A 24-year-old Singaporean man was ordered to undergo 15 months’ probation after he amputated a pet rat's limb without anaesthesia and sold wildlife online illegally.

Jenson Neo faced 13 charges under the Animals and Birds Act and pleaded guilty to five of them on Jul. 7.

The remaining charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Rat

In court documents seen by Mothership, Neo had a white pet rat that injured its front right leg.

He believed the injured leg looked gangrenous

On Jul. 9, 2022, he decided to amputate the rat’s limb himself instead of seeking medical attention for it.

Neo was not a qualified veterinarian.

Before the procedure, he applied numbing cream to the rat's leg, which was insufficient in alleviating any pain.

Neo proceeded without the necessary anaesthesia and analgesia required during surgical operations on animals.

Sale

On Jan. 26, 2024, Neo took a common palm civet he found somewhere in Jalan Dermawan near his home.

He illegally kept the animal as a pet for about a month.

On Feb. 22, 2024, he posted an advertisement to sell the civet for S$500 in a Telegram group chat.

Neo felt the pricing was reasonable, as the typical market price for cats and dogs was about four times that amount.

Enforcement officers from the National Parks Board (NParks) posed as buyers and contacted him.

They eventually agreed on a price of S$580, which included a cage for the animal.

They agreed to meet up for the transaction the next day, on Feb. 23, 2024, at about 7:30pm.

Evade

On the day of the transaction, Neo arrived at a playground in Lorong Kemunchup at about 7:55pm.

After he completed the sale, several NParks enforcement officers, who had been undercover, identified themselves and instructed him to put the cage down.

Neo then attempted to open the cage to release the civet and evade arrest.

A short violent struggle ensued.

Neo was subsequently subdued and arrested.

Taking wildlife and other sales

Investigations revealed that Neo had taken and sold wildlife illegally on separate occasions before his arrest.

On Jan. 13, 2022, he took two mangrove snakes from an unknown location

On Jul. 7, 2023, Neo offered for sale on Telegram a bird belonging to the Falconiformes order, a protected wildlife species.

On Jul. 11, 2023, he kept a red-tailed boa in his home.

On Aug. 11, 2023, Neo offered a Malayan box turtle for sale on Telegram.

On Sep. 9, 2023, he sold a sugar glider to an individual identified as “Lisa” for S$50.

On Oct. 3, 2023, at some time between 10:34pm and 10:47pm, Neo took a colugo or flying lemur from Dairy Farm Nature Park.

Between Jan. 19 and 28, 2024, Neo sold a corn snake to an individual identified as "Lionel Ng" for S$250.

Psychiatric assessment

Alongside probation, Neo was ordered to perform 70 hours of community service.

He is to undergo psychiatric assessments and follow-up sessions that address impulse control and manage his compulsive responses to animals.

His parents were also ordered to execute a S$5,000 bond to ensure Neo’s good behaviour during probation.

A domestic worker in Singapore was reported to her maid agency by her female employer for her habit of borrowing money and being distracted at work.

The agency later discovered that the 26-year-old worker was molested twice by her male employer.

The man, 42, has since pleaded guilty to two counts of outrage of modesty on Jul. 7, Shin Min Daily News reported.

He was sentenced to nine weeks' jail and ordered by the court to pay the victim S$70 in restitution.

Touched her from behind

The victim, who is from Indonesia, first began working for the couple on May 25, 2023, earning a monthly salary of S$620.

In November 2023, while his wife was away and the victim was busy in the kitchen, the man reportedly patted her from behind.

In January 2024, the man again patted her buttocks as he passed by when no one was home.

The victim later confided in her husband and a friend via WhatsApp.

This friend later said that she noticed the victim was depressed and expressed a desire to run away from her employer's home, it was reported.

Reported to agency for being distracted

In March 2024, the female employer notified the agency because the victim was borrowing money and not paying attention at work.

When an intermediary visited their home on Mar. 20 to investigate, he discovered that the victim was gambling online on her phone.

She later admitted that she had borrowed money to gamble.

When prompted further, she revealed that the man had molested her.

The agency then privately verified this with the man, who admitted to the wrongdoing and ultimately apologised to the victim in the presence of the agency and his wife.

The victim reportedly had borrowed S$1,000 from the man due to a family emergency and did not dare to report the molest to the police.

She was also afraid that her female employer would reprimand her.

Arrest

It was not until May 23, 2024, more than one-and-a-half years after the first incident, that the case was eventually reported to the police.

The victim was invited to a domestic helper centre for an interview, where she revealed to the staff that she had been touched inappropriately by her male employer.

The staff immediately called the police.

The man was arrested on Apr. 17, 2025.

He reportedly paid S$500 in compensation to the victim on May 22, 2026.

A mother from one of Thailand's richest families formally withdrew her "ungrateful child" lawsuit against her son on Jul. 8, nearly two weeks after the lawsuit was filed.

According to AFP, the civil court hearing the case released a statement that the suit was dropped.

In February, Jeeranuch Bhirombhakdi, a third-generation member of the billionaire family behind Thailand's Singha beer empire, initially sued her son, Siranudh "Psi" Scott, over an inheritance dispute involving assets from his late grandfather.

Following his mother's suit, Siranudh alleged that his elder brother, Sunit "Pi" Scott, and their babysitter sexually abused him during his teenage years.

Jeeranuch later accused him of damaging the family's reputation and sought to reclaim land worth millions that had been handed to Siranudh.

Found out about case withdrawal through the media

According to Khaosod, Siranudh spoke to reporters outside the court on Jul. 8 and said that by dropping the lawsuit, his family could no longer cause him more harm.

He said: "Initially, there has not been a clear meeting scheduled regarding the return of the assets."

"And actually, I didn't even know they withdrew the lawsuit; I only found out through the media."

However, he added that "everything else" that brought him to this point remains.

He said he does not have a home and lacks financial security, which is opposite to what his grandfather would have hoped for.

"Even though they withdrew the case, my life is still shattered"

Siranudh said: "Even though they withdrew the case, my life is still shattered."

He said he has not received clarification from his mother about the inheritance and added: "If my family members claim to truly love me, they must be witnesses for me, not just make empty promises."

According to AFP, around 20 of his supporters showed up to court holding paper flowers and photos of him.

Siranudh noted that he could not claim victory, as he said the case should not have happened, as he had never been ungrateful to anyone.

"The mother is ready to talk"

Siranudh's representative Parnthep Pourpongpan told reporters that Jeeranuch's filing "requested conciliation within the family since the dispute is a family matter".

In Jeeranuch's statement dated Jul. 3, she said: "This mother is ready to talk, as long as we speak with love and genuine goodwill towards one another."

She added that she was "ready to respect and accept" the judicial process regarding the matter between her sons.

Jeeranuch added that she hoped the truth would come to light and both of her children would receive justice.

AFP reported that Jeeranuch's representative could not be reached immediately on Jul. 8.

Brother denies allegations

Sunit has denied the allegations but acknowledged roughhouse play between him and his brother.

He was dismissed from his executive role at Singha's parent company Boonrawd Brewery in May 2026.

According to Forbes, the Bhirombhakdi family is listed as Thailand's 15th wealthiest with an estimated net worth of US$1.75 billion (S$2.26 billion).

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A 44-year-old car driver left the scene after an accident with a van in the early morning of Jul. 8.

Efforts to trace him are underway, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) told Mothership.

Two sent to hospital

SPF said they were alerted to an accident involving a car and a van along Edgedale Plains at about 2:45am that day.

Two car passengers, aged 36 and 39, were conveyed conscious to the hospital, SPF said.

The 30-year-old male van driver sustained minor injuries but declined to be sent to the hospital.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) also confirmed with Mothership that they were alerted to a road traffic accident at Block 122A Edgedale Plains at 2:45am.

SCDF conveyed one person to Changi General Hospital and assessed another person who declined to be sent to the hospital.

Aftermath

A Mothership reader who attended to the van driver before the authorities arrived said the driver complained of back pain but was still able to walk.

Videos taken by the reader showed debris scattered across the road, while the car's front bumper appeared to be badly damaged.

The front tyres also came out, the reader said.

The van, which sported a Lalamove logo, appeared to be damaged at the back.

According to the reader, witnesses said they saw the car crash into the van at high speed before hitting the concrete and a tree.

They also saw the driver fleeing the scene.

A nearby tree was also damaged and split in half, with broken branches and other debris strewn across the ground.

A 37-year-old former infant care teacher at a pre-school, who force-fed a one-year-old girl milk from a bottle until she struggled and vomited, was sentenced on Jul. 8 to 14 months' jail.

According a report by CNA, the woman pleaded guilty to one charge of ill-treating a child under her care.

Two similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The woman cannot be identified due to gag orders on her identity and the identity of the victim.

Force-fed an infant milk until she vomited

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the woman worked as an infant care teacher at a preschool in Singapore from 2022 until Oct. 2, 2024.

She was responsible for caring for about 10 infants aged between two and 18 months.

Her duties included feeding the children, changing diapers and supervising their daily routines, as well as conducting activities and lessons.

A couple enrolled their daughter at the preschool in February 2024.

On Sep. 23, 2024, the woman was looking after the girl, who was then 12 months old, along with three other infants.

At about 11:50am that day, she brought the four children into the preschool's nap room to drink milk before their afternoon nap.

Five minutes later, the victim stopped drinking from her bottle, without finishing the milk inside.

The teacher noticed this and placed the bottle back into the victim's mouth, but the girl turned her head away.

She then carried the victim onto her lap and tried to feed her again, but the victim refused and began to cry.

After trying several more times, the teacher eventually held the victim's head with one hand while pushing the bottle into her mouth.

The victim responded by shaking her head and flailing her arms and legs in an attempt to resist.

The teacher then pressed down on the victim's head and squeezed the bottle, forcing milk into her mouth.

The victim spat the milk out and when she continued struggling, the teacher hit her on the body with her hand.

She continued force-feeding the victim for about two minutes as the girl kicked her legs and swung her arms.

After the teacher briefly removed the bottle, the victim vomited onto the mattress and the floor.

The teacher then slapped the victim on the head, pulled her upwards by her hands and lifted her off the mattress so that she could remove the soiled bedsheet.

She also hit the victim's back three times before taking her out of the room.

The woman later admitted she acted this way as she was upset that the victim was crying excessively.

Investigations

On Sep. 26, 2024, an unidentified informant reported the suspected child abuse at the preschool.

Upon reviewing CCTV footage, preschool staff uncovered multiple incidents involving the teacher and another staff member.

The woman was dismissed that same day, while the other staff member was fired a few days later.

The case was later referred to the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), which carried out further investigations into both individuals.

CCTV footage also showed that the woman had also handled two other infants roughly — a 10-month-old girl and an eight-month-old boy — on Sep. 25, 2024.

The prosecution sought a jail term of between 14 and 16 months for the woman.

"Children are generally unable to fend for nor defend themselves, and they are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society," they said. "They are entirely reliant on others to provide for their well-bring, and when they are ill-treated, the "very fabric and future of our society is undermined"."

For ill-treating a child under her care, the woman could have been jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000, or both.

The National Environment Agency (NEA), Land Transport Authority (LTA), and Traffic Police inspected 280 motorcyclists along Admiralty Road West on Jun. 29, 2026.

LTA detected 16 offences, including the display of improper licence plates, expired road tax and using a motor vehicle without insurance coverage

One foreign registered motorcycle was impounded by LTA for entering Singapore without a valid vehicle entry permit.

A total of 15 of those caught were aged between 24 and 59.

NEA issued 20 summonses for offences involving excessive vehicular noise.

These offences carry serious penalties.

Having improper number plates and non-payment of VEP can lead to a fine of up to S$1,000 and/or three months' jail.

Repeat offenders face double the penalties.

Those with invalid road tax can face fines of up to S$2,000 or an amount three times the tax payable, if the offender is proven to intentionally evade tax chargeable.

The offence of using a motor vehicle with excessive vehicular emission and excessive vehicular noise carries a fine of up to S$2,000 for the first conviction, and a fine of up to S$5,000 for a second or subsequent conviction.

A 32-year-old Malaysian woman says she is regularly mistaken for her 80-year-old husband's daughter, thanks to a 48-year age gap that has drawn public attention since the couple married a decade ago.

Che Zainun Che Ahmad and her husband Hazlan Hajar tied the knot when she was 22 and he was 70, after getting to know each other on Facebook over several years, according to the New Straits Times (NST).

How they met

Che Zainun told NST the relationship started as a friendship before developing into something more.

She said:

"I married my husband 10 years ago after we got to know each other on Facebook over several years. At first, we were just friends, but his patience and maturity won my heart. I have also always preferred older men as partners."

Che Zainun said dating men her own age had never worked out for her. When she told her family about Hazlan, they were shocked at first, but came around in time.

Life with a 48-year age gap

The couple now has two children, nine, and one month old.

She told NST:

"To me, age is just a number. Thank God, we have been blessed with two children."

Che Zainun said her husband remains in good health and maintains a healthy diet. While he is not particularly romantic, she said his straightforward nature has kept their marriage peaceful.

She added that navigating the age gap requires compromise on her part.

She said: "With such a wide age gap, our interests and lifestyles are naturally different. I choose to compromise more for the sake of our marriage because older men tend to have strong egos."

Her advice to others

Despite her own positive experience, Che Zainun said she would not encourage others to follow the same path, particularly when it comes to marrying older divorcees or widowers.

She said: "A relationship like this requires emotional maturity and resilience. Without that, the marriage may not last. Find someone who is mature, compatible and not too far apart in age."

A Singaporean man has been sentenced to prison for a total of a year and a half for various offences, including damaging the belongings of a woman who had let him stay at her condo for about seven months.

The woman was a 51-year-old cafe owner in Singapore, while the man, Xavier Lim Jia Han, was a regular customer at her cafe.

She had taken him in after learning that he was having problems at home.

Now 32, Lim pleaded guilty to four of his nine charges previously on Feb. 6.

The other charges were for driving without a valid driving licence, and cheating a car rental company into renting him a vehicle.

Apart from the prison sentence, the court also ordered on Jun. 30 that he be disqualified from holding a driving licence for four years.

Assaulted the cafe owner

According to court documents, Lim told the cafe owner in August 2020 that he was having disputes with his family and even fought with his mother.

Concerned, she allowed him to stay at her house temporarily, but he ended up overstaying his welcome even after she tried to convince him to return to his own home.

On Mar. 8, 2021, he saw her talking to his father in the condo car park, and got agitated.

He went up to the woman and pulled her hair, then grabbed her phone from her and threw it onto the ground.

He also started chasing after her in the carpark.

Destroyed her devices

Afterwards, he went to the woman’s unlocked car and took another phone and two laptops, then threw them onto the ground as well.

The two MacBook laptops were worth S$1,400 each, while the values of the phones were not established.

He intended to cause wrongful loss to the victim, who became anxious and was greatly inconvenienced following the incident, the prosecutor said.

He has not made any restitution to her to date.

Other offences

In terms of the individual sentences, the offence of destroying the woman's devices got Lim two weeks in jail.

He received the longest jail sentence — 12 weeks — for deceiving a car rental company.

On five occasions between Dec. 24, 2019, and Feb. 13, 2020, he used a friend's details to create an account with Premium Automobiles online, to rent vehicles for his own use.

The friend did not know nor did she give consent to him to use her details for this purpose.

Investigations revealed that in 2018, Lim had used his father’s details to rent vehicles from the same company, because he did not have a driving licence.

The company eventually blacklisted Lim as he had a poor payment record for his rentals and got into an accident in late November 2018 while driving a vehicle rented from them.

He was first arrested by the police on Mar. 18, 2021, and released on station bail the next day.

He was arrested again by the traffic police after reoffending on Jan. 27, 2024.

His jail sentence will be backdated to the date of his first arrest, from Mar. 18, 2021.

A flight instructor reportedly unstrapped himself and jumped to his death from a small aircraft mid-air, leaving his student pilot to land the plane alone.

The incident occurred over Toledo, Argentina, on Jul. 6, The U.S. Sun reported.

Leandro Bertazzo, 42, was found dead in a field following a 20-minute search after the alarm was raised.

Nightmare situation

Bertazzo and his student were flying a Cessna C-150, a two-seat general aviation aircraft typically used for flight training.

The student pilot said: “He took his headphones off, arranged his belongings including his mobile phone, took his seatbelt off, opened the door which is very difficult to open and jumped out.”

At one point in the flight, Bertazzo reportedly turned to her and said, "You know what to do, keep moving forward.”

The 22-year-old, who held a license but had limited flying experience, immediately raised the alarm and managed to land the aircraft safely on her own.

The director of the flight school said though she was "shaken", she embodied "complete professionalism" flying the plane back to the airfield and made a perfect landing.

He described her as "very clear, decisive, mature, and professional".

'No one expected this tragedy'

The director of the flight school remembered the deceased as a man who was "always smiling".

"He took this tragic decision on board a plane with a person by his side.

There’s no way to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex, so treacherous.

That's why what happened, happened."

Bertazzo had previously described himself online as a former commercial pilot in Chile.

According to local reports, he had been receiving neuropsychiatric treatment, though it appears only close relatives were aware of this prior to the incident.

Earlier that same day, Bertazzo had successfully completed a flight with another student before entering the cockpit with the 22-year-old, the Daily Mail reported.

Local officers stated that the circumstances surrounding the tragedy are so unusual that they are currently unable to explain how the instructor came to fall from the aircraft.

Investigations are ongoing.

About a year after signing up for a gym membership, a man in Hangzhou, China, was told the facility would be terminating it due to repeated complaints from other members about his body odour.

"Recently, we received feedback from many customers that the strong smell inside the facility has seriously impeded their workout," the gym said in a message to him, shared on local media.

They not only refunded him for the remainder of his membership period, but also gave him a three-year membership card for a different gym.

Workout enthusiast

The man, surnamed Shi, paid RMB6,388 (S$1,125) for the membership in May 2025 for three years until the end of April 2028, South China Morning Post reported.

On Jun. 20, 2026, he received the message to stop using the facility, and a refund of RMB3,888 (S$740).

Shi told local media that he used to be very heavy until he lost weight from 125kg to 80kg about 10 years ago.

He has since become passionate about working out and would do so regularly.

Before his membership was terminated there, he went to the gym five times a week.

Sweats a lot

The gym told local media that Shi would sweat a lot when he worked out there, and give off a strong odour.

A bad smell would linger around machines that he had just used or passed by, according to many other members.

Other members would avoid using the treadmills near the machine he had used.

The gym said it had once allocated exercise equipment in the corner just for his use, and asked him to come during non-peak hours, but the complaints continued.

Shi admitted that he does sweat more than most people, but he would use two or three towels to wipe his sweat.

He would also place a disposable towel provided by the gym over equipment to prevent getting sweat everywhere.

"I am a serious fitness enthusiast," Shi said. "If this gym is not a place for serious fitness enthusiasts, it would be good if they could just say so."

As the gym is near his home, he hopes to speak to the boss and possibly work out a solution so that he could continue going to the gym.