When roads, railways or new buildings are planned, centuries-old trees are often among the first casualties of development. In Japan, however, some of the country’s most valuable trees are given a second chance. Rather than cutting them down, arborists and horticultural experts sometimes relocate them using a painstaking process that can take months or even […]
Just after midnight, while much of London sleeps, figures carrying headlamps and small shovels quietly descend the slippery banks of the River Thames. Kneeling in thick mud beneath bridges and beside ancient embankments, they sift through silt searching for fragments of forgotten history. Some discover Roman coins. Others uncover medieval jewellery, Victorian toys or centuries-old […]
VATICAN CITY: With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals on Wednesday began the secretive, centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history. Two by two, the cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel chanting the meditative “Litany […]
