Petrol prices in Singapore returned to their recent record high on Thursday (April 2) as Caltex, Shell and SPC became the first fuel companies here to raise petrol prices again.Both Caltex and SPC raised petrol prices by 5 cents — across their respective petrol offerings — while increasing their diesel price by 10 cents and 20 cents respectively. Meanwhile, Shell raised its posted prices for petrol by 6 cents. It also raised diesel price by another 20 cents.Their moves continued the recent trend of diesel price hikes, but also reversed a respite for petrol customers — lasting a grand total of nine days. In comparison, pump prices have been on the rise since March 4.

A social media post by the Singapore Police Force's Hougang Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) on April Fool's Day is going viral, racking up over 270,000 views in just over a day.The video features Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Benjamin Cheah, a ground response force team leader at the NPC, literally «scamming» viewers thrice-in-a-row to send home the message that encounters online may not be what they appear to be.ASP Cheah, 35, who appeared to be holding a mug at the start of the video, showed that it was actually another person doing so. He went on to demonstrate that even a seemingly real voice talking to another person, may again turn out otherwise.Finally, ASP Cheah revealed that the «person» seen in the video since the start was actually his reflection in the mirror.But these mirrors the anatomy of a love scam where scammers look to befriend individuals who are seeking genuine relationships via dating websites or social media.

With the resumption of crow shooting operations since late-March, the National Parks Board (NParks) has introduced safety measures to ensure public safety.In a statement on Thursday (April 2), it said that these include cordoned-off zones with signages, as well as working with stakeholders to inform the public on the location and timing of the operations.The shooters, who are wildlife management contractors engaged by NParks, are also required to ensure that the trajectory of the shotgun pellets is always directed upwards. Signages put up by NParks during a crow shooting operation on April 2.PHOTO: AsiaOne/Shafiq Apandi A 25-minute shooting operation was witnessed by reporters at a heavy vehicle carpark in Jurong on Thursday.

Petrol prices in Singapore returned to their recent record high on Thursday (April 2) as Caltex and SPC became the first fuel companies here to raise petrol prices again.They raised petrol prices by 5 cents — across their respective petrol offerings — while increasing their diesel price by 10 cents and 20 cents respectively.Their moves continued the recent trend of diesel price hikes, but also reversed a respite for petrol customers — lasting a grand total of nine days. In comparison, pump prices have been on the rise since March 4.Petrol prices in Singapore fell between March 22 and 24, with fuel companies here taking turns to drop prices by 5 cents; except for Shell which adjusted its posted prices for petrol downwards by a total of 7 cents — over two adjustments.

Fourteen people aged between 27 and 67 are under police investigation for their alleged involvement in illegal activities in Geylang.The police said in a statement on Thursday (April 2) that the 10 men and four women were arrested during a series of enforcement operations conducted from March 1 to 7 to clamp down on the likes of illegal gambling, the sale of unregistered health products and drug-related activities.Led by Bedok Police Division, the agencies involved are: Criminal Investigation Department, Central Narcotics Bureau, Health Sciences Authority, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Singapore Customs, Land Transport Authority and Singapore Food Agency.On March 1, four men aged between 33 and 61 were arrested for alleged illegal online gambling activities. Cash amounting to $1,700 and various gambling-related items were seized.

SBS Transit has filed a police report after a man was seen allegedly abusing a bus driver verbally on Sunday evening (March 29). In a statement to AsiaOne, SBS Transit spokesperson Grace Wu said the incident occurred while service 88 bus was travelling along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. «As the bus approached a kerbside bus stop, the bus captain alerted the vehicles ahead not to stop within the designated bus stop zone to ensure passengers could board and alight safely,» said Wu. She added that this unfortunately led to a dispute, during which a lorry driver repeatedly directed verbal abuse at the bus captain. The incident lasted approximately two minutes before the bus was able to resume its journey.«We do not tolerate any form of abuse against our bus captains. A police report has since been lodged,» the spokesperson said.A video of the incident, shared on TikTok on March 30, shows a man allegedly shouting at the bus driver from the front of the bus while gesturing at him with his hands.

SINGAPORE – A DHL unit in Singapore has laid off its workers, but it remains unclear how many workers were retrenched and what roles were affected, as the company and its union declined to provide details.Online chatter on retrenchments in DHL Global Forwarding Singapore first surfaced two months ago, and on March 30, a Reddit user posted details of the company’s latest retrenchment exercise in a forum that discusses workplace culture.A spokesman for the freight transport company on March 31 confirmed the retrenchment exercise in response to queries from The Straits Times.“We are aware of the online discussions regarding retrenchment matters in Singapore. We remain committed to treating all employees with fairness and respect, in full compliance with local regulations and our internal policies,” said the spokesman in an e-mail.“Any workforce-related decisions we make are guided by current business needs and based on merit,” the spokesman said, adding that the company would not be providing further details.

SINGAPORE – A male teacher allegedly committed sexual acts on a female student multiple times in 2023 when she was a minor below 16 years old.On April 2, the man was handed nine charges – six counts of committing indecent acts on a minor and three counts of sexually penetrating her.Details about the man and the locations of his alleged offences cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect the girl’s identity.Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that the man was suspended from duty in January 2024 and has since been dismissed from service.An MOE spokesperson added: “(We take) a serious view of staff misconduct and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline.”According to court documents, the man and the girl allegedly kissed and hugged each other in public at a shopping mall on around Feb 16, 2023.He is accused of kissing her chest area in a handicapped toilet between March and June that year.

FairPrice Group (FPG) has partnered with beverages company Pokka to pilot Singapore's first autonomous vehicle (AV) route between a retailer and supplier, they announced on Thursday (April 2).The 6km round-trip route plies between FairPrice Group's distribution centre and Pokka's warehouse in Benoi, within the Jurong Industrial Estate.FairPrice said it is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen supply chain operations, which will in turn allow customers to peruse more efficiently and consistently stocked shelves in supermarkets.FPG already uses these driverless vehicles to transport goods between distribution centres, with over 100 trips made each week.Up to 1.5 tonnes of ambient produce, packaged products and other essentials are transported each trip, it added.FairPrice received approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to fully remotely operate AVs on public roads in October last year.It began trials for the route on Feb 25, 2026, and will transition to sole reliance on AVs for transportation along the route once it is approved for fully remote operations by the LTA.

SINGAPORE - Singapore prosecutors charged one more person with fraud on Thursday (Apr 1) for making false representations to US server supplier Dell Technologies, linking her to two other individuals charged with similar offences in February last year.Jenny Lim was charged with conspiring with Alan Wei Zhaolun and Aaron Woon Guo Jie in 2024 to commit fraud by misleading Dell that Aperia International would be the end-user of the servers bought from Dell, police said in the charge sheets.Singapore Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said in March last year that authorities ascertained that servers involved in the case may contain Nvidia chips.The servers were supplied by Dell and artificial intelligence server maker Super Micro Computer to Singapore-based companies, and were then sent on to Malaysia, although it was not clear if Malaysia was their final destination, he said.The United States banned the export of high-end chips from Nvidia to China in 2022 amid concerns that they could be used for military purposes. The United States later approved the sale of Nvidia's second-most powerful H200 chips in January this year, with some conditions.

A 30-year-old man who was caught vaping on an MRT train in a viral video has been identified by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and is assisting with investigations.In a post shared on Instagram on Wednesday (April 1), the HSA said a search of the man's home found one vaporiser and one pod.The viral video, posted to Facebook last Friday (March 27), shows the man in a black jacket discreetly vaping in a train cabin while using his jacket to cover his actions.On March 6, Parliament passed a new law aimed at clamping down on vaping and etomidate abuse, which imposes stiffer fines on users, sellers, and smugglers.Under amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, vape users can be fined up to $10,000 from May 1 — five times the current amount. It was also reported on March 6 that more than 5,100 people were caught for vape-related offences in the past six months, including 593 who used K-pods.

Singapore residents will soon be able to enjoy pig's blood again after local authorities approved the import of such products from an accredited slaughterhouse in Thailand.In an online circular on Wednesday (April 1), the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said it has granted approval for heat-treated pork blood products from Bangkhla Pig Slaughterhouse after conducting food safety assessments.Each consignment of pig's blood products from the accredited slaughterhouse must have an official health certificate issued by Thai authorities, which certifies that the import complies with Singapore's animal health and food safety requirements.«Traders are reminded that pork and pork products can only be imported from SFA-approved sources,» the circular stated.Expected in Singapore stores within 1 to 2 monthsCP Foods Singapore will be the importer of pig's blood from Thailand, reported Lianhe Zaobao on Wednesday.The food distribution firm reportedly told the Chinese publication that it has been selling pre-packaged pasteurised pig's blood curd from Bangkhla Pig Slaughterhouse in Thailand for years.

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has safely disposed of a World War II-era unexploded ordnance (UXO) at a construction worksite along Tanah Merah Coast Road on April 2 (Tuesday).The UXO, assessed to be a 250kg World War II Japanese aerial bomb, was discovered during construction works on March 31.It was was then disposed of through a controlled operation after the situation was assessed by the SAF’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives team.The operation involved the setting of protective works including an overhead cover constructed using compacted sandbags.

A 64-year-old male motorcyclist died following an accident involving a car and a motorcycle along the Central Expressway (CTE) towards the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) on Wednesday (April 1).The accident took place at about 2.15pm near the Orchard Road exit along the CTE.Videos of the aftermath show a silver Toyota Prius car stopped on the rightmost lane of the three-lane road.The motorcycle was seen lying on its side, across two lanes, ahead of the car.At least two Traffic Police (TP) expressway patrol cars, one TP motorcycle, and a crime scene investigation police van were seen at the scene.Yellow evidence markers were seen placed at various parts of the road, including beside the fallen motorcycle.In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said a 64-year-old male motorcyclist was taken unconscious to the hospital where he subsequently died.His 41-year-old female pillion was taken conscious to the hospital.Police added that the 68-year-old male car driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death, with investigations ongoing.[[nid:732800]]editor@asiaone.com

A 63-year-old Australian will be charged in court on Thursday (April 2) for his alleged involvement in a case of disorderly conduct on board a plane, causing the aircraft to return to Changi Airport.Police said in a statement on Wednesday evening that the alleged incident took place at about 6.40pm on March 19.The man, who was believed to be drunk, was behaving unruly on board a flight. He is said to have shouted profanities and thrown his shoes about 20 minutes after the aircraft departed.Attempts by the cabin crew to calm him down were futile as he purportedly continued to behave in a disorderly manner towards a crew member and had to be placed under restraint.This led to the pilot deciding to return to the airport for the man to be offloaded.He was arrested by officers from the Airport Police Division upon arrival.If found guilty of behaving in a disorderly manner towards a crew member or aircraft, he may be jailed for up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.Police reminded all passengers that they treat all acts of violence, threats and disruptive behaviour onboard aircraft seriously.

Ten people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in fraudulent work pass applications, the Ministry of Manpower said on Wednesday (April 1).Among those who nabbed in an island-wide enforcement operation on Tuesday were directors and employees from five construction companies.Another 41 people are assisting in investigations for their involvement in such illegal arrangements.The ministry is also probing into the Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions of more than 40 people in relation to the five companies.The firms had allegedly made CPF contributions to Singaporeans and permanent residents to “phantom workers” — or those not under their employment — to inflate their quota to hire foreigners.«These companies then used the inflated quota to make work pass applications to hire more foreigners,» MOM said.Under the ministry guidelines, the quota, also known as dependency ratio ceiling (DRC), is the maximum ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company can employ.Depending on the sector like construction or services, the DRC ranges between 35 per cent and 83.3 per cent.

Following a coroner's inquiry into the death of Indian singer Zubeen Garg, whose death was ruled an accidental drowning, the police said on Wednesday (April 1) that their investigations into the death have also concluded.«There is no evidence of foul play,» they said.They added that investigations were conducted in accordance with the Singapore Coroners Act, with investigators examining all available evidence and recording statements from all witnesses deemed to be relevant to the case.Investigations established that Garg was on a yacht trip in the waters off Lazarus Island.The 52-year-old was found to be initially wearing a life jacket while swimming, but later removed it and returned to the yacht without the life jacket on him.