The town of Lincoln struggled with a different sort of obstacle to progress.

FORBES: Local heroes

Even for a country like Brazil, agricultural trade barriers pose less of an obstacle to progress than barriers to trade in manufactured goods.

ECONOMIST: The Mexican marathon

Egypt and Jordan, both American allies with strong ties to the Palestinians, have long since quietly concluded that Yasser Arafat has become an obstacle to progress.

ECONOMIST: Prickly, paranoid and occasionally pragmatic

The main obstacle to progress is the 78-year-old Mr Denktash.

ECONOMIST: Island of troubles | The

The American administration also sees Mr Arafat as an obstacle to progress, but fears that his forcible removal would escalate violence and cause huge anger in the Arab world.

ECONOMIST: Yasser Arafat under threat

Another obstacle to progress has fallen away: a court ruling in London has blessed the trading in airline slots at Heathrow, despite grumbles of disapproval from European Union regulators.

ECONOMIST: Open the skies

As so often, the main obstacle to further progress is domestic politics in both countries.

ECONOMIST: Mexico and the United States: An unappetising menu | The

The counter-measures it recommends, such as hand-washing, appear to present only an isolated obstacle to the perilous progress of the disease.

BBC: Pandemic flu advert revealed by Department of Health

With the arrest of both in the past two years, Serbia's application can now progress - though Kosovo seems to be another obstacle.

BBC: Serbia recommended for EU candidate status