Briefing

TURKEY-IRAQ BORDER Turkish troops hunt Kurdish rebel targets

BERLIN Photo of Anne Frank beau discovered

LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY "Doomsday" vault holding millions of crop seeds opens

YAMAL PENINSULA, RUSSIA Early voting for presidential election begins in remote regions

BELGRADE Serbian nationalists set fire to U.S. embassy after riots

TOBACCO USE

Smoked Out

If global trends continue, by 2030 more than 8 million people will die each year from tobacco-related causes--80% in the developing world. Among other things, a new study finds that in India, where 120 million smoke and 5-c- buys 10 small cigarettes called bidis, 1 in 5 men will die from smoking.

[This article contains a complex diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

PROPORTION OF ALL SMOKERS IN THE WORLD

Percentage within each sex who smoke

Share of global cigarette-smoking

Source: WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008

EXPLAINER

Ford Exodus

With its auto sales down 12% in 2007, Ford Motor Co. is looking to cut 8,000 workers from its factory force by offering big buyouts. Chrysler and GM have announced similar moves, but Ford's options are the best of the bunch. Here are three of the 10 available proposals:

EDUCATION Tuition plans target workers wanting to go back to school. Health care and half salaries make it an alluring option

SELF-EMPLOYMENT A plan aimed at younger employees provides $50,000 to start a new business and five years of health insurance

TAKE THE CASH A large lump-sum payout might entice those ready to retire, but a tax-deferred plan may ultimately be a safer bet

ECONOMICS

The Potato Panic

EAT OR STAY WARM The price of wheat reached an all-time high of more than $12 per bu. on Feb. 25. The culprit, in part, was the price of crude oil, which has surged back above $100 per bbl. Ironically, high prices for basic foods like potatoes and eggs have also been causing unrest in the oil-rich Middle East.

SOCIAL FALLOUT After remaining almost stagnant for a decade, inflation has reached at least 6.5% in Saudi Arabia. Protests and riots have ensued in some nations.

BY THE NUMBERS

A Disaster Re-Examined It has been almost two decades since the Exxon Valdez oil spill, in which a tanker dumped millions of gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. Now after a lengthy legal battle over one of the most environmentally disastrous events in U.S. history, the Supreme Court is hearing Exxon's appeal. A look back at the case:

1989 YEAR OF THE SPILL The waters near Cordova, Alaska, were coated with oil, killing hundreds of thousands of animals and effectively destroying the livelihoods of many residents depending on the fishing industry

11 million GALLONS OF OIL SPILLED The tanker was carrying a total of 53 million gallons

1,000 ft. THE SHIP'S LENGTH The skipper responsible for the accident, Joseph Hazelwood, was accused of drunkenly crashing the Exxon Valdez into a reef but was later acquitted

33,000 NUMBER OF PLAINTIFFS Many of the area's residents claim to have been plagued with depression as a result of the spill

$2.5 billion DAMAGES An Anchorage jury awarded victims $5 billion in punitive damages in 1994, but that number was halved in 2006 by a federal appeals court. Having spent $3.5 billion on cleanup, Exxon maintains that the damages are excessive and the company should not be held liable for Hazelwood's actions