In China, waiting in line sometimes feels like a competitive sport. The overnight queue at the launch of Apple's iPad 2 pales in comparison to the epic waits for certain over-subscribed state-run services.

Earlier this month, people waited four days and three nights to register for low-income housing in the central city of Xian, while admission to a certain Beijing kindergarten in Changping last year required a week-long, round-the-clock queue, for which people set up camp beds along the pavement.

Football fans have the Super Bowl. Soccer fans have The World Cup. Sci-fi geeks have Starship Smackdown.

Everything you need to know about the event is in the name, says panelist Mark A. Altman, creator of the Cinemax show Femme Fatales: "'Starship Smackdown' says it all."

New recycling containers now enhance the landscape of Lexington parks.  59 containers with one section for waste and another section for recyclables are being situated in parks.   Bill Clarke, who's with Parks and Recreation says the container handles various recyclables. “Primarily aluminum cans and plastic bottles, cardboard, paper.  We don’t like to get items that have been soiled or contaminated with food,” said Clarke.

Dr. Michael Zasloff, a surgeon and researcher at Georgetown University, is famous for discovering compounds in the skin of frogs and sharks that can fight disease in humans.

Parenting Magazine has listed two Kentucky cities in their top 20 cities for families.  Louisville rounds off the top ten, while Lexington ranks 18th. The magazine looked at factors such as quality of schools, prices of  homes, crime rates, available jobs, and parkland. Here is the list…

Robert Siegel interviews writer Suketu Mehta, about his recent article in The New Yorker magazine called "The Asylum Seeker." Mehta follows Caroline, an African immigrant who applies for asylum in the United States. She embellishes her story, saying she had been raped in her home country to make her request for asylum more compelling.

Representatives of NFL players voted Monday to accept a new collective bargaining agreement with the league. That means training camps will open later this week — and a mad scramble for free agents and trades begins.

Lexington may be Men's Health magazine's most sedentary city, but it's also the sixth best "value" city. That's according to Kiplinger magazine. In the newly published list, the business and finance magazine ranks Lexington number six in what it calls its ten best value cities.

While Lexington is still feeling the effects of the housing downturn, a new report issued by the Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator's office shows the city weathering the storm better than many. The report compiled by Fayette County PVA David O'Neill shows Lexington property values remaining relatively stable, despite a steady decline in home sales for the past five years. O'Neill says, while not immune to the downturn, the city's housing market hasn't seen the kind of fluctuations other cities have.

First of a five-part series

No statistic in education is more damning than the nation's dropout rate. Almost 4 million students start ninth grade every year. One in four won't graduate.

About half of those who drop out every year are black. Most will end up unemployed, and by their mid-30s, six out of 10 will have spent time in prison. In Chicago, one young man dropped out, spent time in jail and is now getting a second chance.