Monday 20 May 2013
Lights in the sky over Damascus. Another Israeli raid – “daring” of course, in the words of Israel’s supporters, and the second in two days – on Bashar al-Assad’s weaponry and military facilities and weapons stores.
Years ago, a colleague rang me for advice. She was being sent to Baghdad in advance of a US threat to attack Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. But should she go?
In a decision that is certain to arouse fear among the regime’s enemies, the Syrian government has decreed that thousands of volunteers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad should be recruited into uniformed and armed units under Syrian army command to fight on the front lines against anti-Assad rebels, and to control newly “liberated” towns and villages.
The Iraqi poet al-Mutanabbi – he who said that “if you see the teeth of a lion, it doesn’t mean that the lion is smiling at you” – was murdered by someone he had offended in a poem.
Damascus under siege? Certainly. But at war? I’m not so sure.
The prime minister has resigned, there’s no government to speak of, there are further street battles in Tripoli, the threat of more kidnappings.
Why should readers be deprived of the intriguing tales that didn't quite make it, the "back of the notebook" stories of past months?
In the months that followed the 1979 Iranian Revolution, I would approach the departure gate at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport with fear. I had nothing to be frightened of; I was a bona fide newspaper journalist travelling in and out of Tehran.
The Algerian army, we were told by the usual suspects yesterday afternoon - on French television as well as in America - "are not soft on terrorists" and had "expertise" in "fighting terrorism".
Last week was a bad week for our Protectors. It kicked off with the shameful details of the De Silva report, which concluded that the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane had been murdered with British state collusion.
We were half-way up to the great German fort at Syreneset when Tore turned to me and suggested that Muslim fundamentalism thrived because of the failure of education in parts of the Arab world.
I think I found the village of Huj at the weekend – but the road sign said “Sederot”. The world knows it as Sderot, the Israeli city where the Hamas rockets fall. Even Barack Obama has been there. But Huj has a lot to do with this little story.
Enough is enough. Now we have even “National Infrastructure” Minister Uzi Landau – one of my favourite dogsbodies in the Israeli government – talking about “collateral damage” and the justification for bombing Hamas’s broadcasting station. It could be used for transmitting military instructions, he said.
Here we go again. Israel is going to “root out Palestinian terror” – which it has been claiming to do, unsuccessfully, for 64 years – while Hamas, the latest in “Palestine’s” morbid militias, announces that Israel has “opened the gates of hell” by murdering its military leader, Ahmed al-Jabari.
The Oslo express is racing across the pre-dawn, frozen pine forests of Norway, wherein sits Detective Inspector Fisk on the last day of Operation Aleppo. He is reading Rafael de Nogales' Memoirs of a Soldier of Fortune.
They found part of a hand in Rue Ibrahim el-Mounzer, along with some intestines - no one doubted ownership of the thumb that was discovered, still pressing the button of a mobile phone.
When Rached Ghannouchi met Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali - before Mr Ghannouchi wisely exiled himself to London as an enemy of the dictatorship - a very odd thing happened.
They found a part of a hand in rue Ibrahim el-Mounzer today, along with some intestines – no one doubted ownership of the thumb that was discovered, still pressing the button of a mobile phone.
It is as rare as a Roman inscription, as poor quality as a cheap reproduction, but it is the real thing – "L'Unita', 17 August, 1924" – and the headline is heavy with menace: "The body of Giacomo Matteotti recovered at Riano Flaminio."
How the government howled. With the help of a neighbouring state, 'terrorists' were trying to destroy the government and its army, blowing up and murdering its supporters.
A second day of hearings on the proposed abortion legislation is to take place.
A fish farm worker has been hailed a hero after single-handedly saving two dolphins from dying on a beach.
Authorities say tornadoes have touched down in Wichita, Kansas, and a suburb of Oklahoma City but there are no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage.
England football manager Roy Hodgson will make a personal plea to supporters attending next week’s international against the Republic of Ireland not to sing inflammatory songs about the IRA.
Roger Federer admitted he had no answer to Rafael Nadal's masterclass after the Spaniard put him to the sword to win the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome.
True Verdict built on her promising comeback run to gain a deserved opening success in the Come Racing On June 8th Maiden at Navan.
Model and fitness fanatic Nell McAndrew has shown off her new baby daughter - and says that children are now her priority rather than her health challenges.
Rod Stewart said he was "over the moon" as he celebrated his 15th number one record with a champagne toast.
Rod Stewart's first album of self-penned songs in 20 years has gone straight to the top of the UK album charts.
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