The Saga of the Siege (pages 2-3)
1. The siege began on April 2, 2002, when Jihad Ja'ara, a gunman from al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was injured during a clash with Israelis. Comrades carried him into the Church of the Nativity. The Israelis did not want to storm the church, given that it is one of the holiest sites in Christianity, so they surrounded it, trapping Ja'ara and hundreds of others inside.
2. To resolve the standoff, Arafat was willing to go along with U.S. and British proposals that some of the men inside the church be deported. In response, many Palestinians accused Arafat of selling out.

Untangling Jenin's Tale (pages 4-6)
1. The Israelis sought to take control of the Jenin camp because they believed it was home to numerous militants intent on staging suicide-bombing attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.
2. In 12 days of fighting at the camp, 54 Palestinians died and 49 more were missing, according to U.N. figures. Among the deaths were 22 civilians. A Time investigation concluded that there was no deliberate slaughter of Palestinians by Israelis.

Why Suicide Bombing ... Is Now All the Rage (pages 8-9)
1. Until recently, most Palestinians supported the peace process and believed they had alternatives to the kind of extreme tactics employed by suicide bombers. But with the breakdown of the peace process in 2000, prospective suicide bombers emerged in greater numbers than ever before.
2. Organizations that sponsor suicide bombings pay the bombers' families a permanent pension and bankroll the education of the bombers' children. In addition, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein provides a $25,000 payment to the families in a show of solidarity.

Better Late Than Never (pages 10-11)
1. Bush's senior foreign-policy advisers, led by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, are skeptical of the concept of a land-for-peace swap. They therefore discouraged Bush from committing the U.S. to playing an active role in the peace process.
2. In a June speech, Bush stated that the Palestinians must replace their current leaders with ones "not compromised by terror" before the U.S. will recognize a Palestinian state.

Leadership in the Middle East (page 12)
1. Each of the three cartoonists draws a parallel between Sharon and Arafat. The two leaders are depicted as lacking in vision and credibility, respectively (top image); as seeking to distance themselves from the peace process rather than engage in it head-on (middle image); and as bickering children who need to be kept apart by Colin Powell (bottom image).
2. The cartoonist suggests that Sharon has limited vision and Arafat has limited credibility. He makes this point through the extremely small size of the telescope and megaphone.
3. Sharon states that he wants Arafat exiled, while Arafat in turns states that he wants the dove—a symbol of peace—to be exiled. Taken together, these portraits suggest that while exile might provide a temporary reprieve from the cycle of violence, it will not provide a long-term solution to the Middle East conflict.
4. Powell is shown as a stern, commanding, "adult" figure who is attempting to keep the smaller "children" from feuding with one another. The statement from the Time article suggests that Powell grew frustrated because senior members of the Bush Administration discouraged the President from fully committing the U.S. to playing an active role in the peace process.
5. Answers will vary.

Encountering the Taliban (pages 13-14)
1. The article reveals that pockets of Taliban resistance continue to exist in Pakistan.
2. Within Afghanistan, support has emerged from the Iranian-backed Hezb-i-Islami movement and from Ittehad-i-Islami. In addition, support has come from Iran and from disaffected elements within Pakistan. Each of these groups shares the Taliban's view that America is the enemy.

Inside Saddam's World (pages 15-16)
1. The fact that Saddam was nowhere in sight for his birthday party suggests that he is hiding in the shadows, seeking to avoid potential assassins.
2. Saddam is employing diplomatic weapons in an effort to undercut support for a U.S. attack on him. For example, his offer of $25,000 to families of suicide bombers has won him wide admiration and a reputation as the one Arab leader who is willing to say no to Washington.

Will Milosevic Get His? (pages 17-18)
1. Milosevic is accused of orchestrating crimes that brought about the deaths of 300,000 non-Serbs and the expulsion of millions from their homelands.
2. Milosevic calls the charges "absurd" and refuses to recognize the authority of the court to put him on trial.

Our New Best Friend? (pages 19-20)
1. Bush views Putin as a trusted friend. Bush reached this view after the two leaders' first meeting last June.
2. Russia and the U.S. signed a treaty committing both nations to cut their nuclear arsenals. In addition, Russia is being considered for full membership in nato.

War Clouds in Kashmir (pages 21-22)
1. India and Pakistan are feuding over control of Kashmir; additional tensions have been created as a result of a separatist rebellion, fueled partly by Pakistan.
2. Musharraf publicly denounces militant incursions but knows that it would be political suicide to denounce the militants' goals; Vajpayee has advised Indian troops to prepare for a "decisive battle" and appears aware that conflict with Pakistan could enhance political support for his party within India.

The Kashmir Conflict (page 23)
1. According to the map, India has 750,000 troops in Kashmir, while Pakistan has 506,000 troops.
2. India's Prime Minister ordered thousands of soldiers to the border with Pakistan and moved five warships to the Arabian Sea; Pakistan pulled 4,000 troops out of Sierra Leone and stationed them along its eastern frontier. Pakistan also performed a test of a medium-range missile.
3. For the militants, conflict provides an escape from poverty. Pakistan's President Musharraf wins political support by declining to denounce the aims of the separatists. And in India, war talk has brought an end to criticisms of the hard-line, anti-Muslim tactics employed by Prime Minister Vajpayee.

Time For Hardball? (pages 24-25)
1. Japan has the world's highest level of public debt: 140% of gross domestic product. The nation is facing rising unemployment and mounting bankruptcies, while stock values and consumer confidence are falling.
2. Bush is concerned that inaction in Japan could trigger a global economic crisis.

Whipping Up a Fight (page 26)
1. Tom DeLay (r-tx) is the majority whip; Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is minority whip.
2. History is on the Democrats' side, since the party of the President usually loses House seats in midterm elections. But the rebounding economy and a shortage of other issues could help Republicans.

DeLay vs. Pelosi (page 27)
Possible answers include:

Taxes—Delay supports abolishing what he calls the "Death Tax," while Pelosi argues that repealing the estate tax would undermine our national security and cost more than $1 trillion.
Social Security—DeLay supports replenishing the Social Security Trust Fund by paying down debt; Pelosi charges that Republicans want to "raid" the Social Security Fund to pay for a tax cut for wealthy Americans.
Environment—DeLay supports opening anwr (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) to development in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil; Pelosi accuses Republicans of creating new loopholes in the Clean Air Act that aid polluters and harm the environment.

WorldCon (pages 28-29)
1. The meltdown of Enron stock obliterated $67 billion of stockholders' wealth, less than half the amount WorldCom investors have lost.
2. WorldCom treated routine expenses as capital investments. These expenses were not subtracted from the company's revenues in the year they were incurred, but rather over time, boosting financial results.

The Coming Job Boom (pages 30-31)
1. The writer states that by 2010, there may be a shortage of 4 to 6 million workers. Further, 76 million Americans are heading toward retirement, but only 46 million Gen Xers are waiting to take their places.
2. The hottest jobs include teachers, computer engineers and nurses; the coldest are farmers, telephone operators and bank tellers.

Current Events in Review (page 32)
1.c 2.b 3.d 4.a 5.c 6.b 7.c 8.c 9.c 10.b 11.L 12.E 13.F 14.C 15.G 16.A 17.I 18.D 19.H 20.B