Though many find fault with US foreign policy, Americans hit by Hurricane Katrina deserve support. Our hearts go out to the millions of American people who have weathered the worst hurricane season in decades.

THAI TALK: Where have all the good doctors gone?

Among the various grandiose plans propounded by this government is to turn Thailand into the region’s hub for everything from aviation to fashion to entertainment. And perhaps trumpeted most frequently of all is the grand scheme to make this country the medical hub of Asia. There is perhaps no real harm for a country to indulge in a certain degree of self-aggrandisation and, with a touch of humour, even self-delusion at times. The problem begins, however, when the starry-eyed politicians begin to take themselves too seriously.

Poland’s journey from solidarity to freedom to disunity

Although the rise 25 years ago of Solidarity, the first independent civic movement in the former Soviet empire, had huge political consequences, Solidarity was, primarily, neither a political movement nor a labour union.