Asia tops World Bank ranking on support for childrenAsian nations got the highest marks in a World Bank ranking launched Thursday that names and shames countries on how much they invest in their own children, saying neglect was dooming millions to sub-...
Big Tobacco cries foul after hard-line UN treatyBig tobacco companies moved Thursday to counter the hard line taken by a global tobacco control treaty, including its decision that new “vaping” products should face the same restrictions as cigarette...
Alarm bells for Merkel as Bavarian allies face election slumpChancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies are heading for their worst showing in a state election in over 60 years, a setback that risks widening divisions within Germany’s crisis-prone national gove...
Crew of Soyuz rocket survive emergency landing after engine problemThe two-man crew of a Soyuz rocket made a successful emergency landing Thursday after an engine problem on lift-off to the International Space Station, in a major setback for the beleaguered Russian s...
Michael weakens to tropical storm after day of havoc in FloridaMichael weakened to a tropical storm early Thursday but only after wreaking a day of havoc along Florida's Gulf Coast as it flooded homes and streets and toppled trees and power lines in the beachfron...
Indonesia calls off grim search for dead in quake-tsunamiIndonesia Thursday called off the grim search for those killed in the quake-tsunami, with no hope of retrieving around 5,000 bodies believed to be still buried under the ruins nearly two weeks after t...
First tuna auction at Japan’s ‘new Tsukiji’ marketThe cries of the raucous pre-dawn tuna auction rang out for the first time at Tokyo's new fish market Thursday, just days after the world-famous Tsukiji site closed the door on its 83-year history. Th...
Erdogan says Turkey-US deal on Syria’s Manbij ‘not dead’: HurriyetThe deal between Turkey and the United States regarding the northern Syrian town of Manbij is delayed "but not completely dead", President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by Hurriyet newspaper on...
Rising sea levels, storm surges pose risks for Hong Kong’s artificial island projectAs Hong Kong recovers from one of the strongest typhoons in decades, a controversial plan to build a vast artificial island is facing intense scrutiny from environmental groups, lawmakers and academic...
China, Russia push to ease N Korea sanctions as Seoul mulls optionsChina and Russia have backed easing sanctions on Pyongyang "at an appropriate time", as South Korea's foreign minister said Seoul was mulling lifting its own measures, threatening cracks in global res...
Turkey steps up pressure on Saudi Arabia over missing writerTurkey's president increased his pressure on Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, local media reported Thursday, while President Donald Trump expressed reservations over...
Malaysia to abolish death penaltyMalaysia has decided to abolish the death penalty, a senior minister said Thursday, with more than 1,200 people on death row set to win a reprieve following a groundswell of opposition to capital puni...
Danish Jews recall desperate escape from Nazis, 75 years onFreddy Vainer was only four years old when he and his family were forced to flee Copenhagen to escape being deported to Nazi concentration camps, but he remembers it like it was yesterday. "My grandfa...
Cyclone Titli batters eastern India, 300,000 evacuatedA cyclone packing winds of up to 150 kilometres (95 miles) per hour and heavy rains hit eastern India early Thursday, with over 300,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas and two men reported kille...
Child refugees in Nauru camp struggle to eat, drink, talk: MSFThe mental health of refugees detained by Australia on the Pacific island of Nauru has deteriorated so badly that some children are in a "semi-comatose state", unable to eat, drink or talk, Médecins S...
Japan delays touchdown of Hayabusa2 probe on asteroid: officialA Japanese probe sent to examine an asteroid in order to shed light on the origins of the solar system will now land on the rock several months later than planned, officials said Thursday. The Japan A...