The World

By Gideon Rachman

I am back in the office – briefly – to write my first column for a couple of months. It actually won’t appear until December 29th (in a week’s time), but editors here seem eager to get away for Christmas. Funny that.

Lots of colleagues have asked me, have you finished your book? The answer to this is Yes, I finished on Monday – although I am beginning to realise that these things are never truly finished. I am meant to submit it to the publishers in the middle of January.

Now, onto more pressing matters. For those of you who are still stumped about Xmas presents, there may still just be time to order this on the internet. It is Gnome Chomsky, a garden gnome modelled on the famous left-wing linguist. I think it would make an ideal present for Reza, who occasionally comments on this blog.

Charming little fella, ideal for the garden

Here, by the way, are my favourite posts of the year:

Military manners in Afghanistan March
Latvian prime ministers and bookshops July
How Gaddafi upstaged Obama September
Doom, tantrums and walkouts in Davos January
In Hebron market February

Happy New Year to you all, I will be back and posting in the New Year.