After the gold rush

It hasn’t been a good year for the black and gold.

The hometown of Mao Zedong retains the power of the former helmsman’s personality cult

North Korea has completed reprocessing thousands of spent fuel rods, producing plutonium which could be used in nuclear weapons, state-run media reported Tuesday.

Dubai is Monday due to open the world’s tallest tower — a 160-plus story structure hailed as a monumental architectural achievement but seen by some as a symbol of the city’s unbridled excess.

While economists fret whether the sharp “V”-shaped drop of the financial crisis will turn into a double-dipped “W” recovery, Tan Pheng Hock is most worried about the “P” word: Protectionism.

It’s after 7 p.m. at Next Media’s offices in Taipei, and the day’s news starts coming to life: Artists lift details from news photos while actors in motion sensor suits re-create action sequences of stories making headlines. Animators graft cartoon avatars to the live-motion action, and the stories hit the Web.

A senior Pakistani military officer and a soldier were wounded by gunmen in an apparent assassination attempt in Islamabad, police said Friday.

Arturo Fidelino couldn’t sleep.

Americans are split over whether China represents a military threat to the United States — but there is no doubt in the public’s mind that the country poses an economic threat, according to a new national poll.

A four-day strike by the pilots’ union of Lufthansa threatens one of the world’s largest airlines and may disrupt travel on more than two dozen partner airlines on Monday.

Pakistani security forces fought back an insurgent attack early Thursday killing 30 militants in Pakistan’s tribal region, officials said.

Exxon Mobil reported a 23% drop in quarterly profit Monday as economic conditions remain challenging, but the energy giant’s earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Mixing an abundance of cultural treasures and national pride, France is spiffing up its sights and museums from the Rhine to the Pyrenees. Of course, the biggest news is in Paris, where 2010 brings important changes that smart travelers will want to know about.

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Mercedes-Benz will head up their own Formula One team next season after the German car manufacturer confirmed they have taken a 75.1 percent share in Brawn GP — with Ross Brawn remaining as team principal.

Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, above, is among 280 officials blocked from leaving the country after a court invalidates an amnesty protecting them from corruption charges, state media reports.