9 February 2013 Last updated at 04:49 GMT
US north-east battered by 'historic' snowstorm
Thick snow is blanketing the north-eastern US as a major storm cuts power to thousands of homes and plays havoc with transport schedules.
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut and Maine are all on an emergency footing, with millions of residents being warned to stay indoors.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has temporarily banned all non-essential traffic on the state's roads.
Meteorologists say the storm could be New England's worst for decades.
Airlines cancelled more than 4,300 flights - including all those to and from the three major airports in New York City - and the train operator Amtrak has suspended nearly all services north of the city.
Adorable Killers: The Shocking Truth about Cats
By Marco Evers
The house cat -- that cute, furry feline beloved the world over -- is also one of the world's most destructive predators, killing for kicks and hunting rare species into extinction. Cats thrive because people protect them -- but should they?
What happened to the kaka bird? What about the weka, the kokako or the kiwi? They are all in danger of extinction, like so many of New Zealand's unique animal species. Too often, they end up in the jaws of what is probably the most murderous predator on the planet.
Thanks to its charm, the cat has managed to slink into the hearts of human beings and subjugate them. The Homo sapiens attends to its every need, be it nutritional, medical or political. In the home, the cat plays the role of the capricious but cuddly pet. But once outside the door, it reverts to its true nature, becoming nothing but a killer prowling through the undergrowth, utterly without conscience, mercy or understanding.
Forgotten people of epidemic's last outpost
February 9, 2013
Michael Bachelard
Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Traditional sex practices, fear of witchcraft and poverty are fuelling the spread of AIDS in remote Papua, writes Michael Bachelard.
AIDS was slow to arrive in the remote central highlands of the Indonesian province of Papua. It was not until 1996 that eight people tested positive in Wamena, the region's capital.
By that time the world had been dealing with AIDS for a decade. Yet in Papua, nothing happened.
At weddings, after it gets late, the guests have sex, not necessarily between husband and wife, it can be between any partner.
''There was no real action,'' Daulat Marlia, the secretary of Wamena's AIDS Commission, concedes. ''They only started handling these cases intensively in 2006.'' In the decade of silence, AIDS took a grip, and now it is ravaging the place.
Palestinian textbooks fall short where they are most needed - introducing 'the other'
A new study indicates that Palestinian textbooks, and their Israeli counterparts, do little to address how segregated the two societies are.
By Christa Case Bryant, Staff writer / February 8, 2013
Malak Mahmoud has never met an Israeli in her life and she hopes she never will – not even an Israeli child her age.
“I don’t wish to meet them because they occupied our land,” says Malak, a 6th-grader from Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah. “To me, every Israeli person is a soldier because he will grow up to be a soldier.”
Malak's generation is the first to be educated according to an entirely Palestinian curriculum, developed gradually from 2000 to 2007 – the year she started school. They tend to look up to Muslim warriors like Saladin, who “liberated” Jerusalem from the Crusaders; know little if anything about the Holocaust – some haven’t even heard of Hitler; and venerate those who die fighting Israelis.http://mg.co.za/article/2013-02-09-zimbabwe-finds-new-hangman-amnesty-fears-new-executions
Zimbabwe finds new hangman, Amnesty fears new executions
Since the last executioner retired in 2005, 76 prisoners have been held on Death Row. Prison officials last week said only that the search for a hangman was over and did not elaborate.
Some convicts were condemned to death 12 years ago and rights groups have campaigned for all the death sentences to be commuted to life, describing years of delays as inhumane.
Amnesty said in a statement the "macabre recruitment" was a disturbing sign that bucked against world trends to abolish the death penalty.
After touring the main Harare prisons on February 1, state media reported that the hangman signed on "mid last year" but has yet to be put to work.
7 ways to celebrate Chinese New Year
You're not just going to sit there and watch, are you? Here's how to do the Snake proud
Tacky New Year's tunes, fashion faux pas in blazing red, businesses either closed or packed --traveling in China during Chinese New Year (CNY) can be discouraging.
Unless you know how to embrace the holiday like a local.
The Year of Snake begins on February 10 and celebrations will last for two weeks.
To get more from the experience than the ability to parrot "kung xi fa cai" or "gung hei fat choy" (Happy New Year), here are seven ways for travelers to celebrate Chinese New Year, aka Spring Festival.
Believe it or not, CNY is a time for gamblers, professional and otherwise.
Many high rollers make their way to the gaudy casinos of Macau during this auspicious time.
A short boat ride away in Hong Kong, crowds gather for a day at the horse track.
The Chinese New Year Race is one of the most popular race days of the year. Held on the third day of Spring Festival (February 12, 2013), the city's Sha Tin Racecourse hosts 11 races.
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