Everton and Spurs were thought to be interested in Brown at that time as Celtic beat a host of clubs, including Glasgow rivals Rangers, Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Reading, to the midfielder's signature.

BBC: Everton eyeing up Celtic's Brown

Not literal battle, of course, but battle in the marketplace with a whole host of feature phones being released this year from its top rivals -- particularly important at a time when market share is falling.

ENGADGET: Sony Ericsson's C905 shutterbug (and friends) in the wild

The crowd were behind the wild card, who is a three-time champion in Paris, throughout the match and, after a hug from Del Potro across the net, a host of Safin's current and former rivals came out on court to pay tribute to the Muscovite.

CNN: Federer sent crashing by Frenchman Benneteau

The disappearance of a host of big companies in the past decade, gobbled up by rivals or seduced by the suburbs, means that occupancy rates in prime office buildings have sunk to just under 20%.

ECONOMIST: Los Angeles

Similarly the depression of the 1890s provoked a host of migrant-hostile legislation in Argentina, America and elsewhere, as native-born workers demanded that foreign rivals be kept out.

ECONOMIST: Global migration and the downturn