Florida Keys residents say they feel a strong sense of community and see a fast recovery as restaurants reopen and cleanup crews remove debris caused by the powerful storm that struck the state on September 10.

Green turtles have made the rare jump from "endangered" to "least concern" in global conservation rankings, a remarkable success when many species are declining. The recovery follows decades of conservation efforts, including egg relocation, marine protection, genetic research and trade bans. In Malaysia's Sabah state, conservationists continue their work on the frontline.

A humble yam that has cast a purple hue across cities from Seoul to London to Los Angeles, the Filipino ube has enjoyed a global boom in popularity. Once processed, the crop, which can take nine months to grow, can be used in coffee, cakes, ice cream, spreads and make-up, among other products, with its rise attributed to social media. With farmers in the Philippines struggling to keep up, and with fears that overseas cultivation could swoop in to fill the gap, the government has banned the export of raw ube. “I want to be able to have a stronger Philippine ube industry,” says Al Bonifacio, a farmer and exporter processed ube.

Leading artificial intelligence companies “don’t fully control” their models yet, says former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon. Speaking as he testifies before the New York City Council, the whistleblower, who resigned from Anthropic last month, calls on companies “to be far more transparent with the public and independent experts,” adding that he believes “we should slow down frontier AI development until we can be confident that it’s safe.”

In diligent, exhausted Japan, self-described elite "competitive sleepers" vied to lie down, relax and nap the fastest and deepest in a contest organised by a mattress company.

A wayward shark has become an unlikely celebrity in South Korea, drawing an estimated one million people to a waterfront park in Busan after it was spotted swimming in its waterway. The predator -- believed to be a bull shark -- popped up this month and several attempts by coast guard boats to guide it back to the sea have failed. "It feels like a message of hope," truck driver Park Gab-mok tells AFP. "That good luck will come if I see it."