On Saturday, John le Carre, the most celebrated spy fiction writer of his time, died from pneumonia at the age of 89. Le Carre, whose real name was David Cornwell, had been publishing novels on subjects ranging from the Cold War to the Middle East for almost 60 years. In a tweet yesterday, American novelist Stephen King wrote that 2020 has claimed a "literary giant and a humanitarian spirit".
This designation of Le Carre as a humanitarian comes from the latter's realistic, often critical assessment of the work of modern intelligence agencies. His writing also acted as a counterbalance to a more romanticised brand of spy fiction, often associated with Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond stories. While Fleming wrote from the Caribbean, Le Carre used his personal experience of the drab, grey intelligence arena of post-War Europe. In Fleming's novels, stories focused on the charm and romanticism of James Bond, equally gifted at defeating caricature villains as he was at charming women. For Le Carre, largely unremarkable protagonists fitted into nebulous intelligence networks, often without any sense of moral purpose.
CAMBERLEY, ENGLAND - APRIL 11: British Prime Minister Tony Blair inspects Officer cadets after they completed their training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst April 11, 2003 in Camberley. Some 409 cadets took part in the event and it is the first time ever a serving Labour Prime Minister took the inspection and salute. (Photo by Julian Herbert/Getty Images)
In Le Carre's stories, largely unremarkable protagonists fitted into nebulous intelligence networks, often without any sense of moral purpose
This lost Le Carre friends in the British intelligence establishment. Having worked in both MI5 and MI6, the UK's domestic and foreign intelligence arms, former colleagues felt betrayed by his pessimistic portrayal of their work. But his career and personal life - Le Carre's father was a conman who was arrested numerous times - made him well placed to articulate the moral ambiguity of such murky worlds.
In later writing, as Cold War tensions diminished, his focus turned in part to the Middle East. His 1983 novel The Little Drummer Girl looked at Israeli spy agencies in the Palestine-Israel conflict. He was particularly critical of the US-led "War on Terror", a topic he explored in novels such as Absolute Friends and A Most Wanted Man. His 2003 essay in The Times, entitled "The United States has gone mad", was a rebuke to then US president George W Bush and UK prime minister Tony Blair. He described Mr Bush's notion that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks on US soil as "one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history", potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War. He also had the foresight to see that US reactions to 9/11 were "beyond anything Osama bin Laden could have hoped for in his nastiest dreams", and that they were eroding freedoms that had made "America the envy of the world".
His focus on realistic portrayals of espionage puts him at the top of his genre - Graham Greene said Le Carre's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was "the best spy novel I have ever read". It also continues to inspire the genre today, with hugely popular series such as the French programme Le Bureau des Legendes choosing, like Le Carre, to centre stories in reality, not fantasy. Most importantly, Le Carre will be remembered for a lifetime's work that gives the public an accessible but important stake in some of the most secretive corners of today's world.
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Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
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The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight) Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am) Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
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Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
