It is ironic that a liquor baron should retrieve the honour of India's revered prohibitionist. This happened a few days ago at Washington where the auction house, Antiquorum, put on the block Mahatma Gandhi's five personal items-his Zenith pocket watch, sandals, spectacles, a bowl and a thali (plate). Vijay Mallaya, owning a string of breweries, bought the objects for $2,096 million.

Iman Kadhim felt the contractions at 2 a.m. on March 20, 2003. The streets of Baghdad were deserted; people cowered in their homes awaiting the threatened U.S. invasion. But the baby wasn't going to wait.