On the cover

Modern finance is undergoing its harshest test. It will not be pretty but it is necessary: leader



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



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Leaders
Risk and the new financial order
Surviving the markets
South Africa and AIDS
Sacking the wrong health minister
Latin America's economies
Up from the bottom of the pile
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Who is hunting whom?
The Iraqi 途esistance・
When murder is just plain murder



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Letters
On Phoenix, Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, global population growth


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Briefing
Latin America's middle class
Adi to poverty, hola to consumption
Chile
Destitute no more



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United States
The White House
Goodbye to The Architect
The primaries
South Carolina strikes again
Newark
A defining moment
Vehicle safety
Too close to nature
California
Where the grass is greener
Lexington
Mitt and the monkey
Clarification: Terri Schiavo



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The Americas
Brazil's energy policy
Scarcity in the midst of surplus
Mexico and the United States
Plan Mexico
Venezuela
President for life?



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Asia
Pakistan's politics
The general in his labyrinth
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Looking for peace on troubled borders
India's widows
Singing for supper
Mental health in China
And now the 50-minute hour
The Philippines' economy
The Jeepney economy revs up
North Korean floods
And then came the flood



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Middle East & Africa
Israel and Syria
Rumours of war, and peace
Algeria and terrorism
Threat assessment
Iraq
No one is safe
Electricity in Africa
The dark continent
South African politics
The great survivor
Uganda
A dreaded killer, quickly dealt with



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Europe
Turkey
Presidential troubles, again
Drought in Ankara
Praying for water
Poland's government unravels
Last rites
Bavarian politics
Et tu, CSU?
Albania's government
No power, no glory
Southern Italy
Christ still stops at Eboli



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Britain
Flying and climate change
Hot topic
Aer Lingus
A wing and a prayer
Iraq and Afghanistan
Britain's neglected wars
Motorcycle gangs
Thrills and kills


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International
The Arctic
Drawing lines in melting ice
Inuit politics
Save our spears



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Business
Japanese business
Gaijin at the gates
Garments in Bangladesh
Knitting pretty
Italian champions (1)
Spectacular results...
Italian champions (2)
...and a sweet success
Technology start-ups
Virtual repeat
American airlines
Cash or cookies?
Face value
China's toxic toymaker



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Briefing
Asia's skills shortage
Capturing talent



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Finance & Economics
Banks in trouble
The game is up
A liquidity squeeze
Bankers' mistrust
Funding difficulties
A conduit to nowhere
Hedge funds
Behind the veil
Financial contagion
Mortgage flu
Japanese foreign exchange
Not-yet-desperate housewives
A credit crunch in cyberspace
Trouble in paradise
Economics focus
What would Bagehot do?



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Science & Technology
Statistics and climatology
Gambling on tomorrow
Modelling the climate
Tomorrow and tomorrow
Storing electricity
It looks good on paper
Microscopy
Phasing in
Herbal medicine
Growing wiser



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Books & Arts
The CIA
On top of everything else, not very good at its job
Condoleezza Rice
The dazzler that dimmed
Economic history
The merits of genteel poverty
A political thriller
From the compost of conflict
Sudan
Rebellions ancient and modern
An exhibition in Frankfurt
The caretakers' collection


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Obituary
Cardinal Lustiger


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Economic and Financial Indicators
Overview
Output, prices and jobs
The Economist commodity-price index
Job vacancies in Europe
Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates
Markets
The Economist commodity-price index