So the Tories are desperate to shore up their base among middle-class voters: time therefore for a risk.

ECONOMIST: Clue: not John Major

Worse, you will miss the dramatic arc of this remarkable production, as the action courses over decades, in and out of personal calamity and ideological disillusion before coming to shore at what might best be described as a Stoppardian middle way.

ECONOMIST: Tom Stoppard: Coming ashore | The

Colin Powell, America's secretary of state, has embarked on a Middle Eastern tour and all this diplomacy is designed to shore up a truce painstakingly negotiated earlier in the month by George Tenet, the director of the CIA. So much for Mr Bush's hands-off policy.

ECONOMIST: Uncle Sam to the rescue

The huge inflows will shore up the finances of the 12-member group, particularly as some Middle East countries lift social spending on the wake of the Arab Spring.

CNN: OPEC cartel to reap record $1 trillion

Romney's best bet to help him shore up his conservative bona fides and flagging support is to choose someone who appeals to middle-class white voters without college degrees who understands them, Continetti said.

CNN: Is Romney's campaign stalled?