For Refugees, New Year Means New Way of Life

Born on 9/11? Hard to party with '800-pound gorilla in corner'

(NEWSER) - What's a 9/11 birthday girl (or boy) to do: celebrate, mourn, or both? For those born on the anniversary of the worst terror attacks in American history, birthdays are an awkward balancing act, notes the New York Times . "It’s hard to celebrate when you know thousands of people are directly mourning a loss, and millions of others are mourning indirectly," says one man born that day. "It’s the 800-pound gorilla in the corner.” More»

(NEWSER) - What does turning 30 mean, anyway? Sam Greenspan knows, because he got Book of Ages: 30 for his, um, 30th birthday. He runs down 11 factoids on the appropriately named 11 Points website. A sampling:

• 30-year-olds keep resolutions: Though 26% less likely to make New Years resolutions, 30-somethings are 26% more likely to keep them. "I totally believe this," Greenspan writes.

French first lady will perform at Mandela's 91st birthday celebration

(NEWSER) - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will sing this weekend at Nelson Mandela’s birthday party, her first public performance since becoming the first lady of France, reports AFP. The former South African leader will celebrate his 91st birthday Saturday at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, and Bruni won't be the only big name: Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin also are scheduled to perform. More»

(NEWSER) - Tai Shan, the giant panda who captivated the world as a cub, turned 4 today and celebrated with a huge birthday cake only an animal could love. The three-tiered concoction was a frozen medley of water, beet juice, shredded beets, and bamboo, WTOP reports. Tai Shan, who is now considered a teenager in "bear years," is scheduled to head to China in 2010 under the terms of the breeding program that brought his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, to the US from their native land. More»

(NEWSER) - When President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meet today, they will discuss a host of security and economic issues, but Paul Wolfowitz hopes they take some time out for a purely humanitarian concern: North Korea’s refugees. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have fled to China, but “China makes life extraordinarily difficult for refugees,” he writes in the Wall Street Journal. More»