India reinvents 'ethnic chic'
Jumpsuits inspired by sari drapes, urban dresses in tribal cloth and digitally printed lehenga skirts -- young designers have re-embraced their Indian heritage at Mumbai's latest fashion week.
07 August 2012 12:22
Gay taboo turns to pride in Vietnam
Communist Vietnam is considering legalising same-sex marriage, which would catapult it to the fore of gay rights in Asia, where traditional values dominate many societies and sodomy is illegal in some.
Hiroshima marks anniversary of atomic bombing
Tens of thousands of people marked the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Monday, as a rising tide of anti-nuclear sentiment swells in post-Fukushima Japan.
06 August 2012 10:53
Suit says Zynga copied 'Sims Social' game
US videogames giant Electronic Arts said Friday it had filed suit claiming Zynga's game "The Ville" illegally copied the life simulator "The Sims Social."
05 August 2012 15:13
South Africa marks 50 years of Mandela's arrest
South Africa will unveil its latest monument to Nelson Mandela on Saturday, a new statue along a rural highway to mark the spot where he was arrested 50 years ago for his struggle against white rule.
05 August 2012 13:53
Gays target US fast-food chain with 'kiss-in'
Gays and lesbians puckered up at "kiss-ins" outside Chick-fil-A outlets across the United States in protest over the fast-food chain's opposition to same-sex marriage.
04 August 2012 13:04
World's oldest hippo dies at 62
Donna, believed to be the world's oldest hippo, has died at the age of 62 after living more than two decades beyond the massive mammal's usual life expectancy, zoo officials said.
Mystery, anger surround Wallenberg's USSR disappearance
Over 67 years since he disappeared into the Soviet prison system, the fate of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg remains shrouded in mystery despite decades of work to find the truth.
03 August 2012 10:34
N. Zealand school criticised for dead possum show
A New Zealand school that staged a morbid fashion show in which children were encouraged to dress possum corpses in colourful costumes has come under fire from animal lovers.
02 August 2012 15:30
Mother knows best: finches choose chicks' gender
Female parrot finches can match their offspring's gender to prevailing living conditions, producing more sons in lean times, scientists in Australia said Wednesday.
Fiji dumps Queen's birthday holiday
Fiji's military regime has dumped Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday from its list of annual public holidays, saying it is no longer relevant to the former British colony.
01 August 2012 15:14
Turkmenistan to plant huge forest in Aral Sea region
Turkmenistan is allocating tens of millions of dollars to plant trees in a region neighbouring the stricken Aral Sea, state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan said Tuesday.
01 August 2012 12:57
Climate change prompts French ski area to mull downsize
A modest ski area in the French Alps is ready to unbolt its chairlifts and rope off slopes as the local mayor concludes that climate change means the trails ahead will be rocky.
01 August 2012 11:23
US report on religious freedom 'unjustified': China
China's official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday there was "no justification" for a US report signalling a marked deterioration in the country's religious freedom in 2011.
31 July 2012 14:28
Divorces on the rise again in Iraq
Divorces are on the rise in Iraq, official figures show, though the number of couples parting ways is still far lower than the latter years of Saddam Hussein's rule, and marriages much higher.
