NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS: Highlights and Exclusives, Feb. 6, 2006 Issue
COVER: Hamas Takes Power (Atlantic edition). The Palestinian Authority is
a failed state in the making, a vast slum festering with crime and corruption.
That was the issue that brought a commanding majority victory to Hamas, with
an initial tally of 74 parliamentary seats out of 132, versus Fatah's 45 in
last week's elections. In this special report, Jerusalem Bureau Chief Kevin
Peraino examines what Hamas' triumph means for both the Palestinian people and
the world. Considering that the Hamas charter explicitly calls for Israel's
destruction and the U.S. government lists the party as a terrorist
organization, the Hamas landslide poses a bedrock dilemma for U.S.
policymakers. The main task for Hamas leaders now is to avoid making life even
harder for the people who elected them.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11081720/site/newsweek/
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060129/NYSU002 )
What Palestinians Really Voted For. Despite all the hand-wringing over
whether Palestinians have suddenly taken a more extremist turn, a closer look
at the election numbers reveals a more complex picture, writes Khalil Shikaki,
director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. The divided
Fatah and four other secular parties won a majority of the popular vote-55
percent-but only 39 percent of the seats. "Indeed, the most interesting aspect
of the rise of Hamas is that its own voters, as demonstrated in exit polls, do
not share its views on the peace process," Khalil writes.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080943/site/newsweek/
Just Be Fair With Us.' "My message to the West-to America, to Europe, to
everybody-is this: Hamas wants peace," writes Muhammad Abu Tir, a former
militant who ranked No. 2 on the Hamas list of candidates in last week's
elections. He continues: "The European Union and America should cooperate
with us. We have ways of creating understanding among our people. The presence
of Hamas is a guarantee of safety and stability in the region."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080944/site/newsweek/
COVER: The Return of Nuclear Power (Asia and Latin America editions).
Energy demand is expected to rise worldwide by about 50 percent in 20 years,
and the prices of oil and natural gas have gone through the roof. Is nuclear
power worthy of a comeback? There's some truth to the argument that 20 years
ago the nuclear power industry and its regulators were beginning to get things
right just as the public was running out of patience, reports Senior Editor
Fred Guterl. Since then nuclear research hasn't been a growth industry, but
engineers have made steady improvements. Much depends on whether the industry
and its regulators get it right this time-and whether environmentalists and
the public give them a chance.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080905/site/newsweek/
China Leaps Ahead. While experts in the United States and Europe talk
about reviving plans for nuclear power, China, as in so many other fields is
racing ahead, reports Special Correspondent Sarah Schafer. The so-called
pebblebed technology behind Beijing's nuclear test plant is important because
of its fail-safe design-it would not be possible for the reactor to melt down
or explode like Chernobyl.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080908/site/newsweek/
A Change in Climate. Nuclear power is increasingly seen as the only energy
source that can square the needs of the environment and industry, reports
Correspondent William Underhill. The turnaround is perhaps most startling in
Europe. Most citizens remain wary but a rethink is underway in almost every
European country-even those most traditionally hostile to nuclear power, such
as Finland, which is going further with plans to build new nuclear plants, not
just to retain the old.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080909/site/newsweek/
Where Will We All Be in 100,000 Years? While power is emerging as a way of
saving the earth from global warming, there are two specters to deal with:
nuclear waste and proliferation, writes Arjun Makhijani, president of the
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Takoma Park, Maryland.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080907/site/newsweek/
We Don't Need More Power. The best way to meet the rising demand for
energy is not to supply more energy, writes Douglas Ogden, director of the
China Sustainable Energy Program in Beijing and San Francisco. "It's to
modernize appliances and equipment to use energy. The cheapest, fastest and
cleanest energy resource by far is energy efficiency."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080450/site/newsweek/
A Chill In the Moscow Air. In recent months, the actions of the FSB-the
successor to Russia's infamous KGB-have been reviving memories of the cold-war
years, reports Special Correspondent Owen Matthews. The organization has
vocalized increasing suspicion of foreign diplomats and executives, and
propaganda glorifying the KGB is on the rise. At the same time, there's
evidence that the FSB has begun to do dirty work for some of the former Soviet
Union's most repressive regimes.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11081430/site/newsweek/
Revenge of the Doves. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi must step
down from his party leadership post in the fall of this year-and in doing so
relinquish his position as prime minister as well. And so the race to succeed
him is on. The frontrunner is Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe. But some LDP
elders think they've found a political weapon with which to turn the
leadership struggle to their advantage: the Yasukuni Shrine, reports Tokyo
Bureau Chief Christian Caryl.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080282/site/newsweek/
Palace Revolt. Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman and Contributing
Editor Stuart Taylor Jr. and Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas report on a
group of Justice Department lawyers who secretly fought to rein in President
Bush's power in the war on terror from October 2003 to June 2004. And they
paid a price for it. They were ostracized, some were denied promotions, while
others left for more comfortable climes in private law firms and academia.
Newsweek examines the insurrection, as described by current and former
administration officials.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11081678/site/newsweek/
Can Rocca Rev Up Torino? Almost all the attention leading up to the Winter
Olympic Games has focused not on fierce competitions between world-class
athletes, but on security concerns and the Italians' predictable rush to
finish up the venues on schedule, reports Special Correspondent Barbie Nadeau.
What's noticeably missing from this normally passionate country is any
semblance of Olympic spirit.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11081314/site/newsweek/
It's Bode Time. Bode Miller, the most gifted American skier in decades,
talks the same way he races: fast, loose and seemingly out of control, reports
Senior Writer Devin Gordon. Racing fans are drooling over a long-awaited
Olympic showdown between Miller and Austrian titan Hermann Maier, the four-
time World Cup champion. Newsweek also previews the athletes to watch.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11081316/site/newsweek/
WORLD VIEW: Caught By Surprise. Again. Newsweek International Editor
Fareed Zakaria writes that we should not be surprised by the rise of Hamas,
since it mirrors the rise of almost all such Islamic political parties in the
Middle East. "Much is now being written on how Hamas will have to moderate
itself to rule," Zakaria writes. "But the next few months, if not years, will
be a very rocky ride. If we are to learn something from this experience . . .
now is the time to start building and shoring up the secular groups, the
middle-class organizations, the liberal-minded civil society of the Middle
East."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11078875/site/newsweek/
THE LAST WORD: Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan. Musharraf talks
about hunt for Al Qaeda and diminishes the importance of Osama bin Laden. "It
is extremism that is important," he says. "Extremism is in the minds of the
people. It needs a totally different strategy."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11077658/site/newsweek/
SOURCE Newsweek