Features

  Rome / AP Armed with shovels and sacks of cold asphalt, Rome’s residents fill potholes. Defying rats, they yank weeds and bag trash along the Tiber’s banks and in urban parks. Tired of waiting years for the city to replace diseased trees, neighbors dig into their own pockets to pay for new ones for their block. Romans are starting to ...

  Buenos Aires / AFP The paintings in Buenos Aires’ newest gallery may look like the work of great artists, but they are actually rip-offs — and the exhibition’s organsers want you to know it. One of the works doesn’t even look the part — it is supposed to be a masterpiece by the late Argentine painter Antonio Berni, but the ...

    Berlin / AFP Berlin has began restricting private property rentals through Airbnb and similar online platforms, threatening hefty fines in a controversial move meant to keep housing affordable for locals. The German capital fears that the growing trend of people letting out apartments to tourists through sites such as Airbnb, Wimdu and 9Flats is cutting into a limited property ...

  China / Ann The quest for that beauty treatment did have fatal consequences for three Hong Kong women. The medical miscarriages took place over less than three-and-a-half years. Nothing has changed. The city’s beauty industry still is pretty much free to do whatever makes it most profitable. A 46-year-old woman named Chan walked into a DR beauty centre in ...

  Relexnews Following the launch of similar projects in Sweden and China, Volvo is getting ready to start testing autonomous cars on the UK’s roads. When the trial begins in early 2017 it will represent one of the most ambitious tests of its kind on British roads and one that will involve real people with real transport needs. Volvo intends ...

    Berlin / AFP Germany will subsidise electric car purchases to give a jolt to sluggish growth in the sector and help meet national climate goals with zero-emission mobility, the government said Wednesday. Car buyers will receive 4,000 euros ($4,500) when they choose a purely electric vehicle and 3,000 euros for a plug-in hybrid, with the cost shared 50-50 between ...

  Punta Gorda, United States / AFP With deep pockets and an environmentalist’s zeal, retired American football player Syd Kitson dreamed up a plan to build the United States’ first solar-powered town on a vast swath of rural land in southwest Florida. Now, nearly a decade after he first purchased the 91,000 acres (37,000 hectares) known as Babcock Ranch, construction is ...

  Mexico City / AFP Martin Vazquez glides silently through the pandemonium of rush hour in Mexico City, drives his sky-blue scooter up to a charging station and plugs it in. When Vazquez, a 28-year-old professional, moved to the Mexican capital a year ago, he drove here by car. But the city’s notorious traffic soon convinced him to sell it and ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business “More and more people in the UAE are seeking long-term and prescription-free relief from migraines,” said Deyuan Wei, founder of TongRenTang (TRT) Gulf. According to Deyuan, this is an issue that seems to be taking a toll on the stressful life of modern times, specifically adding, “we have been receiving an increasing number of patients ...

  Beijing / AP Automakers are showcasing a new generation of luxurious SUVs at China’s biggest auto show of the year as they battle for buyers in the country’s cooling, crowded market. Honda Motor Co. held world debuts Monday for two SUVs, reflecting China’s high profile in the global industry. Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors and China’s Chery also displayed new ...