"Osama bin Laden has made his escape from Afghanistan and is now hiding somewhere in China, it was claimed last night." - from today's Guardian (London).

Ironically, if that turned out to be true, it could be the best news this week. It'd take the heat off the plans for an invasion of Afghanistan which would be likely to have disatrous results in Pakistan and, in a knock-on effect, other places too. The people who'd be going after Bin Ladin would be the Chinese government instead. Bin Ladin would be even more out of touch with any outside cells than he is already (assuming that he is in touch with them anyway).<>

And the rest of the world could turn its attention to averting terrorist atrocities, and doing whatever it could to clean up the messes that make it easy for people to be recruited to suicidal terrorist groups.