Only in Mr Mundie's nightmare scenario would Linux and other open-source software wipe Microsoft from the face of the earth.

ECONOMIST: Software

But now, global warming threatens to wipe their island from the face of the earth.

BBC: Climate chaos: Transcript

That alone might seem quite enough to wipe the smirk off the face of even the keenest would-be foreign minister.

ECONOMIST: Joschka Fischer, Germany’s reluctant statesman | The

' I said, 'Yeah, never wipe that smile off your face.

WSJ: New York Mets' Fred Wilpon: 'I Think We'll Be Fine'

These were pretty drastic steps, with complicated consequences, but they do not seem to have caused the heavens to open up over Iceland, to wipe the country from the face of the earth (unless you're counting all those erupting volcanoes).

BBC: Icelandic lessons for the eurozone

In the quarters England face a stern test against Australia, who will be itching to wipe out the memory of their narrow loss to them in the 2003 final.

CNN: England battle into the last eight