It’s 7am. It’s Sunday. So it’s time for the musical steps. But first, the news.

2 Big Stories

Royal Mail to hire 30,000 temps

Royal Mail will recruit up to 30,000 temporary staff to deal with upcoming strikes by postal workers and the Christmas rush, the service has said.

The Communication Workers Union has called two nationwide strikes next week over pay, conditions and reform.

The firm said it would hire twice the usual number of extra pre-Christmas staff to cut the impact of “unjustified and irresponsible” industrial action.

But the CWU said managers should be talking, not “planning for failure”. (BBC)

Pakistan army starts S.Waziristan ground assault

Pakistani forces launched a ground offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan on the Afghan border on Saturday, with soldiers advancing from three directions, officials said.

The assault follows a string of militant attacks that began on October 5 with the suicide bombing of a U.N. office in Islamabad and included assaults on the army headquarters, police and the public in which more than 150 people were killed.

In a show of unity before the offensive, government and political party leaders gave the military full backing on Friday, vowing to weed out militants and establish the writ of the state. (Reuters)

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

• Has Bracknell sent a message about local candidates in primaries? from Mark Reckons. Although Mark doesn’t mention the Totnes primary, the result there too strengthens the conclusion that open primaries benefit local candidates with non-political careers. The meaning of “local” and “non-political” are both open for debate in different selection contests, but so far the public’s preferences seem clear.
• Even the PCC are Making Jan Moir a Special Case from Stephen Glenn. There have been many great blog posts on this topic, but I’ve picked this one for the honest and moving way it addresses one of the key issues: “When I was 16, one of our school friends did go to sleep and never wake up the day before our second Maths O’Level paper.”

Sunday Bonus

Please forgive the unmusical dogs.