William Underhill

Who would want Hans Island? It's a barren, windblown chunk of uninhabited rock measuring less than 1.5 square kilometers. And with the North Pole just a few hundred kilometers away, conditions--midwinter temperatures can sink to minus 40 degrees--are hostile to any living being except seals and polar bears.

Swimmers in the coral reefs of the Philippines know to stay away from Conus magus. The sea snail may be small--just a few inches long--but it's deadly mean.

Starting out in business can be tough, even for the children of Arab tycoons. Just ask His Highness Sheik Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, nephew of the crown prince of Dubai and son of the boss of the billion-dollar Al Fajer conglomerate.

Ireland has a new hero. He's beaky, bespectacled and made his career in the unfashionable world of personal finance. But Eddie Hobbs has found a way to the nation's heart--through its pocketbook.

Think of Grasse and flare your nostrils. Every ancient city boasts its own distinctive smell; Grasse has thousands. For more than 200 years, the hilltop community perched above France's Mediterranean coast has lived on its skill at concocting new fragrances to sweeten daily life.This is where the art of parfumerie meets the demands of big business in a blend of antiquity and exclusivity.

It's the kind of first-class pampering that execs have come to expect from their favorite airlines. A chauffeur collects them from the office and delivers them--just 10 minutes before departure--to the terminal, where the business-only lounge offers all the amenities of a well-stocked boardroom.

It took more than 40 years of stop-start diplomacy and a final round of cliff-hanger talks. But for the Turks the first great crisis is past. Leaders of the European Union finally patched together a deal last week that will allow Ankara to begin talks on joining Europe.

Think of grasse and flare your nostrils. Every ancient city boasts its own distinctive smell; Grasse has thousands. For more than 200 years, the hilltop community perched above France's Mediterranean coast has lived on its skill at concocting new fragrances to sweeten daily life.This is where the art of parfumerie meets the demands of big business in a blend of antiquity and exclusivity.

It's the fantasy of every comfort-hungry air traveler. First a complimentary champagne cocktail in a prole-free terminal, then a meal of cordon bleu quality, followed by a wallow in a leather armchair in the cigar lounge.

The damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina on America's oil industry sent oil prices skyrocketing to more than $70 per barrel of crude last week, a 30 percent rise above last year's high.

Starting out in business can be tough, even for the children of blue-blooded Arab tycoons. Just ask His Highness Sheik Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, nephew of the Crown Prince of Dubai and son of the boss of the billion-dollar Al Fajer conglomerate.

William Leith is a literary heavyweight. On the fattest day of his life the British writer tipped the scales at a hefty 107 kilograms. His misery was of similar proportions. "Nobody accepts fat people," writes Leith. "Particularly not fat people.

It's the fantasy of every comfort-hungry air traveler. First a free champagne cocktail in a prole-free terminal; then a meal of cordon bleu quality, followed by a wallow in a leather armchair in the cigar lounge.

For the last two weeks, Sofiyane Mohellebi shunned public transport. After terrorist bombs killed at least 56 people in the British capital earlier this month, the 35-year-old London resident preferred to travel by bicycle. "I just wasn't going to use the Underground any more," he said.But today he relented: a change of heart that might have proved fatal.

Tony Blair inhabits a dangerous world. According to the British prime minister's trusted advisers, the planet is heating up fast. Temperatures in the northern hemisphere are rising more rapidly than at any time in the last thousand years.

Chris Aird points to his torso as he remembers the morning's horror: "You could feel it right here in the chest," he says. Less than two hours earlier, Aird had caught the blast waves from a bomb exploding just a few hundred yards from the crowded London street where he was heading for work in his van.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47-year-old grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency.

Thinking sideways seems to be one of Carl Freer's specialties. The 35-year-old entrepreneur originally set out to develop a small device that parents could use to keep track of their children.

Jung Chang sits in her elegant London drawing room and talks demurely of torture. It's a subject she knows well. In the course of China's Cultural Revolution, her mother was forced to kneel on broken glass and was paraded through the streets in a dunce's cap.

When armed Spanish police raided a cocaine-laden trawler on the high seas late last month, just one member of the smuggling gang was onboard. But police knew exactly where to look for the foreigners linked to the $400 million haul.

Thinking sideways seems to be one of Carl Freer's specialties. The 35-year-old entrepreneur originally set out to develop a small device that parents could use to keep track of their children.

It's beautiful, but the climate is vile. Resources are few and history books tell of dismal poverty. Yet tourism booms, the capital swarms with the international clubbing crowd, housing prices are soaring and economists talk of a new "tiger" of Europe.Ireland?

The artwork on the walls is original, and the butler is on call. There's a choice of pools, a recording studio and a chauffeur-driven Jaguar at the ready.

Teresa Wawer is happy as a pig in warm... well, let's just say she's that rare creature--a happy farmer. The market for her pork is booming. During the past year she's plunged almost 90,000 euros into new equipment for her 130-hectare farm in eastern Poland. "The European Union has made our dreams come true," she says.

For a glimpse into how successful cities evolve, take in the view from the riverside office of London's mayor. High above the Thames, Ken Livingstone enjoys a panorama spanning 2,000 years of crowded history.

Imagine a global retailer with multibillion-dollar revenues. Its management is largely anonymous and its headquarters are modest. But its clout in world markets is scary.

The artwork on the walls is original, and the butler is on call. There's a choice of pools, a recording studio and a chauffeur-driven Jaguar on offer. But that's not why the discerning traveler heads for the Moog Hotel in Sydney's Surry Hills district.

Paula McCartney believes in plain speaking. Six weeks ago her brother Robert was battered and stabbed to death after coming to the aid of a friend caught up in a barroom brawl in Belfast.

Only the hardier forms of river life thrive in the salt-tainted tidal water of the River Thames. It's dirty, brown and brackish, but to Tony Rachwal it's a reservoir of limitless potential.

Romania's new prime minister knows his priorities. His country may be struggling with a massive budget deficit, but Calin Popescu Tariceanu isn't asking for painful sacrifices: he's cutting taxes.