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Letter: Somalia has been in a state of hopeless conflict for many years (Somali refugees speak of horrific war crimes, May 7)

Versatile jazz musician who loomed large in the West Coast genre before
turning to minimalism.

Though the phrase is blithely tossed about, I cannot fathom out how high-fliers manage to “divide their time” between, say, “an ocean cottage in Malibu and a townhouse in Knightsbridge”. Any attempt to shift between our humble dwellings in south London and North Yorkshire involves a logistical exercise on much the same scale as Operation Overlord. For some reason, we find it impossible to make the 250-mile journey unaccompanied by a scarcely conceivable amount of clothing, books, computers and emergency provisions of bacon and cheese. Since Yorkshire is not short of these comestibles, it is far from unknown for them to make the round trip, in much the same way as Norwegian aquavit is matured by being used as ballast on merchant vessels bound for Australia.

Welcome aboard a “Tier One” corporate sponsor for 2012’s London Olympics: British Airways. A glossy government leaflet shows a gymnast performing in the maligned new Heathrow Terminal 5, with not a queue in sight. BA is signed up to transport British athletes to this August’s Beijing Games. But can our sportsmen and women calmly leave their kit in the mitts of T5’s overworked baggage handlers?