A rare earth minerals mine in China’s Jiangsu province, photographed in 2010. /AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption /AFP via Getty Images With names like neodymium and dysprosium, rare-earth elements sound exotic — and their perceived scarcity has only added to the mystique. In reality, rare earths aren’t that rare, but just difficult … Read more
Noah Zaitar allegedly ran a drug empire, producing and exporting narcotics, including the synthetic stimulant captagon. The Lebanese army has detained the country’s most infamous drug lord, two years after he was sanctioned by the United States over suspected links to narcotics rings in Syria. In a post on X on Thursday, the Lebanese army … Read more
Smoke rises over buildings after a fire in Oita, southern Japan, Wednesday. Kyodo News/AP hide caption toggle caption Kyodo News/AP TOKYO — Firefighters and army helicopters battled a fire Wednesday that burned through a neighborhood of old wooden houses in a fishing town in southwestern Japan, killing one person, injuring another and forcing more than … Read more
United States President Donald Trump has pledged to address the conflict in Sudan, in response to an apparent request from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On Wednesday, Trump announced his intention to intervene twice, once at the Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, DC, and a second time on his online platform, Truth Social. Recommended … Read more
Fans of Curaçao react as they watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier football match between Jamaica and Curacao in Willemstad in Curaçao. The tiny Caribbean nation became the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup on Nov. 18 ANGEL BATTA/AFP via Getty hide caption toggle caption ANGEL BATTA/AFP via Getty BOGOTA, Colombia … Read more
The United States has a new proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine that entails Kyiv giving up territory and some weaponry and has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he must accept it, according to several news reports. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the draft, several publications reported on Wednesday that the framework was drawn … Read more
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR’s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world. Matryoshka dolls are a Russian folk art tradition dating back over a century. These hollow wooden figurines, shaped like squat bowling pins and painted ornately, come in sets that nest neatly one inside another. … Read more
Diplomatic dispute deepens between Tokyo and Beijing over Taiwan remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. China will again ban all imports of Japanese seafood as a diplomatic dispute between the two countries escalates, Japanese media report. Japanese public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency said on Wednesday that the seafood ban follows after China … Read more
People gathering next of ambulances outside a hospital where they brought the victims of the Israeli strike that hit the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Tuesday. Mohammad Zaatari/AP hide caption toggle caption Mohammad Zaatari/AP SIDON, Lebanon — An Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern … Read more
Kyiv, Ukraine – There is tension in the air in Zaporizhzhia, the southeastern Ukrainian city that straddles both banks of the Dnipro River. In recent weeks, the front line on the left, eastern bank, moved closer and is raging about 40km (25 miles) away from the city that also serves as the administrative capital of … Read more