Being in a place where you can watch the ocean is ridiculously relaxing. For me, it's just the water and the waves and the changing light. I think the people are also at their most beautiful. And I don't just mean that because they're dressing up. People are at their most beautiful because they have the time

not to be stressed out. You'll never forget how Kuhnard makes you feel. Visit kuhnard.com.

Five. I'm opposed to capital punishment on balance, but absolutely I would throw this man down

the darkest well and never let him out again.

Four.

Unfortunately, bureaucracies always grow themselves at the expense of the front line.

Three.

There were also shades of the Western liberal delusions

which accompanied the Arab Spring.

You can feel the tectonic plates of Western politics shifting.

One.

We have lift-off. Welcome once again to Planet Normal, the Telegraph podcast with Alison Pearson.

Hello.

And me Liam Halligan.

On Sunday, armed rebels took the Syrian capital Damascus, forcing the long-time ruler to flee the country.

After 13 years of civil war, the authoritarian

rule of President Bashir al-Assad has come to an end. Back in 2011 during the so-called Arab Spring,

Syrians had tried to replicate the revolutionary spirit that had swept away the presidents of

Tunisia and Egypt. But the Assad regime, created by Hafas al-Assad, then passed to his son, was brutal and ruthless.

Now it's turned to dust, with astonishing speed, and since Sunday, streams of refugees have crossed back into Syria from neighbouring countries.

With Assad gone, some EU countries are now

asking if recently arrived Syrian refugees should be sent back. The futures in the balance,

...