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A family where the lucky colour red for Lunar New Year. Fewer babies are born in the Year of the Snake, with many parents believing they will be unlucky. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese culture

Why are there fewer babies born during the Year of the Snake?

Many think those born under the Snake will be unlucky. On the other hand, fewer births means less competition for things like school places.

2 hours agovideocam

How you can find love and friends in 2025 without swiping

10 Jan 2025 - 10:30AM

Chinese culture

Year of the Snake 2025 predictions for Monkeys, such as a big career boost

9 Jan 2025 - 5:27PMvideocam

Chinese culture

Year of the Snake 2025 predictions for Sheep, including their lucky colour

According to Chinese geomancy, those born in the Year of the Sheep will make money this year if they are careful – but love won’t come easy.

9 Jan 2025 - 2:11PMvideocam

Things will go well for Sheep who are married or in a stable relationship in the Year of the Snake. Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Syrian conflict

Syrian photographer’s return to war-torn hometown is ‘like a dream’

Douma, near Damascus, endured years of terror under Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Sameer al-Doumy escaped, and thought he’d never get back there.

5 Jan 2025 - 4:15PM

What I realised reading my dad’s letters to my late mom as he lay dying

It took all her courage, but Barbara J. Ferraro read the wartime letters aloud to her father as his body withered, and finally understood.

4 Jan 2025 - 6:15PM

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5 million people. 1 psychiatric hospital. Many patients are chained to beds

At Mauritania’s Nouakchott Centre for Specialised Medicine, most patients stay for only a few days as beds and staff are too scarce.

4 Jan 2025 - 11:15AM

A woman brings food to a relative at the psychiatric centre of the CHS hospital in Nouakchott. Photo: AFP

Two young nuns, divine one percenters, on why they embraced religious life

They wanted normal lives – a family, owning a home. Then they chose to take religious vows. Two young nuns, a rarity in America, explain why.

2 Jan 2025 - 5:16AM

How gender stereotyping of girls with ADHD delays diagnosis often until adulthood

Despite signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during childhood, it is often not diagnosed until adulthood, especially in women.

2 Jan 2025 - 6:22AM

‘So exhausting I feel like crying’: shock for Filipino carers in Korea

Filipino carers in Seoul are grappling with high living costs that mean they can’t save money, and with having to perform unexpected tasks.

29 Dec 2024 - 7:45AM

A group of 100 Filipino women at Incheon International Airport in Seoul. They are among a batch hired under a foreign domestic worker pilot programme. Many say the high cost of living prevents them saving money. Photo: EPA

Explainer | What do you feed a snake? Why does it shed? Tips on snake pet care

Although snakes are seen as easy to look after, there is plenty that ought to be done to take care of them properly, from food to habitat.

1 Jan 2025 - 5:29PMvideocam

A Kingsville red hypo albino, a type of bull snake. Bull snakes can be sensitive to changes in temperature. Photo: Austin Zhang

‘Baby hatch’ boy, now grown up, teaches kids to love life

Koichi Miyatsu, whose mother died when he was a baby, runs an education programme in Japan based on his being raised by foster parents.

25 Dec 2024 - 8:18AM

The volunteers for whom fixing old toys to give away is like therapy

Dozens of volunteers in Venezuela fix discarded toys for distribution to hospitals and schools in poor areas, and old people’s homes.

23 Dec 2024 - 7:15PM

How to ensure a happy Christmas for a loved one with dementia

The festive season can be confusing and noisy for those with dementia, but these expert tips will help everyone enjoy the occasion.

22 Dec 2024 - 4:15PM

Exchanging gifts with a loved one with dementia can be challenging whether they are the giver or the recipient. Photo: Shutterstock

Nearly two-thirds of Korean women OK with being childless, survey finds

South Korea has world’s lowest fertility rate, and 65 per cent of women and 41 per cent of men say they could accept a life without children.

22 Dec 2024 - 9:45AMvideocam

Commuters in South Korea, where more than 40 per cent of men and more than 65 per cent of women surveyed would be OK with not having children. The country has the world’s lowest fertility rate. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

Hong Kong girl, 13, launches mentorship programme for girls in Africa

Climbing Africa’s highest peak inspired Emma Demopoulos, 13, to help Tanzania. She’s recruited international mentors for schoolgirls there.

23 Dec 2024 - 8:06AM

Hong Kong family holidays more likely to include grandparents

Multigenerational travel a trend in Hong Kong, accommodation website says, as well as dark-sky tourism, wellness retreats and sustainability.

17 Dec 2024 - 8:46PM

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She’s told sex trafficking victims’ stories. Now she’s telling her own

Hong Kong-based Sylvia Yu has given voice to sex trafficking victims for years. In her new memoir she inspires young women to be ‘fearless’.

7 Dec 2024 - 6:15PMvideocam

Author Sylvia Yu in Hong Kong. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong culture

Meet a ‘big white fella’ from Northern Ireland speaking Cantonese like a local

Daniel Peacock’s trip to a Chinese takeaway got him talking Cantonese again, and posting videos with his Hong Kong-born wife that are a hit.

6 Dec 2024 - 1:26PM

Elderly couples often don’t talk. How to reconnect and stay interested

People together a long time can be emotionally distant. Regularly starting a conversation, listening and empathising, can help close the gap.

1 Dec 2024 - 6:15PM

How men won’t talk about grief and how to get them to open up

Unlike women, men can go into shock that ‘really paralyses them’, says a grief counsellor. He suggests ways they can let their grief out.

2 Dec 2024 - 6:15PM

What men struggle with most while grieving is the feeling of powerlessness that always follows the loss of a loved one. Photo: Shutterstock

HIGHLIGHTS FROM

Plaques that form part of the Benin Bronzes, which were taken from Africa by British troops in 1897, on display at The British Museum in London. Photo: Getty Images

Should museums return antiquities to their countries of origin? Some say no

New fronts have opened up in the war of cultural restitution, raising complex ethical and legal questions as some argue against museums returning foreign artefacts.

Reading Time:11 minutes

Participants compete at the Hyrox Open Asian Championships at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong, in November 2024. Photo: Edmond So

3 top wellness trends to make 2025 a better year

Reading Time:5 minutes

Avatihalli is one of four stations on the Bengaluru-Kolar line restored in collaboration with South Western Railway and with the help of local communities and businesses. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

A Bengaluru train ride back in time

Reading Time:4 minutes

Jay Chou performs at Nanjing Olympic Sports Center in November 2019. Photo: Getty Images

16 new spiders have just been named after Jay Chou’s songs

Reading Time:2 minutes

Home in Bath, UK, of Kate Sbuttoni, founder of The Ginger Jar Lamp Co. Photo: Jake Eastham

Why this British couple went for a ‘midimalist’ home in Bath

Reading Time:4 minutes

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Pet owners Li Guangyu and Pixie Lim take their dogs for a swim at a pet centre in Shanghai. Li says he does not want the responsibility of having children. As China’s birth rate drops amid soaring childcare costs, more people are choosing careers, pets and partying over marriage and children. Photo: Justin Jin

Last survivors of Indian tribal headhunters remember the past

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