SYDNEY — Equipped with just a pan and sieve, a group of amateur scientists comb the beach looking for tiny bits of plastic that are near invisible to the naked eye but belie their threat.

ROME — Violations of religious freedom are increasing and persecution takes place in more than 25 countries, with China and Myanmar among those that have the worst records, according to a report by a Vatican-backed charity.

TOKYO — Japan’s glacial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inoculation push is prompting some foreign residents to consider flying to other countries to get vaccinated, as the pandemic surges again with no shots in sight for everyday people.

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is postponing plans to visit India and the Philippines on a trip originally set for the end of the month, media said on Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on Tuesday of murdering George Floyd, a milestone in the fraught racial history of...

BOAO, China — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for a rejection of hegemonic power structures in global governance, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over a widening range of issues including alleged human rights abuses.

GENEVA/BRUSSELS — 2020 was one of the three hottest years on record, marked by wildfires, droughts, floods and melting glaciers, a United Nations (U.N.) report said on Monday, prompting the U.N. Secretary-General to say the world stands “on the verge of the abyss.”

PATIENTS with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who have been consistently physically inactive have a significantly higher risk of severe outcomes than patients who were getting at least some exercise or regularly met physical activity guidelines prior to the illness, researchers found.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN countries will discuss the crisis in Myanmar at a summit in Jakarta on Saturday, the ASEAN bloc’s secretariat said on Tuesday, after the European Union (EU) imposed its toughest sanctions yet on the junta that seized power there on Feb. 1.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department said on Monday it will boost its "Do Not Travel" guidance to about 80% of countries worldwide, citing...

SALIGUMA - Cutting through the glassy water of a mangrove-fringed inlet on the east coast of Indonesia's Siberut island, Mateus Sabojiat and Anjelina Sadodolu...

CARACAS - The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) and Venezuelan officials said on Monday they had reached a deal to supply food to...