Bubble tea fans can frolic in a pool of 100,000 plastic purple pearls, take photos on a bubble tea IV drip, and swing on a giant wrecking ball at a new exhibit in Singapore.
The pop-up aims to be a "one-stop happy place" for visitors who love the tea-based beverage loaded with milk, sugar and tapioca pearls.
Originally from Taiwan, it is now popular across Asia -- including in Singapore, which is home to over 37 bubble tea chains, according to the Straits Times newspaper Exhibit organiser Tan Weiting said people get "really passionate" about the drink.
"When I was in the office, people sitting behind me, they're always discussing about bubble tea, what's their favourite flavour, which store has the best pearls... they even start fighting over which one's the best one," said Tan.
The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday. It will run for about two months, and Tan is planning a tour around Asia.
Music is played in the pastel-coloured rooms and Tan partnered with a "scent vendor" to ...

Frolic in a bubble tea ball pit at Singapore exhibit

PTI Automatic

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in violence related to Afghanistan's recent presidential election season as the Taliban sought to undermine the democratic process, a UN agency said Tuesday.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that 85 people were killed and another 373 wounded in election violence during the period from June 8 to September 30.
On polling day alone, 28 civilians were killed and 249 injured. Children accounted for more than one-third of the victims.
Despite the high toll, Afghan security forces said election day was a success because the Taliban failed to pull off any large-scale attacks that stole the headlines.
The majority of Taliban attacks involved the use of rockets, grenades and mortars, as well as homemade bombs planted near polling centres, including schools, the report found.
On July 28, the same day as the election campaign started, militants targeted the office of Ghani's running mate Amrullah Saleh in Kabul, ...

85 civilians killed, 373 wounded during Afghan election campaign: UN

Hundreds of people including Russian and US astronauts and top officials bid farewell Tuesday to Alexei Leonov, a legendary Soviet cosmonaut who was the first man to perform a spacewalk.
Thomas Stafford, an 89-year-old retired NASA astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel into space, and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu were among those gathered for a funeral with military honours just outside Moscow.
Fellow astronauts took turns praising the Soviet space icon next to a flag-draped casket that bore Leonov's body at the military memorial cemetery in Mytishchi.
Soviet cosmonaut Tereshkova called Leonov, who died in Moscow on Friday aged 85 after a long illness, a true friend.
"It's hard to come to terms with the fact that we have to say goodbye to you today," said the 82-year-old Tereshkova.
In his speech Stafford, who shared a historic handshake with Leonov in space -- at the height of the Cold War in 1975 -- said he would never forget the Russian.
The two men ..

Russia bids farewell to first man who walked in space

China said Tuesday there was "no difference" with the United States on reaching a trade agreement, amid scepticism over what US President Donald Trump has called a "substantial phase one" deal.
On Friday, Trump said after talks in Washington with Vice Premier Liu He that the two sides had reached an initial agreement, but while Beijing said progress was made it never stated that a deal was struck at the meeting.
Asked at a regular press conference on Tuesday if Washington and Beijing had the same approach on a deal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said:
"What the US has said is the actual situation -- it is consistent with our understanding of the situation."
Geng added: "Both sides are in consensus about the issue of reaching an economic and trade agreement, there is no difference." US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that US and Chinese officials will continue to hold talks by phone this week to finalise the deal.
Trump said the agreement included a ...

China sees 'no difference' with US on trade deal

President Vladimir Putin visited Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, seeking to attract over $1.3 billion worth of investments in Russia's economy.
Putin, who came to the United Arab Emirates a day after signing a key oil deal with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, was greeted by Abu Dhabi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
A dozen agreements worth more than $1.3 billion, notably in the energy, advanced technology and sectors, are expected to be sealed during the visit, according to the Russian sovereign wealth fund.
As Putin made his way to the presidential palace, jets painted the sky white, blue and red -- the colours of the Russian flag -- and ceremonial cannon salutes were fired.
The streets of Abu Dhabi were lined with Emirati and Russian flags, while road signs typically displaying warnings for motorists greeted Putin in Arabic and Russian.
"The United Arab Emirates welcomes the visit of the Russian president," read the signs.
"Among the Gulf countries, the UAE is the leader in ...

Putin in Abu Dhabi seeking $1.3 billion in investments

Amazon is eating into Google's giant slice of online search advertising in the US as businesses target the online retail platform's shoppers, according to an eMarketer forecast released on Tuesday.
Google will continue to dominate the market for serving up ads along with search results, but Amazon and "smaller players" including Walmart, Target, eBay and Pinterest are seeing their shares grow, the market tracker said.
Ads displayed along with query results at shopping sites are seen as having good odds of catching the eyes of consumers while they are intent on buying something.
"Amazon's ad business has attracted massive increases in spending because advertisers can reach consumers during product queries, a time when they're ready to buy," eMarketer principal analyst Nicole Perrin said.
"Amazon has also rolled out better measurement and targeting tools, making it even more attractive for advertisers."
The US search ad market overall will have grown nearly 18 percent this year to reach 

Amazon eating Google online search ad share: eMarketer

North and South Korea drew 0-0 in a historic but surreal World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, played in front of an empty stadium and almost completely blocked off from the outside world.
The showdown between the two sides -- whose countries are still technically at war -- took place at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Stadium with no live broadcast, no supporters and no foreign media in attendance.
Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min captained South Korea in the first competitive men's match to be played in Pyongyang but frustrated South Korean fans, who were not allowed to travel to the game, will have to wait days to see it on television -- after officials bring back a recording on DVD.
"North Korea promised to provide a DVD containing full footage of the match before our delegation departs," the South's unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs, said in a statement.
The only simple way to follow the match, which the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had billed as "one of the ...

No goals, no fans, no TV: Koreas draw 0-0 in blacked-out World Cup qualifier

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised Tuesday to take action after reports emerged of two homeless men being denied access to a Tokyo typhoon shelter as a powerful storm, which killed nearly 70 people, battered Japan.
The men had sought refuge at a shelter in Taito, eastern Tokyo, when typhoon Hagibis made landfall and barrelled through the capital and its surrounds.
A Taito spokesman told AFP that officials refused them entry because the shelters were meant for residents of the ward.
Asked about the incident, Abe told parliament the homeless men should have been given refuge.
"Shelters are supposed to be set up for the purpose of protecting lives of affected people," Abe said.
"It is desirable to accept all affected people in shelters," he said, adding he would take measures to prevent similar cases.
Hagibis unleashed fierce winds and unprecedented rain that triggered landslides and caused dozens of rivers to burst their banks.
By Tuesday afternoon, local media put the death toll at ...

Japan PM promises action after homeless denied typhoon refuge

Four mayors from Turkey's main pro-Kurdish opposition party were detained on Tuesday as part of a "counter-terrorism" operation, the party said.
The mayors are from four towns in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast -- Hakkari, Yuksekova, Ercis and Nusaybin -- and all members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
State news agency Anadolu said they were taken as part of "counter-terrorism" investigations for alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
Six other municipal officials were also arrested, Anadolu said.
Dozens of criminal cases have been opened against people around the country for criticising Turkey's military operation against Kurdish militants in Syria since it was launched a week ago.
Among them were the co-presidents of the HDP, Sezai Temelli et Pervin Buldan, accused of "terrorist propaganda" for statements against the offensive.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 

Turkey detains four mayors in Kurdish areas

Parked in a hangar in downtown Tripoli, some 35 buses awaited this week's launch of a new urban public transport scheme -- the first in the Libyan capital in three decades.
Imported from China, the brand new vehicles will make their first trips in the coming days, across a city that for six months has lived with the deadly rhythm of combat in its outer suburbs.
Since April, eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar has been battling forces loyal to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord for control of Tripoli.
Equipped with wifi and air conditioning, the blue and white buses will run 20 routes, from Janzour 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of Tripoli to Tajoura, 12 kilometres east of the city. Another route will travel 25 kilometres south to the airport (though the facility is not operational).
Transport company Al-Sahem -- whose name means arrow -- wants residents to re-embrace public transport as a way to reduce congestion in this Mediterranean city where urbanisation sprawls along ..

Public buses return to Tripoli after 30 years

China on Tuesday called on Turkey to stop its military action in northern Syria and "return to the correct way of political resolution", with Ankara's operation against Kurdish militants in its seventh day.
Turkey launched an assault last week against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which it sees as a "terrorist" offshoot of Kurdish insurgents in its own territory.
The United States imposed sanctions on Turkey, its NATO ally, in a bid to stop an assault that its own troop withdrawal from the area had triggered but Ankara has shown no sign of relenting.
"The sovereignty, independence, unification, and territorial integrity of Syria should be respected and upheld," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.
"We call on Turkey to stop military action, and return to the correct way of political resolution." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the operation would not stop until "our objectives have been ...

China urges Turkey to 'stop military action' in Syria

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey's operation against Kurdish militants in northern Syria would not stop until "our objectives have been achieved".
Turkey is in the seventh day of its assault against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which it sees as a "terrorist" off-shoot of Kurdish insurgents in its own territory.
"God willing, we will quickly secure the region stretching from Manbij to our border with Iraq and ensure that, in the first stage, one million, and then two million Syrian refugees return to their homes of their own free will," Erdogan said in a televised speech in Baku, where he was attending a regional conference.
He said 1,000 square-kilometres of Syrian territory had so far been "liberated from the separatist terrorist organisation".
Turkey plans to establish a safe zone stretching across northern Syria, to which it can repatriate many of the 3.6 million refugees that it is hosting from the Syrian conflict.

Syria offensive to continue until 'objectives achieved': Erdogan

Qatar defended its close ally Turkey's controversial operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Tuesday, saying Ankara had acted against an "imminent threat".
Turkey has helped Qatar weather the effects of a two-year regional economic embargo led by Riyadh over claims of support for Iran and Islamist extremism, denied by Doha.
But Ankara has faced widespread condemnation for its deadly incursion, with the US imposing sanctions on prominent Turkish leaders while France and Germany have halted arms sales.
"We can't put all the blame on Turkey," Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said at a Global Security Forum meeting in Doha, adding that Ankara had been forced to respond to an "imminent threat for Turkish security".
Turkey wants to create a roughly 30-kilometre buffer zone along its border to keep Kurdish forces at bay and also to send back some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees on its soil.
"In the beginning (Turkey) said 'don't support ..

Qatar defends Turkey's northern Syria operation

Kurdish forces held out in a key border town Tuesday seven days into a deadly Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria that has caused mass displacement and reshaped the political map.
The United States slapped sanctions on its NATO ally in a bid to stop an assault that its own troop withdrawal from the area triggered but Ankara showed no sign of relenting.
Using a dense network of tunnels, berms and trenches, Kurdish fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been mounting a desperate defence of Ras al-Ain.
They launched "a large counterattack against Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies near Ras al-Ain," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Since launching their assault on October 9, Turkish-backed forces have secured more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) of border, but Ras al-Ain, which the Kurds call Siri Kani, has held out.
An AFP correspondent in the area said clashes around the town continued on Tuesday, despite repeated claims by Ankara in ...

Syria Kurds defend key town as Turkey ignores US

Indonesian police said they have arrested more than two dozen suspected militants after members of a network linked to the Islamic State (IS) group tried to assassinate a government minister.
The world's biggest Muslim majority nation is on high alert ahead of President Joko Widodo's second-term inauguration on Sunday, with some 27,000 troops expected to be deployed in the capital Jakarta.
Authorities have also banned mass demonstrations in the lead up to Widodo's swearing in, for fear they might be used as cover for an attack, State Intelligence Agency spokesman Wawan Purwanto said.
Last week two militants stabbed Security Minister Wiranto, a former general who goes by one name, during an official visit to West Java.
The 72-year-old was rushed by helicopter to Jakarta, where he was treated for knife wounds to his stomach. He is recovering in hospital.
Some 27 suspected militants had been arrested since the attack, said national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo.
Prasetyo also said ...

Indonesia arrests two dozen after minister attack

South Africa's embattled former president Jacob Zuma will appeal a court ruling that he stand trial on corruption charges, his lawyer said Tuesday, in a last-minute move delaying a case over bribery allegations dating back to a 1990s arms deal.
The trial would have been the first time Zuma faced a court on graft charges, despite a string of accusations over his long political career.
The High Court in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg last week rejected his request to have charges of fraud, graft and racketeering dismissed, clearing the way for the trial to start on Tuesday.
But Zuma's lawyer Thabani Masuku told the court at the start of the trial that the ex-president would appeal, dragging on a case that has seen numerous legal twists over 15 years.
"Mr Zuma would like to exercise the full extent of his constitutional rights, which includes the right to appeal," Masuku said.
Zuma was forced to resign as president last year by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party .

S Africa's Zuma files last-minute appeal at corruption trial

The pound rallied Tuesday after the European Union's top Brexit negotiator flagged the possibility of a divorce deal this week, reviving hopes Britain could avoid crashing out of the bloc.
With the exit deadline on October 31, Michel Barnier's comments reinforced hopes for an eventual agreement between the two sides and came after reports said a compromise was taking shape.
Ahead of a meeting to update EU countries on negotiations, he told reporters: "This work has been intense all along the weekend and yesterday because even if the agreement will be difficult -- more and more difficult to be frank -- it's still possible this week."
Sterling surged more than one percent to as high as $1.2698, near levels not seen since June, before easing slightly. It also picked up against the euro.
The currency had already been rising after Britain's Daily Telegraph said a divorce agreement was forming, with EU and British negotiators hailing a positive day of talks on the Northern Ireland ...

Pound rallies as EU's Barnier fans Brexit deal hopes

German car giant Volkswagen has delayed a decision over whether to build a new factory in Turkey over Ankara's offensive on northeastern Syria, a spokesman said Tuesday.
While an announcement had been expected on a new factory worth up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and bringing 4,000 jobs, "the Volkswagen board has delayed the decision. We are carefully observing the present situation and view current developments with concern," the spokesman said.
Beginning Wednesday, Turkish troops advanced into the zone controlled by Kurdish militias which had helped a Western-led coalition fight so-called Islamic State (IS) jihadists, but who Ankara accuses of terrorism.
VW had "in recent months" decided to build a new factory to serve Eastern Europe in Turkey, rather than other candidate countries Romania or Bulgaria, business daily Handelsblatt reported.
Some European Parliament members accused Turkey of offering VW public contracts and subsidies in breach of EU law.
EU member states have .

Volkswagen delays decision on new Turkey factory over Syria conflict

Iranian state television has shown footage of Ruhollah Zam, an exiled opposition figure the Revolutionary Guards said they arrested in a "sophisticated" operation.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the arrest of Zam on Monday, describing him as a "counter-revolutionary" who was "directed by France's intelligence service".
Zam reportedly lived in exile in Paris, but the Guards did not specify when or where he was arrested.
A short video clip aired by state television late Monday shows a stocky man sitting in the back of a car blindfold and handcuffed.
The same man then appears sitting in an armchair next to the flags of Iran and the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic republic's ideological army.
He identifies himself as Zam and "the founder of Amadnews", a Telegram channel that the Iranian authorities accuse of having played a major role in a wave of protests that broke out in December 2017.
The man then expresses regret for "what has happened in the past three or four ...

Iran TV shows exile arrested in Guards operation

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed not to allow any Islamic State fighters to escape northern Syria, in an editorial published Tuesday, following fears from Western nations over its offensive in the region.
"We will ensure that no ISIS (Islamic State) fighters leave northeastern Syria," Erdogan wrote in the Wall Street Journal.  But he added that Western countries were hypocritical to worry that Turkey's operation against Kurdish militants risked a mass escape of jihadists.
"The same countries that lecture Turkey on the virtues of combating ISIS today, failed to stem the influx of foreign terrorist fighters in 2014 and 2015," Erdogan wrote.
The United States slapped sanctions on Turkey Monday as it demanded an end to the military operation, accusing its NATO partner of putting civilians at risk and allowing the release of extremists.
Kurdish authorities claim the Turkish assault makes it difficult to maintain security at their detention centres.
They say 800 IS family ...

Erdogan vows no IS fighters will escape Syria

Human Rights Watch warned European countries on Tuesday against transferring foreign jihadist suspects from prisons in war-torn northeastern Syria to Iraq.
The New York-based watchdog expressed concern that some countries with significant contingents of prisoners in Syria were seeking to move them across the border.
A Turkish invasion of areas controlled by Kurdish forces has sparked deep concern in Europe about the potential for mass breakouts by members of the Islamic State group.
Many European governments have been reluctant to repatriate these prisoners to stand trial and have already transferred some to Iraq to be prosecuted.
"Given Iraq's record of unfair trials, European states should not promote efforts to have their nationals transferred there for prosecution," HRW's Iraq researcher Belkis Wille said.
Any government supporting such a move "without taking measures to remove the risk of torture, sham trials and execution risks contributing to serious abuses," she said.
Wille ...

AFP

AFP

Page 355 - Afp