RISING CONTROVERSY: Ground Zero (above); the viewing platform nearby

Rudy Giuliani's last act as mayor of New York city was to set up a public viewing tower at Ground Zero. The 16-ft-high platform allows a grandstand view of the World Trade Center ruins. This tower is becoming a bone of contention with survivors and families of victims condemning it as "ghoulish". All the bodies are yet to be excavated, and critics are stung that what ought to be an intensely private moment is now becoming a public spectacle.

New Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who initiated a move to allot 250 free tickets per hour after taking over on January 1, has defended his stand saying, "We're trying to make it easier for people who are trying to pay their last respects." However, the thousands who line up every day include tourists and curious onlookers.

A similar confrontation had occurred earlier over the site of the Oklahoma bombing of 1995. With three more viewing platforms set to come up in New York in the next few weeks, the conflict over the legacy of death could heat up.

-Anil Padmanabhan

The Naked Truth, a Bulgarian TV news programme where the anchor slowly took off her clothes as she read the news, has been taken off the air. News agencies reported that the move came after a media watchdog panel appointed by the Bulgarian Government criticised the show on grounds of plagiarism. A similar show was launched in Russia before the Bulgarian version opened.

The programme had been giving stiff competition to the state-run television's late night news, which was the most popular until The Naked Truth came along, says the Indo-Asian News Agency. The programme usually began with serious news and the anchorwoman fully clothed. She would continue to take off her clothes as the news got softer, and finally undo her bra while reading good news about Bulgaria.

Prince Be Good

The illegal antics of an unhappy prince makes for good copy. Prince Harry, younger son of Prince Charles and Diana, hit the headlines across the UK after admitting to smoking marijuana and getting drunk. He was 16 and a high school student when his experiments with intoxication began in 2001.

Marijuana use is illegal in Britain and the legal drinking age is 18. Prince Charles, a patron of numerous drug charities, was appalled when his son told him of his escapades. He immediately took Harry to a rehabilitation clinic to hear scare stories from addicts. The boy who won the world's heart at his mother's funeral has everyone praying again.

-Ishara Bhasi

Al Pretzel

What Osama couldn't do the lowly pretzel did: choke George W. Bush and cause the US president to faint and fall on his face. The bruise is a testimony to that encounter. What is the damned thing? It's a salty snack initially made from the dough left over after baking bread. The monk who invented it in 610 a.d. called it "pretiola", Latin for little reward, and shaped it to represent a child's hands folded in prayer. Today it's Uncle Sam's favourite savoury, its version of chanachur or bhujiya. It's also kayoed Dubya.