When Ankie Spitzer, widow of Andre Spitzer, stretched out her hands to Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, and begged him to hold a minute's silence, he refused. "My hands are tied" he said. "No," Ankie replied: "Your hands are not tied. My husband's hands were tied, so were here his feet, when he was murdered. That was having your hands tied."

Given the degree of hostility between Israel and Syria, it might seem odd that for much of the past year, Israel's leaders have been fairly quiet about the uprising taking place within its northern neighbour.

The head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, says Iran could have nuclear weapons within "two years". But is he guilty of exaggerating the nuclear threat from th...

The reported comments by MI6 chief Sir John Sawyers that Iran would likely achieve nuclear weapons by 2014 only confirm what was indisputable to anyone who has looked at the evidence. Iran wants nuclear weapons and is fast developing the capacity to construct them.

Baroness Ashton did not explicitly compare the actions of the IDF to those of the killers in Toulouse. She seemed to be grasping for some more general point about the tragedy of young people dying, even adding the deaths of young people in a tragic coach accident in to the equation. But there are dangerous inferences that could be drawn.

Thinking about Syria and reading the commentary about whether anything can be done I am reminded that the biggest lesson I have learnt as an MP and as CEO of BICOM is this: as an international community we constantly overestimate what we can achieve.

When Islamists of various stripes won 70% of the vote in Egypt, the temptation to say 'we're doomed' and give up was understandable. But it was fundamentally mistaken. If western powers set clear standards and make use of their economic leverage they can maximise their ability to shape the development of rising Islamist powers in the Middle East.

As the Libyan and Syrian uprisings dominate the headlines it is fairly easy to miss the increasingly determined protests across Israel.