• CNN’s Zain Verjee has been appointed UNICEF Children’s Advocate and will be engaged with issues around child survival around the world. Verjee has also completed a children’s book series about magical adventures in journalism.
• C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” continued its long history (going back to 1980) of reporting on — and from — DC newsrooms this morning. But for the first time the show has gone remote from a non-newspaper newsroom, at Yahoo! News’s Washington Bureau.
• Esquire Network will now launch on Sept. 23. The NBCU network takes over the channel now occupied by G4 as part of a brand licensing deal with Hearst which publishes Esquire. The network will debut with a two-hour special commemorating the magazine’s 80th anniversary.

• Chris Cramer has joined Dow Jones as head of video operations. The one-time chief of newsgathering at the BBC and, later, head of CNN International, Cramer will oversee an expanded video team at the News Corp. publisher. He’ll report to Dow Jones EIC Gerry Baker.

• Steve Coll has been named Dean of the Columbia Journalism school. An occasional cable news guest, Coll is an author, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former Washington Post reporter. He’s been president of The New America Foundation for the last 5 years.

• CNN’s Zain Verjee is one 15 students to be accepted into a creative writing program at Oxford University. Verjee will continue to anchor her morning show on CNN International as well as continuing to contribute to CNN/U.S.

CNN will have dedicated coverage of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next week. On Sunday from 11am-1pmET Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin will anchor the channel’s coverage of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which will see a flotilla of boats travel down the river.

On Tuesday, June 5 from 9-11amET, CNN will cover the Royal Carriage Procession, which sees the Royals travel from Westminster to Buckingham Palace via horse-drawn carriage.

Becky Anderson, Richard Quest, Zain Verjee and CNN’s Royal Correspondent Max Foster will all contribute to the Jubilee programing.

As we reported earlier, ABC Newssecured the U.S. TV rights for the Jubilee concert, and also has the only U.S. interview with Princes William and Harry in advance of the Jubilee. ABC News broadcasts will originate from London next week.

CNN will also televise four Royal-related documentaries, and will have a digital component, more on those after the jump.

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This morning, beginning at 10:50 AM, president Obama addressed Britain’s Parliament. CNN covered it is a co-production with CNNI anchored by Wolf Blitzer, Suzanne Malveaux, Richard Quest, Candy Crowley and Zain Verjee. The network started coverage about half an hour before the speech was slated to begin.

MSNBC and Fox opted not to have a dedicated preview leading up to the speech, but took it live once it began.

Obama’s speech to Parliament comes just a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington.

Next Monday, CNN/U.S. will begin simulcasting two CNN International programs. At 4amET CNN will air “World Business Today,” anchored by Charles Hodson and Andrew Stevens from London and Hong Kong. At 5amET, CNN wills simulcast the newscast “World One” with Zain Verjee (left) and Monita Rajpal in London. Verjee is a familiar face on CNN/U.S. She joined the D.C. buro from CNNI in Atlanta in 2006. She spent three years in Washington, first as State Dept. correspondent and, later, news anchor on “The Situation Room.” Verjee returned to CNNI and moved to London in April, 2009. The two live hours replace a “Parker-Spitzer” reair at 4am and an “AC360″ repeat at 5am. “American Morning” begins at 6amET.

During a report on Northwest Airlines’ new “peanuts” policy during The Situation Room yesterday, Zain Verjee made the unfortunate mistake of replacing the airplane snack with…something else. Twice. In June, Verjee was involved in another PG-13 moment (that time involving the female anatomy):