Oh, a special welcome to the weekend, marking the end of an especially frenetic time at work (to be resumed on Sunday) and a family visit (to be concluded on Sunday). We’re going to have a nice Shabbat, with a rest, food, family and friends. And being thankful for how lucky we are – as a dip into the headlines of today will surely confirm.

Elsewhere, the mad, mad, mad world continues to go round. The following selection of links can only give you a tiny perspective, but hopefully a worthwhile one.

• At 98, Kirk Douglas the poet emerges
• Bassem Eid on UNRWA’s enablement of radical Islam
• Headline of the week
• John Lennon’s Edinburgh connection
• Three bad apples

Shabbat Shalom!