Asia

Yuxin Wu, a second-generation gehu player at the Berklee College of Music, is on a mission to revive the Chinese string instrument with its unique vibrational sound.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has stressed the importance of the grain deal, saying that it needs long-term protection in order to avoid a global food crisis.

In the Iranian diaspora community of Los Angeles, members of the heavy metal group TarantisT have added their artistic voices to the protests in Iran. Arash Rahbary is the band's singer and bassist. He speaks to host Marco Werman.

Chinese farmers plant the largest amount of potatoes in the world, and the country produces about 20% of the global potato output. But while fresh potatoes are a traditional part of the Chinese national diet, they’re viewed as a vegetable rather than as a staple, and China’s per capita consumption of potato is below the global average. In 2015, the Chinese government decided to try and change that.

Women who work for nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan are in shock after the group announced a ban on female employees.

Taiwan's president announced last week that mandatory military service for young people will increase from four months to a full year. There is substantial popular support for the move because of a rising threat from China, though among young people themselves, it’s more complicated.

In Karachi, Pakistan, a tragedy this past summer highlighted those risks. 

About 40 members of a special, all-women Afghan platoon that worked alongside the US military barely made it out of Afghanistan last year. Now, they want to put their training to use even though they remain in a legal limbo. But that hasn’t stopped them learning English and getting an education. 

Human rights groups warn that a Turkish invasion could trigger a new exodus of refugees, and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in northern Syria.