Need to know: On the one-year anniversary of the Mumbai attacks that killed 166, Pakistan has charged seven suspects with plotting and helping to execute the attacks. The men, allegedly belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, could face the death penalty if convicted. Though Mumbai has heightened security measures following last year's tragedy, it remains vulnerable to attacks.

The death toll has reached 57 in the Philippines following Monday's election-related violence. Political warlordism looms large over the worst election violence the country has ever seen.

Want to know: Swine flu can keep people from kissing each other in Spain, but it can't very well bring the hajj down. It may, according to Saudi officials, though, put a damper on the fun. About 2 million Muslims converge on Mecca every year, but a senior Saudi health ministry official told the BBC that a 40 percent drop in local pilgrims was likely for this year's hajj, which is currently underway:

Dull but important: Mexico is ramping up the security measures at the U.S. border, including at its biggest port crossing in Tijuana. Gates, cameras and vehicle scales will attempt to put a damper on the flow of drug money and weapons. These developments, while not up to the strictness of the U.S. procedures, do represent a dramatic change.

Just because: Soon, in Caracas, it will Grand Theft Auto no more. Citing links between violent video games and aggression in chidlren, the Venezuelan government will soon put into effect a ban on violent video games and toys. Though many question its effectiveness, the law is an attempt to combat record-high homicide rates in the country, where 2007 saw 2,710 murders, or 130 per 100,000 citizens.

In Nepal, 15,000 buffalo were sacrificed, along with "countless" goats and birds in what is being billed as the single biggest animal slaughter on earth. As you might imagine, there were protests.

Wacky: They're not what you'd call comfortable, but they sure get the Swedes going: nail beds, albeit of the Nordic variety. The beds that are taking Stockholm by storm consist of a light foam rubber pad, covered in cotton sacking and embedded with small, hard plastic disks with sharp little spikes. Users say they are actually quite painful to lie on initially, but that the pain is followed by an adrenaline rush that allows one to finally relax. One yoga instructor who swears by her nail bed says that after she arises in the morning, her “back looks picked at, as if with a fork.”

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