Returning to my desk this weekend the telephone-number backlog of emails is exceededed only by the telephone number backlog of publishing industry news and debate I need to catch up on.

Third time lucky? As a rationalist I’m not usually inclined to put my hope in superstitions, but fingers crossed this time my return to the TNPS desk will be interupted only by the usual internet and electricty outages that are a part of daily life here in West Africa.

Of course for many malaria is also a part of daily life, and it feels like I’m getting more than my fair share this year. Recovery is often a convoluted affair, where relapse wins over recuperation, but like I say third time lucky…

Returning to my desk this weekend the telephone-number backlog of emails is exceededed only by the telephone number backlog of publishing industry news and debate I need to catch up on.

As ever, therefore, some of the stories I’ll be covering will be “old news” in that they have been reported elsewhere while I’ve been lazing in a hospital bed, but these stories deserve a deeper inspection and crticial analysis than most industry reporters have time or column inches for (or that editors will allow), and that, after all, is why you guys read TNPS. For the analysis and alternative perspectives, not the soundbite news items.

Apologies in advance for more than usual typos as I slowly raise the energy to type with more than one finger, and apologies in advance too for inevitable further (but short-lived) silences as we head into the West African monsoon season here and internet and electricty bear the brunt.

Finally thanks again to those who noticed I was gone longer than usual. As above, still working the email backlog but will respond to all.