Austrians set to elect young leader

VIENNA - Austrians voted on Sunday in a watershed election tipped to see conservative Sebastian Kurz, 31, become the European Union's youngest leader and form an alliance with the far-right, in the bloc's latest populist test.

Chinese aid helps Myanmar refugees

DHAKA - Habiba narrowly escaped violence in Myanmar and managed to flee to Bangladesh, leaving all of her belongings behind in her motherland. She left her home in a village in the violence-ridden district of Rakhine, in western Myanmar, which borders Bangladesh, on Sept 30, after her husband was killed along with scores of others.

Japan's media industry fatally flawed

TOKYO - The recent news that a young reporter at Japan's public broadcaster had worked herself to death came as little surprise to those inside the country's media, where a culture of excessively long hours is the norm.

Octopus skin inspires versatile new material

MIAMI - The octopus is a master of disguise because it can stretch, bend and make its skin take on new shapes. Inspired by these intelligent cephalopods, researchers said on Thursday they have invented a new kind of material that can act similarly.

The plight of Antarctica's penguins

SYDNEY - Mass starvation has wiped out thousands of penguin chicks in Antarctica, with unusually thick sea ice forcing their parents to forage further for food in what conservationists on Friday called a "catastrophic breeding failure".

Beijing reaffirms UNESCO support

China backs UN's cultural agency in wake of United States' withdrawal

Trump takes scalpel to Obamacare

WASHINGTON - The White House announced on Thursday it will end subsidies to health insurance companies that help lower out-of-pocket costs for low-income customers, another move intended to unravel the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

S. Korean court extends Park's detention

SEOUL - A South Korean court on Friday decided to extend the detention of impeached president Park Geun-hye who has been in custody and stood trial over corruption charges including bribery.

IN BRIEF (Page 9)

Polls show Abe grabbing big win in general election

The move to revise Japan's Constitution is expected to gain pace after the general election on Oct 22 as opinion polls show that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is heading for a solid win.

Floods, landslides claim 37 lives in Vietnam

HANOI - At least 37 people have died and another 40 are missing as floods and landslides ravage north and central Vietnam, destroying homes and leaving rescuers scrambling to find survivors, disaster officials said on Thursday.

US quits UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias

PARIS - The United States announced on Thursday that it was withdrawing from UNESCO, the UN's cultural and educational agency, complaining about how it is run and about what Washington described as bias against Israel.