Why the US is such a bully

In the on-going war the us administration -- and media -- is completely unfazed about dangling us $6 billion (they say in grants) in front of the Turkish parliament in exchange for use of its territory to open another front, a strategy it also followed with Pakistan during its hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Environmentalists know better. The us is actually following a norm.

From barrels to battlefields

The US President George W Bush is raring to launch an attack on Iraq. Whether it has weapons of mass destruction or not, Iraq certainly has the world's second largest reserves of petroleum after Saudi Arabia. Thanks to UN sanctions, it produces a mere fraction of its potential. The US, on the other hand, is the world's largest consumer and importer of oil. It is certain whatever else, the desire to control Iraq's oil lubricates the US war machinery.

Glossary of an ancient world

Work on a dictionary that promises to improve our knowledge of an ancient civilisation has been completed 90 years after it began, outliving nearly 100 lexicographers who worked on it.

Where young speak up

In her late teens, Huda is beautiful and smart, a combination many parents hope to see in their children.

Suicide rate in US army is rising every year

What do US soldiers deployed in Iraq face? Severe mental problems. The dominant one is ptsd. It leads to depression, manic depression, paranoia and other mental health imbalances. Interviewee:  Dahr Jamail

A dangerous club

Book>> In Mortal Hands, A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age by Stephanie Cooke Penguin Indian Price Rs 450

News 360° - Briefs

bauxite mining Vietnam opens door to China Vietnam has invited a Chinese company to mine a massive bauxite reserve beneath its Central Highlands, despite growing opposition to mining and a deep-rooted suspicion of China.

A small victory for art

A machine gun barrel to fashion dainty dragonfly? Sounds absurd? But graduates of Baghdad University's College of Fine Arts say their project takes objects that have brought devastation to Iraq and uses them to create instead. "It's a message from Baghdad to the world: we are transforming pieces of destruction into pieces of art," said sculptor Haider Muwafaq, laying down a blow torch he used to turn steel bars into an abstract model of an old Baghdad neighbourhood.

Forgotten war

In the last two months of 2008, the US presidential election and its aftermath took away the spotlight from another major development: three broadcast networks in the country have stopped sending full-time correspondents to Iraq. abc, cbs and nbc declined to speak on record about their news coverage decisions.

In court

Valdez Victims Spurned: Almost 20 years of legal battle ended in frustration for victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, as the US supreme court reduced an earlier damages award of $2.5 billion to $507 million. The new figure amounts to just $15,000 for each of the plaintiffs, a group of 33,000 commercial fishermen, cannery workers, native Alaskans and others affected by the disaster, called the worst oil spill in US history.