Diplomacy
Troubled waters
A territorial dispute between Malaysia and Singapore is set to spill into next year after government representatives agreed to meet in mid-January. The stand-off began in October when Malaysia decided to extend its southern maritime boundary into a narrow strait that separates the two Southeast Asian nations. Kuala Lumpur has refused to call back vessels that it sent into the disputed waters claimed by Singapore. Choppier relations between the two follow the shock return to power of Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The nationalist leader, fond of antagonising Singapore during his first stint in power between 1981 and 2003, appears to be picking up where he left off. Weeks after taking office in May, Mahathir called into question a longstanding agreement to supply drinking water to the city-state and postponed a mooted high-speed rail link.