From Basra to Bruni

Last Modified: 25 Mar 2008
By: Channel 4 News

Inside the morning news meeting...

The big story this morning is once again from Iraq. There have been major disturbances overnight in Basra. With Maliki staking his political future on controlling the south of the country, the violence there has much wider implications for Iraq.

Interestingly this is not sectarian violence, but rather between two rival Shia groups, adding to the confusion about exactly what is going on in Iraq.

Other big stories today include the Labour party's launch of their local election campaign for May. With trends looking very bad for the party and with very little of the southeast in their control already, these could prove to be crucial elections for Gordon Brown's government.

There is also a very strong piece on the ongoing civil war in Congo. With horrifically high casualty numbers it really could be a lead, raising questions about whether today is the right time to broadcast such a significant story with everything else that's going on.

Fairly unsurprising figures from the CBI predict lower growth for the year. The feeling is this probably isn't big news. But other figures on MPs expenses, including those of party leaders, may be released this afternoon and could make for very interesting reading in the light of recent questions raised about spending on things like second homes in London particularly.

Apart form marking the swearing in of the Pakistani prime minister, Musharraf, the beginning of the end for him, someone adds, there's a lot more around, including the state visit of the French president, beginning tomorrow.

There is much excitement at the prospect of what this might bring. Between Madame Sarkozy (aka pop star Carla Bruni) using it as an opportunity to plug her latest album, the president's poor English and Gordon Brown's non-existent French, the trip promises more than one comedy moment. We hope.