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Offbeat

Offbeat

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Offbeat. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Young adults play chess at Knight Club, a diverse chess club that has grown to almost 1,000 members within a year, in London, Britain. Photo: Reuters

Londoners make fast mates at weekly chess club, an offline meeting place

Volunteer-run Knight Club is a space to connect, drawing over 100 players each Tuesday who bond over chess games as DJs play dance music.

10 Jun 2025 - 6:15PM

‘8,000km became nothing’ for Spanish Muslims on historic horseback haj

9 Jun 2025 - 3:15PM

Hong Kong society

Is it or isn’t it a rare pink aurora above Kai Tak? Hongkongers have their say

6 Jun 2025 - 12:00AM

‘Unacceptable’: Thai teachers’ group slams deal on beer discounts

Teachers’ network calls for partnership between state agency and brewery to be withdrawn as it promotes harmful behaviour.

5 Jun 2025 - 10:14PM

People enjoy drinks in a bar in Bangkok. A Thai teachers’ network has protested against a state agency’s partnership with a beer company to offer beer discounts for teachers. Photo: AFP

The Philippines

Why Duterte’s diehard fans are carrying cardboard cut-outs around The Hague

The life-size standees have been seen around the Philippines and The Hague, where the former president is in ICC detention.

5 Jun 2025 - 8:19AMvideocam

Uefa Champions League

TikTokkers watch Champions League final for free after 27 hours in stadium toilet

Belgian duo told local news station they brought a home-made ‘out of order’ sign as they waited in silence for fans to arrive.

5 Jun 2025 - 12:11AM

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Indian ‘history hunter’ shows children how to use 20th-century tech

Typewriters, rotary telephones, lanterns and tube radios are among the collection of artefacts Aditya Vij demonstrates at his New Delhi home.

4 Jun 2025 - 11:10AM

Indian collector Aditya Vij with some of his old radios. Photo: AP

American cinema

Plea to find Marty McFly’s guitar from 1985’s Back to the Future

Cherry Red Gibson guitar Michael J. Fox’s character plays in Back to the Future vanished after filming. Movie’s stars join appeal to find it.

4 Jun 2025 - 12:17PMvideocam

Sex and relationships

200-year-old condom made from sheep’s appendix goes on display

Prophylactic on show in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum bears the phrase ‘This is my choice’ and an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen.

4 Jun 2025 - 12:34AM

Thai elephant raids convenience store, eats snacks and leaves without paying

The large male pachyderm, known as Plai Biang Lek, has become a well-known figure in the area due to his forays into human settlements.

2 Jun 2025 - 10:37PM

Plai Biang Lek, a male elephant, has gone viral after wandering into a local convenience store and grabbing some snacks without paying. Photo: Facebook / ที่นี่เขาใหญ่

Soiled underwear for sale: outcry in Malaysia over ‘worrisome’ e-commerce trend

Online vendors of the soiled items reportedly claimed the sales helped to fund their education and daily needs.

2 Jun 2025 - 10:29AMvideocam

A man walks past a poster advertising women’s underwear at a shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: AFP

They cry, pee and suck dummies. Lifelike baby dolls cause a stir

Eerily lifelike babies called reborn dolls recently went viral in Brazil, leading some to question their collectors’ mental health.

2 Jun 2025 - 7:15AM

Is the Bible true? US attractions like huge Noah’s Ark replica say yes

The body behind Kentucky’s Ark Encounter and Creation Museum promotes creationism over evolution to the masses – and expansion is next.

29 May 2025 - 11:15AM

Doll’s house collectors think small with big mental health benefits

Adult collectors spend big on mini homes, furniture and decor in a pastime that eases stress and anxiety, and is booming in wake of Covid-19.

27 May 2025 - 4:28AM

A room in a doll’s house. Photo: AFP

Strauss’ Blue Danube heading to space for composer’s birthday

European Space Agency will beam the waltz into deep space to mark 200 years since composer’s birth, after it was passed over by Nasa in 1977.

26 May 2025 - 3:15PMvideocam

The European Space Agency’s DSA-2 dish antenna. Photo: ESA via AP

Plague of flying pests adds to Osaka World Expo’s woes in Japan

Though the ‘chironomids’ do not bite or suck blood, they may cause asthma or allergic reactions, experts warn.

26 May 2025 - 2:58PM

Shirtless man detained in Vietnam for vandalising historic throne

The man broke an arm off the 200-year-old royal seat. He was ‘screaming, talking nonsense’ and showed signs of psychosis, officials said.

26 May 2025 - 12:11PM

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Are you bored of horse racing? In Pakistan, they race bulls

In wild sport in eastern Punjab, racers stand on a small wooden platform behind two charging bulls, hanging onto ropes.

25 May 2025 - 4:15PM

Members of a team run beside a pair of bulls during a traditional bull race competition in Malal, Pakistan. Photo: AP

200km/h VW Beetle restorations can put a sports car to shame

Old VW Beetles are rebuilt almost from scratch, and made much more powerful, in a German workshop, where they sell for some US$190,000.

25 May 2025 - 11:45AM

The first one took 31 years. New treasure hunt ‘Golden Owl 2’ is coming

Organiser of ‘Golden Owl 2’ global treasure hunt, sequel to one that ran from 1993 to 2024, says it is still on – once gamers calm down.

23 May 2025 - 5:15PM

Utah desert hotel where Star Wars fans live out Skywalker fantasies

OutpostX, a ‘post-apocalyptic sanctuary’, feels like it’s in a faraway galaxy. But with no staff, and cave dwellings, it’s not for everyone.

22 May 2025 - 4:15PM

A cave dwelling at OutpostX, in the US state of Utah, with a custom-built “sand cruiser” parked outside. An anti-luxury “filmset hotel with a story”, it draws Star Wars fans from far and wide. Photo: Instagram/outpost.x

Indian fashion businesses cash in on flare-up in Pakistan conflict

Military-themed T-shirts and tote bags bearing slogans or Operation Sindoor, the name of latest campaign against Pakistan, are hot sellers.

21 May 2025 - 2:30PM

A woman wears in Ludhiana, India, wears a T-shirt emblazoned “Operation Sindoor”, the name of the military operation against Pakistan in response to a militant attack in Indian Kashmir. Businesses have cashed in on a surge in nationalism. Photo: AFP

Want 2 weeks’ free lodgings? German city desperate to attract new residents

Successful applicants can spend two weeks in a furnished flat in Eisenhüttenstadt, some 100km southeast of Berlin, in September.

18 May 2025 - 6:12PM

TV shows and streaming video

In quilting they ‘make beautiful things’. They’re also US prison inmates

Discover how inmates in a US maximum security prison find healing and community through quilting in Netflix documentary The Quilters.

16 May 2025 - 4:15PMvideocam

East coast vs west coast beats, but this time it’s African chimps

Chimpanzees don’t just drum with distinct rhythms but have their own signature styles, a new study of apes in East and West Africa finds.

13 May 2025 - 3:15PMvideocam

In this photo provided by researchers, a wild adult male chimpanzee makes a pant-hoot call while rocking and stomping on a tree as part of a dominance display in the Budongo Forest of Uganda in Februay 2019. (Adrian Soldati via AP)

‘It’s so inspirational’: Japan’s acrobatic salarymen find joy in cheerleading

Trading spreadsheets for synchronised moves, this unique cheerleading group is capturing hearts with their spectacular acrobatic routines.

14 May 2025 - 6:01PMvideocam

Members of Cheer Re-Man’s, an all-male cheer-leading team of active businessmen, perform at “Cheer Up Japan” in Tokyo in March. Photo: Reuters

Hot dogs and memes: Pope Leo XIV’s Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humour

White Sox barbs, The Bear references and jokes about ‘deep-dish communion wafers’ mark the election of the first American pontiff.

10 May 2025 - 5:48AMvideocam

‘Phantom expo’ ticket from 1940 grants man access to Osaka 2025 world fair

A collector’s pass to Japan’s Grand International Exposition has finally been accepted – 85 years later.

9 May 2025 - 8:07PMvideocam

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