A 54-year-old man in Japan closed his company and sold his luxury sports car to help fund a shelter for “problematic dogs” after his own pet saved him when he tried to commit suicide. The Wansfree canine rescue centre in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, offers its services for free. It cares for difficult dogs that animal-lovers find impossible to deal with, The Asahi ...

More Chinese people dropped out of the voluntary health insurance scheme for urban and rural residents last year, the latest available data shows – piling pressure on the system amid economic challenges and declining public trust. The downward trend in participation – in a scheme designed for farmers and the unemployed – continued in 2024, with 15.8 million fewer people enrolled...

A woman from central China who started doing chores at the age of five and left school at 15 to support her disabled parents has gone viral for selling vegetables in her village. Li Yayun, 27, from Henan province, is known online as Li Fugui. Her videos of rural life and heartfelt interactions with elderly villagers have earned her over 7 million followers on mainland social med...

A Japanese man has gone viral online and inspired many people by turning his remarkably long chin, which was once the source of ridicule and rejection, into a personal brand. The man, known online as Jonouchi, has nearly 350,000 followers on YouTube and proudly refers to himself as the “YouTuber with the world’s longest chin”. He has also amassed over 400,000 followers on anothe...

Two Chinese women in their fifties who suffered from domestic abuse have been living together for 13 years as friends in a new form of partnership. The women’s living arrangement is increasingly becoming the dream of many women in China. Ju Ma, 59, lives with her best friend, Yan, 51, in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. They are business partners in the constru...