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Photography
1:26 am
Mon December 19, 2011

Powerful Portraits Capture China's Empress Dowager

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Credit Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254
Credit Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 249
Empress Dowager Cixi poses with the wives of foreign envoys in Leshoutang, the summer palace in Beijing, circa 1903-04.
Credit Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254
This photograph is one of a series of photos that shows Cixi seated on her throne in front of a banner that declares her full title. Click here to see a close-up of her "horse-hoof" platform shoes.
Credit Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 259
Cixi, accompanied by her attendants, stands in the snowy gardens of Wanshoushan (Longevity Hill), the central hill of the Summer Palace. The image is one of nine similar photographs that were most likely taken for the enjoyment of the empress and her attendants — not for any diplomatic purpose.
Credit Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 261
Cixi sits in a sedan chair, surrounded by eunuchs, circa 1903-04. Rumor has it that Cixi bribed the eunuchs to get better access to the emperor. Out of dozens of concubines, Cixi was the only one to bear a child.
Credit Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254
This close-up shows Cixi's gold filigreed fingernail covers, which were traditionally worn in the Qing court.
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Intrigue! Riches! Sex! Some violence! Not the latest movie plot, but a story that lurks in the background of some 100-year-old photographs of The Empress Dowager — once the most powerful woman in Asia. The mostly black-and-white photos languished for decades in the archives of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Now, they are on display and give a glimpse of Old China at a time when today's China is the picture of modern power.

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Remembrances
8:22 pm
Sun December 18, 2011

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Dies At 69

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Credit Dmitry Astakhov / AFP/Getty Images
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a visit to Siberia in August. He died Saturday at age 69, according to state-run North Korean television.
Credit AFP / Getty Images
1992: Kim Jong Il (right) and his father and then-leader Kim Il Sung (left) inspect a soccer ground in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Il was named general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, one of two top posts left vacant since the death of the elder Kim in 1994.
Credit Jae-Hwan / AFP/Getty Images
Feb. 28, 2004: Portraits of Kim Il Sung (left) and Kim Jong Il hang on the wall at the North Korean embassy in Beijing.
Credit KNS / AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 4, 2009: Kim Jong Il (right) poses with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in Pyongyang.
Credit Dmitry Astakhov / AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 24, 2011: Kim Jong Il waves from his car after a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Siberia for secrecy-shrouded talks on energy and food aid.
Credit Dmitry Astakhov / AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 24, 2011: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right) welcomes North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il during their meeting in Siberia.
Credit Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP/Getty Images
A special edition of a major South Korean newspaper announces the death of Kim Jong ll in Seoul, Dec. 19, 2011.
Credit AFP / Getty Images/KCNA via KNS
1995: Kim Jong Il (right) waves at a military parade to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Credit AFP/Getty Images
Kim Jong Il is seen here while introducing members of his delegation to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Credit David Guttenfelder / AP
Kim Jong Il shakes hands with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Pae Kha Hawon Guest House in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2000.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:11 am

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il has died of apparent heart failure. He was 69.

In a "special broadcast" Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" during a "high-intensity field inspection" Saturday. It said an autopsy done Sunday "fully confirmed" the diagnosis.

Kim Jong Il wanted his successor to be his son, Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be in his late 20s. But there was no immediate word on a new leader in North Korea.

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The Two-Way
4:01 pm
Sun December 18, 2011

Former Envoy To Iraq Says Situation Still 'Very Fragile'

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
Paul Bremer, former Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, seen here in 2007, says he believes the U.S. pullout of Iraq is premature and that the country is still very fragile.
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By Steve Mullis

The war in Iraq is officially over and the last troops have pulled out of the country after a nearly nine-year long conflict.

Many of the architects and officials that were a part of the war are now looking back and reflecting on whether it was worth it, and if perhaps the ending of the war came too soon.

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The Impact of War
4:01 pm
Sun December 18, 2011

Report: High Levels Of 'Burnout' In U.S. Drone Pilots

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Around 1,100 Air Force pilots fly remotely piloted aircraft – or drones. These planes soar over Iraq or Afghanistan but the pilots sit at military bases back in the United States.

A new Pentagon study shows that almost 30 percent of drone pilots surveyed suffer from what the military calls "burnout." It's the first time the military has tried to measure the psychological impact of waging a "remote-controlled war."

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New Movies
2:30 pm
Sun December 18, 2011

War, What Is It Good For? Movies, It Seems.

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