Honda Offers Strikers in China 24% Pay Boost

Honda Motor Co. said it has offered striking workers who have paralyzed its car-production lines in China a 24% increase in pay and benefits, a significant concession that highlights the new challenge from organized labor facing foreign investors on the world’s factory floors.

E-reader wars: new Kindle emerges as Sony enters the fray

Amazon is readying a new version of its Kindle electronic-book reader to better compete with the iPad as Sony flags its intentions to release its Reader device in Australia later this year.

Small art draws big picture

AS IS always the case when you encounter great art, the moment you step away from it and back into the ”real” world, nothing seems the same. What you usually ignore comes into sharp relief. The spills and stains on a railway platform appear like an abstract rendering of chaotic city life. They seem as vibrant and authentic as the huge billboard spruiking the latest in ”tailored contemporary living” seems sterile, rigid and false, with its photos of sharp, slim people strutting in sharp, clean spaces.

Flounce into winter

Whether bold statement or detail trim, ruffles are going to be everywhere: on tops and skirts, on dresses and handbags, even on shoes. Want to add femininity to a staid business suit? Add a ruffled blouse. Want to add dimension to a shift dress? Toss on a ruffled scarf.

Natural births better for babies

BABIES born by caesarean section are more vulnerable to asthma, allergies and infection as they miss out on receiving their mothers’ good bacteria during birth, a scientist says.

Germany wins Eurovision

NORWAY: Germany won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo with the punchy pop ballad Satellite sung by Lena Meyer-Landrut (left), the second German to win the extravagant talent contest in 55 years.

Farewell Dennis Hopper, king of counterculture cool

DENNIS Hopper, the maverick director and co-star of the landmark 1969 counterculture film classic Easy Rider, who was a drugged and drunk Hollywood bad boy before embracing sobriety which extended his career to span six decades, has died.