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Fernilee, Derbyshire: You could hardly blame them for flaunting their spectacular plumage, and that’s what the males do in their glittering mating display
It’s funny to think that the 80 ducks present on this reservoir before me would have been unthinkable in my childhood. Even stranger is that we now get the birds on our garden pond. Yet all the known sites in the 1970s were in southern England and were often inflected towards landed privilege and material wealth. Windsor Great Park was one of their more prestigious addresses, but the other stronghold for the country’s entire population was at Virginia Water in Surrey (where the average house price today is £1.4m).
Even the name of this hole-nesting waterfowl – mandarin duck – arose because the people bringing them back from China wanted to conjure both their exoticism as well as their elite status. In those days, the idea was further backed by hard cash. In 1864, the Zoological Society of London had to pay £70 for just two pairs. At that price in today’s values, my 80 Fernilee birds would be worth £158,820.

Panda Express is pairing up with Los Angeles chocolatiers, Compartés, for a unique and limited American Chinese twist on chocolate. Read our review, here.

Panda Express is pairing up with Los Angeles chocolatiers, Compartés, for a unique and limited American Chinese twist on chocolate. Read our review, here.

Chinese diners across the U.S. say these five restaurants serve exceptionally authentic regional dishes, from Sichuan classics to perfect Peking duck.

Chinese-born boffins have long made up the largest group of foreign researchers in America. An exodus just now, as the world’s two largest economies are locked in bitter trade conflict, will erode one ...

Authorities face growing criticism for detaining at least two civilians who have called for accountability
Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to , as they face growing criticism from residents over the arrests under national security laws of at least two civilians calling for accountability.
Emergency services continued to search through the seven towers of the Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po on Monday, days after . The death toll rose to 151 and is expected to rise further as the search continues. About 40 people are still missing.

The sudden cancellation of Japanese events in Shanghai have sparked criticism and fanned nationalist sentiment.

Biggest changes to defence bureaucracy since the 1970s aim to tackle budget and timeline blowouts, government says

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The Albanese government has announced a major overhaul of the defence department, aimed at tackling budget and timeline blowouts, on the same day it confirmed Australia was tracking a Chinese navy flotilla in the Philippine Sea.
In the biggest changes to the defence bureaucracy in Australia since the mid-1970s, Labor will merge three agencies: the capability acquisition and sustainment group, the guided weapons and explosive ordinance group, and the naval shipbuilding and sustainment group.

Long Island's Chinese restaurants have come a long way since the days of egg rolls, General Tso's chicken, moo shu pork and other Chinese American inventions. Nassau and Suffolk now boast dozens of ...

Authorities say they have completed searches of four of the seven towers as part of a criminal investigation.

Rescue teams find more bodies in burnt-out buildings of Wang Fuk Court complex after Wednesday’s fire
The death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex fire has risen to 146 after investigators discovered more bodies in the burnt-out buildings. A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the city’s history.
The Hong Kong police’s disaster victim identification unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun, said on Sunday.

Axing of Maki Otsuki performance in Shanghai the latest in spate of cancelled cultural events involving Asia’s two biggest economies
Japanese “One Piece” singer Maki Otsuki was forced to halt her performance on stage in Shanghai, her management said, one of the latest events hit by a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.
Otsuki, known for the theme song of the popular anime, had been slated to perform for two days from Friday at the Bandai Namco Festival 2025 in the Chinese city.