An 81-year-old female driver allegedly crashed her vehicle into a bollard at a bus stop in Katong.

She and a 42-year-old passenger were injured.

The incident occurred on Nov. 6 at about 3pm along Amber Road, heading toward Haig Road.

In photos circulating online, the vehicle had mounted the pavement at the bus stop.

The car's bonnet hit the bollard, which absorbed the impact.

In response to media queries, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said the car was believed to have skidded.

An 81-year-old woman driver and her 42-year-old passenger were conveyed conscious to hospital.

The driver is assisting with ongoing police investigations.

Indonesia has declared the adoption of 18 Indonesian children in Singapore illegal, saying the arrangements did not comply with its adoption laws.

The country's Ministry of Social Affairs said the children were linked to a trafficking syndicate uncovered by West Java police in 2025, according to Antara on Nov. 5.

Some of the children have since obtained Singapore citizenship, while adoption proceedings involving eight others are still ongoing.

Adoption procedures did not meet Indonesian requirements

Kahono Agung Suhartoyo, director of child social rehabilitation at Indonesia's Ministry of Social Affairs, said Singapore authorities had sought clarification on the eight pending adoption cases.

"We said the adoptions were illegal because they did not meet Indonesia's requirements," he told Antara.

Under Indonesian law, international adoptions must go through the Child Adoption Advisory Team, which includes representatives from government agencies such as the police, foreign affairs and social affairs ministries, and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI).

Prospective adoptive parents must also meet several conditions, including having lived in Indonesia for at least two years, being no older than 55 and passing physical and psychological assessments.

Suhartoyo said Indonesia considered the adoption procedures legally flawed because the children's transfer involved a human trafficking syndicate.

He cited a court ruling in Bandung involving the syndicate.

Indonesia considering bringing children back

Indonesian authorities are discussing possible solutions with Singapore through the Indonesian Embassy, including the option of bringing the children back to Indonesia.

Suhartoyo said discussions were taking place through the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore.

The Social Affairs Ministry was also prepared to provide protection and rehabilitation services if the children returned to Indonesia.

According to Antara, information obtained by KPAI indicated that the children came from families in West Java.

However, their identity documents had allegedly been falsified to show that they were from West Kalimantan.

Suhartoyo said the ministry was working to identify the children's biological parents before determining how they could be reunited with their families.

S'pore authorities working with Indonesia

In a joint statement on Jan. 9, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said they were working with Indonesian authorities to review allegations of babies being trafficked into Singapore for adoption.

The ministries also said the ongoing investigations had delayed the processing of some citizenship applications for the children.

MSF and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) had been engaging affected adoptive parents to explain the situation.

The authorities said they were working to resolve the cases as quickly as possible while safeguarding the children's welfare and interests.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that the U.S. has conducted military strikes on Iran.

This comes after Iranian media reported that two missiles had struck Qeshm Island, Reuters reported.

The island lies off the Strait of Hormuz, and it is reportedly a vital area for oil and gas.

“Minor strikes”

Trump said on Nov. 6 that the U.S. had carried out “minor strikes” against Iranian air defence systems, Al Jazeera and CNBC reported.

“They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five,” Trump said.

He reportedly did not confirm whether he was referring to the strikes on Qeshm Island.

Iranian state media also reported that Iran’s air defence measures intercepted and destroyed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the island.

No official information was available on possible damage.

Prior to this, an American official confirmed that the U.S. had also struck the island on Nov. 2 as part of a “defensive measure”.

Talks

Trump also told reporters that his administration is “dealing” with Iranian representatives.

“They (Iran) have 300 per cent inflation. Their navy’s gone. Their airport, everything’s gone, and they want to make a deal,” Trump said.

In an International Monetary Fund report, Iran’s consumer prices were projected to increase by an average of 78.6 per cent in 2026.

Trump also said that “we have nobody getting hurt, nobody getting killed” when asked if he wanted to make a deal with Iran “really soon”.

“You know, this is a war that we may have been there for seven months, but we probably fought for three or four weeks, really fought,” he said.

A public transport commuter was seen behaving in an aggressive manner by shaking his fist and threatening to punch a bus driver.

This was after the bus driver apparently did not immediately open the door for the commuter to board.

Footage of the incident, which occurred on Nov. 4 on bus service 136 along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, was shared to the Instagram page sgfollowsall.

It showed the man confronting the bus driver who was driving.

Many online commenters responded to the video by criticising the man for his actions and for potentially endangering the other passengers on the bus.

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What happened beforehand?

In response to media queries, bus operator Go Ahead said it was aware of the incident.

Based on preliminary investigations, it found that the male passenger had been waiting at a bus stop and gestured to the driver to move the bus forward.

The driver signalled for the man to wait as the bus was preparing to enter the bus stop area.

The company added that as there was a concrete barrier at the bus stop, the bus did not open its doors for the passengers for safety reasons.

It noted that the male passenger became agitated after boarding the bus and continued to verbally abuse the bus driver despite his explanations.

The incident lasted about two minutes and ended only after the man moved to the back of the bus.

Go Ahead added that it stands behind its driver and that any form of verbal abuse is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The incident is still under investigation, with CCTV footage being reviewed.

A 54-year-old Thai father was arrested after allegedly firing two shots into the air while arguing with a teacher over his child’s ability to perform basic addition.

No injuries or property damage were reported.

The incident occurred at a school in Sikhio District, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, at about 3:20pm on Nov. 2, Khaosod English and Bangkok Post reported.

This apparently happened before the students were due to leave school for the day.

Addition

The man, identified as Manachai Chanthasom, is reportedly a parent of a student at the school.

According to local authorities, Chanthasom arrived at the school to pick up his child.

Preliminary investigations revealed that he then allegedly argued with a teacher over his child’s ability to perform or interpret basic addition.

He was also apparently intoxicated at the time of the incident.

Chanthasom reportedly became angry and fired two shots in the air with a .38-calibre revolver on school grounds.

Flee

Chanthasom then allegedly fled the premises in a pickup truck and drove to a public area in the village.

Local police subsequently followed and arrested him.

The firearm was also seized.

Chanthasom was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, carrying a firearm in a public place without reasonable cause, and drink-driving.

A man was seen using what appears to be a magnet to steal a tin of Pokémon trading cards from a claw machine in Bencoolen.

The tin is apparently worth S$40.

The incident occurred on Nov. 5 at about 1:44pm at Kuclaw, a claw machine shop at Sunshine Plaza.

Claw machine

In surveillance footage provided to Mothership, the man can be seen playing with a claw machine before pulling an object from his pocket.

He then glances at the surveillance camera for a brief moment before placing it beside the claw machine.

The prizes inside the claw machine appear to react to the object, which was presumably a magnet.

He attempts to use the magnet to win a prize but fails.

However, on his second attempt, he wins a prize, and the claw machine lights start flickering.

The man then plays a few more rounds on the claw machine before retrieving the prize and leaving the premises.

Frequent clawer

Speaking to Mothership, the claw machine store operator, Alvin, said the man was a “frequent clawer”.

During the day of the alleged theft, the man apparently texted Alvin at about 1:35pm.

As Alvin was busy, he did not notice the man’s messages until he saw two messages from him on Alvin’s personal WhatsApp and Business accounts at about 1:45pm.

However, the messages were deleted.

“I know whenever he does text, it means he either won something or there is something he would like to claim, as I do promotions all the time.” Alvin said.

Alvin then looked at the surveillance footage and spotted him in the alleged act.

Unexpected

Alvin said the incident was unexpected, as the man was “the least of the many ‘problematic’ customers” whom he thought would use such a method to win prizes from the claw machines.

“I'm really confused why he would attempt to use such a method just to win a tin he could easily afford to buy and instead put his own reputation at risk,” he said.

He also said that in his “six years in the industry”, no one had apparently “made such an attempt” prior to this incident.

“At most, [they were] just stealing items from above the machines or attempted to cheat the system in other ways,” Alvin said.

Actions

Alvin said that he waited two full days for the man to return to the shop to admit his wrongdoings as he believes in giving people a second chance.

However, Alvin lodged a police report after no further contact was made.

“To me, I always believe a leopard doesn't change its spots, so even if I did call out to him to return, I'm sure he would continue to do it elsewhere, or might have already succeeded before, given he was so confident and successfully pulling this attempt within just one visit.” He said.

Alvin added that this incident could serve as a “warning” for other claw machine operators who may not be aware of this method to steal prizes.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) confirmed that a police report was lodged and are looking into this matter.

A cyberattack hit France's blood storage authorities on Nov. 4, with hackers raising blood fridge and freezer temperatures to dangerous levels.

According to the Associated Press, hackers attempted to raise the temperatures of blood refrigeration equipment of the French Blood Establishment (EFS), normally at -30°C, up to as high as 110°C.

Fortunately, monitoring systems quickly detected the problems, allowing staff to act in time and prevent blood products and samples from being destroyed, EFS said.

“No health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost,” it added.

The Guardian reported that EFS said it was not directly targeted, as the cyberattacks were directed at cold stores run by its contractors.

The affected rooms contained blood plasma for transfusions and medicine manufacturing.

EFS, short for Établissement français du sang, is France's public blood transfusion institution, responsible for collecting and distributing blood, plasma, and other blood products.

Europe supermarket attacks

The cyberattacks on EFS came after a wave of similar attacks were launched on supermarket fridges across Europe in October and November.

Supermarkets in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Finland were affected.

Hackers gained access to fridge software – which allows supermarkets to control their cold storage remotely via the internet – and raised the temperatures of fridges and freezers to as high as 50°C.

Refrigeration solutions firms such as Sabcobel and Danfoss provide such software.

This caused staggering quantities of food to spoil across Europe, forcing supermarkets to throw away millions of euros worth of products.

It is not yet clear who is behind the attacks.

The BBC reported that analysts have speculated variously on the identity of the hackers, with some pointing fingers at Russian or Iranian cyberattack groups, and others disagreeing that it was a state actor.

One expert told the BBC that the attacks hit several European countries in a simultaneous wave, which suggested some degree of planning and coordination.

Cybersecurity firms noted that the hackers' activities seemed to be confined mainly to Europe.

They had laid out 'honeypots', or decoy computer networks or files with poor security, to entice attackers to hack them, revealing both their activity as well as their methods of attack.

One such UK-based firm Lupovis, said that none of their honeypots in other regions such as Africa or South America were targeted, with even Ukraine being untouched.

A kindergarten teacher in Sejong, South Korea, has been named in two child abuse complaints filed by the parents of a student who allegedly repeatedly bit and injured the teacher.

The case has prompted fellow teachers to stage protests calling for better protection in the workplace, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

On Nov. 5, the Sejong City Office of Education announced plans to protect teachers at the kindergarten while ensuring that the child could continue attending classes.

Parents filed 2 child abuse complaints

In July, the child's parents lodged a child abuse complaint against four kindergarten staff members: the principal, vice principal and two teachers.

The complaint arose after the kindergarten decided to send the child home following several incidents of aggressive behaviour.

Although the decision was made through mediation involving the education office, the parents claimed that the school had neglected their child.

Kindergarten staff later filed their own complaint against the child and the parents, citing violations of teachers' rights.

They alleged that the child had repeatedly bitten teachers, causing injuries, and damaged furniture and teaching materials.

The parents later filed another child abuse complaint, alleging that the teacher had strangled their child after discovering red marks on the child's body.

The teacher denied the accusation, maintaining that the marks were caused by the child scratching themselves.

Police began investigating the allegations and visited the kindergarten on Oct. 30 to collect CCTV footage, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

Teachers hold silent protests

The Sejong branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU) released photographs purportedly showing bite marks on the teacher's hands and arms, as well as injuries to the face.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the teacher was given a tetanus shot following an alleged biting incident.

The teacher was also diagnosed with a concussion after a fall in July.

In response to the complaints, fellow teachers staged silent protests during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times.

They held signs questioning whether all teachers were being regarded as potential child abusers.

A representative of KTU's Sejong branch criticised the complaints, saying the teacher had already experienced physical and psychological harm.

The union also urged the superintendent of education to pursue legal action against the parents.

Education office steps in

Following a complaint lodged by kindergarten staff, the Sejong education office established a teacher protection committee in August.

The committee directed the parents to provide a written apology and recommended psychological treatment for the child.

Despite these measures, the teacher and child continued attending the same kindergarten.

Separating the teacher and child proved difficult as the kindergarten operated its two classes together.

The child's guardians had applied for a transfer to a nearby kindergarten, but the request was rejected by the education office's special education committee.

The teacher was later placed on sick leave to temporarily separate them.

The education office subsequently sent a support team to the kindergarten and arranged legal assistance for the teacher.

It also announced plans to offer psychological counselling to staff and children, as well as referrals to specialist medical services.

An education office official acknowledged the challenges faced by teachers and said support would continue.

The office also said it would take steps to minimise disruptions to lessons arising from teachers' absences.

A woman in Malaysia has won praise online after she was spotted distributing envelopes to cleaners at Kuala Lumpur's KLCC Park.

The woman reportedly does this every Friday to thank the workers for keeping the park clean, according to Sin Chew Daily.

Cleaners seen queuing for envelopes

In a series of Threads posts, user @haskmahat shared that he had noticed a group of cleaners wearing green t-shirts queuing quietly during his morning walk at KLCC Park.

He described the cleaners as the park's "unsung workforce".

The Threads user subsequently noticed a woman distributing small envelopes to the workers.

Curious about what was happening, he slowed down to observe the interaction.

After the last cleaner had returned to work, he approached the woman to ask whether she did this regularly.

"I do it every Friday. They keep the park clean," the woman replied, according to his Threads account.

The user said the woman did not appear to be seeking recognition for her actions.

"To her, it was a simple equation of gratitude," he wrote.

Woman praised online

According to Sin Chew, the envelopes were believed to contain cash, but this was not confirmed.

The encounter subsequently attracted attention online, with commenters expressing appreciation for her actions.

Some said they had encountered the woman during their morning walks at the park.

Others praised the gesture for recognising the efforts of foreign workers in Malaysia.

U.S. President Donald Trump does not want his successors to touch the Oval Office.

According to the Associated Press (AP), he signed a proclamation on Thursday that stated he would preserve the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument.

This was his first official action since the Republicans’ heavy losses in the midterm elections on Nov. 3.

The Guardian reported that Trump announced that the rooms would not be "ripped down by stupid people", and that it would be left "as it is".

“If they want to say, ‘Let’s not have oval anymore, let’s make it square,’ what happens is they have to go back to Congress and hopefully the Congress, the people in Congress, will be smart enough not to let that happen,” he said, according to AP.

The proclamation says it does not restrict the president’s authority to redecorate, select furnishings or make ordinary operational and security changes, as long as these do not “substantially impair” the rooms’ historic structure or architectural character.

That means future presidents can still restyle the rooms too, AP noted.

Future presidents could also try to reverse it. CBS News noted that Trump himself has reversed national monument designations made by his predecessors.

The Oval Office is the working office of the U.S. President, while the Cabinet Room is, as the name suggests, the meeting room in which the U.S. Cabinet convenes.

Monument?

The proclamation states that the Oval Office "merits specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance", and that it is in the "public interest" of the U.S. to preserve it as a national monument. 

It also makes provisions for Trump to continue redecorating the rooms provided he does not "substantially impair" their historic and architectural character.

Trump has made several luxurious redesigns of the Oval Office, most notably adding gold accents to several furnishings, which prompted former president Barack Obama to remark that "he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere."

His redesigns include adding gold portrait frames and gold wall decor.

No mention of the loss

Curiously, Trump did not comment on the results of the midterm elections.

The historic Democratic win saw the party projected to take control of both the House and the Senate.

Obama said the American public had sent a “clear message”, and credited Democratic candidates who won in areas “once considered long shots”.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance blamed the results on the Iran War, in a rare display of critique towards his own party.

While Trump was signing the proclamation, a red cap with “VETO” in white letters sat on the Oval Office desk, a hint of what may come. Trump previously said he was ready to use his veto powers to block legislation from the Democrats.

Trump previously threatened to use his veto powers to shut down Democrats from passing legislation in Congress.