In 2024, Buddha’s birthday lands on May 15. We look at who the Buddha was, festival rituals, and events to celebrate the holiday in Hong Kong, including the Cheung Chau Bun Festival.

Palestinians observe May 15 as Nakba Day, Arabic for catastrophe, to commemorate the expulsion of 700,000 Arabs at the time of the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Namhansanseong, a Unesco World Heritage site in South Korea, is an impressive yet little-known fortress built as an emergency capital city should Manchu forces invade Seoul.

The New York Met’s exhibition of Harlem Renaissance art features 160 works, most by black artists, that depict daily life in black communities such as Harlem from the 1920s to 1940s.

Natural disasters and war have destroyed many of the buildings erected in the Philippines under Spanish colonial rule. But in historical areas of the archipelago, impressive examples still stand.

In 1992, eight years after his first visit, China’s leader Deng Xiaoping returned to the rapidly growing Shenzhen special economic zone whose transformation he had orchestrated.

A user believed to be from China claims in the clip that some Chinese Singaporeans were offended at being called ‘compatriot’, suggesting they had forgotten their roots.

The Nokia 3210, one of the bestselling mobile phones of all time, is being relaunched in a 4G version to mark the handset’s 25th anniversary – and yes, it still has the iconic Snake game.

Scientists are studying China’s Meihua Fortress to see how it managed to withstand repeated attacks over centuries.

The forensics team – Tokyo Prison Fire Project – have made ‘significant progress’ with the remains that were co-mingled and degraded by fire.

What started as just one week in May has evolved over the decades into a month-long tribute of events in cities big and small.

Austrian artist Andreas Joska-Sutanto has been cutting up Hitler’s Mein Kampf letter by letter for the past eight years and recycling them to make a cookbook, with recipes for pizza, tiramisu and other dishes.

With its young people moving away, the culture and history of Tai O on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island were at risk of being forgotten. A non-profit foundation stepped in 15 years ago to help preserve them.

Base yourself at a luxury tented camp or recreated fort to discover the evocative city of Jaisalmer and the beautiful desert with its leopards and Rabari tribe

Dozens of enthusiasts queue to get their hands on ‘Yellow Head’ model train at event celebrating MTR Corporation’s 45th anniversary.

From an abandoned diamond mining town in Namibia to a Hong Kong village where ghost ‘sightings’ have been reported, to a town in Ukraine emptied by nuclear disaster, 9 ghost towns to see.

Marcos Jnr’s pro-US stance and measures to ‘elevate’ the Philippines have made him a ‘pivotal player’ on South China Sea issues among world leaders.

In Argentina no industry can escape its high inflation, but in Buenos Aires cocktail bars are overcoming supply problems by using alternative local ingredients to create new cocktails and vermouths.

The intensely coloured Portrait of Fraulein Lieser is one of the last works by the Austrian modernist artist.

A landmark new exhibition in South Korea revisits ancient East Asian Buddhist art from Korea, China and Japan through the lens of gender, highlighting the influence women have had throughout history.

According to one culture official, the New Cathedral of Coimbra, in Portugal, served as the model for Macau’s Church of St Paul – of which only the facade remains, following a fire in 1835.

Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown has been transformed into a buzzing neighbourhood full of new restaurants, shops and bars that manages to retain its heritage. Here’s what to eat, drink and do there.