The advisory was issued ahead of upcoming concerts such as K-pop groups Super Junior's Super Show 10 in January and Seventeen's world tour New_ in March.Police said there were at least 722 concert ticket scam cases reported from January to October 2025.In those cases, victims would come across the resale of concert tickets on online platforms such as Carousell, Facebook, Telegram, X and Xiaohongshu.Scammers would then provide screenshots or videos of fake tickets or receipts to convince victims that the tickets were authentic.They would also claim that ticket sales were time-sensitive or limited in quantity, and promise to deliver the tickets after payment was made.When the victims told the scammers that they did not receive their tickets, the scammers would ask for additional payment, claiming that the initial payment was not received.

The police will charge a 32-year-old man on Saturday (Dec 13) over his suspected involvement in a knife incident along Boon Lay Drive.The incident, which took place at Block 188 Boon Lay Drive, happened at about 6.55pm on Dec 6.It resulted in a 58-year-old man reportedly suffering injuries to his back, forearm and forehead.The alleged assailant was then seen fleeing towards Block 238 Boon Lay Drive.In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said in an updated statement on Friday Dec 12 that they have arrested the man.He will be charged for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons.If found guilty of the offence, the man may be jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or receive a combination of these punishments.«The police have zero tolerance towards such acts of violence in the community and will not hesitate to take firm action against those who blatantly disregard the law,» they said. [[nid:726398]]editor@asiaone.com

BANGKOK – Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira’s bid for a historic double-double at the SEA Games got off to a speedy start on Dec 11, when the 29-year-old retained her women’s 100m gold in Bangkok.Competing at the Suphachalasai National Stadium, she clocked 11.36sec to beat home favourite Khanonta Jirapat (11.54) and Ha Thi Thu (11.58) of Vietnam, who finished second and third, respectively.While Pereira said she did not feel “too good” the day before in practice, her coach Luis Cunha’s advice that “you just need to come in first” worked a treat.She said: “I didn’t think about the time too much. Of course, I wanted to do a good one, but it was really just about showing up and trying to attain my goal of defending the title no matter the timing.“I’m happy to go to coach and give him a great hug and get ready for the 200m.”At the 2023 edition in Cambodia, Pereira made history by becoming the first Singaporean to win the 100m and 200m golds.

Two men, aged 24 and 47, will be charged in court on Friday (Dec 12) for their alleged involvement in a government official impersonation scam (GOIS).In a statement on Dec 11, the police said they received a report involving the impersonation of an officer from the Singapore Police Force.Modus operandi: Your personal information was misusedThe female victim who filed the report was allegedly told over a video call, by a man dressed in police uniform, that she had purchased an insurance policy and that her personal information was misused.The woman was also instructed to surrender her money and valuables for the purpose of investigations. Convinced that she was under investigation, the woman handed over cash amounting to more than $7,000, and subsequently, gold worth over $53,000. The police said that the cash and gold were handed to a different unknown person on each occasion. They established the identities of the two individuals, a 47-year-old Malaysian man and a 24-year-old Singaporean man, through follow-up investigations and ground enquiries.

Several people helped fight a fire that engulfed a Malaysia-registered pickup truck along Tanjong Katong Road on Wednesday (Dec 10) afternoon.In a video posted on Instagram by Sgfollowsall, a man believed to be the driver is seen removing goods from the back of the truck while it is in flames. He then returns to the driver's cabin to remove a bag, and is also seen speaking on the phone.While he waits for help, two passersby approach him with fire extinguishers.They are soon joined by an elderly petrol station attendant and a fourth man.As the four use their fire extinguishers to bring the fire under control, thick smoke can be seen forming around the truck.Across social media posts of the incident, some netizens praised the passersby for stepping forward to help put out the fire.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has foiled an attempt to bring an e-vaporiser, or vape, and more than 800 heat sticks into Singapore. On Nov 30, ICA officers at Changi Airport Terminal 1 directed a male Japanese traveller for baggage checks, after first asking if he had anything to declare. Although the man denied having anything to declare, anomalies were detected in the scanned image, said ICA in a Facebook post on Thursday (Dec 11).A thorough check of his belongings found the vape and 849 heat sticks. A heat stick is a tobacco-filled unit inserted into a battery-operated device that heats the tobacco to produce an aerosol containing nicotine, without burning it.The traveller was referred to the Health Sciences Authority for further investigation. «Border security is a crucial aspect of the enforcement strategy against e-vaporisers,» said ICA in its Facebook post.«As guardians of the nation's borders, ICA remains committed to safeguarding Singapore by ensuring our borders remain safe and secure.»

Singapore's largest telco Singtel has been hit with a $1 million fine for a nationwide landline outage that disrupted calls to public institutions and emergency services on Oct 8, 2024. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Thursday (Dec 11) that it has concluded its probe into the incident that affected about 500,000 of Singtel's residential and corporate users. For about four hours that day, about half of the calls made to public service hotlines — including government agencies, banks and hospitals — could not be connected. The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force had urged the public to contact them via SMS instead. IMDA said the disruption had the potential to seriously impact the safety and security of the public. It also said the incident was within Singtel's control to prevent and was not caused by a cyberattack. 

US-bound travellers from 42 countries under the visa waiver programme — including Singapore — could be asked to provide their social media history over the last five years as a condition for entry under a new proposal unveiled by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Other than Singapore, some of the 41 other countries in the visa waiver programme include: Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain and the United Kingdom. Under the programme, citizens from the 42 countries are currently allowed — for the purpose of tourism or business — stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. AsiaOne reviewed the notice published in the Federal Register, the official journal of the US government, on Wednesday (Dec 10). In the notice, social media history was proposed as a «mandatory data element» for an electronic system for travel authorisation (ESTA) application.