By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer
BEIJING – By all rights, Beijing should be suffering the post-Olympic hangover anticipated by skeptics and cynics.
China’s exports-driven economy has taken a big hit from the global recession. Millions of college graduates are still unemployed. Newly built shiny commercial buildings stand unoccupied. And in recent weeks the Chinese government has stepped up its ongoing efforts to control the flow of information on the Internet.
If anything, however, the Chinese capital is enjoying a renaissance in the arts and culture – normally what would be the first casualty in a climate of recession and censorship. And it’s attracting a growing number of people from around the world who want to be part of the scene.
"Beijing has that combination of optimism, possibility, opportunity, as well as being an interesting city in its own right," said Aric Chen, a freelance writer, curator and design consultant who recently moved here from New York City.
The 34-year-old is juggling several international projects – a book on Brazil, an exhibition in Israel, and a biennale in South Korea – any of which could be launched from another base.
But in Beijing, he found that "there is still a hunger and openness for new things, so there’s room for people like me." Within China, he helps to oversee projects like the "100% Design Shanghai," a major industry fair that he hopes will help to elevate the discourse on design in the country and nurture homegrown designers and artists.
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By Mary Murray, NBC News Havana Bureau Chief
HAVANA – As news of the death of the "King of Pop" spread last Thursday night, a group of fans and Jackson impersonators gathered in a tiny Havana living room in disbelief. They huddled around a shortwave radio and tuned to Florida stations, hoping someone would say it was all a hoax.
"We’re stunned and heartsick. For us, Michael was the sun," said Nestor Hernandez. "All of a sudden, the skies darkened."
For the most part, Michael Jackson’s controversies didn’t tarnish his fame in Cuba. As Cuba’s state-run media is devoid of celebrity gossip, many fans know all about his talent but nothing about his troubles.
After his death on Thursday, Cuban radio and TV hosts paid tribute to the American pop star and his musical creations with scant references to his excesses with drugs, spending or sexual molestation charges.
The daily Granma, published by Cuba’s ruling Communist Party, reported on Jackson’s death, describing him as a "magnificent talent with a strange personal life," without providing any further explanation.
"Radio Rebelde," the island’s main radio station, abandoned regular rush-hour programming Friday morning to run news of Jackson’s death and play some of his most popular hits from decades ago while fans called in with accolades and requests.
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By Tom Aspell, NBC News Correspondent
BAGHDAD – No American military vehicles patrolled Baghdad’s streets for the first time in six years on Tuesday morning, as U.S. forces in Iraq finished withdrawing from towns and cities to bases in the countryside.
Iraqi army troops and police manned checkpoints in the Shiite area of Sadr City, searching cars for explosives and weapons. They can still call for American support if necessary, but Iraqis are hoping they can cope with the ongoing insurgency alone from now on.
As the midnight deadline for the handover of security in towns and cities drew nearer, Iraqis gathered in a park near the Baghdad Zoo for an outdoor concert to celebrate.
Pop singers entertained the crowds and there was a modest firework display. For many present it was the first outdoor celebration of its kind in recent memory.
In the Shiite slums of Sadr City, many greeted the departure of American forces with optimism. But Fouad Mohsen, who is 40 years old and unemployed, was cautious.
"I'm not too happy because the security situation is not ideal," said Mohsen. "I think the Iraqi forces are 70 percent capable of protecting us."
Taleb, 27, and also unemployed, said he already sees a decline in the security situation compared with just two months ago.
"I don't think it is the right time for U.S. forces to leave the cities," said Taleb, who declined to give his last name. "We still don't think the government is doing enough to help us. There is no work and no money."
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By Yonatan Pomrenze, NBC News Producer
MOSCOW – When I first heard about the International Medical Leech Center from a colleague, my reaction was probably a typical one for an American: Yuck. Gross.
A breeding center for 150,000 leeches in a small village just outside Moscow did not sound like my ideal location for a story. But when I heard the center’s claims that they raise and sell 10 times the number of leeches than the rest of the world combined, curiosity overcame my initial disgust.
Natasha Lepyoshkina is one of the 29 leech breeders at the center, all of whom are women. According to her, the gender choice is no accident. "You need to have patience with the leeches. You have to be industrious and patient. A man couldn’t do that," she said.
Most of the breeders live in the local village and take shifts on weekends to check on the leeches, lending the center a family-like atmosphere. "They won’t ever bite us – they know us too well," said one breeder as I prepared to dunk my hand in a jar full of hungry leeches. (Maybe it was leech breeders who coined the phrase about biting the hand that feeds you?)
The breeders often referred to the leeches as their children. "Just like a child – we raise them and love them, and once they grow up they leave us," said Lepyoshkina, as she prepared a batch of 1,000 live leeches to be shipped from the center.
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With the warmer weather, Guo Li Yi gets more business repairing bicycles on a Beijing street corner.The 63–year-old from Anhui province talks to NBC News about his life and work in the big city.
By NBC News' Warangkana Chomchuen
“Michael is the first and only international singer who inspired me to learn English to understand his songs,” a die-hard Jackson fan wrote on Pantip, the most popular Thai web forum.
Another comment, posted nine hours after the “King of Pop” was pronounced dead, read, “I’m still waiting for news agencies to say they made error report.”
A devastated fan said she has been writing a diary to Jackson for years now, and she would continue doing so even after his death.
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By NBC News' Ed Flanagan
BEIJING – It’s not often that a confessed murderer is feted publicly for her heroism and bravery, but that is precisely what happened to Deng Yujiao in China’s blogosphere following her release from house arrest last week.
Deng, a 21-year-old waitress from Hubei Province who fatally stabbed a Communist Party official after he tried to force himself on her, became an Internet sensation in China after she was arrested on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter a month ago.
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| Chinafotopress / Getty Images Contributor |
| Deng Yujiao, in white shirt, leaves a local court on in Badong County, Hubei Province, on June 16 after being exempted from criminal charges. |
According to the police investigation, two local officials, Huang Dezhi and Deng Guida, were customers at the Fantasy City Bathhouse, a karaoke parlor in rural Badong County, on May 10th when they approached Deng and demanded "special services." (In China, bathhouses are often fronts for brothels.)
When she refused, Deng Guida (who was not related to Deng) allegedly threw a wad of money at her face and pushed her onto a nearby sofa. As they proceeded to attack her, she pulled out a fruit knife and repeatedly stabbed and killed Deng Guida.
Deng immediately turned herself in to authorities and police initially charged her with manslaughter.
However, details of the case soon leaked out on the Internet. Deng told her side of the story to a Chinese newspaper, and the county government went into overdrive to downplay allegations of similar acts of aggression by Deng Guida and Huang Dezhi.
Chinese bloggers and netizens reacted swiftly. They began to express their outrage over government excess and Ms. Deng’s helplessness in the face of unruly government officials.
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By NBC News' Fakhar Rehman
UPPER DIR, Pakistan – "The noose around the Taliban is tightening," said 50-year-old Sirajuddin, the leader of a tribal militia based in Dhogbala, a town in the Upper Dir region of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. "Our fight will go on to the final victory."
Taliban militants have been pouring into Upper Dir for weeks, fleeing the Pakistan army assault in the adjacent Swat Valley. Sirajuddin, who goes by just one name, said that the army had been bombing the militants’ hideouts in the nearby hills and hit some shops in Dhogbala by mistake. The militants then swarmed down from the mountains, raided the shops and stole all the food.
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| Fakhar Rehman / NBC News |
| Sirajuddin, the leader of a tribal militia fighting the Taliban. |
Sirajuddin, tall and slim with a neatly cropped salt and pepper beard, spoke softly as he explained the militia’s determination to go after the Taliban. But his voice rose in anger and his lips quivered when he recalled the suicide attack by the Taliban on his mosque on June 5.
"Those criminals killed 40 innocent people at prayer, just because they would not support them. We had to bury 12 children that day," said Sirajuddin. "Tell me, what was their crime?"
The next day, after the funerals, 500 villagers gathered at the home of one of their elders and voted unanimously to avenge the deaths from the mosque bombing and go after the Taliban. Sirajuddin volunteered to give up his job as a laborer and lead the militia.
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By NBC News' Bo Gu
BEIJING – Wow. People in Iran have the right to elect their own president? Candidates are allowed to participate in TV debates and give speeches to their supporters, just like in the United States? And they are allowed to publicly protest?
This comes as news to many in China who have long viewed Iran as an extremely conservative Muslim country where women have to cover their hair and bodies with scarves and robes. It’s mostly known here for leaders who openly challenge the United States and play cat-and-mouse over their stubborn nuclear power policies.
But people in Iran, usually seen as so mysterious and different from China, do enjoy many rights not endowed to Chinese citizens – such as voting and going out on the streets to express their discontent.
So it comes as a surprise to see that China’s mainstream media coverage of the post-election crisis in Iran has been fairly thorough. The protests and resulting bloodshed were reported all week in newspapers and on Web sites, with vivid videos and pictures.
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For the thousands of Iranian expatriates who moved to Los Angeles after the overthrow of the shah thirty years ago, the latest chapter in the troubled history of their homeland has them deeply worried and watching closely. NBC News' George Lewis reports.
