As China marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC and the 30th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening policies, there are countless examples of how the country has changed over the decades. In the sphere of foreign media coverage, perhaps the most obvious came last week, when 300 news executives arrived in Beijing for the country's first World Media Summit, held Oct. 8 through Oct. 10. President Hu Jintao addressed the gathering, saying China would ...

Shortly after McDonald's' celebrated its 30-year presence in France, the fast-food chain is conquering one of the country's most valued cultural institutions --the Louvre. The restaurant will be serving its fast burgers in the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping mall which lies under the main entrance of the museum and which still contains an ancient wall that was discovered during construction works. McDonald's plans seem to have caused more media attention abroad than in France, but for some ...

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is denying accusations that a record fine levied against the country's largest media conglomerate, Dogan Holding, was politically motivated. "I believe it is not right to mistake the routine works of the state agencies with freedom of press," Erdogan said, according to Turkey's state news agency, Anatolian. The leader was speaking Monday at a dinner in the Turkish capital attended by European ambassadors. "I have no right or authority to exert political ...

An arrest is "imminent" in the killing of Yale University student Annie Le, a police spokesman said Thursday. Le's body was found in the basement wall of an off-campus medical research building. She had been strangled. Police are close to making an arrest in the case, spokesman Joe Avery said Thursday morning. Yale employee Raymond Clark, 24, was released from custody Wednesday after submitting to a search warrant for his home and a warrant to collect DNA, New ...

Having seen its prized F-22 fighter struck from the Pentagon's budget by Defense Secretary Robert Gates — who also fired the service's top two leaders last year — the U.S. Air Forces isn't in a laughing mood these days. So, when they recently became the butt of a joke by Army General David Petraeus, now overseeing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, some of the service's macho members felt wounded. Petraeus, speaking to an annual Marine Corps Association Foundation dinner on July 30, ...

Israeli textbooks for Arab school children will no longer say that Arabs refer to the period surrounding the birth of Israel as al-Nakba, or "the catastrophe," Israel's education minister said Wednesday. In a statement explaining the decision, Gideon Sa'ar said there is "no reason" for the birth of Israel "to be presented as a 'catastrophe or shoah.'" After Israel was created in 1948, a war broke out between the Israelis and Arabs, and some 700,000 Palestinians either fled or were ...

The FBI, in a rare response to rampant rumors on the Internet, said it is not investigating Alaska Gov. Sara Palin on public corruption charges. "Normally, we don't confirm or deny those kind of allegations out there. But, by not doing so, it just casts her in a very bad light," said FBI Special Agent Eric Gonzalez, who confirmed for CNN the statement he made to the Anchorage Daily News. "There is just no truth to those rumors ...

Michael Jackson's bizarre private life and change in appearance ended up eclipsing his musical achievements, according to the world's media. Jackson's, whose death from cardiac address Thursday has sparked an outpouring of grief from fans, life has been given a more measured summing up by news media. Britain's Guardian newspaper said "his bizarre life-style and personal notoriety eclipsed his talent and his numerous achievements." The Guardian said his fame, from the age of 11, "had such a damaging ...

Billy Joel and his wife, Katie Lee Joel, are separating. "After nearly five years of marriage, Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel have decided to separate," a joint statement on behalf of the pair said. "This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends with admiration and respect for each other." Billy Joel, 60, and Katie Lee Joel, 27, were married in 2004. Billy Joel is the multimillion-selling musician behind such albums as ...

In what could be a goodwill gesture to the Obama administration, Israeli security forces removed an illegal settler outpost Thursday in the West Bank. A spokesman for the Israeli military said a combination of police and military personnel carried out the action, removing several metal containers from a minor hilltop encampment at Maoz Esther. The small outpost was erected in 2005 by residents of a nearby settlement. The move comes just three days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ...