Serena's opponent is an Ahmadinejad fan

I was enjoying watching French player Aravane Rezai give Serena Williams a run for her money in the opening round of Wimbledon (currently in the 3rd set) until I realised that Ms Rezai, born to Iranian parents, was a fan of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - and even presented him with a pair of tennis rackets because he "has shown Iran's power to the entire world" and she is "really proud of him". See an interview with her here.

Go, Serena, go!

The antisemitic lord

Petronella Wyatt's sensitive piece about the bigots of West Dunbartonshire council - who have banned books from Israel - includes the following anecdote about the reach of antisemitism in Britain today:

As we basked in the sunshine on the House of Lords' terrace, [the life peer] said: 'The Jews have been asking for it, and because of the atrocious way Israel behaves, we can finally say what we think.'

It's a shame she didn't expose him - presumably for legal reasons. But if he was silly enough to say something like that to a journalist once, hopefully he will do it again -- under circumstances in which he can be named.