Briefing

Green America

Waking up and catching up

Belatedly, and for many reasons, America is embracing environmentalism

Pharmaceuticals

Billion dollar pills

An overhaul at Pfizer, the biggest and most conservative of drugs firms, shows what ails the industry

Microsoft

Peaks, valleys and vistas

The launch of a new version of Microsoft Windows, called Vista, is not quite the event it used to be. Has the software giant reached the pinnacle of its power?

Cotton suicides

The great unravelling

Is globalisation killing India's cotton farmers?

Trade's victims

In the shadow of prosperity

Hard truths about helping the losers from globalisation

Vista and Office

An end to that blue screen of death?

Microsoft's latest upgrades should make PC users happier

America in Iraq

The president's last throw

George Bush announces one more push for “victory”. Is he just reinforcing failure?

Manufacturing in Asia

The problem with Made in China

China is choking on its success at attracting the world's factories. That has handed its Asian neighbours a big opportunity

Peacekeeping

Call the blue helmets

Can the UN cope with increasing demands for its soldiers?

Manpower

The world of work

To see how the nature of work is changing around the world, look at the evolving strategy of a global employment provider

The United Nations

Mission impossible?

As Ban Ki-moon takes charge at the United Nations, we look at the prospects for this troubled body and for its peacekeeping efforts round the world