Mid-east -- Jaswant invokes past to look at future
The journey between the First and the Third World takes about an hour. Israel's dream highways propel you at high speeds towards your chosen destination, in this case the Erez checkpoint some 130 km south of Jerusalem.



Walter Matthau, crotchety comic actor, is dead
Walter Matthau, the foghorn-voiced movie villain who became a master of crotchety comedy with his Oscar-winning The Fortune Cookie and followed with The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men and many other hits, died on Saturday of a heart attack.



Chandrika-Ranil talks run into fresh snags
Talks between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and leader of opposition United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickramasinghe to finalise the draft new constitution could end up as an "exercise in futility".



Other headlines
Army dares Speight, says Indians will join new Fiji govt