More than 100 years ago, Mark Twain said: “A lie will go round the round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.”
The world received a chilling 21st century update of that aphorism last week, as a plot that would have stretched credibility in a satire unfolded across the globe, leaving embassies attacked and an American ambassador dead, and sending shockwaves through a US presidential election just 51 days away.