NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS: Highlights and Exclusives, Feb. 14, 2005 Issue

		In the February 14 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, February 7): "The New Game of Retirement." A look at the risks and uncertainties in retirement planning today and how to save more money. Plus: an examination of the fine print of Bush's social security proposal and a Newsweek Poll shows the public split on the president's plan. Also: who is the most powerful man in Iraq after the elections; recruiting Iranian spies; what's next for John Edwards. (PRNewsFoto) NEW YORK, NY USA

COVER: Iraq's New Face (Atlantic edition). Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is now indisputably the most powerful man in Iraq. The elections he demanded were an unexpected success and his party has won a landslide victory. While Sistani is the very picture of an ascetic Islamic prelate, there's another side to him. Baghdad Bureau Chief Rod Nordland and Baghdad Correspondent Babak Dehghanpisheh profile Sistani, whose office is one of the best-wired in Iraq, where he presides over a multimillion- dollar network of charities and religious foundations from Pakistan to England. He also has a highly developed network of representatives in every Shia neighborhood in Iraq. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920681/site/newsweek/ (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050206/NYSU006 ) COVER: Real Fakes (Asia and Latin America editions). Mother Earth no longer has a monopoly on making diamonds. There are now two technologies for making diamonds in a laboratory that are virtually indistinguishable from the real crystals mined from the earth, reports Special Correspondent Michael Hastings. The new gems can be made in a laboratory in a few days, rather than waiting for geological forces to act over millions of years. That's made the $60 billion diamond industry very nervous. So far there's no cheap and easy way for diamond appraisers to distinguish the man-made diamonds from the natural ones. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920717/site/newsweek/ The Spying Game. Members of an Iranian group known for its support of the U.S. Embassy takeover in 1979 may now be recruited by the Bush administration to be used as operatives against Tehran, report Middle East Regional Editor Christopher Dickey, Investigative Correspondent Mark Hosenball and Senior Editor Michael Hirsh. At a camp south of Baghdad called Ashraf, 3,850 members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (People's Holy Warriors) or MEK have been confined but gently treated by U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq (once they were allies of Saddam against their own country in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920826/site/newsweek/ Pharaoh's Long Shadow. Middle East Regional Editor Christopher Dickey reports on a test case for President Bush when it comes to standing by Arab democrats. In Egypt, reformer Ayman Nour was jailed for alleged forgery of affidavits used to win legalization last year for his El Ghad Party. This case is a textbook example of the way Washington's Arab allies thwart hopes to expand freedom. Nour was called before Parliament and stripped of immunity on 30 minutes' notice, with no chance to mount a defense. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920461/site/newsweek/ A Future Less Bright. Iran's gradual economic-reform movement has ground to a halt in recent months. The International Monetary Fund says Iran needs to overhaul its "weak" financial sector, reform its labor market, hasten the sale of state companies, enhance government transparency and tighten fiscal and monetary policy. Yet the country lacks a clear consensus to do so, reports Senior Editor Richard Ernsberger Jr. and Special Correspondent Emily Flynn. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920755/site/newsweek/ Cozying Up to Condi. While Europeans welcomed Condoleezza Rice last week, the thawed mood between Europe and America may not last, reports Senior Editor Michael Meyer. Iraq is still a work in progress. And the U.S. and Europe have fundamentally different views on Iran and the Israel-Palestine problem. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6919417/site/newsweek/ Ostrich Politik. German unemployment is the highest it has been since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Yet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder remains upbeat, calling the unemployment numbers a statistical aberration. Voters seem to be buying the premise. A recent poll showed Schroder's prospects for winning a third term in 2006 within reach. That may be because Schroder has ducked the country's most pressing problem-economic reform, reports Berlin Correspondent Stefan Theil. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6919698/site/newsweek/ Reluctant Partners. All the talk about North Korean nukes has obscured a shift in the local dynamics, in particular North Korea's blossoming economic relationship with China and South Korea, reports Tokyo Bureau Chief Christian Caryl. Both China and South Korea know their economic ties provide a degree of leverage over the North, but are increasingly loath to use it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920246/site/newsweek/ Help From The People. China is getting tough on overdevelopment, reports Special Correspondent Craig Simons. Until now, developers ran roughshod over environmental regulators. China's increasingly toxic environment may pose an even greater threat to its citizens. Now activist groups are lending their muscle to pro-environment policies. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920477/site/newsweek/ WORLD VIEW: Hail to the Flip-Flopper. While many argue the success of the Iraq elections vindicate Bush's steadfast, unwavering style of leadership, the elections occurred because he changed course and adapted to realities on the ground, writes Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6920207/site/newsweek/ THE LAST WORD: Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan's Prime Minister. Aziz discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Pakistan's prospects for peace with India. "I think progress on the Palestinian issue is very important. We have to look at the root causes of why people believe and act in a certain way." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6919421/site/newsweek/