Turkmen leader: dentist turned enigmatic strongman President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, set to be re-elected with little contest on Sunday, has moderated the wildly eccentric personality cult of his predecessor but done little to change Turkmenistan's reputation for isolation.
09 February 2012 13:26
Malaysian jungle adventurers solve WWII mysteries They trek for days through crocodile-infested swamps and up rain-lashed mountain jungles, but the members of the Malaya Historical Group are not seeking treasure or ancient artefacts. Instead, they're after rusty wreckage.
Facebook IPO latest chapter for Zuckerberg At just 27 years old, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been the subject of a Hollywood blockbuster, Time's "Person of the Year" and cracked the Forbes list of 20 richest people in the world.
02 February 2012 14:28
Pakistan's historic walled city under threat The mediaeval walled city of Lahore is under threat from a construction 'free-for-all' ruining centuries of heritage, as an ambitious Pakistani restoration project to protect it stalls.
27 January 2012 14:14
Is the American Dream still achievable in 2012? President Barack Obama's populist vision of a fairer US society comes at a time when the American Dream is becoming tougher to achieve after three decades of rising inequality, experts said Wednesday.
26 January 2012 12:11
Plagued by crime, Marseille hopes culture can clean up image Along the waterfront in the Old Port of Marseille, fishmongers shout out prices for the morning catch. Tourists stroll under sun-drenched skies. Old men sit sipping strong coffees or pastis, the anise-flavoured liqueur favoured in the south of France.
24 January 2012 15:11
Riding the Dragon: 2012 predictions from Chinese masters Want to know what's in store for 2012? Who will win the US election? Will the eurozone implode? China's feng shui masters tackle the big issues with their predictions for the Year of the Dragon.
24 January 2012 13:37
Oscar magic brewing in gritty Chicago factory Oscar magic is brewing in a gritty Chicago factory where the statues soon to be hoisted in victory by the stars of the silver screen are born in a bubbling vat of britannia.
23 January 2012 14:51
Gabon sees quiet emergence of a middle class Daniel Minkoh flashes a smile as he stands alongside his wife and three kids, proud of his middle-class status in the equatorial west African state of Gabon.
17 January 2012 15:11
Nepali girls confined by stigma and superstition Isolation is part of a centuries-old Hindu ritual known as chhaupadi that has been blamed for prolonged depression and even deaths in remote, impoverished western Nepal.
US presidents live longer than average menGray hair and a wrinkled brow beset most US presidents soon after they take office, but a study said most live longer than average men due to their wealth and access to medical care.
08 December 2011 16:24
USSR collapse: the earthquake still shaking the world The cataclysmic collapse 20 years ago of the Soviet Union, an empire which bound republics from Europe to Asia for seven decades, unleashed conflict, instability and poverty that are still felt today.
01 December 2011 15:06
Could Euro contagion doom Obama in 2012? President Barack Obama can do little but watch and wait, hoping a European debt crisis does not leap the Atlantic and doom the fragile US recovery on which his reelection hopes depend.
30 November 2011 16:57
Japan's rice farmers mull TPP future Osamu Tamaki is one of the few rice farmers in Japan who see an Asia-Pacific free trade deal as a window of opportunity rather than the death knell for a highly cosseted industry.
29 November 2011 16:08
'Skysisters' fall for skydiving Heather Swan admits skydiving used to terrify her -- it took her about 50 jumps before she stopped feeling sick to the stomach.
