For Vern Pike, a young lieutenant stationed at Checkpoint Charlie in the American sector of West Berlin, the month of August 1961 should have been all about golf. In the end, however, the only thing that really teed off was the construction of the Berlin Wall.
In a development reminiscent of the activities of the fictional fun-loving army surgeons in the long-running TV show M*A*S*H, the 24-year-old Pike had been detailed by his superior officer, a keen golfer, to oversee the restoration of a derelict course so the colonel could enjoy a few rounds.
A platoon leader in the US Army Berlin Brigade's 287th Military Police Company, Pike had even lined up some caddies, and it was only when they stopped showing up that he understood that the Cold War was really starting to heat up.
"All of my caddies were from East Germany and they would crawl through a hole in the wire," recalls Pike, one of the speakers at the BOLDtalks series of lectures at Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre tomorrow. Then, "a couple of days before the wall went up, they told us 'We may not be able to get over here much longer'."
Pike was about to find himself playing a walk-on part in the drama of unfolding history.
On the night of August 12, 1961, he was on duty in his observation post on the fifth floor of an apartment building at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse. "I got a call from one of our patrols, 'There's some strange activity over in East Berlin, you might want to come and have a look'."
Over on Zimmerstrasse, three or four metres into the Soviet sector, Pike found workmen installing a fence of cement posts and barbed wire. It was the forerunner of the 140-kilometre-long, 3.6-metre-high reinforced concrete wall that would divide the city until 1989.
Since the end of the Second World War, Berlin had been divided into four sectors, each overseen by one of the victorious allies. But in 1949 the Soviets declared the Russian sector, East Berlin, to be the capital of the new communist German Democratic Republic, itself cut off from the rest of Germany by the Inner German Border.
Until 1961, Berlin had remained a loophole through which East Germany's brightest continued to flow west. The wall was designed to stem this exodus, and it was largely successful; before it went up, more than three million had fled; between 1961 and the tearing down of the wall in late 1989, only 5,000 or so are thought to have made it across. Officially, 80 were killed attempting to escape, but some estimates put the total into the high hundreds.
As Pike recalled in his book, Checkpoint Charlie: Hotspot of the Cold War, suddenly, "I was aware that we were stationed at the possible epicentre of a world war and, if World War III was to start, I would probably be an early casualty." Within two months of the start of the construction of the wall, that war seemed imminent. In late October 1961 the Russians, contrary to agreed practice between the former wartime allies, had started to restrict the movements of US personnel. General Lucius Clay, President John F Kennedy's man in Berlin, decided to test Soviet resolve by sending a series of civilian vehicles across the border at Checkpoint Charlie, escorted by Pike and his military police, and a stand-off quickly developed between tanks on either side.
Crucial to the US response was the question of whether the unmarked opposing T54s were East German or Russian and Pike was given the job of finding out.
"General Clay said, 'Find out whether they are Soviet tanks or East German, because if they are East German we go to war'."
With the fate of the free world in his hands, Pike "drove over, parked behind the tanks, got out and there was nobody around. I climbed up on one, went down inside it, and there on the instrument panel was Cyrillic script, and the driver had left a Red Army newspaper by the brake handle."
Proof in hand, Pike reported back to General Clay. Shortly afterwards, the Russian tanks melted away and the crisis was averted. General Clay's action had forced the Russians to admit that they, and not the puppet East German government they had installed, were still responsible for the security of their sector.
"And from that day on," says Pike, "the Soviets were in a defensive position ... it took another 29 years for the wall to go away, but that was the high-water mark of Soviet influence in Central Europe."
Not that life on the Cold War's front line was without its lighter moments.
One day, Pike spotted a man who seemed to be wearing some kind of American uniform walking down the middle of Friedrichstrasse from East Berlin towards Checkpoint Charlie. Later, it emerged he was a schoolteacher who had adapted an old wartime Eisenhower jacket, adding a corporal's stripes on one arm, an Eighth Air Force patch on the other and a pair of metal discs on the collar on which he had scratched "US".
It was enough to confuse the Vopos, the East German border guards, but just as he was about to reach the West the man's nerve gave out and he collapsed on the white line that separated the two sectors.
"The Vopos grabbed him by the ankles. I had two MPs down there and they grabbed him by the shoulders and they had a tug of war going on between the four of them."
This particular Cold War struggle was a win for the West, secured when Pike's sergeant joined the fray and tipped the scales in favour of democracy. "He came out of the guard shack, went over with his billy club and bopped the two Vopos on the head. They said 'Ouch' and turned the guy loose."
In February 1962, Pike found himself in the wings as another classic piece of Cold War drama unfolded. "I got a call from the provost marshal who told me to tell all the German employees and policemen to go home ... A half-hour later these three people show up and go immediately down to our detention cells."
The next morning, Pike and his men escorted the three to Glienicke Bridge, the so-called "Bridge of Spies". "These three goons get out, walk to the middle of the bridge, three come from the other side and after doing a little eyeball check they swap the two guys in the middle."
The MPs escorted the party to Tempelhof airport, where an aircraft was waiting with propellers turning. "These three guys go running up the ramp, the plane takes off, and my colonel says, 'That was Gary Powers'."
CIA pilot Powers had been captured in May 1960 when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. On February 10, 1962, Powers was swapped in classic Cold War style for Soviet spy "Colonel Abel" - the man who had spent his last night in western captivity in Pike's cell.
"I tell you, that was very moving," he says. "To me it was a signal honour to be involved."
And that could be Pike's motto, for a life lived in the shadow of history: "You were right where the action was; everybody else was just bystanders."
BOLDtalks takes place at Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre on February 25 at 9.30am. Tickets cost Dh200. For more information, call 04 441 6216 or visit www.boldtalks.com
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
PRISCILLA
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Habib El Qalb
Assi Al Hallani
(Rotana)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
BlacKkKlansman
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington; Adam Driver
Five stars
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Ronaldo's record at Man Utd
Seasons 2003/04 - 2008/09
Appearances 230
Goals 115
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Saturday's results
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5