#Automotive

by Andrea PALASCIANO Dozens of cadets and youngsters from Russia’s Youth Army have been getting up close and personal with perhaps the world’s most iconic firearm as their country prepares to mark the centenary of the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, maker of the legendary rifle. At Victory Museum in western Moscow, visitors including the young […]

It’s a skill you never forget once learnt, as the saying goes: Now immigrants to Finland can receive free cycling lessons to help them better integrate into life in the bike-loving nation. On a sunny September morning a group of around eight students have taken time out from their Finnish lessons to come to an […]

by Jerome TAYLOR / Yan ZHAO Strife-torn Hong Kong marked the 70th anniversary of communist China’s founding with defiant “Day of Grief” protests on Tuesday as pro-democracy activists ignored a police ban and took to the streets in multiple neighbourhoods. The international finance hub is on edge as protesters vow to overshadow Beijing’s festivities, stepping […]

Sri Lanka announced harsher penalties in a bid to protect wild elephants on Tuesday, as investigators probed whether seven jumbos found poisoned over the weekend were killed by villagers. Wildlife and Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said he will impose tougher sanctions on offenders to boost laws enacted three years ago but not yet implemented due to […]

Indonesia has been rocked by the gruesome murder of a man who was killed by a group of hitmen hired by his own mother to execute him because of his sexual orientation. The mother allegedly told the hitmen to kill her son because she believed her son was gay, but the local papers in Indonesia have […]

by Sean CHANG Communist China’s creation seven decades ago irrevocably changed Taiwan, but Beijing’s huge celebrations this week will be met with a collective shrug on an island where people increasingly see themselves as distinct from the mainland. After the People’s Republic of China was declared on 1 October 1949, its rival, the Republic of […]

by Jerome TAYLOR / Jasmine LEUNG Ripped-up paving stones lay scattered around the graffiti-scarred streets of Hong Kong  after one of the most violent days in a summer of rage, as protesters ready for fresh clashes on Tuesday’s 70th anniversary of communist China’s founding. The protest-wracked financial hub witnessed its fiercest political violence in weeks […]

Former First Lady Michelle Obama has paid a touching tribute to Duchess Meghan Markle for “breaking the mould” during her royal tour of South Africa. The Duchess has been praised as an “inspiration” by Michelle Obama for her charity work. She is currently on tour in South Africa with husband Prince Harry and their four-month-old […]

Indonesia saw a series of demonstrations that has little to do with climate change or the noble struggle of Swedish student and climate activist Greta Thunberg. But the students in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia left behind tons of plastic waste on the streets in the aftermath of their angry protests. They were protesting against […]

by Nina LARSON More than half of Europe’s endemic tree species, including the horse-chestnut, risk extinction, conservationists warned Friday, blaming invasive species, unsustainable logging and urban development for their decline. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said out of the 454 tree species native to Europe, 42 percent could disappear from the continent. […]

by Fiachra GIBBONS Vivienne Westwood designer Andreas Kronthaler hit out Saturday at fashion’s most powerful man Bernard Arnault for attacking Greta Thunberg. The French billionaire and head of the LVMH conglomerate that owns labels like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, and pop idol Rihanna’s new brand Fenty, said the teenage climate activist was “surrendering to total […]

The world is full of books, and yet even if we read every single day of our lives, we would never be able to read them all. So we have to choose which books deserve to take up space in our minds, and everyone knows that the more choices one is presented with, the harder […]

With all the amazing technology in photography available to us today, the incredible sharpness of smartphone cameras plus the dazzling array of photography filters and apps, it is nearly impossible to take a bad photograph. And these days, travelling without a camera just doesn’t make sense. Besides immortalising memories of your adventures in photographs, you’ve […]

We’ve seen it all—grand weddings, traditional weddings, themed weddings, and unusual weddings of all kinds. It isn’t surprising anymore to hear of couples tying the knot in rare or adventurous ways, like sky diving and saying “I do” in mid-air. But these days, a new trend has risen to the forefront—in a world of constantly […]

Princess Beatrice of York is now engaged to businessman Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Prince Andrew released an official engagement photo of the couple which was taken by Beatrice’s sister, Princess Eugenie to his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the wedding will take place in 2020. “We share so many similar interests and […]