The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best stories of 2019 from our premium international syndicators, including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Times of London and Harvard Business Review.
This afternoon we look at coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein case, the price of getting that perfect Instagram shot, a kidnapping in the jungle, pop superstar Lizzo and the new world of luxury travel.
Jeffrey Epstein, blackmail and a lucrative 'hot list'
Soon after sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein died in August, a mysterious man met with two prominent lawyers.
The shadowy hacker claimed to have the financier's sex tapes. The lawyers wondered: What would the men in those videos pay to keep them secret?
The New York Times investigates.
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• Inmate 76318-054: The Last Days of Jeffrey Epstein
• How a ring of women allegedly recruited girls for Jeffrey Epstein
• Jeffrey Epstein's New York hunting ground: Dance studios
• The sisters who first tried to take down Jeffrey Epstein
Honeymoon hashtag hell: Is that Instagram shot really worth it?
Social media pressure to take perfectly posed photographs may lead to the first argument as a married couple. Is it worth a fabulous Instagram shot if you are just having a horrible time?
The New York Times looks at the downside of polished social media images.
Gorilla warfare: Two doctors on their kidnapping ordeal
Virunga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reopened to tourists a year after two British doctors were kidnapped.
The couple, like so many other tourists, had gone to see the mountain gorillas before they were pulled from their vehicle and marched deep into the Congolese jungle with Kalashnikovs stuck in their backs.
Meet the poster girl for plus-size pop stars
She's the straight-talking poster girl for plus-size pop stars whose single Juice was called 'near perfect', by Rolling Stone.
So how did a 30-year-old classically trained flautist who used to be depressed and homeless become this year's Glastonbury star?
Julia Llewellyn Smith of The Times meets Melissa Jefferson, aka Lizzo.
Would you pay $125,000 for this luxury flight?
The Airlander 10 promises "a flying five-star hotel", with polar bears and whales lingering below.
The cost? A mere $15,000.
The Financial Times looks at how this might herald a new era for luxury aviation.