There’s a famous scene in Casablanca where the police chief, Captain Renault, arrives to close Rick’s cafe and announces: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” A croupier hands him a bundle of notes: “Your winnings, sir.” Renault pockets the cash and orders: “Everybody out at once!” In the financial scandal surrounding the fraudulent fixing of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), it is hard to see who is the corrupt policeman since there are so many likely (...)

The violence deepens and spreads. Yet unlike Egypt and Tunisia, the Syrian revolt has not had unanimous support from the Arab left. There is a split between those who sympathise with the protestors’ demands and those who fear foreign interference, both political and military

The Bedouin in unrecognised villages in the Negev don’t want to leave their lands and traditions to move to slummy government-sponsored cities. But Israel is determined to relocate them