Over lavish buffets in giant, air-conditioned tents whose generators battle with the searing summer heat, Kuwaitis have been arguing over an election that is being watched for signs that one of the freest countries in the Arab world is disillusioned with its political system.
Atrocities in the Middle East are often carefully planned and the Palestinian gunman who killed eight Israelis in Jerusalem on Thursday night may have been carrying out a dual act of revenge for the recent onslaught in the Gaza Strip and the assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Damascus.