Taxman leading Asia's war on sugar

SINGAPORE - Sugary drinks in Indonesia were once the strange bedfellows of high-end cars and branded bags.

Chinese New Year gala held in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU - A special Spring Festival gala evening has been held in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

UK threatens to cut off aid cash to charities after Oxfam scandal

LONDON - The British Government said on Sunday it is warning all charities that receive UK aid to step up efforts to tackle sexual misconduct among staff or face having their funding cut, amid further fallout from a prostitution scandal involving Oxfam workers in Haiti in 2011.

Flying sludge, healing mud at Brazil Carnival beach party

PARATY, Brazil - Hundreds of revelers wrestled, tackled each other and threw chunks of gunk while dancing to samba and reggaeton on Saturday at a Carnival beach party where clothes were optional but the mud was not.

US Congress votes to reopen govt

WASHINGTON - The House moved swiftly early on Friday to reopen the federal government and pass a $400 billion budget deal, overcoming opposition from both liberal Democrats and tea party conservatives to endorse enormous spending increases despite looming trillion-dollar deficits.

Precious chance to extend detentes

The warming ties between Seoul and Pyongyang seem to be thawing the freezing coldness in the Republic of Korea's county of Pyeongchang, where the Winter Olympics opened on Friday.

EU lawmakers urge review of summertime switch

BRUSSELS - EU lawmakers backed a motion on Thursday calling for an assessment of whether Europe should stop moving clocks forward and back between summer and winter time, following a call from Finland.

Chinese people in Maldives 'are safe'

A Maldivian president's envoy has pledged protection for Chinese people and institutions in the South Asian country after a state of emergency was declared there earlier this week.

IN BRIEF (Page 8)

US backpedals on investment bill

US lawmakers may soften legislation that aims to heighten scrutiny of Chinese investment in the US technology sector.

Long-lost 'African Mona Lisa' found

LONDON - "I think of it as the African Mona Lisa," said award-winning novelist Ben Okri, gazing at the long-lost portrait of a Nigerian princess which recently turned up in a London flat.

Human eggs fully grown in lab for first time

LONDON - Scientists have succeeded for the first time in growing human eggs in a laboratory from the earliest stages in ovarian tissue all the way to full maturity - a scientific step that had previously been taken in mice. The eggs were grown to the point at which they could be fertilized.