MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Sunday morning outside the Metropolitan Cathedral a sign reads "NO MISAS" - no mass.

The plaza outside the cathedral is virtually empty, the normal large Sunday crowd of tourists and worshippers seem to be following the advice of government officials, to avoid large crowds.

Police outside a Mexico City cathedral trying to keep worshippers away on Sunday.

We met Carla Casas, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-20s. Carla was scheduled to be confirmed at the 8am mass. She showed up wearing a mask and told us she's very afraid that she and her family could get sick.

"I heard that people are dying 48 hours after getting sick. I'm very concerned" she told us.

Carla also said she thought the "swine flu" originated from the United States. We've heard the same story from several other people who say they heard that from the Mexican media.

Not everyone we've talked to is scared of getting sick.

One young man, a university student, said he thinks the government is going too far by closing schools and other events.

Across the city, police and members of the Mexican army are handing out masks to people on the streets. There is a clear sense of tension here as people wait to see what happens.

LONDON, England (CNN) – There was a strong sense of irony in the location the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose to announce their latest assessment of the progress London had made towards a successful hosting of the 2012 Olympics.

Denis Oswald, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission, relays his good news

To set the scene, it was barely 24 hours since the British finance minister, Alistair Darling, had announced the need to borrow $257 billion over the next year to aid an economy wracked by recession.

Cold fiscal winds have blown around the world and London, arguably one of the epicentres of the global credit-crunch catastrophe, along with Britain more widely, is feeling its icy chill.

Yet here I stood, in the capital's Docklands financial district, amongst the myriad of glass-skinned, towered-office homes of many of the world's largest banks to hear how further billions were to be spent in the name of sport.

The British government have estimated playing home to the four-yearly Olympiad will cost in the region of $14 billion, an eye-watering figure in prosperous times, let alone the austere age of 2009.

Yet the marbled lobby area and subsequent plush pressroom, far from being doom-laden, held only happy faces and good news.

Despite the best efforts of hardened hacks to concentrate on negative notions, potential problems and rising costs the overall message that London was not only progressing well, but in many areas was ahead of schedule, just could not be suppressed.

"We were really deeply impressed by the progress made in the construction of different venues," a satisfied-looking Denis Oswald, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission, said.

"We know that everything is on time and this gives a very good feeling three years before the Games."

Oswald had given the Local Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games (LOCOG) a mark of 9.5 out of 10 on his previous visit.  This time, when back for a fourth look around the five major venue-construction sites for the Games, London was "very close to 10."

And as the welcome, April sunshine warmed the skin during a short amble back to the subterranean climes of the underground (subway) station it was hard not to hope the ringing endorsements from the IOC could pave the way for an Olympic show in 2012, worthy of the precious investment it is receiving.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – The bikers on their Harley-Davidsons were the first surprise. They roared down the street on their slick expensive machines to the sound of bellowing exhausts and equally thunderous approval from the crowds of ANC supporters who had gathered in downtown Johannesburg to await the arrival of their hero, Jacob Zuma.

Zuma (center) jumps in the air as he celebrates on stage with supporters.

The next surprise was the skinny transvestite in the miniskirt dancing with a poster in and out among the journalists and waving to the crowd.

They were both symbolic of the diversity and freedom that exists in this country that was once ruled by the deeply conservative, right-wing values of the apartheid regime.

The bikers, in particular, symbolize the paradox of the African National Congress's hold on South African society.

Their arrival was, at the same time, both a celebration and flaunting of wealth in the face of the poor. The wealthy bikers represent the wealthy black elite that supports the ANC.

They have benefited most visibly from the organization's hold on power since the first democratic elections; the poor lining the streets and cheering them, have benefited the least – and yet, such economically different groups of people still feel bound together by a common loyalty to the ANC.

It is a paradox that the opposition parties, even the newest one, a breakaway from the ANC called Congress of the People, or COPE, seem unable to exploit.

Not all the votes are in yet, but it is clear that the ANC is set for a landslide victory.

As their president Jacob Zuma took the stage to roars of approval from his jubilant supporters, as the champagne corks popped, and the fireworks soared into the night air above the skyscrapers of downtown Johannesburg, it was clear that the ANC has lost nothing of the massive electoral power it has held since Nelson Mandela was elected as the first president of a democratic South Africa in 1994.

Still, there is a tiny chink visible in their armor. Roughly one in three South Africans did not vote for the ANC – and they are made up of all races and classes.

The ANC rules supreme, but not without some meaningful resentment left in its wake.

Still, two in every three South Africans did vote for them – and they are the ones celebrating tonight.

Zuma is the pivot of this country's political future. And yet, his broad smiles and celebratory dancing cannot hide the fact that things are not quite as simple as they might look.

His detractors probably fear him too much; while his supporters certainly believe in him too uncritically.

He has won a huge victory tonight. He rules the hearts and minds of most South Africans, but how will he govern them?

Underneath the razzmatazz and champagne, many questions remain about Zuma and how he will lead South Africa.

As one man said to me on the streets of Johannesburg tonight. "The ANC will have to work very hard. Things will not be so easy for them anymore. If they don't succeed, maybe Zuma will be thrown out like Mbeki was."

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Standing in the queue waiting to vote, I allowed myself a few moments to reflect on some childhood memories.

Voters queue up in Soweto on Wednesday.

The polling station I am registered at is the primary school I attended in the 1960s and 1970s, and just exactly where I was standing was where, every morning and afternoon, one of the younger relatives of the Shah of Iran would roll up with his driver and bodyguard in a Rolls Royce.

He was a popular kid and I have often wondered what happened to him in the tumultuous decades that have followed since the revolution in Iran.

It was another world then, South Africa at the height of apartheid and the Shah resplendent on his magnificent throne. Both have long since disappeared into history.

Standing there in front of my old school, I thought of how much has changed in South Africa. Back in those days I didn't understand much of politics, but I did know that apartheid was wrong.

I remember watching, as a little boy, about 10 years old, with a mixture of fear and innocent outrage as a van-load of police came onto the school grounds.

They headed for the compound where the black workers who cooked our lunches and tended the grounds lived. They were looking for black people who didn't have the correct "passes" - papers that allowed them to live and work in white areas.

There wasn't much we boys could do, but I remember that some of the older kids jeered at the police as they took away two or three black men whose papers apparently weren't in order.

The brutality of apartheid is still very much alive in the collective mind of South Africa's people, so to stand in a long line of black and white people waiting patiently together to vote remains an emotional experience for most of us.

To watch South Africans vote is to see them at their best. There have been a handful of unpleasant incidents: a hundred or so pre-marked ballot papers were found in Kwa-Zulu Natal; there have been one or two angry protests, and one election official was shot in the leg by an armed robber.

Crime and corruption are big problems in the country today, as is entrenched poverty and joblessness. Many of the elite feel dismay that the country's constitution and the rule of law have been threatened by the long saga of ANC President Jacob Zuma's corruption trial; many of the country's poor, on the other hand, feel rage at how little their circumstances have changed since the ending of apartheid.

However, when we look back at the divisions that apartheid created and the rage that existed at its unfairness, it remains a miracle that South Africans are here today 15 years after the first democratic election in 1994, still voting tolerantly and peacefully, still queuing under the African sun for hours, laughing and joking with one another - and still believing that their vote can make a difference to the country they now share.

HONG KONG, China — We have all had our share of fake food - Twinkies, Tang, Jell-O. But what about a totally man-made appetizer devised by one of the world's top chefs? It is a first. And I tasted it here in Hong Kong.

The Note à Note has notes of lemon drops, toffee and green apple, according to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.

It is called "Note à Note," and has been billed in the press as "the world's first entirely synthetic gourmet dish."

It is the latest creation of Pierre Gagnaire, the world-famous French chef with three Michelin stars. He created it with chemist Hervé. This who is the founder of "molecular gastronomy" - a scientific approach to cuisine that exploits the physical and chemical reactions of cooking.

Both chef and chemist fervently stress that the dish is not synthetic, but rather built "compound by compound."

But still, take a look at the recipe: Melt 100g of glucose and 20g of tartaric acid in 20cl of water. Add 2g of polyphenol. Boil and add sodium chloride and piperine. Bind the sauce with amylose. Take off the heat and stir in 50g of triacylglycerol, according to a recipe published by The Times.

Already, I have been receiving a slew of Twitter responses to my "faux cuisine" experience (which can be found at http://twitter.com/klustout). Surprisingly, most of the reaction has been negative with questions about the safety or integrity of the food.

I have been assured that the dish is 100% safe and made of compounds that can be sourced from natural products.

So, cut to the chase - what did it taste like? It had notes of lemon drops, toffee and green apple - all served up ice-cold in crunchy bits and jelly balls. I liked it, and can see how it could be used as a way to "open the palate" with a variety of dishes.

"Note à Note" is being served all month at the Mandarin Oriental's Pierre restaurant. Be sure to pay a pretty penny, though - it is "haute gastronomie" after all.

NAMYANG, South Korea - I am at Hyundai Motor's research and development center and the PR people have arranged a special treat for me and the crew: a real live car crash test – not something you get to see everyday. In fact, we weren't allowed to bring in our camera. We are standing in a whitewalled control room where a group of Hyundai workers sit behind an elaborate panel of flat screen monitors, lights, and buttons with mysterious functions.

Meet the family: Hyundai's crash test dummies await their next outing.

The panel is protected by glass and looks out onto what appears to be an airplane hangar. At the far end of the room sits a forlorn Hyundai sedan. The car is under bright lights and surrounded by workers who leer at the vehicle. Occasionally one of them scribbles notes onto a clipboard.

We are told this car is the unfortunate volunteer for a side crash test. Our tour guide, senior engineer Paek Chang In, tells us the team is checking that the vehicle meets one of Europe's safety regulations.

Suddenly, the staff disappear and what appears to be a super-sized dolly comes barreling down a track, smashing the side of the sedan.

Paek quickly rushes us downstairs to pore over the remains.

A crash test dummy is seated in front of the steering wheel, head askew, one arm perched awkwardly as if broken. Splashes of red paint stain the dummy's clothing. I feel queasy.

Paek walks us to another room which reminds me of the lab of an evil mastermind.

More than 100 crash test dummies are here - their bodies contorted, their skin a pinkish brown hue. Spare body parts neatly line a wall of grey shelves. Entire families of men, women, children, even babies are dressed in tattered clothes and seated with their arms twisted in eerily familiar positions. One dummy dangles from a rope attached to the ceiling.

Paek tells me the most expensive one is worth $1 million. He pulls back the dummy's jumpsuit to reveal a "real rib cage." The "rib cage" protects a mess of wiring that apparently helps give Hyundai a more accurate reading of how the human body is impacted in an accident.

In the back, rows and rows of dummies sit in chairs holding their arms motionless outstretched over their heads, a punishment sometimes used at strict Korean schools.

As if these crash test dummies aren't being punished enough, I think to myself. Most have endured years of relentless torture as part of Hyundai's drive to improve quality standards and transform the South Korean carmaker from an industry laughingstock to a leader in the global auto industry.

ATLANTA, Georgia - There's more to global consumption than meets the eye lately. Spending money for the sake of spending is out. Spending money for a cause is in.

There something in the air, a growing global social conscience. The new global consumer is a discerning one, looking for the purpose behind the brand.

Spending money doesn't bring the kind of happiness buying with a purpose does. Global trend surveys like the annual "Good Purpose Survey" find only 25 percent of the respondents say shopping makes them happy.

More and more of us would like to become consumers with a with a cause. More than 80 percent say they're willing to change shopping habits if it will help make the world a better place and 68 percent say they're willing to stick with a more expensive brand if it serves a cause.

University enrolment in the United States, the world's biggest consumer nation, is expected to decline for financial disciplines discredited by the global financial crisis, experts say. More and more of America's young want a career with a purpose. They're signing up for science and public service seeking to make a difference in the world.

This trend may also be fueled, in part, by a hunger for quality that became apparent the night that unlikely singing sensation Susan Boyle grabbed the world's attention on "Britain's Got Talent" with her heavenly voice.

It seems to me that like other forms of consumption, entertainment becomes less frivolous in times like these. Then the question is, how long will this last.

Is consumption with a cause here to stay? We'll know when the good times come back.

NEW DELHI, India  - Traditionally, going village to village, city to city across the vast expanse of India is the way campaigning works in the world's largest democracy.

But the times are changing as the national political parties try to adapt to the Internet age to woo the country's 714 million potential voters.

"I must admit here that we were somewhat inspired by the use of information technology, Internet in particular, in the recent American presidential elections," said, Sudheendra Kulkarni, an e-campaign manager for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), referring to the Obama campaign's use of the Internet.

And there's good reason. This year another 43 million people are eligible to vote – many of them young adults, and many of them more plugged into technology.

The BJP is pushing the technology envelope this year. It is using video phones, Google ads, cell phone text messages, YouTube, and social networking sites, such as Orkut and Facebook. The party also has a glossy Web site for its main candidate as prime minister.

Working behind the scenes are some of the very people the party is trying to attract.

Mallika Noorani is in her early 20s and left her job as a banker to volunteer for the BJP campaign.

"I work on average about 12 hours a day for not a penny. A complete 100 percent volunteer," Noorani said.

"I seized the opportunity to learn more but also to understand how exactly I could make a difference," she said.

"Because at the end of the day, you know you can't always blame someone else, you kind of have to hold yourself accountable as much you want to hold your politicians accountable."

Noorani is from Mumbai, where the terrorist attacks in 2008 triggered a rallying cry from the youth in particular to force government to take action and secure the country.

There is no doubt the campaigns have taken note of the clamor for change among young people.

"The youth vote acquires a greater importance for the simple reason that the largest segment of those who are going in voting on the polling booths.  That is why it is even more important," said Vishvjit P. Singh, e-campaign manager for India's National Congress Party - a longtime rival of the BJP.

At India's National Congress Party headquarters, they are working on their electronic campaign.

"We put up our Jai Ho ring tone on our Web site and you won't believe it– in the first two hours, we had 14,500 downloads," Singh said, referring to the theme song from the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire."

The National Congress Party also reworked the song with words to fit its campaign message.

But even in the Web world there is politics as usual. The National Congress Party, which offers information in three different languages, said its site was better for the common man in India and took a swipe at the BJP's site.

"It's got drop-down menus, it's got all kinds of navigation tricks, you know, which, is very, very good for a nerd, very good for a geek," e-campaign manager Singh said of the BJP site. "But how do you get a common man who is a young boy, who is just going into a cyber cafe, it will be very difficult for him to navigate."

Technology is making waves in the 2009 campaign, reaching tens of thousands of voters, but old-fashioned politics still reign supreme.

No one here believes Web sites will be the deciding factor this time around - but give it a few years and it just might click with millions more voters.

Especially the young and politically passionate, such as BJP volunteer Noorani.

"I am under no illusion. But I think it's the first step. We are reaching out, through the Web site, to 30,000 unique visitors a day."

MUMBAI, India - I was there watching the horror and feeling helpless. As I rattled on with the few details authorities would give us I stood, ducked and sometimes crouched next to my colleagues from all over the world as they did the same.

Children play at the hotel pool which left an mark on CNN’s Sara Sidner.

The scene was sheer madness unfolding before our eyes and through the camera's lens.

I was posted outside the Taj Hotel and Tower in Mumbai when terror rained down on India's financial capital for days last November.

For the 72 hours I was there, I slept exactly three, the same goes for many of my CNN colleagues working beside me or at other scenes.

There were four active scenes for at least two days. I happened to be posted at the one that ended last in a blaze of fire, bullets and grenade blasts.

Friends and co-workers watching on their television screens told me later it looked like a movie. But a movie ends in two hours. This went on for three days.

It looked like and felt like hell from the outside. On the inside it was hell for the dozens of workers and guests still alive but trapped as the dead lay where they were gunned down.

Today I am back at the scene for the first time since the attacks. I made myself stand in the same spot where I reported from and again turned to look at the majestic building.

I didn't want to go in at first. I was afraid of what I might feel. But I didn't want to remember it the way I first laid eyes on it. So I started walking towards the lobby of the 106-year-old building.

On the outside, the heritage part of the hotel still has boards covering some of the windows. The ones I watched burst with flames five months ago.

I had to pass white barricades that now lace the once open breezeway. There are three layers of security including an X-ray machine for every bag each guest brings with them.

Once inside you wouldn't know at first glance what happened here. The lobby is spotless.

But walk a dozen steps towards a glass enclosed area with a waterfall and you see a tree, a large marble plaque, and a sobering message. It has the names of the 31 people who died during those terrible four nights and three days.

Many of the public spaces have been restored. We walked farther in to the immense staircase that looks like something out of a fairytale. Not a thing out of place. Immaculate and almost too much for the eye to take in.

But as you climbed to the top there was another reminder. White planks of wood blocked two large windows that once looked out on to the ocean.

Then it was off to the poolside. I got one of those chills down my spine as I walked out between the chairs. It's because of that image in my head.

The image from the front page of a newspaper the morning after the attacks started. A man who was likely enjoying his drink poolside had been gunned down. He died there. Click. That picture won't leave my head.

But then you hear the noise of happiness. Children are splashing in the pool and adults are chatting and enjoying their lives.

It's trite but true; life goes on. Honestly, sometimes I forget to enjoy mine. What a fool I am.

The crew and I are staying at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower for a couple of nights. We're here to cover the first day of the trial of the lone surviving suspect in the Mumbai attacks.

I picked the Taj as our hotel on purpose, I guess I needed to see a bit of normalcy here after what I witnessed from the outside.

I'm staying in the tower that is fully up and running. It had minimal damage during the attack. But next door in the old world rooms of the tower's older sister there is still a lot of work to do.

Of the 565 total rooms in the two buildings only 268 can be occupied. All I can say right now is, I am glad to be one of the occupants.

BANGKOK, Thailand - I've spent the day flinching. Gunfire is a lot louder in real life than it is in the movies.

A bus burns in the streets of Bangkok.

Thai soldiers finally reacted to the taunts and provocations of the red-shirted anti-government protesters.

I was in the lobby of a hotel, when suddenly the air was shattered by the unmistakable sound of automatic gunfire, right outside.

I ran through the lobby, as dozens of tourists ran inside ducking and taking cover.

It would have been comical, if it weren't so damn scary.

As I emerged into the suffocating heat outside, I saw perhaps 50 soldiers with their M-16s tilted toward the sky, emptying their magazines.

The noise was like a Chinese New Year firecracker fiesta.

But I was acutely aware that all those bullets that go up must come down somewhere.

The next few hours got crazier and crazier.

Buses careening down the road, with no driver heading towards the troops.

Soldiers responding with gunfire.

Me, trying to see what's happening, but also stay behind something solid.

Half the time I was actually live on air, the crackle of gunfire so loud I could barely hear myself talk.

Looking back on the day, it's been a watershed.

Finally the army has shown it is willing to back the beleaguered Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

But I was impressed by their discipline.

In years past, Thai soldiers have mown down protesters by the dozen.

This time though they were careful to aim high and only shot when they genuinely felt they were under threat - like when the bus sped towards them, out of control with no driver aboard.

CNN has had both the prime minister and his nemisis former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on air live.

The red-shirted protesters are calling for Thaksin to be allowed to come back and lead the country despite the fact he's been found guilty of corruption.

Abhisit has defended the actions of the army, essentially saying the protesters have contravened their right to protest peacefully, by engaging in violent attacks on the soldiers.

Thaksin says the soldiers have used excessive force and have been shooting live rounds directly at the crowds.

Neither side seems ready to compromise. I can't see peace breaking out any time soon. I remain ready to carry on flinching.