A dog died in a hit-and-run accident in Serangoon on Monday (Oct 6), after its owner had allegedly allowed it to roam freely.In a Facebook post uploaded on Oct 6, a neighbour who recognised the dog said the accident occurred along Serangoon Avenue 1, outside Serangoon Terrace.A video shared in the post showed animal paramedics performing CPR on the dog, which appeared unresponsive. Speaking to AsiaOne, the neighbour, who wished to be known only as Adeline, said she was walking her two dogs at around 11.40pm when the incident happened.«As I was walking, I heard a loud thud, like something had fallen, and saw a van, so I thought something might have fallen from the vehicle,» she said.She added that as the van drove off, she noticed something lying on the road and felt that something was amiss.

The principal of River Valley Primary School has denied a parent's allegation that his son was assaulted by a fellow pupil during recess on Oct 6.In a TikTok clip that has since garnered over 750,000 views overnight, the Primary 3 pupil's father, Adrod, recounted the incident that happened earlier that day.In response to queries from AsiaOne, Jennifer Pang said on Wednesday (Oct 8) their investigation established that the incident involved three students, aged between eight and nine years old, instead of only two students as recounted by Adrod.Referring to the alleged bully as Pupil A and Adrod's son as Pupil B, Pang said that the third student, Pupil C, was a friend ofPupil B's.She said Pupil A had not punched Pupil B during the incident, as was alleged in the video.Pupil B and C chased down Pupil A to retrieve B's stolen wallet, when Pupil C «accidentally hit Pupil B's lips with the wallet during the tussle», she added.Pang also said that the school will help the students learn from the incident and work towards a positive resolution of the matter.  

FairPrice Group has received approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to operate driverless vehicles on public roads to transport goods.In a statement on Wednesday (Oct 8), the company said it is the first organisation in Singapore to receive approval from LTA to operate such vehicles.The group, which operates supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice, partnered with autonomous driving technology company Zelos Technology (Zelos) to conduct cargo transportation trials in October 2024, and obtained approval to transition to remote operations with the autonomous vehicles (AVs) in 2025, the statement said.The group aims to add about 30 such vehicles to its fleet.The Zelos Z10 AVs are the first fully driverless vehicles designed for logistics. It has a load capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes and a range of up to 210 km, and will be used for move goods between FairPrice's distribution centres, enhancing operational efficiency.

An eatery in Ang Mo Kio has accused a customer of trying to cheat his way to free meals by submitting dubious refund claims through food delivery platform Grab.Speaking to AsiaOne, Eleanor Ng, the owner of Soi 19 Thai Wanton Mee, said that they have encountered the same customer more than once — in June, August and the latest on Oct 1. His modus operandi was to make an order through the Grab app indicating special requests, but later claimed that items were missing from his delivery after they were delivered. Ng, 44, added that Grab then deducted the full amount from the eatery’s earnings after the customer made the complaint through the delivery platform. The eatery’s boss said that she had make two appeals to Grab through the app before the payments were released to her a week later. “That’s where we found [it was] unfair and started to take notice of the customer’s name,” she said. In a Facebook post on Oct 1,  the eatery said that the same customer had ordered from them again — but this time, the eatery was prepared.

Singapore Pools generated $12.7 billion in turnover for the financial year 2024/2025, according to its annual report, which was released on Wednesday (Oct 8).The amount surpassed the record $12.2 billion the previous year.Singapore Pools added that 97 per cent of the amount, amounting to $12.3 billion, was «dedicated to benefiting Singaporeans and the broader community» in the form of prize payouts ($9.45 billion), taxes ($2.28 billion) and Tote Board contributions ($575 million).«The Tote Board, in turn, uses these funds to support impactful causes in the arts, community development, charity, education, health and sports,» said Singapore Pools Chairman Kai S. Nargolwala and Chief Executive Officer Lam Chee Weng in their joint message.They added that the remaining three per cent ($353 million) was reinvested in business operations as well as technological upgrades «aimed at strengthening capabilities and improving customer experience».

SINGAPORE — The police are looking into a Singapore-based firm that has advertised online for jobs based here, only to later tell interviewees they would be working full-time in a Cambodian resort instead.The facility — Koh Kong Resort — has been sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department for its links to its owner, a Cambodian businessman sanctioned in the US for ill-treating trafficked workers at online scam centres. The resort is also cited by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in a scam-related report.The Singapore firm, Changting Network Technology, positions itself as a technology firm. It had advertised for various roles both on local and overseas job sites, with the purported roles supposedly based in Singapore.However, after securing the job, a hiring manager would inform candidates that they would be based at Koh Kong Resort instead.When contacted, the police said reports against the company had been filed, and that they are looking into the matter.

AUSTIN — The United States Senate confirmed Dr Anjani Sinha, an orthopaedic surgeon from President Donald Trump's home state of Florida, as the United States ambassador to Singapore in an en bloc vote on Oct 7.Dr Sinha was among a group of more than 100 nominees voted in with a simple majority after the Republicans changed Senate rules to end Democratic attempts to slowwalk the confirmation of Trump's appointees with a process that dramatically accelerated their confirmation.Several other appointees critical to Trump's Asia diplomacy were also confirmed in the 51-47 vote. These included nominees for senior State Department positions like Michael DeSombre as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Dr Paul Kapur as his counterpart in charge of South Asian Affairs.Sergio Gor was confirmed as the Ambassador to India while Sean O'Neill was voted in as Ambassador to Thailand.Some Democratic Senators objected to the fast-tracking of nominees, naming some as «blindly loyal» to Trump and «unqualified» for the job in speeches in the days leading up to the vote,

Bodies of a man and a woman were found in a Sengkang HDB flat on Monday (Oct 6), after a resident downstairs reportedly noticed a foul-smelling fluid dripping from her ceiling.The deceased were father and daughter, according to a Shin Min Daily News report.The Chinese evening daily stated that the woman was discovered in the living room while the man's body was found in the bedroom, in a badly decomposed state.In response to media queries, the police said it was alerted to a case of unnatural death at Block 324D Sengkang East Way at 1.35pm on Monday. A man, whose age is not known, and a 47-year-old woman were pronounced dead at the scene.A neighbour on the same floor as the deceased told The Straits Times that the woman appeared to be mentally unwell, and the family rarely left their home.The deaths were discovered after an elderly neighbour living in the unit below noticed liquid dripping from her ceiling on Monday morning, reported Shin Min.Her son, surnamed Zeng, said he visited his mother at about 9am to help clean the red-coloured fluid, which he described as «sticky» and «pungent».

Authorities are investigating cases of gastroenteritis at Raffles Girls' Primary School (RGPS) after 15 students developed symptoms on Oct 1.Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a joint statement with RGPS and the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) today (Oct 7) that they are aware of the incident and are investigating it.The statement noted that RGPS immediately suspended the sale of the potentially implicated canteen food item as a precautionary measure, and staff closely monitored the well-being of all affected individuals.«RGPS also conducted a check with all students in the school immediately and observed that the rest of the students remained well,» the statement read. None of the students were hospitalised and all of them returned to school by Oct 2.According to The Straits Times, the affected students had consumed noodles.The statement also revealed that RGPS had informed all parents of the cohort about the situation, and that the school is currently working with CDA and SFA on investigations.

Local businesses hoping to digitalise and adopt artificial intelligence (AI) can find tailored solutions with support from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and partnerships with industry stakeholders.Speaking at the inaugural SMEs Go Digital Day held at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre on Tuesday (Oct 7), Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, Tan Kiat How said that «SMEs can punch above their weight» with the effective use of AI.«We cannot stand still. Technology developments, especially AI is advancing rapidly. Customer expectations are increasing, demanding quicker responses and more personalised services,» he said.According to the Singapore Digital Economy (SGDE) report by the IMDA, the number of local SMEs adopting AI has tripled to around 15 per cent between 2023 and 2024 — resulting in cost savings of 52 per cent on average.Go Digital AdvisorAt the event, Tan launched Go Digital Advisor, a new tool in the IMDA's Chief Technology Officer-as-a-Service (CTO-as-a-Service).

The trial of Malone Lam, a Singaporean accused of carrying out a cryptocurrency heist involving hundreds of millions of dollars, was delayed at the last minute on Monday (Oct 6).The postponement was due to the case being «superseded with 11 more defendants and an additional RICO conspiracy count», they told CNA.«We have a status conference at the end of October and we anticipate a trial date being set at that hearing,» a spokesperson said.Lam, 20, faces multiple charges which include wire fraud, money laundering and RICO conspiracy. His trial date was initially set for Oct 6.According to the US Department of Justice, RICO refers to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act. It is a law which was designed to target mafia bosses, reported The Economist.RICO conspiracy is a felony and the most serious charge Lam faces. It carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Wire fraud and money laundering each carry up to 20 years' jail.Lam and 12 of his associates had formed a «Social Engineering Enterprise» in late 2023 via online gaming platforms, according to prosecutors.

A two-year government grant of up to $100,000 will be available to local businesses that export or operate in overseas markets, amid concerns over the impact of the recent trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.The Business Adaptation Grant (BizAdapt) will support up to 50 per cent of eligible costs for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and up to 30 per cent for non-SMEs, Enterprise Singapore said in a factsheet on Tuesday (Oct 7).The grant will be available from Oct 7 until Oct 6, 2027, and will cover two categories of businesses.The first group includes companies that export to or operate in overseas markets and are affected by the tariffs, and the second group includes businesses with manufacturing facilities locally or overseas that support to reconfigure their operations.  For the first group, the grant will help them conduct free trade agreements, trade compliance assessments, legal and contractual advisory and supply chain optimisation and market diversification advisory.

The police have warned members of the public to be wary of calls from people claiming to be M1 or Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) employees as they could be scammers.At least 13 cases of government official impersonation scams involving MAS and M1 have been reported since September, with total losses amounting to at least $362,000, said the police in an advisory issued on Monday (Oct 6).Victims would usually receive unsolicited calls, including on WhatsApp, from scammers posing as M1 employees.The callers would then claim the victims had outstanding payments or mobile phone deliveries linked to existing mobile plans. Upon denying having such subscriptions, victims would be told to contact «customer service» via WhatsApp to terminate them.Their calls would be connected to another scammer pretending to be an MAS officer, who claimed their personal details had been misused for criminal activities such as money laundering or fraud.Victims were then instructed to transfer money to what the scammers referred to as «safety accounts», make payments via PayNow or cryptocurrency, or hand over cash to strangers. 

SINGAPORE — Teachers in Singapore schools are spending fewer hours teaching and marking, but they are clocking more work time overall due to non-teaching tasks.These include lesson planning, student counselling, co-curricular activities and communicating with parents, a new global survey has found.Singapore's teachers reported working an average of 47.3 hours a week, higher than the OECD average of 41, according to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis) released on Oct 7.In the previous edition of the survey in 2018, teachers here said they put in 46 hours a week.The survey's findings also indicate that Singapore teachers are quick to adopt digital technologies, with three in four using artificial intelligence (AI) to teach or facilitate student learning. This is more than double the global average of 36 per cent.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development study polled 194,000 teachers worldwide, with a total of 55 education systems joining the latest round.

Remember to look up on Tuesday (Oct 7) evening for the first of three supermoons of the year — the Harvest Moon. Its appearance comes right after the Mid-Autumn Festival on Monday (Oct 6), the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In the past, the Harvest Moon gave farmers in the Northern Hemisphere extra hours to gather crops with its evening glow.The supermoon on Oct 7 will begin rising around 7pm and will be visible in the sky from around 8pm onwards in Singapore.Keen observers can visit open public areas such as East Coast Park, Marina Barrage, and the Southern Ridges. Supermoons occur when the moon's orbit is closer to the earth, making the moon appear larger and brighter than usual. It will be visible to the naked eye as long as the skies remain clear.According to the weatherman, the 24-hour forecast for tonight will be partly cloudy.The next supermoons after Tuesday's are the Beaver Moon on Nov 5 and the Cold Moon on Dec 4, symbolising the onset of winter.

A drivers' association in Malaysia is calling for Singapore-registered private-hire vehicles (PHV) to be barred from entering the country.The Southern Private Hire Vehicle Association made this demand in a Facebook post on Monday (Oct 6) night, urging Malaysian authorities to act on their requests immediately.In addition to stopping Singapore PHVs from entering Malaysia, the group is asking for the government to start legalising local cross-border point-to-point services, as well as to strictly penalise Singapore PHVs operating illegally in Malaysia.«End the vague 'let's not harm each other' stance and shift towards concrete action,» states another request.The association said that the list of demands was created with agreement from group members and industry stakeholders.«Our industry is not demanding special privileges — we are merely calling for a fair and level playing field,» it added.«If no action is taken soon, local operators will be pushed to the brink of survival, and the industry's order and stability will become increasingly difficult to sustain.»