Asia

Why are people in Japan getting lessons in how to smile?

5:44am May 17, 2023

Having worn a mask for so long, some people may have forgotten how to smile. In class they practice moving different face muscles to relearn how to smile without looking too awkward.

Politics & Government

Morning news brief

5:04am May 17, 2023

President Biden heads to Japan for the G7 summit. An appeals court case could remove abortion pills from the U.S. market completely. Ukraine says it's made advances in the battle for Bakhmut.

Mosque project tests South Korea's tolerance for increasing diversity

7:25pm May 16, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

A clash between Muslim students trying to build a mosque and residents who oppose it in South Korea's fourth largest city tests the nation's tolerance of increasing diversity.

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Cambodia's Bou Samnang runs in the women's 5,000-meter final despite heavy rain, during the Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh. A video of her finish, minutes after the race was decided, has won over fans around the sporting world.

She finished last, but this runner won fans for not giving up in a pounding rain

3:55pm May 16, 2023

by Bill Chappell

"I wanted to show people that in life, even though we go a bit slow or fast, we will reach our destination all the same," Cambodia's Bou Samnang said of her rain-soaked, Southeast Asian Games run.

People wave rainbow flags during a mass wedding banquet for gay couples in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei in 2019. Taiwan legalized gay marriage in 2019. But until now, those married couples could only adopt children related to one of the partners.

World News

Same-sex couples will now have full adoption rights in Taiwan

3:10pm May 16, 2023

by Emily Feng

Taiwan legalized gay marriage in 2019, becoming the only place in Asia that allows it. But until now, those married couples could only adopt children related to one of the partners.

As Pakistan's monsoon season nears, some villages are underwater from earlier floods

1:44pm May 16, 2023

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to IRC Pakistan chief Shabnam Baloch about recovery efforts from floods that submerged a third of the country, killed more than 1,700 people and displaced seven million.

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World News

As China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, the city's identity is changing

5:26pm May 15, 2023

Journalist and NPR's former China correspondent Louisa Lim talks about the evolution of Hong Kong's civic life since China tightened its grip in 2019.

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Voters in Thailand have spoken — they want change

5:10am May 15, 2023

by Michael Sullivan

Voters in Thailand overwhelmingly backed opposition parties promising to bring change — delivering a stunning rebuke to the military-backed government that has led them for nearly a decade.

President Biden arrives at an event at the White House on May 11, 2023. This week he will travel to Hiroshima, Japan for the G-7 summit.

Biden is going to Hiroshima at a moment when nuclear tensions are on the rise

5:10am May 15, 2023

by Scott Detrow

President Biden will be the second sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, the site of the first atomic attack. He is going there for a meeting with G-7 leaders.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with supporters at a polling station, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday.

World News

Turkey's Erdogan says he would accept a presidential election runoff

9:13pm May 14, 2023

by The Associated Press

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was locked in a tight election race, with a make-or-break runoff against his chief challenger possible as the final votes were counted.