The intimate looks at locations around the globe made possible by Google Street View has changed the way many of us look at the world. But according to a new piece of information revealed by Google, it turns out that our virtual tourism habits aren’t necessarily aligned with some of our real-world pursuits. According to Street View program manager Ulf Spitzer, the top virtual tourism destination in Asia using Google […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS President Barack Obama calls on the GOP to stop fighting his health care plan “America must move off a permanent war footing,” Obama says He asks Congress not to refight Obamacare battles The year of action. That’s what 2014 is all about for President Barack Obama, and it was the underlying theme of Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. “Let’s make this a year of action,” Obama […]
After her son was killed in Kashmir, Anuradha Gore made it her life’s mission to have other youngsters join the Army It had been a quiet day at their home in Mumbai when Anuradha Gore had a difficult promise to make. Her son, Vinayak, a Captain in the 31st Medium Artillery Regiment, had learnt that he had been posted near the border, and that too, at the height of […]
Syrians in the besieged Old City of Homs are now so desperate for food that they are eating “anything that comes out of the ground, plants, even grass”, resident Baibars Altalawy has told the BBC. Mr Altalawy, 24, described life in parts of Homs under government siege for over a year-and-a-half. He said those under siege had had to rely on supplies of food, medicines and fuel left over from […]
Jane Burnett, Nicky Walker and Sarah Daly sat for photo at Imire: Rhino and Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe Suddenly the seven-tonne bull elephant crept up behind them as they posed for pictures, waving its trunk There’s nothing more annoying than returning home to find an idiotic photo-bomber has ruined your favourite holiday snaps. But for these five women, it was a rather more welcome intrusion when a seven-tonne bull elephant […]
Ole’! Chile showcases its skies and mountain heights in the week’s best space pictures, along with Martian mysteries and an intriguing twin quasar. Glaciers in the southern Andes as seen from space. High above Chile, the International Space Station’s crew offers up a lovely look at the glaciers gleaming in the southern Andes, as seen in this January 22 image released by NASA. (See also: “Up on the Farm? Five […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS Police: Anti-government protesters had blocked a voting station and shut it down They encountered government supporters and exchanged verbal assaults It’s unclear who killed protest leader Suthin Thararin, police said Protesters have been calling for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down An anti-government protest leader was shot to death Sunday as demonstrators blocked a voting station in Bangkok, police said. Suthin Thararin, a protest leader for the […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS National September 11 Memorial Museum will charge $24 for admission The fee will help balance a $63 million operating budget for 2014, 9/11 memorial president says The museum does not yet receive government funding Relatives of 9/11 victims are exempt from fees, and other discounts are offered The leader of a group representing 9/11 victims’ families on Friday criticized the National September 11 Memorial Museum’s decision to charge […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick is an optical illusion that has fascinated tourists for decades The Moeraki Boulders in New Zealand are what geologists call septarian concretions Lightning and the Midnight Sun also wow visitors — and keep them awake at night Earth never stops surprising us. Every corner of the planet offers some sort of natural peculiarity with an explanation that makes us wish we’d studied harder […]
Murder by exorcism? STORY HIGHLIGHTS Zakieya L. Avery, 28, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of her kids A second woman is charged after she is released from hospital A day before the deaths, a neighbor called to report suspicious activity Authorities say they notified county child protective services A Maryland mother stabbed two of her children to death and wounded two others while attempting an exorcism, authorities […]
