Dhaka, Jul 16 (CNN/UNB) - In the age of modern relationships and online dating, it's hard to find a love story that genuinely melts your heart and warms your soul.

But once in a while, a couple comes along who gives you hope that true love still exists.

Such is the story of Herbert DeLaigle, 94, and Marilyn Frances DeLaigle, 88. The couple died just 12 hours apart on Friday after 71 years of marriage, according to CNN affiliate WRDW/WAGT.

Their love story began 72 years ago

The DeLaigles' story began nearly 72 years ago in a cafe, according to WRDW/WADT.

"Frances worked at a little cafe we had in Waynesboro named White Way Cafe," Herbert DeLaigle said in a 2018 interview with WRDW/WAGT. "I kept seeing her going in and out, in and out and I had my eyes set on her. And then I finally got up the nerve to ask her if she would go out with me sometime."

They told the affiliate they went to the movies for their first date. One year later, he asked her to be his wife.

According to an obituary, Marilyn DeLaigle spent six years in Germany with her husband who served in the Army during World War II. Herbert DeLaigle also served in Korea and Vietnam and retired from the Army after 22 years of service, according to his obituary.

The couple is survived by their six children, 16 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.

A funeral service was held for the couple on Monday.

Kladruby Nad Labem, Jul 14 (AP/UNB) — A Czech stud farm founded 440 years ago to breed and train ceremonial horses to serve at the Habsburg emperor's court has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list, acknowledging the significance of a tradition that has survived for centuries.

The National stud farm, located in the town of Kladruby nad Labem 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of Prague, is the first stud farm on the UNESCO's list. Here's a look at it:

A ROYAL HISTORY

The farm officially started in 1579, when Emperor Rudolf II of the House of Habsburg gave an imperial status to an original stud established by his father, Emperor Maximilian II. The famed regular visitors to the site, which also has a small chateau and a church, included Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria.

The stud farm survived wars and a devastating 18th-century fire until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, when the newly established Czechoslovak state took over. That threatened its existence, since anything linked to the former empire was unpopular in Czechoslovakia. Yet somehow the horse breeding tradition weathered both that shift and 40 later years of communist rule.

In 2015, the whole site underwent a major renovation with European Union funds.

MAKING THE UNESCO LIST

The Kladruby site occupies 1,310 hectares (3,240 acres), about the same size since the 16th century. Located on flat, sandy land near the Elbe River, it contains fields and forests along with its classic stables, indoor and outdoor training grounds and a symmetrical network of roads.

UNESCO describes it as "one of Europe's leading horse-breeding institutions, developed at a time when horses played vital roles in transport, agriculture, military support and aristocratic representation."

Kladruby director Jiri Machek said UNESCO's recognition is the confirmation of "the global uniqueness of this place."

"There are three unique aspects about it," Machek told The Associated Press. "It's not only about a tangible heritage, it is also the breeding of unique Kladruber horses, which means the landscape still serves its original purpose. And the third, unique thing — which is not mentioned so often — is the intangible heritage, the traditional way of doing things, that is we have been trying to operate the stud in a traditional way."

ONE OF THE OLDEST HORSE BREEDS IN THE WORLD

Kladruby is the home of the Kladruber horse, a rare breed that is one of the oldest in the world with a population of only 1,200.

Kladrubers were bred to serve as ceremonial carriage horses at the Habsburg courts in Vienna and Prague. A warm-blooded breed based on Spanish and Italian horses, a convex head with a Roman nose is among their significant features.

Since the late 18th century, the Kladrubers have come in two colors, grey and black. The grey ones were used for royal ceremonies while the black ones served high-ranked clergy.

Today, they still do the same at the Danish court, while others are used by the trumpeters from the Swedish Royal Mounted Guard. Some carry police officers in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

The breed's peaceful nature also makes them a popular riding horse among private owners around the globe, and some compete in international carriage driving events.

Dhaka, Jul 16 (AP/UNB) -For a creative chicken salad, we were inspired by the flavors of Morocco: apricots, lemon and warm spices.

To give our dressing complex flavor, we reached for garam masala, a traditional spice blend of coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper. We also added a little more coriander, honey, and smoked paprika for depth.

Blooming the spices in the microwave deepened their flavors for an even bolder dressing. Chickpeas further echoed the Moroccan theme and lent heartiness, and crisp romaine combined with slightly bitter watercress made the perfect bed of greens for our toppings. Reserving a bit of the dressing to drizzle on just before serving made the flavors pop.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN SALAD WITH APRICOTS AND ALMONDS

Servings: 4-6

Start to finish: 1 hour

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

Salt and pepper

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Pinch smoked paprika

1/4 cup lemon juice (2 lemons)

1 tablespoon honey

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed

3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped coarse

1 shallot, sliced thin

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2 romaine lettuce hearts (12 ounces), cut into 1-inch pieces

4 ounces (4 cups) watercress

1/2cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarse

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chicken well on first side, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip chicken, add 1/2 cup water, and cover. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook until chicken registers 160 F, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then slice 1/2 inch thick on bias. Let cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave 1 tablespoon oil, garam masala, coriander, and paprika in medium bowl until oil is hot and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk 3 tablespoons lemon juice, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into spice mixture. Whisking constantly, drizzle in remaining oil.

In large bowl, combine cooled chicken, chickpeas, apricots, shallot, parsley, and half of dressing and toss to coat. Let mixture sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Whisk remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice into remaining dressing.

Toss romaine, watercress, and almonds together in serving bowl, drizzle remaining dressing over top, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with chicken mixture and serve. 
 

Chongqing, July 16 (Xinhua/UNB) -- Two giant pandas in a zoo in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality gave birth to two pairs of twins on June 23, the zoo said Tuesday.

Female panda Lanxiang, 17, gave birth to a pair of male cubs in the wee hours of June 23, weighing 167 and 115 grams, respectively.

Another female panda, Mangzai, gave birth to a pair of female cubs in the afternoon on the same day, measuring 142 and 160 grams in weight, respectively.

This was the second time that the two giant pandas gave birth to twins, according to the zoo.

Chongqing zoo began to raise giant pandas in the 1960s and began to breed panda cubs in the 1980s.

So far, the zoo has bred 36 giant pandas, including nine pairs of twins and one set of triplets.

Bogotá, Jul 16 (AP/UNB) — Venezuelans like to jest that their beloved arepas are so widely consumed that babies come out of the womb with the corn flatbreads already in hand.

Now, as millions flee their homeland's turmoil, they are taking Venezuela's most ubiquitous dish with them.

Humble street stalls and sit-down restaurants serving arepas are popping up throughout the streets of Colombia's capital and in cities around the world, where many are finding the white corn flour patties an ideal means for gaining their footing in a foreign nation. Others are exchanging traditional fillings for local flavors in a nod to their adopted countries.

"For us, the arepa represents Venezuela," says Alejandra Castro, who opened an arepa business in Buenos Aires, Argentina over a year ago. "It's our culture, our daily bread. What one misses and longs for the most is an arepa."

The arepa's surge on the world stage comes as its consumption steadily declines back home amid a punishing financial crisis worse than the U.S. Great Depression, leading an estimated 4 million people to flee.

Migrants throughout the world have long brought their culinary traditions with them in something of an antidote for nostalgia. Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro's revolution in the 1960s cooked classics like ropa vieja and picadillo in their small apartments in Miami's Little Havana.

In some cases, traditional recipes are kept more alive abroad than back home.

More often than not, however, migrants slowly fuse the flavors of the country they left behind with the one they now call home. Chinese and Japanese migrants profoundly altered Peruvian cuisine, creating a delicate hybrid with Incan and European influences that has garnered worldwide acclaim. The influence of Lebanese arrivals cooking shawarma in Mexico led to the creation of tacos "al pastor" with spit-roasted pork.

Jeffrey Pilcher, a history professor at the University of Toronto, said migrants are often forced to reconcile a longing for the authentic taste of home with the need to make a living and offer more local flavors.

"So there are all manners of adaptations people make to balance those two, kind of contradicting desires," he said.

Venezuelans in Bogotá are now serving up arepas with Colombian flavors like local chorizo and red beans. In Lima, they are stuffing the patties with lomo saltado, a Peruvian marinated, stir-fried beef. And in Argentina, one business adds in a dash of chimichurri sauce.

Migrant Edgar Rodríguez became one of the earliest ambassadors of the food when he fled to Spain over a decade ago and opened up an arepa restaurant. He now has several fusion items on the menu including Spanish staples like serrano ham.

"As they say in Venezuela, 'The arepa can withstand anything," he said.

The story of the arepa begins before the arrival of Spanish colonizers, when indigenous chefs in Colombia and Venezuela ground white corn into round patties and baked them on clay griddles. Today, Colombian arepas are relatively wide and flat, while the Venezuelan ones are smaller, fuller and stuffed with fillings in the same style as pita bread. In both countries, they are a dietary staple.

When Venezuela was one of Latin America's most prosperous countries, the poor and the wealthy would typically eat two or three arepas a day. In the 1990s, the country's production of white corn flour rose to 800,000 tons a year, said Carlos Paparoni, an opposition lawmaker who tracks the country's agrarian crisis. But last year, production dipped to a paltry 140,000 tons, he said.

Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest private food supplier, said in its most recent financial report that it received just over half of the required amount of raw corn product needed to maintain production levels of its gold standard corn flour.

The government itself provides boxes of subsidized food which now include Mexican corn flour used for tortillas that tends to result in unrecognizable arepas.

Venezuelans apt to find humor even amid crisis have taken to social media to share sometimes comical creations with the Mexican flour.

One woman tried making tacos filled with Venezuelan favorites like black beans and plantains and ended up with a plate of beige-colored tortillas with crispy edges and a rubbery consistency. Another person made a lackluster cake.

More recently, the so-called CLAP boxes to Venezuela's poor came with actual kernels of corn instead of corn flour, sparking a wave of outrage.

"The regime wants us to sit back and watch the destruction of our country with popcorn," one angry recipient opined on Twitter.

The first migrants to flee the Venezuela's shortages found it hard to track down white corn flour in distant lands like Spain and Argentina. But these days, new arepa restaurants abroad are opening monthly and shipping in pallets of Venezuelan ingredients, often produced in the U.S. and other countries.

"It's the unexpected and even 'tasty' culinary counterpart of a humanitarian tragedy," Venezuelan journalist Vanessa Rolfini wrote recently.

Not everyone, however, is finding their new takes on the arepa to be easily accepted.

Jorge Udelman tried putting Mexican ingredients like cochinita pibil, a slow-roasted pork, in arepas. Customers said they liked his food but already had restaurants they'd going to for decades to get traditional flavors.

"I can't compete with three generations of a family making the same recipes," he said. "It's not in my DNA."

Today, he sticks to traditional Venezuelan recipes at his arepa restaurant in Mexico City.

Such experiences are somewhat reflective of the hurdles that Venezuelans are encountering as they try to integrate into new cultures.

"There is certainly no guarantee that the acceptance of the food is going to lead to positive feelings around the migrants themselves," Pilcher said.

But Gerson Briceño is one of the migrant success stories.

The former head of a publicity company in Venezuela fled to Colombia after his wife and young daughter were briefly kidnapped at gunpoint. He first started a cellphone business, but opened an arepa stand outside a mall in December 2017 when he found himself wanting to pay tribute to his cherished homeland.

Today, Arepas Café has eight locations around Bogotá.

"I always missed the flavor of home," he said.

He said he takes pride in seeing Colombians become repeat customers and order classics like the reina pepiada with chicken salad and avocado. But he's also created two new arepas filled with Colombian flavors. One is stuffed with cheese and sausage, while the other features most of the ingredients in a typical bandeja paisa, a dish common in Medellin that includes an egg, red beans, steak, crispy fried pork skin and a plantain.

Colombia Martha Patricia Chaparro and her daughter recently gave it a try, marveling at the unorthodox invention.

"I don't think it would have ever occurred to us," she said, "to put a bandeja paisa in an arepa!"