Monday notes

Not a terribly nice start to the day, with beefy showers cropping up all around. The sad case of 4-year old Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal 11 days ago, continues to rouse fierce debate. What makes me sad is the £2.5 million on offer for information leading to the return of the little lass. It is extremely upsetting to lose a small child, although leaving small children unattended for their parents to go out for the night does not deserve commendation. The point I am making is that dozens of children, and indeed adults, go missing each day. Rewards are put up for information, and justifiably so. However, as this case has been so high profile in the media, you get ridiculous reward sums, and all sorts of Z-rated celebrities jumping on the bandwagon to do their bit.
I hope though, that Madeleine will be returned safe and well to her parents.

I am getting a little worried over the tropical cyclone, which is now approaching southern Bangladesh. The winds aren't going to be a teaparty, expected to strike with hurricane force. What is worse though, is that cyclones tend to be accompanied by huge amounts of rainfall. 01B (sorry, that's its name) is expected to reach land at around 2100 GMT today and move into the interior of Bangladesh afterwards. I expect flooding, but find no reference to the cyclone in the local media. Only Reuters carry a summary warning. Don't be surprised to find plenty of news from the area in the next few days (this frustrates me no end).