Fr Dhiya, franciscan in Syria, disappears after "armed men" came to question him.

Latest news just in - our Fr Dhiya, parish priest of Yacoubieh (Idlib province) in Syria disappeared after some armed muslim militants came to "question" him. Pray for his safety please!

So the mystery is solved - why water-canons were fired at Damascus Gate on Saturday: Ultra-orthodox jews were throwing stones at arab cars passing by the ultra-orthodox neighbourhood of Mea Shearim. Cars damaged and one woman wounded. Nearby arabs gathered to lynch the jews and both groups got into a fierce riot. Police and soldiers fired water canons with stinky water to disperse the rioters.

Well tensions continue today as everyone is expecting trouble from the fanatic muslims. With death threats still looming over our heads and sporadic riots in the eastern side of the City, the police are taking no chances this last week of Ramadan. And ironically there's anger at chinese tourists because China has forbidden fasting and Ramadan celebrations for its Uigur citizens. Local muslims, like in Turkey, feel sociality with their co-religionists in China.

Rafat's skewered potato chips

Meantime local muslims are feasting every night as the daytime fast ends. Food of all kinds are on sale. My friend and neighbour Rafat sells skewered potato chips. Usually it's apples with honey that are done this way, but potato chips like this is pretty creative. Hope he gets good sales. He's only 19 yrs old and just celebrated his birthday last week. And he scalded his right hand with boiling oil yesterday from the makeshift stall where he fries the chips. It's good to know there are still some hardworking arab youths willing to sweat and earn some honest money instead of doing drugs, stealing and loitering in the streets.