Amid a late-night downpour on Friday (Oct 24) night, a tree collapsed onto the Seletar Expressway (SLE), hitting passing motorcycles and sending two riders to the hospital.The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at 10.10pm regarding a road traffic accident on the SLE towards the CTE, just before the Lentor Avenue exit.Two people were taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, according to SCDF.Dashcam footage posted on Facebook shows heavy rain over the expressway as three motorcycles travel along the right-most lane.A tree from the central divider then falls over, crashing onto the lane.One motorcyclist appeared to be hit by the tree, bumping into the central divider, but managed to regain control.Another was hit but lost control and fell onto the road while the bike skidded forward, producing sparks from the friction.

SINGAPORE – SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has penalised two training providers and warned another two that violated its marketing guidelines in 2024 and 2025.Acctrain Academy had its contract with SSG terminated on Sept 30 for not supervising the actions of parties marketing its courses, at least one of which paid cash to learners, said SSG on Oct 21 in response to queries from The Straits Times.The termination means the firm can no longer receive SSG funding.The other company penalised is FirstCom Academy, which was suspended from January to March 2025 for using a referral programme to market its courses.The penalties come ahead of new rules barring SkillsFuture training providers from using third parties to promote their courses from Dec 1, after public complaints about undesirable marketing practices.«Marketing agents from third parties have a higher risk of deploying aggressive marketing practices to drive sales volume and achieve sales targets, instead of prioritising the value of training for learners,» said an SSG spokeswoman.

A 10-year-old boy has been reported missing since Wednesday (Oct 22).In a news release on Saturday (Oct 25), the police said Zulfi Amzi Bin Abdullah was last seen near Block 48 Lower Delta Road at around 6.45pm on Oct 22. Earlier this month, the boy was also reported missing and found on the same evening after police put out an appeal for information. Anyone with information can contact the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at police.gov.sg/i-witness.All information would be kept strictly confidential, said the police.[[nid:723907]]editor@asiaone.com 

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and China Premier Li Qiang expressed confidence in the future of bilateral ties between the two countries.The two leaders were speaking at the official dinner hosted by PM Wong for Premier Li at Gardens by the Bay on Saturday evening (Oct 25).The Chinese premier is on a two-day visit to mark 35 years of diplomatic relations, after PM Wong visited China in June.Pointing to the Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City and Chongqing Connectivity Initiative as examples of longstanding and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries across varied sectors like finance, green development, logistics, transport and sustainability, PM Wong said: «These projects show how our cooperation have evolved with times.»They have built trust and understanding between our two countries and laid the foundations for our 'All-Round, High-Quality, Future-Oriented Partnership'."

ROCKHAMPTON, Australia — Integrating training between the Singapore Army and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) could be of «great value», said the Air Director of Exercise Wallaby 2025 Colonel Woo Sin Boon.Speaking to the media at Warriors Camp in Rockhampton, Australia on Friday (Oct 24), COL Woo explained that RSAF and the Singapore Army have traditionally been using «very rudimentary» methods of communication. «(This) is because a lot of our systems were developed individually,» he said. «There's a great value to make sure that both the Army and Air Force can operate seamlessly, exactly like (what is expected) in real combat.»COL Woo added that integration between the two would be done through digital means and will «greatly facilitate» the success of any joint missions they conduct.Exercise Wallaby, SAF's largest overseas unilateral exercise, is being held from Sept 7 to Nov 2 in Shoalwater Bay Training Area. The training area is approximately five times the size of Singapore.

SINGAPORE - Singapore and China have agreed to work together to decarbonise and digitalise shipping routes between the two countries, with the establishment of a national green and digital shipping corridor.This memorandum of understanding (MOU) is one of eight agreements exchanged on Saturday (Oct 25) during an official visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as Singapore and China pledged to deepen co-operation and bilateral ties.Mr Li, who is visiting Singapore for the first time at the invitation of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, was welcomed by a guard-of-honour at Parliament House.In his opening remarks during a meeting between the two delegations, PM Wong said: «We would like to see how we can deepen our co-operation further, and also how we can work together to uphold the key principles of free trade and the rules-based multilateral order.»Mr Li said he looks forward to further deepening China-Singapore relations during his visit here - the first by a Chinese Premier in seven years.

A 10-year-old boy has been reported missing since Wednesday (Oct 22).In a news release on Saturday (Oct 25), the police said Zulfi Amzi Bin Abdullah was last seen near Block 48 Lower Delta Road at around 6.45pm on Oct 22. Earlier this month, the boy was also reported missing and found on the same evening after police put out an appeal for information. Anyone with information can contact the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at police.gov.sg/i-witness.All information would be kept strictly confidential, said the police.[[nid:723907]]editor@asiaone.com 

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will attend the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit and related meetings in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 26 to 28. The summit is the second of two meetings hosted by Malaysia as this year's Asean chair. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement on Saturday (Oct 25) that the theme of «Inclusivity and Sustainability» — at a time of geopolitical and economical challenges — encapsulates the region's efforts to build a forward-looking, cohesive and resilient Asean.The leaders will reaffirm their commitment to Asean's community building efforts and discuss ways to promote «an open, inclusive, and stable regional architecture» among the soon-to-be 11-member bloc and with its external partners, PMO added.

Four foreign nationals were arrested for suspected drug offences on Wednesday (Oct 22).The men, aged between 24 and 36, were arrested at a foreign worker residential lodging near Woodlands Avenue 1, said the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) on Saturday.CNB officers conducted the operation based on information received, and seized a total of 68g of cannabis, 18g of 'Ice', 29 'Yaba' tablets and various drug paraphernalia during a search of the premises.Three of the men, aged 24, 30 and 36, were arrested for suspected drug abuse.The fourth man, a 32-year-old, was arrested for suspected drug trafficking offences.Investigations into the four individuals are ongoing.«CNB regularly engages the community, which includes our migrant worker community, to raise awareness on the harms of drugs and Singapore's zero tolerance stance against drugs,» said Superintendent Royce Chua, commanding officer of CNB Enforcement F and L Divisions, adding that CNB will not hesitate to take tough enforcement action against drug traffickers and offenders.

SINGAPORE - Just as the bank was about to close for the day, a woman in her 70s rushed in, frantically asking for help to withdraw $40,000 in cash from her savings account.Seeing this was almost all of her life savings, Ms Karen Teo, a bank officer at DBS' South Bridge Road branch, asked the woman what it was for.On Oct 16, Ms Teo said: «The customer claimed the money was for her son's renovation. She kept telling me, 'Quickly get the money. Someone is waiting for me.'»Seeing how frazzled she was, Ms Teo offered to call her son to confirm that the money would be used for renovating his home.That was when the woman's story kept changing, which told Ms Teo that she was dealing with a scam victim.First, the woman said her son was overseas and would not answer the phone.Then, she said it was actually her godson she was helping.A while later, she claimed that it was a boy at a temple who needed the money.