CATEGORIES

Addis adagio Pianist plays a key role in musical adventure

Girma Yifrashewa will never forget the exhilaration of getting his own piano - a surprise gift.

'Coolest job on earth': new team for penguin post office

As a \"tent master\", whose work involves building big tops at music festivals, George Clarke has never run a post office- and certainly never counted penguins for a living.

A children's hospital with its own healing properties

From patient 'cottages' to walls designed for scribbling on, the Kinderspital in Zurich is a child-friendly miracle

Road to recovery Reeling Florida counts the cost of double hurricane strike

More than just clouds were swirling when a tropical disturbance that would become Hurricane Milton formed in the south-western Gulf of Mexico, beginning its inexorable advance towards a strike on Florida's west coast.

Forecasters targeted as conspiracy theories swirl

Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton were targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes hit the US.

Tributes paid to ex-Scottish first minister Alex Salmond

Scotland's first minister John Swinney paid tribute to Alex Salmond's \"colossal contribution\" to Scottish and UK politics, as allies mourned his sudden death last Saturday, at the age of 69.

Labour pledges have left chancellor boxed in for budget

Frustration grows among ministers forced to delay plans until after Rachel Reeves speech

Ballot boxing Stage set for a battle of the political dynasties

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, 79, returned to politics last week when he registered to run as mayor in his family's stronghold, Davao city.

How the Kremlin is trying to hijack an EU referendum

Last spring, customs officers in the tiny nation of Moldova struck gold.

Fear of being forgotten Despair in Gaza as focus shifts away

As Israeli bombs began to fall across Lebanon, the scenes of bloodshed and chaos were grimly familiar to the people of Gaza. Mai al-Afifa, 24, was teaching a workshop about how to identify unexploded ordnance in a school turned shelter in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah last Thursday when an Israeli missile hit the next building in the compound.

"They take care of us' Shias put their faith in Hezbollah

When the Sabra family fled bombardments in Israeli the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun for Beirut's southern suburbs in October last year, a monthly stipend in dollars from Hezbollah meant they did not fear going hungry.

You gotta let people know who you are' On the campaign trail with Kamala Harris

With election day closing in, the Democratic nominee launched an intense drive to tell her story in her quest for the presidency. David Smith joined her on Air Force Two

The erosion of Britain's history has nothing to do with statues

The People's Story Museum in Edinburgh is a part of the city's cultural fabric whose name says it all: a museum and archive, opened in 1989 and located in the 16th-century Canongate Tolbooth, that takes in just about every aspect of working-class life in the Scottish capital from the 18th century to the late 20th century. Its exhibits include recreations of a bookbinder's workshop, a wartime kitchen and a jail cell; the artefacts it looks after span work, leisure, politics, protest and more.

Bullet from the blue: Six decades of Japan's wonder train

At 6am on 1 October 1964, two trains set off in opposite directions in a daring experiment that would turn them into symbols of Japan's transformation from militarist pariah to global economic powerhouse.

Employees hit back over long-hours corporate culture

For the average Indian, the working week is now longer than ever - totalling almost 47 hours.

Lucky numbers? The secrets of serendipity

Luck is often framed in terms of things that happen in our livesbut perhaps we should feel most fortunate for the fact we're here at all

Defensive bastion of Vuhledar falls to Russia

Ukraine has said that its forces have withdrawn from the eastern city of Vuhledar, a defensive bastion that had resisted repeated attacks since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion.

Divided opposition rocked by Navalny ally attack claim

When Leonid Volkov, a longtime associate of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was brutally attacked with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania in March, it initially seemed yet another case of the Kremlin hunting down its enemies abroad.

White House blasts false claims about deadly storm

The White House moved last weekend to quash claims that government officials control the weather, including a far-fetched rumour circulating on social media that Hurricane Helene was an engineered storm to allow corporations to mine lithium deposits.

Residents pick up the pieces after hurricane devastation

After keeping vigil all night, Fesperman, 32, Jason decided it was finally safe to sleep. By 6am on Friday 27 September, he figured the worst of the rain from Hurricane Helene had passed. Jonathan Creek, the normally ankle-deep stream that runs through his backyard in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, had stayed within its banks.

Short-term gains: Lack of vision in multi-fronted war may be fatally exposed

As Israelis approached the holy days of Rosh Hashanah last week, the news began to circulate. IDF units fighting on the border with Lebanon had taken casualties.

I'm bracing for the worst'?

Beirut's youth adjust to an emptied city

Grief and pain amid the echoes of Israel's 'war of resurrection'

Crowds gathered at the site of the Nova festival and across Israel to mourn victims of the 7 October Hamas attack, even as new fears grew of a spiralling regional conflict

The war will not end until Israel sees the cost of its destruction

AT THE START OF ISRAEL'S WAR on Gaza, when the intensive bombing of civilians began, the thought in my mind was: how will we Palestinians live with the Israelis after this? A year later, the question has only become more pertinent.

Israel-Gaza One year on: A chasm between viewpoints

YOU'LL BE AHEAD OF ME ON THIS ONE. By the time you read this, it's possible that Israel will have hit back in response to the ballistic missiles that Iran fired on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities last Tuesday. As I write, the world is bracing itself for that expected Israeli retaliation and what threatens to be an all-out regional war, pitting the Middle East's dominant powers against each other.

Secular elite question their place in Israel's future

Conflict accelerates a brain drain of liberals uneasy over the rise of religious influence

'I fear I will lose one of my children or more of my family'

Gazan families mourn their dead and remember their lives before the war

Weathering the storm

Despite deep unpopularity outside his rightwing base, Benjamin Netanyahu continues to use war and political divisions to his advantage

'It felt like death was chasing us everywhere we went' One family's journey across Gaza

The artist Maisara Baroud and his family have been displaced 12 times since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. He describes their journey and the impact of the fighting

Israel isolated by year of war

For many Israelis, the shedding of support since 7 October attack has revived a belief they cannot rely on others