Silly politicians. Don't they know the surest way to drum up interest in a pornographic movie on campus is to ban it? When a state senator threatened to strip funding from the University of Maryland over its plans to show a XXX-rated film in the student center, school officials nixed the event. But fired-up students responded on Monday by holding a free-speech demonstration that drew media coverage from as far away as Thailand and Australia. The brouhaha ...

Asia's disaster has galvanized not just governments and international organizations but millions of ordinary people, who want to give anything from money to mosquito nets to those in need. Here's a list of who's doing what, and how to contact them: AID AGENCIES International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies A major relief provider and one of the few groups helping people trace lost family members. Donations can be made online at www.donate.ifrc.org, www.amazon.com or through these regional offices: Bangladesh: bdrcs@bangla.net India: www.indianredcross.org, tel: ...

In Thailand it's often referred to, usually in hushed tones, as "the institution." In a land where the holy trinity consists of nation, religion and king, talking about the monarchy, except in terms of adulation, can be risky business. Political activists, university professors, webmasters and now even a U.S. Citizen have found that out the hard way — arrested and charged with lse majest: insulting the King, Queen or heir to the throne. Last Friday, Thai police announced ...

The introduction to Sacred Skin, Tom Vater and Aroon Thaewchatturat's new tribute to Thailand's sak yant, or sacred tattoos, begins with an agonized exclamation: "Uaaahh!" So it should. While modern tattoos are efficiently applied with an electric machine, sak yant are hand-hammered into your wincing body with a long needle. But no pain, no gain — and, if you believe the enthusiasts, the rewards are out of this world. Devotees credit sak yant with warding off sickness, attracting lovers and ...

The earthquake that hit Burma last week wasn't the deadliest disaster to strike the Southeast Asian nation this month. While the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the country's northeast killed hundreds, a storm that raged off Burma's southern coastline in mid-March took the lives of thousands of fishermen caught out at sea. With the government making no public statement, news has been scant and details sketchy about a tragedy that has left thousands of poor families in an ...

Thailand excels at throwing out the welcome mat for visitors. In the 50 years since the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Thai Airways were founded, the country has evolved from an obscure, barely visited Southeast Asian backwater to one of the developing world's most expertly marketed travel destinations. It is, today, a magnet for jet-setters and backpackers alike, drawn by the carefully crafted image of a gentle land where the people are always smiling. The 13.5 million ...

Aid workers said Friday that at least 120 people were killed by the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit Thursday, rattling high-rises in Bangkok and sending people streaming into the streets of Hanoi. Details of the disaster were slowly seeping out from Shan State in northeastern Burma, a relatively remote region near the border with Laos and Thailand in the heart of the area known as the Golden Triangle. Homes, monasteries and government offices were among the 390 ...

The railroad station in the Angolan town of Dondo hasn't seen a train in years. Its windows are boarded up, its pale pink faade crumbling away; the local coffee trade that Portuguese colonialists founded long ago is a distant memory, victim of a civil war that lasted for 27 years. Dondo's fortunes, however, may be looking up. This month, work is scheduled to start on the local section of the line that links the town to the deep harbor at ...

A Russian writer who contradicted some authorities by suggesting that the hijacked cargo ship Arctic Sea was carrying something other than timber was fired after he fled Russia because of threats, he told CNN Friday. Mikhail Voitenko said in multiple media interviews that he caught the first flight to Istanbul, Turkey, this week to escape possible lawsuits or worse for his comments on the Arctic Sea saga. On Friday, he told CNN by cell phone that he had moved from ...

About 20 people were wounded Tuesday when a car bomb exploded near a Buddhist restaurant in southern Thailand, police said.