By storing excess electrical energy that is generated by the dynamo in a capacitor, and getting the spring to unwind only when the capacitor charge falls below a certain threshold, it has proved possible to extend the playing time of the second-generation radio to about an hour.

ECONOMIST: Clockwork technology

They have no desire to indulge in a further round of write-offs, which will weaken their balance-sheets, and thus have a temptation to extend loans and allow covenants (commitments by borrowers to meet certain financial conditions) to be renegotiated.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

The first of those, he urged, is free and open trade with the continent -- an issue that was knocked around the House and Senate last year with the consideration of a bill that would extend free-trade provisions, under certain circumstances, to nations in the continent's sub-Saharan region.

CNN: Clinton says U.S. will be 'friend for life' of Africa