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Nalut, Libya It is my birthday. Lying in the primitive intensive care unit of this hospital, deep inside an area of rebel-controlled Libya, are three young men. None is over 25 years old. They look almost identical. Each has perfectly cut, military-style short hair, each is sedated, each is dripped and catheterised, each is in pain, and, yes, each is a pro-Gaddafi soldier. They are Libyan, not central African, and they are most certainly not mercenaries. Each has a mother, each has a father, and each demonstrates the futility of war.I should know all[...]

Prague, Czech Republic Oh dear, I have done it again. That sign of increasing age, of gradually increasing infirmity, of publicly stating that the ageing process is beginning to take its toll. No longer is it just a matter of keeping an eye out for the nearest gents – a phenomenon that hits so many males after the age of 50 – on this occasion I fell asleep in public.It was in Prague, addressing a conference of likeminded surgeons, although my own particular session had been slightly earlier. I had escaped from the main[...]

Vail, USA So we have done it. The challenge was made, the offer accepted and 17 days of backcountry skiing later, the record has been set. I am now expert on the beetle fall, the pinball turn and avalanches turning safety into danger. My skis feel as natural as feet. The challenge? Crazy in one respect, simple in another, so perhaps I had best explain. Spread around and between the skiing towns of Colorado’s Vail and Aspen is a massive six million-acre expanse of part-forested and mountainous wilderness. This is the home[...]

Blantyre, Malawi The boy was milliseconds from HIV, the bloodstained razor blade held viciously against his ear. The deformed black woman, clad in tattered brown dress, smiled as she pulled his head towards her. I leapt forward. “Don’t!” I shouted helplessly, aware that in deepest Malawi we were on our own. For a moment she hesitated, then the hand came down, blade nestling gently in her palm. She smiled again. “Just a demonstration,” she whispered hoarsely. “You wanted to know what I did. If I cut him, the witches will stay away.”[...]

Alexandria, Egypt How dull it would be if all nations were the same, as if it were expected that we should each behave in an identical way. Yet my experience of Egypt, which is where I am sat right now, has begun to make me wish that on occasions peoples might clone. Now and again it would just be good for folk to be predictable, equally so. There is nothing predictable about arriving in Egypt. It seemed simple at the time. Could I give a series of talks in Alexandria? I scanned[...]

Durban, South Africa So it’s official. I am a wimp. At least I try to pretend I am not, but I am. It’s Africa, you see, South Africa in particular. It seemed such a good idea at the time. A couple of days off after a conference, a long way home, so why not stop by a tourist sight and soak up a holiday atmosphere for a short while? But then I chose the wrong time, with Durban being in chaos, crowds lining the streets, demonstrations everywhere, and even a couple of[...]