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India prepares for Kumbh Mela Hindu festival, world’s largest gathering
Over 6 weeks from January 13, 350-400 million Hindu pilgrims will converge on the Ganges. Many will bathe in its waters to achieve salvation.
11 Jan 2025 - 8:21AM
What to do in Hong Kong
5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, January 10-12
10 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM
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Chinese culture
Why are there fewer babies born during the Year of the Snake?
10 Jan 2025 - 4:19PM
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Art
How Jimmy Carter’s art shows a different side to late US president
He favoured woodwork over golf, made chairs and painted artworks that sold for thousands. Art is part of the late US president’s legacy.
9 Jan 2025 - 5:50PM
Jimmy Carter’s painting Cardinals. Photo: The Carter Center
Chinese culture
Year of the Snake 2025 predictions for Monkeys, such as a big career boost
Monkeys can expect career advancements – especially if they work with women or are in a women-led industry – according to Chinese geomancy.
9 Jan 2025 - 5:27PM
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Art
Who needs Art Basel? Town in rural Uruguay a magnet for world’s artists
Pueblo Garzon, an old mill town, drew 6,000 visitors to its eighth Campo Artfest. For one resident artist, the festival beats Art Basel.
9 Jan 2025 - 4:18PM
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Asia travel
Festivals are ‘not a show’, priest says in Japan tourism vs tradition row
Special seats giving premium views of festivals in places such as Kyoto, aimed at foreigners, stoke debate about tourism’s impact on culture.
7 Jan 2025 - 7:50AM
A team carries a float in preparation for the Aomori Nebuta Festival, a summer fire festival in the northeastern prefecture of Aomori, Japan, in 2010. The sale of premium seats to such spectacles, marketed to foreigners, worries native Japanese. Photo: Shutterstock
Video gaming
‘Blandify’, ‘stroopwafel’ among new Oxford English Dictionary words
Other additions in the dictionary’s quarterly update include ‘non-player character’, ‘cheat code’, ‘snark’ and ‘three-dimensional chess’.
8 Jan 2025 - 5:45PM
Books and literature
New Korean books in English to look forward to in 2025
Nobel Prize laureate Han Kang’s translated novel We Do Not Part leads a strong line-up of new English-language Korean literature this year.
8 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM
Asia travel
Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival, where extreme body piercings bring blessings
Every autumn in Phuket, those chosen by the gods are impaled with spikes, swords and more in one of Thailand’s most unusual religious events.
8 Jan 2025 - 2:34PM
Chinese culture
Year of the Snake 2025 predictions for Sheep, including their lucky colour
According to Chinese geomancy, those born in the Year of the Sheep will make money this year if they are careful – but love won’t come easy.
9 Jan 2025 - 2:11PM
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Things will go well for Sheep who are married or in a stable relationship in the Year of the Snake. Illustration: Victor Sanjinez
Art
Artist’s vibrant viral Instagram works lift up crumbling district
Adel Yazdi has turned his neighbourhood in Shiraz, Iran into a vivid visual tapestry that many tourists are discovering through social media.
7 Jan 2025 - 12:45PM
Music
Jimmy Carter’s love of music, from Bob Dylan to Willie Nelson
Former US president Jimmy Carter loved music and musicians loved him back, from Aretha Franklin and Peter Gabriel to Killer Mike.
6 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM
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Books and literature
Author Ian Rankin on his favourite books and being a ‘frustrated rock star’
The writer of the Inspector Rebus novels talks about his new book Midnight and Blue, being an author, and books that have given him pleasure.
5 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM
Syrian conflict
Syrian photographer’s return to war-torn hometown is ‘like a dream’
Douma, near Damascus, endured years of terror under Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Sameer al-Doumy escaped, and thought he’d never get back there.
5 Jan 2025 - 4:15PM
France-based photojournalist Sameer al-Doumy photographs Douma from a damaged building. He says returning to his Syrian hometown doesn’t offer comfort. Photo: AFP
Chinese culture
5 martial arts films that feature the snake style of Shaolin kung fu
From an early Jackie Chan film to Kung Fu Panda and The Karate Kid, here are five movies where snake kung fu appears.
10 Jan 2025 - 12:09PM
Education
In Finland, they know a troll when they see one. Online, that is
Trolls, fake news, hoaxes – to prevent people believing everything they see online, Finland integrates media literacy into its school system.
4 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM
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Chinese culture
Who is a ‘snake king’? What is a ‘snake nest’? Twisty Cantonese slang explained
Why do police ‘release snakes’? How do students ‘bend snakes’? We untangle six Cantonese slang expressions that use the word ‘snake’.
9 Jan 2025 - 2:10PM
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What is a “snake king”? Where do you find a ‘“snake nest” and why is that something good? We untangle six Cantonese slang phrases to do with snakes. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture
Year of the Snake 2025 predictions for Horses, who’ll find love easily
Horses will be lucky in love, women above all, in the lunar new year according to Chinese geomancy. Men in certain jobs will make good money.
2 Jan 2025 - 7:10PM
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Music
‘Happiness has been taken from this nation’: Afghans keep the music alive
Musicians play behind closed doors despite a ban on music in Afghanistan and a maker of stringed instrument the rubab refuses to down tools.
2 Jan 2025 - 11:15AM
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Music
Why the waltz? The subversive history of a New Year tradition
The dance that will forever be associated with Vienna and composer Johan Strauss II is one of history’s great subversive endeavours.
1 Jan 2025 - 3:15PM
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Should museums return antiquities to their countries of origin? Some say no
New fronts have opened up in the war of cultural restitution, raising complex ethical and legal questions as some argue against museums returning foreign artefacts.
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Run clubs have arrived in Hong Kong to combine exercise and community
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How Transcendental Meditation transformed my life, as it did for The Beatles
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3 top wellness trends to make 2025 a better year
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