With China gearing up for the Beijing Winter Olympics, other countries are sticking to their pledge of a diplomatic boycott on human rights grounds, especially after documentation of the government's treatment of Uyghurs. One LA business owner has turned his restaurant into a form of activism.

Bangladeshi police have arrested one of the four owners of a ferry involved in a massive fire in which at least 39 people died. Seven other people, including owners and captains of the vessel, are on the run.

An Afghan refugee who fled the Soviet invasion in 1987 and set up afresh in Washington DC organizes a donation center with the help of local volunteers. "It was hard just to watch on TV and just be idle," says Fatima Popal, who remembers the challenges of setting up a new home in a foreign country. The lightspeed Taliban takeover brought back painful memories for the 41-year-old who runs an Afghan restaurant in the US Capital.