Hostages to fortune

Last Modified: 03 Jul 2008
By: Channel 4 News

Inside today's morning meeting.

As always, there seems to be a lot around. At the moment the story everyone's interested in is the release of the Farc hostages in Colombia, particularly former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who has been held since 2002.

While the feeling is the story may not be the lead by this evening there are a number of angles to be considered. Apparently we have an interview done last week, as yet unaired, with members of Betancourt's family. Someone also raises the possibility of interviewing the Colombian ambassador to Britain, herself a former presidential candidate.

An interesting aside is McCain's presence in Colombia, as three American military personnel are released alongside Betancourt and 11 Colombians. Good luck or good planning? Who knows...

It's still the economy

The second big story of the day is the economy. With more doom and gloom it's hard to get terribly excited about it. But the oil price has hit another record, this time at $145 a barrel, and the resultant fuel prices are having a whole host of knock-on effects.

The noon programme is leading with an analysis of local government expenditure, as rising fuel costs take their toll on councils' ability to maintain services, including what our prog ed quaintly referred to as "dust carts".

Both Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown are giving press conferences, which will inevitably turn to the nation's financial woes and what they plan to do about them. No-one's expecting them have any real answers, but we'll be listening closely and will certainly let you know if they do.

Iran moving centre stage

There is a feeling that it might be time to revisit the Iran question. With Israelis talking in increasingly hawkish terms about the nuclear threat from Tehran, and references to "a window of opportunity", behind the scenes at least, as George Bush reaches the end of his term as president things might be hotting up.

A number of possible interviewees are mentioned, including Tony Blair in his capacity as Middle East peace broker and William Fallon, the senior US military commander whose resignation was interpreted as opposition to action against Iran.

We'll also be watching developments in the story of two French students apparently stabbed to death and then set on fire in New Cross, London and there's a piece from China about Beijing's ruthless clean-up ahead of next month's Olympic games.

Kylie's OBE (that's Minogue, not Morris)

On a lighter note, we're up in Newcastle as the National Trust buys yet another stately home, raising questions about whether this is the best use of the trust's funds.

And Kylie gets her OBE, while Boris Johnson will be "walking on by" on London Bridge, his advice to children who witness attacks in the street.