As thousands of bused-in police academy cadets gathered along the route to prepare for the procession, Olivero and his wife, Yelitza Acuna, hid from the sun while waiting in a block-long line to buy flour, coffee, butter and other food staples they said have been hard to come by for about two years.

NPR: Hugo Chavez Coffin Parades Past Venezuela's Ills

The revelation came on the first day of a court hearing into the US Department of Justice's attempt to block Oracle's long-running bid to buy smaller rival Peoplesoft.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Oracle rustles Microsoft-SAP plan

Its debt burden is unlikely to reach the 150% of GDP forecast for Greece, but Ireland is also a small country in a big currency block: if investors want to buy euro-denominated bonds with a surer return, they have other places to go.

ECONOMIST: Ireland's public finances

It might not help that the Lib Dems' loudest critic of Rupert Murdoch is not their leader but the business secretary, Vince Cable (who last year indicated to undercover journalists that he wanted to block News Corporation's now-aborted bid to buy the chunk of BSkyB that it does not already own).

ECONOMIST: The Liberal Democrats

If a card belonging to a Berliner has never been used to purchase a plane ticket or buy goods outside Germany, the system may block an attempt to book a Moscow-Tokyo flight leaving in three hours.

ECONOMIST: Computing

One block north, hand-painted signs direct you to arguably the best key lime pie that money can buy.

BBC: A remote hook in New York��s harbour