'ASEAN model' of innovation hailed as key to meeting SDGs

Southeast Asia offers concrete proof that novel and localized models can help solve some of the most pressing social and development problems, a senior official said on Thursday.

Monkey business: Vietnam macaques draw tourists and criticism

NHA TRANG, Vietnam - Menacing macaques snatch bags of crisps, water bottles, cookies and crackers from uneasy tourists on Vietnam's Monkey Island, a popular attraction decried as cruel by activists calling for an end to animal tourism in Southeast Asia.

Johnson heads to Scotland after blow

LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson headed to Scotland on Friday in campaign mode despite failing to call an early election after MPs this week thwarted his hardline Brexit strategy.

Ex-Zimbabwe leader Mugabe dies at 95

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's former president who had been in power for nearly four decades, has died at the age of 95.

Yulin puts weight behind quality development

Yulin in Shaanxi province is striving for high-quality development in its energy industry utilizing the city's solid economic foundation, rich resources and wider cooperation with the outside world, said a senior official at an energy industry expo.

IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Fires fuel fears of species loss

As old and new Amazon wildfires prove difficult to put out despite moves by Brazilian authorities to rein them in, environmentalists worry that the impact of the blazes on flora and fauna may be harder to measure than imagined: Some species may become extinct before they are even discovered.

India's economy suffers car crash, pain spreads to villages

MANESAR, India - The narrow lanes in Aliyar and Kasan villages in Manesar, an automotive manufacturing hub on New Delhi's southern outskirts, would usually be packed on Sundays with migrant workers employed at the nearby plants enjoying their day off. Not anymore.

US state of Michigan bans flavored vaping products

Michigan on Wednesday became the first state in the United States to ban flavored e-cigarettes after more than 200 people in at least 25 states have come down with a lung illness that appears to be linked to e-cigarettes and has caused two deaths.

K-pop and kimchi: Tokyo's 'Little Seoul' shrugs off political spat

TOKYO - In the "Little Seoul" area of Tokyo, Japanese shoppers flock to get their fix of K-pop and Korean face cream, seemingly shrugging off a deep freeze in Japan-South Korean relations.

Containment cannot solve Iran crisis

WASHINGTON - As tension continues to escalate between Washington and Teheran, the two sides are closer to a military conflict than any other time in recent years, a sanctions expert in the United States has said.

Vienna holds off Melbourne to top EIU ranking of most livable cities

VIENNA, Austria - The Austrian capital has retained its ranking as the world's most livable city, according to an annual report from the Economist.