Ilan / AFP Under a shady starfruit tree Taiwanese beekeeper Jiang Hwan-bin tends his hives, pumping out pure honey for a rapidly growing market of health-conscious consumers. Jiang’s family has been keeping bees for 80 years and he now manages 500 hives in the northwest county of Hsinchu. In total his family run around 2,000 across northern Taiwan. A …

  Islamabad / AFP In the corner of a pristine park in an upmarket district of Islamabad, an open-air classroom run by an aging rescue-worker offers a beacon of hope to the city’s poorest. For the past 30 years, “Master” Muhammad Ayub, whose day job includes defusing bombs and putting out fires, has cycled from his office to the makeshift …

  MOSCOW / AP The entire territory of Syria must be “liberated,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said in remarks televised on Saturday, dismissing demands for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure as “thoughtless.” Dmitry Peskov said Assad needs to stay in power to prevent the country from falling into the hands of extremists. “There are just two options: Assad sitting in …