The New York Times

Many urban Americans idealize "green living" and "slow food." But few realize that one of the most promising models for sustainable living is not to be found on organic farms in the United States, but in Afghanistan.

As Egyptians turned their anger on symbols of the state late last month, torching police stations along with the headquarters of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, they reserved a special hatred for a garish building with black tinted windows in an upscale neighborhood, setting fire to it three

by Rashid Khalidi

I have a friend who regularly reminds me that if you jump off the top of an 80-story building, for 79 stories you can actually think you're flying. It's the sudden stop at the end that always gets you.

by Michael M. Grynbaum

No one is blameless in the dangerous game that has erupted into deadly war in the Caucasus.

Many a professor dreams of revolution. But Norman T. Uphoff, working in a leafy corner of the Cornell University campus, is leading an inconspicuous one centered on solving the global food crisis. The secret, he says, is a new way of growing rice.

Former Vice President Al appeared in Detroit tonight for his debut campaign appearance with Senator Barack Obama, extending an endorsement and urging all Democrats to rally behind the party's fall ticket.

Despite the dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to Darfur and the issuing of international arrest warrants for leaders of the genocide, the killing goes on. So does the burning of villages, the bombing of schools and the systematic rape of women and girls.

One might expect that food riots in Egypt and Haiti would convince the world's wealthy nations of the need to do more to feed the world's poorest. If not, maybe the threat of 100 million more people falling into poverty due to soaring food prices would spur them to help.

The most obvious lesson to be learned from the Senate's failure to mount any sort of grown-up debate on climate change last week is that the country needs a new occupant in the White House.

Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil - Gilberto Camara, a scientist who leads Brazil's national space agency, is more at ease poring over satellite data of the Amazon than being thrust into the spotlight.

The first pictures sent back by NASA's Phoenix Mars lander from the northern arctic plains of Mars show a flat terrain marked by a polygonal pattern of shallow troughs and a few pebbles scattered about.

Having already slashed short-term interest rates by almost half since August, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, signaled on Wednesday that more rate cuts — which is to say more cheap money — may lie ahead.

"No Country for Old Men," Joel and Ethan Coen's chilling confrontation of a desperate man with a relentless killer, won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday night, providing a more-than-satisfying ending for the makers of a film that many believed lacked one. By David M.

Microsoft said Friday that it would offer $44.6 billion for Yahoo, the ailing search giant. The surprise offer of $31 a share represents a 62 percent premium to Thursday's closing share price.

Dan MacMillan was fearing the worst on Tuesday morning. Like many Wall Street traders he expected share prices to plummet after two days of severe declines in overseas markets. By Vikas Bajaj and Michael M. Grynbaum

Rising prices for cooking oil are forcing residents of Asia's largest slum, in Mumbai, India, to ration every drop. Bakeries in the United States are fretting over higher shortening costs.

Julie Scelfo, a reporter for our Home section, recently sent me a note saying she was eager to hear about people's experiences with compact fluorescent bulbs and other low-energy lighting. By Andrew C. Revkin

Most forecasting is easier and more reliable in the short run than over the long haul. Think of weather prediction. (And history is full of failed long-term forecasts of everything from oil prices to human population trends.) By Andrew C. Revkin

The left-leaning Guardian newspaper of Britain has put the Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg — anathema to many environmental scientists and campaigners for challenging projections of ecological doom — on a list of "50 People Who Could Save the Planet" with the Nobel Peace Prize winners Al Go

Darfur'da yaklaşık 2.5 milyon

Eight thousand miles from Manh

Six years after the Bush administration embraced harsh physical tactics for interrogating terrorism suspects, and two years after it reportedly dropped the most extreme of those techniques, the taint of torture clings to American counterterrorism efforts.

There's no use avoiding it: our kids need to know about the global environmental crisis — climate change, deforestation, species extinction. And as long as we're teaching them about all that, we may as well teach them some science at the same time. By Hank Green

The United States maintained its role as the leading supplier of weapons to the developing world in 2006, followed by Russia and Britain, according to a Congressional study to be released Monday. Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia were the top buyers.

When she moved to the United States from Germany seven years ago, Angela Neigl brought with her the energy-conscious sensibilities of life in Europe. By Peter Applebome

Reversing course, Verizon Wireless announced today that it would allow an abortion rights group to send text messages to its supporters on Verizon's mobile network.

The prospect of a comprehensive energy package's emerging from Congress this fall is rapidly receding, held up by technical hurdles and policy disputes between the House and the Senate and within the parties. By John M. Broder