● And the winner is?Ooops, sorry?it is?The BBC apologised yesterday for the blundering way the winner was announced in the phone-in to see who will represent Britain in the Eurovision song contest. Confusion reigned on Saturday?s show when Terry Wogan said soloist Cyndi had won the ?sing-off? but then fellow presenter Fearne Cotton hastily corrected him and said the group Scooch (photo) had triumphed in the public vote. The BBC later apologised for the gaffe and confirmed Scooch as winners. ?This is live TV and unfortunately sometimes these things do happen,? the state-funded broadcaster said in a statement. BBC Director-General Mark Thompson, alluding to a string of recent scandals about how trustworthy British TV phone-in shows are, quipped: ?I think they were trying so hard to get the phones right that something else must have gone wrong.?

● Thieves make off with gold block from Japan museum. Three masked men, yesterday, snatched a block of gold bullion valued at roughly $1.71 million from a Japanese museum that allowed visitors to touch the 100 kg (221 lb) piece. Shoving aside a woman museum worker, the three then fled with an accomplice who had been serving as lookout at the museum in Takayama, a small city in central Japan. ?There were no sensors or burglar alarms, since the museum allowed its visitors to touch the gold as they wanted,? a police spokesman said. He could not explain why the gold had been displayed in the museum.

● Pakistani judge still standing up to powerful. Hundreds of Pakistani lawyers in business suits hurled stones at police on Saturday after officers fired teargas to disrupt a meeting at Lahore?s High Court to protest moves to sack the country?s top judge. Pakistan?s suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary was delighted by the wave of support that has blown up over his suspension but has ruled out resigning as a way to end it, his associates said yesterday. The government?s suspension of Chaudhary on March 9 has outraged lawyers and united the opposition against President Pervez Musharraf in the run-up to elections. The government has not given details of the accusations against Chaudhary but a state news agency cited ?misconduct and misuse of authority?. The accusations have been referred to a judicial panel that meets again on Wednesday.

● Iranian businessman re-arrested after escape. A prominent Iranian businessman has been arrested four weeks after escaping from a Tehran jail where he was serving a long term for corruption, state media said yesterday. Shahram Jazayeri was sentenced in 2002 to 50 lashes and 27 years, the first high-profile conviction in a crackdown on graft ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The sentence was later reduced to 14 years, Iranian media reported. He disappeared last month, prompting the dismissal of four senior judiciary officials, the media said. One report said he escaped while being transferred from a court to Evin prison.