Student jailed for 20 years over killing

A former Chinese graduate student in Japan was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of killing a fellow Chinese student in Tokyo last year.

Trump closes in on tax victory

WASHINGTON - The US Senate narrowly approved a sweeping tax overhaul early on Wednesday, putting President Donald Trump on the brink of his first major legislative triumph nearly a year after he took office.

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Comfort women issue poses potential pitfall

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is set to make her first visit to Japan for talks with her Japanese counterpart, amid growing concern that a controversial bilateral comfort women agreement could cast a cloud over the meeting.

Airlines inch back to normalcy after airport blackout

ATLANTA, Georgia - The nation's air-travel system struggled to get back on schedule and rebook stranded passengers on Monday after a fire and blackout at the world's busiest airport forced the cancellation of over 1,500 flights days before the start of the Christmas rush.

Ramaphosa takes over from Zuma as party president

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's ruling African National Congress elected Cyril Ramaphosa to replace Jacob Zuma as the party's president for the next five years.

Greeks hail 19th CPC congress, prospects for future road map

ATHENS - Greek officials, experts and representatives of the business world have hailed the outcome of the recent 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and expressed confidence about the prospects of cooperation between the countries.

Protests muted as far-right takes office

VIENNA - Hundreds of police sealed off part of central Vienna on Monday as Austria became the only western European country with a far-right party in power, but protests against the swearing-in proved small and largely peaceful.

Speed suspected in fatal train crash

DUPONT, Washington - An Amtrak train making the first-ever run along a faster new route hurtled off an overpass south of Seattle on Monday and spilled some of its cars onto the highway below, killing at least three people, injuring dozens and crushing two vehicles, authorities said.

UK finance minister hails China trip deals

Britain's finance minister, Philip Hammond, has described his weekend visit to China, in which he announced 1.4 billion pounds ($1.88 billion) worth of deals, as a success.

Senior CPC official outlines plan to eradicate poverty

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - China is determined to build itself into a modern socialist country underpinned by fairness and justice through "targeted poverty alleviation that will take 43 million people out of poverty by 2020," said a senior official of the Communist Party of China.

258m migrants, UN says

UNITED NATIONS - An estimated 258 million people have left their birth countries and are now living in other nations - an increase of 49 percent since 2000, said the United Nations in a report.