Top Five News Reports This Weekend

Alright, I'm really trying hard here... but actually, having a top five format allows me to mention five different things in one post. So here's my little news digest, giving you the top five stories from entertainment, TV, music, sports, and politics.

Entertainment:
Despite the fact that some apparently thought they didn't make a good couple, I was genuinely shocked to read yesterday that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston split up. Another Hollywood dream couple is no more - I bet it was because they couldn't have children. Well, now we just have to be patient and wait for those dirty details to follow, plus maybe a home sex tape.

TV:
Day 4 of top drama series 24 is starting tonight in the US! Under the pressure of having to keep the show unpredictable and quick-paced, the production crew decided last summer to get rid of all main characters except Jack - who, one is amazed to hear, apparently will start the season as a happy man. That's very unusual, and probably won't last more than an hour....

My BitTorrent client will be ready to download. If you "can't be arsed" to do that, and you actually use that expression, then you must British, which means you can wait for SkyOne to start Day 4 - on January 30.

Or download the official internet-only Day 4 prequel here.

Music:
After several months of silence, Prince seems to be back. He will reportedly present an award at the People's Choice Awards tonight (hosted by Jason Alexander aka George Costanza), in addition to being nominated for best male singer. Next weekend, he will also present an award - at the Golden Globes.

The last time he made that many TV appearances, he was preparing the world for Musicology. Maybe there's something around the corner now as well?

Or perhaps he's just trying to show off the fact that last year's Musicology tour made more money than any other US tour in 2004. In fact, the $87.4 million it made means it is now the 8th most successful tour of all time.

Here's a very cool flash movie about that.

Sports:
If a tennis player comes back from a two-month winter break and wins a $1'000'000 tournament without conceding a single break, he should be all over the headlines. But he isn't - because he is Roger Federer, and people have started to expect things like that from him.

Fair enough, I will express what I want him to achieve this year - be the first male player in something like 40 years to win all four Grand Slams.

Good article about King Rogi, as always, here.

Politics:
As I am writing these lines, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are voting for the next President of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Will the elections bring hope to the conflict-ridden area?

Arafat's death was undoubtedly followed by a number of encouraging developments. Most of them, however, seem to have been between Israel and its Arab neighbours - e.g. the improvement in Israeli-Egyptian relations, and slighlty positive signals coming from Syria. Work on the latter front is being done, with Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul promising to take a leading role during his visit to the region last week.

But what of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Here, big changes will be difficult to achieve. Israel has made very specific demands of Abu Mazen (aka Mahmoud Abbas) should he win, such as an immediate end to Qassam missile attacks on Israeli cities. But Abu Mazen is unlikely to act forcefully against Hamas. Instead, he will try to persuade other Palestinian factions to agree to a truce, a Hudna.

Israel has, however, refused to acknowledge such moves. For Sharon's government, only a total crackdown by the PA on terrorist structures will prove that Abu Mazen can be a partner. Thus, Sharon's claim will continue to be that there is no one on the other side to negotiate with.

It is the Israeli public that could change that. Although the majority supports Sharon's disengagement plan from Gaza, a large number of Israelis are starting to wonder why the move is not being coordinated with the PA, especially after Arafat's death. Making disengagement bilateral would give it legitimacy and, more importantly, would ensure that Israel gets something in return for pulling its troops out - an important factor in the minds of many Israelis.

JJtags:

• 24
• prince
• rogerfederer
• palestine
• israel
• disengagement
• topfive