BANGKOK: Thailand has tried cash bonuses and tax incentives to boost the country’s birth rate, but on Valentine’s Day today it adopted a new approach – handing out vitamin pills. Like several other Asian countries, Thailand is ageing rapidly. Birth rates have dropped sharply from more than 6 children per woman in 1960 to 1.5 in 2015, according to World ...

A 74-year-old Japanese visitor was found unconscious in waters off Kaanapali Beach on Maui, where so far this year 11 people have died in ocean-related activities. SHARE ADVERTISING A 74-year-old Japanese visitor was found unconscious in waters off Kaanapali Beach on Maui, where so far this year 11 people have died in…

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police have raided the residential compound of a business family suspected of using its ties to President Jacob Zuma to influence…

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say gunmen riding on motorcycles have opened fire on a vehicle carrying paramilitary…

Rare material relating to the story of a pair of star-crossed lovers that feature in the works of JRR Tolkien…

Snowboarder Shaun White’s halfpipe victory at the Pyeongchang Games on Wednesday earned the United States its landmark 100th Winter Games gold medal, prompting a series of celebratory messages on social media. White scored 97.75 on his final run to pip Japan’s Ayumu Hirano as he claimed his third Olympic gold and his country’s 100th. Norway currently leads…

One case centres on an allegation that Mr Netanyahu asked the publisher of an Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, for positive coverage in exchange for help in reining in a rival publication. Police said the editor of Yediot Aharonot, Arnon Mozes, should also face charges. The second allegation centres on…

A high-ranking Chicago police commander was shot to death at the Thompson Center on Tuesday afternoon in downtown Chicago while he was assisting a tactical team that was chasing someone who was acting suspiciously, according to The Chicago Tribune. Cmdr. Paul Bauer of the Near North District was shot several times, according to police Superintendent Eddie Johnson who spoke to ...

One climber is dead after falling 700 to 1,000 feet on Mount Hood near Portland, Oregon, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, CBS News reports. Rescuers continued to scale Oregon’s tallest peak Tuesday to help those still trapped. Live news footage earlier in the day showed some climbers performing CPR and a helicopter airlifting a male climber to safety, ...

Australia’s deputy prime minister was under mounting pressure Wednesday to resign as his party’s leader over revelations of a relationship with a former staffer, The Associated Press reported. Newspapers revealed last week that Barnaby Joyce and his former media adviser are expecting a baby together, and the scandal has angered many within Joyce’s conservative, rural-based Nationals party. As leader of ...