Not long ago, shopping in China consisted mostly of lining up to entreat surly clerks to accept cash in exchange for ugly merchandise that did not fit. But now, Chinese have started to embrace America's modern "shop till you drop" ethos and are in the midst of a buy-at-the-mall frenzy.

For several years, many television and technology companies have been developing free video-on-demand services with all the determination -- and uncertain futures -- of oil prospectors. Now their free video-on-demand channels are expanding, seeking more viewers and asking advertisers to help pay the way.

"The consumer is already years ahead of where we in the media industry are."

American FBI agents repeatedly interrogated two United States citizens who were illegally detained for eight months and did nothing to stop them from being tortured by Pakistani authorities.

The central question is no longer whether the government's antiterrorism powers should be scaled back in the face of criticism from civil rights advocates, but whether those powers should be significantly expanded to give the FBI new authority to demand records and monitor mailings without approval from a judge.

Hollywood is hooked on the big opening weekend, but not for long.

Even an outsized hit like "Star Wars" could not break a box-office slump that has kept movie attendance and ticket sales lagging behind last year's for 13 weekends, a trend that has some in Hollywood concerned about the habits of American moviegoers.

After World War II, when traditional industries dominated the economy, the usual pattern was for long-term unemployment to surge during recessions and die away quickly as recoveries took hold. That changed during the early 1990's and is even more evident in the current recovery, which began in November 2001.

Structural changes in the economy and productivity improvements, reflecting the ability of companies to achieve higher output with fewer or the same number of workers, mean that even growing businesses no longer need to dip as much into the pool of displaced workers.

Get ready for electronic portals known as backscatters, expected to be tested at a handful of airports this year, that use X-ray imaging technology to allow a screener to scan a body. And yes, the body image is detailed. Let's not be coy here, ladies and gentlemen: "Well, you'll see basically everything."

Well-known bands and singers, along with their labels, are teaming with major advertisers and agencies for promotions that seek to sell brand-name products as well as CD's or downloads.

In turn, the record labels, with dwindling budgets to promote individual releases in an increasingly crowded market, benefit from the multimillion-dollar budgets the advertisers typically put behind the campaigns.