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An unidentified Chinese man in his thirties or forties stole an alligator coat valued at approximately $128,000 from a Hong Kong Burberry store by putting it on and just walking out the front door on Wednesday, authorities told South China Morning Post.
The South Korean Olympic Committee has filed an official protest of the result of the women’s figure skating event at the Olympics over ‘biased judging,’ according to the Associated Press.
A CCTV security camera in Haikou, China captured what looks like a man shoving a woman down a manhole then covering up the spot with cardboard. The incident happened in mid-December but the video is making its way around the Internet right now.
The pair reportedly had a relationship and the man owed her $20,000.
The woman was rescued 60 hours later when she was heard crying for help. The manhole was three meters deep, according to TomoNews. The woman tried to make a ladder out of clothes but it didn’t work.
“I did not sleep at all the first night I fell in the manhole,” the woman, Guo, was quoted as saying. “I could see the darkness around me. I thought that I would not be choked to death if I looked up.”
Here’s the video of what appears to be attempted murder and of the rescue.
“Pump torture. After sitting, you stand about a hundred times.”
A United Nations panel has accused North Korea of crimes against humanity, including systematic extermination, “murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence … and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation.”
The report is based on a year of public hearings with about 80 witnesses as well as confidential interviews with another 240 victims, including people who’d spent time in North Korean prison camps and experts.
Kim Kwang-il, a 48-year-old man who spent two years in a prison in North Korea, defected to South Korea in February 2009 and subsequently had professional artists draw sketches based on his recollections of torture and the conditions of prisoner life. Some of these were included in the report.
Twelve years ago, South Korea’s Ahn Hyun-soo crashed into Apolo Ohno a few feet from the finish line in the men’s short track 1000m at the Olympics.
It sparked an intense rivalry between the two skaters that peaked at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, where Hyun-soo won three gold medals to Ohno’s one.
On Saturday night in Sochi, the Hyun-soo won gold again. But now his name is Viktor Ahn, and he skates for Russia.
A volcanic eruption is terrifying on its own, but we just learned that, even more terrifyingly, the avalanche of hot rocks, ash, and gas that volcanoes spew can spawn giant tornado-like twisters.
This was caught on video after a pyroclastic flow from Mount Sinabung, a volcano in Indonesia that’s recently started spewing again after more than 400 years of dormancy.
Single women in China are under such intense pressure to find a mate that some are resorting to renting “boyfriends” online to accompany them on dates and trips to see their families.
On Taobao, China’s biggest online marketplace, women can choose from hundreds of temporary companions and reserve them for hours or days at a time by paying a deposit.
Melanie Lee, a news blogger for Alibaba — which owns Taobao — recently decided to give the service a try, and she shared her experience via email with Business Insider.
The opening of McDonald’s first restaurant in Vietnam on Saturday drew massive crowds, as well as a live DJ, face painting and various performers.
Hundreds of people began camping out at the new location in Ho Chi Minh City hours before its 8 a.m. opening to get their first taste of a Big Mac and fries made in their own hometown, according to Liberty Voice.
Bookstores can be a destination upon themselves. From Venice to Mexico City, check out some of the most interesting book retailers out there.
January 31st marked the Lunar New Year, and this is a time when many flock to temples and light incense and pray for the new year.
China News, cited by Chinascope, reported that a temple in Zhejiang Province used this opportunity to jack up prices for the chance to light the first incense. The temple reportedly charged $19,470 to light the first incense.
The Chinese language is widely regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn.
There are more than 80,000 Chinese characters in existence, although a non-native speaker can get by with 1,000 of the most frequently used.
To make matters more complicated, the characters that make up each word or phrase individually carry different meanings based on the context in which they’re used. For example, the Chinese character 吃 could mean “eat,” “drink,” “bear,” or “take,” depending on the phrase that surrounds it.
As hard as the language is, it can also be incredibly poetic when translated character by character into English, and sometimes hilarious.
China’s smog — which routinely engulfs major cities like Beijing and Shanghai — is notorious, and it’s recently reached “danger levels.” But the the smog in New Delhi, The New York Times reports, is actually worse.
The air in New Delhi “is more laden with dangerous small particles of pollution, more often, than Beijing’s,” Gardiner Harris writes, and “a very bad air day in Beijing is about an average one in New Delhi.”
China has some interesting matchmaking and dating practices. There are love hunters who track down potential wives for China’s richest bachelors and there are “leftover women,” who are criticized for being older than 27 and unmarried.
In some cases, when a male dies too young, families have “ghost marriages,” exhuming female corpses and marrying the pair.
So, it’s natural for many young Chinese to want to allay their parents’ anxiety over their single-dom. And now they can take to Alibaba-owned online retailer Taobao, tweets George Chen at South China Morning Post. That’s the equivalent of shopping for a date on Amazon or eBay.
Chen Guangbiao is an audacious man, and not just because he wants to buy the New York Times for $1 billion (or $2 billion or $3 billion).
One of China’s top 400 richest people, he was estimated to have a personal fortune of worth $740 million in 2012, but how he’s really made his name is by high-profile charity donations — something he brands “flashy philanthropy.”
Wal-Mart just recalled donkey meat in China because it contained meat from other animals, including fox.
Despite the recent scandal, the mega-retailer has become wildly popular in China. Wal-Mart plans to open 110 additional stores there in the next few years.
Shopping at a Chinese Wal-Mart is totally different from shopping in one in the U.S.
We highlighted some notable contrasts.
Did you know that the ice cream emoji is just the poop emoji re-purposed?
In honor of the Emoji Art Show in New York City, creative agency 5Loom created a timeline of emoji development that points out this and other pivotal moments in emoji history.
Check it out:
In May 2011, Nissan was selected to create and supply the vehicle that would be the exclusive New York City taxi.
That plan hasn’t worked out so well. A series of court decisions have blocked the City from approving the NV200 as the only taxi model, in part because it’s not a hybrid, according to the New York Times.
But Nissan still has the right to bring its taxi to the streets of New York, and it sold the first one at the end of October.
This week, the automaker invited me to get a closer look at the NV200 and take a spin around Manhattan.
Cormorant fishing on China’s Li River is all but dying out.
Fisherman set out with domesticated cormorants, a seabird, on bamboo rafts before sunrise and often in the early evening. These birds prey on fish. But the fishermen tie threads around the necks of the cormorants to prevent them from swallowing the fish they catch.
Japan Airlines (JAL) announced its winter menus today, and among the selection of beef filet, foie gras mousse, and lobster ravioli is something a touch less fancy.
It’s “Air Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
A Japanese burger company has a new burger wrapper designed exclusively to help women eat burgers more politely.
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
Studio Ghibli glasses cases let anime characters keep an eye on your spectacles
Beautiful Sailor Moon manhole cover coasters being given out for free by Tokyo tourist center
Hamster abandoned at Tokyo ramen restaurant gets new home
The oldest tunnel in Japan is believed to be haunted, and strange things happen when we go there
Arrest proves a common Japanese saying about apologies and police
Starbucks reopens at Shibuya Scramble Crossing with new look and design concept
“Half-naked men only in loincloths” drum battle returns to Hida festival for first time in five yearsMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Disney princesses get official manga makeovers for Manga Princess Cafe opening in Tokyo
We try out “Chan Ramen”, an underground type of ramen popular in the ramen communityStarbucks reopens at Shibuya Scramble Crossing with new look and design concept
Beautiful new Final Fantasy T-shirt collection on the way from Uniqlo【Photos】
Foreign English teachers in Japan pick their favorite Japanese-language phrases【Survey】
Is the new Shinkansen Train Desk ticket worth it?More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
There’s a park inside Japan where you can also see Japan inside the park
Japanese convenience store packs a whole bento into an onigiri rice ballMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
Japan’s bone-breaking and record-breaking roller coaster is permanently shutting down
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Foreign passenger shoves conductor on one of the last full runs for Japan’s Thunderbird train
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Kyoto bans tourists from geisha alleys in Gion, with fines for those who don’t follow rules
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour Totoro
Domino’s Japan now sells…pizza ears?
New Japanese KitKat flavour stars Sanrio characters, including Hello Kitty
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Studio Ghibli’s new desktop Howl’s Moving Castle will take your stationery on an adventure
Hamster abandoned at Tokyo ramen restaurant gets new home
The oldest tunnel in Japan is believed to be haunted, and strange things happen when we go there
Arrest proves a common Japanese saying about apologies and police
Starbucks reopens at Shibuya Scramble Crossing with new look and design concept
“Half-naked men only in loincloths” drum battle returns to Hida festival for first time in five years
We eat at three Japanese family restaurants to find the one with the best-value breakfast
10 crazy pizzas from Japan
Live-action Spirited Away stage play is finally available for on-demand streaming
Fried sandwiches arrive in Tokyo, become hot topic on social media
Japan’s Baby Bird Reincarnation sofa bed — So cozy you won’t want to go back to being a human?
Stay at a Japanese capsule hotel in Tokyo for less than US$20 a night
KFC becomes KFCheese with new pie and raclette “drowning” burger in Japan