Renaissance lives on in Texas festival

Forty years ago, an old strip-mining site in the countryside near Houston, Texas, was transformed into a village modeled after Europe's 16th-century Renaissance, with Shakespearean performers and craftsman who didn't expect the event to see its second year.

Scientist exposes New Delhi's air quality

A three-wheeled rickshaw lurched through New Delhi's commuter-clogged streets with a US scientist and several air pollution monitors in the back seat. Car horns blared. A scrappy scooter buzzed by belching black smoke from its tailpipe. One of the monitors spiked.

Six men kill girl after she refuses advances

A teenage girl has died in northern India one week after a gang of men set her on fire as punishment for resisting their attempts to molest her, police said on Wednesday.

S. Asia shoots for space hopes

Regional collaboration in space technology must be enhanced to achieve sustainable development in South Asia, according to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation leaders.

Australian treatment aims to save lives on battlefield

Australian scientists said on Wednesday they have developed a "breakthrough treatment" to help soldiers severely wounded on the battlefield and hope to secure further research funding from the United States.

S. Korean court grants compensation to 1970s detainees

A South Korean appeals court on Wednesday ordered the government to compensate more than two dozen people, including a one-time presidential candidate, who were detained in the 1970s on fabricated subversion charges.

2,200 troops deployed in Ferguson

Some 2,200 US National Guard troops sent to the St. Louis area helped police stave off a second night of rioting and arson after a grand jury declined to indict a white policeman in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

US judges overturn bans on gay marriage in two states

US district judges have struck down as unconstitutional same-sex marriage bans in Arkansas and Mississippi, separately overturning measures that voters approved a decade ago in both socially conservative Southern states.

Romania's next leader eyes power shift within weeks

Romania's president-elect Klaus Iohannis has predicted that enough lawmakers could start abandoning Prime Minister Victor Ponta's ruling coalition in the coming weeks to bring down the government next year.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Females take the lead in Bollywood

For Bollywood, 2014 is the year of the woman. Some of the biggest hits in India's prolific movie industry have female leads in female-oriented stories.

Australia abuzz over bee threat

Scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization have warned that a significant decline in European honeybee populations across Australia could cost its economy up to $5.1 billion.