Is insanity an excuse for murder?

Hello. doorART Mark in San Francisco (does your Mum call you that?), Kimberley in Philadelphia, Stephanie in Portland, Sean in China, and Josh in New York – thanks for signing up to the Daily Email.

Does Egypt need to do more to help Palestinians?

Watching the discussions taking place online about the breakthrough on the Egypt Gaza border, Egypt’s policy towards Palestinians is coming under ever closer scrutiny. When the fence is mended, should Egypt allow more goods and people to cross the border?

Are you a small shareholder?

The BBC World Service is putting together a day of programmes exploring the issues thrown up the volatility in the world’s markets this week. Our colleague Ben Williams is in charge of the day and he’s looking to get in touch with people who own shares as part of a savings plan (as opposed to doing it to earn a living). If you are just that person and would like to take part on Friday, let me know.

Unanswered questions

After yesterday’s programme Viola’s comment on the blog (“I would have liked to hear someone actually answer a question instead of simply expounding on a position.”) has me thinking. I can only agree with Viola – certainly it wasn’t as much of a conversation as we’d hoped, but some questions did get answered. But are there more? Did we get into the current situation enough? Did Egypt get too easy a ride? Does it in general?