Naturally I was as pleased as the next man to see the release of Alan Johnston yesterday. Unless the next man is the leader of the Army of Islam. But the highlight for me (apart from looking forward to the inevitable autobiography and appearance on Parky) is the reporting of the story in the press. The Times went with "Johnston Free After Appalling Ordeal", The Daily Telegraph said "BBC's Alan Johnston Released in Gaza", The Guardian announced "BBC Reporter Alan Johnston Freed", while the super soaraway Sun screamed "Gaza Stripped! More Hummus for Hamas as Arabs Save Our Boy". Well ok, they didn't. But they would have done if I'd been writing for them.

By far the best headline though came from the Brighton Argus, who boldly announced the news with these four little words:

FORMER ARGUS JOURNALIST FREED

Apparently the BBC job is just a footnote to his career.

Coincidentally, I received an e-mail from The Argus yesterday asking me to "spread the word" about my new blog there. They're probably hoping word will reach the Middle East and I'll be kidnapped for a few months.

Personally I'm more worried about the mysterious disappearance of the sun, which seems to have been missing in action for the past two weeks without so much as a BBC campaign. I could do with a bit less rain, as I'm hoping to attend an event tonight called the Stanmer Night Life Thriller (I sense they may be building it up too much with that title). It's a late-night walk around a park, during which "we hunt for moths, bats and glow woarms wich aren't at all scarey really".

I'm going along to help them with their spelling.