At the start of a year of instability, the <i>IoS</i> surveyed members of the Netmums website to find out what causes them most anxiety about the world their children will inherit. Have your say at the bottom of the page

An episode of Saturday Kitchen in which Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli swore while preparing his idea of "food hell" breached language guidelines, the BBC's Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) found.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said today that he "would love to be asked" to fill John Sergeant's shoes on Strictly Come Dancing.

From being written off, Gordon Brown shows an extraordinary capacity to keep going

View from the sofa: Strictly Come Dancing, BBC1 Saturday, 6.45pm

Sir Bill Cotton, the former BBC executive who oversaw classic shows including Monty Python's Flying Circus, Morecambe And Wise and The Two Ronnies, has died aged 80.

GMTV presenter Kate Garraway accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages today over allegations that she betrayed her husband by having an affair with Strictly Come Dancing partner Anton Du Beke.

Kenya sent extra troops to the Somali frontier yesterday, underlining fears that Somali Islamic Courts militiamen may slip across the border after losing a power struggle.

Have you ever said 'nice to see you, to see you nice' and not meant it? And who is your ideal dance partner?

No matter what anyone says, the BBC is still a force in television sport. Barely had it finished with the World Athletics Championships than BBC1 began daily primetime coverage of the competition to find Britain's Strongest Man, featuring such must-see events as the Giant Log Lift. "The biggest log any of these men have ever seen," said commentator Paul Dickenson solemnly. But Glenn, a 30-stone chef from Northern Ireland with a 64in chest and, in the respectful words of his wife, "very, very big trousers", refused to be intimidated. He lifted the giant log 18 times. "Eighteen repetitions," cooed Dickenson. "I don't know whether anybody has ever done that before." Not on telly, anyway. Apparently, 18 televised repetitions is the stuff of legend. Perfectly normal for most episodes of Only Fools and Horses, of course, but rare in the Giant Log Lift.

WILLIAM HAGUE, at 38 Britain's youngest political party leader, is taking television's oldest game-show host as his new role model. He has decided the Conservative Party has much to learn from 71-year-old presenter Bruce Forsyth.

"WE'LL BE educating Archie, / What a job for anyone, / He's no good at spelling, / He hasn't a clue, / He thinks that three sevens make 22": the signature song of one of radio's funniest and most important series ever, and the only one to star a ventriloquist and his wooden dummy, a fact that has mystified certain celebrities who ought to know better.

Margaret Cook doling out sympathy in glossy mags? EMMA COOK imagines who might be next in the agony business

Yesterday, a new Saturday early evening series started on BBC1. And if that doesn't seem like a big deal, remember how rarely it is that the words "new" and "Saturday early evening series" rub shoulders. Get Your Act Together has moved into The Generation Game's time slot, and The Generation Game, as its name suggests, has survived 28 years and three presenters. The next programme is Noel's House Party, which has been partying- like-it's-1999 ever since 1991 - 1982 if you count Noel Edmonds's Late Late Breakfast Show. Over on ITV there's Blind Date, and its first ever contestants have now got grandchildren.