The coming days

The week ahead

The Federal Reserve meets and other news

• THE Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee meets on Tuesday March 18th. The Fed has already slashed its key interest rate from 5.25% to 3% since last September. A further reduction of at least half a percentage point is expected after next week's meeting, in response to fresh signs of fragility in the American economy and the worsening state of global financial markets.

For background, see article

•THE fifth anniversary of war in Iraq comes around on Thursday March 20th. Last year's "surge" of American troops, along with help from Sunni tribes and a truce from the most troublesome Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, has damped down violence. Even so American voters remain mostly eager to quit the country. And Iraqis continue to make only sporadic political progress on such matters as rehabilitating supporters of the previous regime and sharing power between regions.

• AFTER nine months, Belgium finally gets a proper government on Thursday March 20th. Last June, the Flemish Christian Democrats won elections in the linguistically divided country but the splintered party system, split between speakers of Flemish and French, inhibited coalition-building. Guy Verhofstadt, prime minister since 1999, will make way for Yves Leterme and a new five-party coalition. The deal will lead to a further weakening of Belgium's federal state in favour of regional governments, an unpopular decision in the poorer, Francophone south.

For background, see article

• TAIWAN chooses a new president on Saturday March 22nd. The front-runner is Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang, the Nationalist party. His opponent, Frank Hsieh, hails from the Democratic Progressive Party of the incumbent, Chen Shui-bian. Mr Chen has rankled China by aggressively pushing for Taiwan's independence and tainted Taiwanese politics with corruption scandals, which have plagued his family and associates. Mr Ma and Mr Hsieh would both seek closer ties with the mainland, but Mr Hsieh would do so more grudgingly.

For background, see article