A few drinks in the People's Republic of China led me to discover European delights and other unexpected finds in modest Qingdao. Another round of toasts and exclamations of "hajiu" sounded out around me. I took a sip and set down my small glass of Tsingtao beer as my new friends downed theirs and refilled. Our seafood dinner, perched on the single cluttered table of a tiny antique shop, was punctuated regularly by such moments. I joined in happily, although ...

A new policy at Tufts University prohibits students in dorms from having sex while their roommate is in the room, according to the university's 2009-2010 student handbook. The Massachusetts university's formal rule also bars so-called "sexiling" -- exiling a roommate from the room so the other roommate can engage in sexual activity. The new policy "is really about consideration and respect for others and the need for students to be mindful of their roommates' need for privacy, study and sleep," ...

The Taliban fight against American and NATO troops in Afghanistan "is forging ahead like a powerful flood," according to a purported online message posted Saturday by the Taliban's elusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. "Anyone who opts to resist it will himself be washed away. Atrocity, torture, brutality, conspiracies, coalitions, the foreign forces and mercenaries could not hurl stumbling blocks in the way of this robust Jihadic movement," Omar adds in the written message. The fight against foreign forces "is approaching ...

The number of birth defects in China are on the rise and the rate has nearly doubled in the past decade in Beijing and several provinces, a state-run newspaper reported Tuesday. The five-time winner went into Monday night's final at the top of his game, having re-established himself as the top player in the world this year after losing his No. 1 crown to Rafael Nadal and suffering from illness. The Swiss star was widely expected to defeat Juan Martin ...

In Shane Acker's visually alluring but hollow animated film 9, the apocalypse has come and gone, leaving a scorched landscape, smoldering ruins and a crew of mechanical beasts in charge. Mankind is no more, and this ought to be troubling, until you consider the usual sort we see saving the world on screen and realize it's a relief not to have to worry about the plight of yet another plucky, attractive human being with a tendency to throw his ...

China has launched an organ donation system that it hopes will eliminate illegal organ trading and encourage people to become donors, according to reports in China's state-run media. Health officials will start promoting the system in 10 provinces and cities, including China's largest city of Shanghai and the prosperous southern region of Guangdong. Donating organs is not a widespread practice in China. Officials said last year, only 36 people donated organs -- out of a population of 1.3 billion. ...

Have economic times gotten so bad that some of the dead are going unburied? Several large counties across the country are experiencing unprecedented increases in the number of unclaimed deceased — not only because the dead people could not be identified, were indigent or were estranged from their family, but also apparently because more people simply cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones. The phenomenon has increased costs for local governments, which have to dispose of the ...

Ketamine has become the drug of choice among young people, as the number of people under 21 taking drugs has surged 57 percent in the last four years in Hong Kong, said Commissioner for Narcotics, Sally Wong.

The number of abortions performed in China each year tops 13 million, with inadequate knowledge of contraception playing a major role in the annual tally, state-run media reported. "Sex education needs to be strengthened, with universities and our society giving more guidance," Li Ying, a professor at Peking University, told China Daily. Research from the National Population and Family Planning Commission's technology research center shows nearly half of the women who had abortions had not used any form of contraception, ...

China, often criticized for its liberal use of the death penalty, will reduce the number of criminal executions it carries out, a top official said. "As it is impossible for the country to abolish capital punishment under current realities and social security conditions, it is an important effort to strictly control the application of the penalty by judicial organs," Zhang Jun, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, said in an interview with Legal Daily, the state-run China Daily reported. ...