Kinmen, Taiwan – On Taiwan’s sandy shores, Liu Xi Jiu puts on his goggles as he prepares to race across one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world. Originally from Beijing, he is competing in the only event of its kind, a seven-kilometre (4.3-mile) swimming race across a geopolitical hotspot, from Taiwan’s offshore Kinmen Islands to the city of Xiamen on China’s east coast. Around...

As the war enters its 903rd day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Friday, August 16, 2024. Fighting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had taken full control of the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region, after sending thousands of troops across the border in a surprise attack that began on August 6. Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskii said its forces had moved...