Salut!

Bonne année from Le Mans, the Sahara and beyond - for the last time?

No time, in all honesty, to offer much more than a sincere Happy New Year's greeting to all who stray here (allowing myself the right to make the odd exception).

It can be read as coming from two of the places I have visited most recently, the French city of Le Mans - my city-in-law as it were - and the Tunisian desert town of Douz.

Doomed to failure: the end of the world (except Bugarach) show

Imagae: Marcovdz

Salut! wishes all readers, or nearly all of them (I must allow for the possible presence of trolls and spammers) a Happy Christmas - provided there is one to be happy. If you have neglected to check Salut! until a minute past midnight tomorrow, making it the start of Saturday Decemeber 22, you're either a Doomsday survivor on your way to some undisclosed place of outer-space safety - or the world didn't end after all. This is my report for today's ediiton of The National, Abu Dhabi...

A small French village is preparing to cope with an invasion by the international media for a momentous event that, if it happened, they would be unable to report.

Tunisia: wintry chill in the birthplace of the Arab Spring

Just back from a quick trip to Tunisia. Loved it and more will be seen here soon enough. This is a Postcard from There kind of piece that went live on The National's website a few hours ago ...

Leveson: a reporter sees his point while attacking sanctimonious TV coverage

On the broad principle, that is to say the need for more effective regulation of the press, I do not quarrel too much with Lord Justice Leveson.

It is not much of a secret that on most issues, I'd agree with Miliband rather than Cameron.

But here I side with the Prime Minister: I, too, consider legislation to be a dangerous step. A law would, in my view, be very likely to be extended by some future administration intent on curbing further the activities of the free press; without trying too hard, I can even imagine the parliamentary speech in which a minister commends the proposed amendments to the House.

And the reason I am so sure of this is that I feel politicians are even less trustworthy than journalists. That said, while I remain proud of my trade, I am also willing to see where it has gone wrong. Others have said more profound things, for and against, about the Leveson report. I will look, for now at least, at one area that troubles me ...