Many schools still unsafe in quake aftermath, China says
Government officials have acknowledged that nearly 2.5 percent of primary and middle schools are poorly constructed and that 20 percent of primary schools in one southwestern province may be unsafe.

Germany resists calls to spend its way out of trouble
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the focus of spending measures must be preserving jobs. But her government continues to resist calls to spend an additional €40 billion to escape its recession.
- Protestant and Catholic leaders in Germany warn against materialism

Death toll at 9 in California shooting
The gunman, identified as Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, killed himself hours after exacting revenge against his former wife by going on a massacre at his former in-laws' home on Wednesday night, the authorities said.

China and U.S. bound themselves with linked addictions
In hindsight, many economists say, the United States should have recognized that borrowing from abroad for consumption and deficit spending at home was not a formula for economic success.

Maliki faces accusations and rumors
The real struggle is for Iraq's identity: how much central control and how much power for the provinces.
- 13 killed as Iraqi prisoners try to escape
- Iraqi Christians brave violence to celebrate Christmas

Israel opens Gaza border for humanitarian aid
Israel reopened its border with Gaza on Friday to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid, despite continued rocket and mortar fire and growing expectations of a large-scale Israeli military campaign.
- Israel issues an appeal to Palestinians in Gaza

China puts 6 on trial over tainted milk scandal
The six people face charges of making and selling the industrial chemical at the center of a tainted milk scandal that has been blamed for killing six children and sickening nearly 300,000 others.

Bringing a mixed French city together at the movies
With L'Alhambra, a restored movie palace of the 1930s, officials mix film with history and culture to bring community to the tough northern part of Marseille.

Winter cold puts a chill on green energy
Many alternative energy sources experience problems in cold weather, like solar panels that become covered in snow, rendering them useless.

Victims of 2004 tsunami remembered
Those who died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were honored Friday by thousands of mourners who prayed, burned candles and shared meals on beaches from Indonesia to India.

Fiscal chaos aside, start-ups bloom in Argentina
Argentine entrepreneurs have created a nascent start-up ecosystem with local venture capital funds and angel investors.

China sends naval task force on anti-piracy mission
In China's first modern deployment of battle-ready warships beyond the Pacific, a naval task force set sail to begin escorts and patrols in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden.

EU entry helps Romanians and Bulgarians understand each other
Two peoples who seldom even thought about each other now find that cooperation is rather pleasant.

NATO awaits new leadership
Russia has always taken NATO more seriously than the West. Now its relevance will be tested when it picks a new leader.

Religious Turks tested by wealth
Observant Muslim businesspeople have helped make Turkey the seventh-largest economy in Europe. In a traditionally secular society, they find their role evolving and facing new challenges.

Eartha Kitt, a seductive talent, dies at 81
Kitt purred and pounced her way across Broadway stages, recordings and movie and television screens in a show-business career that lasted more than six decades.