We should support Assange’s truth-telling
Thank you for your coverage of Julian Assange’s arrest (19 April). He must not be extradited to the US. It is about his rights and about journalism.
Australians such as the admirable John Pilger support him, but without much pressure, the Australian government will not. Just as it flouts the rights of refugees and Indigenous people, it will ignore his, if it can get away with it.
So... whether we like his personal style or not, to protect Assange is to protect journalism. No deportation!
Stephen Langford
Paddington, NSW, Australia
• The problem with Julian Assange can be summed up in one sentence: as long as those who invade countries for no weapons of mass destruction – killing, maiming, raping and torturing people – are honoured while those who tell us the truth about their lies and war crimes are prosecuted, violence and suffering will continue.
Thomas Klikauer
Coogee, NSW, Australia
Refurbishment is danger for historical structures
The Notre Dame fire is a tragedy, but we say that every time a treasured building or other structure gets destroyed by fire (19 April). But it always happens during refurbishment.
Surely by now the world should have learned the lesson and introduced working protocols that protect the buildings. It must be easier and cheaper to pay extra during refurbishment rather than have to go through these traumas every year or so.
George Ellis
New Braunfels, Texas, US
Collecting rainwater is part of the solution
Regarding your piece on golf and environmental sustainability (Hit the green, 29 March): my grandfather lived in the countryside and every down-pipe in his house ran into a barrel to collect the rainwater. This water was used for his garden.
Unlike Palm Springs, also famous for its golf courses, the south-east of England gets a lot of rain.
While I was pleased to hear that golf courses are thinking about how to use less water, it is clear that, if there were rainwater collection systems in place, they would not need to purchase as much water.
They would be helping their bottom line while helping the planet.
David Lowe
Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada
War doctor makes for inspiring reading
I was interested to read a review of War Doctor: Surgery on the frontline (1 March). Perhaps there are other Guardian readers who were introduced to David Nott in the 2008 Learning English series titled Surgeon carries out amputation by text. Texting was still a wonder then to most of us, but students from wartorn areas were not as shocked as I was reading how he saved a Congolese teenager’s life with only one scalpel, one pint of blood and poor anaesthetic operating on a badly infected arm. Everyone marvelled at his trust in a colleague in another country talking him through an operation he had never done before, and cheered when it had been successful.
Nott is mentioned as “a surgeon with decades of experience in war zones who has been supporting the doctors in Aleppo”. I have often wondered how. Was he the one at the other end of a phone or screen? Maybe the book will tell me. What a worthwhile man!
Cherry Treagust
Portsmouth, UK
Switzerland deserves much credit for Libero
Ever since, some years ago, the Swiss voted against allowing minarets to be built, we have made it clear that cuckoo clocks would not be welcome in our house. After reading Jon Henley’s 12 April article on the dramatic influence that Operation Libero has had on Swiss attitudes, I feel it might be time to revise that decision.
Joyce Schlesinger
Durham, UK
An accordion is not one of my daily staples
I don’t quite know where I went wrong in life, but an accordion is not one of my “everyday items” (Piece keeper, 29 March).
Wendy Mansfield
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Faking authenticity is the key to success
Your article about “the quest for authenticity” among “influencers” (12 April) reminded me of the saying about Hollywood: “In Hollywood, the most important thing is authenticity, and if you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
Leigh Dolin
Burlington, Vermont, US
