You've probably heard the bad news about homework: kids are working longer hours than ever before, and it's driving them nearly insane. At least one major book has made this argument, as have numerous news articles like this one and this one. But now a research team at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has come forward with a new study reporting that most parents actually don't find their children's homework loads to be monstrous. In fact, according to the ...

It's the world's longest poem — over 1.8 million words, containing over one hundred thousand verses and approximately ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined. And now India's celebrated epic the Mahabharata, the writing of which began around 300 B. C. by the venerated Hindu figure Vyasa, is being written again — one 140-character tweet at a time. Chindu Sreedharan, 36, lecturer in Journalism and Communication at the Media School ...

There has been a big fuss this week because Michelle Obama wore shorts. She has worn shorts before — to walk the dog, do stuff around the White House. But the photos of her wearing them in that iconic descending-from-Air-Force-One-onto-the-tarmac setting proved too much for the media. Obamas? Check. Summer news doldrums? Check. Controversy? Close enough. It was a story. And people reacted. The Today Show's poll on whether she should have shone that much thigh got ...

The last thing the CIA needs right now is another scandal, let alone two. Allegations that the CIA chief in Algiers drugged and raped two women is going to hurt badly. The accusations that Harold Nicholson, a former CIA operative in federal prison convicted of spying for the KGB, continued his work from behind bars isn't nearly as serious, but it won't exactly help the agency's reputation. Nicholson, who allegedly enlisted his Nathaniel son to collect his ...

The streets of Kabul were eerily quiet on Thursday, as polls for Afghanistan's second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban opened to little fanfare and even smaller crowds. Children, taking advantage of the trafficless streets, flew kites. Watermelon sellers languished in the shade of their carts waiting for a sale. The only customers were police, who were stationed at every intersection to inspect the few vehicles that passed their way. Kabul residents had been spooked by Wednesday's ...

Formula One's new Team U.S. F1 will have the financial backing of YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley -- and the video sharing Web site's chief executive expects to make a big impact in motorsport. The American, who along with co-founders Steve Chen and Jawed Karim sold YouTube to internet giant Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, has faith in the team's prospects for the 2010 season. It is fronted by engineer Ken Anderson, formerly involved with NASCAR team Haas CNC Racing, ...

In 2007 and 2008, photojournalist Tomas Van Houtryve visited North Korea by infiltrating a communist solidarity delegation. In the second story in his three-part TIME.com series, Van Houtryve describes the surveillance he was subjected to and the bizarre majesty of the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung. After dinner at the end of my second day, I was pulled aside by my guides. The interrogation lasted for four hours. The most grim-looking of our minders, Mr. Chung , was bad ...

Politicians know there are plenty of ways to spice up a dull election campaign. Organize a rousing rally. Bring out the celebrity endorsements. Or maybe, just show a little cleavage? That's Vera Lengsfeld's election strategy, at least. The 57-year-old candidate for Germany's Christian Democratic Union has the country abuzz over her provocative campaign posters, which feature photos of her and CDU compatriot Chancellor Angela Merkel in low-cut tops, accompanied by the slogan: We Have More to Offer. Lengsfeld, ...

While Western governments have been worrying about bearded men with bombs in caves, a new jihad has quietly gained strength in the Muslim world: Islamic feminism. Earlier this week, 350 women and men gathered in Malaysia to launch Musawah — "Equality" in Arabic — a movement for justice in the Muslim family. Organized by the Malaysian Muslim feminist group Sisters in Islam, the conference, two years in the planning, is a kick-off to a campaign to enshrine Muslim women's ...

Iran has released a French academic from prison, though it's not clear when Clotilde Reiss can return home, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office announced Sunday. Reiss, 24, is the second French woman facing charges as part of mass trials in Iran who was released on bond. French authorities are now demanding that Iran drop all charges against Reiss and Nazak Afshar -- an employee of the French embassy in Tehran who was released August 8, the statement from Sarkozy's office ...