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As governments increasingly prioritize security and economic interests, democracy and human rights face new challenges in a changing world order.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / Interview
Jul 20, 2026
Can human rights survive the era of great-power competition?
Human Rights Watch¡¯s Maya Wang explains why democracy and human rights remain worth fighting for.
Film projectionist and collector Wang Chin-ting (left) watches as staff members from the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute transfer old film reels at his archive in Changhua County on May 29.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 6, 2026
Taiwanese film hunters rescue aging reels from bygone era
Ranging from popular operas to romance dramas, the films resonated with many Taiwanese who had been educated during Japan¡¯s colonial rule and had limited Mandarin skills.
Wu Feng-chiao, 72, harvests gelidium algae, locally known as "stone flowers," from rocks along Taiwan's northeastern coast in the Magang fishing village near New Taipei City on June 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 1, 2026
Taiwan¡¯s aging seaweed harvesters hope younger women will wade in
There are no more than four women in the Magang fishing village in Taiwan who still regularly collect Gelidium algae, and all of them are in their 70s or older.
Dogs rescued from slaughter facilities are seen at an animal shelter run by the animal rights group KARA in Paju, South Korea, on June 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jun 28, 2026
Where are they? Dogs disappear before South Korea meat ban
For activists, the change in law will not only end the consumption of dogs, but also a ¡°long-standing loophole¡± around their treatment.
Jann Zhang, founder and principal of Paw3, a kindergarten for dogs, interacts with a dog in Shanghai on June 2.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 17, 2026
China¡¯s pet owners splurge on preschools to pamper puppies
As declining birth rates alter ?lifestyles, pets are increasingly treated as members of the family.
Children sing the national anthem at a school, under an overpass in Mumbai.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 7, 2026
India school under overpass offers lifeline to street children
Despite laws guaranteeing free schooling for children aged six to 14, poverty and migration continue to keep many out of classrooms.
A stone quarry near Avinashi village in Rajasthan's Neem Ka Thana town on May 19
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 5, 2026
Mining turns India¡¯s heat-shield hills to dust
A loss of the hills to mining is boosting already dangerously hot temperatures in New Delhi, raising the risk of desertification, and worsening health problems, experts warn.

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN