Premium summer big reads: Inside the Hollywood of the rich and famous

Away from the cameras, George and Amal Clooney have found privacy at San Vicente Bungalows, possibly the world's most exclusive club. Photo / Getty Images

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 morning we look at the private club to the stars, why we fall for cons, conjoined twins, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the fate of the Komodo dragon.

A glimpse into the exclusive LA club where the rich and famous conduct their affairs

George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Obama are all rumoured to belong to LA's hippest private members club. It's the place where the A-list go to be themselves and privacy is king.

Ben Hoyle of The Times meets Jeff Klein, the man behind the San Vicente Bungalows.

A general view of San Vicente Bungalows. Photo / Getty Images

Why we fall for cons: Inside the art of the scam

Get the clothes right, assume an air of authority and make your victims complicit.

The Financial Times takes us inside the art of the scam.

Faced with the right con, we're all vulnerable. Photo / 123RF

'This case took me to the limit': The surgeons who separated conjoined twins

Doctors Owase Jeelani and David Dunaway have worked together for more than a decade at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Their latest operation, which made headlines around the world, was their most challenging yet: separating conjoined twins Safa and Marwa over 50 gruelling hours.

They tell Hilary Rose of The Times how they did it.

Twins Safa and Marwa Ullah, who had been born conjoined at the skull, leave the hospital in London after being successfully separated. Photo / Great Ormond Street Hospital

Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'I'm not the machine I play in the movies'

Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up about getting ripped, sparring with Trump — and why we need 'Climate Action Heroes'.

The former 'Governator' talks to Henry Mance of the Financial Times

Arnold Schwarzenegger in LA. Photo / Getty Images

Here there be dragons. But can they survive an invasion of tourists?

Komodo dragons are three metre lizards native only to a scattering of islands in Indonesia. Some environmentalists worry that the stampede of visitors has set their ecosystem off kilter.

The New York Times reports.

Komodo dragons are lizards native only to a scattering of islands in Indonesia. Photo / Adam Dean, The New York Times