Austria Cellar Daughter Awake: Kerstin Fritzl, the 19-year-old woman, and the oldest daughter kept in the cellar in Austria, has regained consciousness. Her illness in April tipped Austria's authorities to the incest scandal. Kerstin is the oldest of seven children fathered by Josef Fritzl, her grandfather, during the 24 years he kept his daughter Elisabeth in his cellar, captive while raping Read more

Bush Goes to Europe: President Bush has just departed for a farewell trip to Europe's major capitals, taking news of both concern for and confidence in the US economy. His first stop is Slovenia for his final US-European Union Summit. He will also visit Germany, Italy, France, England and Northern Ireland. Expressing concern about the economy and soaring energy prices (which hit $4 a gallon over Read more

There's been a lot of chatter about Sharon Stone's insensitive remarks regarding the massive earthquake that recently struck China. I believe the actress said something along the lines of, "They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then the earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma?" Mind you she said this at the Cannes Film Festival Read more

Sharon Stone has become a bit of a Karma Chameleon, and apologized for her statement that the earthquake was China's Karma coming back to haunt them. She said, "Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people." She's been removed from Dior ads in China following the incident. Karma is an important concept for Buddhists, Read more

Since the earthquake, Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao has made a bunch of friends. Over 13,000 of them to be exact — according to his hopping Facebook profile. He's become wildly popular for his fast and feeling response to the May 12 earthquake. At one disaster site, a collapsed school, the 66-year-old politician called out these touching words of comfort: "This is Grandpa Wen Jiabao, hang on Read more

Chinese officials have announced that families, whose only child was killed or critically injured in this month's earthquake, will be exempt from the one-child policy, a decision that appears to be only fair. The reprieve, which at first seems compassionate, highlights the unnatural quality of China's entire family-planning policy. A couple, dealing with the loss of their legal child, will have Read more

Following the recent earthquake, China plans to rebuild one of its worst-hit cities, Beichuan, in a completely different location. Of the city's 161,000 residents, at least 7,227 died in the quake. The region's Communist Party Chief said: Safety is the top priority in selecting a new location and reconstruction. We plan to build a monument and a memorial to commemorate the quake victims on the Read more

Donating money for the victims of the Myanmar cyclone and the Chinese earthquake has not been an easy sell. Americans have given $12.1 million so far to the Myanmar cause, compared to the $1.92 billion that was collected for the 2004 Tsunami, and $5.3 billion for Hurricane Katrina. Donation amounts for China are not yet known. One AP writer suspects that Americans have come down with "disaster Read more

Fleeing South Africa Attacks: About 6,000 people fled violent attacks in South Africa on foreigners. The attacks have left at least 22 dead, according to aid workers. Thought to be a "classic refugee situation," many of those seeking refuge in South Africa are Zimbabweans who have fled violence and poverty in their own country. Estimates show as many as three million Zimbabweans are living in Read more