Bin Laden says he endorsed Dec. 25 airline bomb plot

Osama bin Laden endorsed the failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner Christmas Day and threatened new attacks against the United States in an audio message released Sunday that appeared aimed at asserting that he maintains some direct command over al-Qaeda-inspired offshoots.

Aging Population May Yet Halt China’s Rise

An interesting article on the BBC website described a Chinese kindergarten class with a boy-to-girl ratio of 4:1. China’s gender imbalance is becoming a serious problem; in one small village all of the single women have left in search of work, leaving only aging bachelors behind. A study says that by 2020, nearly 30 million Chinese bachelors will have trouble finding a mate.

Chinese Bloggers Briefed on Clinton Speech

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her Thursday speech said the U.S. is committed to devoting the diplomatic, economic, and technological resources necessary to advance Internet freedom, what she termed “21st-century statecraft.”

Paris haute couture: season opens with Josephus Thimister’s ‘anti-war’ collection

The avant-garde couturier Josephus Thimister has returned to the Paris haute couture scene, for the first time in more than a decade, with a dramatic “anti-war” collection.

Studying Chinese the digital way

I sometimes get mails from people asking me advice on how to best study Chinese. I am no expert in that field, but maybe it helps some readers when I explain how I do it myself. My approach is quite digital, there are a lot of tools out there nowadays that make studying a lot more easy.

Kings of Leon: We’re staying put

Band use Twitter to deny new label deal

Cherie Currie on her wild years with the Runaways

The Runaways were the original ‘rock chicks’, a wild all-girl teen band whose story is told in a film that opens today. Cherie Currie, the band’s singer, tells us how it really was…

The 3D Generation Country expects boom in 3D films and TV

US director James Cameron’s new blockbuster Avatar is not just breaking records on the big screen. It is breaking them on giant 3D IMAX screens, too, and IMAX is going along for the lucrative ride.

China says it is biggest victim of cyber attacks

(IDG News Service) China on Tuesday denied any role in alleged cyber attacks on Indian government offices, calling itself instead the biggest victim of hackers.

Sports finally popular as leisuretime activity

Five Star Basketball Camp, a leisure sports promoter from the US, struggled when it first tried to promote basketball in China in 2005. This year could not be more different.