Yet for all the recent progress in supply chains, a weak link remains--the link between product development and manufacturing.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Meanwhile, the Telegraph newspaper reports that England hooker Dylan Hartley - whom Gatland criticised as a weak link in the run-up to the 4 February clash - has accepted the Wales coach's apology.

BBC: Gareth Llewellyn questions Gatland's 'slating' habit

In theory, the agreement promises to break the self-reinforcing link between weak governments and weak banks.

ECONOMIST: The world economy

The next weak link in the power-deregulation chain is transmission and distribution .

ECONOMIST: California��s power crisis

The weak link: the AppleTV set-top box effort.

FORBES: Chief Executive Steve Jobs

The world economy's other weak link, Japan, faltered half-way through 2004 and despite the odd spark has not yet sputtered into life again.

ECONOMIST: Running out of puff? | The

The initial impetus for the link-ups has been the weak performance of bank shares in the UK in the past year.

BBC: Banks braced for more mergers

But helicopters, historically volatile and prone to cost-cutting demands by governments, may be GKN's weak link.

FORBES: Beefing up the rump

Francesco Garzarelli from Goldman Sachs said that in the event of a massive write-down "a systemic danger in the eurozone which comes from the weak link that is Greece will be removed".

BBC: The Greek cloud

There's still one weak link in the equation: What if you're using a different e-mail address in five, ten or 20 years?

FORBES: E-Mail Time Capsule