Mumbai Attacks: More media coverage

The story is nearing the 24 hour mark, and whilst the morning papers this morning were in general somewhat lacking the real scale of the story, the big exceptions being The London Times, The Guardian and The Independent, the news channels and the internet have been all over this story.

Whilst the news channels are returning to some kind of normality, the story does still dominate. Only channels like NDTV 24x7 and CNN IBN, which are both based in India, have stayed exclusively with the story. CNN International and Al Jazeera are staying heavily with the story as are BBC News Channel and Sky News.

RTE News has majored on the story, just like other network bulletins. RTE News Six-One, the BBC News at Six and the ITV Evening News were amongst the many network bulletins where they majored on the story.

Mumbai attacks: More media coverage

Unsurprisingly, the continuing developments in Mumbai dominate the news, though most channels currently are covering other stories as well. Even GMTV seems to have taken on a more sombre tone this morning with the story getting more coverage than most international stories do. There is a ticker running this morning with continual information about this one story. I don't see much GMTV normally, but I don't remember GMTV running a ticker normally. I could be wrong.

Not surprisingly NDTV 24x7 and most of India's other major news channels are running the story as continual breaking news. CNNIBN is one that does too, and is currently supplying pictures to sister network CNN International, who continue to cover it as breaking news. Star News seems to be one of the few that has switched away from it.

Al Jazeera is majoring on it, with a lot of breaking news coverage but they do attempt to cover over stories as well. Most channels seem to be on normal schedules with the story dominating the news. Fox News Channel is running normal programmes, but with Fox News Alerts replacing ad breaks in some cases. DW-TV is on normal programmes, but the story dominates.

ITN's online channel also leads with the story but continues on it's roughly normal schedule. Press TV from Iran also leads with the story, but also continues to cover other stories. CNBC is also providing some coverage too, using the resources of CNBC TV 18, their Indian partner.

I'll have more on the media coverage of this story, later on.

Mumbai Attacks: Media Coverage

Whilst the media has been all over this story, there is no real surprise that NDTV 24x7, CNNIBN, Star News, Zee News and Headlines Today, the major news channels in India, are the primary sources for all the world's news channels.

Fox News, Al Jazeera, BBC News Channel, BBC World News, CNN International and France 24 are all over this story, as are MSNBC and CNN US, . In Australia, ABC News Breakfast on ABC2 has been covering the story heavily. Sky News, rather surprisingly, haven't switched to breaking news, despite their Indian sister station Star News being right in the center of the action. They decided to stick with 15 minutes format. After 10pm, they switched to a breaking news format.

BBC News Channel switched at 10pm to the usual BBC News at Ten simulcast with BBC1. After the simulcast, they switched back to breaking news. BBC News Channel and BBC World News are due to simulcast together at 1am UK time, so, dependent on what happens in this story, the simulcast may be a breaking news format rather than the usual bulletin format.

News Roundup: Wednesday 26th November 2008

Plymouth Sound: A lesbian soldier has been given almost £190,000 compensation after being harassed by a male sergeant.

Plymouth Sound: A male escort accusing Boy George of false imprisonment asked to be handcuffed during an erotic photo shoot, a court has heard.

Digital Spy: Trisha Goddard has said that she has won her battle with breast cancer.

Comment: This is good news. Good news so rarely gets covered these days, that it's actually nice to be able to report some. Cancer, in any form, is not a nice thing to have, I've lost family, friends and colleagues to cancer, so I'm pleased that for now, Trisha has beaten hers.

Deutsche Welle: German federal police arrested two men Tuesday, Nov. 25, for operating a radical Islamist website and they are likely to face charges of supporting terrorism, prosecutors said.

Yahoo! 7 News: A Japanese man upset by the death of his pet turned himself in after fatally stabbing a bureaucrat and his wife, Japanese police and media said on Sunday.

Bob Schieffer's Weekly Commentary: James Jones for National Security

Whilst Hillary Clinton may have stolen the headlines and the focus last week as the possible Secretary Of State, Bob Schieffer highlights another possible appointee, this time for National Security Adviser, James L Jones.



Bob Schieffer is usually the commentator of reason in a punditry that seems to be more about noise than accuracy. This is why I continue to highlight his weekly commentaries on Face The Nation, and I will continue to do so.

Lose the phone, but find the pictures on the web!

NBC Washington reports a story out of Fayetteville. An Arkansas man accidentally left his mobile phone in a local MacDonalds, only to discover that the pictures from the phone made their way onto the internet.

The man is now suing MacDonalds, the franchise company that owns the Fayetteville store and the store manager for $3 million in damages for suffering, embarrasment, and the costs of having to move house.

Why so much? The pictures were of his wife, nude!

Hold onto those phones, people!

French Maids are tax deductable in France!

NBC Washington and The London Times is reporting that the French are turning to one of their most enduring and iconic sex symbols for help. No, not Catherine Deneuve, but the French Maid.

Maid services are amongst the services that can be tax deductable in France as part of government policy to generate over 130,000 service jobs.

Hey, if they were to wear the traditional french maid uniform, I might just retire there!!!

The UK pre-budget report:

From 2011, A new 45% income tax rate for people earning over £150,000 a year.

The UK pre-budget report: National Insurance

UK National Insurance will increase by 0.5%, and the starting threshold will be raised to be in line with the income tax starting threshold.

The UK pre-budget report: VAT

The Chancellor has announced that VAT will be cut from 17.5% to 15% from December 1st, and will last for 13 months.

UK pre-budget report: Government borrowing

The Chancellor has announced that borrowing will go up to £78blln this year and £118blln next year with borrowing being back into balance by 2016

UK pre-budget report: MP reprimanded

Tory MP Michael Fabricant has been redprimanded by the speaker of the house for loudly heckling the Chancellor.

UK Pre-budget report: counting down...

We're just minutes away from the UK Chancellor of The Exchequer standing up and releasing his pre-budget report, the most anticipated report for a long time.

We'll update you on all relevant details as they come in

New version of Dominic Glynn Doctor Who Theme

I've discovered a new remix of the 1986 Dominic Glynn version of the Doctor Who theme. It was apparently released in the Trial Of A Time Lord boxset. For those of you who don't know it, here's the original version.



Now, sample the new remixed version.



I have to say, I liked the original version, even though it was a weak theme really, but the new version has improved on it, and does strengthen it somewhat. It still won't top the Delia Derbyshire, Murray Gold or Peter Howell versions, but if it makes it better, then I'm happy with that.

Ageism in Britain, as seen in America!

CBS News produces a programme that airs overnight on CBS stations, called Up To The Minute, and as part of it, contributors from London give commentary on various stories that occur on our side of the big pond. Sort of a reverse "Letter From America".

The "London Comment" has been featured on this blog before. Back in February 08, I discovered that Classic FM presenter and former Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates was a contributor to this feature. Well, I've discovered a few more familiar names and faces who contribute to the London Comment.

Ed Boyle was a former Political Editor for Westcountry News for many years. Now he is one of the regular contributors to the London Comment. In his latest comment, he talks about Ageism in Britain.



I'll have more London Comments from other CBS News Up To The Minute contributors soon.

Former Porn Star now works in school.

There are plenty of news sources reporting this story out of Vineland, New Jersey; NBC Philadelphia and Fox News amongst them.

Whilst there are those in the area who want her fired, but at least Fox News reports that legal experts have advised them that she cannot be fired because of her porn past for two reasons...

"...one, it's not illegal, and two, it's not on school time."

What I say is this. Who cares if she is STILL in porn, or as she claims, gave it up five years ago.As long as she is not engaged in it during the time she is supposed to be doing her school job, then there is no issue and no case to answer.

Lipstick sales going up as economy goes down?

It's an odd concept. When the economy is in decline, sales of lipstick and other cosmetics actually go up. Sounds totally daft. But, as KVAL's Laura Rillos explains, lipstick sales may well be a good economic indicator.

Global News expands overseas

Not sure exactly when this happened, but it had to have been recently. Global News in Canada has expanded its global newsgathering with the addition of bureaus around the world.

Global had always had a bureau in Washington, Eric Sorensen is the bureau chief there. In recent times, they've also had a video-journalist in London, Stuart Greer. Now, former weekend anchor Tara Nelson has become Europe Bureau Chief, based in London, whilst Stuart Greer has become a London-based Foreign Editor.

Jas Johal, who was previously a correspondent based in Vancouver, has become South Asia Correspondent, based in New Delhi, India.

Lauren McNabb, who was a Toronto-based correspondent, is now Middle East Correspondent based in Jerusalem.

Ben O'Hara-Byrne, who was previously an Ottawa-based correspondent, is now based in Beijing and covering the news from Asia.

This is a good move for Global, as it now cements their position as not only a force in Canadian news broadcasting, but a growing force in international news. Global National can be seen worldwide as an on-demand webcast, and podcast. The website is not bad either. There are 3 bulletins produced by Global National. The main half hour bulletin, plus two updates, one 30 seconds in length, and one 60 second update.

Shepard Smith smacks down the "Liberal Media" myth!

Okay, it didn't happen on Fox News Channel, but it did happen on Fox News.com. In a webcast called "The Strategy Room", Fox News Radio host Andrew Napolitano and Fox Report anchor Shepard Smith were part of a discussion that included "Comedian" Nick DiPaolo, who brought up that old republican chestnut of the "liberal media". I was pleasantly surprised to find it smacked down sao quickly and so emphatically by Shep!



Now that IS telling it straight! Good on you, Shepard Smith. Perhaps we'll start hearing other anchors and commentators telling it straight for once.

Okay, maybe that's a little unkind. Bill O'Reilly can tell it straight on some issues and get it right. I would like to see Sean Hannity tell it straight just once, but I don't hold out any hope.

Beyonce Knowles as Wonder Woman?

The Boston Channel reports that Beyonce Knowles has held talks with Warner Brothers and DC Comics about playing Wonder Woman in a movie.

Hey, Warner Brothers gave us a black Catwoman, why not a black Wonder Woman?

Hilary Duff music video banned on US TV

Zoo Today has embed the music video from YouTube. Hilary Duff's latest single sounds remarkably similar to an old Marilyn Manson hit, and there are claims it has been banned from US television because it contains scenes of bondage. I've embed the video here, so you can see what you think.

The "CNN Hologram" - now you know it's a successful

Whether you were watching the US Presidential Election earlier this week or not, you'll know that two big stories came out of it. The first was of course, Barack Obama's victory. The other was "The CNN Hologram". Here it is, as it happened.



There's an old saying, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. This comes from TV3 New Zealand's coverage of the New Zealand General Election just a few days later...



...complete with Star Trek sound effect!

I think it's safe to say that we'll be seeing more "CNN Holograms" appearing on other news networks in the next few years or so.

America Votes 2008: The Final Analysis

Well, it's been a long and eventful night, and yes, an historic one. I'd always hoped Obama would win, and always believed he would, but my cynical side kept rearing it's ugly head, saying the Republicans will find a way to steal it, yet again. Thankfully I was proved wrong.

So in the cols light of day in Washington DC, and across the world, we can look back on the night that came before, and reflect on just how it happened. It's a very long reflection, and it begins when the first polls closed.

0000 GMT / 1900 EST / 1600 PST.

Six states closed their polling stations at 7pm Eastern; Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. Of those 6 states only Vermont had been a Democratic state, the others all went with the Republicans.

The first state to called in this election was KENTUCKY. The Bluegrass State is politically Red, for Republican, and this year was no exception, they went with John McCain, by a margin of 58.3% to 41.7% when the votes were finally counted. Kentucky is worth 8 votes in the US Electoral College system, so John McCain took 8 Electoral College votes.

Almost immediately following was VERMONT. Historically it has been a Democratic blue state, and once again, this year was no exception, with the projection being for Barack Obama, and with about 95% of precints reporting as I write this, Obama has secured around two thirds of the vote. Vermont is worth only 3 votes in the Electoral College so Obama took just 3 Electoral College votes.

SCOREBOARD at 0000 GMT:
John McCain: 8
Barack Obama: 3

The other four states at this time were to close to call.

0030 GMT / 1930 EST / 1630 PST

3 states closed their polls at 7.30pm Eastern. North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. None of the states were called at this time. This made a total of 7 states that were too close to call, therefore the scoreboard remained the same.

0053 GMT / 1953 EST / 1653 PST

SOUTH CAROLINA was projected to be another win for John McCain. As I write this now in review 99% of the precincts have reported and McCain has about a 9 percentage point lead over Obama. South Carolina is worth 8 Electoral College votes to John McCain.

SCOREBOARD at 0053 GMT
John McCain: 16
Barack Obama: 3

The remaining 6 states at this time are still too close to call, and the polls are about to close across a third of the country.

0100 GMT / 2000 EST / 1700 PST

16 states closed their polls at 8pm Eastern; Alabama, Connecticut, The District Of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. It meant by this time half the states had closed their polling stations.

PENNSYLVANIA was the big news at this hour. It had been Democratic Blue for the last 4 elections, and it had stayed Democratic, being called for Barack Obama. With 99% of the precincts reporting as I write this, Obama has an 11% lead over McCain, despite having won the vote in only 17 counties, compared to 48 counties for McCain. Mercer County was incredibly tight with McCain beating Obama there by just 2 votes. But it was Barack Obama who claimed the 21 Electoral College votes that Pennsylvania has.

NEW HAMPSHIRE was then called for Barack Obama. It had stayed Democratic and had given Barack Obama another 4 Electoral College Votes.

It was then no surprise at all to find out that ILLINOIS, Barack Obama's home state, was called then for Obama, giving him another 21 Electoral College Votes.

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA then was also called for Barack Obama, giving him 3 more Electoral College Votes.

The next state to be called was MASSACHUSETTS. Like the 4 states before it, it to was called for Barack Obama. This gave him another 12 Electoral College Votes.

Then DELAWARE was also called for Obama, giving him another 3 Electoral College Votes. When the votes were counted, Obama had 61% of the vote, and had the popular vote in 2 of Delaware's 3 counties. It was a pretty comprehensive victory.

The home state of Country Music, TENNESSEE, had voted Republican every election except in 1996. This year was not to be another exception, with the state being called for John McCain, giving him another 11 Electoral College Votes.

MARYLAND was called for Barack Obama, giving him another 10 Electoral College Votes.

CONNECTICUT was called for Barack Obama, adding another 7 Electoral College Votes to the total.
OKLAHOMA was called for John McCain, giving him another 7 Electoral College Votes.

A total of 13 states had been called leaving 12 too close to call at this stage.

SCOREBOARD at 0100 GMT
John McCain: 34
Barack Obama: 84

It's obvious that in this round of calls, the damage was really done. 8 states had been called for Barack Obama, only 2 for John McCain. However, it was the result in only two states that had at this time effectively sealed John McCain's fate already. Pennsylvania and New Hampshire were targets for John McCain if McCain had any realistic hopes of winning, he had to win in those states. He didn't.

0106 GMT / 2016 EST / 1716 PST

We barely had time to pause for breath before MAINE was called for Obama giving him another 4 Electoral College Votes.

Then NEW JERSEY was also called for Barack Obama giving him another 15 Electoral College Votes.

At this stage 10 states were still officially too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0106 GMT
John McCain: 34
Barack Obama: 103

This was already looking like an Obama victory. He had held on to two key battlegrounds, and was already moving ahead of John McCain.

0130 GMT / 2030 EST / 1730 PST

1 state closed their polls at 8.30pm Eastern and that was in Arkansas.

ALABAMA was called for John McCain, giving him another 9 Electoral College Votes.

ARKANSAS was called also for John McCain, adding another 6 Electoral College Votes to his total.

At this point in proceedings, 9 states are still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0130 GMT
John McCain: 49
Barack Obama: 103

McCain may have made up some ground there, but the two states called for him were expected to be Republican. We have yet to see a state switch sides as it were, and when we do, we'll know for certain who is likely to win and lose.

0200 GMT / 2100 EST / 1800 PST

There are 15 states closing their polls. Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. This brings the total number of states who have closed the polls to 41. Only 9 states are still voting at this stage.

First call this hour is MICHIGAN, called for Barack Obama, adding another 17 Electoral College Votes to his total.

Then came MINNESOTA, also called for Barack Obama. That's 10 more votes to his Electoral College total.

WISCONSIN is also called for Obama, 10 more Electoral College Votes.

NEW YORK unsurprisingly was called for Obama, adding another 31 Electoral College Votes. New York has one of the largest Electoral College Vote allocations available.

NORTH DAKOTA is called for John McCain. It's another state to his growing tally but a measley 3 Electoral College Votes, not enough to really begin to make up the gap with Barack Obama.

KANSAS is called for John McCain giving him 6 more Electoral College Votes.

WYOMING is called for John McCain, but like North Dakota, Wyoming only brings him 3 Electoral College Votes.

RHODE ISLAND is called for Barack Obama, that adds another 4 Electoral College Votes to his total.

16 states at this stage are too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0200 GMT
John McCain: 61
Barack Obama: 175

At this point, Obama now only needs 95 more Electoral College Votes to become President-Elect.

0205 GMT / 2105 EST / 1805 PST

Another slight pause to catch our breath before GEORGIA is called for John McCain, which gives him 15 more Electoral College Votes.

15 states, all still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0205 GMT
John McCain: 76
Barack Obama: 175

15 Electoral College Votes is a good pickup for John McCain, but it is almost too little, too late. Remember, New York gave Obama 31 Electoral College Votes. Too much for the small single digit college votes that McCain has mostly picked up tonight. By contrast, Obama has picked up a significant number of double digit college votes.

Now, it's fully expected that McCain will pick up Texas, giving him another 34 college votes, but that can be countered if Obama captures California, which will give him 55 Electoral College Votes, the largest number of votes available in this electoral system.

Still at this point some of the key battleground states have yet to be called. Florida, Ohio and Indiana for example...

0224 GMT / 2124 EST / 1824 PST

OHIO is called for Barack Obama, the first state of the night to politically change hands, having previously been Republican. 20 Electoral College Votes get added to Obama's total.

14 states remain too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0224 GMT
John McCain: 76
Barack Obama: 195

Oh dear! A battleground state just changed hands. Obama needs just 75 Electoral College Votes to put him over the winning line of 270. McCain must now have realised that his chances have evaporated. Despite the fact that Barack Obama isn't over the winning line yet, the gulf that separates Obama and McCain must be obvious to everyone. It's not a matter of if, just when.

0230 GMT / 2130 EST / 1830 PST

WEST VIRGINIA is called for John McCain, but like rather too many states in this election, it gives him just 5 votes in the Electoral College, another single digit haul, rather than the double digit hauls that Obama has mostly taken.

LOUISIANA is also called for John McCain, giving him 9 more Electoral College Votes. Better, but still not enough.

12 states are still currently too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0230 GMT
John McCain: 90
Barack Obama: 195

Okay, so we've had one battleground state change hands. But there are still more to come, and some are considered rock solid Republican territory, like New Mexico...

0238 GMT / 2138 EST / 1838 PST

NEW MEXICO, a usually rock-solid Republican state, is called for Barack Obama! This adds 5 more Electoral College Votes to his total.

TEXAS, another rock-solid Republican state, and this stays Republican, giving John McCain 34 Electoral College Votes. Nice, but Obama still has California to come.

10 states are still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0238 GMT
John McCain: 124
Barack Obama: 200

Surely now, despite the Texas votes, the loss of New Mexico, which wasn't even considered a battleground, has surely done it for John McCain. Can he avoid losing any more states to Barack Obama? Somehow, it doesn't seem likely. Florida still has yet to be called. Don't tell me that won't be called tonight? Still, Obama only needs 7 more Electoral College Votes. California and Florida between them could effectively end it.

0257 GMT / 2157 EST / 1857 PST

Just as we're counting down to the polls closing in 4 states, MISSISSIPPI is called for John McCain, giving him 6 more Electoral College Votes.

9 states are still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0257 GMT
John McCain: 130
Barack Obama: 200

0300 GMT / 2200 EST / 1900 PST

4 states close their polls at this time. Iowa, Montana, Nevada and Utah. All are usually Republican, and if McCain has any hopes left, then he has to hold on to all these states. There may only be 20 Electoral College Votes available between them, but for symbolic reasons, McCain MUST hold them all. Any states taken by Obama would be more symbolically damaging to McCain than it would be in terms of lost Electoral College Votes.

IOWA is the first state to be called, regarded as a battleground in this election, it is called... for Barack Obama! He takes 7 Electoral College Votes from the state.

UTAH is called for John McCain, he gains another 5 Electoral College Votes.

SCOREBOARD at 0300 GMT
John McCain: 135
Barack Obama: 207

4 states that McCain needed to hold onto and he couldn't hold Iowa. Obama needs just 63 Electoral College votes to win.

0330 GMT / 2230 EST / 1930 PST

NEBRASKA calls for McCain, but only awards 3 out of the 5 available votes to him. Only Nebraska and Maine do not have a "winner takes all" policy when it comes to Electoral College Votes.

McCain: 138
Obama: 207

0341 GMT / 2241 EST /1941 PST

SOUTH DAKOTA is called for McCain. Another measley 3 Electoral College Votes. Not really enough.

McCain: 141
Obama: 207

0400 GMT / 2300 EST / 2000 PST

5 states close their polls at 11pm Eastern. California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. With 55 Electoral College Votes for California, Obama should make it over the winning line.

CALIFORNIA was the first state to be called this hour, and it was called for Obama. No surprise here, 55 Electoral College Votes get added to his total.

McCain: 141
Obama: 262

Obama needs just 8 more Electoral College Votes.

WASHINGTON is the next state to be called, and this too, is called for Barack Obama, giving him another 11 Electoral College Votes

Barack Obama is to be the next President of the United States Of America.

McCain: 141
Obama: 273

Cue many scenes of jubilation across America, the concession speech from John McCain and the victory speech from President-Elect Barack Obama. By just before 1am Eastern, 6am GMT, Obama had 338 Electoral College Votes, whilst McCain had only 155.

Congratulations, Barack Obama. Now, the hard work begins.

Russell Brand, BBC Radio 2 and a Satanic Slut... equals boredom!

I'll be honest with you, I didn't hear the so called "offensive" material go out on air, so I can't comment on the incident. I find Russell Brand boring anyway. Fame has gone to his head and he just literally is about as interesting as a freshly painted wall. And when it comes to Jonathan Ross, I didn't listen to him either and I find him boring too. Though I do respect his longevity in the industry, I just find him to be a one-trick pony, maybe two tricks at best, but that's it.

So, this story, about Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross leaving phone messages on the answerphone of Andrew Sachs, who was Manuel in Fawlty Towers, had all the components of a total sleepfest for me. It took the "high and mighty" Conservative press A WEEK to get their act together with their fake offence which was pushed along by the attention seeking of Georgina Baillie, aka Satanic Slut Voluptua. Before the story broke, the BBC had received a whole 2 complaints about the show. Since the story broke, that has gone up to 30,000 complaints. That means a whole 29,998 complaints were generated not by the broadcast, but by the fake offence of the Conservative press. That's an increase of... wait for it... 1,500,000%.

That's an awful lotta sheep!

I find it sad that the Conservative press can have this kind of negative effect on people. But wait, it gets worse...

Now, the News of the World has a story about Brand and a threesome when the story broke, a so called fat cat scandal at the BBC, and Georgina Baillie starring in a hardcore porn film. Here's where the sleepfest hits maximum, complete with snoring!

Add to this the Daily Star Sunday's story about Georgina's porn film also featuring women dressed in Nazi outfits, and to be honest, I'm having trouble holding my eyes open.

I checked this story out a week ago, and discovered most everything that has been published today already. It didn't strike me as interesting, and it doesn't now, but the press doesn't have love flogging a story until it's not just dead, but into an advanced state of rigor mortis!

This story has more than run its course and done more than enough damage already. Let it go already! We're falling asleep here cos we're sooo interested... NOT!