PLUGGED IN, WIRED UP, ON TOP

America's strength in information technology has helped it regain the top spot as a technological innovator, according to the Council on Competitiveness. It's a big jump from just three years back, when the nation was "weak or losing badly" in one-third of 94 critical technologies driving the economy, according to the Council on Competitiveness.TWENTY DEAD EVERY MINUTE? By 2020 the number of smoking-related deaths will jump 200%, to 10 million, according to an analysis of the smoking trends in over 45 countries. The findings, which will be released next week in a book sponsored by Britain's Imperial Cancer Research Fund, the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society, indicate that 26 years from now, smoking will account for one death every three seconds.