North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia on Friday, abruptly ending a once-close relationship that soured following the assassination of Kim Jong Un's half-brother in a Kuala Lumpur airport four years ago.Pyongyang's foreign ministry said it was responding to Malaysia's extradition of a North Korean citizen to the United States (US) this week – a move it labelled an "unpardonable crime" carried out under "blind obedience" to US pressure.Malaysia had

European Union (EU) and Singapore senior officials met on 25 February for the 8th Senior Officials’ Meeting to discuss how to build on the current relationship, increase cooperation and address new challenges. The EU delegation was chaired by Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific in the European External Action Service, while Singapore’s side was led by Ng Teck Hean, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The coronavirus pandemic, which has affected

Over four million people die each year across the globe as a result of being overweight or obese.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to one’s health.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased at an alarming rate globally.Southeast Asia has seen an upward trend in childhood obesity during the last 10 to 15 years.

Singapore has admitted data collected for contact-tracing can be accessed by police despite earlier assurances it would only be used to fight the coronavirus, sparking privacy concerns Tuesday about the scheme. The city-state has a programme called "TraceTogether" for tracking close contacts of COVID-19 patients, that works via both a phone app and a dongle.

Singapore began a coronavirus vaccination campaign Wednesday with a nurse receiving the first jab, making it among the first Asian nations to roll out inoculations.The city-state, which has suffered a mild outbreak, became the first country in Asia to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier this month, and its programme kicked off with healthcare workers. Nurse Sarah Lim, 46, whose work includes screening suspected COVID-19 patients, was the first to be immunised, the health mini

Singapore has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, and expects to receive the first shipments of the shots by the end of December, the prime minister said Monday.The city-state joins a handful of other countries around the world, including Britain and the United States (US), which have approved the jab.Singapore hopes to have enough vaccines for its 5.7 million population by the third quarter of 2021, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a televised address.Priority will be giv

Terrorism is as old as politics. States must therefore stay ahead of the threat while engaged in combatting COVID-19.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) said Monday the coronavirus pandemic had forced it to move next year's summit from Switzerland to Singapore, where it will be held in person from 13-16 May.The annual gathering of the world's political, economic and business elite traditionally takes place in January against the idyllic snowy backdrop of the Alpine village of Davos.It had already been postponed until May due to the virus, with organisers saying the focus would be on remodelling the wor

A planned travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore was scrapped a day before its launch on Saturday after the southern Chinese city announced a sudden spike in coronavirus cases.The decision is both a blow to the two cities' battered tourist industries but also for other countries who had been hoping the scheme might be a model to replicate during the pandemic.The two financial hubs have both suffered comparatively mild outbreaks with strict social distancing and border measures imp