Major blessing for part-time Padraig

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland: Padraig Harrington's goals when peer pressure made him turn pro in 1995 were simply to nut out an existence on the European Tour.

Zarate strikes late to land Argentina Under-20 cup

TORONTO: Mauro Zarate netted an 86th-minute winner to help post Argentina 's sixth Under-20 championship in a 2-1 come-from-behind win against the Czech Republic on Sunday.

IN BRIEF (Page 20)

Life Pulse

Steering up the perfect pig dish

In Shanghai, if a taxi driver were to ask you what is the meaning of life, you would be shocked, as Shanghai cabbies are quiet and professional as they go about their job.

For the love of a child

The death of two boys, Zhang Baoqing, 13, and Zhang Baoshen, 11, who drowned in 2005 in a river, still hangs over the village. "It was really heartbreaking. Baoqing and Baoshen were good friends of my sons, and they were the same age," says He Jinhua, mother of two in Nanzhangdai village, Pinggu District of Beijing.

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Dressed to thrill

It seems like an early Halloween at Beijing's Jinyuan Shopping Mall as its courtyard comes alive with people in lavish costumes. There are doll-like girls in fancy school uniforms, invincible-looking warriors armed with magical swords, and long-haired fairies. The exaggerated make-up and flashy wigs in every imaginable color attract a lot of curious looks from passers-by.

Growing popularity

Cosplay, which combines the words "costume" and "role play", centers on dressing as characters in animation, comics and computer games. It emerged as a mature subculture first in Japan in the early 1990s and then spread across the world. Cosplay on the Chinese mainland got off to a late start. There were some odd solo shows at some cartoon expos in 1998, but it was not until 2000 that the first formal cosplay contest was held. The trend has grown in recent years partly thanks to China's progress in creativity industries, especially with respect to cartoons and games. Cosplay now appears as a more independent genre at cartoon and game-themed expos. It also frequently features at commercial promotions.

Wandering hands on the bus spark panda-monium

I had been making small talk with this middle-aged Chinese man I met on a bus from Beijing bound for Tianjin for about 20 minutes when he suddenly seized my hand and started tenderly caressing it.

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