1) Rupert Murdoch doesn't think Barack Obama racist.
Rupert Murdoch has been forced to deny he believes Barack Obama is a racist, after appearing to back the controversial Fox News presenter Glenn Beck's comments about the US president.
The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation said in an interview earlier this week that Obama had made "a very racist comment" and that Beck's views were "right".
"He does not at all, for a minute, think the president is a racist," a News Corp spokesman told the US website Politico.
In the interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch was asked about the views expressed by contributors to Fox News, including Beck's view that Obama was a racist.
"He [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above," Murdoch said.
"That was something which perhaps should not have been said about the president but if you actually look at what he [Beck] was talking about, he was right."
Beck caused uproar in July when he described Obama had "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture".
His remarks were made during a discussion of Obama's reaction to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr, an African-American Harvard academic.
Murdoch also said in the interview he thought the Obama presidency was going "badly", citing the defection of independent voters in recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey.
2) Over 100 complaints over BBC's head of religion show.
The BBC has received 115 complaints over its appointment of the first Muslim to the role of head of religion and ethics.
Channel 4 executive Aaqil Ahmed was confirmed in the post on Monday, becoming only the second non-Christian – after agnostic Alan Bookbinder in 2001 – in the BBC's 87-year history to be appointed to the role.
It is understood the "vast majority" of the complaints are about Ahmed not being a Christian.
In a statement, the BBC said: "We have received complaints from our audience regarding our decision to appoint a non-Christian as the new head of religion and ethics.
"The BBC's commitment to religious broadcasting and to Christian broadcasting as the dominant part of that, is entirely secure. Aaqil Ahmed was appointed as he was the best candidate for this new role. It is BBC policy to recruit on the basis of experience and suitability to the post, not on the basis of faith or any other criteria.
"Aaqil has almost 10 years' experience in religious broadcasting – first at the BBC, where he was deputy editor for documentaries at BBC religion and more recently as head of religion and multicultural at Channel 4 where he was responsible for commissioning (among many other programmes) Christianity: A History, Rowan Williams Meets ... and the Bafta-winning Saving Africa's Witch Children.
"As the majority faith in the UK, Christians are and will remain the key audience for the BBC's religious television output."
Senior figures in the Church of England have previously raised concern about religious programming at the BBC, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, last month reported to have told the director general, Mark Thompson, that the "Christian voice" was being sidelined.
The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch, told the Guardian earlier this week: "Aaqil Ahmed comes to the post with a good reputation. At a time when the BBC's coverage of religion caused some disquiet, the Church of England will be watching how the future of religion and ethics develops."
Ahmed, who is commissioning editor for religion and multicultural programmes at Channel 4, will take up the new role of BBC head of religion and ethics and commissioning editor for TV religion.
The BBC has also appointed Christine Morgan as a new separate head of religion radio.
3) At television centre, protests, police and a union flag.
The first thing that visitors to BBC Television Centre today are likely to notice, ahead of Nick Griffin's controversial appearance on Question Time, is a union flag flying at full mast in front of the building – alongside another for Children in Need.
At lunchtime today, the scene outside the BBC's main broadcasting centre on Wood Lane, west London, was peaceful, with only around 40 protesters, police and journalists present, although several coachloads of anti-fascist activists are expected this afternoon.
Around a dozen people from the public service union Unite were gathered around a stall festooned with posters proclaiming "Stop the fascist BNP".
Union officials were also handing out leaflets with Griffin's face emblazoned on them. In bold pink and white colours, a slogan reads: "No plugs for nasty Nick … keep QT Nazi free."
Over the road outside White City tube station, four Socialist Worker Party members were manning a stand and greeting commuters with chants of "The BNP are racist Nazis... we don't want them on our TVs".
Victoria Derbyshire, the BBC Radio 5 Live presenter, was interviewing people outside the building and there were also about half a dozen TV cameras crews setting up their equipment. Across the road, an ITN satellite truck had just been told to move further away from TV Centre by the police.
One protester, Robert Forsythe, was holding a placard that read: "Shame on you BBC."
Forsythe, an artist and former musician, said: "I've come all the way from East Dulwich because I felt so strongly about this. The BBC trustees have made a terrible mistake. The BNP are not even a legal party."
He described the far right's resurgence in the guise of the BNP as "like a second bad dream". Forsythe said he was originally from Birmingham and had played with bands including UB40, who were active in anti-fascist campaigns in the 1980s such as Rock Against Racism.
Asked if he was worried that violence might flare up at TV Centre today when more demonstrators arrived, he replied: "If I didn't get my legs broken in the 80s I doubt I'll get them broken now."
At lunchtime there was only a small police presence – around four officers – patrolling the immediate area outside TV Centre on Wood Lane. One was overheard telling his colleagues that he had cancelled a trip to the gym and an evening at a bowling alley to be on duty.
There were also two security guards wearing brightly coloured fluorescent jackets and earpieces outside the BBC TV Centre reception, and crash barriers had been erected on either side of Wood Lane outside the building.
Things are expected to get livelier this afternoon, with Unite Against Fascism reportedly bringing 12 coaches of protesters to demonstrate about Griffin's appearance.
Tonight's edition of Question Time is due to be filmed at Television Centre later this afternoon.
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