Contents: Venezuela’s Socialist government arrests bakers because of bread shortage; Venezuela’s political opposition now publishing inflation data; Suspicions grow that Kim Jong-nam’s Malaysia assassination was not with VX nerve gas
Contents: Malaysia’s relations with North Korea continue rapid deterioration; China promises retaliation over surprise deployment of THAAD in South Korea; South Korea threatens to sue China in World Trade Organization (WTO)
In the first visit to Singapore by an Israeli head of state in 30 years, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday issued a call for greater diversity and tolerance.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans a multi-stop tour of the eastern hemisphere in the next three months, with visits to Australia, Singapore and Kazakhstan, all of which have never before been visited by an Israeli prime minister.
Amos Yee, 17, a blogger from Singapore, has been sentenced to six weeks in prison, plus a fine of $1,500 U.S., because he “deliberately elected to do harm by using offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims.”
Singapore has become the first Asian country to document active local Zika transmission, confirming up to 115 locally acquired cases so far. The tropical island, long an attractive destination for Indian and Chinese tourists, threatens to take the epidemic ravaging Latin America and south Florida global.
Medical experts tracking the spread of the Zika virus throughout the continental United States warn that the conditions for rapid mosquito reproduction necessary for an outbreak exist throughout the Gulf Coast states and stretch as far north as Maryland.
Singapore has announced it will begin requiring Islamic religious teachers, or asatizah, to register with the government in January, with a one-year grace period for all currently practicing teachers to qualify.
Indonesian counterterrorism police have thwarted a jihadist missile attack early Friday, arresting six terror suspects who reportedly planned to fire a rocket from the nearby Indonesian island of Batam into downtown Singapore.
President Barack Obama spoke about the pain and suffering of American workers caused by past trade agreements Tuesday at a joint press conference held in the East Room of the White House with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is in the United States to voice support for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.
An Argentine judge officially requested that Singapore or Malaysia extradite Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a former foreign minister, for his role in orchestrating a 1994 attack on an Israeli organization.
27-year-old Yang Kaiheng is a Singaporean blogger who ran a website called “The Real Singapore,” an apparently popular site that was racking up 13 million views a month and generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue, according to the BBC.
Contents: ASEAN makes humiliating South China Sea reversal under pressure from China; Obama administration reevaluates plans for Afghanistan troop withdrawal
A number of jihadist groups in Southeast Asia have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and up to 1,000 people have left Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to join the terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria, reports BBC.
China has confirmed its first case of Zika, a 34-year-old man who traveled to Venezuela. Authorities are particularly concerned that the man stopped in Hong Kong before reaching his final destination, home to a mosquito species potentially capable of carrying the virus.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi demanded Secretary of State John Kerry “respect China’s core interests” in the South China Sea following the presence of a B-52 bomber within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands, a passage the Pentagon has branded unintentional.
Generational Dynamics, Burundi, Bujumbura, Pierre Nkurunziza, Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, China, South China Sea, Singapore, P8 Poseidon spy plane, Ash Carter, Japan, Shinzo Abe, India Narendra Modi
The Chinese government is paying “close attention” to the new deployment of an American spy plane off the island of Singapore
China and North Korea were judged weak on defense against hacker attacks in a recent Australian assessment of Asian-Pacific electronic security.
Iran attempts to seize Singapore-flagged ship in Persian Gulf; Obama concludes bizarre meeting with GCC at Camp David; The Truman Doctrine and the Carter Doctrine
Uber’s largest rival in Southeast Asia, GrabTaxi, has reportedly announced the launch of an R&D center in Singapore this week. The move marks the latest battle in the global expansion of ride-sharing turf wars as companies seek to draw talent from overseas.
Singapore authorities arrested 17-year-old YouTube blogger Amos Yee after he debuted an eight-minute video that criticized the late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Indonesian Lieutenant Airman Tri Wobowo, a pilot who was among the first to identify debris from AirAsia flight QZ8501, reported that some victims found in the wreckage appeared to have held hands as the plane crashed into the ocean.
Louise Sidharta, 25, from Indonesia, could not wait to see her fiancée Alain, 27, and enjoy one last vacation before their wedding in May.
