10 Browning Street

In Germany, the government there could be about to pardon the last troops Hitler executed. Understandably, this has proved controversial : apart from opening old wounds, does this mean that the soldiers who stayed at their posts - or didn't collaborate with the enemy - were somehow in the wrong ?

In Iran, there have been disturbances over.......petrol rationing. Although the country is oil rich, it doesn't have a great refining capacity so a lot of their fuel is imported. yesterday, motorists were given a couple of hours notice that they would only get 100 litres a month- and chaos ensued including one petrol station being set on fire. We'll be hearing some voices from there i think...

Finally, Radio 5 Live Breakfast had a poll recently for the song that summed up the Blair years. The winner was the Vereve's excellent "Bittersweet Symphony", and by coincidence, one of the most read stories here today is the fact that the Verve are to reform after 8 years apart. Other recent re-formers are The Police and Iggy and the Stooges. (tho' he's in trouble for using a racist term during an interview on the BBC) Is it ever a good idea to go back ? Will you go and see these bands even though they may not be a shadow of their former selves ?