Having dropped (back in 1990) a plan to build the world's biggest ice-breaker, the Canadians may also have to seek Russian help next time they need to carve out a path to the North Pole: even the patrol boats ordered up by Mr Harper this month won't match Russia's leviathans.

ECONOMIST: The Arctic

Breaker Brett Gardner, meanwhile, managed just one hit over the same time frame.

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The NYSE has a circuit breaker in place, so the exchange shut off trading for a period of time to quell panic.

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The Senate is to be sworn in on January 3rd, 17 days before the inauguration of the president, and during that time it will be Mr Gore, in his final days as vice-president, who is the tie-breaker in a 50-50 vote.

ECONOMIST: The Senate