A round-up of how nations around the globe are dealing with the economic downturn: bailouts, I.M.F. loans, and schadenfreude.

A timeline of the drug trade in Columbia.

Links to information on the drug trade in Columbia.

September 16, 2004: U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Marc Grossman discusses foreign policy in Colombia with Carol Marin.

See the human costs of Colombia's political and economic conflicts in this photo essay.

Maria Cristina Chirolla is a compelling woman in her mid-fifties: dazzling smile, coiffed hair, dark suit. It's hard to believe there is a price on her head. We are in her office in the attorney general's building in Bogotá, a bomb-proof concrete bunker.

Links to information about Bolivia.

See what the world is spending on armed forces -- Japan has the fifth-largest defense budget in the world.