THOUGH the war is at President Bashar Assad’s doorstep in Damascus, his government is still trying to give the impression of business as usual. The regime continues to pay salaries to Syria’s civil servants, wherever they may be, even though government offices in swathes of the country are empty. Earlier this month the north-eastern provincial city of Raqqa fell to Mr Assad’s enemies—the first city to do so.

Yet the show must go on. In Damascus the electricity board still issues citizens with bills. The postal service still delivers mail no more erratically than before. Even the Meteorological Office is on hand to publish forecasts of rain. For Syrians who enjoy star-gazing, the Astronomical Society has notified them to look out for a comet between March 12th and 14th.

Though almost no tourists came last year, the government heralds a tourism body charged, among other things, with “preserving traditional handicrafts”. Meanwhile, the environment ministry is keen to start a study into “pollution caused by terrorists’ actions, such as burning forests”.

“The state is investing heavily in the desire felt by many Syrians for a return to normalcy,” says Peter Harling of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. Earlier this month Mr Assad’s rubber-stamp parliament presented a bill to regulate dentists.