Dashboard

WASHINGTON Heat wave hits U.S.; smog blankets the Capitol

LOS ANGELES Getty to return 40 artworks to Italy

MINNEAPOLIS Mourning the victims near site of bridge collapse

NEWARK, N.J. City rallies for peace after four students are shot

JERICHO, WEST BANK Olmert, Abbas hold historic peace meeting

PIRBRIGHT, ENGLAND New fears over foot-and-mouth disease outbreak

THE MAP

High-Speed Internet for Africa

Less than 4% of Africa's population has Internet access, but that may be about to change. Until now, Africa's only connection to the network that powers the Internet was a submarine cable running from Portugal down the west coast of Africa. Now the International Finance Corp., the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, is investing up to $32.5 million in an undersea fiber-optic-cable project called the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), reaching approximately 250 million more people. Here are the parts of Africa that will be newly wired as of 2009:

LEXICON

differential tuition

DEFINITION diff-er-en-tial tu-i-tion n. A per-semester premium that more public universities are charging students who want to major in lucrative fields like business and engineering.

CONTEXT Colleges justify the fees, sometimes as high as $500 a semester, by citing the high salaries commanded by professors in certain fields and the difficulties of getting general tuition increases past state legislatures.

USAGE Some officials worry the charges could cause low-income students to cluster in less-expensive fields--which can be less lucrative upon graduation. Some of the colleges allow nonmajors to take courses simultaneously in the expensive subjects without paying more.

ARTIFACT

Real ID, Real Problems

FACE FACTS The so-called Real ID Act, which would mandate a national digital-identification card by 2013 for every person living or working in the U.S., may have lost a funding battle in July, but it might not be finished yet.

THE BUZZ States balked over the $11 billion tab, but a bigger issue may have been civil liberties: activists are worried that the card would let the government track citizens too closely.

THE RETURN With immigration reform stalled, the government is poised to crack down on illegals in the workplace, and Real ID would help employers tell who's who. Washington will try out a voluntary hybrid card system, which officials say will boost antiterrorism efforts.

RELIGION NOTE

New rules for living Buddhas

IS REINCARNATION POSSIBLE? Tibetans think so, believing their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is the 14th reincarnation of the same god-king. But China has banned the Dalai Lama and Tibet's other living Buddhas from--get this--reincarnating without government permission. The 14-part edict also prevents anyone outside China from taking part in the process to recognize a living Buddha.

WHAT TO THINK The rules seem ridiculous, but they aim to prevent the exiled Dalai Lama, 72, from helping identify newly reincarnated Buddhas, allowing China to handpick people loyal to Beijing.

EXPLAINER

Nardelli's Big Comeback?

On Aug. 5, Chrysler shocked the marketplace when it appointed Robert Nardelli, most recently known as a symbol of CEO excess, to run the flagging car company, just days after it was bought by the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Here are the big questions surrounding the appointment:

Isn't Nardelli the same guy who made news for an outrageous payout from Home Depot?

Yes. In January he made headlines when left his job as Home Depot's CEO with a $210 million goodbye package, despite a mixed record of higher profits but flat stock price.

How did he land at Chrysler?

Execs have reportedly had an eye on him since March. He may not have auto experience, but he managed to climb the ladder at GE and to streamline Home Depot's operations without ever having worked in retail.

Can he save the American automobile?

It will be tough. Chrysler lost $1.4 billion last year. Thus far, the private-equity buyout has left the company in more debt than anticipated, and Detroit's Big Three are headed into tricky negotiations with the United Auto Workers.

Why does it matter?

Chrysler's fate could be the sign of what is to come for the U.S. auto industry and labor unions. Some say Cerberus' difficulty securing loans for the deal could also mean that the heyday of private equity is over.