4.5% of population addicted to smoking

A NATIONWIDE $6.9 million study has, for the first time, pinned down the facts on Singapore's hardcore smokers.

Isles dispute rooted in US policy

THE Diaoyu/Senkaku islands dispute between China and Japan is rooted in the ambiguous US policy on the isles, formulated in the 1970s, as declassified American documents show.

The rise of the small states?

On Oct 1, a loose grouping of smaller members of the United Nations (UN) called the Forum of Small States (FOSS) celebrated its 20th anniversary. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon told the forum: "Being small does not mean an absence of big ideas." 

World's oldest survivor of Auschwitz dies at 108

WARSAW (AP) - The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp - a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers - has died at the age of 108, an official said on Monday.

Genocide trial: Karadzic says he's a mild man

THE HAGUE - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic cast himself as a "mild man, a tolerant man" who tried to prevent war and then worked to reduce casualties on all sides in the bloody Bosnian conflict, as he opened his defence in his genocide trial.

China's 'leftover' women

THE headlines scream like sensational tabloids: Overcoming the Big Four Emotional Blocks: Leftover Women Can Break Out Of Being Single. Eight Simple Moves To Escape The Leftover Women Trap. And my personal favourite: Do Leftover Women Really Deserve Our Sympathy?

When medical evidence goes awry

IN A recent case, the Court of Appeal noted expert testimony that found specific aesthetic treatments were not "evidence-based medicine", or EBM. This refers to the integration of the best research evidence with clinical judgment.

The Cuban missile crisis, 50 years on

THIS month marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis - those 13 days in October 1962 that were probably the closest the world has come to a nuclear war. 

Govt's tourist perks backfire

BEIJING - China's week-long National Day holiday got off to a horrid start for the government - despite its rolling out two policies to let people better enjoy the long break.

Please shed more light, MTI

I applaud the effort made by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in publishing the Occasional Paper on population and the economy. 

How seamless is IP learning?

SINGAPORE - Some students found that "many of the things" the six-year Integrated Programme (IP) strove for during their first four years of studies were eventually not assessed at the GCE A-level examinations.