To football or not to football? That was the question we have pondering. Should the NS simply ignore the World Cup on its feature pages? The answer, I decided, was a single big piece on what it says about the state of the world, and then to leave it to our wonderful Hunter Davies, who by the way will be back from his holidays in time. So we enlisted the knowledgeable David Runciman, who has provided a finely written and informative piece explaining how the riches that come to certain individuals are not making their way to poor countries, particularly in Africa.

On another sporting theme Andrew Stephen provides a harrowing story of America's class divide, rape and the strange sport of lacrosse. John Gray tackles the green movement on nuclear energy and more besides in the essay, while John Pilger is on the road in Bolivia with an uplifting tale of popular empowerment.

Our mystery writer has fun at the expense of our Neighbours from Hell, while Rachel Cooke is back at the radio tiller.

Reminder - next week's issue will be the last in our present format.
From the issue dated June 12, available online on Thursday June 8 the NS as a magazine will have a brand-new look - with new features and brilliant new columnists.
You'll be able to enjoy all the exciting changes online as well.
In the autumn the website will also undergo radical change.

Exciting times at the NS!

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