Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu wins Singapore's first gold in Paris Paralympic Games; Changi Airport great for red-eye flights: Singapore live news
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Hello to all our readers, Yahoo Singapore will be bringing you live news updates today.
First up, a huge congratulations to swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, who has won Singapore's first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Singapore also scores in a different kind of competition – it's ranked, in an entirely unofficial list, as one of the best airports to have a red-eye flight. Read on to find out why Changi Airport is great for tired travellers on nighttime flights.
Still on the topic of crime, a Singapore man had planned what he thought was the "perfect crime" by planting cannabis in his estranged wife's car. He had done so in the hopes of getting a divorce quicker, but has now been jailed.
Remember the billionaire Australian boss who went viral for banning his staff from working from home (WFH)? Now, Chris Ellison, of Australian mining company Mineral Resources, has said he doesn't want employees to leave the office to get a coffee.
The CCCS added that it initiated the investigation earlier this year under its fair trading laws after receiving several complaints on an online advertisement by Sterra in February 2024. In the ad, CCCS said, the company had falsely claimed that Singapore's tap water is unsafe for direct consumption without being filtered using water purifiers sold by Sterra.
Investigations by CCCS also revealed that Sterra had made other false and misleading representations on its website between February 2023 and March 2024, the watchdog said. These included:
a) False Country of Manufacture claims: Three models of air purifiers sold by Sterra were made in Singapore when they were in fact made in China.
b) Misleading "Korean" labelling: Two models of Sterra's water purifiers were marketed as "Korean" when they were neither sourced from nor manufactured in Korea, but were in fact manufactured in China.
c) False discounts: The "usual" (i.e. pre-discount) prices that Sterra claimed for comparison with its discounted price were not genuine previous prices and, in fact, never offered to any customer.
Do you own a Sterra purifier? Get more details on the Sterra issue here.
Esther Au Yong
Billionaire boss who banned WFH wants to stop staff from going out for coffee
Now, Chris Ellison, the managing director of Australian mining company Mineral Resources, has said he doesn't want employees to leave the office to get a coffee.
While touting the facilities of his company's two-year-old headquarters in Perth, Australia, he said, "I want to hold them captive all daylong. I don't want them leaving the building.
"I don't want them walking down the road for a cup of coffee, we figured out a few years ago how much that costs. Wandering out around lunchtime, we've got a restaurant in there [the office], we've also got a gym, and we've got other facilities that keep them glued in there."
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) deputy director (operations) Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said that rescue personnel are working to remove debris and blockages over a 44m stretch from the sinkhole to Wisma Jakel to reach an object lodged along the span.
Read for more details on the search and rescue operation, which is in its eighth day today (Friday, 30 August).
Esther Au Yong
Catholic Pope Francis' itinerary on 2-week trip ending in Singapore
Next week, Pope Francis will embark on his most ambitious trip in 11 years since he began leading the Catholic Church.
He will visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore over the next fortnight.
Singapore's LTA will soon waive $10 admin charge for missed ERP payments settled within 5 days' grace
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Friday (30 August) that the administrative charge for missed Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) payments will be waived if the payments are settled within a five-day grace period. This will start from 1 October.
Now, motorists who fail to pay an ERP charge when they pass a gantry will receive a letter some days later, requiring that they pay a $10 administrative charge on top of the missed payment.
Singapore man planted cannabis in estranged wife's car in "perfect crime", gets jail time
In the hopes of getting a divorce quicker, a Singapore man had planned what he thought was the "perfect crime" by planting cannabis in his estranged wife's car.
The 37-year-old man had gotten married with his wife in 2021 but she moved out of their home in October 2022 after their relationship broke down.
After consulting lawyers, the man thought that it would be easier to get a divorce if one of them had a criminal record.
He was sentenced yesterday to three years and 10 months' jail for one count of possession of at least 216g of cannabis that was found in packets.
Local media reported that police were alerted to the case at 9.34am on Thursday (29 August), according to a statement put out by the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
However, before the police arrived, the restaurant staff had reportedly intervened and the 50-year-old woman had left.
Through CCTV footage, police cameras and ground enquiries, the police arrested the woman some nine hours later, SPF said.
While the 33-year-old woman was being interviewed at the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) duty office at Woodlands Checkpoint, she attempted to reach for the firearm of an ICA officer. She was immediately placed under arrest.
Esther Au Yong
Singapore is one of the best airports to have a red-eye flight. Why?
Singapore also scores in a different kind of competition – though entirely unofficial.
He is impressed by the array of food and lounges. "Singapore Changi Airport is always the leading G.O.A.T. of local food stalls," Ott said. "Some of the best local food is at the airport because famous places in Singapore set up locations there."
Find out what else he's saying about Changi Airport and which other airports around the world made the list.
Esther Au Yong
Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu defends paralympics title, wins Singapore's first Paris 2024 gold
The swimmer has won Singapore's first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics with her swim of 2:21.73 at the 100m backstroke S2 final. This is her third successive win of the event.
A 17-year-old is hospitalized with serious injuries after he was shot in the face while looking for a location to take homecoming pictures in Colorado, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The homeowner also called her boyfriend to report the trespassers, according to the sheriff's office. A man identified as Brent Metz, 38, was standing with the two boys, according to the sheriff's office.
A man from Mississauga visiting Quebec for the weekend is speaking out over a disturbing interaction he had with Laval police. He alleges he was assaulted by officers and that he thought he was going to die. A warning that some images and video in this story can be disturbing to some. Global's Felicia Parrillo reports.
TERRACE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — Mounties in Terrace, B.C., say they have identified the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run crash over the weekend as a driver for a local taxi company who has since left the country.
Advocates and state lawmakers say that Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins’ fight to keep her children away from their allegedly abusive father highlights a bigger issue within family courts.
A man who admits to setting his ex-wife on fire says he never meant to kill her. Norbert Budai took the witness stand in his own defence at his first-degree murder trial and said he only wanted to set Henrietta Viski’s hair on fire after learning she was having an affair.
Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu were found dead on a farm owned by Zachariah Olivier, who has been arrested alongside his employees Adriaan De Wet and William Musoro
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The governor of Ohio will send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants that has landed it in the national spotlight.
A suburban Philadelphia man drugged and sexually assaulted women he met online over the past 15 months, police said Wednesday in filing rape and other charges against him. All six women, ages 17 to 30, told police they met him through a website that connects women with “sugar daddy” men, described on the website as “generous.” In a police affidavit filed with the charges, Gallo was accused of secretly spiking drinks with methamphetamines and other drugs, leaving women bruised and sick after spending the night at his home.
TORONTO — An Ontario Provincial Police finding that there was no "serious" officer misconduct after a police car struck and killed a pedestrian has been rejected in court.
The mother of the teenager accused of killing four people during last week’s shooting at a Georgia high school has apologized to the victims’ families in an open letter while insisting her son “is not a monster.”
MONCTON, N.B. — Officials with New Brunswick's Justice Department say they have made the "largest" seizure of illegal cannabis ever in Atlantic Canada.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A mother, grandfather, adult brother and two caregivers in Florida have been charged with the starvation death of a 7-year-old disabled boy who weighed 7 pounds (3.1 kilograms) and had bones poking through his skin when he was found dead on Christmas, officials announced Wednesday.
Halton Region police investigators say they have charged eight men alleged to be part of an organized auto-theft ring that stole high-end vehicles throughout the GTA for shipment overseas.
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A policeman opened fire inside a police station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Thursday, killing a suspect held on accusations of blasphemy, a local official said.