CNN International's new monthly program, 'Edit Room', promises to take an analytical look at the news agenda through the lens of some of the world's most famous personalities.

The first edition will feature actress Sienna Miller, who talks about her father's last minute change of plan that prevented him from being in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Also on the premiere episode, writer Fatima Bhutto opens up about the days following her aunt Benazir's assassination.

Hosted by Max Foster, 'Edit Room', is due to premiere at 0830 GMT this Thursday, with repeat screenings at 0330 GMT Friday; 0800 GMT and 1430 GMT Saturday; 2230 GMT Sunday.

CNN Press Release - As the polls across the United Kingdom close at 5p ET today, tune in to CNN International or watch online at CNN.com/Live for in-depth reporting and analysis of the closest general election in nearly two decades. Viewers in the U.S. can also watch this special coverage live via CNN’s iPhone app.

Leading the coverage from CNN’s London bureau will be ‘Connect the World’ presenter Becky Anderson. She will be joined by veteran political reporter and commentator Robin Oakley as well as a team of CNN reporters spread across the capital.

Zain Verjee, Charles Hodson and Phil Black will be camped out at the three major party headquarters: Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. As the results start to filter in this evening and into early Friday, they will be on hand to bring the reactions from the heart of each of the parties' campaign hubs.

At the Palace of Westminster, Richard Quest will be joined by Max Foster, who will be stationed at No.10 Downing Street, and senior security correspondent Paula Newton, who will report from Westminster Bridge. Meanwhile, Sasha Herriman and Atika Shubert will be capturing the reaction of the general public and finding out what key issues influenced their vote.

And with the result of the 2010 general election still uncertain and the prospect of a hung parliament looming, could this uncertainty create more instability in the financial sector? CNN's business correspondent Jim Boulden will be gauging the reaction of city workers on Friday morning.

For the latest news and video highlights, visit CNN International's election site at www.cnn.com/ukelection and follow the network’s UK Election team on Twitter @UKelectionCNN.

CNN Press Release: With the world watching, CNN International focuses on global impact of British General Election

As the British General Election unfolds, and its impact on the UN Security Council and the European Union is anticipated in capital cities around the world, CNN brings a unique and global perspective with the most in-depth coverage of the foreign policy issues facing the next government on Election Day, Thursday 6th May.

CNN’s coverage also focuses on the international impact that domestic issues like the economy and immigration have on the debate, while closely watching the individual leaders and political personalities, the media headlinesandthe political twists and turns of the election.

On-line CNN’s British Election homepage www.cnn.com/ukelection is the place for the latest news and reaction as the election campaign unfolds and will have insight from CNN’s correspondents around the world on how the election is being perceived in the capital cities across Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and the Middle East.

In the UK, CNN’s coverage includes a fully interactive multimedia train journey from south to north to take the pulse of the electorate, a series of profiles featuring families either moving to or from the UK , and the factors influencing that decision.

Canvassing a range of contributors - experts, invested families and businesses, as well as its own reporters from around the world - CNN asks guests and viewers which leader’s policies will best serve international interests; how best should they combat these three controversial areas and how will those decisions impact the global community at large?

Online and on air, there are CNN indicators tracking market reaction to events, where the smart bets are going, and who is covering what in the international media, as well as viewer commentary on how much people are or are not engaging with this particular election.

Deborah Rayner, managing editor CNN International Europe and Africa said: "The result of this election will determine Britain’s place in the world, particularly in economics and foreign policy. The use of new technology, social media and the advent of televised debates will also be fascinating and we will be closely reporting their impact on the campaign. We’re excited to invite and reflect international comment on the leaders, their performance, their promises and ultimately, a knife-edge race of the kind that hasn’t been witnessed here for a generation.”


About the programming:

CNN will be delivering on its network promise to ‘Go Beyond Borders’ by taking the issues that dominate this general election to viewers around the world – on all platforms. The network has lined up families and businesses in central and eastern Europe, Africa, USA, Asia and beyond for an ‘outside in’ take on the manifestos.

Televised Debates
CNN will give full coverage to the advent of personality politics and live televised debates and has appointed an international group of panellists WHO will be judging the performance of the wannabe leaders as they thrash out the issues on domestic, international and economic policies.


Role of Technology and Social Media
Leading the social media and new technology analysis for CNN is Zain Verjee, previously the US State Department correspondent during the 2008 US Election. She will monitor social networking content to evaluate what Britain has learned from the Americans and keep track of how the UK campaigns use the web in what promises to be a landmark election for the UK from a technology perspective.

CNN's 'backpack' train reports
CNN International takes to the railways, with Canadian Paula Newton touring Britain to hear from people on how they are engaging with politics in this election. CNN invites the electorate to direct her journey by posting comments at www.cnn.com/ukelection or @UKelectionCNN. Paula will respond and report live at any given time through a specially modified backpack that allows for 24/7 live broadcast capability.

CNN’s Team of Correspondents
Correspondent Atika Shubert will go to the heart of immigration issues in Barking/Dagenham, Calais and Lancashire; senior international correspondent Nic Robertson will report on the ‘special relationship’, who the EU most wants as leader and what implications for Afghanistan and beyond; Richard Quest and his business team will take the temperature of the financial centres in Germany, Hong Kong and Wall Street who seek to dethrone the United Kingdom as world leader.

The lighter side of the campaign – from posters to sound bites to political jousting - will be brought to viewers by Max Foster and analysed by Robin Oakley, veteran UK Political Correspondent, and Becky Anderson and Richard Quest will lead election day reporting itself.

Go to www.cnn.com/ukelection or follow @UKelectionCNN on Twitter and tell us what YOU think puts the Great in Great Britain.

Todd Benjamin

Max Foster

Paula Newton

Michael Ware

Thanks to Bill for the tip!

At 0844 gmt this morning, CNN/I came out of a commerical break and into breaking news, interrupting World Sport which was live in progress from London.

Max Foster was live outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster with news of Tony Blair's impending announcement of his retirement as leader of the Labour Party, and as Prime Minister. Live footage was shown of Blair's vehicle convoy heading for RAF Northolt, from where he was to fly to his constituency of Sedgefield in north-east England.

CNN stayed with live shots of Blair entering his jet, the jet journeying to the runaway, and the plane taking off.

Regular programming resumed at 0905 gmt, with Larry King Replay in progress.

During Business International at 1000gmt, CNN/I went back to live coverage of Blair as he arrived in Sedgefield, and travelled to the Labour Club there. Adrian Finighan was anchoring from the London studio, with Max Foster at Parliament and Robin Oakley in Downing Street.

CNN/I brought live coverage of Blair's speech, when he announced he will step aside on 27 June.

Continuing live coverage from Max Foster in Westminster replaced World News Asia at 1100 gmt and part of World News at 1200 gmt. This then continued with Michael Holmes in Atlanta, with more on the story.

As an aside, the CNN/I digital downlink on the Astra 19.2ºE satellite is having some problems today. For a couple of hours, the signal has broken up intermittantly, sometimes disappearing completely with a "bad signal" message appearing. This is transmitted, and is not a local reception problem. It suggests a reception problem at the site of uplink to the satellite.

From a friend:

There appears to have been some kind of problem at the CNN London bureau, as CNN International programming from there was interrupted tonight. At 1830 gmt Max Foster kicked off the first of the night's editions of World Business Today from London. I actually left the house to go to the store just after that. However, when I returned Jim Clancy was hosting the show from CNN Center. At 1900 gmt, rather than coming from London (with Fionnuala Sweeney or Becky Anderson), World News Europe also came from CNN Center with Colleen McEdwards, who made a point of stressing the show was coming from there.

Jim Clancy was hosting World Business Today again live from CNN Center between 1930 and 2030 gmt.

From yesterday, Max Foster has been in Atlanta co-anchoring Your World Today with Colleen McEdwards. Max is usually to be found co-anchoring CNN Today, or Business International, from London.

It is not known if this is a temporary or long-term arrangement, but it has been known to happen before (recently, Richard Quest spent a few week's co-hosting Your World Today).