On the cover
An opportunity exists in American politics. The White House and the Democrats should grab it: leader

The world this week
Politics this week
Business this week
Kal's cartoon



Leaders

American politics
Saving the Bush presidency
Germany's cars
Losing their vrroooom?
Missile defence
Europe's space wars
The world economy
Switching engines
India and Pakistan
Staying on track
Financial centres
Offshore and beyond the pale
Letters
On India's economy, health spending, Peru, religious freedom, executive pay, Barack Obama



Briefing

Afghanistan's war
A double spring offensive



United States

The president and Congress
What chance co-operation?
Immigration
One more shove
The environment
Green sums
Health care
A small dose
Social Security
Still the third rail
City planning
Tunnel vision
America's next president
Waiting for Al
Lexington
Pelosi rides high



The Americas

Canada
The strange disarray of Quebec separatism
Venezuela
Freedom to agree
The Caribbean
Beyond a boundary
Colombia
Paramilitary politics, and other perils



Asia

Terrorism in India
Murder on the Friendship Express
Pakistan
Musharraf does the splits
Bangladesh
Another fine mess
Cambodia
Back from the dead
American forces in Japan
Overpaid to move over here
Tigers
What immortal hand or eye?
Middle East & Africa
Ethiopia
On a dilemma in the Horn
Eritrea
Still in the regional game?
Senegal
Cherish that democracy
South Africa
Careful with those coughs
Israel and Palestine
Banking on the Saudis
Iran
Defying the United Nations



Europe

Italy
Pasta and fries
Russia
The hollowing out of politics
Swedish security
Back on the block
Polish spies
Of questionable intelligence
Biofuels
Burned by the sun
Charlemagne
Singling out the market



Britain

Missile-defence systems
Bombs bursting in air
The British army in Iraq
Bringing the boys home
Pricing drugs
A new prescription
The spread of firearms
Scatter gun
Road pricing
A capital idea
British banking
Too clever by half
Pension losers
To heal a political sore
Bagehot
Something is stirring
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A special report on offshore finance
Places in the sun
What it takes to succeed
On or off?
Moving pieces
Rich pickings
Unintended consequences
All together now
Sources and acknowledgements
Offer to readers



Business

Diamonds
Changing facets
Punitive damages
Smokescreen
Pharmaceuticals
Knock it off
Satellite radio
They cannot be Sirius
Wireless internet
WhyMax?
Mediterranean shipping
Rough passage
Chinese cars
One to watch
Face value
Queen of Madison Avenue



Briefing

Germany's car industry
The big-car problem
Finance & Economics
Japanese interest rates
A hiker's guide to Japan
Buttonwood
Investing for kicks
Chinese consumption
Can pigs fly?
Banking
A twist or two of Basel
South Africa's economy
How to spend it
Emerging markets
Bye-bye EMBI
Economics focus
Carry on speculating



Science & Technology

The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Making an impact
Smart prosthetics
Bionic people
Obesity
Enter the obesogen
Political science
Election forensics
Medical statistics
Signs of the times



Books & Arts

Africa and the CIA
Waiting for the plutocrats' friend
Europe
Approaching a 50th birthday
The Panama Canal
A path between the seas
New fiction
Go east
Milton Friedman
Too faithful a portrait
New theatre
Prince of our disorder
Obituary
Maurice Papon
Economic and Financial Indicators



Overview

Output, prices and jobs
The Economist commodity-price index
Gold
Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates
Markets
Exchange-rate forecasts