The head of Taiwan's top research group says the island's budding biotechnology industry is facing a tough new rival — Samsung Electronics Co.

The South Korean electronics giant already poses a threat to Taiwanese chip and computer makers.

Two-thirds of China's cities currently fail to meet stricter air quality standards that the government wants to phase in over four years to combat notoriously smoggy skies, a senior Chinese environmental official said Friday.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, on Wednesday issued new limits on pollutants to go into effect nationwide by 2016. It also said major cities must launch programs this year to regularly monitor additional kinds of pollutants for the first time, including fine particles associated with health problems.

Anglican church officials in New Zealand said Friday an iconic cathedral in downtown Christchurch must be demolished because earthquakes damaged it beyond repair.

Christ Church Cathedral is the city's best-known building, but its climbable spire collapsed in the February 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people and destroyed many other downtown buildings.

Seven Americans on trial over charges their pro-democracy groups fomented unrest have flown out of Egypt after the U.S. posted nearly $5 million in bail for them and nine others who managed to leave before a travel ban was imposed.

Thursday's departure of the seven eased a deep diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Egypt that had been building for two months, following a crackdown on pro-democracy and human rights groups by the Egyptian government.

Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello announced Thursday he will join the IndyCar series this season.

Barrichello has reached a two-year deal to race for KV Racing Technology and will make his debut at the season opener on March 25 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

They still fight like cats and dogs in divorce court. But more and more they are fighting about cats and dogs.

Custody cases involving pets are on the rise across America.

China's stifling lockdown of this Tibetan town has not only been about patrolling its sleepy streets, but also policing the minds of a community at the center of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

Soldiers with helmets, rifles, sticks and shields march in rows along this monastery town's main road against a backdrop of snow-speckled mountains, while police stare at passing cars, scanning license plates and faces of passengers for unwelcome visitors. In school dormitory rooms in the county, there are random checks for books that go against the ruling Communist Party establishment — and the constant questions about political leanings.

Malaysia's High Court on Thursday dismissed a bid by activists to challenge a police ban on a gay arts festival, in a rare legal case involving gay rights in the Muslim-majority nation.

Organizers of the "Sexual Independence" festival had hoped to overturn a ban imposed last November on the event, which would have featured musical performances, talks on sexuality issues and a poster exhibition.

An outspoken Tibetan writer said Chinese authorities prevented her from receiving a cultural award Thursday at the Dutch ambassador's residence in Beijing.

Poet Tsering Woeser said that state security agents told her Wednesday they would not let her attend the low-key, private event to receive the Prince Claus Fund of the Netherlands award for courage in speaking on behalf of the rights of Tibetans.

Researchers are reporting the first treatment to speed recovery from severe brain injuries caused by falls and car crashes: a cheap flu medicine whose side benefits were discovered by accident decades ago.

Severely injured patients who were given amantadine got better faster than those who received a dummy medicine. After four weeks, more people in the flu drug group could give reliable yes-and-no answers, follow commands or use a spoon or hairbrush — things that few of them could do at the start. Far fewer patients who got amantadine remained in a vegetative state, 17 percent versus 32 percent.