Armani, D&G struck off Milan fashion week roster

Top Italian designers Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana can no longer be on the official programme of Milan Fashion Week because they are not due-paying members of the national fashion chamber, the head of the association said Monday. "If they want to organise fashion shows they can do so on their own," Mario Boselli, head of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, told AFP. "They will not be… More...

Yahoo unveils makeover of flickr site

Reinvigorated technology player Yahoo! Monday unveiled a dusted-off design of its flickr photo platform only hours after the company's dramatic acquisition of blogging site Tumblr. Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, maintaining that her ambition was to make flickr "awesome again," said the new site will showcase "bigger images" and create a user experience that is "more immersive, more expressive."… More...

African film enjoys rare Cannes outing

[caption id="attachment_14782" align="aligncenter" width="340"] Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde attends the Maxim Hot 100 Party at Vanguard in Hollywood, California last week. Nigerian actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde was recently named by Time magazine as one of its most 100 influential people.[/caption] African film is enjoying a rare invitation to cinema's top table with a film by French-Chadian director… More...

Sony to release ‘Angry Birds’ film in 2016

Sony has won the global distribution rights to an animated film based on the hit game "Angry Birds," to be released in 2016, the entertainment giant announced Wednesday. The film is being produced and financed by Finnish mobile gaming company Rovio, which has said the movie could result in it establishing an animation studio rivalling global giant Walt Disney. Sony Pictures Entertainment beat several… More...

It’s havest time for all-natural ‘Himalayan Viagra’

The annual rush to the hills by villagers keen to harvest a rare aphrodisiac fungus dubbed "Himalayan Viagra" has emptied rural schools in Nepal and forced them to shut, a local official said Tuesday. Parents, students and even teachers have left home in pursuit of "yarchagumba", a high-altitude caterpillar fungus which is eagerly sought for its reputed sexual enhancement. "In this district alone,… More...

Carrots and turnips make music in Madrid veg market

With a pumpkin for a drum, carrots for flutes and turnips for trumpets, musicians from Vienna transformed the fresh goods in a Madrid market into honking, whistling instruments on Monday. Visiting members of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra marked the centenary of the San Miguel market in the centre of the Spanish capital by taking saws and drills to its vegetables, coring and boring holes in them to… More...

Space tourism won’t hurt environment: Branson

British billionaire Richard Branson said Monday that rocket-powered space tourism flights by his firm Virgin Galactic would have only a minor impact on climate change. More than 500 people have already reserved seats -- and paid deposits on the $200,000 ticket price -- for a minutes-long suborbital flight on the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) set to begin by the end of this year. "We have reduced the (carbon… More...

‘Iron Man 3′ and ‘Gatsby’ kill at US box office

Super-hero blockbuster sequel "Iron Man 3" stayed on top at the US box office after it's mega debut a week earlier -- but "The Great Gatsby" was also a power player, industry estimates showed Sunday. On its second weekend in US theaters, "Iron Man 3," starring Robert Downey Jr as the title character, took in $72.5 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. Added to its take since… More...

Turkish Airlines reverses stewardess lipstick ban

Turkish Airlines has reversed a ban on air hostesses wearing brightly-coloured lipstick following accusations it was trying to Islamise the company under government influence. The airline's chief executive officer Temel Kotil announced the move in the Turkish media accusing overzealous lower-level airline executives of having imposed the ban. "Staff can use the colour they want. This measure was not… More...

Chinese star calls on Asia to help end elephant slaughter

Ivory jewelry and carvings are prized by some in Asia, but people should know they come from the massacre of elephants whose survival is threatened by rampant poaching, popular Chinese film star Li Bingbing has warned. "I want to spread the message... that we should stop the killing because there's blood slaughter and a poaching crisis happening behind the beautiful carvings and jewelry," Li said,… More...