Features

  Emirates Business Visitors to Sharjah considering the best way of taking in the emirate’s diverse array of attractions should look no further than City Sightseeing Sharjah. The company’s fleet of tour buses are playing a pivotal role in promoting the emirate’s rich culture, its heritage environment and its modern amenities. The stylish and colourful modes of transport launched in ...

  Beijing / DPA A critically endangered species of antelope in Mongolia is facing the threat of extinction due to a virus that has wiped out 40 per cent of its population after being passed on from sheep and goats. More than 3,880 saiga antelope have been found dead in the Great Lakes Depression of western Mongolia since late December. ...

  TULA, Russia / AP Claims of hacking by the Russian state may be feeding international tensions, but they’ve given Californian musician David Brown a great icebreaker when selling his line of Russian-made microphones. “We give free hacking lessons with these microphones,” he tells potential buyers in Los Angeles. “Watch what you say because they never turn off.” Brown, who’s ...

  Tijuana / DPA There is no wall dividing Tijuana from San Diego in the Eagles’ Nest region of northern Mexico. Instead, a rusty metal fence sporting a “Danger” sign ends there abruptly, as if unsure of where else to go. Shrubs and rocks make land access difficult in the Nido de las Aguilas area. Combined with the elevation, this ...

  BOSTON / AP A circus is under fire for bringing back animal acts a year after earning praise from animal rights groups for dropping them to keep up with changing public attitudes. The Melha Shrine Circus, which has seven performances over four days scheduled for May in western Massachusetts, brought back performing elephants, tigers and dogs because that’s what ...

  JOHANNESBURG / DPA One of the most damaging pests in North and South America has reached Africa and is threatening the maize crop in many countries there. Experts are also warning that the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), the larva of the fall armyworm moth, could soon spread from Africa across the Mediterranean to southern Europe. “Whether this year, next ...

  Frankfurt / DPA Afram Shamoun, who for decades practiced medicine in Damascus, is now lying on a doctor’s couch in Frankfurt pretending to be a patient with knee problems. The 59-year-old is taking part in a course that prepares doctors qualified in other countries to take the exam to be able to practise in Germany. Today they’re going over ...

  JOHANNESBURG / AP The surprise was finding that people dependent on candles, batteries, kerosene and fuel for generators in countries without a secure supply of electricity spend more on power than solar options. The founders of Dutch company Lumos knew they could do better: In Nigeria, for the cost of powering a small generator for two hours they offer ...

  NEW YORK / AP The tech industry brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its leading companies are no trailblazers. Despite loudly touted efforts to hire more blacks, Latinos and women, especially in technical and leadership positions, diversity numbers at the largest tech companies are barely budging. In ...

  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz / AP Olga Korbut walks around the man-made lake in anonymity, despite the bright red warmup jacket with “Olga” in sparkly letters on her left shoulder. Korbut likes it here, this little suburban slice of nature, a place where she can get her body moving, listen to the birds, stroll alongside the dog walkers. Korbut stops at ...