Some Kabul residents fear a Taliban takeover. Others are eager for the departure of troops they see as foreign intruders. "Afghans will have to come together and listen to each other," says a cleric.
The Japanese government remains adamant that the games will proceed as planned, even as local governments and protesters express rising concern about hosting the event during the pandemic.
Doctors say India's battle with COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented rise in mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection that preys on people with weakened immune systems.
A coronavirus variant is spreading quickly in India, causing a massive surge in cases. Scientists are rushing to see if vaccines will be effective against this variant. So far, the news is hopeful.
India's health system is collapsing as daily coronavirus cases surge. Will the COVID-19 crisis check the power of the country's most popular leader in decades?
Shaharzad Akbar of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission says the viciousness of killing schoolgirls was especially devastating. She wants women present in peace talks.
Shakuntala Thilsted, one of the world's leading researchers of fish as a source of nutritious food, is the first woman of Asian heritage to receive the World Food Prize.
Leaders in Beijing will need to determine how to continue China's streak of economic growth while caring for a growing, nonworking part of the population.
"Should we ask children to go to school when the schools are not safe for them? Can we do that?" asks an education activist. One wounded student says she wants to go back. "Continue school," she says.
As bad as the reported numbers are, the actual toll is likely much worse. India's relentless virus surge is leading to deadly shortages of hospital beds, medical oxygen and drugs.
Many of the victims were young students. No group has claimed responsibility. The U.S. and NATO are in the process of removing their troops from the country, raising fears of increased attacks.
Combining elements of animism, ancestor worship and folk religion, shamanism remains popular on both sides of the border. But it's illegal in the North, and some who practice it have been executed.