Monday - North Korea/Mosques/Trust
Hello, James here with Monday morning's blog post. Please remember that if you want us to be discussing a particular story or topic that's not mentioned here, then do post a comment below or take part in our meeting by calling +44 207 557 0635 and we'll call you straight back.
North Korea's confirmed it's . In return, Pyongyang is getting shipments of fuel aid. After years of stalled negotiations, it's being seen as a symbolic breakthrough and - at last - members involved in the six-party talks will have something to build on when they meet later this week...
...So who will now talk to and engage with North Korea? Is NK no longer the big threat that the US was warning the world about? Experts do warn the reactor could be reactivated, so will the sterner test come when NK is forced to permanently disable the reactor? Is this a significant step in normalising relations with the reclusive country?
More worrying news out of Pakistan over the weekend. After the siege at Islamabad's Red Mosque - which left over 100 people dead - pro-Taleban militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region announced they were . Attacks in the North Western Frontier Province killed more than 80 people over the weekend. The to President Pervez Musharraf as he vows to root out extremists from "every corner" of the country. Can he contain the militant threat and how can further retailation and violence be avoided across Pakistan?
Should we be looking at the public's trust in broadcasting? The Ö÷²¥´óÐã's had a pretty tough 7 days - first it was fined £50,000 for using a fake caller on a children's show. It then had to apologise for a promotional trailer which
appeared to show the Queen storming out of a photo shoot with American celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, when in fact . Now, the British Treasury has complained to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã about Newsnight's portrayal of a departmental press officer in an item about Gordon Brown's Labour leadership
campaign. Is there a question to be asked about how much artistic licence you think brodacasters should have?
A couple of weeks ago, we looked into a story in Cologne, Germany where the construction of one of Europe's biggest mosques near to a globally famous Christian landmark was sparking a . There was certainly a lot of comment and questions asked at the time, and now the plans for the $40m mosque are finalised and ready to be submitted to the city council. Now the news that a in the mosque. Günter Wallraff wants to start a discussion and put the integration of Muslims in German society to the test. The religious foundation building the mosque says it'll think about it. Is it worth returning to this following this new development?
In France, Paris city council have introduced a which encourages people to give up using their cars and use pedal power to get around. You don't even have to return the bike to the place where you picked it up from. You get the first 30 minutes free and then a small charge is levied. Great for short journeys and fashionable too, according to some. Is this the key to getting people to use their cars less? Could the investment in the 20,000 bikes pay off in terms of the impact on the environment? Could you see this working in your town or city?
A has killed at least 4 people and injured over 500 in Japan. It measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and struck 250km north of Tokyo. The World Service is following this in detail but may be worth hearing from some voices later on as the true extent of the damage becomes clear.
. They live long lives and enjoy their country. According to The European Happy Planet Index, Iceland's combination of strong social policies and extensive use of renewable energy leads to its citizens to walk around with a smile on their face. How happy are you? It is Monday after all.
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