Johnson -- the daughter of a Persian Gulf War veteran and mother of a 2-year-old girl -- has always had "an angel following her around" and "always manages to get out of stuff, " her sister Nikki Johnson said Monday.

CNN: Families hoping for POWs' safety, speedy return

It appeared that Iranian pistachios would finally enter the U.S. last March when Secretary of State Madeleine Albright lifted the 13-year-old sanctions on them, together with bans on Persian carpets and caviar.

FORBES: Nutty

"Listen, I'm not Persian, " said Meir Kanto, a 72-year-old farmer.

WSJ: Iran and Israel Can Agree on This: Rita Jahanforuz Totally Rocks

Her old furniture came back: a cloth-covered green couch with a dog pillow, a Persian rug that would cover part of the carpet, a shelf of books, a Yankees baseball cap, and pictures of Babe Ruth, Keith Richards, and E.

NEWYORKER: Changing Times

Rather than inspiring the Persian Gulf's more authoritarian monarchies to reform, its 46-year-old experiment with limited democracy has often seemed a model to be avoided.

ECONOMIST: Kuwait's mould-breaking election: It's hard to create a democracy | The