A round-up of noteworthy articles in the print edition of September 30th - October 6th 2006. In this week’s podcast: the extravagant ambitions of Hugo Chavez; why Sir Richard Branson turned green; the virtual economy of Second Life; and testing Americans for HIV.

A discussion with Tom Standage, Business Editor of The Economist: “China’s plan is to build a city that uses all the available green technologies. It’ll be self-sufficient in energy and water and generate almost no carbon emissions.”

A round-up of noteworthy articles in the print edition this week: the Pope delivers a difficult message badly; how posh American universities contrive to stay that way; another coup in Thailand; a shadowy boom in corporate credits; and Richard Dawkins takes on God.

A discussion with Pam Woodall, Asian Economics Editor of The Economist: “World growth, world inflation, world interest rates, wages, profits, oil prices and even house prices are all now being influenced by China, India and other developing economies.”

So, how do you pick a translator?
Think back to all of the operator’s manuals that came with goods built in Asia, with incorrect translation. Remember laughing at poorly translated fortune cookies?
Our translated brochures, Web sites, operator’s manuals, memos or business proposals may be the only way we can reach many of our prospects. [...]

A discussion with Emma Duncan, Deputy Editor of The Economist: “We need to think about climate change maybe as individuals think about insuring their houses: you spend maybe 1% of your annual income insuring your house not because you think it’s going to burn down, but because if by any chance it did burn down, the consequences for you would be disastrous.”