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Fang Hong is seeking compensation for the year he spent in a Chinese labor camp — his sentence for a scatological tweet that mocked politician Bo Xilai and Police Chief Wang Lijun.

View caption Louisa Lim/NPR

A Tweet, A Year In A Labor Camp, And Now An Appeal

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One irreverent tweet about a powerful Chinese politician was enough to get Fang Hong sent to a Chinese labor camp for a year. Encouraged by the recent fall of that politician, Bo Xilai, Fang is appealing his case and attacking the system of re-education through labor.

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Moviegoers at a 3D IMAX theater in Beijing.

What A Show! China's Movie Theaters Have Improved Dramatically

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Moviegoers watch a 3-D IMAX movie at a Beijing theater run by the Chinese company Wanda, which recently announced it was buying AMC movie theaters for $2.6 billion. The move is seen as part of a larger effort by the Chinese conglomerate to move into the U.S. market.

Hollywood Dreams Led Chinese Firm To Buy Into U.S.

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Muslims (in the foreground) face a group of Christians during a bloody clash in Ambon, the provincial capital of Indonesia's Maluku Island, on Sept. 11, 2011. The riot exposed deep fault lines between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia.

Hard-Line Muslims Test Indonesia's Tolerance

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The Two-Way: The Two-Way

Old Ways Disappearing In The New Mongolia()

Workers brush cashmere goats in South Gobi on Bat-Erdene Badam's family farm. Cashmere wool, milk and meat are the main commodities for Mongolia's herders.

May 24, 2012 With desertification, drought and a booming mining industry, Mongolians are leaving the traditional life of herding. Herdsman Bat-Erdene Badam says he will be the last in his family to tend livestock. His children are trading in their nomadic lives for more stable, often urban jobs.

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The Two-Way

Beijing Imposes 'Two-Fly' Rule For Public Restrooms()

A worker cleans a public bathroom in Beijing. New rules require that public restrooms in the Chinese capital have no more than two flies in them.

May 23, 2012 The rule, instituted to improve sanitation, applies to bathrooms in tourist spots such as parks, railway stations, supermarkets and malls.

Summary

The Two-Way

Poachers Can Be Shot, Officials In India Declare()

An Indian tiger looks out from a camouflaged cover in the Ranthambhore National Park. (March 2000 file photo.)

May 23, 2012 To protect the endangered animals, forest guards have been given the go-ahead to use lethal force if necessary. One minister has told rangers to "shoot at sight."

Summary

Mongolia Booms

Mongolians Scramble For A Share Of Mining Wealth()

Tseren-ochir is a superintendent at Oyu Tolgoi mine who goes by the name "Augie" because it's easier for the foreigners he works with to pronounce. he is overseeing workers digging a nearly 5,000-foot-deep shaft down to reach the copper ore.

May 23, 2012 A massive mine in the middle of the Gobi is providing opportunities to thousands of young Mongolians, drawing talent from other fields such as tourism. But some complain that foreigners earn more than locals, and those who can't find mining work are striking out on their own as illegal prospectors.

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