It's not necessarily the stuff that makes a celebrity, but if you're in Iraq there is one measure by which General David Petraeus is a bigger star than Angelina Jolie or the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

NPR: Photos With Petraeus A Big Draw In Baghdad

But the new challenge to foreign ministers' dominance, coming from finance and economic ministers, is a much bigger one, which could prove fatal.

ECONOMIST: Coreper, Europe��s managing board

"Rock Band" is one of the bigger titles in the music videogame genre, which has been a significant source of revenues for the gaming industry in recent years.

FORBES: Personal Tech

That is particularly true of Poland, which is bigger than all the other new member states combined, and the only one with a free-floating currency.

ECONOMIST: Eastern Europe and the euro

Greece is struggling to raise funds, but so is California, which accounts for a far bigger share of America's output (one-eighth) than Greece does of the euro zone's (a bit more than one-fortieth).

ECONOMIST: Greece's sovereign-debt crunch

It is worth noting that less than one year ago, EXXI purchased bigger interests in wells with which it was already involved from MIT Energy.

FORBES: Jim Bob Moffett Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is

But perhaps the most worrying thing for financial institutions holding mortgage-backed paper is not the subprime market itself, but the unnerving parallels with an even bigger one to which they are also exposed: leveraged loans to companies.

ECONOMIST: The subprime meltdown, continued