US marks 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg AddressThe Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's undying call for a "new birth of freedom" at the bloody turning point of the US Civil War, turned 150 years old Tuesday, even as the union he fought to preserve quarrels bitterly over the role of government.
'Fifty Shades' rape case dismissed in New ZealandA New Zealand man has been cleared of raping his estranged wife while pretending to be her young lover in a case partially inspired by the novel "Fifty Shades of Grey".
Amsterdam pays alcoholics in beer to clean streetsAt nine o'clock in the morning in a garden shed behind a house in Amsterdam, a handful of alcoholics are getting ready to clean the surrounding streets, beer and cigarette in hand.
Philippine typhoon survivors turn cave-dwellersVictims who survived the Philippines' super typhoon by huddling in a cave as a tsunami-like wave obliterated their community have now made it their home -- reduced to Stone Age conditions with nowhere else to go.
18 November 2013 15:01
Czech party leader haunted by ghosts of communist pastUnwelcome spectres are coming back to haunt Czech billionaire Andrej Babis, who emerged as a power broker in recent elections but is facing allegations he collaborated with the communist-era secret police.
16 November 2013 18:17
China one-child law change small but crucial: expertsBeijing's relaxation of its hugely controversial one-child policy is an attention-grabbing first step, but it will have to usher in greater changes if China is to tackle its looming demographic timebomb, experts say.
16 November 2013 14:51
China cake millionaire at home in his six castlesAs the greatest urbanisation drive in history swells China's cities with ranks of identikit apartment blocks, one culinary businessman is indulging his architectural appetite with a visual feast of extravagant, outlandish castles.
16 November 2013 11:00
CIA spying on Americans' financial data: reportThe Central Intelligence Agency is amassing a huge database of international money transfers that includes the financial and personal data of millions of Americans, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Anger in New Zealand at 'close your legs' rape defenceVictims' rights advocates in New Zealand on Thursday condemned a defence lawyer who told a rape victim she should have "closed her legs" if she wanted to avoid having sex.
14 November 2013 17:26
Chinese man gives future bride 8.88 mn in cashA Chinese suitor who gave his future bride an auspicious 8.88 million yuan ($1.5 million) in cash drew ire Thursday for the extravagant display of wealth in the still-developing country.
China Singles Day online shoppers spend almost $6 bnChinese shoppers spent a record 35.0 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) at the country's biggest online marketplaces on Singles Day, their operator said Tuesday, after the festival created by e-tailers to persuade the loveless to console themselves with retail therapy.
13 November 2013 11:37
Japan gov't report finds serious abuse of disabledThe abuse of disabled people has emerged as a major problem in Japan with the violence most often inflicted by family members or domestic carers, according to a government survey.
12 November 2013 15:50
Lost kingdom: Myanmar's forgotten royalsIn a modest Yangon apartment, the granddaughter of Myanmar's last king lives poor and unrecognised by her neighbours -- a far cry from the power and riches of her ancestor.
