The short-term increase in the borrowing cap is the brainchild of House Republicans, who wanted to re-sequence a series of upcoming budget battles, taking the threat of a potentially devastating government default off the table and instead setting up a clash in March over automatic across-the-board spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and many domestic programs.

NPR: Senate To Clear Debt Limit Increase For Obama

Mr Evans said that Colyton's overall results were actually slightly down on last year's when it came fourth in the GCSE table - but he said this just showed that this year results had been "depressed across the board".

BBC: Schools celebrate league table success

From its heyday in the 1970s, table hockey featuring stick figures on a flat board controlled by metal rods, wielding mini-sticks swatting at a small puck was nearly wiped out by videogames and the Internet.

WSJ: Table Hockey, on Ice Since Heyday in 1970s, Makes a Comeback

And, as a final straw, your golden-boy position has been usurped by an even more glamorous and meaningless seat at the board table: the chief technology officer.

FORBES: Reprieve For A Dying Species

If Icahn is indeed on board intending to scuttle the deal, he puts himself on the same side of the table as like-minded value investors he has previously worked with.

FORBES: Icahn Joins Resistance To Dell Buyout, Pushes For $9 Special Dividend