Passengers travelling by ferry between Singapore and Batam in Indonesia will have to pay an additional fuel surcharge from Thursday (March 12) due to higher oil prices. Conflict in the Middle East has led to volatile oil prices, and ferry operators like Horizon Fast Ferry, Batamfast and Majestic Fast Ferry have implemented such fuel surcharges to combat higher operational costs.All passengers on trips from Singapore to Batam will have to fork out a $6 surcharge per ticket, regardless if their tickets were purchased prior to March 12 or from the effective date onward. Meanwhile, trips from Batam to Singapore will be subject to a surcharge of IDR65,000 (S$4.92). Additionally, Batamfast will also be charging passengers travelling to Desaru Coast and Pengelih, locations in Malaysia, $12 and $6 respectively. 

A 34-year-old man was charged in court on Thursday (March 12) for allegedly trafficking etomidate vaporiser pods in Geylang. Ng Ee Keong, Ben, was arrested along Geylang Lorong 35 on Tuesday morning during a Health Sciences Authority (HSA) enforcement operation. A total of six vaporiser pods, four bottles of cough syrup and prescription medicines including more than 900 tablets were seized from Ng's car. Subsequent laboratory testing confirmed that the pods contained etomidate. Charges for the alleged supply of cough syrup and prescription medicines are pending further investigation. Ng will return to court on April 9. Tougher laws on vapes, heavier penalties from May 1Parliament on March 6 passed new anti-vaping laws, which are expected to come into force on May 1. 

A 40-year-old Chinese man is set to be charged in Johor after amended anti-littering laws came into effect on New Year's Day this year. He will be the first of five Singaporeans — nabbed in Johor for littering — to be charged in court there. They were caught between Jan 1 and 12. Earlier in January, AsiaOne reported that the first Singaporean to be booked for littering was caught on Jan 1, while another two male Singaporeans were caught on Jan 3. The fourth and fifth cases involved a 30-year-old male Singaporean and 40-year-old male Singaporean. They were booked on Jan 12 and 14 respectively. 

The police have warned members of the public to be vigilant against a scam variant that targets access to victims' WhatsApp accounts.In an advisory issued on Thursday (March 12), the police said that such cases begin when a scammer attempts to log into the victims' WhatsApp accounts by entering their mobile numbers and requesting for a WhatsApp verification one-time password (OTP).Victims would then receive an SMS containing the OTP, and scammers would also send them WhatsApp messages from known contacts whose WhatsApp accounts have already been compromised.The victims would be asked to provide the OTP under the pretext that the code was actually intended for the known contacts but had been mistakenly sent to them. Scammers would then use the OTP to access the victims' WhatsApp accounts and log the victims out.The same process would be repeated with the victims' contacts, and victims would only realise that their WhatsApp accounts have been compromised when they are logged out or when their contacts inform them of the unusual OTP requests.

Two people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a Housing Board flat in Bukit Batok on Thursday (March 12) morning. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they were alerted to the blaze at Block 465A Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 at around 8.20am. About 60 residents had evacuated by themselves prior to SCDF's arrival. The fire broke out in the living room of a unit on the second floor, said SCDF. They added that one resident was assessed for smoke inhalation and was taken to Singapore General Hospital, while another was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for chest discomfort. The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

A bicycle owner was shocked after discovering from CCTV footage that his bike, valued at around $1,500, had been stolen from outside his home in Yishun.A video of the theft, which unfolded over several hours, was shared on the owner's Instagram page on Wednesday (March 11).   In the video captured at 7.22pm on Tuesday (March 10) according to the timestamp, a man in a cap and black long-sleeved T-shirt can be seen exiting a lift and walking along the corridor.He then appears to inspect the bicycles parked at the side of the corridor before leaving the area. Another frame captured at 2.06am on Wednesday showed a man clad in a black hoodie slowly approaching the area before cutting the bike lock and taking the bicycle. The owner stated in the post that the man is the same person seen in the earlier clip.In the caption, the owner also shared that the incident occurred at Melody Spring estate in Yishun, with the theft taking place on the third floor, according to Mothership.Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

Two Malaysian men accused of acting as money mules in Singapore were separately escorted back to the locations where they allegedly collected valuables from scam victims, as part of police investigations on Thursday (March 12).The first suspect, 44-year-old Goh Ket Ming, arrived at Telok Blangah Rise at 10.03am.Goh is alleged to have collected jewellery worth more than $28,000 from a victim of a government official impersonation scam and passed the goods to unknown persons believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate.On Thursday morning, the Malaysian man was brought to a HDB block at Telok Blangah Rise. He kept his head lowered as he was led to the void deck but looked up at the investigating officer when questioned.The police said on March 5 that Goh was arrested in Bishan after the victim who handed over jewellery to him lodged a police report on March 4.Preliminary investigations revealed that the man would allegedly change into different attire when meeting his victims during collection operations.

A day after Singapore's consumer watchdog urged fuel companies here to «exercise restraint» in raising prices pre-emptively, China-headquartered Sinopec kicked off a fourth consecutive day of price hikes on Thursday (March 12) morning.Oil prices had surged the same morning, with Brent crude futures crossing US$100 (S$128) a barrel despite the International Energy Association's pledge to make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members' stockpiles. Meanwhile, Iran's military command said on Wednesday that the world should be prepared for oil to hit US$200 a barrel, as three ships came under attack in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz on the same day.

There are 55 billionaires from Singapore listed in Forbes' annual global billionaires list released on Tuesday (March 10).Topping the list among Singapore's richest — six more than the 2025 edition — is semiconductor tycoon Jason Chang.His net worth doubled to US$14.2 billion (S$18 billion) from US$6.6 billion the year earlier, moving him up from sixth place among Singapore's richest in last year's list.Overall, the 81-year-old is placed 204th on the list.Chang is followed by Li Xiting, co-founder and president of China's largest medical equipment manufacturer, Mindray, with a net worth of US$11.2 billion.Brothers Phillip and Robert Ng of real estate giant Far East Organisation came in third and fourth among Singapore's billionaires, with a net worth of US$7.2 billion and US$7.1 billion respectively.Forrest Li, the founder of home-grown tech firm Sea Limited, rounds out the top five of Singapore's billionaires.The 48-year-old, whose company has interests in online gaming, e-commerce, as well as e-payments and financial services, has a net worth of US$6.8 billion.