(The Independent) Two suicide bombs exploded in Damascus yesterday, killing at least 55 people and wounding hundreds more in the single worst atrocity since the start of the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule last year.

The massive rush-hour car bombings, which targeted a notorious branch of the Syrian secret police, sparked a round of claims and counter-claims, with the government blaming "terrorists" and the opposition accusing the regime for the devastating attack.

Revolt: Eye-Witness to the Syrian Uprising - Stephen Starr

(Huffington Post) One of the biggest challenges to understanding events in Syria over the past year has been the lack of access granted to the international media. The secretive nature of the Syrian state has allowed only for controlled and largely regulated trips or dangerous illegal travel into the rebel held areas of the country. The deaths of Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, killed by government rockets in Homs in February, was a brutal reminder of the perils of trying to ensure that the reality of events reaches the global audience. Although Stephen Starr cannot be said to have taken the same risks as Colvin, 'Revolt' is still a brave account written by someone who knows Syria and has been there since the outbreak of protests and violence in March 2011. Starr had the privileged position of working as an editor for the state controlled "Syria Times", an English language excuse for a paper riddled with systemic corruption and nepotism that would lazily report the banal and irrelevant, unsurprisingly focusing on the President's day to day activities. The standards of the paper are typical of the independence and quality of Syria's press, I once knew another Western journalist whose attempts to persuade the Times staff that Syrian forces weren't withdrawing to the west in their 2005 withdrawal from Lebanon (i.e into the sea) was met was uninterested stubbornness.

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat- There is an often said phrase that any political earthquake in the Middle East will lead to tremors in Lebanon. The country is a geopolitical chessboard that plays host to struggles ranging from the Arab-Israeli conflict to the Arab-Iranian Cold War. Yet despite a deepening and increasingly bloody conflict in Syria, Lebanon has remained largely calm over the past 14 months. While there have been both pro and anti-Syrian regime protests there has been no large-scale breakdown in order.

Nadim Shehadi, from the Chatham House think tank, described the situation in Lebanon as “immune to flaring up”. Shehadi explained to Asharq Al-Awsat: “It is un-inflammable…in the last seven years since the assassination of Hariri there have been many torches thrown at it and it has shown immunity.” In March, Western diplomats stated that “Lebanon has managed to maintain stability, thanks to an international decision to isolate the country from the turbulence in the region”.

Yet with violence in Syria worsening by the day, and deep scepticism over the durability of ceasefires, can Lebanon remain hermetically sealed from the chaos in its eastern neighbour?

(Huffington Post) In an ideal world the makers of the latest alien invasion blockbuster want you to watch the film, buy the board game and then join the US Navy.

The film has been fairly compared to the Transformers trilogy and is complete with sweeping shots of military hardware and a US flag is never too long out of shot. The film's central character is a boozy, long-haired lay about living on his older brother's sofa until he finds the solution to his life's problems - joining the navy! One short haircut later he finds himself in a snazzy uniform with access to large weapons, a stunning fiancée on his arm and put in charge of ordering Rihanna about, a classic teenage fantasy.

To aid the not so subtle recruitment nudge the actors were sent on a Navy boot camp overseen by retired Captain Rick Hoffman, who after issuing sage advice such as "don't fall off the boat", was given a cameo in the film. Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch, who plays Lt. Alex Hopper bigged up his experience with the Navy telling the media that "when you're working in Pearl Harbour and surrounded by all these vets and naval officers, it's quite infectious and so you're taking from whatever they're giving you."

Director Peter Berg admitted that he was "a big fan of the Navy and I wanted to do a Navy film." The film, which isn't in danger of winning too many Oscars, has even sparked debates on military forums about whether battleships could return to frontline service. In addition the film's other unusual heroes are Navy veterans in their 80s and 90s who were located via veterans' administrations. They provided the crew of the Missouri Battleship that save the day and Berg spoke of how "there were about forty of them, and they just had the time of their life. They were hitting on the girls, and flirting and drinking beer and telling stories, and they had more energy than anyone".

What is most interesting about the film however is its portrayal of veteran soldiers. In particular one of the films central hero's is injured US Army Colonel, Greg Gadson (above), who lost both of his legs in Baghdad. Brooklyn Decker plays a physiotherapist and spent time at Brooks Army Medical Hospital in Texas before acting the role. Rather than avoiding the thorny issue of the long term wounded the film takes Gadson's character into the centre of the action as he issues the rallying cry "let's see if we can buy the world another day!" before attacking an alien, at one point using his prosthetic leg as a club.

Although Battleship may be quickly forgotten amongst the glut of summer blockbusters, its portrayal of veterans may find it more memorable for recruits to the Navy both past, present and of course future.