Blair mulls banninq liquor on public transportation in Britain, and a Beeb corro goes drunk-spotting in Helsinki.

Fast Food Nation,the seminal book by American journalist Eric Schlosser, is forming the basis of a forthcoming film by director Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused) that will star Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria, Full of Grace).

But they're trying to make it by stealth so they can get into some actual fast food restos.

A new law that forbids news broadcasts and criticisms of Nepal's king has triggered a general strike call on Friday by the country's opposition parties.

Another part of the story is the government's threat to close a leading private radio station, Kantipur FM.

See the BBC story for details. Here's an earlier news release on the Kantipur situation by Reporters without Borders.

Linking the al-Sliba tribe to Saddam Hussein, even by calling him their dog in a satirical TV show, was enough to trigger a visit to the originating TV station by hundreds of angry people.

An excerpt from the Oct. 27 BBC story:

The protestors scuffled with staff and broke windows at al-Rai's offices in Kuwait City, injuring seven people, including three policemen.

They had been insulted by comments made by comedian Daoud Hussein.

On the Gergeaan show, he described the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, as a dog of the al-Sliba tribe.

The channel later said the remark was part of a comedy and had not been intended as an insult to anyone.