Getting by: A photograph of Endang at his house, on May 1. Shown in the background are the sewing machines that his son uses as a clothing vendor when he is not out taking food orders.(JP/Anindito Ariwandono)

Dying light: Indonesian neon sign makers refuse to call it quits for now

A look into the life of one of Bandung’s last generation of neon sign makers

3 years ago

Art & Culture premium

An artistic exploration of Islamic paradoxes

Artist Mujahidin Nurrahman uses his art to explore the contradictions and paradoxes of Islam ...

3 years ago

Science & Tech

Rising iPhone sales help Apple beat forecasts

Apple said iPhone sales powered quarterly earnings that beat forecasts, despite inflation pressure and the slowing global economy. ...

3 years ago

The Latest

A Royal fan wears an elaborate hat in honour of Britain's King Charles III, near to Buckingham Palace in central London, on May 4, 2023, ahead of the coronation weekend.

Community premium

Pomp and protests as UK holds first coronation in 70 years

Britain's first coronation in 70 years takes place on Saturday, with Charles III crowned king in an elaborate Christian ceremony.

3 years ago

A view of BuzzFeed offices in the Hollywood neighborhood on April 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

Science & Tech premium

BuzzFeed, Vice woes signal crisis in digital-only media

With the closure of BuzzFeed News and bankruptcy looming at Vice, the once promising world of free digital media finds itself at a crossroads.

3 years ago

(L-R) Matt Fritch, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Mark Hamill, Billie Lourd, Steve Nissen and Ellen K attend the ceremony for Carrie Fisher being honored posthumously with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 04, 2023 in Hollywood, California.

People

Carrie Fisher's Walk of Fame star provokes family wars

Late Star Wars actor Carrie Fisher was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame Thursday, in a ceremony overshadowed by a bitter feud among her family.

3 years ago

Indigenous activist Txai Surui speaks during the first day of the Web Summit Rio 2023 at the RioCentro Expo Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 1, 2023.

Environment premium

Indigenous youths use tech as 'weapon' to protect Amazon

Today, the weapon of choice for many young Indigenous activists to defend native lands in the Brazilian Amazon is technology.

3 years ago

Music for Ukraine: British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran performs live on Feb. 8 during the BRIT Awards 2022 ceremony and live show in London. Sheeran joined other music stars at a televised concert on Tuesday that aimed to raise funds for a Ukrainian humanitarian appeal.

Entertainment

Ed Sheeran wins US copyright trial

The English musician hugged his team inside a Manhattan federal courtroom after jurors ruled that he had "independently" created his 2014 song.

3 years ago

Kanye West at Milk Studios on June 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California, the United States. Adidas and Kanye West announce the future of their partnership: adidas + KANYE WEST.

Culture

Adidas posts Q1 loss as Kanye split weighs

The company booked a net loss of 39 million euros ($43 million) from January to March, compared to a profit of 482 million euros in the period a year earlier.

3 years ago

A handout artist impression released by NSF's NOIRLab on May 3, 2023, shows a star devouring one of its planets as astronomers, using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, have observed the first compelling evidence of a dying Sun-like star engulfing an exoplanet. The “smoking gun” of this event was seen in a long and low-energy outburst from the star — the telltale signature of a planet skimming along a star’s surface. This never-before-seen process may herald the ultimate fate of Earth when our own Sun nears the end of its life in about five billion years.

Science & Tech premium

Star swallows planet in first glimpse of Earth's likely end

But when the Sun finally does engulf Earth, it will cause only a "tiny perturbation" compared to this cosmic explosion, the US astronomers said.

3 years ago

In this photograph taken on April 24, 2023, Afghan boys travel in a Toyota Corolla taxi in Kabul. Little is certain in Afghanistan -- armies invade and retreat, governments rise and fall -- but when the key of a Toyota Corolla turns in the ignition, the engine can be relied upon to roar to life.

Culture

'Beautiful Corolla': Afghan love affair with Toyota endures the ages

A humble Japanese runabout with a reliable albeit unglamorous reputation, the Toyota Corolla is said to be the world's most popular car, with over 50 million trundling off production lines since 1966.

3 years ago

Devout leads: 'Buya Hamka Vol. 1' stars Vino G. Bastian (right) as renowned cleric, novelist, politician and philosopher Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known as Hamka, and Laudya Cynthia Bella as his wife Sitti Raham. (Courtesy of Falcon Pictures)

Entertainment

'Buya Hamka Vol. 1': Biopic oversimplifies life of famed cleric

Director Fajar Bustomi’s biopic about Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah shows that local filmmakers need to be bolder in scrutinizing Indonesian figures of the past, even one regarded as possibly the most virtuous.

3 years ago

Cast member Brie Larson poses at the premiere for the movie 'Captain Marvel' in Los Angeles, California, US, on March 4, 2019.

Entertainment

Brie Larson, Paul Dano on Cannes festival jury The jury for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival

Organisers of the prestigious French festival had previously said that last year's Palme d'Or winner, "Triangle of Sadness" director Ruben Ostlund, would preside over the main competition jury.

3 years ago

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 02: Ed Sheeran attends the Disney+ World Premiere of “Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All” at The Times Center on May 02, 2023 in New York City. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Disney+

Entertainment premium

Sheeran copyright battle could stoke songwriting paranoia

The trial centers on whether the British pop phenom plagiarized Marvin Gaye's 1973 soul classic "Let's Get It On" in his 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud."

3 years ago

Seasonal surge: Prama Tirta Leksana prints a political T-shirt at his T-shirt printing company in Jakarta. Prama says that his orders at least triple during election season. (Courtesy of Prama Tirta Leksana)

Culture

Good money, tough clients: The business of political T-shirts

'Tis the season when campaign T-shirts become hot items among politically conscious voters.

3 years ago

Culture

Pokémon Justice: Japanese store bans adults from buying Pokémon cards

A Japanese store is enforcing a policy to block adult resellers and making new Pokemon cards more accessible to children.

3 years ago

Lebanese Michelin-Starred chef Alan Geaam prepares a dish in his restaurant 'Alan Geaam', in Paris on December 22, 2022. My mum doesn't agree with what I'm doing here: back home, we don't eat like this,“ laughs Alan Geaam, the first and only starred Lebanese chef in his gastronomic restaurant in Paris.

Food

Foreign chefs conquer Paris with childhood flavours for French cuisine

The self-taught chef, who fled his country's civil war in 1999, nonetheless believes that promoting Lebanon's culinary riches means combining them with some of "the elegance and refinement" of French cuisine.

3 years ago

BURBANK, CA - MAY 02: Striking Writers Guild of America workers picket outside the Warner Brother studios, on May 2, 2023 in Burbank, California. After talks with studios and streamers over pay and working conditions failed to result in a deal, more than 11,000 Hollywood television and movie writers went on their first strike in 15 years. Late-night shows are expected to stop production immediately, while television series and movies scheduled for release later this year and beyond could face major delays.

Entertainment

Picket lines in Hollywood as writers go on strike

Late-night shows fronted by the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Myers and Stephen Colbert were expected to be the first casualties as 11,000 union members walked off the job for the first time in 15 years.

3 years ago

Still waters: Boats are berthed in an Indonesian port (Pexels/Ahmad Syahrir)

Culture

Futuristic tourism: How Indonesian travelers are shaping new journeys

The future seems bright and exciting for the different varieties of Indonesian travelers as they look to hit the road in ways that suit them.

3 years ago

Fuzzy wuzzy: Bearology Café is recommended to diners looking for teddy bear cuddliness. (Courtesy of Bearology Cafe)

Food premium

Sweet tooth: Four of Jakarta's cutest concept cafes

Under-the-radar hangout spots upon which to feast your belly and tired eyes.

3 years ago

The SpaceX Starship explodes after launch for a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023.

Science & Tech

Conservation groups sue US regulator over SpaceX launches

US conservation groups announced they are suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for not doing enough to protect the environment from SpaceX's Starship program.

3 years ago

Science & Tech

Samsung bans use of ChatGPT for mobile, appliances staff

Samsung Electronics is banning employees in its mobile and appliances division from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT.

3 years ago

Serena Williams attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty“ at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City.

People

Serena Williams debuts baby bump at Met Gala

Retired tennis superstar Serena Williams unveiled her pregnancy on the red carpet at the Met Gala in New York on Monday.

3 years ago

Workers prepare “crushed coca leaf“ bags at the “El Dogor“ shop in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on April 22, 2023.

Environment

Chewed for millennia, coca leaf gets flavorsome makeover in Bolivia

Bitter and tough, the coca leaf chewed throughout the South American Andes for thousands of years as a natural pick-me-up has been getting an appetizing makeover in Bolivia.

3 years ago

Hippos -- descendants from a small herd introduced by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar -- are seen in the wild in a lake near the Hacienda Napoles theme park in Doradal, Colombia, on April 19, 2023.

Environment premium

Colombia grapples with Escobar's hippopotamus legacy

In their homeland in Africa, they are responsible for more human deaths than almost any other animal, but in Colombia, hippopotami have become loved members of the local community.

3 years ago

A demonstrator takes part in a pan-banging protest during French President Emmanuel Macron’s televised address to the nation, after he signed into law a pensions reform, in Strasbourg, eastern France on April 17, 2023. Macron on April 15 addressed France for the first time since signing into law his controversial pension reform, facing warnings the political and social crisis it sparked is not over. Macron signed the legislation just hours after the banner change to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 had been validated by the constitutional court on April 14, prompting accusations he was smuggling the law through in the dead of night.

People premium

Put a lid on it! How the pot became a global protest symbol

As authorities try to put the lid on the protests, we look at how the humble kitchen utensil became a global symbol of resistance.

3 years ago

In this file photo taken on June 14, 2012 inductee Gordon Lightfoot at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 2012 Annual Induction and Awards Ceremony in New York. Canadian singer and performer Gordon Lightfoot, who rose to international fame as a folk music star in the 1960s and '70s, died on May 1, 2023. He was 84.

Entertainment

Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk legend, dead at 84

Lightfoot, born in Ontario, made his performing debut in 1943, at the age of five, singing "I'm A Little Teapot" at a local church Sunday school, according to his website.

3 years ago

US rapper A$AP Rocky (L) and Barbadian singer/actress Rihanna arrive for the 2023 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023, in New York. The Gala raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. The Gala's 2023 theme is “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.”

Entertainment

Stars shine bright in New York as Met Gala honors Lagerfeld

Pop superstar Rihanna showed up late as usual but shut down the red carpet all the same, tennis legend Serena Williams and supermodel Karlie Kloss debuted their baby bumps with flair -- and two celebs dressed up as Lagerfeld's cat.

3 years ago