7 Headlines You Won’t Read Anywhere Else Today: Feb. 23

A look at our world through local headlines on Feb. 23, 2014: “‘Stop this sandstorm,’ caller asks Abu Dhabi police,” “Ancient Aztec Brew takes Mexico Hipsters by Storm,” and more.
7 Headlines You Won’t Read Anywhere Else Today: Feb. 23
A file photo of a sandstorm. An elderly man called police in Abu Dhabi asking them to stop a sand storm, please, reported the Gulf News. (Shutterstock*)
Tara MacIsaac
2/23/2014
Updated:
2/23/2014

Mexico: Ancient Aztec Brew takes Mexico Hipsters by Storm

It’s an hour before sunset on a Friday and the pulqueria is already pulsing. Rock, cumbia, and musica romantica beats from a jukebox along the back wall. Chattering drinkers pack tightly from the saloon-style swinging doors to the tile bar. Heavily inked and pierced waiters wiggle through the throng, juggling sloshing pitchers and pints of what fans insist is the sap of Mexico’s ancient soul.

This is Las Duelistas, one of a surviving handful of down-market Mexico City dives serving “pulque” — pronounced “pool-kay” — the mildly sour, slightly slimy, and gently fermented nectar of agave. …

Global Post via Banderas News

 

Finland: Computer games for our furry friends

Several games for animals on touch screen tablets are now available. As with human children, these should not replace more traditional play. …

Yle Uutiset

 
Image of a dog and a tablet via Shutterstock

 

Korea: A classy club experience

Fine art and classical music do not always have to be enjoyed in a gallery or a solemn concert hall. Traditional Korean paintings and classy brass sounds filled one of Seoul’s trendiest nightspots last Thursday evening, as calligrapher-painter Kim Mu-ho and the 10-member Klang Brass Ensemble presented their visuals and sounds under flamboyant lighting and LED screens at Club Octagon in southern Seoul. ...

Korea Herald

 

Bhutan: Layaps Do Things Differently Now

With their newfound affluence, the highlanders’ winter lifestyle has changed as well

Migration: Although the almost ancient ritual of nomads of Laya descending to the warmer valley in Punakha every winter continue even today, what has changed is the way they do it. From makeshifts, they have moved to imported camping tents, and from rudimentary cooking arrangement using stones and rods, it is now gas stoves. ...

Kuensel


Bhutan, south of China. (Google Maps)

 

United Arab Emirates: ‘Stop this sandstorm,’ caller asks Abu Dhabi police

An elderly man who asked police to stop a sandstorm was among the more ridiculous of the 963,000 calls made last year to the Abu Dhabi police control room. …

Gulf News

 

Canada: Stephen Harper’s Middle East trip cost $239,000

Preliminary figures show that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Middle East trip with a delegation of more than 200 people cost at least $239,000. ...

Toronto Star

 

Burma: The ‘Broom’ That Saved Yangon

U Kyaw Thein Lwin, who prefers to be called “Uncle K.T.,” is an exuberant, talkative person. When asked about Dha-Byet-See (“The Broom”), he rolls his eyes and smiles as he prepares to tell a story about his days as a young navy officer and his role in the famous Battle of Insein. ...

The Irrawaddy