Tom ClancyObituaryTom Clancy obituaryBestselling novelist whose military thrillers, including Patriot Games, were made into hit films and spawned video gamesTom Clancy, who has died aged 66, dominated the bestseller lists of the 1980s, with a series of novels that thrust his appealing CIA analyst Jack Ryan into situations that combined the intricacies of cold-war politics with precise details of modern military operations and equipment. With the end of the cold war, Clancy moved seamlessly into the era of terrorism, with no decline in sales; only JK Rowling and John Grisham joined him in meriting first printings of more than 2m copies. Read More...
WeatherwatchMeteorologyMarch winds are famous – and Storm Gareth hit Britain this March. But other months are as windy
“March brings breezes sharp and chill / Shakes the dancing daffodil,” according to a traditional rhyme. March is often taken to be the windy month, but this is not the full story.
March tends to be blustery because it is a period of transition. The sun is higher in the sky and the earth warms up in places, creating pockets of relatively hot air. Read More...
Palestinian territoriesLettersWhy a ‘three-state solution’ will never work in the Middle EastA proposal for an alternative to a two-state solution is rejected by Fran Russell and Prof Saville Kushner
Dr Martin Smith’s suggestion (Letters, 9 November) to put Gaza under Egyptian control and the West Bank under Jordanian control is not a three-state solution but a no-state solution for the Palestinians, and would never be accepted by them.
I wonder if he has ever been to Gaza or the West Bank to connect with the experience, views and emotions of the people living there. Read More...
