"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey is the PA announcer's usual choice of song as fans drift home post-match and Ulster fans are surely starting to believe again, daring to dream that the heady days of 1999 may be, just may be, about to return.

BBC: Ulster restore pride in white jersey

His speech in the Stennis's cavernous hanger was inaudible to most of the assembled sailors because the PA system didn't work, but the journalists reassured everyone that they weren't missing much as the speech was almost identical to the one he gave three days ago to American forces in the Sinai Desert.

BBC: Cheney visits US aircraft carrier

And she didn't need Al Jazeera's campaign against the PA to understand that she was speaking to people who represent no one.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The pragmatic fantasy