As revolution swept Tunisia 10 years ago, the people of Jemna saw their chance to settle a colonial-era score - seizing a 185-hectare (460-acre) date plantation just outside the oasis town.

Grandmothers have a knack for remembering important dates, and that habit paid off big for a woman in need of a big number for the North Carolina Education Lottery. Phyllis Costin says she used “some ...