Behind him, the twisting green vines stretch out into the distance, their leaves tinged with gauzy mid-afternoon light, their stems rising up from a rich ochre-red soil.

BBC: The three colours of Ibiza

" The truth, he said, was that the Americans had pushed only a short distance out of the airport into a suburb where they had been surrounded by Iraqi troops, with "three-quarters of them slaughtered.

CNN: Capital has look of a battlefield

He wondered if the call was long-distance, if he should yell out to stop reading Scripture into the phone at twelve cents a minute.

NEWYORKER: Idols

Via Appia Antica stretches out south of Rome, as straight as a die, its steppingstone cobblestones disappearing into the distance.

BBC: All roads lead to Rome

Like Austin, San Antonio has grown out, not up - the suburbs sprawl away into the hotter, dustier and slightly less arable distance, leaving the old civic core unscathed.

BBC: The perfect chilli con carne in the heart of Texas

The Premier League new boys took every opportunity to shell the ball into the Villa box, with Delap testing out keeper Brad Friedel's resolve with his artillery-distance throws.

BBC: Stoke 3-2 Aston Villa