Sydney, Australia | AFP | Cardinal George Pell’s trial and conviction of child sex abuse in Australia was one of the biggest scandals to hit the Catholic Church, but the public was not allowed to know about it for months. A blanket gag order stopped reporters from even mentioning the trial’s …

  Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Is your dog getting enough exercise? Who will change your cat’s litter box while you are away on holiday? Relax. Mobile entrepreneurs are jumping into the pet industry with smartphone-enabled gadgets that can help care for your four-legged friends, from activity trackers to a litter …

  When Rodger Dudding bought an almost-new Jensen FF back in 1968, little did he know that half a century later he would still own it – along with two more, plus more than 400 other classic cars and around 65 motorbikes. He even owns 24 – yes 24 – …

Dancing Lights for the month of love Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | In Edison Mugalu’s current exhibit titled `Dancing Light’ the motivation is to immortalise the magnificence of light when it appears to be dancing, as if in motion. Mugalu‘s art explores the manner in which light is broadcasted …

Paris, France | AFP | Brexit will inflict “significant harm” on Britain’s National Health Service, experts warned on Tuesday, with a no-deal departure from the EU likely to provoke acute shortages of staff and medicines. With little over a month remaining until Britain is due to leave the European Union, there …

We should build systems that make us accountable to each other, just as governments account to citizens  Project Syndicate | Sasha Fisher | For over a decade now, we have witnessed more elections and, simultaneously, less democracy. According to Bloomberg, elections have been occurring more frequently around the world. Yet …

Sinuiju, North Korea | AFP | The manager of North Korea’s Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory clenches her fists when asked about a rival plant in Pyongyang, then bumps them together. “We compete,” Kim Hye Yong says firmly. Throughout the plant, masked workers in white overalls, gloves and hairnets operate machines producing shampoos, …

Doha, Qatar | AFP | Abdulla Sager al-Khori has little doubt about the significance of a luxury watch when it comes to fashion — and making a statement — even in the thick of Qatar’s diplomatic crisis. “Because we have the traditional dress the only thing we can use as an …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | The weed killer Roundup was a “substantial factor” in the cancer of a US man who developed a lump in his throat after decades of spraying his garden, his lawyer said Monday at the start of the first ever federal trial targeting its manufacturer …

Barcelona, Spain | AFP | From a tiny robot which strikes a pose when you point a camera at it to earbuds that translate languages, here are five eye-catching devices on display at the Mobile World Congress trade fair which opened Monday in Barcelona: Smartphone-controlled light bulb Want to dim the …