SEARCH RESEARCH TOOLS Economist.com Choose a research tool... advanced search » Subscribe Activate RSS Help Sunday February 3rd 2008 Welcome = requires subscription My Account » Manage my newsletters LOG OUT » » PRINT EDITION Print Edition February 2nd 2008 On the cover Previous print editions Subscribe Iran's ayatollahs have wriggled Jan 26th 2008 Subscribe to the print edition off the nuclear hook, but there Jan 19th 2008 Or buy a Web subscription for is a way to put them on again: Jan 12th 2008 full access online leader Jan 5th 2008 Dec 22nd 2007 RSS feeds Receive this page by RSS feed More print editions and covers » The world this week Politics this week Full contents Subscribe Business this week Enlarge current cover KAL's cartoon Past issues/regional covers Business Leaders NEWS ANALYSIS The internet in China Alternative reality POLITICS THIS WEEK Nuclear proliferation Has Iran won? Boeing v Airbus BUSINESS THIS WEEK This time it's war The death of Suharto OPINION Epitaph on a crook and a tyrant Pharmaceuticals Leaders Shock to the system Letters to the editor Financial regulation Blogs Repairs begin at home Twenty20 Columns Jiminy cricket! Kallery America's election Once again, the greatest show on earth Cocoa farming WORLD Fair enough? The Gaza Strip United States The Americas Hamas won't go away Electricity in South Africa Asia The dark ages Middle East & Africa Italy's government Europe Unsteady as she goes Face value Britain The testing of long-term Eddie International Letters Country Briefings Briefing Cities Guide On space, “uneducated” Americans, emissions, energy prices, Jérôme Kerviel, Shakespeare, politics Unilever and emerging markets SPECIAL REPORTS The legacy that got left on the shelf BUSINESS Briefing Management Finance & Economics Business Education Iran's nuclear programme As the enrichment machines spin on Société Générale FINANCE & ECONOMICS No Défense Economics Focus United States French capitalism Economics A-Z Biting the hand that feeds it SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY The Republicans Goodbye, Rudy Tuesday American interest rates Technology Quarterly Aggressive activism The Democrats BOOKS & ARTS Where will the wind blow? Buttonwood Style Guide Heart of Glass Barack Obama's organisation Exchanges PEOPLE The ground war Gulp, swallow, gulp Obituary California The big one Economic statistics MARKETS & DATA Odd numbers Weekly Indicators Campaign tools Currencies A-twitter Credit derivatives Rankings Gross exaggeration Big Mac Index Clean coal Chart Gallery Up in smoke Banking in Japan A cash machine DIVERSIONS A vanishing South Gullahs v golfers Economics focus Correspondent’s Diary The in-betweeners Lexington RESEARCH TOOLS George Bush's last grandstand Science & Technology AUDIO AND VIDEO DELIVERY OPTIONS The Americas Electricity storage Ne plus ultra E-mail Newsletters Mexico Audio edition Marching as to war Diet and behaviour Mobile Edition Eat it up and be a good boy RSS Feeds Screensaver The Caribbean Sun, sea and murder Drug testing CLASSIFIED ADS The invisible man Venezuela The mouse that roared Linguistic evolution Received pronunciation Economist Intelligence Unit Economist Conferences Asia The Richard Casement internship The World In Intelligent Life Vietnam's economy CFO Books & Arts Roll Call Grappling with success European Voice EuroFinance China's bleak mid-winter Al-Qaeda Economist Diaries and A cold coming How jihad went freelance Business Gifts Reprints and Permissions Afghanistan's tribal complexity Social entrepreneurs In the dark Agents of change Pakistan Mathematics On edge Mirror games Advertisement Australia's aborigines Edgar Allan Poe Stolen birthrights The blasted soul Collecting art Middle East & Africa Not just an eye for a bargain Kenya Sexual fantasies More mayhem than mediation Secret cinema Congo Peace at last? Obituary Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip Suharto The shifting balance of power Gaza Economic and Financial Indicators A Hamas hardliner Overview Gaza and Kenya Young, alive but not very heaven Output, prices and jobs Israel's war in Lebanon The Economist commodity-price index A prime minister gets away with it Child mortality Lebanon Sliding back to civil war? Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates Markets Official reserves Europe Italy Berlusconi redux? German state elections Hessen lesson Russia's presidency The pseudoelection Poland's past Sleeping dogs that won't lie Turkey, the Kurds and Islam A religious revival A new silk road The return of the scarves Charlemagne Toy story Corrections: Spanish bishops and eastern European pipelines Britain The British army Friendly fire in Afghanistan Sleaze in politics The hits just keep on coming Failed banks Avoiding the next Northern Rock Northern Ireland's victims Grieving and politics Welfare reform Going to work Trafficking children A twist in the tale Fiscal pathology Failing the tests Bagehot Kindergarten cabinet Articles flagged with this icon are printed only in the British edition of The Economist International UN law Coming up trumps Scientology Fair game Malaria Net benefits Telex A faint ping Advertisement Classified ads Sponsors' feature About sponsorship » Jobs Business / Tenders Property Jobs Business / Programme Manager Consumer Tender pre- Exclusive NYC condo Energy Analyst Consumer - Rule of Law and #1 rated internet qualification for sale The IEFS is a unique #1 Career Security Programme business looking for questionnaire for the Exclusive New York inter-governmental Opportunity. World's Vacancy professional Ruacana hydro City condo Luxury organization that top Internet Franchise Announcement consultants. No power station 4th Time Warner Center, promotes a global is currently looking to Programme.... previous technical Turbine-generator midtown Manhattan 2 dialogue at Minis.... expand their experience required. project bed, .... franchise. Become an w.... Internet Consultant Today. Apply Here. About Economist.com | About The Economist | Media Directory | Staff Books | Advertising info | Career opportunities | Contact us Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2008. All rights reserved. Advertising Info | Legal disclaimer | Accessibility | Privacy policy | Terms & Conditions | Help Politics this week Jan 31st 2008 From The Economist print edition John McCain won the Republican primary in Florida, confirming him as the Reuters clear front-runner in the party's nominating process ahead of Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani, who held front-runner status for all of last year, came third. He pulled out of the race and endorsed Mr McCain. See article Hillary Clinton claimed a victory in Florida's Democratic primary. Her opponents said it didn't count because the state has been punished by the national party for jumping its election schedule; no campaigning took place and no delegates were awarded. John Edwards ended his challenge for the Democratic nomination after the contest. It was a good week for Barack Obama. He trounced Mrs Clinton in the South Carolina Democratic primary and secured the endorsement of Edward Kennedy, the lion of the party's liberal wing. See article George Bush gave his last state-of-the-union speech, in which he touted progress in Iraq and called for an additional $30 billion for AIDS relief in Africa. He also urged Congress to pass quickly a $150 billion economic stimulus package to ward off a recession. The House promptly did so, but some senators asked for extra provisions, mainly for the elderly. See article Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious blueprint for reforming health care in California was delivered a deadly blow when a committee in the state Senate voted it down on the ground it was too expensive. The plan would have ensured that most Californians had their medical costs covered and was viewed as a model for other states to follow. Tilting at windmills Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, called on other Latin American and Caribbean countries to form a military alliance against the United States. There has been no rush to join up. See article Ricardo Palmera, the most senior leader of the FARC rebels in Colombia to have been captured after four decades of conflict, was jailed for 60 years by a United States court in connection with the kidnapping of three American intelligence agents. The FARC has repeatedly asked for Mr Palmera's release in exchange for some of the hostages it is holding, including the three Americans. Ecuadorian officials investigated the slaughter of 53 sea lions in the Galapagos Islands nature reserve. All had their heads bashed in. The motive is unknown. A debatable legacy AFP Indonesia declared seven days of national mourning for Suharto, its former president, who died at the age of 86. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presided over the funeral at the Suharto family mausoleum near the city of Solo in Java. See article Thailand's parliament elected Samak Sundaravej as prime minister. Mr Samak, leader of the People's Power Party, has described himself as a “proxy” for Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted as prime minister in a coup in 2006. Paddy Ashdown announced that he would not be taking up a post as the UN representative in Afghanistan following objections from some quarters, including President Hamid Karzai. Sheikh Hasina Wajed, a former prime minister of Bangladesh, went on trial for extortion. She is one of dozens of politicians and others arrested on corruption charges by the army-backed interim government that took power a year ago. She denies the charge. Merkel's magic fades Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats did badly in two