With international opinion against the United States growing increasingly hostile and economic uncertainty looming at home, U.S. companies are becoming more worried about their appeal abroad. "In an annual survey conducted since 1998, RoperASW has been looking for a connection between the dwindling reputation of America and the worldwide appeal of its top brands, from Disney to Microsoft," Newsweek's Karen Lowry Miller reports.

David Kelly, the scientist whose suicide marked a tragic twist in the unfolding controversy over British intelligence dossiers that supported the war in Iraq, was "ripped apart in the middle" of a "war of spin," said an editor at the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC has come under intense criticism for its reports alleging that top British officials "sexed up" the dossiers, and now it is being criticized on grounds that its reports may have contributed to Kelly's suicide. "Yes, we had a role in it," the editor said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is under pressure following the apparent suicide of Iraq weapons expert David Kelly.