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.

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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.

Dog lover Putin gets pup as gift

SOCHI, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin, a dog lover, received a top breed puppy as a belated birthday gift on Wednesday from Turkmenistan's president, who is keen to recover lost Russian markets for Turkmen gas.

Man pleads not guilty to new charge in Chinese scholar case

The suspect charged with kidnapping missing Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying pleaded not guilty in federal court on Wednesday.

Election campaign underway in Japan

TOKYO - Tokyo's popular governor Yuriko Koike launched a bitter attack on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday as the gloves came off for the official start of a snap election campaign in the world's third-largest economy.

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