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◆On the cover
The hard road ahead
Barack Obama still has a lot to do




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

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◆Leaders
The American presidential race
The hard road ahead
Space
Washington, we have a problem
NATO and the invasion of Georgia
How to contain Russia
Pakistan
Another Bushman down
Zimbabwe
Don’t rush it

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◆Letters
On Alexander Solzhenitsyn, religion, business schools, Russia, the Olympic games

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◆Special Report
Barack Obama
Explaining the riddle

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◆United States
The Senate
A capitol target
The economy
Inflation’s last hurrah
The presidential race
Blazing Saddleback
Swing states: New Mexico and Nevada
Operation desert storm
Midwestern wine
Move over, California
Lexington
The Ax-man cometh

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◆The Americas
Argentina
Clouds gather again over the Pampas
Brazil
Not as violent as you thought

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◆Asia
Pakistan
Exit the president
Kashmir
Bitter fruit
Nepal
Almost a dinner party
Afghanistan
Getting closer
Fiji and the Pacific Islands Summit
Not being Frank with us
Sport in China
All that gold does not glitter
The Beijing Olympics
Five-ring circus
Child-sex tourism in South-East Asia
Unwanted visitors


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◆Middle East & Africa
Zambia
Why Africa needs more cabbage
Liberia
With a little help from her friends
Nigeria
Are the banks as shiny as they look?
Saudi Arabia
Buying the farm
Iraq
Whose law must mercenaries obey?
Algeria
Not again, please


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◆Europe
Russia and the West
After Georgia
The European Union and Georgia
Treaty gamesmanship
The war in Georgia
A Caucasian journey
Missile defence in Europe
Behind America’s shield
Poland, Ukraine and the Baltics
Nervous neighbours
Energy security in Europe
Dependent territory
Turkey and the Caucasus
Waiting and watching
Correction: The Baltic states and NATO

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◆Britain
Breaking up BAA
A new departure for London’s airports
Boris Johnson
The London laboratory
The Olympics
Winning streak
Commercial property
That sinking feeling


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◆International
The Greeks and the Chinese
Doing business for aeons
Saving money
Where the shoe pinches
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◆Business
Business and water
Running dry
Car taxes in China
Taking another road
Jaguar Land Rover
Now it’s personal
Law firms
Legal advice
Dealing with the downturn
Charging ahead
Virtual worlds
If you build it…
Face value
Ram drive


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◆Special Report
Space technology
Earthbound

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◆Finance & Economics
American finance
Still bleeding
Credit derivatives
Pressure gauge
Commodities 1
Endurance test
Commodities 2
Bulls in a China shop
China’s stockmarket
In the bird’s-nest soup
Indian property
Lights on, nobody home
Investing in wine
Buyers and cellars
Economics focus
Lessons from a “lost decade”


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◆Science & Technology
Symbiosis
The twists and turns of fate
Manned spaceflight
Enter the Dragon
Physiognomy
Facing the truth
Solar energy
Feeling the heat


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◆Books & Arts
The power of music
Friends across the divide
John Keats
Through death to life
Arab diplomacy
Moderate lament
Rwanda
A flawed hero
New fiction
The many natures of love
George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh
Fighting against the future
New film
Five-finger exercise

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◆Obituary
Mahmoud Darwish

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◆Economic and Financial Indicators
Overview
Output, prices and jobs
The Economist commodity-price index
Norway
Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates
Markets
Benchmark interest rates