My Splendid Lifestyle

Thanks to an IT entrepreneur from Myanmar, some 10,000 scrapped bicycles will get a new lease on life as gifts for needy students.  The bikes had been used by sharing services, but when the bubble burst in that market, they were sent to scrapyards.  Students between the ages of 13 and 16 living 2 kilometers from school will be the main beneficiaries of the new program. The entrepreneur behind the project has said that these first 10,000 bikes are just the tip of the iceberg.

Amid the intensifying U.S.-China trade war, criticism of the U.S. by major Chinese media outlets has been on the rise. The People's Daily, an official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, criticized the U.S. for mounting a "digital iron curtain" around the country.  The paper suggested that the U.S. is trying to incite a so-called "science and technology cold war."  It criticized hegemonic behavior by the U.S., citing President Trump's use of tariffs against Mexico to resolve issues surrounding illegal immigration.

블랙핑크가 데뷔 첫 유럽 투어를 성황리에 마치며 글로벌 걸그룹의 위용을 뽐냈다. 블랙핑크는 지난 28일(현지 시간) 스페인 바르셀로나에 위치한 팔라우 산 조르디(PALAU SANT JORDI)에서 'BLACKPINK 2019 WORLD TOUR with KIA [IN YOUR AREA] BARCELONA'를 개최했다. 유럽 투어의 마지막 도시인만큼 블랙핑크를 향한 팬들의 열기와 관심은 최고조에 달했다. 오랜 시간 블랙핑크를 기다린 팬들은 입장이 시작되자 환호성을 지르며 공연장으로 발걸음을 옮겼다. 블랙핑크는 현지 팬들을 위해 정성껏 준비한 스페인어로 반갑게 인사했다. 멤버들이 “올라(Hola)”, “부에나스 따르데스(Buenas tardes)”라고 인사를 건네자 관객들은 반색하며 손을 흔들었다.블랙핑크는 “스페인에서 꼭 공연을 펼쳐 보고 싶었는데 이렇게 여러분들과 마주할 수 있어 기쁘다. 잊을 수 없는 추억을 만들자”며 분위기를 달궜다. 블랙핑크의 메가 히트곡 ‘뚜두뚜두’ 무대로 콘서트가 시작됐고, 관객들의 터질듯한 환호가 쏟아졌다. 역대 타이틀곡 '붐바야’, ‘휘파람’, ‘불장난’, ‘마지막처럼’부터 큰 사랑을 받은 수록곡 ‘돈 노 왓 투 두’, ‘킥 잇’ 등 다양한 무대는 공연장을 화려하게 수놓았다. 스페인 팬들의 남다른 열정에 감동한 블랙핑크는 처음부터 끝까지 무대를 즐기며 에너지를 내뿜었다. 마지막 무대가 끝나자 스페인 블링크들은 입 모아 ‘앙코르’를 외쳤다. 블랙핑크의 앙코르 무대를 기다리는 팬들은 뿅봉과 휴대폰 플래쉬로 파도타기를 하며 장관을 연출했다. 로제는 “오늘 밤이 유럽 투어의 마지막 날이다. 이보다 더 아름다운 마무리는 없을 것 같다”고 벅찬 소감을 밝혔다. 지수는 “유럽 투어의 종착지인 바르셀로나에서 좋은 추억 만들고 간다. 여러분들이 그리울 것 같다”고 애틋한 마음을 전했다. 공연의 마지막 순서가 가까워오자 팬들은 'EVEN IF WE A

A medieval chess piece that was purchased for just a few dollars in the 1960s, is expected to fetch up to a jaw-dropping one million when it goes under the hammer next month. Historians suggest that the piece may have been carved in Trondheim, a locale known for its game piece artisans. As part of a larger set, the discovery of this piece means that four others remain at large.

India's recent election, billed as the world’s largest may also have been the world's most expensive, costing an eye-watering 8.7 billion dollars to woo some 900 million voters. Publicity and logistics were said to have taken the lion's share of expenditures. In particular, polling stations had to be set up on remote islands or in jungles because of regulations that stipulate a maximum distance of two kilometers from voters' residences to polling stations. As many as one million polling stations were erected.

Australia’s central bank cut its key interest rate to a record low 1.25 percent in a bid to kickstart the country's slowing economy. A slump in housing prices and the economic slowdown in China are said to be the key factors buffeting the economy. The bank also warned of further risks to the global economy stemming from trade disputes, which were affecting investment decisions. Blessed with bountiful natural resources, Australia has experienced one of the longest periods of continuous economic growth in the developed world.

Global Headlines HEADLINE 1 Korea's real GDP contracted point-four percent from the previous quarter, the worst such performance in ten years. HEADLINE 2 The Ministry of Unification said that it will finalize procedures this week to send US$8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea via the World Food Program and UNICEF. HEADLINE 3 At least 600 people have been killed since deadly fighting between rival militias erupted in the Libyan capital two months ago. HEADLINE 4 U.S. President Donald Trump, during a state visit to the United Kingdom, said that a bilateral trade deal between Washington and London is posible. HEADLINE 5 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly criticised one of the regime’s most important propaganda spectacles known as the Mass Games. HEADLINE 6 Semyon Rosenfeld, the last known survivor of the uprising at the Nazi extermination camp at Sobibor, has died in Israel.