Philippine typhoon survivors turn cave-dwellers
Victims who survived the Philippines' super typhoon by huddling in a cave as a tsunami-like wave obliterated their community have now made it their home -- reduced to Stone Age conditions with nowhere else to go.
Czech party leader haunted by ghosts of communist past
Unwelcome spectres are coming back to haunt Czech billionaire Andrej Babis, who emerged as a power broker in recent elections but is facing allegations he collaborated with the communist-era secret police.
China one-child law change small but crucial: experts
Beijing's relaxation of its hugely controversial one-child policy is an attention-grabbing first step, but it will have to usher in greater changes if China is to tackle its looming demographic timebomb, experts say.
China cake millionaire at home in his six castles
As the greatest urbanisation drive in history swells China's cities with ranks of identikit apartment blocks, one culinary businessman is indulging his architectural appetite with a visual feast of extravagant, outlandish castles.
CIA spying on Americans' financial data: report
The Central Intelligence Agency is amassing a huge database of international money transfers that includes the financial and personal data of millions of Americans, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Britain's oldest resident dies aged 113
Britain's oldest resident died on Thursday just a few weeks short of her 114th birthday.
Anger in New Zealand at 'close your legs' rape defence
Victims' rights advocates in New Zealand on Thursday condemned a defence lawyer who told a rape victim she should have "closed her legs" if she wanted to avoid having sex.
Chinese man gives future bride 8.88 mn in cash
A Chinese suitor who gave his future bride an auspicious 8.88 million yuan ($1.5 million) in cash drew ire Thursday for the extravagant display of wealth in the still-developing country.
Young Frenchman too heavy to fly will go home by ship
A young Frenchman who weighs 230 kilograms (500 pounds) and was deemed too heavy to fly on a jetliner arrived in New York Tuesday to head home by ship.
China Singles Day online shoppers spend almost $6 bn
Chinese shoppers spent a record 35.0 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) at the country's biggest online marketplaces on Singles Day, their operator said Tuesday, after the festival created by e-tailers to persuade the loveless to console themselves with retail therapy.
Japan gov't report finds serious abuse of disabled
The abuse of disabled people has emerged as a major problem in Japan with the violence most often inflicted by family members or domestic carers, according to a government survey.
Lost kingdom: Myanmar's forgotten royals
In a modest Yangon apartment, the granddaughter of Myanmar's last king lives poor and unrecognised by her neighbours -- a far cry from the power and riches of her ancestor.
Philippine elite fight ageing with stem cell therapy
Cynthia Carrion-Norton flits high-heeled around the Philippine capital with energy levels belying her years, thankful for a controversial treatment she highly recommends to fellow sixty-somethings.
200 million people at risk from toxic pollution: environmentalists
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide risk exposure to toxic pollution, environmental groups warned Monday, publishing a list of the world's worst areas, including an African processing site for European electronics.
McDonald's Japan 'sorry' over homeless ban
McDonald's Japan issued an apology Friday after it was revealed one of its outlets had posted a notice banning homeless people for more than a year.
Almaty Mayor admits gays exist in his city
Akim (Mayor) of Almaty city Akhmetzhan Yessimov has admitted the existence of gays in the city.
500 civilians evacuated from besieged Syrian town
Some 500 women, children and elderly civilians trapped in the besieged town of Moadamiyet al-Sham, southwest of Damascus, have been evacuated.
UN inquiry chief left in tears by N. Korea brutality
The head of a UN inquiry into North Korea rights abuses told Tuesday how he had been reduced to tears by witness accounts of people who fled the hardline state.
Churchill's London bunker welcomes wannabe WWII spies
Deep in the bowels of London's Churchill War Rooms, shadowy figures are learning how to defuse bombs, crack codes and rooting out hidden microphones.
Britain braces for worst storm in a decade
Britain faced travel chaos on Monday and more than 10,000 homes were without electricity in northwestern France as a massive storm swept in from the Atlantic Ocean.