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North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric while the U.N. Security Council considers new sanctions against the reclusive country.

Malaysian security forces found 13 bodies of suspected Philippine militants as they expanded their hunt for an elusive armed group on the island of Borneo on Wednesday, a day after an assault with fighter jets, mortars and hundreds of troops.

Thousands of Chinese mourned at a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in the northeastern city of Changchun for a two-month-old boy who was strangled to death by a carjacker. Xu Haobo was sleeping in the backseat of his parent's SUV early Monday morning when his father stopped for a few minutes to turn on the heat in a store the family owned, authorities said. "He left his kid in the car with the heat on, and he didn't take the keys," a bystander at the scene in Changchun later told TV reporters. "He was inside for a bit, and when he looked outside, there was nobody there."

In his final address in power, outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao told China's congress Tuesday that China has seen "truly extraordinary" development in recent years and must bolster national security to defend it.

With three humble bows to the audience, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao exited the public stage in an anticlimactic end to his ten-year reign. In his final work report at the opening of the National People's Congress, nary a word was spoken about political reform, which Wen had championed in earlier speeches. Instead, he read a 100-minute statement that was dull even by the standards of the country’s soporific political theater.

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Monday denounced Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea, calling the former NBA player's appearance a publicity stunt by the Hermit Kingdom's oppressive regime.

U.S. universities have responded to China's exploding demand for American higher education with branch campuses and aggressive recruiting. Now, some are trying to boost their brands by casting photos and other snippets of campus life out into the confounding sea of Chinese social media.

The death toll from violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Bangladesh reached at least 44 on Friday, one day after a special war crimes tribunal handed down a death sentence to an Islamic leader for crimes against humanity committed 42 years ago, during the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Which country has the largest number of billionaires, China or America? China. According to the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2013, China had 212 billionaires in 2013, compared to 211 in America.

Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-N.B.A. star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong-un an “awesome guy” and said his father and grandfather were “great leaders.”