SINGAPORE — George Russell put Mercedes on pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday (Oct 4) with Red Bull's Max Verstappen taking the second spot on the front row and complaining of being obstructed as he tried to chase down the Englishman.George Russell crashed in practice on Friday but drove brilliantly around the Marina Bay track in the final round of qualifying to put in two laps worthy of pole,a his best timed at one minute 29.158 seconds.«Amazing to be on pole position,» said George Russell, who might take some encouragement from the fact that the driver on pole has won 10 of 15 editions of the Singapore Grand Prix.«Yesterday was a very challenging day for many different reasons, but it's good to come back and get a good result today. Of course, there's a long, sweaty race tomorrow.»

Three persons aged between 17 and 27 were charged for the alleged trafficking of etomidate e-vaporiser pods on Saturday (Oct 4).In a media statement, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said its investigation on a suspected male etomidate abuser on Oct 2 led the agency to two of his alleged suppliers, Vernette Heng Cui Teng, 23, and a 17-year-old female teenager, who cannot be named as she is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.A total of 64 and 16 e-vaporisers and related components suspected to contain etomidate were seized from the residences of Heng and the 17-year-old respectively. Further investigations led HSA officers to the 17-year-old's supplier, 27-year-old Amir Shah s/o Anwar Shah. Four e-vaporisers and related components suspected to contain etomidate were seized from his residence. Amir was also alleged to have supplied etomidate pods to another female abuser via Telegram.Both etomidate abusers were fined on the spot and will be required to attend rehabilitation if their e-vaporisers are found to have contained etomidate.

SINGAPORE — A total of 44 people, including 34 pupils, across two pre-schools of the same brand have developed gastroenteritis symptoms — with one child hospitalised for a day — and the authorities are investigating.From Sept 18 to Oct 1, 20 pupils and four employees at E-Bridge Pre-School in Dawson Road reportedly developed such symptoms, according to a joint media reply by the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Oct 3.Among them, one pupil was hospitalised on Sept 26 for a day. As at Oct 1, 12 children and four employees have recovered and returned to the school, according to the statement.«Preliminary investigations suggest that this outbreak is likely caused by norovirus, a virus that can spread from person to person and cause gastroenteritis,» the three agencies said.Gastroenteritis, which is a medical condition where the stomach and intestines are inflamed, is commonly known as stomach flu or food poisoning.People can get infected through contact with other people, or through contaminated food or water.

SINGAPORE — An electrical firm project manager was sentenced to four weeks' jail on Oct 3 after seeking confidential information from a Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) employee over a project worth $3 million.Tan Kian Meng, 47, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Official Secrets Act over receiving information from Hsu Yee Chern, who was a DSTA employee at the time and has since resigned.Hsu, 52, was sentenced to four weeks' jail in July. He had shared with Tan — an employee at John Holland Electrical & Service (JHES), a firm that specialises in generator and electricity supply installation and maintenance — information linked to the budget of a DSTA-managed project, for which JHES would later bid.In the end, DSTA did not award the project to the company.Deputy Public Prosecutor Ronnie Ang told the court that DSTA's tasks include managing the design, development and maintenance of defence infrastructure for the Ministry of Defence.DSTA is also responsible for the procurement process involving external vendors' contracts. This includes sourcing for vendors and evaluating their bids.

A man has been arrested for drink driving after an accident involving a car and a pedestrian on Friday (Oct 3) at the junction of Lavender Street and Serangoon Road.The Singapore Police Force said that they were alerted to the incident at about 9.10pm.The car driver, a 37-year-old man, was apprehended for drink driving, while the 71-year-old male pedestrian was conveyed to a hospital, said the police. He was conscious.Photos of the incident were shared online on the Facebook group SGRV Front Man, where a dark blue car with a damaged bonnet appears to have smashed into a traffic light, which has been bent. Debris can be seen scattered across the road and the grass patch adjacent to it.Police investigations are ongoing.daoen.wong@asiaone.com

SINGAPORE — Workers' Party leaders involved in long-running civil suits brought against them by two town councils have closed their joint bank account used to raise funds from the public, and donated the remaining monies to charity.WP chief Pritam Singh, party chairman Sylvia Lim and former party chief Low Thia Khiang said in an Oct 2 post on their fund-raising blog that the conclusion of the court cases in July 2024 following an out-of-court settlement meant there was no longer a need to maintain the bank account.The balance in the bank account of $5,826.14 has been donated to the WP Community Fund, a registered charity set up by the WP to serve families in need, they added.«The court proceedings have taken seven years to conclude,» they said. «We thank everyone who has, in one way or another, walked with us through this episode.»Separately, the three WP leaders said they had donated more than $57,000 to Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and Sengkang Town Council (SKTC).

The Consumer Association of Singapore (Case) is seeking clarity surrounding bubble tea brand Gong Cha's relaunch in 2026, after the brand shuttered all its stores here.In a Facebook statement published on Friday (Oct 3), Case president Melvin Yong said the organisation is looking to clarify if customers will be refunded for unutilised pre-paid or gift cards, or if they are still redeemable when the franchise re-opens.Case has also requested for Gong Cha to provide a clearer timeline on when it will reopen again in Singapore.«Consumers are advised to keep detailed records of any prepaid balances or gift card purchases,» said Yong, advising that consumers who require assistance may contact Case at 6277 5100.On Oct 2, Gong Cha ceased operations in Singapore, after taking down its local social media platforms and websites, and shuttering all 29 outlets here. 

In a move to further protect customers against scams, banks in Singapore are implementing enhanced fraud surveillance on all digital transactions from Oct 15.A 24-hour cooling period or immediate rejection will be triggered when a transaction, together with withdrawals over the past 24 hours, results in more than half of a bank account’s balance to be transferred out.In a statement by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on Friday (Oct 3), seven major banks are participating in this initiative. They are: DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank and Standard Chartered.Current and savings accounts, including joint accounts, with balances of at least $50,000 will be protected by this new rules, which kick in when banks detect that they are being quickly emptied of its funds due to a potential scam.The safeguard will apply to all digital banking transactions completed through bank apps and internet banking. Non-digital banking transactions, which includes cash withdrawals at bank branches and ATMs, will not be affected.

A 60-year-old man was found dead at Woodlands Bus Interchange on Friday (Oct 3). Responding to AsiaOne’s queries, the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they were alerted to a case of unnatural death at around 1.20pm that day. The man was found lying motionless along the pavement, and was pronounced dead by a paramedic from the SCDF. “Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play,” the police said. Police investigations are ongoing. chingshijie@asiaone.com

Deliveroo’s mobile app and services will continue to be available in Singapore, even after its acquisition by US-based food delivery company DoorDash.In a statement to its merchant partners, customers and riders on Thursday (Oct 2), DoorDash’s US-based CEO Tony Xu said that the “Deliveroo app and products you know and love aren’t going anywhere«.»You’ll still be able to order your favourites, run your businesses, or work and earn on the platform as you do today,« he added.In May, DoorDash had agreed to buy UK-based food delivery Deliveroo for about US$3.9 billion (S$5 billion), reported Reuters.DoorDash, which controls two-thirds of the restaurant delivery market in the US, is looking to expand overseas through the acquisition to serve around 50 million monthly active users.Deliveroo currently has around 150,000 riders in nine countries, including 6,000 in Singapore.»We are committed to protecting the flexibility that makes this work unique," Xu said.

An association that claims to support Malaysian cross-border drivers has expressed unhappiness and disappointment following an enforcement operation carried out by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers at the border checkpoint on Tuesday (Sept 30). In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 1), the Southern Private Hire Vehicle Association highlighted that a significant number of the detained Malaysian-registered vehicles were transporting senior executives.«Among the Malaysian-registered vehicles detained (on Sept 30), a significant number were transporting senior executives from multinational corporations across Europe and Asia, who were invited to Johor Bahru for important business meetings.» The association added that the enforcement actions were «indiscriminate», noting that such measures could be unfair to Malaysian drivers. 

There will be no train service between Bedok and Tampines stations, as well as between Tanah Merah and Expo stations due to track work on the East-West Line (EWL) from Nov 29 to Dec 8.Train frequencies between Paya Lebar and Bedok stations, Tampines and Pasir Ris stations, and Expo and Changi Airport stations will also be reduced, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and EWL operator SMRT on Friday (Oct 3).An estimated 180,000 commuters daily will be impacted by the station closures, said an LTA spokesperson.This 10-day-long service adjustment is required so that work to connect EWL to the new East Coast Integrated Depot and operationalise a new platform at Tanah Merah station can be carried out.And while the work spanning 4.8km of train tracks at 12 locations near Simei and Tanah Merah stations are ongoing, the two MRT stations will be closed to the public.To facilitate travel between the closed stretches of the EWL, about 79 shuttle buses will be deployed across the two routes.