The prominent art history professor and his student had finished dinner and were strolling along the river in Kyoto, Japan’s picturesque former capital, when they stopped at a bar. For months, they had been spending a lot of time together, and the professor had already kissed her once in a park in Tokyo. Now, after drinks, he invited her to […]

Ovenny Jermeto was on a combat tour 7,000 miles away from his island home in the Pacific when a bomb blew up his vehicle in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. He survived and completed his deployment, but later lost feeling in his right foot and struggled with anxiety and depression. He returned to the United States to finish his […]

Shy and retiring by nature, with a preference for solitude and the dark, few would describe Paora, 4, as a natural diplomat. Yet this Miami-based kiwi — one of about 60 of the flightless birds living in zoos outside their native New Zealand — has been forced into the international spotlight, literally and figuratively. Footage of Paora being petted by […]

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is kicking off a summit on Thursday that the country is heralding as a historic milestone, rolling out the red carpet for five Central Asian countries that are critical to China’s regional ambitions. The inaugural China-Central Asia summit is part of China’s broader aim to strengthen economic and political partnerships with like-minded countries, to counter what […]

SEOUL — South Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world, but parents say the government isn’t making it any easier for them to have children when hundreds of public facilities across the country are designated “no-kids zones.” Earlier this month, a lawmaker took her toddler to the National Assembly and called on the government to outlaw the policy, which […]

About six years ago, Keiko Kawano, a radio host, found that when she stopped doing voice-articulation exercises, her smile began to fade. At a certain point, she struggled to lift the corners of her mouth. So Ms. Kawano, then 43, decided to learn how facial muscles work. After using the knowledge to reanimate her smile, she started helping others do […]

A Chinese court said it sentenced a 78-year-old American citizen to life in prison on Monday on unspecified charges of spying, the latest in a wave of espionage cases the authorities have pursued amid growing wariness of foreign influence in the country. The Intermediate People’s Court in the southeastern city of Suzhou said in a short statement that it pronounced […]

A Chinese court said it sentenced a 78-year-old American citizen to life in prison on Monday on unspecified charges of spying, the latest in a wave of espionage cases the authorities have pursued amid growing wariness of foreign influence in the country. The Intermediate People’s Court in the southeastern city of Suzhou said in a short statement that it pronounced […]

The two opposition parties that won the largest share of the vote in Thailand’s general election over the weekend said on Monday that they had agreed to form a coalition government. It remained unclear, however, whether the ruling junta would hand over power easily. The results of the election were a stinging rebuke to the country’s military leaders, who have […]

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Before he aspired to Kathmandu’s highest office, Balendra Shah appeared on the city’s rooftops, a singer facing off in rap battles or filming music videos. His songs, which focused on poverty, underdevelopment and the rot he saw at the root of Nepal’s entrenched political culture, drew an avid following among the country’s youth. One song, “Balidan,” meaning “sacrifice” […]