LIFE & STYLE

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.

At 10 years old, Martin cannot read, but he is an old hand at detecting traces of the gold he and his young cousins dig for at an open-pit mine in southeastern Venezuela.

Just before performing his famous moonwalk dance for the first time, Michael Jackson tossed his hat to the side of the stage.

Sweden celebrates the 50th anniversary of King Carl XVI Gustaf's reign with pomp and circumstance on Friday and Saturday, with a gala banquet, street parties and a procession through central Stockholm.

Former Austrian minister Karin Kneissl, known for dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has moved to Russia - along with her ponies flown in on board a Russian military plane.

A woman has died from botulism after eating sardines at a Bordeaux restaurant and 12 other people, mostly foreigners, are being treated for the rare condition, French health officials said Wednesday.

Despite staff shortages, a lack of equipment and dwindling fabric supplies, Russia's fashion industry is rushing to fill the gap left by the departure of major Western labels.

Porcelain figurines, a white faux-leather sofa and a foosball table: these are among the items in a House of Savoy auction, providing a rare glimpse into the everyday life of royals.

In France's southern Bordeaux region, the grape harvest is often now done at night to ensure the peak freshness required to obtain the best wine but this is also a response to climate change.

A Norwegian out walking on doctors' advice unearthed rare 6th-century gold jewellery using a newly bought metal detector, a discovery archaeologists said on Thursday was Norway's "gold find of the century".

Mexico's ruling party on Wednesday named former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum as its candidate for the 2024 presidential election, ensuring that for the first time the two main rivals to lead the Latin American power will be women.

A guitar expert and two journalists have launched a global hunt for a missing bass guitar owned by Paul McCartney, bidding to solve what they brand "the greatest mystery in rock and roll".

More than 2,000 runners will on Friday set off for the 20th edition of the Mont Blanc Ultra Trail, a hellish 170-kilometre trail run in weather that is already turning wintry.