Chatter: Earthquakes shake southwest China

Need to know:

A series of earthquakes in southwest China has left at least 50 people dead and forced tens of thousands from their homes.

The quakes, the two strongest of which registered at 5.6 magnitude, hit rural, mountainous areas of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Chinese state-run media said 20,000 homes were damaged, and more than 100,000 people have been evacuated in Yunnan.

Poorly constructed buildings are a continuing problem in rural China. Many of the nearly 90,000 deaths in the 2008 earthquake, in neighboring Sichuan province, were blamed on shoddily built schools and other structures.

Want to know:

President Barack Obama had a tough act to follow when he took to the stage last night in North Carolina.

After former President Bill Clinton roused supporters Wednesday with an impassioned point-by-point case for his re-election, Obama accepted the Democratic party nomination and told voters they faced a generational choice.

"On every issue, the choice you face won't be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different paths for America. A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future," Obama told the Democratic convention.

In the midst of all the political rabble-rousing, it can be easy for the truth to get lost. GlobalPost sheds light on some of the inaccuracies by fact-checking the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Dull but important:

A Christian girl arrested in Pakistan on a controversial blasphemy charge was granted bail today.

The girl, believed to be 14 and mentally disabled, could be free by this evening on about $5,000 bail, but there are concerns her life is still in danger.

In Pakistan, allegations of causing offense to Islam can mean death. Those accused under the Muslim country's anti-blasphemy law are sometimes lynched by the public even if found innocent in court.

The girl was arrested after a neighbor complained of seeing her carrying burned pages of the Koran. Police this week arrested a Muslim cleric who reportedly planted evidence to frame the girl.

Just because:

Prince Harry, whose recent party antics in Las Vegas led the world to see naked photos of his pasty white body, is heading back to Afghanistan.

The British defense ministry said the 27-year-old, known as Captain Wales in the military, has been deployed to Afghanistan for four months. He previously spent 10 weeks in Helmand province, but was pulled out after media reported his secret deployment.

The prince, an Apache helicopter pilot, arrived last night at the main British base, Camp Bastion in Helmand, to take part in combat missions against the Taliban. But bad news for "Party" Prince Harry: while Camp Bastion has a bar, it doesn't serve alcohol as it is forbidden on base. 

Strange but true:

Think your job is bad?

Try being an elephant sperm collector. Or a Foxconn factory worker in China, where employees must take a no-suicide pledge.

Or — thanks to high stress and low hiring outlook — a print newspaper reporter. Sigh.

There are terrible jobs all across the world. We've compiled a list of the 7 worst.

And chin up — today is Friday, after all.