And this is even more important and has a greater significance when we remember that the U.S. and Brazil are the two countries that has the largest black population outside Africa.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama, President Rousseff Meet in Brasilia

It did have political significance for the superpower stand-off, but it was even more important for the sustenance of Russia's internal dictatorship.

ECONOMIST: A Survey of the 20th Century

Weak firms were always likely to go under. (And some stronger ones are still expanding in Britain witness Honda's announcement this week that it will be producing a new model at its Swindon plant.) More important, the car industry has a totemic status that is out of proportion to its real economic significance.

ECONOMIST: Hard pounding