LIFE & STYLE

Farmer Askarbek Duisheyev pours a small plastic bottle into the palm of his hand and tips some green balls under his tongue.

In a Swedish nursing home, residents wait for a bus that never comes. Caroline Wahlberg, who runs the Tallhojden nursing home, sat down with Edward, a resident in his 80s whose piercing blue eyes looked vaguely off into the distance.

Indonesian dancer Rianto moves gracefully in front of a crowd of thousands in the capital Jakarta, whipping his orange sash and in full make-up as he performs a centuries-old folk dance frowned upon by conservatives.

Unless she lines up in the hot sun for a free meal, ketchup on bread is the only food Thai widow Noi can afford on her small government pension.

Towering models parade down a three-metre (10-foot) high catwalk overlooking the rusting tin roofs of Kibera, the Kenyan capital's biggest urban slum.

New Zealand has a plan to tax farmers for their livestock's burps and farts -- and it's causing a stink ahead of Saturday's general elections.

South Korea got its first up-close look at its new pair of baby giant pandas Thursday at a name-revealing ceremony that doubled as an early celebration of the 100 days since their birth.

What makes a good or bad year for wine? But the paper argues that because there is broad consensus about what makes good versus bad wine, the taste scores offer a reliable means to monitor how crops are changing over time -- and they attempted to statistically control for the effects of improving winemaking technology.

Guitars played by music legends Eric Clapton and Kurt Cobain are going under the hammer in the United States next month with an estimated price tag of up to $2 million each.

Clad in a Barbie-pink shalwar kameez, influencer and doctor Mehrub Moiz Awan reels off endless examples of harassment she's received since becoming the sharp-tongued figurehead of Pakistan's queer community.

Taiwan's traditional Hakka opera, usually performed at religious festivals, dates back to the late Qing Dynasty and was brought to the island by migrants from mainland China.

Tens of thousands of Oromos gathered Sunday at a lake near the Ethiopian capital for a once-banned celebration that today doubles as a sounding board for political and ethnic demands.

South Koreans hoping to taste authentic North Korean cuisine abroad may be out of luck, with Pyongyang-run restaurants across northern China saying they will refuse to serve their capitalist compatriots.

Mongolian circus performers fly through a cavernous hall inspectors have warned could collapse any time, one of the few places left to train if they hope to travel the world with their country's spectacular big top shows.

Macau's baccarat and poker tables were teeming once again as millions of Chinese tourists marked "Golden Week" in October, with post-pandemic travel surging despite the country's economic slowdown.

British fashion house Alexander McQueen on Thursday announced the appointment of a new head designer, Sean McGirr, replacing Sarah Burton who had led the label since the death of its founder.

Bill Gates is emphatic: "I don't plant trees," he declared recently, wading into a debate about whether mass tree planting is really much use in fighting climate change.

British designer Stella McCartney took over a Paris marketplace on Monday and turned it into a showcase for new greener textiles while honouring her rock star parents' time in 1970s band Wings.

From creams and oils promising to take the user to seventh heaven to multi-sensory vibration devices and erotic lingerie, the sex accessory market has become more feminine over the years, even feminist.

Several shows are recognising Guenter Brus, the last surviving key member of Vienna's famed "actionists", who turned 85 this week and whose radical movement broke new ground using the body to make art.

Three decades ago, Brazilian researchers began studying a curious side effect from banana spider bites: the toxin left victims with priapism, a painful and persistent erection.

Eying each other across a stream of traffic, rival Pakistani biryani joints vie for customers, serving a fiery medley of meat, rice and spice that unites and divides South Asian appetites.

Stitching together cricket balls is a wearisome task for leatherworker Bunty Sagar, whose labours are frowned upon by many fellow Indians even if he makes their favourite pastime possible.

An anti-Covid drug widely used across the world may have caused mutations in the virus, researchers said on Monday, but there was no evidence that the changes had led to more dangerous variants.

Milan Fashion Week was not even over and the fashionistas were already heading to Paris on Monday for another 100-plus shows in the hectic womenswear season.

Maud Le Fort won't be seen on the runways of Paris Fashion Week, which kicks off on Monday, having chosen her health over a career on the catwalk.

Tens of thousands of Catholics are expected in the French Mediterranean city of Marseille for Pope Francis's two-day visit, but the once dominant faith is in a long decline in France.

Abir Jassem is busy preparing stuffed vegetables at a kitchen in Iraq's Mosul, where after years of unrest a women-run catering service has helped single mothers like her achieve financial security.

King Charles III on Friday puts the environment at the heart of the final day of his state visit to France, learning about climate-induced wildfires and visiting a sustainable vineyard in the heart of wine country.