Dashboard

GAZA STRIP Hamas routs Fatah; coalition government crumbles

LIMA, PERU Inca mummies uncovered

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION Astronauts resume construction on the ISS

CLEVELAND Spurs win fourth NBA title

GAINESVILLE, TEXAS Flash floods leave hundreds homeless

BAGHDAD Truck bomb destroys Shi'ite mosque; kills over 80

THE MAP

Toxic Toyland

Chinese products fell under fire again with the recall of more than 1.5 million Thomas & Friends train sets--adding to a long list of perilous exports including toothpaste and pet food. The city of Dongguan may be thriving as the world's toy capital, but at what cost?

LEXICON

diabulimia

DEFINITION daya-bu-lee-mi-uh n: When Type I diabetics skip or reduce insulin injections to lose weight

CONTEXT Insulin is a lifesaver for diabetics because it normalizes blood-sugar levels. But diabetic girls, in particular, who are already the ultimate calorie counters because of their disease, can be tempted to keep up with ultrathin beauty standards by denying themselves insulin and with it, their ability to process sugars.

USAGE Experts say as many as 30% of Type I diabetic women in the U.S. have shortchanged their shots for weight loss, but it can be a deadly diet. Long-term complications from a lack of insulin range from blindness to kidney failure.

VIRAL VIDEO

Hillary's Online Mob Move

Hillary Clinton won geek points --and huge hype --for her Web contest that asked viewers to vote on her campaign song. Celine Dion's You and I won the contest, but the bigger winner was the video spoof of The Sopranos finale that delivered the voting results. Featuring Bill and Hillary at a Jersey-esque diner, the clip wryly addresses concerns about the power couple's integrity, while using humor to disarm her netroots enemies on their own turf. Bada bing!

GLOBAL FINANCE

A World Bank Challenger

BANK OF THE SOUTH First the Paul Wolfowitz scandal, and now this: at the end of the month, "Banco del Sur" will launch as a direct competitor to the World Bank, at least in South America. The brainchild of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who has long railed against the meddling of the Washington-dominated World Bank and IMF, the development bank got a credibility boost when Brazil, Argentina and others signed on as founding members. With the region's new oil wealth, the dream of locally funding big infrastructure projects without First World interference may be closer than ever.

INDEX A State of Instability

1 SUDAN

2 IRAQ

3 SOMALIA

4 ZIMBABWE

5 CHAD

6 IVORY COAST

7 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

8 AFGHANISTAN

9 GUINEA

10 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

11 HAITI

12 PAKISTAN

13 NORTH KOREA

14 MYANMAR (BURMA)

15 UGANDA

16 BANGLADESH

17 NIGERIA

18 ETHIOPIA

19 BURUNDI

20 EAST TIMOR

21 NEPAL

22 UZBEKISTAN

23 SIERRA LEONE

24 YEMEN

25 SRI LANKA

26 REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

27 LIBERIA

28 LEBANON

29 MALAWI

30 SOLOMON ISLANDS

31 KENYA

32 NIGER

33 COLOMBIA

33 BURKINA FASO

35 CAMEROON

36 EGYPT

36 RWANDA

38 GUINEA BISSAU

39 TAJIKISTAN

40 SYRIA

41 EQUATORIAL GUINEA

41 KYRGYZSTAN

43 TURKMENISTAN

44 LAOS

45 MAURITANIA

46 TOGO

47 BHUTAN

48 CAMBODIA

48 MOLDOVA

50 ERITREA

51 BELARUS

52 PAPUA NEW GUINEA

53 ANGOLA

54 BOSNIA

55 INDONESIA

56 THE PHILIPPINES

57 IRAN

58 GEORGIA

59 BOLIVIA

60 GUATEMALA

61 SWAZILAND

62 LESOTHO

62 RUSSIA

62 AZERBAIJAN

62 CHINA

66 CAPE VERDE

66 MALDIVES

66 SERBIA

69 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

69 ZAMBIA

71 DJIBOUTI

72 NICARAGUA

73 ECUADOR

74 VENEZUELA

75 ISRAEL

76 TANZANIA

77 SAO TOME

77 CUBA

79 VIETNAM

79 COMOROS

81 MOZAMBIQUE

82 JORDAN

83 MADAGASCAR

83 SAUDI ARABIA

85 PERU

86 GAMBIA

86 MOROCCO

86 THAILAND

89 ALGERIA

90 FIJI

91 MALI

92 EL SALVADOR

92 TURKEY

94 HONDURAS

95 MACEDONIA

96 SURINAME

97 SAMOA

98 MICRONESIA

99 GABON

99 GUYANA

OTHER NOTABLES:

102 MEXICO

110 INDIA

117 BRAZIL

124 KUWAIT

129 BAHAMAS

133 SOUTH AFRICA

145 POLAND

147 GREECE

154 GERMANY

157 FRANCE

160 U.S.

164 JAPAN

168 CANADA

169 AUSTRALIA

174 IRELAND

175 SWEDEN

177 NORWAY

Despite an influx of U.S. money and troops, Iraq and Afghanistan are more vulnerable to collapse in 2007 than they were in 2005, according to Foreign Policy magazine's annual Failed States Index. Based on 12 indicators of instability, including economic decline and intervention of other states, Sudan (in red, along with other countries of note) leads for the second straight year. Liberia is an African anomaly--its fair 2005 presidential election helped make it the most improved country.