Every year in late spring, Australia’s Christmas Island becomes covered in crabs when the more than 40 million red crustaceans that call the northwest island territory home start their annual migration to the sea, covering the landscape in a mass of crimson claws. The migration starts with the first heavy rains in October, November or December. At that point, there’s enough moisture in the air for the large crustaceans, which […]

STORY HIGHLIGHTS Middle East’s private jet market expected to grow 12% in next two years Configuration is important: Arab clients want separate areas for men and women Bathrooms must be located near the front of the plane Regional industry’s biggest problem is “gray market” — unlicensed renting by private individuals The Middle East might account for less than one tenth of global private jet sales, but the passengers flying on […]

STORY HIGHLIGHTS 5-year-old Johari is bitten in neck by male in her pride, zoo says “You’re watching it and you just can’t believe your eyes,” witness tells WFAA Exhibit closed after Sunday attack; lionesses expected back on Monday A lion at the Dallas Zoo bit and killed a lioness in their exhibit as visitors watched Sunday afternoon in an attack officials said they couldn’t immediately explain. The 5-year-old lioness, Johari, […]

For mega-wealthy young men of the Gulf Arab states nothing says ‘I am rich’ more aptly than to Instagram yourself and your lion or cheetah posing alongside your Mercedes or Lamborghini or motoring along in a speedboat. Showing off the Persian Gulf’s latest ‘ultimate status symbol’, the penchant for posting big cat photos on Instagram betrays the young men’s sheer bravado or stupidity, depending on your point of view. Indeed, […]

The Gilded Years of the late nineteenth century and the start of World War I were a glamorous era in New York City as wealthy families sought to demonstrate their new position by building vast Fifth Avenue mansions. Brownstone town houses were turned into dazzling mansions that became filled with precious objects, important painting collections and hosted elaborate parties and balls. It was the rise of many familiar names that […]

Volunteers in Tacloban in the Philippines arranged the bodies in bags A huge trench had been dug through a cemetery to contain them The vast majority of those buried had not been identified Corpses still lie decaying in the streets while workers rush to remove them before disease begins to spread Meanwhile aid efforts to more remote areas of the country intensified Piled unceremoniously in an ugly trench, almost 400 […]

Why should I be scared of the government when electric current doesn’t scare me? asks Loha Singh, who purloins electricity and provides illegal connections for a living in Katiyabaaz (Powerless), a riveting new documentary on power theft in India. Singh, an irascible young man with a gift for invective, is the pivot around whom the film rotates. He snaps off and mangles wires to the main public supply cables for […]

Police in Canada say 348 people have been arrested and nearly 400 children rescued during a three-year investigation into child pornography. At the centre of the inquiry was a Toronto-based firm that allegedly sold DVDs and streamed videos of naked children. Azov Films marketed the footage as “naturist” and claimed it was legal in Canada and the US. The films were distributed in 94 countries, police said. In Canada 108 […]

Canada boasts world-class destinations such as the Rockies and Niagara Falls, but it’s missing out on a global tourism boom, costing the economy billions of dollars a year. The number of international visitors to Canada has plunged 20 per cent since 2000 even as global travel soars, according to a sobering report being released Thursday by Deloitte Canada. As recently as 1970, Canada was the world’s second most popular destination, […]

East State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania Photographers Daniel Barter and Daniel Marbaix’s pictures of deserted buildings in the north-eastern states of the US show once-grand edifices slipping into terminal decline. The pair’s eerie portraits of emptiness have been collected in a book, States of Decay, published by Carpetbombing Culture in the UK this month. Theatre, Connecticut The structures pictured include abandoned power plants, hospitals, asylums, schools, theatres, steel mills, prisons, factories and […]