Madrid bombs

"Spain will not bend in the face of terrorism." So says PM Jose Aznar after bomb blasts killed at least 173 people on the Madrid rail network. Co-ordinated blasts hit trains at the central Atocha rail station and two smaller stations. The Spanish government blames Basque seperatist group Eta, which usually stages a spectacular ahead of general elections. A spokesman for the group's political wing, Batasuna, denied responsibility.

Meet the Republicans' new Enemy Number One

That well-known political commentator and shock jock Howard Stern. Er... They'll be getting Jerry Springer into politics next.

Face to face

"He's an innocent man and he wants to know why was he kept in custody for so long. He is looking forward to seeing his family again very much. However, he wants the US authorities to answer for what he has suffered."

So speaks Robert Lizar, the lawyer of Jamal al-Harith. Mr Harith arrived back in Britain last night after being held hostage by the US military junta since 2002. Mr Lizar is already threatening to sue the US junta and the UK authorities for false imprisonment and for breaching his human rights. Four others also returned, but were detained by UK police in an exercise all about saving the junta's face and not at all about preventing terrorism. The four were freed late on Wednesday night. More...

Also: Palestinian terrorist Abul Abbas dies in occupied Baghdad ... the Dutroux trial is visited by his surviving victim ... elections this Sunday in Spain and Russia, with the incumbents expected to win ... Greggles Rusedski did not take stair rods to help his game ...

Easterblogg Link Of The Day

Here:

"Portion of the world population killed during the bloody 20th century by war; international and civil; or by genocide or by mass killings: a bit over one percent. Probability that an American will die in an automobile accident during that person's lifetime: a bit over one percent."

A quick footnote...

... to this week's chart battle betwixt Birtney's Pears and Lykie Ignouem. Apparently Cathy Dennis wrote Toxic for the petty Aussie's umpteenth album, but she turned it down as being too good, and Cath let the big-breasted wife record it. Instead, Kyles turned to Karen Poole, one half of Alisha's Attic, and Red Blooded Woman could be a good song, but not with that pipsqueak singing murdering it.

A message from Mr Begg's father

I do not plead for mercy, my son has not been charged with any crime. I ask for justice. Before mercy comes justice, and my son has been denied justice.

Moazzam Begg was kidnapped by Pakistani agents in that country in early 2002, and has been unlawfully detained by the US junta since. Azmat Begg has publicly denied the junta's claim that his son trained at an al-Qaida training camp as a "lie." more...

That was Channel Five News

1997: Kirsty perching on the edge of multi-coloured desks.
1999: Rob relaxing on the sofas.
2001: The strange blue-and-orange look that ITV later ripped off.
2003: Some nice, relaxing, classical strings.
2005: News for the fifth channel is replaced by rantings and blusterings from the far right. Viewers don't turn off in their droves, there was never a drove of viewers to start with.

The rough ranking of the rolling news channels I get:
Far and away out front: Euronews and CNN. Euronews offers 30-minute packaged bulletins, incorporating stories that don't make the rest of the news. CNN is very good at its strengths, but lacks the breadth of competitors.
Then BBC News 24 and CNBC. The BBC channel feels like it's between ideas at the moment, while CNBC is more entertaining than the other finance channel.
I have no major gripe with Bloomberg, it's just not quite CNBC.
The ITN News Channel is accessible, but tends to be very tabloidy.
I'm not counting BBC Parliament as a rolling news channel, as it has too much recorded programming. Similarly Deutsche Welle is a bit too much lifestyle and TV5 too arty to be real rolling news channels.

Caution: possible spoilers

TV Barn reports the following from a focus group about cancelled comic book show 17.

Following are different times 24 could possibly air next season. How likely would you be to watch 24 if it airs in each of the following time periods:
Sunday at 9pm
Monday at 9pm
Tuesday at 9pm

Looking ahead to next season, how important are each of the following in driving your interest in the new season of 24?
The show remains set at CTU
The American president is involved in the crisis
The series maintains the 24-hour format
The story is set in the United States
The story involves a threat of national significance to the United States

How would your interest in watching next season be affected if you knew that Jack would have a different job that doesn't involve CTU?

My thoughts: Actually airing a third series of 17 would be nice. The only thing that distinguishes the show from the mass of competitors is how the clock becomes a member of the cast, even though each hour is just 42½ minutes. For all I care, Jack Bauer can go stick his head in a pig... spoiler! Oh.

Slick Rick

Ric Blaxill is to move from Crapital Radio to be the first Head of 6Music. Ric's career includes five years producing the phenomenally successful Simon Mayo Breakfast Show, then turning Top Of The Pops into something worth watching, and somehow managing to completely cock up the launch of SM:TV. The digital radio station was two years old last month, but has yet to establish its place in the BBC's pecking order. Should it be the hoary old rock station, or the cool indie alternative station, or (as it's currently doing) play to both camps and satisfy none?

Cricketing superpowers

In the six-team qualifying round for this year's ICC trophy, only the winners qualified. Shame it wasn't the losers, that would have been far easier to work out: Canada lost all five matches. The other nations - Namibia, Scotland, the Netherlands, the USA, and the host UAE - beat Canada once and two of the others. Yes, we have a very nice five-way smush, and it all comes down to net run rate. The winners of this mess: the USA, over Scotland, over the Netherlands, but the Dutch beat the two sides above them. Only in cricket... Still, the USA will take their place in England this September, with games against Australia and New Zealand. Welcome to the big stage...

Not quite a haiku, but...

From tonight's Mind Games:

A farmer came to the riverside
With a donkey bearing an obelisk
But he did not venture to ford the tide
For he had too good an *.

Be careful what you wish for...

Deutsche Welle reports on the German post office robbers who didn't check their swag sack. The bare facts are these: Two armed robbers broke into a post office in Bonn on Friday evening. They had planned to remove large amounts of cash, but their heist resulted in one large sack of cold potato salad. The gangsters mistakenly grabbed a plastic shopping bag filled with two tubs of potato salad rather than the bag they had stuffed with money emptied from the post office safe. They were so quick to make a clean getaway that they forgot to check which bag they made off with.

No doubt Punt and Dennis will turn this into one of their three-minute skits when It's Been A Bad Week returns next month.

Bad day today for Crossrail. The cross-London rail link, scheduled to go from Heathrow to Paddington to Liverpool Street to Docklands looks set to be truncated by Government parsimony. Rather than provide a useful stopping competitor to the overpriced Heathrow Express and a handy link from the north of London's financial district to the big towers downriver, the revised plans are for Crossrail from Heathrow to Paddington to Liverpool Street to Docklands. The difference between this and the existing Circle / Hammersmith and City line is, er, what?

One other note from the Sunday press: John Naughton on BitTorrent's legal uses More? More.

Into the iceberg

"Candidate Bush. Strength and confidence. Steady leadership in times of change. He knows exactly where he wants to lead [his] country. And he won't let facts, circumstances, or the Constitution get in his way."

-- William Saletan, Slate magazine.

Over in Greece, the national election is won by the conservative New Democracy party. They like their socialist governments in Greece, there's only been one right-wing election since 1974. That took place on 8 April 1990, and I remember it well because that Sunday was the last of my class trip to Greece. We'd spent a week travelling the country, and because most of my companions were dyed-in-the-wool Tories, we'd cheered for the Nea Demokratika signs, and booed for the PASOK flags. Somewhere, I may have a campaign flag I managed to get back.

Poison

Week eight at the top for Katie Melua, ahead of the re-release of Jamelia's Thank You. Jamie Cullum, the Black Eyed Peas and Outkast slip one to round out the five. In spite of her big single, Birtney's album slips two to 10, swapping places with Norah Jones' previous record .

Hundred Reasons' Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge bows at 12, with Johnny Cash's American IV - The Man Comes Around up seven to 23, a new peak for the disk. Kylie's a re-entry at 24, but all credit to Sarah MacLachlan, back up eight to 27. Low entries for John Frusciante's Shadows Collide With People and Jamie Cullum's Nostalgic at 32 and 34 respectively. In the realityshows: Lemar 11 (down 2), Daniel B 26 (-5), Sparky 35 (-8).

It's all change on the singles chart: Toxic gives Birtney's Pears the fourth best seller of her career, but the first since May 2000. She's shifted 102,000 copies this week, only 15% behind Pop Idle winner Michelle McManus's opening week. DJ Casper's Cha Cha Slide is in at 2, a competing version from MC Jig lands at 33. Peter Rotten slips two to 3, ahead of George Michael. Amazing is in at 4, and it's not a Kate Bosh cover. Lykie Ignoume is a Red Blooded Woman according to her number 5 record... if only. Dude! Beenie Man is in at 7, and Blink 182's soppy ballad Miss You bows one place lower. Blink's biggest was "All The Small Things" from 2000. Week 883, and Outkast's Hey Ya slips just three to 9, and moves ahead of the pisspoor Pestside.

Other new entries: FYA and No Doubt (It's My Life, first released just 19 weeks ago) in the 20, Timbaland, Starsailor's Four To The Floor and Goldfrapp's Black Cherry in the 30. The two previous best-sellers both take massive slumps: Busted have gone 1-4-18, Sam and Mark 1-3-13-25.

Lower... The Mars Volta's Televators, The Open's Close My Eyes, Eastern Lane's Saffron

[Albums revised 11.03 following removal of Zero 7 and Auf der Maur corrupt disks.]

older writing...