Offbeat

MANILA: Dan Brown’s description of Manila as “the gates of hell” in the American novelist’s latest book has not gone down well with officials in the Philippine capital.

KATMANDU, Nepal: A Nepalese official says 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura has become the oldest man to reach the top of Mount Everest.

JAKARTA: Hundreds of sunbathers fled a popular Indonesian beach in panic when a four-meter crocodile laid down next to them to soak up some rays, an official said yesterday.

LOS ANGELES: The pants worn by actor Mark Hamill in the first Oscar-winning “Star Wars” film went under the hammer Tuesday for $ 36,100, according to auction house’s website.

MOSCOW: Russia’s federal guard service launched an investigation after photos appeared in the media of a disgraced former employee posing behind Vladimir Putin’s desk in the Kremlin, an official s

An 80-year-old Japanese extreme skier who climbed Mount Everest five years ago, but just missed becoming the oldest man to reach the summit, was back on the mountain yes

LONDON: A 1997 first edition of “Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone” annotated by J.K.

SINGAPORE: A Singapore company supervisor caught on video slapping a male intern is in trouble after the clip went viral on the web and sparked a public outcry.