- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Digging for gold inside an Epiphany cake
It is a gift fit for a king, or three: a gold coin slipped by a Belgian baker inside a traditional flaky Epiphany Three Kings cake baked to perfection.
Instead of the usual bean, Brussels baker Luc de Weerdt opted for the more luxurious prize of small round 18-carat gold coins, stamped with his bakery's logo.
On Friday, January 6, Epiphany day for Christians, he will place each of four coins worth 500 euros ($530) randomly among the thousands of cakes sold.
"The customers like it, they are very happy, and it brings more people," the 60-year-old says, who has spent 46 years of his life baking.
De Weerdt began using the gold pieces in 2020. This year he plans to produce 3,000 cakes, 500 more than last year -- with just four containing a glittering coin.
The cake is known in French as a Galette des Rois, a reference to the Biblical trio said to have brought gifts to the baby Jesus.
Today the cakes contain a token or figurine -- usually made of plastic or porcelain -- hidden in the frangipane filling.
Whoever finds the bean or toy becomes the king or queen of the feast, and wears a cardboard crown that comes with each cake.
They are then supposed to be blessed with good luck for the New Year.
The festivity attracts crowds outside bakeries in Belgium, especially when there is a real treasure hunt on offer with prizes for a few lucky winners.
De Weerdt said last year the bakery "had two-hour queues, and in the evening we had to tell half of the queue that we could no longer serve anyone".
The buttery, creamy goodness -- and possible treasure -- of the cakes comes at a higher cost this year because of rampant inflation in Europe.
De Weerdt was forced to raise the price of a cake by two euros. "The cost of butter, flour and almonds rose. And electricity bills tripled."
The cake is popular, with millions across Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The tradition dates back to the Roman empire but is now associated with the celebration of the day the Wise Men came to see the newborn Jesus in his Bethlehem manger.
A.Agostinelli--CPN