North Koreans yesterday voted in an election for the rubber-stamp legislature for which the winner was a foregone conclusion. Leader Kim Jong Un's ruling Workers' Party wields an iron grip on the country and the process was largely a formality, with each ballot paper listing only one approved name.

The 24km route march Singapore Armed Forces army recruits go on before graduating was cut to 12km for the latest batch, some of whom had enlisted in January. It was among several activities impacted by a two-week timeout that was called after the death in January of an operationally ready national serviceman.