Indeed, diplomats who have visited them in the remote mountain fastness of their new capital, Naypyidaw, say they are even more confident.

ECONOMIST: The hopes kindled by the saffron revolution have faded fast

But the most popular entertainment came from local lads who, egged on by journalists, vied to see how close they could get to the Israeli fastness before bringing down a hail of warning shots.

ECONOMIST: Israel��s mess in Lebanon

He started out as a rancher, asbestos miner, and prospector in the Pilbara, a vast sweltering wilderness in northwest Australia. (It is pronounced as two syllables: Pilbra.) In November, 1952, according to legend, he was flying in a flimsy little Auster aircraft with his wife, Hope, over the Hamersley Range, an extra-remote fastness in the Pilbara.

NEWYORKER: The Miner��s Daughter