COVER

NATION

Leaky Transition (The Week: Nation)

Real appointments often get lost among the hot tips

Lessons in L.A. Law (The Week: Nation)

New violence shows that tensions are high but the cops are ready

Political Exorcism (The Week: Nation)

G.O.P. centrists organize to wrest the party back from the religious right

The Search Goes On (The Week: Nation)

A special prosecutor will probe the Clinton passport caper

WORLD

A Bone for the Dogs (The Week World)

With Gaidar gone, Russian capitalists grow wary of the future

And Who Will Pay? (The Week World)

Despite budget woes, the U.N. plans to send troops to Mozambique

Band on The Run (The Week World)

American college students disgrace their school and flabbergast Japan

Blood And Banishment (The Week World)

Answering five deaths, Israel deports hundreds of Palestinians

Cambodia: the Un's (Souteast Asia)

Biggest Gamble The peace-keepers -- a huge commitment in manpower and money -- are caught in a cross fire as they struggle to resurrect a country

One Step at a Time (The Week World)

U.S. firms can open offices, but they still can't do business with Vietnam

Selling Spree (The Week World)

The U.S. Commerce chief's Chinese trip reaps contracts and controversy

Seoul Survivor (The Week World)

A fierce South Korean race puts an ex-dissident in the Blue House

The Gift of Hope (Somalia)

Armed for battle, U.S. Marines find mostly smiles and waves as they fan out into the Somalian countryside

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Endangered Legacy (The Week Health & Science)

Bush opts unexpectedly to protect more endangered species

Forever Young (The Week Health & Science / Et Cetera)

Forever Young

What Ailed Tiny Tim (The Week Health & Science)

A literary diagnosis offers a footnote to a classic holiday tale

SOCIETY

Death And Taxes (The Week: Society)

New IRS proposals help the terminally ill cash in life insurance

Mercy's Friend or Foe? (Ethics)

As Dr. Kevorkian takes on the state of Michigan over physician-assisted suicide, he may be undermining his own crusade

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

BUSINESS

Deal of A Lifetime (The Week: Business)

General Motors lures retirees with a batch of brand-new extras

How IBM Was Left Behind

Mainframe computers were its cash cow. Then the industry changed, and Big Blue was just the leader of an obsolete market. Can it ever recover?

Leaning on The Panic Button (Finance)

An executive's best-selling jeremiad about the federal budget deficit is a good scare but a weak prescription

Paddy Power (The Week: Business)

Japan's rice farmers make a last ditch attempt to block imports

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Don't Just Sit There! (The Week Arts & Entertainment)

The first interactive movie asks its audiences to get involved

Well, Shut My Mouth (The Week Arts & Entertainment)

The FCC hits Howard Stern where it hurts: his boss's wallet

SPECIAL SECTION

Bistro Blues (Travel)

The traditional French cafe is slowly dying out, a victim of le cocooning, le stress and le fast food

TO OUR READERS

ESSAY