Air pollution fast becoming an issue in booming Vietnam
Substandard fuel is a major reason for dangerously high levels of pollutants in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, experts and officials say.

U.K. readies charges against bomb suspect
The police have been authorized to bring charges against a detained doctor, Bilal Abdullah.
- Britons accepting the constant eye of closed-circuit TV

Another consumer product disaster in China: exploding mobile phone batteries
Chinese regulators found Motorola and Nokia mobile phone batteries that were prone to explode under certain conditions.

Musharraf unhurt as p*** is fired on; mosque siege continues
Security officials recovered an antiaircraft gun and machine gun in Rawalpindi, but the government stopped short of calling the attack an assassination attempt.

Majority of Israeli settlements beyond boundaries, report says
According to a report from Peace Now based on official government data, 90 percent of the settlements sprawl beyond their official boundaries despite unused land already allocated to them.
- Israeli offensive in central Gaza kills 11 militants
- No fast gain for Hamas after release of BBC journalist

French police target former president and prime minister over smear campaign
A long-running scandal over an alleged smear campaign targeting Nicolas Sarkozy before he became president of France moved into a new phase this week with investigators seeking evidence to underpin charges that his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, and Chirac's prime minister were part of the plot.
- News Analysis: Is Sarkozy an old-style Gaullist in disguise?

Kremlin rallies young Russians to Putin's cause
Nashi, the largest of a handful of youth movements created by the Kremlin, has become a disciplined and lavishly funded instrument of Putin's campaign for political control ahead of elections next year.
- Russian Parliament passes anti-extremism measure

Microsoft to spend up to $1.15 billion for Xbox 360 repairs
The size of the anticipated repair bill suggests that a third to as many as half of the machines are flawed.

Israel's foreign minister sees herself in a race against time
Tzipi Livni, the first woman to serve as Israel's foreign minister since Golda Meir is a potential prime minister and an advocate of a two-state solution to solve the Palestinian question. An encounter with Roger Cohen.

Let a thousand democracies bloom
Party organizations in Beijing are abuzz with talk of democracy.

Only traditional Islam can do it
The only force that can challenge Islamic terrorism is not liberal progressivism but Islam itself.

Doctors who kill
Doctors literally get used to death and suffering. If whey don't, they quit or go mad.

Uphill climb for business of cycling
Cycling is fighting to reclaim a credibility lost to a series of doping scandals.

UPS and other overnight carriers go even higher-tech
UPS researchers are working on sensors that can track temperatures of packages, on software that can make customs checks more uniform and on scheduling for recipients as well as shippers.

Spotlight: Margaritaville is Jimmy Buffett's empire
In Paris last month for his first-ever concert here, Buffett offered some insight into how he turned Margaritaville into a brand.

Home builders hold up better outside U.S.
"You're on your own." That is not what the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, told shareholders of American home builders, but when he said in a recent speech that the dismal fortunes of the industry had not spilled over into the broader economy, that is what they heard.

Investing: The right time for Blackstone
The performance of its stock does not mean that its IPO was overpriced. But it raises doubts about the sustainability of the private-equity boom.

Fast Retailing of Japan makes offer of $900 million to buy Barneys
The Japanese retailer, which owns the Uniqlo line of stores, made an unsolicited bid that was 9 percent higher than the offer made by Istithmar, the Dubai firm.