E-Mail this
Don't wear socks, hot Pakistanis told amid power crisis
Monday, May 20, 2013 4:53:46 AM CST
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has told civil servants not to wear socks as the country turns off air-conditioners amid a chronic power crisis and soaring temperatures.
E-Mail this
Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese
Monday, May 20, 2013 12:39:58 AM CST
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such...
E-Mail this
Putting group fitness classes in the proper light
Monday, May 20, 2013 12:03:37 AM CST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitness experts are shining a new light on group classes from Zumba to yoga because they believe the right lighting can transform the four walls of a fitness studio from a dance...
E-Mail this
On fleeting Hong Kong trips, Chinese make frugal fashionable
Sunday, May 19, 2013 8:26:32 PM CST
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Armed with empty suitcases and same-day return tickets, an army of mainland Chinese is descending on suburban outlet shopping malls and international fashion chains in Hong...
E-Mail this
Greying China taps rural elderly to care for those even older
Sunday, May 19, 2013 11:08:15 AM CST
QIANTUN, China (Reuters) - Two years short of 70, Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager - washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed, and keeping him company -...
E-Mail this
Pope warns Church against closing in on itself
Sunday, May 19, 2013 11:07:33 AM CST
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis warned the Catholic Church to not close in on itself at a Mass to mark Pentecost Sunday attended by more than 200,000 people, urging the faithful to be open and...
E-Mail this
Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle
Sunday, May 19, 2013 8:57:00 AM CST
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win...
E-Mail this
EU finds time to tell restaurants how to serve olive oil
Saturday, May 18, 2013 9:20:34 AM CST
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Critics ridiculed European Union bureaucrats on Saturday for taking time off fighting the euro zone's debt crisis to impose strict new rules on how restaurants serve olive oil.
E-Mail this
France's Hollande signs gay marriage law
Saturday, May 18, 2013 5:48:41 AM CST
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande has signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, making France the 14th country to legalize gay weddings.
E-Mail this
Amid frenzy over map apps, new focus on 16th century world view
Saturday, May 18, 2013 2:43:53 AM CST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As online titans compete to deliver instant maps to smartphones, the Library of Congress in Washington is focusing attention on an antique "cosmology" printed in 1507 that...
E-Mail this
Toronto mayor denies smoking crack cocaine
Friday, May 17, 2013 4:13:33 PM CST
TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, a target of criticism for his often unconventional conduct, on Friday denied media allegations that he had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine.
E-Mail this
The supervised after-prom party: Now with cars, iPads and other goodies
Friday, May 17, 2013 4:13:19 PM CST
WICHITA, Kansas (Reuters) - Sometime on Sunday morning, a Pennsylvania high school student will be presented with the keys to a black Honda Civic just for going to a party after the school's annual...
E-Mail this
Canadian astronaut wrestles with gravity after spaceflight
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:33:46 PM CST
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Back on Earth, Canadian astronaut and cyberspace tweeter Chris Hadfield is getting a rough re-introduction to gravity after a five-month stint aboard the...
E-Mail this
Boxing kangaroo stops jogging Australian MP in his tracks
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:16:39 PM CST
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A startled kangaroo knocked an Australian politician to the ground and clawed his leg after its morning graze on a suburban lawn was interrupted by the jogging lawmaker.
E-Mail this
French gay marriage law gets constitutional all-clear
Friday, May 17, 2013 11:52:49 AM CST
PARIS (Reuters) - France's Constitutional Council cleared the way on Friday for same-sex marriage, throwing out a last-ditch effort by opponents to scupper the country's biggest social reform since...
E-Mail this
Gay couples in Portugal win limited adoption rights
Friday, May 17, 2013 10:10:39 AM CST
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament on Friday handed same-sex couples the right to adopt the children or foster children of one partner, a partial victory for equality campaigners that fell...
E-Mail this
Czechs turn Soviet nuclear warhead depot into Iron Curtain museum
Friday, May 17, 2013 9:54:31 AM CST
MISOV, Czech Republic (Reuters) - A former secret Soviet nuclear warhead shelter in the Czech Republic is being turned into a museum inviting visitors to learn about the Cold War atomic race.
E-Mail this
Gaucho exhibition at Vatican a tribute to pope's homeland
Friday, May 17, 2013 8:47:22 AM CST
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Gauchos, the legendary Argentine cowboys from the vast Pampas of Pope Francis's homeland, are being celebrated in a rare exhibition in no less a place than St. Peter's...
E-Mail this
Every cent helps: euro zone explores scrapping smallest coins
Friday, May 17, 2013 7:22:16 AM CST
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Saving pocket change may not end the euro zone crisis, but the European Commission hopes that scrapping the smallest coins could help penny-pinching governments cut costs.
E-Mail this
Crowds break up gay rights rally in Georgia
Friday, May 17, 2013 6:21:49 AM CST
TBILISI (Reuters) - Priests and thousands of other Georgians broke through police barricades and forced gay rights activists to flee on Friday, cutting short their rally to mark the international day...
E-Mail this
Change looms for Ethiopia's ancient salt trade
Friday, May 17, 2013 5:21:50 AM CST
HAMAD-ILE, Ethiopia (Reuters) - Abdu Ibrahim Mohammed was 15 years old when he began trekking with caravans of camels to collect salt in a sun-blasted desert basin of north Ethiopia that is one of...
E-Mail this
Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Bucharest
Friday, May 17, 2013 3:51:09 AM CST
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Got 48 hours to explore Romania's capital and its eclectic mix of western architectural ideas, eastern imagery, 20th century totalitarian megalomania and buzzing nightlife?
E-Mail this
Psychiatrists unveil their long-awaited diagnostic "bible"
Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:05:23 PM CST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The long-awaited, controversial new edition of the bible of psychiatry can be characterized by many numbers: its 947 pages, its $199 price tag, its more than 300 maladies (from...
E-Mail this
China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas
Thursday, May 16, 2013 8:25:46 PM CST
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state...
E-Mail this
From "bunga bunga" to "pianists" - Italy's political slang
Thursday, May 16, 2013 4:56:02 PM CST
ROME (Reuters) - An encyclopedia of Italian political slang has shone a light on a colorful and Byzantine world where lawmakers and journalists speak a language you won't find in any ordinary...