Not long after the bobbing booster was fished out of the Atlantic, a team of troubleshooters determined the wire broke away from a connector.

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He claimed one soldier tried to grip Mr McColgan's hands tighter on to the wire but was ordered away by an RUC man.

BBC: Soldier's shot 'just missed witness'

Investment bankers sometimes get paid like NFL quarterbacks because just as Tom Brady is an injury or interception-filled season away from the waiver wire, investment bankers and traders are one bad deal or trade away from the unemployment line.

FORBES: Political Economy

To make snares, the poachers tear down the wire fences that keep wild animals away from cattle farms.

ECONOMIST: Zimbabwe��s non-farmers

Drive-by-wire would, for example, do away with the distinction between left-hand and right-hand drive vehicles, since the driver would no longer be tied to the steering wheel and the location of the pedals.

ECONOMIST: Drive by wire

Just a few miles away stand the new floodlights, barbed-wire fences and gleaming smokestacks of Pump Station No. 2, a fortified multimillion-dollar compound that straddles the pipeline.

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Then the finger joined the girl, the tray banged shut, I was standing by my shopping cart, studying the mesh pattern of the collapsible wire basket, trying to recall what was already slipping away.

NEWYORKER: History of a Disturbance

At one point, he tried to call the Poxley volunteer fire department, but the creosote pole that supported the telephone wire had already gone up like a torch, taking his service away.

NEWYORKER: Idols

For now, passive self-defence is recommended: barbed wire to protect vulnerable parts of ships, fire hoses to push pirates away and an alert crew to spot attacks early to allow the ship to take evasive action.

ECONOMIST: Piracy off Somalia: Perils of the sea | The

He sped away to his large compound on the outskirts of Islamabad that is protected by high walls, razor wire and guard towers.

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