That is because a star does not show up as a pinprick of light when it is photographed.

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Here in Qobtan Jebel, a pinprick village of century-old stone walled homes in the hills west of Aleppo, Mr. Shehab Eddin's word is law, at least for now.

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Instead, he said, they'd just put a pinprick in it.

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What some might have perceived as a deep inner hypersensitivity or vulnerability may have been no more than a swollen ego, in danger of imploding at the least pinprick.

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He said work was ongoing to locate a fault six miles off the coast of Scotland and this could be something the size of a pinprick or a 10p piece.

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Despite making inroads, the rebels, who have briefly controlled areas close to Damascus, have as yet neither the supply lines, nor the communications capacity and heavy weaponry, to mount more than localised pinprick raids.

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That is a pinprick.

ECONOMIST: www.democracy.com