It's on my list of things I'll never understand, like collecting shrunken Indian heads.

And whosoever turneth away from My admonition, for him verily will be a livelihood shrunken, and We shall raise him up on the Day of Judgment sightless.

And whosoever turneth away from My admonition, for him verily will be a livelihood shrunken, and We shall raise him up on the Day of Judgment sightless.

Dianchi Lake near the provincial capital, Kunming, is so shrunken and polluted that the city faces a serious water shortage. Water from the Tiger Leaping Gorge will be diverted to flush out Dianchi Lake, without which Kunming will not prosper.

In a world shrunken by globalization, every trouble spot has the potential to affect us all. Our energies, exerted in search of real solutions to these global crises, must therefore match those expended in pursuit of responses to our national challenges.

The Gaullist dream of creating an independent power center never succeeded, but the role of awkward partner has given a distinctive flavor to French diplomacy, and it may be equally viable for a shrunken, proud, but no longer hegemonic Russia. Being an awkward partner may offer Russia its best hope of reconciling its yearning for independence with the realities of the modern world.

The EU s next five decades, on the other hand, will see the baby boomers moving into retirement, leaving a shrunken labor force with the heavy burden of supporting their elders health care and pension needs. Thirty six per cent of Europeans will be aged 60 or over by 2050, and, despite increasing life expectancy, continued low fertility will mean the continent s population will begin to dwindle by 2020.