"There's poop everywhere! Y-u-c-k," says six-year old Jordan Lien, as he and his family dine at the Modern Toilet, a popular Taiwanese restaurant that's expanding into China and other parts of Asia. The boy was looking at the poop-shaped lights and dish covers, and the curry on toilet-shaped plates. Diarrhea for dinner That's the point. "It's supposed to shock and confuse the senses," says Modern Toilet Manager Chen Min-kuang. But as Jennifer Finch, an American who was dining there described ...

A number of economists predict that the recession could last into 2010 and unemployment will top 10%. If the crisis does not deepen into an even longer downturn, there will have to be early signs that the credit crisis is ending and that consumer and business confidence are coming back. And, there are a few things to watch for. They are the most likely signs that the economy has bottomed and is about to move up. The first thing ...

Economist Nouriel Roubini, chairman of New York-based research firm RGE Monitor, earned the nickname "Dr. Doom" by warning as early as 2005 that America's speculative housing boom could trigger an economic crisis. At the time, he was dismissed by many as a perpetual pessimist. Today, he's a sought-after analyst and a popular guest on financial news programs and websites — and he is as gloomy as ever. Over breakfast in Hong Kong this week, the New York University professor ...

The media are in place, thousands of fans watching and major stars present. It's not hard to see why sport makes a tempting target for terrorists and, say security experts, Tuesday's attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team could set the two worlds on a new collision course. At least six security personnel were killed when a gang of 12 gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore that left eight ...

When China's legislature opens its annual session this week, the focus will be on jobs, the economy and social stability. Every year, over 3,000 delegates to the National People's Congress meet in Beijing to review draft laws and vote on government budget and policies. Delegates come from central and local governments, the military and police, including ethnic minority representatives, who typically show up in their traditional costumes. In the past, the NPC has been dismissed as a "flower-vase," a largely ...

The world might be sinking into its worst recession in generations, but China is on a wild shopping spree. Sitting some $2 trillion of cash reserves, Beijing is taking advantage of the woes of others to cement its grip on new sources of commodities ranging from olive oil to crude oil —often at fire-sale prices. China's growth rate may be slowing in concert with the world economy, but even at that slower ...

Authorities in Nepal said Saturday they have beefed up security near the Chinese Embassy to stop any possible anti-Chinese demonstrations in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet. "The area within 200 meters (218 yards) of the Chinese Embassy visa section has been declared a prohibited area from Friday," Nabaraj Silwal, the chief of the Kathmandu city police, said. "Rallies, sit-ins and sloganeering will not be allowed within the prohibited area." The decision comes ...

A monk carrying a Tibetan national flag and shouting slogans set himself on fire in south-central China on Friday and then was shot at by police, a human rights group reported. Police fired three shots at the monk, but it was not known if any hit him or whether he survived, said Matt Whitticase, spokesman for the London-based Free Tibet organization. Whitticase said he based his report on eyewitness accounts. About 40 minutes before the shooting, around 1,000 monks trying ...

When Christie's announced its plans to auction off two 18th-century bronze sculptures, the Chinese flatly said "no." At the center of the dispute are two bronze sculptures, part of the late Yves Saint Laurent's private collection of arts and antiquities. The two 18th-century pieces -- fountainheads of a rabbit and a rat -- disappeared when French and British Allied forces pillaged Beijing's Old Summer Palace during the second Opium War in 1860. China says the relics are part of its ...

Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta region said they killed six government soldiers after the military attacked one of its camps on Thursday. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, in an e-mail, said three military gunboats attacked one of its camps around the Ke River in the country's Rivers state. The group said the gunboats were repelled, with six soldiers dying and three militant fighters wounded in the skirmish. There was no immediate reaction from the ...