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Zaha Hadid's first posthumous project is inaugurated in Salerno

Cruise ships regularly disgorge thousands of passengers to visit attractions beyond the docks, but in the case of Salerno, this ancient and gracious Italian city of 133,000 people south of Naples, the first must-see site may soon become the maritime terminal itself, created by the architect Zaha Hadid and inaugurated Monday.

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Why I feel assaulted by people eating on Hong Kong's streets

Everywhere you go there is the sound of chomping and slurping, moans Stuart Heaver. And don't get him started on cinemas and popcorn

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At least 28 killed as strong earthquake jolts Ecuador

At least 28 people were killed as a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador Saturday, Ecuadorian media reported.

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Tang Empire on exhibit in Australia for first time

The exhibit shows the high artistic achievements and rich history of this golden age of China - Tang Empire.

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IS leaves complicated web of mines ahead of withdrawal from key central Syrian cities

Over the past week, the Islamic State (IS) group has lost two important strongholds in central Syria, namely the ancient oasis city of Palmyra and the nearby city of Qaryatain in the eastern countryside of the central province of Homs.

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Spotlight: Palmyra's ruins in ruins amid rising hope

The gods of the ancient times that had been worshiped in Syria's Palmyra city seemed to had failed in protecting their temples in that city from the bombings of the Islamic State (IS) group.

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Situation in Palmyra relieving, experts to head soon for assessment

Antiquities experts will head soon to the reclaimed ancient caravan city of Palmyra for precise damage assessment done by the Islamic State (IS) group, a Syrian antiquities official told Xinhua on Wednesday.

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Syria's Palmyra airbase resumes operation

A military aircraft landed on Monday in the airbase of Palmyra, the first since government troops recaptured the city from Islamic State (IS) militants, Syrian TV reported.

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World's largest light and ideas festival gets bigger across magnificent Australian harbour

​The world's largest light, music and ideas festival has become even bigger, expanding across the iconic and picturesque Sydney Harbour for a 23-night extravaganza commencing late-May.

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At least 15 people killed by landslides, flooding in Sao Paulo, Brazil

At least 15 people were killed on Thursday night by landslides provoked by heavy rains and floods in the urban area of Sao Paulo, the city's fire department announced on Friday.

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Red tape, rotating ministers delay reconstruction progress, says Rikuzentakata mayor

​Five years on since a devastating 9. 0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami destroyed the city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture in northeast Japan, the city has not yet recovered from the catastrophe as a large number of reconstruction projects have been delayed forcing residents to move out.

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Declining population adds to trauma of revitalizing disaster-hit Tohoku area in Japan

​As the five-year intensive reconstruction period approaches its deadline in late March, the Japanese Tohoku region devastated by a monstrous earthquake-triggered tsunami on March 11, 2011 is still struggling to be revitalized, with a declining population making the huge projects ever harder to complete.

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A diplomat's tales of three Chinese cities

I thought that one day I would like to write a book to recordin detail those impressions and rich experiences I gained through living and working in thisgreat land.

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Hong Kong is most expensive office market: chart

Hong Kong isn’t just the world’s most unaffordable housing market; it can also claim bragging rights as the costliest city in the world to rent an office, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s first Premium Office Rent Tracker.

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China's Tianjin requires plants to report daily in beefed-up safety oversight

The northern Chinese coastal city of Tianjin has asked plants that produce dangerous chemicals to submit daily safety reports, the city's mayor said on Thursday.

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Hard living: Hong Kong scores 70th in rank of world cities, lags Singapore

Hong Kong’s ranking remains stubbornly unchanged in this year’s Mercer study, sharing space with flagging Detroit and near dusty Dubai

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Beatles' legacy proves very lucrative for Liverpool, study finds

​ Half a century after they took the world by storm, the legacy of the Beatles earns 119 million U.S. dollars a year for their home city of Liverpool. Moreover, the 'Beatles industry' in the city is growing at 15 percent a year.