This week the American media converged on ‘‘electability’’ as the defining idea in the presidential race. And the ECONOMIST explained why the whole world must applaud American Democrats for coming ‘‘to their senses’’.

Both TIME and NEWSWEEK identified electability as the consideration uppermost in the mind of the primary voters. This was the week when John Kerry raced ahead of his rival for the Democratic nomination. Howard Dean has not minced his opposition to Bush’s war in Iraq and takes angry stands on issues; Kerry has an aloof image and supported the 2002 resolution authorising war in Iraq. Once again, said TIME, the voters had flirted with the insurgent and snuggled up to the safe, steady guy.

In Britain, the ECONOMIST suggested that not just America, but the whole world would gain from this new turn. Because Bush had also made mistakes which affect people well beyond America’s borders. And because it would be a keener contest now that Democrats have shifted from loathing Bush to ‘‘appraising realistic alternatives to him’’.

The magazine took time out to wonder about the electability of Sonia Gandhi. It’s all a question of branding, according to the ECONOMIST. It identified the problems with Brand Sonia: She has failed to look like an effective leader. Remains shielded from public exposure. The Family may have lost its resonance with a new generation of middle-class voters. And though she is doing new things now, ‘‘time is short for image-transformation — especially when the marketability of the basic brand is in doubt’’.

Musharraf’s choice

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF told NEWSWEEK’s Lally Weymouth that ‘‘we have been playing this blame game in the past, but let’s leave it to the past’’. She was grilling him on the ‘‘freedom struggle’’ in Kashmir at Davos and the generally verbose Musharraf was refusing to be drawn.

But Pakistan’s General remains pinned in the international gaze. The NEW YORK TIMES and the WASHINGTON POST are monitoring the investigations into the sale of the nation’s nuclear technology to Iran. Last week Musharraf said ‘‘some individuals’’ may have done it. This week, the NYT reported from Islamabad that investigations now focus on the Father of Pakistan’s Bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan. The American media is framing pointed questions: Does the Pakistani government have the will to bring charges against its national hero? Could any scientist have removed hardware behind the back of the government and the army?

The Bush administration is engaged in a ‘‘delicate series of exchanges with Pakistan’’, said the NYT. And Musharraf may be confronting one of the ‘‘most treacherous tasks’’ since reversing Pakistan’s support to the Taliban: The situation highlights the ‘‘central split’’ in Pakistan since the country’s birth — civilians versus soldiers.

Movies of us

AND from Ramallah, news of the first-ever Ramallah International Film Festival, to be held this April. The Palestinian and Italian organisers are grappling with the logistical challenges of bringing a large festival into the heart of Palestinian territories. Then, there’s the matter of ‘‘social responsibility’’.

The festival won’t stop at showing films, they told Egypt’s AL AHRAM WEEKLY. It will also hold a national screenplay competition. Every candidate is required to write a story, which, if selected, could be developed into a script. The theme: the moment I grew up. The contest has already involved about 40,000 young people, aged 16-18, from 800 schools in the 17 Palestinian districts.

Will the fest double up as a peace platform? Organisers told the WEEKLY the films will be from Europe and Arab countries only, the Israelis aren’t invited. Because ‘‘there’s nothing easier than bringing an Israeli and a Palestinian boy together to shake hands and smile at each other’’. Because ‘‘this relationship doesn’t exist, normally’’.