IT is difficult to detect any progress in the quest for peace in the Middle East since US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in the region.

Thus far, his influence has appeared minimal.

The Israeli incursions into the West Bank have not relented. And there is no sign of an end to the wave of suicide bombings by Palestinian fanatics.

Against the express wishes of Israel, General Powell went ahead with a meeting with Yasser Arafat.

And, to the disgust of the Palestinians, he has been unable to get Israel to call back its troops.

It is appearing less and less likely that General Powell can gather sufficient trust from both sides to bring them together for meaningful dialogue.

He is suffering the consequences of the Bush administration's apparent unwillingness to get involved in the Middle East process.

And he is suffering the consequences of his country being viewed in the Arab world as a devoted supporter of Israel.

It may be only a matter of time before General Powell bows to the inevitable and abandons his hopes of brokering a settlement on his own.

The impetus may well have to come from a nation unsullied by the history of the Middle East, with a genuine claim to be neutral and an honest broker.

Norway was instrumental in pulling together the first stage of the Middle East settlement from which the Palestinian Authority was created. It is time to call on its services again.

A sickening crime

IT is difficult to imagine a more sickening incident than the attack on pensioner Marie Watson.

That a frail old woman can lose her life for the sake of a fish supper and loose change in her handbag, appalls every decent member of our society.

It is difficult to know what can be done to deter someone capable of stooping so low as to launch a vicious assault on a partially-sighted great-grandmother.

The only possible deterrent to future acts of thuggery is to ensure her killer is caught swiftly, and that his eventual sentence reflects the abhorrence felt by all of us at his cowardly crime.