COVER: FEAR & THE FLU. The New Age of Pandemics." (All overseas editions). Contributor Laurie Garrett writes about the H1N1 flu virus and how it has spread from pigs and birds to humans around the globe. She explains why microbes like the H1N1 flu have become a growing threat. "We live in a globalized world, filled with shared microbial threats that arise in one place, are amplified somewhere else through human activities that aid and abet the germs, and then traverse vast geographic terrains in days, even hours -- again, thanks to human activities and movements. If there is blame to be meted, it should be directed at the species Homo sapiens and the manifest ways in which we are reshaping the world ecology, offering germs like the influenza virus extraordinary new opportunities to evolve, mutate and spread."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195692

Where Pakistan is Winning. Haider Ali Hussein Mullick, a senior fellow at the U.S. Joint Special Operations University and an author, writes that Pakistan is under siege, as the Taliban has advanced perilously close to Islamabad, where they remain, shooting it out with Pakistani troops. Some pundits have started predicting the nation's collapse, yet the situation is not actually as dire as it seems. While the military is barely holding off the extremists in some places, in others it has recently notched up a string of surprising successes--victories that offer a way forward for the nation as a whole.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195702

Britain: It's Not Dead Yet. Reporter William Underhill reports that although Britain's New Labour philosophy -- the moderate and market-friendly program pushed by former prime minister Tony Blair -- might be struggling, with Conservative leaders swiftly proclaiming its death, the British public looks like reluctant warriors. New Labour stressed the value of private enterprise and wealth creation as the most efficient means of achieving economic growth and there are few signs that it is turning back now -- or that anyone wants it to. History also suggests that Labour would be unwise to turn back to its old model. Talk of a return to Labour's old ways is "scaremongering," says Jessica Asato of the Labour pressure group Progress. "We are not going back."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195697

A Recess From The Recession. This special report on travel looks at how, in the middle of the recession, we need a vacation more than ever. Yet in this new age of austerity, jet-setting has been jettisoned and the travel industry's bracing for possibly the worst season since 9/11. But this doesn't mean the holiday has been forsaken. Newsweek reports on such trends as vacationing at home, exploring South America's wilderness, taking the old-fashioned spa cure, and more.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195704

Holidays for Health. Special Correspondent Sana Butler reports that people are traveling overseas more often for cheaper medical procedures. Jetting off to a foreign country for affordable cosmetic surgery has been a popular option for years. But now, pinched by rising health-care costs, travelers are going abroad for routine required surgeries and procedures, including colonoscopies and ob-gyn exams. By 2012, experts predict, medical tourism will turn into a $100 billion international industry with more than 780 million patients seeking health care abroad.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195712

Staying Home For the Holidays. Special Correspondent Sophie Grove writes that strapped vacationers are taking "staycations," where they explore their own city, which means bad news for the global economy. The world's most prolific and profligate travelers -- Americans, Japanese and Europeans -- are among those worst hit by the global recession, and many are amending their holiday itineraries in response. Tourism-dependent countries are weighing in with energetic publicity campaigns to persuade their citizens to holiday at home, triggering a new kind of trade war. Visit Britain recently launched a multimillion-pound campaign to encourage Brits to stay put this year, and there are many copycats, including Australia's "No Leave, No Life" campaign that offers Australians a $900 tax break to use their annual leave for a local holiday.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195707

The Old-Fashioned Cure. Contributor Sameer Reddy writes that spa hotels centering on luxurious and extravagant treatments are no longer the answer for those seeking to relax. Rather, they are increasingly returning to the old-fashioned approach: a combination of fresh air, healthy food, physical exercise and immersion in natural beauty. In the heart of Austria and Germany, visitors are flocking to the modern equivalents of the restorative resorts that Europeans used to call "cure houses." Rooted in the Western healing tradition that emphasizes getting back to nature, the latest spa trend fits the no-nonsense recession-era ethos, which involves doing penance for past excesses by returning to the elements.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195713

Top Secrets in South America. Special Correspondent Mac Margolis writes that the most rewarding attractions in South America often are not the ones starred in the guidebooks. South America has a wealth of quieter, less obvious pleasures, many of which can be enjoyed for free, or nearly so. Past the heralded beaches and tony resorts, a world of parks, conservation areas and wilderness awaits. And with pocketbooks pinched and nerves frayed, there is no better time to get out and appreciate the great outdoors.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195705

Luxury On the Edge. Special Correspondent Eric Pape writes that countries long plagued by instability are developing posh hotels that appeal to bargain hunters. Countries that have long lived on the edge are hoping, finally, to reap the benefits of tourism. Many nations with great cultural and historic legacies and stunning natural beauty have seen their tourism potential hobbled by a grim past or rampant instability: Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Bolivia, to name a few. These destabilized countries are investing in snazzy new hotels, developing tourist attractions, repairing infrastructure and creating amenities to woo visitors. For intrepid tourists looking to beat the crowds, improve the world and stretch their vacation dollars, back-from-the-apocalypse destinations offer opportunities like no other.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195714

WORLD VIEW: Change We Can't Believe In. Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria writes that although we are told that the Pakistani military has finally gotten serious about the threat that militants pose to its country, there is no evidence of a campaign to rid Pakistan of these militant groups. The Army has never launched serious campaigns against the main Taliban-aided groups led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or Jalaluddin Haqqani, both of whose networks are active in Pakistan. Even now, after allowing the Taliban to get within 60 miles of the capital, the Pakistani military has deployed only a few thousand troops to confront them, leaving the bulk of its million-man Army in the east, presumably in case India suddenly invades.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195786

THE LAST WORD: Wesley K. Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and politician. Clarke discusses NATO's changing role in Europe, the Middle East and the war on terror. "NATO is an organization in which nations pledge themselves together with the strongest pledge one nation can make to another, which is that an attack on one represents an attack on all. That's still the most powerful relationship between states. Among all other international organizations, there are none stronger than the relationships of NATO."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195701

/PRNewswire -- May 3/

SOURCE Newsweek

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