How to win a swimming race like Idi Amin
There's scene in The Dictator – Sacha Baren Cohen's new film "in memory of Kim Jong-il" – that shows Admiral General Aladeen, the heavily bearded autocrat played by Cohen, winning a 100m race by shooting his competitors with the starting pistol.

Argentina's crass Olympics advert is the lowest form of diplomacy
Yesterday, on the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Belgrano, the Argentine government broadcast an outrageous advert on prime time national TV. It showed one of their Olympic athletes training on the Falkland Islands, with a slogan at the end that read: “To compete on English soil, we train...

Why the Gareth Williams case could have disastrous consequences for Britain's cyber security
A coroner told us yesterday that, “on the balance of probabilities”, the death of Gareth Williams was likely to have been “criminally mediated” . In other words, this talented young spy was murdered – and somewhere, his killer remains free.

Gus O’Donnell has thrown a grenade at the Government. But what's he really up to?
What is GOD playing at? Until late 2011, Lord [Gus] O’Donnell was the Cabinet Secretary, the highest-ranking official in the Civil Service. It was he who assumed the role of David Cameron’s butler, welcoming him into Number 10 two years ago. And it was thanks to his oiling of the...

The Saudis have spoiled Mecca – but the British Museum doesn’t want you to know
Go to the British Museum’s Hajj exhibition if you want a close-up look at Egyptian textiles and medieval Turkish manuscripts.