SINGAPORE (AP) — A French student was fined 600 Singapore dollars ($465) after pleading guilty Thursday to a public nuisance charge in Singapore for filming himself licking a straw from an orange juice vending machine and putting it back in what lawyers described as a social media stunt.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, admitted to licking the straw and returning it to the vending machine while recording the act for his online followers. It happened at a shopping mall in March and he was charged in April after his video spread rapidly.
Another charge of mischief was taken into consideration during sentencing. The court imposed the fine and did not order any community-based sentence after considering mitigating factors.
The public nuisance charge carries a penalty of up to three months in prison. Prosecutors sought only the maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars ($1,551), saying the staged act was intended for social media and risked undermining confidence in the hygiene of a commonly used vending machine.
They noted Maximilien retrieved the straw himself, no member of the public used it, there was no evidence of harm, he was young and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Maximilien studies in a business school in Singapore, but prosecutors told the court he would also be in France from September to December as part of his studies.
Prosecutors said immigration authorities will decide if Maximilien can keep his student pass in Singapore after considering all relevant factors.
Defense counsel Kalidass Murugayan said the student has been living in Singapore without family support and expressed deep remorse for his actions. He said the video was a stunt for social media followers and that Maximilien later removed the contaminated straw from the machine to use for his own drink, meaning it was never intended for anyone else.
“He is truly sorry for having caused all this trouble,” the lawyer said. His parents will ensure that he paid the fine himself, the counsel added. The student left the court without speaking to reporters.
IJooz, the company operating the juice vending machine, filed a police report over the stunt and sanitized the dispenser while replacing all 500 straws in the machine. It has said it would upgrade its machines to include measures such as individually packaged straws and compartments that unlock only after the transaction is completed.
Singapore, a densely populated city-state, tightly regulates public behavior and cleanliness and has strong penalties for littering and vandalism.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien leaves the State Courts building in Singapore, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/David Hu)
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien arrives at the State Courts building in Singapore, Thursday, July. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/David Hu)
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, right, walks with his lawyers as he arrives at the State Courts building in Singapore, Thursday, Jul. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/David Hu)
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and a forecast for rain raised hopes of relief Thursday for a parched portion of southwestern France engulfed by wildfires that have charred an area four times the size of Paris in recent weeks.
With moisture moving in from the Atlantic coast, national weather service Meteo France forecast light rain in the town of Lege-Cap Ferret, on a peninsula that's been a leading edge of the devastated region.
Local officials reported a “rather calm" night, with a fire that has not grown beyond the 42,000 hectares (about 162 sq. miles) already affected. Fire crews remained at “total mobilization” with 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft.
Rain fell early Thursday in the city of Bordeaux to the east. But there were no early signs of enough rainfall in the hardest-hit areas that could douse the flames or dampen the sandy ground and brushy undergrowth of pine forests that have fueled the inferno.
Sophie Brocas, the prefect for the Gironde region, expressed some optimism that lower temperatures could help.
“If that's confirmed, we could foresee a return to a more normal life for residents, but also for businesses that need to work,” she told reporters late Wednesday.
Humidity reached 80% overnight but was expected to drop by midday, authorities said. Some rainfall was expected along the coast that “could reach the fire zone,” Gironde officials said in a morning note.
Temperatures that peaked around 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) a day earlier were set to drop Thursday, topping out at 27 C (80 F) along the coast. An “orange” heat wave alert — the second-highest level after “red” — was lifted shortly before dawn.
The fires in the Bordeaux wine-growing, forested and tourism-heavy region are among the blazes that have swept across pockets of southern Europe in recent weeks, including Spain and Greece.
On Thursday, firefighters were tackling multiple forest fires in four of Turkey’s western provinces, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Blazes in touristic Mugla and Antalya and elsewhere raged overnight as hot weather and strong winds gripped the region. Residents were evacuated as teams with firefighting planes and helicopters battled the fires.
A day earlier, authorities in neighboring Greece said three firefighters had died on the island on Crete, as the wildfire emergency stretched from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean.
At the peak of the evacuations, a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain.
Flames burn an olive tree during a wildfire in the Rethymno region on the southern Greek island of Crete, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, where two firefighters died while battling the blaze. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
Embers smolder inside an olive tree during a wildfire in the Rethymno region on the southern Greek island of Crete, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, where two firefighters died while battling the blaze. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
A fire burns in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A firefighter lays on the ground after working to extinguish a fire in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A smoke cloud rises as firefighters work to extinguish a fire in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
