Etc...

I'll read it over lunch

Have you ever tried to digest an official government document, especially one that's thick and packed with foot-notes? Probably not, right? In Japan, however, the Defense Ministry is determined that all citizens should be familiar with its annual review, especially since the nation has been wary of militarism since the punishing defeat it absorbed in World War II. But how to make the 450-page report appealing, even to people in their teens? Easy: Issue a version in comic-book form. It's planned to roll off the presses next month.

Construction has begun on the Freedom Tower, the glass and steel structure that will rise from the former World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. But will its height - a symbolic 1,776 feet - make it the world's tallest building? It will be topped, after all, with an unoccupied, 276-foot spire designed to evoke the Statue of Liberty. Whether the Freedom Tower legitimately can claim world height superiority may be moot, however, since even taller structures are in the planning stages for Dubai and for South Korea's capital, Seoul. (Tower One of the World Trade Center was 1,368 feet and Tower Two slightly shorter.) The world's tallest buildings, their locations, and their height, in feet:
1. Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan 1,670
2. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1,483
3. Sears Tower, Chicago 1,450
4. Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China 1,381
5. Two International Financial Center, Hong Kong1,362
6. CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou, China 1,283
7. Shun Hing Square, Shenzhen, China 1,260
8. Empire State Building, New York 1,250
9. Central Plaza, Hong Kong 1,227
10. Bank of China, Hong Kong 1,209
- www.infoplease.com