No room at the Manhattan Inn
It's tough getting a place to stay in Manhattan during UN General Assembly week. As the news of our First and Deputy First Minister's trip to Bill Clinton's only broke on Friday, making arrangements to cover the visit was far from easy. I couldn't find a hotel in Manhattan, so had to avail of the generous hospitality of some friends in New York.
But as James Bone reports in I am not alone, as none other than Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi has had problems finding somewhere to rest his head. Having been refused permission to pitch his tent in Central Park, he is now having to hang out at the Libyan UN mission headquarters.
Lockerbie victims' families are planning to protest against the Colonel's presence in New York, and they will be joined by Willie Frazer and Michelle Williamson of FAIR, who are campaigning in the USA on behalf of IRA victims.
The UN is on the East Side of Manhattan but over on the West Side Messrs Robinson and McGuinness will be getting together with Bill Clinton and his VIP friends. I tried to get into the opening session of the Global Initiative earlier today but after joining a very long queue I found myself squeezed out by hordes of reporters. So eventually I had to watch the proceedings from the press centre in the basement.
The media interest had been stimulated by the appearance of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Matt Damon. I could see Gerry Adams and Ben Stiller amongst the assorted VIPs in the audience. I have an inkling that the crush won't be quite as bad for tomorrow's special Northern Ireland session.
I'm 
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