Why Andorrans live longer than everyone else

Getting to Andorra, a tiny country wedged in the mountains between France and Spain, is no easy feat. No airport, no train station, and the nearest city Toulouse is at least a 2 hour drive away. Perhaps that’s part of the secret of this tiny principality high up in the Pyrenees Mountains: that its quiet isolation has created a relatively stress-free life-style which has made them the world champions in the global longevity sweepstakes, at least according to the latest U.S.

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How the Strait of Malacca Purged Its Pirate Problem

For centuries, the Strait of Malacca has been one of the great thoroughfares of global commerce. In the old days of wood and sail, the 500-mile ribbon of water, which connects the Indian and Pacific oceans between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, carried pricey spices from the islands of the Indies to the eager markets of the West

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On the Road Again: the Global Recession Scatters Workers

During China’s boom years, the lure of Beijing was irresistible for tens of thousands of South Koreans. With trade and investment between China and South Korea soaring, businessmen flocked to the Chinese capital seeking their fortunes; students, eager to learn Chinese, flooded into local universities. They collected in areas like Wangjing, an upscale neighborhood in the city’s northeast, where some 80,000 Koreans settled

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Protests wipe smile from Thai tourism sector

The "Land of Smiles" is growing grim as the political maelstrom in Thailand threatens to further erode the southeast Asian nation’s battered tourism industry. Thailand has been a popular destination since its spectacular beaches were discovered four decades ago by backpacking travelers and U.S. troops on leave from Vietnam

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Dumping on Dubai: Have Hard Times Hit the Emirates?

Over the last few months, Dubai’s glittering skyscrapers have been diminished by the alarms about the emirate’s economic woes. The news has not been easy to take for the showpiece city-state, the most populous among the seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates

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South Korean Shin takes Champions title

Diminutive South Korean Ji-Yai Shin was walking tall after a superb two-stroke victory from Australian Katherine Hull at the HSBC Women’s Champions tournament in Singapore on Sunday. Seven adrift at halfway and still six behind with a round to go at Tanah Merah, the 20-year-old British Women’s Open champion took the title with her second successive 66 for an 11 under total of 277. Hull had started the final round with a two-shot advantage thanks partly to a final-hole birdie in the third round Shin, who collected $300,000 for her latest triumph, birdied the first four holes and then picked up further strokes on the 11th and 15th to put the pressure on her big rival

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Mugabe’s Home Away from Zimbabwe: Hong Kong?

JC Castle is an unlikely home for a world dictator. Although posh and secluded, the compound’s pale pink boxlike villas look altogether drab in this city of tycoons and high rollers. On Saturday, a few shirtless residents smoked cigarettes on balconies, clotheslines suspended from the railings

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Are We Failing Our Geniuses?

Any sensible culture would know what to do with Annalisee Brasil. The 14-year-old not only has the looks of a South American model but is also one of the brightest kids of her generation. When Annalisee was 3, her mother Angi Brasil noticed that she was stringing together word cards composed not simply into short phrases but into complete, grammatically correct sentences

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Winds continue to spread Australia’s wildfires

Winds whipping across southeastern Australia’s countryside continued to fan deadly brushfires Wednesday, spreading flames through rural towns and ravaging scores of homes. “The temperatures are much cooler, but the concern is there’s still this wind which sort of fans the flames and keeps them spreading,” said CNN Correspondent John Vause from Whittlesea, where tent cities have sprung up just north of Melbourne. Relief agencies pitched camps for those forced out of their homes.

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