And now, news of another way to shrink all those little bits of news

For those who feel that they haven't got the time to read the daily papers and the Sunday papers and watch the television news and listen to the radio news, etc, a new weekly publication has emerged called The Week, which reprints the best and most informative articles about the week's news.

I think it's pretty good value.

For those who haven't got the time to cover all the glossy magazines, and the weekly magazines, and the men's and women's magazines, and the other magazines, and who would like to keep up with the best of it, another new publication called The Cover has emerged which promises to bring us the best of magazine journalism.

I think it looks pretty good value.

Of course, there are also the more traditional publications which for a long time now have brought us the best of news and writing. I'm thinking of the Reader's Digest, of course, but also of such Fleet-Street based digests as The Weekly Guardian and the similar sheets put out by The Express, Telegraph, etc.

They all look pretty good value to me.

The trouble is, not many of us have got the time and the energy to get through all these digests, these compilations, these abridgements, these proliferating quick 'n' easy guides to this hard 'n' horrid world.

Let's face it, after a hard day trying to get to the office and back, and a hard day on the mobile phone talking to those people you would have met had you managed to get to the office on time, you really don't feel like making the effort to wade through well intentioned attempts to save you the effort of wading through the world's news, do you?

I mean, who has really got the chance any more to relax and read something designed for people who haven't got the chance to relax and read any more?

Nobody, that's who.

But help is at hand!

Help in the shape of a brand-new publication which brings you the best material from the various weekly digests.

Yes, at last there is a new publication which actually trawls through the selected material in all the digests, and then selects the best of that just for busy people like you!

It's going to be called Premium Weekly.

It's going to be published by this column, and it's going to be indispensable.

In the first issue, for instance, we have an exclusive report on the new musical being written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It's about the rise to power of a charismatic woman who is loved by everyone even though she is ruthless and has blood on her hands. No, not "Evita". It's "Winnie".

There is a crucial report from South Africa entitled "Is there something in the air of South Africa which drives men and women mad and leads them to do things which in a colder damper climate they would not do? To put it another way, would Winnie Mandela and Earl Spencer make the ideal couple?"

We reveal that the smog and haze obscuring most of the Far East are actually caused by their finance markets going up in smoke.

We examine the strong rumours that the Millennium Dome is being designed as a secret way of communicating with other civilisations, and we ask the question: "Where is Peter Mandelson really from?".

In the first issue there is also a first-hand report on the crucial Iran- Australia World Cup qualifying match from Salman Rushdie, entitled "Why Terry Venables dared not win".

There is an amazing report on how Rupert Murdoch, the man who took on American nationality in order to be able to own American TV stations, is planning to expand his Asian drive by becoming a Chinese citizen, so we say: "Goodbye, Rupert - Hello, Comrade Lupe!"

Other features in Premium Weekly, all taken from the world press and skilfully disguised to conceal their source, include:

"E-Mail, F-Words, G Spots - is the alphabet taking over?"

"Have the Irish lost the will to lose the Eurovision song contest?"

"If we harnessed waste emissions from America, could they keep the world warm?" and

"If the French for `El Nino' is `Le Garcon', do the French think that the world's climate problems are being caused by a maverick waiter?"

Only in the Premium Weekly! Subscribe now to get the best of the world's news! Save time by switching to Premium Weekly!

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