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Peasants relocated to make room for a reservoir in northern China's Hebei province claim local leaders pocketed more than $7 million in compensation funds owed to them. Those who tried to organize a recall vote were bribed, beaten or jailed into submission. The case typifies recent rural protests.

Knitting together Iraq's fractious sectarian and religious groups into a cohesive political body is the goal of Iraq's Dec. 15 parliamentary election. It may only reinforce Iraq's sectarian divisions.

The White House Conference on Aging is meeting in Washington this week. But President Bush is skipping the conference -- the first president not to address delegates in the event's 50-year history. Instead, he took his message on Medicare to a select, private group of senior citizens.

In a land where the ground is always frozen, one creature has nourished man both physically and spiritually. Anthropologist Piers Vitebsky discusses The Reindeer People, his book about the Eveny herders of Siberia.

A Danish newspaper recently republished editorial cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed -- a serious offense in the Islamic religion, which has strong prohibitions against idolatry. The cartoons set off protests against Denmark and the Western world in many Islamic nations, and burning the Danish flag is a central part of the protests. But just where do Muslim protestors get their Danish flags?

Lebanese voted for a new parliament Sunday against the backdrop of an economic meltdown that is transforming the country.

The Soviet Union's dominance of world figure skating collapsed along with communism. But since the last Winter Olympics, the Russian government has increased funding for the sport by a factor of 10.

The Catholic mass Beethoven called Missa Solemnis is rarely performed. But considered in partnership with the much more famous Ninth Symphony, it sheds light on the composer's spiritual view.

The beginning of January marks the deadline for most college admissions applications. The Unversity of Virginia's freshmen may not be anxious to revisit this period, but they can anyway: A play called Voices of the Class, 2009 offers adaptations of their application essays.

The massive, fatal waves that resulted from Sunday's powerful earthquake in Southeast India are among the most destructive tsunamis of the past 50 years. Hear NPR's Jacki Lyden and Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Center in Hawaii.

Foreign aid can be a mixed blessing. For a while, in one small Nigerian town, the money flowed. Five years later assistance came to an end, and that left thousands of orphans to fend for themselves. NPR’s Brenda Wilson reports.

In a high school in Germany, students were preparing to take an exam when something miraculous happened. Teachers were unable to open a safe containing the tests. Firefighters were called to help.