National Geographic

Paul Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, was charged with espionage and two other criminal counts in a Sudanese court yesterday, three weeks after he was detained by pro-government forces in the province of Darfur. Salopek, 44, who was on a freelance assignment for National Geographic magazine, was arrested with two Chadian citizens, his interpreter and driver. If convicted, they could be imprisoned for years. Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski called Salopek "one of the most accomplished and admired journalists of our time.

The students were sent out to document the city they live in. To show Annapolis through their eyes. They came back with photos of a young girl feeding ducks, a man eating in a restaurant, an artistic shot of the round spokes of a city trash can against a backdrop of the red brick road. After the first day of the National Geographic Photo Camp, some students found that their vision of Annapolis was being transformed. Over four days, 17 students from Annapolis High School, armed with cameras, were to shoot post offices, churches, restaurants, buildings, objects, people, even pets.

APPALACHIAN WELCOME 13-state region invites tourists with a new map The Appalachian Regional Commission has helped states throughout the mountainous region build roads and other infrastructure, and provide high-speed access to the Internet. Now the agency is turning its attention to another economic development tool: tourism. The commission has partnered with the National Geographic Society to develop a "geotourism" map promoting an eclectic mix of more than 350 attractions reflecting the diversity of the 13-state region.

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker Edited by Robert Mankoff. Black Dog and Leventhal. 656 pages. $60. Adolf Hitler, in a 1942 Carl Rose cartoon, genuflecting at a raised dais before a rapt audience. Caption: "I think I can say without fear of contradiction." Sly, understated, explosively funny. Perfect. An unalloyed joy in the literary arts over the last 80 years are New Yorker cartoons, and this book (with CDs) has 'em all. - Michael Ollove Sun Book Editor Bicycle: The History By David V. Herlihy.

For thousands of years, the people of ancient Persia and their descendants in modern Iran have called it the Persian Gulf. But the National Geographic Society's mapmakers noticed that some U.S. military agencies and other map gazers use the name Arabian Gulf for the body of water on Iran's southwestern shore. So they altered the eighth edition of the society's influential Atlas of the World to include Arabian Gulf as an alternate name (in parentheses) under the traditional title. That has landed them in hot water with Iranians from Los Angeles to Tehran.

WASHINGTON - There are different ways of coping with the stress of an impending competition where your state pride, your own reputation as a geography whiz and a $25,000 prize are riding on your shoulders. In the lobby at National Geographic Society headquarters just before the National Geographic Bee begins, the contestant from Florida forms a football-style huddle with his family. In a secluded corner, one of his rivals gets his shoulders massaged. Puerto Rico's representative chants a nonsensical song into the ear of the kid from New Jersey, who grins warily and then escapes behind a parent.

The average person carries around several pounds of bacteria, most of which are not harmful. -- National Geographic's The New Everyday Science Explained