KUALA LUMPUR : Local magpies are better known as songbirds and have often been featured in "singing contests". However, a group of men, mostly senior citezens, took the contest a little too far when they got the birds to fight instead.

At this time of the year, vehicles plying the Wangdhu-Trongsa highway may unknowingly lend a helping hand to the women of Sephu. The women lay rows of bamboo woven sheets on the highway which passing vehicles run over and soften so that they can be woven

When she was born, only white settlers could eat cake, Africans did not know what it was. The railway was still under construction, there were eno roads and the region that is Kenya was then known as British East Africa Protectorate.

A living Nativity scene near the Colorado ski resort of Vail almost had to go without two crucial actors when two donkeys escaped.

When you're a paleontologist seeking to solve an ancient mystery-in this case, the demise of Ice Age 'megafauna' like Woolly Mammoths and Giant Sloths-you sometimes have to get down and dirty. Specifically, you have to collect and analyze fossilized

In June, we were shocked and awed by the staggering sight of an otter playing a keyboard. Little Dua, an Asian small-clawed otter, was a resident of California's own Monterey Bay Aquarium, and his caretakers decided that he needed more excitement in

National Trust says mixed weather this year has been a saviour to many species but a blow to others

Seven students from Himmelstalund High School organized a charity dinner, which gave 10 000 crowns in profit.

As the holiday season unfolds, our thoughts on The Ticket turn to working not quite so hard for a few days. So we are re-publishing some of our favorite or most-read items from 2009. This item originally appeared on Nov. 17.

The paintings look more like photographs. The rough texture of the elephant's skin. The feathers on an eagle or the pink tongue of a tiger licking its