Lab-grown meat to go on sale in Singapore in world first

Singaporean Sue-Anne Chng used to wear a different outfit on all 15 days of the Lunar New Year, when it is customary to don new clothes to symbolise a fresh start. But this year she will wear second-hand items exchanged for her old clothes at a store catering to people concerned about the impact of fast fashion on the environment. Several swapping initiatives, from permanent shops to pop-up events, have appeared in the affluent city-state in a bid to encourage consumers to make the most of what is already in their closets.

The buyer of a $69 million digital artwork in the form of "non-fungible tokens" (NFTs) says he felt a "soul connection" with the artist as both men started as relative amateurs in their field but found success after years of hard work. Singapore based Vignesh Sundaresan, also known as MetaKovan, defends the price he paid for the collage of 5,000 pieces of art created on consecutive days, which has transformed its creator, real name Mike Winkelmann, into the third-most valuable living artist.

A Singaporean woman was sentenced to 30 years for starving, assaulting and eventually killing her domestic worker. The judge said the case was "among the worst types of culpable homicide."

Giant pumps whir deep underground at a plant in Singapore that helps transform sewage into water so clean it is fit for human consumption.

A panda bred via artificial insemination has been born in Singapore's zoo, the first cub to be born in the city-state. Jia Jia, the zoo's 12-year-old female giant panda, gave birth to the cub after she was artificially inseminated with frozen semen from 13-year-old Kai Kai.

A layer of green foliage blankets a red tower in the heart of Singapore's business district, a feature that helps keeps the building cool as the densely-populated tropical city battles rising temperatures. The Oasia Hotel Downtown, in the heart of Singapore's business district, was designed to stay cool with the help of more than 20 species of creeping plants growing on its bright red aluminum facade. Its facade is 10 to 20 degrees Celsius cooler compared to nearby buildings, according to architecture firm WOHA, which designed the building. The 27-story structure houses over ten times the amount of greenery found on the site before its construction, and its large open terraces allow natural ventilation and lighting and reduce energy use. In an effort to reduce emissions, Singapore aims to green 80 percent of its buildings by 2030. Buildings account for over 20 percent of the city-state's carbon emissions.

Singapore's new wildlife forensics centre aims to help in the fight against smuggling networks by analysing seized body parts from endangered animals to determine where they originated from.

Two fluffy white terriers wearing tartan berets pant quietly as their owner waves a treat and snaps a photo for the dogs' tens of thousands of Instagram followers. They are among a growing number of pet influencers on social media in Singapore, a trend fuelled by a rise in online shopping and pet ownership during the coronavirus pandemic.

Singapore has trialled patrol robots that blast warnings at people engaging in "undesirable social behaviour", adding to an arsenal of surveillance technology in the tightly controlled city-state.

The book about censorship was banned over "offensive images" containing cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons were the same ones published in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in 2015.

For years, Singapore has been considered a skilled practitioner of hedging between the world's superpowers and not taking sides. Now it is one of the few Asian countries to openly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In Singapore, the fate of two Malaysian men on death row has sparked local mobilisation and attracted international attention. On April 25th, Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was hanged. With an IQ of 69, which is recognized as a disability, his execution could amount to a breach of international law. The next day, 36-year-old Datchinamurthy Kataiah won a last minute reprieve from Singapore's top court, thereby suspending his execution. We talk to journalist and anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han.