A 43-year-old man in Singapore was sentenced to four months, four weeks and 12 days' jail for driving under the influence of alcohol, fleeing nearly 10km following a collision with a motorcycle, and injuring two people during his escape.

He also had his driving licence suspended for five years.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the offender, Xie Junliang (transliteration), faced a total of five charges, including drink driving, dangerous driving, and failing to stop after an accident.

He pleaded guilty to four charges, with the remaining charge taken into consideration during sentencing.

The case

Citing court documents, Zaobao reported that Xie had been drinking with colleagues near Merchant Road at about 6.30pm on Oct. 25, 2024, and had consumed at least three beers.

He later drove home to Tampines between 9pm and 10pm.

While travelling along Simei Road towards Tampines Avenue 5, Xie rear-ended a motorcycle that was stationary at a red light at an intersection, scratching its exhaust pipe.

The female motorcyclist then asked him to get out of the vehicle.

Instead of getting off, Xie reversed against the flow of traffic and drove away.

The female motorcyclist immediately called the police before pursuing Xie on her motorcycle.

Witnessing the incident, other motorcyclists also sounded their horns and signalled for Xie to stop.

In an attempt to flee, Xie drove about 9.5km from Simei Road through Upper Changi Road and the Tampines area.

Over the course of the roughly 20-minute pursuit, he repeatedly drove dangerously by reversing against traffic, speeding, making an illegal U-turn and mounting a road kerb.

At one point, the female motorcyclist and another woman attempted to stop his vehicle, but Xie continued driving and struck both women on their right legs.

Dashcam footage from Xie's vehicle showed him listening to music and humming after the collision, although his speech was slurred.

The pursuit ended when three motorcyclists surrounded Xie's vehicle and directed him to stop near a bus stop along Tampines Street 84.

Arrest and sentenced

According to Zaobao, when police officers arrived, they detected a strong smell of alcohol on Xie.

A breathalyser test showed that he had 79 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, more than twice Singapore's legal limit of 35 micrograms.

The female passerby sought medical treatment for her right leg injury, and Xie later reimbursed her about S$81 in medical expenses.

The female motorcyclist did not seek medical treatment.

The prosecution argued that Xie's conduct was highly irresponsible, saying that he not only drove while intoxicated, but also fled after the initial collision and repeatedly endangered other road users during his attempt to escape.

It sought a jail term of between eight and 10-and-a-half months, along with a driving disqualification of between 60 and 72 months.

In mitigation, Xie's lawyer said his client was his family's sole breadwinner and that a lengthy custodial sentence could jeopardise his construction business.

The defence also noted that no one suffered serious injuries and said Xie had expressed remorse, urging the court to impose a lighter sentence.

A total of 16 flights by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot departing, arriving, or transiting at Taipei have been cancelled due to Super Typhoon Bavi.

The typhoon churned southeast of Taiwan on Jul. 9, with winds close to 200kph, Reuters reported.

It is forecast to affect the island most severely the following two days, according to Taipei Times.

Flights affected

Midnight on Jul. 9, SIA announced on their website that four flights scheduled for Jul. 11 have been cancelled.

They are SQ876 and SQ878, from Singapore to Taipei, and SQ877 and SQ879, from Taipei to Singapore.

Two flights scheduled for Jul. 10 — SQ878 from Singapore to Taipei, and SQ879 from Taipei to Singapore — have been postponed to depart a few hours later that same day.

SIA added that other flights may be affected "as the situation remains fluid", and advised customers to check their flight status online.

The airline's budget arm Scoot also put up an advisory on Jul. 8 to state that four flights operating on Jul. 10 and eight on Jul. 11 have been cancelled.

All the flights have a stopover in Taipei between Singapore and Tokyo, or Singapore and Seoul.

Scoot explained that the flights were cancelled as a precautionary measure "due to the adverse weather conditions caused by Super Typhoon Bavi".

"We will continue to monitor the situation with Typhoon Bavi and adjust our flight schedules as necessary," it added.

Rebook or refund

Both airlines apologised and said they will be contacting all affected customers to inform them about the flight cancellations or schedule changes.

They can choose to either rebook their flights or a request for a full refund.

Those who booked the flights through travel agents or partner airlines can contact their travel agent or purchasing airline directly for assistance.

Super Typhoon Bavi

Bavi is set to be the largest ⁠storm by size to hit Taiwan since 1987, a forecaster at Taiwan's Central Weather Administration told Reuters.

He added that storms of this size have been "fairly rare in recent years".

The typhoon is projected to skirt northern Taiwan before making landfall in Fujian, China, in the evening of Jul. 11, according to China's National Meteorological Centre.

It is also expected to approach Japan's Okinawa prefecture. Officials are urging residents to be on high alert on Jul. 10 and 11 for violent winds, landslides, flooding, and storm surges.

Japan Airlines cancelled 48 domestic flights scheduled for Jul. 10 because of the typhoon, affecting roughly 7,610 passengers.

Other airlines, including Tigerair, China Airlines, and China Southern Airlines, have also postponed or cancelled flights due to the typhoon, Taipei Times reported.

A 40-year-old man was charged in Singapore for allegedly making reports of fake bomb threats to the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) building and the Parliament House.

Koh Jye Shyang faced two charges of communicating false information of harmful thing on two occasions on Jul. 9, The Straits Times and CNA reported.

Anthropic

According to ST and CNA, Koh appeared via video-link in court when receiving the charges.

He claimed that Dario Amodei, the chief executive officer of American AI firm Anthropic, was coming from San Francisco, United States, to help check if there was anything wrong with his computer.

He requested bail to facilitate these checks.

The prosecution requested that Koh be remanded for one week to facilitate further investigations.

Koh also requested bail to look for a lawyer.

The judge agreed to the prosecution's request and told Koh his bail request would be considered.

The case was adjourned to Jul. 16.

Bomb threats

On Jul. 3, at about 1:30pm, Koh allegedly sent a false bomb threat to HTX via a FormSG submission.

"There is a bomb in the Home Team Science and Technology Agency building in 1 Stars Avenue, #12-01, Singapore 138507. Please evacuate the premises immediately," the submission read.

HTX lodged a police report.

The agency is located on the 12th floor of 1 Stars Avenue, which shares the same office building as Mediacorp.

On Jul. 6 at about 3pm, Koh allegedly emailed the Prime Minister’s Office about a bomb threat.

“There is a bomb placed in the Parliament House at 1 Parliament Pl, Singapore 178880. Please evacuate the premises immediately," the email read.

On Jul. 7, the police confirmed a report of the email and conducted thorough checks of both premises, including a systematic sweep of the buildings and their surroundings.

No items of security concern were apparently found.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and the Central Police Division subsequently established that Koh apparently made the two false bomb threats.

He was subsequently arrested on Jul. 7.

Several electronic devices believed to have been used to perpetrate the threats were seized from him as case exhibits.

American fitness influencer Connor Murphy was found dead after he jumped into a lake at a housing estate in Samut Prakan, Thailand.

The 32-year-old apparently drowned on the evening of Jul. 7, Bangkok Post and Khaosod reported.

As an American fitness influencer, he had about 2.36 million YouTube subscribers.

He had reportedly been staying in Thailand on a visa and working remotely, selling fitness food supplements.

Murphy was well known in the “looksmaxxing” community, made up of young males who would go to extreme lengths to enhance their physical appearance.

Several fitness influencers, such as American bodybuilder Greg Doucette, paid respects to Murphy on social media.

Behaviour

According to witnesses, including a security guard and an employee at the estate, he apparently exhibited disturbing behaviour before jumping into the lake.

Murphy reportedly returned to the neighbourhood in a hired vehicle and attempted to give the driver 1,000 baht (S$38.60).

However, the driver purportedly refused as Murphy was behaving unusually.

Murphy then approached a resident’s passing car and allegedly knocked on the window, asking for a ride into the estate.

The security guard said he shouted to the driver not to pick him up.

Murphy reportedly became agitated and started shouting.

He also rolled around on the pavement and raised his hands as if he were praying.

Lake

When local police arrived, he apparently ran and jumped into the lake.

This prompted the police to request backup and rescue personnel.

In a video of the incident recorded by the guard, Murphy purportedly continued swimming until he appeared exhausted, before disappearing beneath the water.

No one apparently dared to enter the lake to help him, as the lake was reportedly more than 10m deep.

Rescue divers eventually showed up and searched for Murphy for about 30 minutes before recovering his body about 20m from the shore.

According to local police, his body showed no signs of assault, and he was sent to a local hospital for an autopsy.

House

Investigations revealed that his rented house had been splashed with black and yellow paint.

Electrical appliances were also doused in paint.

The homeowner, identified as View, was reportedly devastated after seeing the condition of the house.

She claimed that she cherished the lakeside residence and it was valued at around 22 million baht (S$849,154.68).

The house had been rented out for 35,000 baht (S$1,350.93) a month.

It was rented out to Murphy and his 22-year-old girlfriend, identified as Bee.

The couple apparently occupied the house for about three months.

View claimed she carefully selected the tenants and never expected to find the property so badly damaged, with furniture and home decorations ruined.

According to Bee, the damage to the house occurred overnight when she was asleep in her room and Murphy was awake.

Murphy had appeared completely normal before the incident, and he had apparently never shown similar behaviour or experienced any known mental health problems, she added.

She also claimed that she had never seen him use drugs when they lived together

The couple had reportedly been together for about three years, but spent much of that time living apart due to relationship difficulties.

They purportedly resumed living together less than three months ago.

Investigations

Investigators who searched Murphy’s vehicle found two unused syringes and several unidentified white pills inside his waist bag.

Preliminary examinations found only abrasions sustained from him rolling on the road.

Toxicology tests for drugs will be conducted.

Police have not announced a final cause of death beyond drowning.

Investigators were also gathering evidence and would notify the American embassy in Thailand.

Sold-out limited-edition plush toys from Australian artist CJ Hendry's "Juju World" exhibition were being listed online by resellers for as much as S$2,888 each.

The collectable blind boxes, originally priced at S$39, have become highly sought after due to the low odds of obtaining a hidden-edition plush toy.

Some Carousell sellers are also listing bundles containing the regular plush toy, hidden edition, and a large plush toy for S$3,888.

Blind boxes sold out

"Juju World" is currently being held at the IMBA Theatre in Gardens by the Bay from Jun. 20 to Jul. 18.

The immersive exhibition follows the success of Hendry's "Fluffy Flower Market", which also drew large crowds in Singapore this year.

Weekend tickets for "Juju World" sold out quickly, while the S$39 blind box plush toys and S$99 collectables have also sold out and are only available for pre-order, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Meanwhile, the standard yellow Juju plush toy is being resold for around S$300, while the rare hidden edition has been listed for as much as S$2,888.

Visitors to the exhibition can also take home miniature Juju rubber balls from the ball pit as complimentary souvenirs.

Some of these have also appeared on Carousell, with asking prices ranging from S$1 to S$8 each.

Artist prefers increasing supply over creating scarcity

Responding to Shin Min via email, Hendry said she has no control over what happens to the collectables after they leave the exhibition and she does not intend to impose restrictions to discourage reselling.

Instead, she hopes more people will be able to experience her work.

"The idea behind Juju World is to let more people access our artwork, which is why there are free plush toys in the ball pit, and the prices are much lower than the prices of my paintings," she said.

Hendry added that she would rather increase supply than rely on scarcity as a sales strategy.

A 24-year-old Malaysian man was sentenced to one year and five months’ jail for splashing a 48-year-old Malaysian colleague with a bucket of hot water after being scolded for taking more noodles than needed to prepare a dish.

Chong Kai Wen pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt on Jul. 8.

Noodles

In court documents seen by Mothership, Chong was working as a kitchen assistant at Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant in Bedok.

On the evening of Apr. 13, 2026, he received an order for a noodle dish.

Chong took out a portion of noodles for the chef to prepare the order.

However, he accidentally took slightly more than what was required to prepare the dish.

His colleague saw this and scolded Chong.

A few minutes later, he received another order for the same noodle dish,

Chong used the excess noodles from the previous order for the second order.

Having ensured that there was ultimately no wastage of noodles, Chong felt angry that his colleague had earlier scolded him.

Bucket

When Chong saw his colleague leaving the restaurant, he filled a bucket halfway with hot water measuring about 90°C from a water dispenser in the kitchen.

Armed with the bucket of hot water, Chong ran out of the restaurant towards his colleague, who was standing outside.

At about 7:34pm, he splashed the hot water onto his colleague’s upper body.

He also shouted at his colleague and asked why he had scolded him earlier when there was no noodle wastage.

Other colleagues and the pair’s employer emerged from the restaurant.

They told Chong to calm down.

The colleague who was splashed with water felt a burning sensation on his upper body and took off his shirt.

He then saw that his upper torso was red and told his employer about what had happened.

At about 10:02pm, his employer alerted the police to the incident.

Chong was subsequently arrested.

The colleague was conveyed to Changi General Hospital.

Injuries

Upon medical examination, the injured man was found to have sustained first-degree burns over his left shoulder, chest and back and second-degree burns over his left arm.

He faces the possibility of permanent scarring following the burn injury sustained over his left shoulder and upper back.

Such injury may heal with residual scarring and changes in skin texture.

He was given a further follow-up appointment, but he did not attend.

Fortuitous

The prosecution sought a sentence of 19 to 20 months’ jail for Chong.

They cited that the amount of hot water splashed was “not insignificant” and argued that the water could “easily have reached more vulnerable regions” of the colleague’s body, such as his face and head.

“It was entirely fortuitous that the victim did not suffer any burns in these vulnerable areas,” the prosecution said.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Chong could have faced a jail term of up to seven years, a fine, caning, or any combination of such punishments.

A woman in Hong Kong has died after a dispute that began with an accidental foot-stepping incident at a minibus stop escalated into a fatal physical altercation, according to local media Dimsum Daily.

The incident occurred at around 10:31pm on Jul. 7 outside Wah Chui House at Wah Fu (II) Estate in Aberdeen.

According to a Hong Kong government press release, officers responding to a report of a fight between two women found the victim, Fung, 53, lying unconscious on the ground with head injuries.

She was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital and pronounced dead at 11:22pm the same day.

Police have since arrested a 50-year-old woman, surnamed Tien, on suspicion of murder.

How the dispute started

According to Dimsum Daily, the confrontation began earlier that evening at a minibus stop in Aberdeen Centre, when Fung supposedly accidentally stepped on Tien's foot while boarding.

An argument broke out, during which Fung allegedly kicked Tien's foot again deliberately.

How it turned fatal

By the time the minibus arrived at Wah Fu Estate, the dispute had turned violent.

Tien allegedly tried to kick Fung, but was pulled out of the vehicle during the argument.

She then allegedly pinned Fung to the ground, knelt on her abdomen and gripped her neck for several minutes.

Other passengers alerted authorities after noticing Fung was unresponsive.

Investigation ongoing

Investigators believe the two women were not acquainted before the incident, and Fung was understood to have been experiencing emotional health issues, per Dim Sum Daily.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the precise cause of death.

Two Malaysian men, aged 38 and 44, were brought back to Singapore from Malaysia by officers from the Singapore police's new Cyber Command, for their suspected involvement in government official impersonation scams targeting Singapore residents.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a press release on Jul. 9 that the Cyber Command of the Singapore Police Force has arrested the two men following Warrants to Arrest (WTAs) issued by the State Courts of Singapore.

Raid in Kuala Lumpur

On Jan. 13, 2025, officers from Bukit Aman, Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), conducted a raid at an office complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, SPF said.

They arrested 16 Malaysian nationals for their suspected involvement in government official impersonation scams targeting Singapore residents.

The syndicate is believed to be linked to more than 50 reported cases, with total losses exceeding S$1.4 million, SPF said.

Pursuant to the WTAs, the two Malaysian men were arrested by Malaysian authorities between Jul. 6 and 7 and were brought back to Singapore by officers from the Cyber Command on Jul. 8, 2026.

They will be charged in court on Jul. 9, 2026 with the offence of being a member of a criminal conspiracy to cheat.

The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term which may extend to 10 years and a fine.

Commander of Cyber Command, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Wong said:

"The arrest of these two men demonstrates our strong partnership with the RMP in the fight against scams.

No single country can deal with this scourge alone and I thank the RMP for working together with the SPF to bring scammers to justice.

The Cyber Command will continue to work with our law enforcement counterparts to act against scammers targeting Singapore, wherever they may be based.”

A 63-year-old man was found dead in a flat in Yishun on Jul. 7 after neighbours complained of a foul stench and an increase in flies in their home for several days.

In response to Mothership's queries, police confirmed they were alerted to a case of unnatural death at Block 285 Yishun Avenue 6 at around 12:35pm that Tuesday.

The man was found motionless in a residential unit and pronounced dead at the scene.

Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play.

Investigations are ongoing.

Bad stench

Separately, in an anonymous post in the Facebook group Complaint Singapore, a user claimed that he had noticed an unusual increase in the number of flies around his home since the previous week.

The presence of the flies puzzled him as there was no unattended rubbish, he added.

It was only after seeing several police vehicles at the block on Tuesday that he learnt that a man had died in a unit two floors below his.

The user also claimed that his next-door neighbour had lodged a complaint with the town council after noticing a foul smell that had persisted for several days.

A 32-year-old woman, who allegedly murdered her four-year-old son, is being investigated to determine if cannibalism had a role to play in his death in Wyong, New South Wales, Australia.

The 32-year-old woman was charged with domestic violence murder and refused bail, ABC News and 9News reported.

Claims

This comes after the woman voluntarily went to the Wyong police station at about 4:40pm on Jul. 4.

According to local police, she allegedly made claims that “formed genuine concerns”, triggering a welfare check by local police.

Officers subsequently found the four-year-old’s remains in a home in Wyong.

The body was found alone with significant arm injuries.

Responding emergency personnel were reportedly heavily impacted by what they witnessed at the scene.

Support was being offered to the responders.

Cannibalism

Part of the investigation is to look at alleged references to cannibalism made by the woman when she went down to the police station.

Local police obtained a court order to forensically examine her mouth to get samples of the woman's internal mouth contents and forensic material, as well as a buccal swab.

Samples of the woman's nails and material from under her nails were also obtained.

The woman’s vehicle and a “number of exhibits” were seized.

According to Kate Washington, New South Wales Families Minister, the Department of Communities and Justice had also dealt with reports regarding the boy.

The last contact that staff had with the family was about 18 months ago.

Investigations are ongoing.

Community

According to local police, the mother and son lived together in the home. The boy had reportedly just started kindergarten.

About 40 people turned up for a vigil held for the boy on the afternoon of Jul. 6. They prayed and left floral tributes and toys.

The vigil's organiser said she apparently grew up on the street next to where the boy and his mother had lived.

She organised the event to bring the community together.

Locals were encouraged to bring flowers and teddy bears for a makeshift memorial.

"As a mother and as speaking for every other member in the community, I know for a fact that this has absolutely shattered a lot of people," she said.

"Rest in peace, beautiful boy. You've left a mark on every single member of this community."