Ecotourism plan generates criticism

SINGAPORE - The Southeast Asian country is creating a vast eco-tourism zone in a bid to bring in more visitors, but environmentalists fear the development will damage natural habitats and are already blaming it for a series of animal deaths.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)

The euro marks 20 years of turmoil and triumph

NICOSIA, Cyprus - The center of Frankfurt erupted with fireworks at the stroke of midnight back on Jan 4, 1999 as a common European currency was launched for the first time.

Vietnam's 'incense village' blazes pink ahead of Tet lunar new year

HANOI - In Vietnam's "incense village", dozens are hard at work dying, drying and whittling down bamboo bark to make the fragrant sticks ahead of the busy lunar new year holiday.

Ghosn plea of not guilty in court

TOKYO - At a high-profile court hearing in Japan on Tuesday, his first appearance since his arrest in November rocked the business world, former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said he had been "wrongly accused and unfairly detained".

Indian scientists protest tarnishment of Einstein

MUMBAI, India - Indian scientists have protested claims made at a local science conference that trashed the work of some of the world's greatest physicists and suggested modern breakthroughs such as in-vitro fertilization were in fact invented in ancient India.

On the Go, 9-year-old turns pro

A fourth-grade girl in Japan is set to become the youngest-ever professional player of Go, a strategy board game invented in China more than 2,500 years ago, when she makes her debut later this year.

Neighbors reopen border crossing

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Monday officially reopened the Oumhajir-Humera border crossing that connects the two countries.

S. Africa aiming to narrow wage gap

South Africa is betting on a newly introduced national minimum wage to increase domestic spending, improve lives and tackle poverty in the African country.

Global pork prices in flux due to ASF

China is entering the year of the pig on an apt note - its huge pork industry is sending ripples across the global commodities chain.

US withdrawal from Syria put on hold until conditions are met

The US decision to not immediately withdraw from Syria is an indication of political differences in the United States, analysts said.

Credits roll for Moscow's Soviet-era cinemas as new ones replace them

MOSCOW - Scattered throughout the city's outlying neighborhoods, Moscow's Soviet-era cinemas have for decades served as the center of communities.