Peter Rhodes on a coded whodunnit, a sudden ceasefire in Gaza and a new twist in the mobile-phone dilemma

THE loss of a million species of plants and animals, as forecast this week by a UN committee, is no laughing matter. But I can't be the only one who smiled when BBC News website illustrated the crisis with an image of a wasp.

IT may have struck you that the latest bloody spat between Israel and the Palestinians was over as soon as it began. These mini-wars used to drag on for months yet this was settled with a ceasefire in a matter of hours. What's going on? The answer, if we believe some reports, is that Eurovision is due to be staged in Tel Aviv from May 14 - 18 and nothing must be allowed to disturb it. Hold the boom bang-a-bang.

JED Mercurio, writer of Line of Duty (BBC1) is the flavour of the decade and, as the final episode of the series showed, he can do no wrong. One critic spoke for most of the nine million viewers, describing it as "deeply satisfying." And yet. . . .

IT all hung (spoiler alert for those of you still waiting to see it on catch-up) on the cryptic signal made by the dying, and decidedly bent, cop "Dot" Cottan in the previous series. While all eyes were on Cottan's lips, the Big Secret was being divulged by his hands. He was signalling in Morse code. Now, at this stage a sceptical viewer might just ask how many coppers are fluent in Morse, let alone have the presence of mind, while dying, to tap out dots and dashes. And even if an expiring cop finished his message, how many living cops would recognise Morse? It would be far more plausible to use charades. Okay, Cottan, so it's a TV series, four words? First word, one syllable . . ?

A MUCH funnier version would have Cottan gasping these final words: "Cross the stile, follow the footpath to the corner of the field by the church," at which point Hastings would intervene: "Ignore him, he's rambling." There are good reasons why I never got into scriptwriting.

BACK in the world of real crime, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners says the Crown Prosecution Service should scrap the controversial order telling victims of crime - including rape - to hand over their mobile phones. Which sounds fine except that judges and juries like to think they are hearing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So how might they react to the barrister who tells them: "My client is innocent and the accuser's mobile phone would prove he's innocent, but we can't show you its contents."

A BIG increase in stop-and-search has resulted in a 25 per cent drop in violent deaths in London, according to the Met boss, Cressida Dick. Maybe they should rebrand them as search-and-save.