By Chelsea Lu Apr 1, 2026 On July 17, 1966, a boy is born into poverty in the Mexican state of Michoacán. By the age of 14, he starts guarding marijuana plantations; at 19, he immigrates illegally to California, where he is arrested and deported for heroin trafficking charges; and, by the early 2010s, he emerges as the kingpin of the infamous

By Teresa Sun Apr 1, 2026 Once silent and stripped of their most iconic residents, the volcanic slopes of Floreana Island in the Galápagos are alive once again with a slow, heavy rhythm. For nearly two centuries, the Floreana giant tortoise was a species existing only in sketches and bleached shells. That changed on Feb. 20, when a cohort

By Ayush Deshpande Feb. 11, 2026 Leona hung Art Every day, millions of people around the world use Teflon pans, waterproof clothing and makeup. Most of these items share a common ingredient: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—synthetic compounds that can remain inside living organisms’ bodies and the environment for years. Due to the harmful effects of PFAS, on Feb. 27, 2025, France passed a bill which, starting Jan. 1, would ban the sale, import and man

By Melvin Najarian Feb. 11, 2026 Leona Hung Art For over four decades, Iran’s government has ruled through oppression and human rights abuses. Since December 2025, economic collapse and collective anger have spurred nationwide demonstrations, pushing Iranians to exercise open resistance. What began as protests over inflation in Tehran’s bazaars quickly turned into one of the most direct challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 2022 Women Life Freedom moveme

By Liliana Chai December 10, 2025 The morning of Nov. 6, Typhoon Kalmaegi unleashed a torrent of destruction on the central Philippines, killing at least 188 people in the country. Heavy rains brought by the typhoon triggered landslides, obliterating residential areas and public buildings. Underlying the storm’s physical damage is the nation’s long-standing issue of corruption-plagued flood control infrastructure projects. This failure in disaster preparedness ha

By Winston Chu December 10, 2025 The destructive civil war that broke out more than two years ago in Sudan still persists today, spreading famine, genocide and death among fighters and innocent families in what the National Public Radio has labeled the world’s largest humanitarian disaster. While the conflict officially began in 2023, tension emerged when President Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989. Al-Bashier presided over Sudan for three decades un

On Oct. 4, Japan’s dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chose hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi as its new leader. Backed by the ruling coalition, she was set to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in a parliamentary vote on Oct. 15. Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister on Oct. 21 in a historic yet divisive victory. Takaichi’s political journey began...