Rajiv Gandhi, the prime minister of India, was assassinated. He died instantly when a bomb contained in a bouquet of flowers exploded at a political rally in Tamil Nadu. Suspicion centred on Tamil separatists from Sri Lanka.

(More: Kenneth Baker panics, we recall all the bids for INR1, profiles of Hi-Five, Kraftwerk, T'Pau, and a shocking lyric from Kylie Minogue. With songs by The Blessing and the next German number one.)

REM went up four to 9 with Shiny happy people, and if there's a smuggled lyric in that song, we're yet to discover it. Cathy Dennis's Touch me (all night long) fell two to 8, and if there's any sense in the lyrics there, it's still a mystery after all these years. KLF's Last train to trancentral is down three to 7, and Soft Cell's cover of Tainted love slips a place to 6. Amy Grant climbs four to 5 with Baby baby, and the decline of Beverley Craven starts here, Promise me slips one to 4. Crystal Waters retains top spot on the MRIB survey, but Gypsy woman (la da dee) is down one to 3 on the only chart that counts. Colour Me Bad rise five to 2 with I wanna sex you up, meaning that Cher's The shoop shoop song (it's in his kiss) retains the top spot for a fifth week.

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We're almost tempted to apologise for coming back to it, but it's our blog, and we'll do what we damn well please. This Livejournal vote really is a rum do. Even though the count will now proceed by the rules described, there are other unusual aspects to the arrangements. Voters may alter their ballot after they've cast it, and it's possible to obtain a running total of the votes cast so far. In turn, that allows us to take a punt at the top two, and gauge the possible winner.

As of just after 1100 GMT to-day, the total votes cast were:

1st pref - 18014
2nd      - 15996
3rd      - 14824

The leading contenders are:

Cambler (ED)      726   1050    672
Jameth (ED)      3948   2470   2077
Legomymalfoy (F) 5201   1670   1159
RM (LJU-F)       1866   3807   1264
Squeaky19 (LJU)  1070    880   1315
Vichan (F)        825   1200   2349

(More: A worked example, showing the leading candidates, and how we worked out the provisional, approximate result so far.)

The question for the constituency, and one on which we have no position, is this. Would you rather have Legomymalfoy, who is an establishment candidate? Would you rather have Jameth, who polarises opinion and is associated with shady activities? Would you rather have RM, who is supported by the socialist faction led by Mark Kraft? Or would you rather have pictures of cats in silly poses pretending not to speak the Queen's English?

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Update to the Vote Another Owner-Friendly Person To The Ignorable Board, which - to be honest - we're treating as an exercise in the art and craft of the Tallyman.

In voting overnight, Deathboy moved past Cambler for sixth place; he appears to be an independent candidate, as does Mr. Flagg, the only other candidate attracting more than a modicum of support. We're going out of our way to give Jameth extra votes, including the bulk of Cambler's first preferences. Even so, the final three has remained constant all day, and the ratio is not varying much. At just after 1700 GMT, the scores in the penultimate count were: Legomy 8950, Jameth 6950, RM 4550, and that's one heck of a mountain for the second-placed candidate to climb.

The ballot closes on Thursday, at that well-known Thursday time of 0400 GMT on Friday morning. (Another one for the fast-growing pile of unusual regulations, there.) And runaround ...... now!

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Final round of updates on the Livejournal popularity contest. By this time, the seven leading candidates had 84% of first-preference votes, so we're amending the model to account for that. The final three remain Legomy (9400), Jameth (6450), RM (3950), which - given that if the model still has any bias, it's in favour of Jameth - raises the possibility that Legomy may be elected with a round to spare.

Once a candidate has secured 50% of the effective votes, the counting algorithm will halt. It won't transfer preferences from the remaining candidates, so it's unlikely that we'll be able to see if the winning candidate received a formal Quota, currently just over 12,000 votes.

What is the prize? An expenses-paid trip to historic Byzantium, a chance to insult Bradley Fitzpatrick to his face, four in-flight meals (or three days on a train, if you're British), a vehement personal campaign against them by the losing party, and the chance to do it all again next May.

There's no actual power, the winning candidate will join other people who really should know better as a figleaf for SUP's ethically-dubious business model, and will not be talking about the globally-important matters. For instance, SUP's apparent links with the FSB hasn't had a look in during the campaign. Nor has the owner's history of dishonourable practices, all favouring Mr. Poutine and his puppets. Remember, Mr. Mamut's aim is to get rich by ingratiating himself to the Poutineists, he doesn't care for the reputation of anyone other than himself and the oligarchs, and doesn't care on whose toes he treads, or even on how many toes he treads.

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To-morrow at 9am, BBC Parliament will repeat the Election 83 results programme. This review was originally written after seeing the programme in 2006, but an administrative error caused it not to be posted. Readers may wish to compare and contrast with Off the Telly's review. We would like to point readers to the BBC's INFAX catalogue so they might be warned what is about to appear, but the Beeb has decided that we mere mortals are not allowed to enquire within. This is all possible thanks to the unique way the BBC is funded.

(More: A review (and preview) of one of the better Election Night programmes.)

The election coverage ended at 3.53, making way for regional news and the children's programmes. With David and Peter separated from all the bustle by a screen, there was a strange calm to proceedings throughout. In its calm solemnity, it was one of the better election programmes – there was scarcely a technical glitch all night, and even the Friday morning didn't lack for excitement.

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One last spin around the Livejournal elections. In comments to our previous posts, Mr. GB asked,

How many votes are by second and third accounts, especially RPG accounts? How many of them have separate unique email addresses? There could be a lot of discounted invalid ballots, and I suspect that'll hurt Lego more than anyone else.

This is a valid point, and we kept records of the last published raw figures to determine precisely if this happened. Our gut feeling was that, even if validation took place after the count, it would not alter the balance of percentages significantly, or (somewhat less likely) help the third candidates. In the event, it appears that vote validation was conducted during polling, which is the sensible way to do things.

I just went and redid my vote to remove anyone not a front runner.

G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-go!

Ahem.

(More: Dissecting the English vote, giving a brief mention to the Cyrillic-and-Baltic section, and an interesting observation regarding the code used to process the ballot.)

And finally, the turnout. Across the two votes, 3%. It's as if the whole of Wales were to be represented only by the opinions of the people of Anglesea. Still, at least the position holds precisely no power or importance.

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They may not be able to send a good Eurosong (Hind had a brief foray into the top 20 a few weeks ago), but the good people of the Netherlands know a good song when they hear it. The new number one there, Amy MacDonald's This is the life. In Lithuania, Dima Bilan went top three on airplay before his performance; the bloke with the mullet was nowhere, and lucky to get that much. Maria in Norway went to number 3, and Charlotte from Sweden popped into the top 20 over the border. Terabetsoni made number 2 in Finland a few months back, and are now back that high, kept off the top by Nightwish's new single Islander.

For Sweden, Charlotte Nillsen's back into the top ten, and Sebastien Tellier's the big mover, in at 12; Norway and Greece also make the top 60, but the big news in Sweden is the football songs at 1 and 2. Sebastien's not eligible for the main French chart, which still requires a physical release, and only makes 29 on the download list. Simon Matthew's back at 12 in Denmark, but the pirates are nowhere in Latvia; former Eurovision entrants Brainstorm are at the top there. Nor do No Angels get a kick up in Germany; Kate Ryan has the highest entry, at 11. Ishtar's back to the top 20 in Flanders.

No change for Rihanna and the Ting Tings in the top two, and the physical release of Duffy's Warwick avenue climbs four to 3. Neyo is up five to 7, with Coldplay falling out of the top ten after three weeks. Alphabeat's newie is the fastest climber within the top 40, of just seven places. Chris Brown's Forever is the highest new entry at 17, and Paul Weller's the most tedious, Have you made up your mind at 19. Physical releases don't help the Fratellis (27-23) or Zutons (28-26). There are new peaks for Gabriela Cilmi (14) Sara Bareilles (15) and Fall Out Boy / John Mayer (30).

For the third week running, the Ting Tings have a new entry into the top 40; after That's not my name and Great DJ comes Shut up and let me go comes in at 29, a climb of 20 places. New talent lower down the chart: Go Audio crash in at 33 with Made up stories, some rather decent indie stuff, and Vampire Weekend's Oxford comma is polite and quiet, finally making the top 40 after three weeks just below. It's not the new Highway 5.

Continental talent rests just outside the top 40: Kat Deluna's Run the show is top ten in France and Finland, and the dance track rests at 41 here. German dance stars Scooter are Jumping all over the world at 47, and recent Irish number one Galway girl from Sharon Shannon and Steve Earle lands at 70 here. Other new talent includes the Mystery Jets' rather good Two doors down (53), and Jesse McCartney; the video clip for Leavin (66) really shouldn't be a staple of breakfast television.

But it's talent shows that provide the rest of the talking points this week: Mint Royale's 2005 dub version of Singing in the rain was abused on Simon Cowell's Got Chutzpah and makes 28. Pop Idle Us winner David Cook comes in at 61 with Time of my life, following in the footsteps of Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks. Use on some talent show or other propels DJ Sammy's Heaven back in at 65, and the one Eurovision performer to make the top 100 is Kalomira from Greece, Secret combination makes 71. Sebastien Tellier's just in the top 200, and Andy Abrahams somewhere outside the 100.

We've had a 1-2-7-3-4 top five just once before, 22 September 1962:

1. (1) Elvis Presley - She's not you
2. (2) Frank Ifield - I remember you
3. (7) Cliff Richard - It'll be me
4. (3) Ronnie Carroll - Roses are red
5. (4) Bobby Darin - Things

Usher has the new number one album, Here I Stand, with Duffy advancing to 2. Neil Diamond and the Ting Tings drop to 3 and 4, with Pigeon Detectives declaring Emergency at 5. A climb for the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, up two to 7. Spiritualised and Futureheads have new entries into the top 20, Russell Watson and Neil Diamond have re-entries. Even though it's not been promoted much, Sandi Thom's second album The Pink and the Lily can only make 25, and we've got to see it as a failure. Kids in Glass Houses make 29. The Zombies, Ashley Simpson, and a Coldplay live album enter outside the top 40.

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This week, we've been watching and hearing...

• More or Less (Open University for Radio 4) In the last edition of the current series, we find out about how the police make up the street value of drugs, does stress cause heart disease, and the worst day to sell shares. Plus another look at pubs per head, and a revelation of why the show's been asking after it all series. Showpage
• Filth (BBC-2) Not a classic: the show tended to put Mrs. Whitewash's case in the best possible light, quietly understating the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric from her campaign. Hugh Carleton Greene (or Mr. Greene, as he was referred to throughout) appeared as a caricature - an obsessed opponent, smug and arrogant. Mrs. Whitewash didn't want to clean up television, but reverse the liberal tendencies of the sixties; by not portraying this at all, the drama left its effect almost entirely muted, with both protagonists' edges not so much blunted as filed off. The Mary Whitehouse Son's Experience; Obsolete
• Have I Got News For You (Hat Trick for BBC-1) Alexander Armstrong again this week; he's perfected his ultra-anodyne act so as to not get in the way. Clare Balding was worth the money, particularly a crack at the expense of Amy Whingebag; Michael McIntyre was less visible, though we liked his snark at the gratuitous footage of Garry Kasparov being attacked by the flying penii. Showpage
• Feedback (City Broadcasting for Radio 4) Feedback: On the public service (or otherwise) usefulness of bbc.co.uk; on clichés in the news, and on the fluffy and louche weather forecasts. And why is Mark Lawson obsessed with connecting everything to the flight of the Kaiser on 9/11? Showpage

In other news, Scottish people want a proper Six O'Clock News, entirely divorced from the priorities of the London-centric BBC and ITN. Bauer has removed Kiss and Smash Hits from most of its local DAB services. The replacement is soft music station Magic.

In its final act as an independent company, GWR has disposed of two of its stations. XFM South Wales has gone to Town and Country Broadcasting, will be renamed Nation Radio, and move to new studios in Neath. GWR's also sold its digital channel Planet Rock, but hasn't yet said who the buyers are; the news was leaked by disappointed bidder Brian May of Queen. The INR2 license (currently occupied by Virgin 1215) has been sold by SMG to a subsidiary of The Times of India, and will be managed by Absolute Radio. The consortium will ditch the Virgin 1215 brand by the end of August.

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The regime in Burma extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi for another year; the democratically-elected president has now been detained continually since 2003, and intermittently since 1990.

Nepal brought an end to almost three centuries of tradition, and voted to abolish her monarchy. We await a comment from our Nepali correspondent, so here's one from Radio Netherlands.

Newspapers in Belgium seek €49m damages from G****e for illegally publishing and storing their content without payment or permission. The world's most tedious advertising brokerage released a statement confirming it is still in denial about the complete illegality of its activities.

Pressure grew on the prime minister to resign his post, while he's investigated by the police over allegations of fraud. Already, the Labour party has withdrawn its support for the government, and now a senior cabinet minister has criticised her leader. All of this is happening in Israel.

Ancien British prime minister Mister Tony Blair said that he wanted to spend his life uniting faiths. Bishops, imams, priests, rabbis, druids, on a count of three. Three! Tony Tony Tony! Out Out Out! That was easy.

A leading building society announced that house prices in the UK fell by 2½% this month, a 4.4% correction in the past year, leaving prices still about 25% higher than they would sensibly be.

Leaders of the Labour party may have run up personal debts of £14m (€18m). The party may be declared bankrupt in July, and the ruling clique may have to pay the money themselves.

A treaty banning cluster bombs was signed by 111 countries.

The 100m world record was broken by Usain Bolt, who ran the distance in 9.72 seconds. Mr. Bolt had previously specialised in the 200m event, and ran 9.76s at the start of May.

We regret to report the death of Alan Towers, presenter of BBC Midlands Today and commentator on the skateboarding duck clip.

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Another cloudy and humid week, with rain never far away; Tuesday and Wednesday had two separate pulses of rain. There will be more wet and humid weather next week, particularly in the south, so do wrap up.

26 Mo cloud, wind       11/14, 3.0
27 Tu rain o/n, cloud   10/14,15.5
28 We rain, fog         11/15,22.5
29 Th fog to sun        11/19, 3.5
30 Fr cloud             12/18
31 Sa sunny spells      12/19
01 Su cloud, showers    13/16, 0.5

Rainfall in May: 100mm; monthly average: 64mm

Rainfall in June: 0.5mm; monthly average: 50mm

Degree heating days: 809½
2006-7: 499/499
2005-6: 684/684
2004-5: 556/556
2003-4: 754/754

Degree cooling days: 21
2007: 13/ 91
2006: 13/360
2005: 10/238
2004: 9/198
2003: 28/328

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