Asia

North Korea says it successfully launched a spy satellite. Did Russia play a role?

5:22am November 22, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

North Korea appears to be taking advantage of wars and geopolitical contests to help it make a strategic shift in its foreign policy — positioning itself in an anti-U.S. bloc of actors and nations.

This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what the country said is the launch of the Malligyong-1, a military spy satellite, into orbit on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government.

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South Korea says it boosts surveillance after North claims spy satellite launch

2:08am November 22, 2023

by The Associated Press

The South Korean announcement — which will likely infuriate North Korea — came hours after the North claimed to have placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

How one reporter tells the story of Philippines President Duterte's drug war

6:27pm November 21, 2023

Patricia Evangelista's new book, Some People Need Killing, chronicles her reporting during Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

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A TV shows a J-Alert or National Early Warning System to Japanese residents on Tuesday in Tokyo. North Korea launched a rocket in its third attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit, according to South Korea's military.

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North Korea claims it has put a spy satellite into orbit in 3rd attempt

2:37pm November 21, 2023

by The Associated Press

North Korea claimed to have successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year, demonstrating the nation's determination to build a space-based surveillance system.

Canadian jailed in China wants compensation from the Canadian government

5:07am November 21, 2023

by John Ruwitch

New allegations from one of the two Canadians arrested in China in 2018 reopened a diplomatic feud between Beijing and Ottawa.

In the Himalayas, 41 workers remain trapped after a tunnel caved in

7:26am November 20, 2023

by Diaa Hadid

Efforts continue in India's north to free construction workers trapped underground for more than a week after a highway tunnel they were helping build partially collapsed.

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U.S. lifts sanctions on Chinese police institute accused of human rights abuses

7:53am November 19, 2023

by Emily Feng

The U.S. has lifted sanctions on a Chinese police institute it alleges was part of human rights abuses that targeted China's ethnic Uyghur minority.

Unpacking developments from this year's APEC

7:17am November 18, 2023

by John Ruwitch

President Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was the big news from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's forum. Scott Simon and John Ruwitch discuss other developments from the week.

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Pakistani teacher Riffat Arif, known as Sister Zeph, is the 2023 winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize. She holds a trophy presented at a dinner in her honor in Paris. She says she faced bad treatment from her teachers at school and dreamed of "a teacher who gives equal respect and love to children with no difference. I could not find that teacher, so I will be that teacher."

$1 million teacher prize goes to Sister Zeph. Her philosophy: 'Love is the language'

9:32am November 17, 2023

by Anya Kamenetz

The Pakistani educator has won the largest annual prize for teachers from the Varkey Foundation. She says her teaching reflects her belief that "Love is the language that everybody can understand."

World News

The U.S. and China agree to curb fentanyl. Will it work?

6:16pm November 16, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with reporter Ben Westhoff, author of Fentanyl, Inc., about President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's agreement to curb fentanyl precursor chemical production in China.

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