Yesterday a bomb exploded in Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq. Fortunately none of our staff or friends working there was hurt but it does underline the risks that people are taking to bring education to the people of Iraq as I've described before.

On a lighter note, Pan Macmillan are celebrating a number one. Not a book but a video which was made to support the book's marketing. I mentioned Quirkology a few days ago but I had absolutely no idea that the card trick video would reach number one (yesterday for a few hours) on YouTube (and it's still number three as I write with 250,000 hits in a week - 390,000 now, four hours later). I believe this is a first for any publisher's promotional video but I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Most of my readers are probably aware that I am not inordinately fond of book fairs. However, they exist and some of them even generate demand for books. Macmillan will do almost anything to achieve a sale and here is a picture of the RSC Shakespeare at the Bogota International Book Fair (to my shame, it wasn't until searching for that link that I discovered that Bogota has been declared Book Capital of the World - we should be told more).

And while on book fairs, I promised a colleague that I would mention the ever-increasing Cape Town Book Fair. The fair has been so successful that they have had to double the floor space in order to accommodate more and bigger stands. Is this growth in book fair activity in spite of or because of the Internet, I wonder?

There was a unique event last night at the Chelsea Arts Club. We were there to honour and thank Ronnie Williams (OBE, not the comedian) on his retirement from being Chief Executive of the Publishers Association. Some indication of the respect in which he is held is attested by the attendance of eleven past and future PA presidents (in chronological presidential order, Philippa Harrison, Adrian Soar, David Kewley, Simon Master, Anthony Forbes Watson, John Clement, Henry Reece, me, Stephen Page, Mike Boswood and Ian Hudson). Trevor Glover meant to come but was delayed at a concert. I'm not clear what the collective noun for eleven PA presidents is but would be happy to publish any (or more or less any) suggestions.