Asian stocks are poised for the longest losing streak in two years as the technology, mining, consumer and industrial sectors led declines. Japan equities fell sharply, as did Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. The Australian dollar and bond yields tumbled as traders dialed back expectations for higher interest rates after growth missed estimates.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is set to fall for eight days, making it the longest run of losses since 2015.

“These are interesting times to be alive,” Singaporean Foreign Minister, Vivien Balakrishnan told a room full of journalists, former ambassadors, diplomats and academics at the ISEAS – Yusuf Ishak Institute on Tuesday.That was the precursor to his lecture entitled “ASEAN: Next 50” on charting the next 50 years for the association as it celebrates its golden jubilee this year.

Southeast Asia has its problems with drug-related crime mostly with trafficking and substance abuse, and each country in the region has been tackling this issue differently. There was a visualisation of a Drug-Free ASEAN in 2015.

The Philippines has suspended the sale and distribution of Sanofi's dengue vaccine, authorities said Tuesday, after the French pharmaceutical giant last week warned it could worsen symptoms for people who had not previously been infected.Regulators on Friday froze the country's world first public immunisation programme that has seen more than 733,000 schoolchildren receive the Dengvaxia vaccine.Authorities have now ordered a blanket suspension for private use as well."Whether (

The truth is a bitter pill to swallow, but it must be admitted nevertheless. North Korea is now a nuclear power.

After years and years of decline, scarlet fever, the disease that once struck fear into the hearts of parents is once again hitting United Kingdom and some parts in Asia and in Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam.Scarlet fever, a common cause of childhood death in the 1800s and early 1900s, has seen an upsurge in England since 2011, scientists said last Tuesday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a leading medical journal.Identifying the cause for the increased cases was "a public health

The Pope comes to townThe biggest story this week was Pope Francis’ visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Indonesia will establish 1,000 “eco-mosques,” the country’s vice president announced at last month’s UN climate summit in Bonn.The Southeast Asian nation is home to some 260 million people, fourth after China, India and the U.S.

Climate change refers to the human-induced warming of the Earth, due to deforestation and the excessive consumption of resources that result in the production of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Though there are a number of human activities that can cause climate change, urbanisation and development is the largest driving factor in this era of modernisation, digitalisation and fast-paced culture. Singapore has announced earlier this month that 2018 will be the “Year of Climate Action”.

From an undisclosed location north of Pyongyang, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which flew for approximately 50 minutes at an altitude of 4,000 kilometres before landing 250 kilometres from the northwest coast of Japan. Dubbed the Hwasong-15, the testing of this ICBM shattered a two-month long missile testing silence by Pyongyang.