UbuneBlog

SOME North Korean troops stationed along the border have donned a camouflage uniform similar to that worn by South Koreans, apparently to practise intrusion drills, a defence ministry official said Tuesday. The move prompted the South to advance the supply of new uniforms for its own troops to avoid confusion, the official told journalists in […]

ALMOST 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South Korean city, education officials said on Tuesday, in a pilot project designed to nurture the nascent robot industry. Engkey, a white, egg-shaped robot developed by the Korea Institute of Science of Technology (Kist), began taking classes on Monday at 21 elementary schools in […]

BEIJING is working on making all public spaces – including work sites and transportation options – tobacco-free by the end of 2015, the Health Bureau revealed. The bureau is also aiming to reduce the smoking rate among women in the capital from 4.6 to 4 per cent during the next five years. Specifics from the […]

Ten school knapsacks from an anonymous donor were found in front of the entrance of a children’s welfare facility on Christmas Day Saturday in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, the prefectural government said Monday. The facility, after consultations with the police, has decided to accept the knapsacks, apparently worth about 300,000 yen, as a donation, according to […]

NEPAL has amended its legislation to allow disabled children to be adopted abroad, a government official said on Tuesday, two years after a scandal over ‘fake’ orphans. The country introduced new adoption laws in 2008 following reports of unscrupulous agents trafficking children who had been taken from their living parents. But many countries say the […]

Some local zoos have begun providing information about their animals via smartphones in an attempt to attract visitors. Kyoto City Zoo in the city of Kyoto has released a free iPhone application in August containing information and quizzes about its animals. The application provides a map of the zoo as well as the location of […]

Girl, 4, can see for the first time thanks to miracle stem cell operation A little girl who has been blind since birth has seen her mother and father for the first time – at the age of four. Izabelle Evans can now see up to three feet in front of her after groundbreaking stem […]

Beluki the Asian Rhino stands proudy with her newly born baby Miracle after keepers at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire hand-reared the calf to save her life. Miracle was a breech birth, emerging bottom first, leaving her traumatised and unable to suckle properly. Zoo staff, fearing for her life, camped out in sleeping bags in the […]

AN INDONESIAN artist is selling tourist souvenirs of ash from the country’s most volatile volcano to raise money for victims of its eruptions. The English-language daily The Jakarta Globe reported on Monday that Agus Budi Setiawan is selling volcano souvenirs – small clear bottles containing volcanic ash – for US$1 (S$1.30) per bottle. The bottles […]

A GROUP of Poles have decided to make the most of winter, building a 9.5m snowman dubbed Milocinek, who wears a barrel for a hat and a road safety cone for his nose. A Polish newspaper says several people laboured for six days on their creation, which stands eye-level with surrounding two-story homes. The website […]