Features

  Goiania / AFP Brazil may be the land of samba and bossa nova, but lately its hips are swaying to a different rhythm. In cowboy hats and plaid shirts, with touches of bling, new-wave country singers are conquering the airwaves and the dance floors. A world away from the soft jazz and Latin rhythms that Brazil crafted from the ...

  Paris / AFP Diplomatic wrangling this week will make the headlines in the fight against climate change, but experts say a bigger but largely unseen battle is set to unfold on the world’s farms. Agriculture holds the double distinction of being highly vulnerable to climate change but also offering a solution to the problem, they say. In a report ...

  Bloomberg Whether it’s cranes photographed at the harbour or a car framed against a sunset, Kay Palapies has become famous for his images reflected in puddles. The German has amassed more than 17,000 followers on Instagram, the video and photo-sharing platform that has become much more than just a place for narcissists to admire themselves. As well as beauty ...

  Bleiswijk / AFP Flowers more exotic than the humble tulip will soon flourish for the first time in Dutch greenhouses after intensive research into growing the capricious vanilla orchid to harvest one of the world’s most expensive spices. In the middle of potato fields in a central Dutch rural town, scientists from Wageningen University have for the past four ...

  Coihuín / AFP Farmers in southern Chile still remember when they could make a living just by picking up seaweed at the beach. Not just any seaweed, but the red algae used to make agar-agar — a jelly-like substance used in a plethora of products from ice cream to dietary supplements to cosmetics. Chile is one of the world’s ...

  Emirates Business Huawei Consumer Business Group announced that the Huawei MateBook is now available for purchase in the United Arab Emirates. The device can be found at select retail outlets and is priced between AED 2,999-3,999 depending on the model. The Huawei MateBook was launched at Mobile World Congress and is Huawei’s first 2-in-1 device designed to meet the ...

  Emirates Business Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. has introduced its new drive system called e-POWER to customers. It marks the first time that e-POWER technology is available for consumers, marking a significant milestone in the electrification strategy under Nissan Intelligent Mobility. e-POWER borrows from the EV technology perfected in the Nissan LEAF, the best-selling pure electric car in history, with ...

  Bloomberg This month in England, H&H Auctions will sell more than 100 vintage motorcycles taken from one of the biggest collections in the country. Among the lot are four sidecar motorcycles that are as notable for their rarity as for their quirky design style and ride personalities. There will be a 1924 AJS Model D Combo, a 1932 BSA ...

  Langenselbold / DPA Black Beauty is a dream horse; he’s obedient, his stable never needs cleaning out, and he never needs food, a vet or a blacksmith. He never bucks or bolts, and his rider never needs to worry about falling out of the saddle. “When I ride him I can just concentrate on myself,” enthuses German dressage rider ...

  Coca / DPA In earlier times, the water here used to sing. “Not anymore,” says Silvia Shiguangi from Ecuador’s Huaorani tribe. Bananas and cassava no longer grow well and the fish catch has sunk dramatically. “We used to live from what the forest gave us,” says the young mother, who left her village in the Yasuni National Park, home ...