Fighter, 24, dies after National Stadium Muay Thai bout, police confirm; Loh Kean Yew eyes historic Asian Games badminton gold medal for Singapore: Singapore live news

Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, 29, will contest the Asian Games men's singles badminton gold medal match on Tuesday (29 Sept), becoming the first Singaporean to reach the final after defeating South Korea's Yoo Tae-bin 21-19, 19-21, 21-12 in Monday's semi-final.

Loh had already guaranteed Singapore's first individual Asian Games badminton medal a day earlier by upsetting Indonesia's then-world No 1 Jonatan Christie 21-14, 21-19 in the quarterfinals. The win was Loh's first over Christie in 11 career meetings, ending a 10-match losing streak against the Indonesian, AsiaOne reported.

Loh will face Thailand's world No 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in Tuesday's final at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, after Kunlavut beat Indonesia's Alwi Farhan 21-13, 21-15 in the tournament's other semi-final. Under the competition's format, there is no separate bronze-medal playoff, meaning both losing semi-finalists – Yoo and Alwi – are awarded bronze.

Singapore's only prior Asian Games badminton medal had been a bronze won by the women's team at the 2006 Doha Games. Loh's run also marks a swift turnaround from a mid-2026 slump, when an abdominal injury sustained in June forced early exits at the Badminton World Federation Championships in August and the China Masters in September. He also beat India's Lakshya Sen and Malaysia's Justin Hoh earlier in the tournament.

Loh's final berth adds to a strong showing from Team Singapore at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, where sprinter Shanti Pereira had already defended her women's 200m title, contributing to the delegation's overall medal count, according to Goody Feed.

A 24-year-old Muay Thai fighter has died after being taken unconscious to hospital following a bout at the National Stadium on 12 Sept, police confirmed Monday (28 Sept), according to reports by the local media. Police said a report was lodged around 8am on 13 Sept, the morning after the fighter competed in the AMC 13 – Fight for Hope tournament.

Preliminary investigations do not suggest foul play, though the case remains under investigation, police said. Authorities did not identify the man or disclose when he died.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at 1 Stadium Drive at about 7:05pm on 12 Sept and conveyed one person to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The fighter suffered a head injury and was warded in intensive care in critical condition, according to an earlier report by Straits Times.

Singapore Muaythai Association (SMA) President Mike Tang said the bout was stopped by the referee in the third round "in the interest of the athlete's safety". Tang pushed back on online claims that the fighter had been knocked out, saying, "Both athletes were present for the announcement of the result and subsequently exited the ring unassisted. One of the athletes then required medical attention, and he was promptly assisted by on-site medics and subsequently conveyed by ambulance to the hospital," according to Red Hot Singapore.

SMA said it has begun a formal review of the incident and is working with relevant parties to establish the circumstances.

The Fight for Hope tournament ran across three weekends in August and September and was organised by SMA to raise funds and awareness for the Breast Cancer Foundation Singapore.

Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez thanked Singaporean and Filipino fans after winning the Singapore Tennis Open on Sunday (27 Sept), defeating Australia's Talia Gibson 7-5, 6-0 in the final. "I would like to thank all the Singaporean fans and the Pinoy fans who came to watch. Not only my matches, but everybody's matches," Fernandez said.

Fernandez, who has Filipino heritage through her mother, became a natural focus for Filipino fans in attendance after top seed Alex Eala's early exit from the tournament, according to Heavy. She later posted on Instagram, "This one feels extra special. Thank you Singapore for welcoming me with so much love and for bringing the energy. And to all the Pinoy fans who came out to support me, your love and cheers meant so much!" according to Tennishead.

The sixth-seeded Fernandez claimed her first title of 2026 and the sixth WTA singles title of her career, having gone without one since October 2025. Her run to the title included wins over Kyoka Okamura, Alycia Parks, top seed Mirra Andreeva and Maja Chwalinska, before she swept the final's last nine games to beat Gibson in one hour and 38 minutes.

Fernandez credited the crowd for helping her recover after losing the opening set 1-6 to Chwalinska in the semifinal, telling fans afterward, "Without you guys, I don't think I would be in the finals". She had also posted on Instagram ahead of the final, "Can't get enough of this crowd. Let's do it again tomorrow!!".

Asked what went through her mind when the victory sank in, Fernandez described feeling "pure ecstasy happiness," saying, "I just couldn't stop smiling". She called OCBC Arena a "special place," saying the crowd gave her an extra burst of energy whenever she felt herself fading.

Fernandez, the 24-year-old former US Open finalist, moves on to the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing as the 23rd seed, with a second-round match possible against Kamilla Rakhimova following a first-round bye.

Philippines tennis player Alex Eala defeated Thailand's Patcharin Cheapchandej 6-1, 6-0 in just 55 minutes on Monday (28 Sept) to reach the quarterfinals of the Asian Games. The top-seeded Eala, ranked 18th in the world and considered the favourite for gold in Nagoya, will next face Taiwan's UK-born eighth seed Joanna Garland, AFP reported.

The match against Patcharin, ranked 517th in the world, was moved from the outdoor centre court to an indoor court at Higashiyama Park Tennis Center after rain disrupted the schedule. "I'm happy with how I performed. Of course it's difficult conditions today. But yeah, I think I played well despite the wait," Eala said afterward.

Eala, 21, reflected on her growth since her previous Asian Games appearance, which was held in 2023, saying, "I think 17 to 21 are quite formative years I would say, especially taking into account everything that I've been through in said four years". She added that she has grown "mentally and physically" stronger through hard work over the past four years.

Eala won bronze medals in both singles and mixed doubles at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, results that have added pressure on her to win gold this time. She enters the tournament fresh off a shock first-round loss to Tatiana Prozorova at the Singapore Open, but has "returned to winning ways" at the Asian Games. Eala is skipping the China Open in Beijing to compete for her country in Nagoya, and last month became the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour title, according to AFP.

Eala's win came as rain disrupted multiple events at the Asian Games and Japanese organisers faced renewed accusations of mismanagement, including a bus carrying Pakistan's men's volleyball team being sent to the wrong venue, according to AFP. The venue change for Eala's match meant many of her fans were unable to attend, a situation she hopes "will change for her next match."

Following her singles win, Eala is also scheduled to compete in doubles alongside partner Shaira Rivera against Hong Kong's Ching Laam Lai and Kallista Liu.

Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) said Monday (28 Sept) that data from its incoming Electronic Road Pricing 2 (ERP 2) system has already been used to detect 60 instances of suspicious activity involving 31 Malaysian cross-border taxis between May and July, even as the agency separately announced new road markings and signs to prepare motorists for the system's 1 Jan 2027 launch, according to Channel News Asia and the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling said in a Facebook post that the drivers involved have been notified of their offences and reminded of the relevant penalties, with formal enforcement action against illegal cross-border taxi services set to begin in September.

"The ERP 2 system is designed primarily for payment and charges. It will also enhance LTA's ability to manage traffic across Singapore, and give LTA better tools to detect and enforce vehicle-related offences," LTA said. The agency said it would continue using the system to enforce against offences such as illegal cross-border taxi services, while noting that ERP 2 "can also be potentially used for enforcement against speeding offences, but further enhancements are needed before any such use," according to LTA.

From October 2026, motorists will progressively see new road markings and signs across Singapore's 33 existing ERP-operational locations, ahead of the removal of physical gantries once ERP 2 replaces the current gantry-based system. The changes include oval blue "ERP" symbols painted on each lane – two on arterial and slip roads, and three on expressways for greater visibility at higher speeds – along with a new "ERP Charge Zone" road sign at the start of each charging location, LTA said.

LTA said the symbol was chosen after a two-phase user experience study conducted between March and July 2026, with the second phase involving about 1,000 motorists tested across five expressways and arterial roads from 1 June to 31 July. The oval blue "ERP" symbol emerged as the preferred option among several designs tested, achieving "high visibility under different traffic and weather conditions, while being easily understood by motorists," according to LTA.

LTA said more than 98 per cent of eligible Singapore-registered vehicles have already been fitted with the ERP 2 On-Board Unit, which uses satellite-based Global Navigation Satellite System technology to detect when a vehicle passes a charging location. The 62 non-operational ERP gantries will be removed first, with the remaining 33 operational gantries taken down after gantry-based charging ends on 31 Dec, and full removal or modification of all 95 gantries expected to be completed by June 2027, LTA said.

LTA said access to and use of ERP 2 data would be "limited to authorised purposes and subject to strict safeguards governing its collection, use, and security." The agency added there would be no change to the current congestion pricing framework, with ERP rates to continue being reviewed quarterly, with the next review due in mid-November, according to LTA.

Singapore's current and former leaders paid tribute to Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, following her death on Monday, 28 Sept at age 100. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong led the condolences, writing to Mahathir that his "thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time," according to a letter released by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Siti Hasmah, a doctor who advocated for maternal health, family planning, literacy, drug abuse prevention and mental health, had been married to Mahathir since 1956 and the couple had seven children, Straits Times reported. Mahathir served as Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister.

Wong noted in his condolence letter that Singapore was where Mahathir and Siti Hasmah first met as medical students, adding that she had returned to visit her old college during an official visit in 2018, according to the MFA. Calling her "a pioneer in her field," Wong wrote that her contributions to healthcare, education and social causes "touched the lives of generations of Malaysians" and that she would be "fondly remembered and dearly missed".

Senior Minister and former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said he had known Siti Hasmah "for many years," recalling conversations about her love of music and the violin, which she continued performing, including for charity, "well into her 90s".

Emeritus Senior Minister and former prime minister Goh Chok Tong said he came to know her on the sidelines of official meetings with Mahathir in Malaysia and Singapore, as well as at ASEAN, APEC and Commonwealth gatherings, recalling their last two meetings in 2018 and 2019, The Straits Times reported.

Former President Halimah Yacob described Siti Hasmah as "a warm, friendly and humble person," recalling that Siti Hasmah once told her she was proud to have met Singapore's female president, according to Straits Times.

Singapore's tributes joined condolences expressed across the region following Siti Hasmah's death, Channel News Asia said.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned Sunday that artificial intelligence is powerful enough to cause a billion deaths and that emergency shutoff mechanisms, or "kill switches," are not sufficient safeguards on their own. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Gates said internal monitoring and built-in safety mechanisms matter more than emergency shut-off tools, telling host Kristen Welker, "It's not enough to have a kill switch. I would never want to say I'm against a kill switch. But when you're trying to moderate the bad behaviour, you need insight and records of what's being done".

Gates pointed to the threat of AI-driven terrorism rather than autonomous machines acting on their own, saying, "AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that cause a billion deaths," and adding that "there's never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools". He said the more immediate danger comes from small groups using existing AI tools to carry out cyberattacks, drain bank accounts or disable power grids, rather than from rogue autonomous systems.

Gates said negotiating global AI safety standards could prove more difficult than Cold War-era nuclear arms treaty talks, telling NBC, "This is more difficult than that was," according to The Hill. He argued that safety mandates would not necessarily slow down US companies in their competition with China, pushing back on that framing directly, HuffPost reported.

Gates addressed President Donald Trump's opposition to federal AI regulation, saying of Trump, "What he said is fine, but I think after he hears from me and other people... we will come to a consensus," according to The Independent. Trump has argued against government intervention, writing on Truth Social this month, "WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so," The Independent reported.

Gates's comments follow warnings from industry figures including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who have acknowledged the need to manage the pace of AI development. Democratic Rep Ro Khanna of California separately told NBC that Washington and Beijing should form a joint technical working group and pursue an enforceable treaty banning recursive, self-improving AI models. The comments come days after a summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, following which the White House confirmed the two countries had established a working dialogue to assess AI risks.

Gates has previously drawn attention for warning of a global pandemic years before COVID-19 emerged, a track record cited alongside his latest AI warning.

Air quality in Singapore remained in the unhealthy range early Tuesday (29 Sept), with 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings above 120 in all parts of the island except the north, according to Straits Times. PM2.5 readings, a gauge of immediate air quality, were elevated islandwide as of 6 am, with the central region recording the highest level at 133.

The 24-hour PSI re-entered the unhealthy range on the night of 28 Sept, with the south and central regions crossing the threshold at 8pm, followed by the west at 9pm and the east at midnight. Readings across all four regions stayed in the unhealthy band overnight.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in its daily haze advisory around 6pm Monday that air quality over the following 24 hours was expected to range from "high moderate to mid-unhealthy". The agency said dry conditions were expected to persist over southern Sumatra and parts of Kalimantan, even as showers were forecast over Singapore on Tuesday, Channel News Asia reported.

Despite the forecast rain, NEA said prevailing winds still carried a risk of smoke haze reaching the island. Air quality is classified as unhealthy when the 24-hour PSI falls between 101 and 200, while an hourly PM2.5 reading of 56 to 150 indicates an elevated concentration of fine particles, The Straits Times reported.

The haze stems from transboundary smoke linked to persistent dry-season fire activity in parts of Indonesia, conditions authorities say are likely to continue in the near term.

Click here to read article