There are signs that Mr Slim's grip on Mexican telephones is being prised open.

ECONOMIST: Carlos Slim

Jimmy Carter won them back to the Democratic fold, but Ronald Reagan prised them away.

ECONOMIST: The duck-hunting season begins

The company's reaction was to have all the badges prised off and replaced with one meaning "horse".

BBC: Kia 'won't sell Provo car in UK'

As soon as Munin bullied him, he headed over to a set of empty containers, prised the lids off them enthusiastically, and pretended to eat.

ECONOMIST: Now, it seems, even the bird-brained have theories of mind

The ex-Wasps and Ireland coach, 44, will start his new role in December, having been prised from a job with Waikato in his native New Zealand.

BBC: Gatland unveiled as Wales coach

The Zurich opera's successful boss, Alexander Pereira, is widely tipped, but would he really offer bold concert as well as opera programming even assuming he could be prised away from his present post?

ECONOMIST: What to wear for Salzburg

Bresnan prised out Watson with a good ball that just seamed away a fraction and was edged to Andrew Strauss at first slip before the first tranche of rain arrived before tea.

BBC: Ashes: England on top as rain hits Sydney Test match

In later life, Mr Walker enjoyed recounting the story of how, as a surgeon prised the armour-piercing bullet from his ankle at the RAF Hospital, it shot out and hit the ceiling.

BBC: Battle of Britain hero William Walker dies aged 99

It was only the third time in the last 15 years, after Wales in 1994 and Scotland in 1999, that the Championship had been prised from the hands of either England and France.

BBC: SPORT | Rugby Union | Six Nations | Wonderful Wales exude joy of Six

Once teams of hard-working Japanese salesmen had prised open American and European markets in the 1970s, Western consumers were quickly won over by Japanese quality, design and price, whether in fuel-efficient cars or snazzy electronic gizmos, such as the Sony Walkman (for readers under 30: a portable machine that played music from tapes) or the Nintendo DS (for readers over 30: a gadget for playing video games).

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter

Between 1998 and 2000, a senseless war with neighbouring Eritrea cost a fortune and prised many of the strongest hands off hoes and on to rifles. (In Eritrea, the aftermath has been even bleaker: 2.3m people now need food aid, out of a population of only 3m.) Ethiopian peasants are also burdened with taxes on the land they lease from the state, and levies for clinics, schools and roads.

ECONOMIST: Facing famine, Ethiopia appeals urgently for food aid