The leader of a polygamous community in Canada says authorities are engaging in religious persecution by charging him with practicing polygamy. Winston Blackmore claims there are tens of thousands of polygamists across Canada, but that his religious sect is being targeted and authorities are disregarding his right to religious freedom. He told the media: "This is not about polygamy, to us this Read more

The number of visitors to China dropped by two million last year to 130 million, despite the enormous fanfare and draw of the 2008 Olympics. It was the first decline in visitor numbers since 2003, when an outbreak of SARS knocked the country off desired vacay location lists. The slump has been attributed to the weak economy, which hasn't been kind to the tourism industry as a whole, stricter Read more

The Consumers Union wants Congress to delay the nation's transition to digital television because it believes the program to help American's transition has been underfunded and poorly implemented. It was announced earlier this week that the $1.3 billion dollar program to offset the cost of buying converter boxes is all tapped out. All full-power television stations in the US are required to Read more

President-elect Barack Obama, President Bush, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton (that's all of the surviving past presidents) met up for lunch at the White House today in a historic gathering. Collectively the bunch has more than 30 years of presidential experience. Bush, who sat down with Obama recently, said: One message that I have, and I think we all share, is that we want you Read more

India's government-run Air India airline has dumped 10 female fight attendants who were grounded last year for being overweight. A report says the firings occurred after the cabin crew was warned about meeting minimum physical fitness standards (as in, not being thin enough, apparently) and given "sufficient time to lose weight." The report also says the flight attendants were offered alternative Read more

Ready to say adios to 2008? You are going to have to wait one whole second longer this New Year's Eve. The world's official timekeepers (who knew we had them?!) have added what they call a leap second to the last day of the year to help sync clocks to the earth's slowing spin on its axis. The US Naval Observatory — the keeper of the Pentagon's master clock — will add the extra second on Read more

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was voted Russia's third most popular historical figure in a nationwide poll that ended this weekend. Stalin's notable superlative comes despite the famine and purges (which included sending people to labor camps and millions of deaths) that marked his dictatorship. The "Name of Russia" contest was run by the Rossiya state television channel for about six months and Read more

The last time New Orleans saw snow was a white Christmas day in 2004, and the Southern city has only been painted white 17 times since 1850. But this morning residents woke up to as much as six inches of snowflakes. Today marks the earliest date for snowfall in the city, and the rare weather found some unprepared. The snow halted bus services and flights out of Armstrong International Airport, Read more

Just like all presidents before him, the President-elect plans to be sworn in using his full name: Barack Hussein Obama. Although Obama said that by using his full name, he's just doing what every other president did, he also told the Chicago Tribune, that he has a unique opportunity to renovate relations with the Muslim world. He hopes to "create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership Read more

A South Carolina Ford dealer wants Americans to put the brakes on buying foreign cars, and he's using the radio to accelerate the spread of this message. In a controversial ad the local dealer chastises Toyota customers saying: All you people that buy all your Toyotas and send that money to Japan, you know, when you don't have a job to make your Toyota car payment, don't come crying to me. All Read more