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Jeez, lighten up, Hypo. I was joking! I too liked Whelk's sum up. And that's me three posts and out for the day.

Lol. The rabid pack have now turned against Verbal. Careful not to sound too knowledgable! But thanks for the interesting and illuminating read.

Hey, if you're telling me you care about women's issues and worldwide equality, and you only use patronising language on here as a joke, then I'm more than happy to accept that. However, if you're just using this as an example to bash supposed lefties and hypocrites on the head with, then I call you a hypocrite for doing so. PS. Wtf is a pinko and what decade are you living in?!

Oh good Lord, have a day off, Hypo. Your words might mean something if it wasn't for the constant shifting sands and game playing.

Lol. You preach to me about black and white, then call me militant (again) in the same sentence. Maybe things aren't as black and white as you see them. I've never had the sense Duckworth's comments about women on here are intended as 'jokes', but I'm more than happy for him to correct me if that's been his intention all along. Whether or not they're very funny is a whole different matter... But I'll take peoples views about respect a little more seriously when they start living those values themselves.

Since when have you become an advocate for women's issues, Duckhunter? All I read on here is your usual patronising baloney. Which makes you as hypocritical as they are.

Here's some analysis on the 70,000 figure. http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/yes-there-are-70000-moderate-opposition-fighters-in-syria-heres-what-we-know-about-them/

Wow. That's a really ****ed off and frustrated Koeman. I hope it's just a reaction to the City game and a sign he hates losing, rather than anything deeper. Made me feel a bit sick in the stomach though.

Yes, I also think thoughtful responses from Whithead and Davies. I do wish Cameron had allowed more time for the debate to at least convince on some of these outstanding questions.

Sorry, I've not formatted that well, and I can't edit. The last two paras are my words, not pasted from the article.

I'm going to continue the quote you've pasted as it's significant: They see hypocrisy from an international community that ignored the deaths of tens of thousands of Syrians at the hands of their own government for years, then was apparently spurred into action by Isis killings of Europeans and Americans. “Why is this just in response to Isis? Why was no one moved when the regime was bombing us in Syria? Is it just because [terror] came to western countries? For us, it doesn’t matter which bombs are killing us,” said Mona, a teacher and activist who fled from Isis James Bond-style over the rooftops of her neighbourhood. Most of all, the Raqqa exiles worry that western and Russian definitions of victory will mean removing one tormentor to give free rein to another, President Bashar al-Assad. Many of Raqqa’s exiles spent time in his prisons as well as in Isis jails, and see him as the main cause of their misery. “If I went to the UK parliament to make a speech, the first thing I would say is ask them to remove the cause [of our problems], which is Assad, not the symptom which is Isis,” said Abu Ahmad. “Hundreds of thousands of people died in the last few years, and no one came to bomb Damascus.” The overwhelming majority of people killed in Syria - hundreds of thousands - has been at the hands of their own Government. So this Syrian is asking a fair question. From what I've read, many Syrians want a no fly zone imposed (note, it's easy to assume that by saying no bombs, they mean no action from the West, but I really don't think that's the case). Whether or not bombing is the right approach needs consideration (although my understanding is what the UK offers is more accurate precision bombing than the coalition currently has). But taking no action, is morally reprehensible. In my opinion.

Amazing final shot from Andy Murray! Phenomenal. Big achievement.

Who has defined Russian tactics as being apparently more effective? If these are reports you've seen I'd been interested in reading them. In the main, all I've seen are countless reports of Russia not going after Daesh, but instead the opponents of Assad. And certainly, reports from civilian journalists, is that most deaths are a consequence government bombing and more recently, Russian bombing. That's government bombing their own people. It's always hard to know who to trust on the Internet, but there are so many consistent reports coming out of the country, you just can't ignore them. Here's a plea from Planet Syria to Seamus Milne: http://on.planetsyria.org/seamus-milne-are-you-serious/ The ISIS attack on Paris has added another layer of complexity to the issue. All of a sudden the the West is interested in Syria, but the focus is on ISIS, not the Syrian Goverment atrocities. I hope the Tories won't just take a bomb ISIS and be done with it strategy, and that's certainly not what Cameron is describing, but none the less, we need the progressive, internationalist Labour Party to be on their backs to make sure that's not the case. Instead we have Corbyn doing nothing. This has to work. This has too much world significance. We have to have all heads round the table making sure it can work and that we do it in the right way. Rather than just bailing or playing stupid funny games with the rest of the party, or standing by meaningless 'principles'.

According to reports on the ground, that doesn't appear to be happening when the coalition are involved, at least not to the extent you're describing. They appear to have the intelligence to bomb specific targets. The indiscriminate carpet bombing is repeatedly reported to be coming from the Russians and Assad. I can't answer for Verbal, but certainly I'm looking for the Labour Party to have a proactive humanitarian focussed policy on Syria, to make sure the Tories don't just look after our own interests, but also the long term stability of Syria. I'm not seeing that from Corbyn. Maybe it's still to come.

The accounts from civilians on the ground are that both Assad and the Russians are intentionally carpet bombing civilian areas that oppose the Assasd regime. This isn't the same as precision bombing gone wrong, both in intentions and results. Besides, I believe Verbal supports a no fly zone.

Oh my god, I so totally agree Hypo! And this would send out such a positive message for the next generation of female announcers to understand there's no closed doors to female talent in football. Yeah, and I agree they should be fit - it's good for a sports club to promote healthy life style messages.

I think if we're recruiting a replacement they should proactively find a woman for the role. By doing so they will open up more opportunities for recruiting women in football, and find a voice that represents the 30% or so of female football supporters. I think they should use positive discrimation to make that happen to counter the male bias. We can show we're a club for the 21st century not stuck in the past like Spurs clearly are. Plus, there's increasing evidence that women are just better at this kind of thing - quicker witted, funnier, and more likeable. I might try and get a Twitter campaign going on this - it would be great to get your support.

Not so clear to everyone, clearly. No link to Batman, but language like "bunch of Muslims" and "waltzing into Europe" sets a pretty ugly reactionary tone, in an environment when it does overspill into nasty incidents like in the article. I get emotions are high but people should still be careful with language.

What a plain nasty way to phrase that. http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/armed-protesters-stalk-peaceful-muslims-at-texas-mosque-we-want-to-show-force/

Wow, you lot sure have stamina.

Harsh, Jeff. Aside from the fact an increase in anti Muslim hate crime (or any) would definitely be newsworthy, and it's a topic that's been written about a lot.

Crossfit is probably the most effective way to get in good shape as it's short intensive bursts of activity, that work your whole body. It's hard - but it's as hard as you're capable. I have a couple of completely obsessed friends. I've only done it a couple of times, but loved it. Only thing that stopped me going more was expense vs likelihood of going frequently on a Sat morning. Which wasn't high.

As I understand it, this is also Hilary Clinton's view on the situation? (No fly zone). I've read so many different view points over the past few weeks, I'm not even sure where I stand on it anymore, beyond, I believe the need for a sustained effort. Some good (amongst multitudes of evil) was done in Afghanistan and Iraq, and there must be a way for the West to aid strong local democratic governance in a more effective way than they did previously. I also think our governments need to do a better job of explaining all of this (whatever 'this' is) to their people, because the conversation for many doesn't seem to have moved on over the past decade, which is depressing. And boy, are we ever in need of a strong progressive opposition in the UK....

Heartbreaking, Verbal. What a brave man. A reminder of what a powerful tool the internet has been for civilian power.

Yes, long but well written! And long is what we need - long, complex, nuanced, dedicated solutions, that may play out over many years. I'm tired of reading opinion pieces from the left (that always start with western self blame) and the right (that lack any level of humanitarianism). A lot of convenient, pithy, holier than thou, black and white answers, that solve nothing beyond making those that write them feel better for a moment. Long, nuanced, with a bias towards worldwide civilian welfare, is what this problem needs.