Just last week, a special online summit was held among Southeast Asia’s leaders to discuss strategies that could be taken at a regional level to combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The new coronavirus has infected over two million people and killed more than 150,000 worldwide. Governments have implemented drastic measures to contain the virus such as travel curbs and citywide lockdowns.

COVID-19 has been slowly creeping into our communities. As we seek to ensure our families’ health and safety, to many people, food has never seemed so important, both as a source of nutrition and, for many, of comfort. The question is whether, as economic disruption continues, we can stave off a pandemic-related food crisis.What and how we eat affects our health and wellbeing.

The contrast between the silence of Europe’s streets and squares and the tumultuous, painful reality in many of its hospitals is heart-breaking. COVID-19 has not only Europe but the entire global community in its grip. It is already clear that the pandemic will reshape our world. But precisely how will depend on the choices that we make today. The coronavirus should be seen as the world’s common enemy.

Sexist posters by the Women and Family Development Ministry (KPWKM) in Malaysia have gone viral and made international headlines. As the country is currently in a partial lockdown, also known as Movement Control Order (MCO) since 18 March, the KPWKM has released a few posters with tips on how to avoid marriage conflicts during the MCO which is set to end on 14 April.

The heads of three global agencies warned Wednesday of a potential worldwide food shortage if authorities fail to manage the ongoing coronavirus crisis properly.Many governments around the world have put their populations on lockdown to slow the spread of the virus but that has resulted in severe slow-downs in international trade and food supply chains.Meanwhile panic buying by people going into isolation has already demonstrated the fragility of supply chains as supermarket shelves emptied i

Rising economic prosperity and poverty reduction may not tell the whole story of progress in Asia and the Pacific. Telling signs in the natural world recount a narrative that is far from complete. This year has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 global health pandemic, with devastating impacts on our health and the economy.

On 6 February, the world celebrated International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which aims to raise awareness and to eradicate the practice. Anti-FGM activists and organisations are calling FGM a crime against women and girls. Several countries such as the United Kingdom (UK) have made FGM illegal and it is considered a form of child abuse. Anyone who performs FGM in the UK can face imprisonment for up to 14 years.

As the United Nations (UN) enters its 75th year, the world is still rife with mistrust: the United States (US) remains the dominant superpower but is on the wane, while Asian power is growing in the face of an increasingly fractured Europe, with an explosive Middle East sandwiched in between.In the New York headquarters of the UN, the Cold War never really ended, as demonstrated by a scene recently observed in its hallowed hallways: a US diplomat spotted hiding behind a wall to listen in on w

It was recently reported that Myanmar had conceded that it had committed “war crimes” against its Rohingya Muslim community. This is as far as Myanmar has ever gone in admitting responsibility for the atrocities committed against its Rohingya minority. Still, to some observers, this is not good enough.On 20 January, a Myanmar-appointed panel concluded that some soldiers likely committed war crimes against the Rohingya but that the military, however, was not guilty of genocide.

The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations described the killing of one of his country's top generals as an act of war, US media reported late Friday.The death of Quds Force commander Major General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, despite President Donald Trump's insistence he did not want war.But, speaking to CNN late Friday night, Iranian ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said: "In fact