The Penghu Islands coast at low tide, located off the coast of Taiwan. Although the exact location is unknown, the fossilized mandible of a male Denisovan, an extinct archaic human, was discovered off the coast of this island.
Jawbone from Taiwan shows geographic reach of enigmatic archaic humans
Confirmed Denisovan fossils have been identified from only two other places — Denisova Cave in Russia and Baishiya Karst Cave in China's Gansu province.
A layer of smog hangs over Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
Mongolia's children choke in toxic pollution
The toxic smog that settles over the Mongolian capital every winter has been a suffocating problem for more than a decade.
A worker adjusts an anti-smog dust suppression sprayer installed at a construction site in Lahore on Feb. 17. Tens of millions of Pakistanis spent at least four months breathing toxic air pollution 20 times above safe levels, in the worst winter smog season for several years.
'Really suffocating': Pakistan emerges from record smog season
Pakistan regularly ranks among the world's most polluted countries, with Lahore often the most polluted megacity between November and February.
Some 230 million people globally thought to be affected by long COVID. The effects range from mild to disabling, and there are no proven diagnostic tests or treatments.
'Going mad': Lack of data plagues Asia's long COVID patients
Some 230 million people are thought to be affected by long COVID — defined as symptoms persisting for three months or more after the initial infection.
Volunteer Nhoun Niyok shows villagers how to use a mosquito net to prevent malaria in Cambodia's northeastern Mondulkiri province on Jan. 16.
Cambodia nears Khmer Rouge survivor's dream of eradicating malaria
The hope is for zero cases this year — a remarkable turnaround for a country that was formerly an epicenter of multi-drug resistant strains.
Thailand's Royal Rainmaking department takes part in an atmospheric modification mission to displace pollution by spraying icy water in the air over the outskirts of Bangkok.
Ice in the sky: Thailand's fight against air pollution
The new technique of spraying dry ice or cold water into the air was first used last year and is still in its testing stages.
Workers retrieves tsunami buoy Thai 23461 in the Andaman Sea on Nov. 28.
The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
They form part of a warning system intended to ensure no disaster is as deadly as a huge December 2004 tsunami caused by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb