In northeastern Brazil, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park stuns visitors with an otherworldly landscape: endless white dunes carved by wind and dotted with hundreds of vivid, seasonal freshwater lagoons, the BBC reported. Driven by strong coastal winds, towering dunes rising up to 30 meters are pushed inland from the Atlantic. During…
Airports in Thailand have tightened border checks against the backdrop of escalating tensions with Cambodia, the Bangkok Post reported. Foreigners who could potentially serve as mercenaries are under special scrutiny. The Thai Immigration Bureau warned tourists of possible line extensions of up to 45 minutes, compared with the usual 20…
The Rothschild family’s long-standing tradition of privacy has been disrupted by a legal dispute over a valuable art collection housed at the Chateau de Pregny, a lakeside property near Geneva owned by the wealthy family, The Guardian reported. The dispute follows legal action initiated by Nadine de Rothschild, 93, widow…
The guitar Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain played in his last public performance has been presented to London’s Royal College of Music, Artnet reported. The guitar in question is a rare 1959 Martin D-18E, specifically modified for left-handed Cobain. The artist played his songs with this instrument in 1993 during an…
Eurovision 2024 winner Nemo, the first non-binary artist to win the contest, has said they will return their trophy in protest against Israel’s continued participation, according to the BBC. The 26-year-old Swiss artist said the decision reflects what they see as a contradiction between Eurovision’s stated values of unity and…
McDonald’s has removed an AI-generated Christmas advertisement in the Netherlands after it drew criticism online. The ad, titled «The Most Terrible Time of the Year,» showed stressful holiday scenes such as Santa stuck in traffic and a cyclist slipping on snow and suggested people escape the festive season by hiding…
Renowned American actor Johnny Depp is set to join the cast of the first English-language movie adaptation of the Russian literary classic «The Master and Margarita» by Mikhail Bulgakov. According to Variety, the Hollywood star might take one of the key roles, though it is unknown whether it will be…
Beijing-based tour agency Koryo Tours, which operates trips to North Korea, announced that tickets for the country’s 2026 Pyongyang International Marathon, scheduled for April 5, have sold out, Yonhap reported. The company wrote on social media that all 500 slots were filled in under five hours. It added that it…
Eight works by Henri Matisse and at least five by Cândido Portinari were stolen from the Biblioteca Mário de Andrade in São Paulo on Sunday, the BBC reported, citing local authorities. On Sunday, two armed men restrained a security guard and an elderly couple visiting the library. The men then…
Under the instruction of Kazakhstan’s president, the awarding ceremony for figures active in various spheres and making significant contributions to the country’s public and economic life, originally arranged for Republic Day (Oct. 25), took place at the Ministry of Culture for awardees who could not receive their awards on time.…
The Men’s Choir of the Song and Dance Ensemble of Kazakhstan’s National Guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has performed an unusual cover of Linkin Park’s legendary hit «Numb,» which is now going viral on social media. The song was accompanied by the dombra — a two-stringed plucked musical…
The popular gaming platform Steam is preparing to offer users a new simulator in which players control a sperm cell. The game, titled «Become,» is being developed by indie creator Valentin Wirth. It is a short, third-person adventure in which players follow the journey of a single sperm cell through…
The Pokémon Company announced the establishment of the first permanent Pokémon franchise-themed outdoor entertainment park in Tokyo, scheduled for Feb. 5, 2026, The Asahi Shimbun reported. The attraction, named PokePark Kanto, is set to be located inside the Yomiuriland amusement park in the western part of the city and will…
A water leak at the Louvre last month damaged several hundred books in the museum’s Egyptian antiquities department. The incident highlights ongoing infrastructure problems at the world’s most visited museum, Reuters reported. According to art news site La Tribune de l’Art, aging pipes damaged between 300 and 400 specialized research…
According to Romania Journal, Romania plans to build a new amusement park dedicated to Dracula. The project, named DraculaLand, is set to rise near the capital, Bucharest, and close to its main airport, covering 160 hectares. The estimated cost of the development is €1 billion. A team of international architects…
Shymkent, Kazakhstan, has been recognized for its achievements in sanitation, while Astana may host the World Toilet Summit, according to Kazakhstani journalist Askhat Niyazov, who shared a letter from the World Toilet Organization (WTO) on Instagram. The letter also notes that Miras University Rector Nurken Khalykbergen has been included in…
This December, visitors to Art Basel in Miami could see robotic quadrupeds fitted with silicone faces of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Andy Warhol, Mark Zuckerberg, Pablo Picasso and Mike Winkelmann, the artist who came up with the idea, as reported by CNN. According to Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, his…
New Zealand Police have recovered a valuable Fabergé locket after a man allegedly swallowed it during a theft at an Auckland jewelry store. Officers retrieved the limited-edition piece nearly a week later, after it passed through the suspect’s body naturally, according to the Associated Press. The locket, inspired by the…
Salvador Plasencia, a 44-year-old doctor from Los Angeles, has admitted to illegally supplying ketamine to actor Matthew Perry in the weeks leading up to Perry’s fatal overdose in 2023. Plasencia pleaded guilty to several counts of distributing the drug and has been sentenced to prison, The Guardian reported. Perry, who…
The Winter Egg, a diamond-studded crystal Fabergé egg that once belonged to the mother of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II, has sold for a record $30.2 million at a Christie’s auction in London, compared to the previous record of $11.8 million for another Fabergé egg sold at an auction…
There are 25 five-star hotels in Kazakhstan and the most expensive one turned out to be in Shymkent. According to Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics, 3,198 rooms were available in the country’s top hotels for wealthy tourists from January to September 2025. This includes 2,463 standard rooms in five-star hotels,…
Franklin the Turtle, a gentle cartoon hero from Canada known for kindness and everyday life lessons, recently featured in an image shared online by U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, portraying the turtle attacking boats labeled as drug traffickers, according to the BBC. The image drew immediate criticism from the…
An unusual new product from H&M has stirred up conversation among fashion fans. The retailer introduced a pair of brown pumps completely covered in faux fur. Priced at $60, the shoes nearly sold out within days. The pumps, designed with a narrow heel and rounded toe, include a satin lining…
Speed dating has long been part of urban culture in the West and is now gradually taking hold in Kazakhstan. Interest in the trend is growing rapidly in Almaty, the nation’s largest city, as more residents seek face-to-face communication away from screens and algorithms. Offline format Speed dating is a…
