Features

  AFP For archaeologists Afghanistan, rich in ancient treasures and once a key stop on the legendary Silk Road, is an “open-air museum”, albeit one ravaged by war and plagued by looters. After 30 years of conflicts, Afghanistan’s cultural heritage is in dire straits, but one group of archaeologists is trying to put the country’s historical sites back on the ...

  DPA The lanes, squares and bridges of Venice are crammed with people — the Italian city’s hotels play host to 10 million people each year, and that’s not including the 14 million day-trippers. But Venice itself only has a population of 260,000 people. Tourists come to experience the beautiful cobble-stoned streets, the waterways plied by gondolas, the romantic light. ...

  AFP Faith Lawson carefully backs a large silver pick-up truck through cones placed on the red soil of a military camp in Ghana’s capital, Accra. As she checks her mirrors and slowly reverses, 14 young women standing in military formation look on. Two months ago, the 24-year-old had never even gripped a steering wheel and was frightened by the ...

  Emirates Business Acer has unveiled its new Predator 21 X gaming laptop with the world’s first curved screen in a notebook, a series of monitors with the latest eye-tracking technology and GPU updates to the Predator 15/17 series. This announcement at IFA 2016 reinforces Acer’s dedication to premium gaming with a focus on expanding the number of high-performance Predator ...

  Emirates Business MTM Powersports — owned by the Al Masood family — is on course to add a new level of adrenaline to the UAE off-roading scene as it unveils the Can-Am Maverick X3, Bombardier Recreational Products’ (BRP) flagship performance side-by-side vehicle. With a raft of features that deliver an outstanding off-road ride experience, the vehicle is engineered to ...

  Emirates Business Luxury Swiss watchmaker and aviation chronograph specialist, Breitling has introduced a highly exclusive version of its legendary Navitimer model. The Navitimer 46 Blacksteel, which is now available across Breitling Boutiques and stores, returns to the Middle East with an all-black exterior. The newest version of the classic Navitimer appears in a generous 46mm diameter that accentuates its ...

  Ouagadougou / AFP With the logo of his internet TV station on his black T-shirt, Inoussa Maiga energetically plucks corn stalks in northern Burkina Faso for a programme on farming in Africa. Maiga, 30, launched Agribusiness TV in May in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou, determined to change poor opinions about agricultural work held by African youth and to help ...

  New York / DPA Ashrita Furman started out with 27,000 star jumps — an exhausting exercise used by military fitness instructors — moved on to somersaults along a 20-kilometre route, and then to underwater pogo stick jumping. Furman, now 61, has set 621 records to the standards of the Guinness World Records, and 206 of them are still standing, ...

  Bangkok / AFP A line of prisoners emerges from Bangkok’s sewers covered in a thick film of slime and hauling buckets of sludge — frontline troops in the battle against a rising tide of plastic waste. Located just 50 centimetres above sea level and criss-crossed with canals, Thailand’s throbbing capital has long had to fight off floods and an ...

  New York / DPA Dating back at least to the 1980s as a minority pursuit in the United States, the Sneakerhead subculture has now broadened out to a mass market that extends well beyond brands like Air Jordan and Converse Chuck Taylor. Streetwear — particularly the trade in limited collections — has emerged from the underground to become a ...