Ho hum, Kofi Annan wins an environmental prize: ‘UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has been given one of the most prestigious environmental awards, the Zayed Prize. The citation noted his “personal leadership” on sustainable development… The winners of the prize, which honours former UAE President Sheikh Zayed, share $1m (£564,000); previous awards have gone to Jimmy Carter and the BBC.’ The last paragraph was slightly rodent-fragrant – and the name rang … Continue reading →

Via Bloggers4Labour, more HYS goodness: “If the court follows international law, then he will have to be returned to power. If it doesn’t follow the law, the UN should refuse to accept the new government. It will be tough on Iraqis, but the principle of non-aggression must be upheld at all costs, and Bush must be humiliated and driven from power.Colin Danforth, Montreal” One presumes that this is irony (“It … Continue reading →

Bloggers4Labour discuss that slave picture. “Roy” links to criticism in The Guardian – is this a Menshevik vs Bolshevik spat or does The Guardian realise that it is in fact a free market operator harmed by the Beeb’s gross taxpayer subsidisation? “Try almost anything innovative, indeed – and Auntie, lifting her skirts, is off and running in a flash.” On the subject of editorialising agency copy, “Roy” asks us to … Continue reading →

Via “Roy”, The Times on old media and the internet: “This is not just a problem for weblogs. The internet is teeming with “news”. Visitors to the BBC website, for instance, can read stories about New York, Indonesia and Shropshire. One could be forgiven for believing that it was dispatched by BBC correspondents on the streets of Manhattan, Jakarta and Shrewsbury. It appears under Auntie’s banner, after all. But this … Continue reading →

BBC Essex has one story about Christmas on the front page – Christmas without a loved one. On the faith page, we actually get some stories about Christianity – a story about about a Christmas concert that actually mentions Jesus. There is Out of the Box – “Promoting and sharing awareness of our culturally enriched community the ‘Out of the Box Festival’ is a month long celebration of Cultural Diversity … Continue reading →

The front page of BBC Leicester has two articles on Christmas – Will it snow? (really just a headline for a hyperlink to the weather page) and Leicester’s White Christmas (photos 6 and 7 are about as close to Christianity as you get – cf the Eid photoessay, which features Islam heavily, as well as smiling people and cute kids – at least there are two smiling Christmas people in … Continue reading →

For the archives: Laban Tall on the vanishing WPC. “Ritter” on headline fun: ‘Rapid US economic growth persists “The Department of Commerce said that gross domestic product (GDP) increased by an annual rate of 4.1% in the three months to the end of September.” Roy notes – ‘Funny choice of word … “persist”, descriptive of something unpleasant like war or athletes foot? To be obstinately repetitious, insistent, or tenacious.’ Fast … Continue reading →

Even when Americans engage in humanitarian aid, they are bad: “The BBC’s Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says Mr Rumsfeld’s visit is aimed at ensuring continued US support in the relief and rehabilitation work in areas devastated by the recent earthquake. Mr Rumsfeld said the US was pleased to be working side-by-side with President Musharraf and the Pakistani military to do whatever could be done to reduce the suffering of many … Continue reading →

Here we go again on “militants” – this time in Afghanistan: ‘A high-ranking Afghan government official, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that any reduction in the number of US troops would affect morale in the country. “This will help the Taleban and will have a negative impact on security,” the official said.’ Notwithstanding the official’s description, the BBC staff writer (who wrote this, presumably after … Continue reading →

If it is not Americans, it’s Israelis. (None of this somewhat lighthearted posting is meant to detract/distract from Kerry’s very serious point about the persecution of Christians in Iran. Be sure to read it if you haven’t already. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.