Environmentalists are rising to the challenge posed by the threat of unwonted prosperity!

FORBES: Daniel Yergin's The Quest: Human Ingenuity, Passion, the Fall of Caliphatism and the Rise of Prosperity

An editorial in a Baghdad daily run by Mr Hussein's son, Uday, has also hinted that Iraq is ready to show some unwonted flexibility.

ECONOMIST: Saddam Hussein reopens talks on weapons inspection

Cooler voices in Israeli intelligence believe that Mr Arafat's unwonted international isolation has produced a new determination to face down the Islamist factions and rein in his own hard men.

ECONOMIST: Israel and the Palestinians

There had been a spate of rumours that Mr Sharon's unwonted quiescence attested to a decline of his physical prowess: aged 73, he was said to be vacant and forgetful.

ECONOMIST: Israel