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A busy couple of days for CNN in the UK. Yesterday just before 0700 gmt, CNN International broke news of a suspected attempted car bombing in Central London. CNN/I stayed in breaking news mode for most of the day and evening, with special reports from CNN bureaus and teams on the ground in London including Charles Hodson, Becky Anderson and International Security Correspondent Paula Newton.

Then today, Rosemary Church broke into the start of International Correspondents at 1500 gmt to cross immediately to CNN/US, who were covering breaking news of what is now being called a terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport near Glasgow, Scotland after a car drove straight through glass doors and into the terminal building, bursting into flames. The aiport is closed and all flights are cancelled. CNN/I continued with its own coverage for the next few hours, with Rosemary Church and later Stephen Frazier in Atlanta, with pictures from Sky News and Alphonso Van Marsh contributing live from London.

Live coverage continued past 1900 gmt. At 1900 gmt, in a rare move, Fionnula Sweeney presented World News from the London studio, where the breaking news coverage conitnued. Usually no live programming comes from the London studio at the weekend.

Stephen Frazier took over in Atlanta at 2000 gmt, and both Stephen and Fionnula were anchoring at 2100 gmt as breaking news coverage continued.

(On a personal level, I'm going to bed now so can't watch any more. My parents were due to fly out of Glasgow Airport tomorrow to visit me in London for the first time in 3 years. I don't see that happening now)

CNN En Español is celebrating their 10 year anniversary and it challenges to you to catch the power of the photograph.

CNN En Español has looked for photographs with powerful images, creating impact with high journalistic value that showcases Latin American history. CNN En Español viewers can participate and win prizes including an exhibition in a special 30-minute program on CNN En Español in December. Three winning works will be showcased and be given a special diploma.

The grand prize winner will also receive a trip to the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta for an intimate tour of the CNN En Español studios. One first-prize winner will receive a profesisonal camera, and one second-prize winner will receive a digital camera.

For more information, visit http://www.cnnobjetivo07.com/ (in Spanish).

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s (TBS, Inc.) presentation at the Television Critics Association Summer 2007 Tour will be held at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 15, in the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Upcoming CNN, Court TV, TBS and TNT programming will be highlighted. Presentations confirmed to date* include the following:

Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., will present the CNN documentary God’s Warriors. A CNN Presents worldwide television event, God’s Warriors looks at the global phenomenon of religious fervor and how it impacts politics, culture and public life. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour journeyed to seven countries over seven months to report on how religious fundamentalists are changing the world—some violently, some non-violently. During this six-hour documentary airing over three nights, God’s Warriors examines those within Christianity, Islam and Judaism who are working to take religion from the periphery to the center of public life, and how far they are willing to go to transform modern society. In three parts: “God’s Christian Warriors” premieres Tuesday, August 21, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). “God’s Muslim Warriors” premieres Wednesday, August 22, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). “God’s Jewish Warriors” premieres Thursday, August 23, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

Panelists:

• Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN
• Mark Nelson, vice president and senior executive producer, CNN Productions


Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., will present the CNN documentary Planet in Peril. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta and Discovery Channel host and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin take viewers around the globe for a groundbreaking four-hour documentary of first-hand reporting on threats to the world’s environment. Planet in Peril was filmed across four continents and 13 countries, uncovering places where environmental change is not a theory or a future forecast, but a crisis happening in real time. Bringing viewers the stories behind the statistics, Cooper, Gupta and Corwin illustrate the interconnectivity between today’s environmental threats and tomorrow’s impact on the planet and its inhabitants. In two parts: Tuesday, October 23, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) and Wednesday, October 24, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

Panelists:

• Anderson Cooper, anchor of Anderson Cooper 360°
• Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent, CNN
• David Doss, senior executive producer of Anderson Cooper 360° and Planet in Peril


*Additional program elements and panelists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Jaime A. Florcruz

Mark McKay

As many readers will now know, CNN Pipeline has already ended. The new CNN.com, with new free live video streams, is due to launch on 2 July 2007. Many questions are being asked regarding exactly what will be offered as CNN.com Live Video. Will Pipeline programming still exist? Will CNN International still be carried?

Well, you may be able to see this for yourself now.

I've just fired up the CNN Pipeline application. When loaded, Pipe 1 is loaded to the main screen as is usual. In this main screen is a message that CNN Pipeline has ended, and new CNN.com live video launches on 2 July. The preview windows for Pipes 2, 3 and 4 show the "Stay Tuned" message. Now, click one of these other pipes. Now you'll see live video on Pipe 1's preview screen (bottom left).

At the moment (0820 gmt) I'm seeing CNN International's World News, with Adrian Finighan in London. There are some changes. The CNN logo in the bottom right is now red. (Before it was blue, and in brackets, like the Pipeline logo). During the CNN/I breaks, there is still the text news/sport/weather filler. However now the moving graphics background is also red, as opposed to the previous blue.

This suggests to me the live video is now a running trial until the full launch on Monday, and this is the only way we can see it. Try it - it should work. It'll be interesting to see what happens at 1200 gmt when previous the CNN Pipeline programming began.

UPDATE (1700 gmt): A couple of hours ago, the preview window on Pipe 1 was blank with just the CNN logo. But now, I see one of the Pipeline presenters at the desk, not doing very much while the camera is lined up, zooming in and out. The presenter has just walked off the set. The set is similar to the old Pipeline set, although the background has changed (it looks like a blurred view of the CNN.com newsroom). So my guess is the new CNN.com Live Video will retain both CNN/I relays and CNN Pipeline-style programming. You heard it here first!

Looks like Sunday morning is a good time to spot glaring mistakes on CNN/I!

At 1039 gmt, the rerun of World Sport came out of a break. However, instead of World Sport, we came right in the middle of a weather report from Martyn Jeanes. This was followed by Shihab Rattansi ending World News! This was the end of this morning's 0800 to 0830 gmt edition of World News, somehow being rebroadcast!

When World News ended, again(!), World Sport continued abruptly, in progress.

CNN/I's longterm "Eye on..." series continues this week with Eye On Russia. Jim Clancy is in Moscow for special coverage of the massive changes Russia has undergone in the 15 years following the break-up of the Soviet Union. From Monday to Friday, Jim will be contributing special reports during Your World Today at 1430 gmt. There will also be other special programming throughout the week.

At 0849 gmt this morning, CNN/I broke into the live edition of World Sport, with Candy Reid in Atlanta, to bring breaking news coverage of the sentence of Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, "Chemical Ali", for his role in the death of Iraqi Kurds in Anfal in the late 80s.

Rather than Shihab Rattansi bring this breaking news from CNN Center, Hala Gorani did so live from Baghdad. (This allowed World Sport to continue off-air, for the rebroadcasts later today). Hala spoke to several people on the phone with archive footage of the attacks and the aftermath shown on-screen. Delayed footage of the trial in Baghdad was also shown.

Coverage broke off for a break at 0857 gmt, and at 0900 gmt Shihab Rattansi returned at CNN Center and together with Hala Gorani in Baghdad, breaking news coverage continued.
Larry King Replay started at 0907 gmt in progress.

(As an aside...I always assumed that the airing of Larry King at 0900 gmt was a recording CNN/I had made, and then played out. But I've recently realised that Larry King Live is also rebroadcast on CNN/US at the same time. So, technically, I wonder if CNN/I actually cuts to CNN/US for this?)

CNN/I cut into Larry King at 0925 gmt to bring further breaking news coverage of the Chemical Ali sentencing. Due to the delay of the courtroom video footage, there was no footage of Ali receiving his sentence until now, and this was aired while Shihab spoke to Hala in Baghdad.

Larry King resumed at 0930 gmt

Bios:

Lola Ogunnaike

Photos:

Becky Anderson

Mary Snow

The Official Headline News site at http://www.headlinenews.com/ mentions upcoming changes to the network lineup. From what I can gather (and please, help me out if anyone knows any changes):

Weekdays:
6:00-10:00 AM - Robin & Company
10:00-11:00 AM - Headline News - Richard Lui Anchoring
11:00 AM-12:00 PM - Larry King Live
12:00-5:00 PM - Headline News - Chuck and Linda Anchoring?
5:00-7:00 PM - Prime News with Erica Hill
7:00-8:00 PM - Glenn Beck
8:00-9:00 PM - Nancy Grace
9:00-10:00 PM - Glenn Beck
10:00-11:00 PM - Nancy Grace
11:00 PM-12:00 AM - Showbiz Tonight
12:00-1:00 AM - Glenn Beck
1:00-2:00 AM - Nancy Grace
2:00-3:00 AM - Showbiz Tonight
3:00-5:00 AM - Headline News - Richelle Carey Anchoring

What does that mean for Mike Galanos and Christi Paul? Stay tuned for more information as we have it.

First on CNN Observations: It looks like CNN Pipeline's Richard Lui is joining Robin & Company. Thanks to an anonymous tip for this information. We are checking with our sources at CNN and will have more information if it becomes available.

Update (7:51 PM): (from a source at CNN) Beginning tomorrow, Richard, a former CNN Pipeline news anchor, will report on developing stories throughout the Robin & Company program, and will anchor the 10 a.m. hour.

After an incredibly successful 15-year run in the business world, Richard joined CNN in 2005. During his tenure at CNN Pipeline, Richard anchored major live, breaking stories including the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict, the Mumbai train terrorist bombings and the Enron verdicts.
In addition to anchoring weekday programming, Richard reported live on events including CNN's "America Votes 2006" coverage. Richard also anchored from New York's Ground Zero for CNN Pipeline's live broadcast of the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the most streamed news event in Pipeline's history. His reporting also took him to Singapore to research container scanning technology at the world's busiest port, and to Indonesia to examine underage sex slavery and the economic effects of the 2002 Bali bombings.

To mark World Refugee Day 2007, Christiane Amanpour investigates the plight of refugees from conflicts around the world, as they are forced to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere in their own country or further afield. Passage to Hope illustrates their stories this week on CNN International

Passage to Hope: World Refugee Day 2007 premieres Wednesday 20 June at 1100 gmt (replacing World News Asia), and again at 1600 gmt Wednesday (replacing the 3rd hour of Your World Today - usually simulcasted on CNN/US), 2100 gmt Wednesday (replacing Business International), 0700 gmt Saturday, 1300 gmt Saturday and 2100 gmt Saturday,

CNN Press Release - For her services to journalism, Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent, today was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.

The award was announced on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II official birthday, and Amanpour was one of a select number of public and private British citizens to be honored with this prestigious award.

Established in June 1917 by King George V, the CBE is one of five medals that make up the “The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire,” which recognizes outstanding contributions in the service of the country and the honoree’s profession. Amanpour is among a small number of journalists to have been awarded a CBE.

“I am proud to be part of this tradition,” Amanpour said. “I am stunned and delighted to be recognized in this wonderful way for my work, AND of course for being a True Brit!”

“This is a wonderful honor for Christiane and a tribute to her outstanding dedication to the profession of journalism,” said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide. “Everyone at CNN is extremely proud of the work she does and very excited for her on this important day.”

Amanpour, born of British/Iranian parentage, has reported on most crises from the world’s many news hotspots, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda and the Balkans.

Her assignments have ranged from exclusive interviews with world leaders to reporting on the human consequences of natural disasters or covering events from the heart of war zones. She has received wide acclaim and numerous awards for her work, particularly for her extensive coverage of conflicts in the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East. Amanpour’s recent work has focused on a series of highly acclaimed long-form programs including two award-winning documentaries: Where Have All The Parents Gone?, a powerful film examining the plight of the more than one million children orphaned to AIDS in Kenya, and In the Footsteps of Bin Laden, a two-hour exploration of the life of the world’s most-wanted terrorist.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour has been named as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. The honour comes as part of the Queen's official birthday. Salman Rushdie, Ian Botham, Barry Humphries and Joe Cocker are amongst others that appear on the honours list.

CBE is the second-highest honour that can be given out by the Queen; a knighthood is the highest honour. OBE and MBE come third and fourth. The title was awarded to Amanpour "for services to journalism".

Rumor has it that NBC's Campbell Brown is moving to CNN after her contract expires. Do you think hiring away anchors from other networks (i.e. Campbell, Kiran) is a good idea for CNN? Yes No Current Results Feel free to discuss via a comment below.

CNN Pressroom - Public to Submit Video Questions for Candidates for July 23 Democratic Debate, Sept. 17 Republican Debate

CNN, the most trusted news source, and YouTube, the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos, today announced plans to bring two unprecedented presidential debates to the American public. For the first time in presidential debate history, the live forum will feature video questions submitted to YouTube which will be broadcast and answered by the candidates on CNN. CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate the two-hour debates and pose follow-up questions.

The Democratic debate, the first Democratic National Committee-sanctioned presidential forum of the 2008 election cycle, will be held at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, July 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. (ET) and will air live on CNN. The Republican presidential forum hosted by CNN and YouTube will take place on Monday, Sept 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. (ET) in Florida.

Starting today, YouTube users will be able to submit their questions at www.youtube.com/debates.

CNN will produce the televised events and will select the questions used in the debates. Select YouTube users will be among the live audience.

“YouTube enables voters and candidates to communicate in a way that simply was not possible during the last election,” said Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube. “For the first time in the history of presidential debates, voters from around the country will be able to ask the future president of the United States a question in video form and hear the answer.”

“These debates take the bold step of embracing the ever-increasing role of the Internet in politics,” said Jim Walton, CNN Worldwide president. “The inclusion of the massive online community enables these debates to engage more viewers – and potential voters – than ever before.”

YouTube will feature special debate coverage on its “You Choose ’08” platform and its Citizentube political channel before and after the debates. Immediately after the debates, user questions and candidate answers will be featured prominently on YouTube where people can interact with the content through YouTube’s community features, extending the life of the debates.

In addition to the live airing on CNN, the debates will appear on CNN’s multiple platforms. The events will be simulcast on CNN.com, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and CNN Airport Network. CNN.com’s Election Center, available at www.CNN.com/ELECTION, also will provide extensive coverage and analysis of the debates, including behind-the-scenes reports, podcasts and on-demand video, including the entire debates in streaming and downloadable formats. The broadcast of the debates also will be made available to all CNN Radio affiliates worldwide, with special coverage available on Headline News and to CNN Newsource affiliates.

YouTube is the world’s largest online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Headline News anchor Christi Paul sings the national anthem before the Atlanta Braves vs. Florida Marlins game on Wednesday, June 6.

Image credit: Mark Hill for CNN © 2007. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved

Thanks to those who sent in tips about these:

New Bios:
Stephanie Elam

New Photos:

Dan Rivers

John Vause

Andrea Koppel

Ralitsa Vassileva

President Bush continues his tour of Europe, and CNN/I continues its coverage.

At 1040 gmt, CNN/I came out of the World Sport re-run and Shihab Rattansi in Atlanta took us live to Tirana where President Bush was just starting a press conference with the Albanian Prime Minister. Shihab had been trailing this on World News in the hours leading up to the conference, but it appeared to start 10 minutes earlier than expected.

At 1110 gmt, coverage ended and Rosemary Church was now at the anchor desk in Atlanta, and continued with World News as scheduled.

This coming week sees the latest in the series of CNN Future Summits. This time, Kristie Lu Stout looks at the possibilities of "virtual worlds", "where reality meets imagination, and computer technology...comes to life". The show features entrepreneurs and leaders in Singapore and Palo Alto, California.

CNN Future Summit premieres on CNN/I this Wednesday at 1400 gmt (in place of Your World Today Hour 1), and is repeated on Saturday 16 June at 0600 gmt, 1400 gmt and 1900 gmt, and on Sunday 17 June at 0600 gmt and 1900 gmt.

At 0900 gmt, CNN/I came out of the commercial break and into a "Live Event". Shihab Rattansi at CNN Center welcomed viewers of "CNN USA" as we saw live pictures from Vatican City, as President Bush was due to meet Pope Benedict XVI for the first time. Ed Henry was live in Rome talking to Shihab.

The replay of Larry King Live continued in progress at 0915 gmt on both CNN/I and CNN/US.

Later, at 1348 gmt, Rosemary Church in the Atlanta studio interrupted World Report to bring a "Live Event", a news conference with President Bush and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome.

This continued until around 1420 gmt, where we then joined "We Were Warned: Out Of Gas" in progress.

A rather amusing mistake on CNN/I this morning during the live edition of World Sport at 0830 gmt. The titles rolled as normal, followed by a fade to the long shot of the studio in Atlanta, with Candy waiting by the video wall.

In the dark. The director waited and waited, with the title music continuing, for the lights to come on. That didn't happen, and the show started with Candy Reid welcoming us to the show in the dark. It took 20 seconds or so before the lights finally dawned on Candy. No mention was made of the error.

Candy Reid re-filmed the beginning of World Sport for the re-run at 1030 gmt, which had no lighting problems.

Some programming notes from the remainder of the week on CNN/I:

• CNN/I's coverage of the run up to the 2008 elections in the United States continues this week, with America Votes 2008: The Road To The White House, presented by Colleen McEdwards and Fionnula Sweeney. It premieres at 0900 gmt Friday (in place of Larry King). It repeats at 1400 gmt Friday (replacing hour 1 of Your World Today) and 2100 gmt Friday (replacing Business International)
• Fionnula Sweeney presents another special this weekend, as CNN/I looks at the 6 Day War, 40 years ago when Israel claimed land from neighbouring countries, which has resulted in a constant fightback ever since. Six Day War: Then And Now premieres 0730 gmt Saturday, and is repeated at 1830 gmt Saturday and 1130 gmt Sunday

This month's Inside The Middle East has caused a bit of a stir. The edition comes from Bahrain, and in the first item, Hala Gorani looks at the "hidden" poor population of Bahrain.

I caught an airing of the programme at 1330 gmt today on CNN/I. The show ended just after 1350 gmt, much earlier than usual. Then, Stephen Frazier at the CNN Centre studio appeared to talk about the first item in the show. He said that the Bahrain government has disputed the contents of the first item of the show. He went on to say that while CNN stands by the report, they felt that the Bahrain government should have the right to reply on CNN/I.

He then introduced an interview conducted by Rosemary Church in Atlanta, talking to a Bahrain government official in Manama who put across the government's view of the items in the report. This lasted around 5 or 6 minutes.

You can watch the show, including the item in question, here

Colleen McEdwards has been filing special reports and coverage on CNN/I from the US presidential debates in New Hampshire. CNN/I had live coverage of the Democratic Candidate Debate on Sunday from 2300 gmt.

Around the same time on Monday, CNN Today from Hong Kong was dipping into CNN/US coverage of reaction from this debate.

Live coverage continues on CNN/I tonight (Tuesday) at 2300 gmt until around 0200 gmt Wednesday, when the Republican Candidate Debate takes place in New Hampshire.
As well as CNN/US and CNN/I, CNN Pipeline have also been covering the debates and reaction extensively.

From TVNewser: Satinder Bindra leaves CNN.

CNN Radio: New site and logo for CNN Radio

Headline News 1-5: Linda Stouffer anchored Headline News from 1-2 and then Virginia Cha took over, not sure why. Chuck Roberts is off today.

CNN International Design: Check out this cool site: http://www.cnnidesign.com/

CNN Asia/Pacific Set: Anyone have any update on the Hong Kong set? Let us know.