Tourists fight the flab at Thai boxing campsIn a sweltering training camp on a tropical Thai island, sweaty tourists wearing oversized gloves and baggy shorts slam their fists, knees,
02 April 2013 14:17
Chavez: Leftist firebrand who divided nation, vexed 'US'Former paratrooper Hugo Chavez led a self-styled revolution that redistributed Venezuela's oil wealth, earning the devotion of the long-neglected poor while provoking foes at home and abroad.
Right move: Chess gives Ugandan slum children hopeSitting in a dimly lit room in the run-down Kampala suburb of Katwe, Phiona Mutesi stares fixedly at the chessboard in front of her as she ponders the next move in her improbable journey.
Paris's favourite Dame turns 850Quasimodo only had eyes for Esmerelda but the famous hunchback's fellow Parisians have always had another special lady in their lives.
12 December 2012 12:46
Bedouins brave elements to attend bamboo schoolIt takes a certain kind of dedication to be a pupil at the Jahalin primary school, where children often walk for hours across tough desert terrain just to get there.
Morocco's 'liquid gold' enriches Berber women In the heart of Essaouira's medina, Khadija, 21, runs a small shop selling bottles of the golden liquid on behalf of five women producer groups, one of many argan oil outlets in the historic port city targeting the tourist trade.
14 November 2012 11:57
Fly-by art? Gagosian opens Paris airport galleryIn a globalised art market, what better place for a gallery than an airport? Thus reasoned US art mogul Larry Gagosian, who this week opens a cavernous new art space right inside Paris's main private air hub.
16 October 2012 11:26
Taiwan showgirls strip for the dead Dressed in mini skirts barely covering their hips, the two girls took to the neon-lit stage and moved vigorously to the loud, pumping pop music. Their job: to appease the wandering spirits.
France melts for marshmallow Marshmallows roasted over a campfire may be a staple of American childhood, but few realise the pillowy treats were invented in 19th-century France, where they are bouncing back into foodie fashion.
New York graffiti haven braces for gentrificationGraffiti artists are used to escaping cops, jumping from roofs, and dodging trains, but New York painters who turned an abandoned factory into a street art legend now face their real nemesis: gentrification.
18 August 2012 10:11
Church hounding of Pussy Riot troubles RussiansThe dominant Russian Orthodox Church's tough stance against the all-girl punk band Pussy Riot has troubled some faithful and estranged it from the younger generation it must foster for future growth.
14 August 2012 14:15
150-year-old Bangladesh brothel fights closureTara Das says she is the fifth generation of her family to work at the same brothel in Bangladesh, but now she is fighting against Islamic protesters who want her business to close.
