Asia

The use of security cameras such as these, looking out over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, is on the rise in China. Critics say the government is using them to discourage dissidents.

World News

In China, Beware: A Camera May Be Watching You

8:16pm January 29, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

There are an estimated 20 million to 30 million surveillance cameras in China — or about one for every 43 people. Officials say the cameras help fight crime and maintain "social stability." But critics say the government uses them to monitor and intimidate dissidents.

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U.S. troops in Afghanistan appear to have mixed feelings about the decision lifting the ban on women in combat positions. Some women already operate in combat zones. Hospital Corpsman Shannon Crowley is shown here with her Marine Corps team in Musa Qala,

Women In Combat: What Do Troops In Afghanistan Think?

8:17pm January 28, 2013

by Sean Carberry

Opinions are mixed. Women are already in dangerous places handling difficult assignments. But some troops, both men and women, say they think few women will want to take combat positions, and they question whether women will be able to meet the current physical standards.

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Visitors take in a re-created scene at the massacre museum at Vietnam's My Lai village. Researcher Nick Turse says atrocities of all kinds were more common in the Vietnam War than most Americans believe.

'Anything That Moves': Civilians And The Vietnam War

4:06pm January 28, 2013

In a new book, Nick Turse says the pressure on U.S. forces to produce a body count during the Vietnam War led to mass civilian deaths. "The idea," he says, "was that the Vietnamese, they weren't really people."

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Ai has likened Cube Light to the storm-shaken chandelier in Sergei Eisenstein's 1928 film October, which he says represents the instability of a government on the verge of collapse.

Arts

In 'According To What?' Ai Weiwei Makes Mourning Subversive

4:48pm January 24, 2013

by Melissa Block

A Washington showcase of work by the Chinese dissident artist reveals his preoccupation with the tragic 2008 Sichuan earthquake: To create one of the pieces, Ai ran afoul of Chinese authorities, asking for help collecting the names of children who died when their schools collapsed.

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World News

Report Blasts India's Treatment Of Women

1:19pm January 24, 2013

A panel reviewing sexual offenses in India has submitted its report to the government almost a month after the rape and murder of a female student in New Delhi. The report says India systemically discriminates against women, and does little to respond to violence against them.

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Ramen Bowl Offers Built-In iPhone Dock

1:19pm January 24, 2013

Eating the popular noodle dish normally requires two hands — one for chopsticks, the other for a spoon. Designers at a Taiwanese company noticed a guy trying to do that while juggling his cell phone. So they came up with a way to slurp it up while watching videos or reading emails.

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Du Xin, the "Chinese Gunther," owns Central Perk in Beijing. That's not all he has in common with Gunther on the show. "I love Rachel," he sighs.

'Friends' Will Be There For You At Beijing's Central Perk

8:53pm January 23, 2013

by Louisa Lim

A Chinese man in Beijing has set up a cafe identical to the New York hangout on the hit TV show. For owner Du Xin, Friends is "like a religion" — and he's not the only one. He's opened a second Central Perk in Shanghai, capitalizing on the Chinese fondness for the six friends and their laid-back, freewheeling lives.

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World News

In Myanmar, A Hunt For Fabled Cache Of Buried WWII Spitfires

1:15am January 22, 2013

by Anthony Kuhn

A team of researchers hopes to verify a fantastic tale that British troops leaving Burma in 1945 buried dozens of Spitfire fighter planes around the country. For 16 years, an English farmer has hunted the aircraft. Now, he believes he is close to unearthing them — and, he hopes, restoring them to flying condition.

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World News

During 2nd Term, Obama To Pivot To Asia

10:01am January 21, 2013

by Julie McCarthy

Both India and the U.S. seem disappointed with each other after the high expectations raised by President Obama's election in 2007. India is concerned about the uncertainty in U.S. policy toward China and Afghanistan.

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World News

Japan Grounds All Boeing Dreamliners

6:04am January 16, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

The move came just hours after an All Nippon Airlines 787 was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot detected an apparent problem with the planes electrical system.

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