The Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) is a fragile symbol of unity in a country better known for its divisions. It is also one of the most spectacular - and least well known - hikes in the world. Inspired by the world famous Appalachian Trail, the LMT...
5 Comments | Posted April 10, 2012 | 9:26 PM
Western diplomats are appalled that the deadline for the withdrawal of Syrian government forces from towns has come and gone without any change in the situation on the ground. UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan insists that his six-point peace plan is "still on the table," while Turkish prime minister Recep...
0 Comments | Posted March 12, 2012 | 2:58 PM
While their brothers and sisters in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere mark the first anniversary of the Arab Spring, the people of Lebanon are commemorating the progenitor of these momentous events. For it was here, back in the Spring of 2005, that people power first expressed itself in the Arab world,...
0 Comments | Posted February 4, 2012 | 7:01 AM
As America gears up for Super Bowl XLVI, Bill Belichick remains studiously calm. The head coach of the New England Patriots, who face their old rivals the New York Giants on Sunday, seems unperturbed by the angst that is gnawing away at the fans. Their anxiety stems from...
0 Comments | Posted February 1, 2012 | 6:00 PM
One year after the first stirrings of the Arab Spring, we are still only beginning to digest the implications of this momentous turn of events. Yet, as commentators debate the political, economic, and religious consequences of the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere, few have discerned their impact...
0 Comments | Posted January 13, 2012 | 5:28 AM
Religious nutcases are always issuing dire warnings about the end of the world, but when a group of highly respected scientists does so, we should probably sit up and listen. On 10 January the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock one minute closer to midnight.
The Doomsday...
0 Comments | Posted December 14, 2011 | 11:28 PM
A public enquiry in Scotland has recommended sweeping changes in the use of fingerprint evidence in criminal trials. Fingerprints have long been regarded as the gold standard of forensic evidence, and even a single print can be sufficient to secure a conviction.
But the Scottish inquiry, chaired...
0 Comments | Posted November 6, 2011 | 1:49 AM
The Occupy Wall Street protests have exposed a fundamental dilemma at the heart of economics. People want economic growth, but they also want a fair distribution of wealth. Unfortunately, these two goals are not fully compatible. It is a tragic but inescapable fact that the conditions most favourable to economic...
0 Comments | Posted October 27, 2011 | 5:49 AM
The seventh Dublin Web Summit kicked off this morning with some of the biggest names in the online world in attendance, including the founders of YouTube, LinkedIn, Skype, 4Chan and Angry Birds.
Entrepreneurs, investors, and techies gathered in "the Hub" before the talks began, where they could...
0 Comments | Posted October 16, 2011 | 1:50 AM
The Occupy Wall Street protesters are hardly unique in blaming the financial crisis on gambling. But they are wrong to do so.
The first of their proposed "demands for congress" on http://occupywallst.org states that the crisis came about because Wall Street investment banks were allowed to "gamble with...
0 Comments | Posted October 4, 2011 | 6:07 AM
The investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher was contaminated by many common psychological biases. First and foremost among these was a phenomenon that psychologists call "confirmation bias."
This is the tendency to jump to conclusions and then look for evidence that supports those conclusions, while ignoring evidence that...

0 Comments | Posted April 16, 2012 | 4:07 AM