Like a female James Bond

“It’s non-stop at the OK Corral here,” enthuses Essie Davis in the few minutes she has spare to talk while shooting season two of the Australian smash-hit drama Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. So hectic has been her schedule that finding a time for a chat with the Tasmanian actress has proved to be a major challenge

Share

A Mandarin Grade School in Minneapolis

On the outside, Betsy Lueth’s school looks like any other in this arty neighborhood of Minneapolis: a sprawling, boxy red brick building with plain steel doors. Yet inside, the blond, gregarious Minnesotan presides over an institution unique in the heartland: Yinghua Academy, a charter public school where elementary students of every ethnicity study subjects ranging from math to American history in Mandarin

Share

A Brief History of the Uighurs

The violence that has claimed at least 156 lives in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang this week is rooted in long-standing grievances among China’s Uighur minority. The Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs were traditionally the dominant ethnic group in the region whose Mandarin name, Xinjiang, means simply “New Frontier” — perhaps a reflection of the fact that the region was only brought under Beijing’s control in its entirety during the 19th century rein of the Qing dynasty.

Share

1 killed, 7 wounded in China hotel fire

Police in China say a fireworks display may be to blame for a massive fire at a newly constructed, unoccupied luxury hotel that killed a firefighter and wounded seven other people in central Beijing Monday. The firefighter died of smoke inhalation, Beijing officials said Tuesday.

Share

China: Fire engulfs 40-story luxury hotel

A massive fire engulfed a newly constructed, unoccupied luxury hotel in central Beijing on Monday night. The cause of the blaze at the 40-story Mandarin Oriental is not known, and there were no reports of injuries, according to CNN staff members who were at the scene.

Share