Jesse Ellison

The surprisingly thoughtful reaction to 'Exiled,' a new MTV reality show that sends spoiled American teens to the Third World for some life lessons.

STARTING POINTIn February 2006, while hunting quail, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots his friend, 78-year-old Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, in the face, spraying birdshot into his head, neck and torso.

Helen Thomas, who has covered every sitting president since JFK, on the present—and future—direction of journalism

Our culture is obsessed with sleep, and the lack of it, yet many of us don't know some basic facts.

According to medical lore, July is the worst time to be hospitalized because that's when inexperienced med students start clinical training. But is summer really riskier for patients?

Just because we all sin against the environment doesn't mean we should believe every "green" idea

In their first YouTube film review, for last year's high-school hit "Superbad," octogenarian Hollywood vets Marcia Nasatir and Lorenzo Semple bicker about which dirty words are most offensive—and repeat them, over and over.

Starting PointMarch 2003: Three days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, enemy forces capture 19-year-old Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch in an attack on her convoy.

Junot Diaz talks about authors and ethnicity, the universality of the Caribbean experience and how sweet it was to win the National Book Critics Circle Award (even if he wasn't there).

Literary wunderkind Junot Diaz's debut novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," just netted top honors with the National Book Critics Circle Award. He spoke to NEWSWEEK's Jesse Ellison.

Starting PointJune 2002: Elizabeth Smart, 14, is abducted from her home in Salt Lake City. Her father goes on TV to plead for her return, prompting a nationwide search.

The Chicago climate Exchange is the world's first voluntary carbon credit market. Members get credits for reducing emissions and buy them if they fall short of pledged goals.

Transsexuals aren't a cultural marker typically associated with religiously inflexible dictatorships, but they are common in Iran—by some estimates, there are 150,000 Iranian transsexuals, and the country hosts more sex-change operations per year than any country outside Thailand.

Algeria's latest suicide bombing did more than claim dozens of lives. How the attack could affect the United Nations.

The world's rainforests are deteriorating at an accelerating rate, but the Bali conference is only a baby step toward a solution. Renowned forest expert Thomas Lovejoy explains why the forests have gotten short shrift in the climate debate.

Hotels are stepping up their amenities to woo guests. At the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, guests can book a private recording studio (www.palms.com).

Florida lawyer Rick Georges, a self-described gadget guy, had what he calls a "eureka moment" about a year ago on a flight. "I was in a scrunchy little seat, and the jerk in front of me put his seat all the way back so I couldn't open my laptop completely," he says.

A rare exhibit of Kashmiri works in New York reveals a troubled region's history of peaceful coexistence.

Talk about birds of a feather sticking together. This fall, ostrich, pheasant and even pigeon feathers are popping up on jackets, gowns, handbags and necklaces.

The prospect of terrorists' getting hold of nuclear weapons became a tangible fear in the weeks after September 11. As the United States scrambled to assess its weak spots, customs officials took a closer look at the nation's seaports, and shut them down.

Sue Walter used to worry about her house on Florida's Gulf Coast. As a pilot, she often travels for weeks at a time, and her house sits in prime hurricane territory.

No longer are chandeliers necessarily stodgy, showy and crystal-studded. Today's eye-catching modern fixtures come in a variety of shapes and incorporate unusual—and often recycled—materials, from goose feathers to Bic pens.

A single piece of plastic could revolutionize the delivery of vaccinations worldwide, according to U.K.-based Cambridge Consultants, who recently unveiled Conix One, a tiny inhaler that has no moving parts, costs only four cents to manufacture and is 40 percent more effective than traditional inhalers. It will be a while before the powder-form medications get government approval, but once they do, millions could be saved--in dollars and lives.

China's internet censors have deployed cartoon cops that stand watch at the side of Shenzhen Web sites and bulletin boards--reminders that Big Brother is watching. Click on the creatures and you're redirected to a site where you can chat live with a real cop. The idea is to make "people pay attention to their behavior when they are surfing on the Net," said a senior Chinese official in a statement. Chinese have to take the police seriously, but these characters? We will see.

China's Internet police force has come up with a new way to control Web surfers: adorable cartoon police officers that stand watch at the side of Shenzhen Web sites and bulletin boards--constant reminders that Big Brother is watching.

In two years, 30 bloggers have been arrested, interrogated, tortured or imprisoned for speaking out against repressive regimes, according to Anoniblog, a new Web site for bloggers in repressive countries.

Levi Strauss & Co. originally put that little pocket in the front of its jeans so that miners would have a place to keep their matches. Now the classic design is changing to make way for the ubiquitous iPod. Levi's DLX jeans, to be introduced in the fall, will have a trackpad permanently mounted on top of the pocket and a socket. Levi's is being coy about the new product--it hasn't released any pictures yet. The company insists the jeans are washable--provided you take out the iPod first.