Traditional Medicine

1. Filibuster: how the meaning changed from piracy to politics

   A filibuster was once a pirate. The word ultimately comes from the Dutch vrijbuiter – meaning “privateer, pirate, robber” – formed from vrijbuit (“prize, spoils, plunder”), composed of vrij (“free”) and buit (“booty”).Vrijbuiter entered English via two routes, giving two different words.In one, the Dutch word was borrowed in the late 16th century to give the English freebooter, referring in an era of maritime trade routes to a privateer, and later more generally to a pirate or any person in…

2. Pastry chef Holger Deh on baking a cake for the king of Malaysia

   Did you like baking as a child? “I grew up in Balingen, a village 70km south of Stuttgart, Germany. There was a bakery opposite our house, and every morning I could smell the bread. My grandmother lived in a different village so every Wednesday my older brother and sister and I spent the afternoon with her. She was still baking bread in an old wood-fired oven. She did everything by hand.“I made savouries, sweets and bread with my grandmother and mum. When I was around 12 years old I did a pre…

3. Bangkok sea goddess temple under threat of redevelopment, but locals say the ‘Queen of Heaven’ wants to stay put

   Three large Chinese characters painted in gold over the entrance declare that the shrine of Chao Mae Thap Thim in central Bangkok is the “Palace of the Queen of Heaven”. The sea goddess Mazu, to whom the temple’s name refers, is believed to inhabit the premises, but that may not be true for much longer. Also known to locals as A-Ma – mother or grandma in Chinese – the deity does not seem keen on having her place of worship moved from its current location in a gravelly expanse that serves as a…

4. Art in the coronavirus era: see Van Goghs from the wheel of your car at drive-in exhibition in Toronto

   While some museums have had to cancel or postpone long-planned exhibitions because of the coronavirus, organisers of a Van Gogh show in Toronto had a novel idea: offering art lovers a drive-in option.“Of course, because of Covid, we had to think creatively,” said Corey Ross, a co-producer of the exhibition, which was supposed to start in May and was delayed by the pandemic.As Canada’s largest city gradually comes out of lockdown, the show began last week with two viewing areas in a huge Toronto…

5. Who is Mary Trump? Meet the woman who has written a tell-all book about Donald Trump, the ‘world’s most dangerous man’

   US President Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, has written a book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man. It is set to be published on July 14.Publisher Simon & Schuster said the book would be a “revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him”.Mary Trump is known to have been on bad terms with her uncle Donald for at least 20 years, ever since they were involved in a public legal battle against each other. She…

6. How street style changed fashion weeks, and why its future is in doubt as industry resets after the pandemic

   There’s one trend that fashion weeks across the globe consistently have in common: performative crowds of peacocking attendees. Every season, the industry moves between various cities – from Seoul to London – to see designers reveal their new collections in theatrical catwalk shows and presentations, but the real show is on the streets outside.Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the usual fashion week routine of crowds piling into venues, sitting thigh-to-thigh and squashing to fit onto rows…

7. Raw power of Basquiat on show in Hong Kong – he’s ‘so of the moment’, Lévy Gorvy gallery co-founder Brett Gorvy says

   International art gallery Lévy Gorvy opens its new exhibition in Hong Kong this week with a seminal painting by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.The untitled work was created in 1982, the year when the Brooklyn-born street artist began to gain recognition in the art world with his large canvas paintings. It was also a milestone year that marked a shift for the artist from the streets to the studio.Basquiat was funded with space and proper supplies by his new dealer Annina Nosei, and able to…

8. More people take up cycling because of the coronavirus pandemic, and bicycle sales go through the roof

   Keen to stay fit and keep clear of infection, commuters around the world have turned to bicycles to get around during the coronavirus pandemic. The surge has lifted cycle sales sky high and given long-time biking advocates new hope.Bike shop owners in the Philippine capital of Manila say demand for bikes has been stronger than at Christmas.In India, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has advised states to promote non-motorised transport, including cycling, to prevent transmission of…

9. Taiwan celebrates Japan’s colonial legacy of a clean drinking water supply

   Speaking at the Taipei Water Park this spring, Mayor Ko Wen-je urged audience members to “think about where water comes from when they drink it”.Ko’s comment came at the premiere of Tracing Roots, a documentary film on the history of Taipei’s water supply – from the 19th century, when residents dug their own wells, to the city’s current management system that collects, purifies and distributes 2.4 million cubic tons of potable water every day.Most of the film’s 25-minute running time focuses on…

10. Why chef Marco Pierre White’s cookbook, White Heat 25, makes poignant reading

    Ask any foodie with a long memory what they know of chef Marco Pierre White and chances are they will remember stories of his fierce temper (he once made a 20-year-old Gordon Ramsay cry), his marriages and affairs, unpredictable behaviour (he fought with food critics and customers), and the legendary £25 plate of chips made by White himself for a customer who insisted on having them even though they weren’t on the menu.In 1994, when he was 32, Michelin awarded Restaurant Marco Pierre White…