Forget the Mao suits of a generation ago. Actually, forget about any clothes at all. Naked wedding photos are the hot new trend among young couples in once deeply conservative China. Even in Anhui, a largely rural province in the east, many newly-weds are having their pictures taken in the nude, to the fury of their parents’ generation.
It’s no easy task to promote a sport that even your national champion admits is about as fascinating as watching paint dry. "I don’t think it could be more boring if it tried. Think of a roomful of students sitting their exams and you’re getting close," Josh Foer said on Saturday, shortly before being crowned Memory Champion of the United States.
Knight Ridder, the second-largest newspaper company in the United States, agreed late on Sunday to a $4,5-billion cash and stock buyout by the McClatchy Company, <i>The New York Times</i> reported on Monday. Citing sources involved in the negotiations, the newspaper said the deal was expected to be announced on Monday.
Union bosses on Monday morning said they were hoping for a massive turnout as thousands were expected to down tools over Transnet’s restructuring plans. ”The message here is that we will not back-off until Transnet stops its unilateral management style and arrogance,” South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) General Secretary Randall Howard said.
A powerful six from West Indies opener Chris Gayle inadvertently put New Zealand on course for a dramatic 27-run win in the first cricket Test at Eden Park in Auckland on Monday. It was New Zealand’s lowest Test winning margin, extending the West Indies losing streak to seven.
Iraq suffered one of its bloodiest days of violence on Sunday after attackers struck two markets in a Shia area of Baghdad, killing at least 44 people and wounding more than 200. The killers struck with three car bombs and four mortars, causing pandemonium in Sadr City.
Zimbabwean police are still searching for former opposition MP Roy Bennett after last week’s discovery of an arms cache in Mutare, Harare’s Herald newspaper reported on Monday. Its website quoted senior police officer Ronald Muderedzi as saying various teams had been dispatched into Manicaland province to look for Bennett.
Drug companies are still not making life-saving drugs available to millions of people with HIV/Aids in the developing world, according to the Médécins Sans Frontières. Basic three-drug cocktails in a single pill are being slowly rolled out to some who need them, but doctors fear many of those people will die within a few years if they cannot get hold of alternative drugs.
Andre Agassi wants to keep Swedish legend Bjorn Borg’s five Wimbledon trophies out of the hands of a faceless collector, and he’s willing to pay to do it. ”I just don’t think you should have one unless you win it,” said Agassi, who won the first of his eight Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 1992.
McDonald’s iconic ”golden arches” are being trumped by the blue and white of Israel’s flag after the hamburger chain bowed to pressure from Tel Aviv’s chief rabbi to distinguish its kosher restaurants and save religious Jews from accidentally chomping on a cheeseburger.