Splish-splash your way to a slimmer waistline

WUPPERTAL, Germany: In 1993, water aerobics were only for senior citizens or patients who needed rehabilitation therapy. Nowadays, it encompasses a variety of trendy underwater sports, all of which are healthy.

Dead animal hearts reanimated

PARIS: In experiments that would make Dr Frankenstein jealous, US scientists have coaxed recycled hearts taken from animal cadavers into beating in the laboratory after reseeding them with live cells, according to a study released Sunday.

IN BRIEF (Page 19)

Life Culture

Pluming fantastic

Joseph and Louis Clerico acquired the Lido in 1946 and about 10 years later bought the Moulin Rouge, transforming them into the famous Paris cabaret. The Clerico family's vision of what cabaret should be and their dinner show format were soon being copied worldwide.

Laughing their way back to the capital

It's not a typo. Shamlet, not Hamlet, will play at the National Center for the Performing Arts (also known as the National Grand Theater) from tomorrow to Sunday. It is not Shakespeare's tragedy but Taiwan director Lee Kuo-shiu and his Ping-Fong Acting Troupe's classic situation comedy.

Picking up the pace

Award-winning director Ma Liwen was overjoyed: "Finally, something spicy has come into my life." A year ago, the renowned writer Liu Zhenyun chose Ma to direct Lost and Found (Wo Jiao Liuyuejin) - a film adapted from his latest novel.

Spring Festival with a classical twist

A variety of shows will be held in China to celebrate the coming Spring Festival, while various artists and ensembles will tour abroad. Among them, two concerts will be held at the Golden Hall of Musikverein, in Vienna, this week. Both feature Chinese music and artists, with a local orchestra in Vienna.

Life Expat

With rhyme and reason

SHANGHAI: On a crowded Shanghai bus, two African American students from Nanjing University chat to each other in English. But their conversation is interrupted when one of the students, Morgan Alexander Jones, AKA MoJo, overhears a local woman's comment to her boyfriend: "Notice how many black people there are here," she says.

So many pieces of the planet crammed into one borough

The borough president of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, is a busy man - on a normal week, Markowitz attends 55 public events.

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How the other half lives