In Protest, Tibetans Refuse to Celebrate New Year

When asked how his New Year celebrations have been, the pilgrim — a middle-aged businessman wearing a heavy winter coat against the bitter winds that knife through the monastery’s narrow alleys — immediately glances up and then over his shoulder. It is the universal, instinctive reaction of Tibetans I talked to on a recent trip to China’s far western province of Qinghai, where ethnic Tibetans make up the majority of the population in the areas closest to the Qinghai-Tibet border

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Founder of Islamic TV station accused of beheading wife

The founder of an Islamic television station in upstate New York aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes has confessed to beheading his wife, authorities said. Muzzammil Hassan was charged with second-degree murder after police found the decapitated body of his wife, Aasiya Hassan, at the Bridges TV station in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, said Andrew Benz, Orchard Park’s police chief

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A Historian’s Take on Obama

Last year’s gripping campaign and the wave of popularity behind Barack Obama have focused tremendous attention on the White House and the presidency. As the country marks Presidents Day, TIME spoke with author and historian Richard Norton Smith about America’s “schizoid” relationship with its President, the lofty expectations for Obama and the way history’s verdicts can shift over time. What interests you as a historian about our new President There is a theory, and I think it holds some credence, that every 30 years or so America is in a regenerative mood

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‘Money from heaven’ leaves retiree empty

At first, the investment sounded too good to be true to Emiko, a 74-year-old retired elementary school principal. But she ached to grow her retirement fund so she could take any burden or worry away from her two children. So Emiko invested conservatively, only the equivalent of a few hundred dollars at a time

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The Octuplet Mom Speaks, and the Questions Grow

When Nadya Suleman, 33, had her eight children at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Bellflower, California, one medical guideline had already been broken. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends that a woman under the age of 35 should have no more than two embryos implanted by way of in vitro fertilization . That limit was chosen, says Sean Tipton, director of public affairs for the Society, in order to avoid multiple births through IVF which exposes both mother and offspring to significant health risks.

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Liberians facing mass deportation from U.S.

Thousands of Liberians living in the United States face deportation March 31 when a federal immigration status created for humanitarian purposes expires. In the 1990s, a bloody civil war raged through the West African nation, killing 250,000 people and displacing more than a million, according to a U.N. report.

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