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16/04/2015

Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

3 hours

Last on

Thu 16 Apr 2015 06:00

Today's running order

0640

Investment in renewable energy capacity has now overtaken investment in power plants running on fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the Bank of England has commissioned a review about the risk to markets if enforcing climate change targets causes a collapse in the value of gas and oil stocks. That's something that is also on the agenda of the oil giant BP at its annual meeting today – a resolution promising greater transparency about the financial risks to its assets if climate targets are met. Roger Harrabin reports.

0645

Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual phone-in where he answers questions put to him by the public will be broadcast live on TV. The event, now in its 13th year, is the public’s opportunity to question their President. The event lasts around four hours. Questioners from around the country are carefully reselected. Sarah Rainsford is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Moscow Correspondent.

0650

Some people like the sound of knuckle-cracking while others loathe it, but for years there has been disagreement among scientists about what actually causes it. Now, researchers say the familiar cracking sound is caused by the popping of a small bubble of gas in the fingers, and it could even be beneficial to health. Greg Kawchuk is professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Alberta and lead author of the research.

0655

Elections in Northern Ireland are fairly predictable affairs. Most of those who vote go for either a Unionist or a Nationalist. There are of course different shades of both, at present those on the harder-line of each persuasion hold the majority of the country's 18 seats at Westminster. Later today the Alliance Party – a Liberal cross-community political party which has one seat in Westminster - unveils its manifesto. Andy Martin is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Ireland Correspondent.

0710

The former chief executive of the NHS in England has accused politicians of failing to be honest about a major looming hole in the finances of the health service. In his first interview since retiring last year, Sir David Nicholson told this programme the NHS faced β€œmanaged decline”. Sir David, whose own efficiency drive produced Β£18bn in savings, also says the reorganisation of the health service under former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley were a distraction from the real challenge ofΒ  improving the NHS and saving money. Anita Charlesworth is chief economist at charity the Health Foundation,

0715

Police in Glasgow searching for a missing woman say they've found human remains at a farm on the outskirts of the city. A 21-year-old man has been detained in connection with the disappearance of Karen Buckley from Cork in Ireland. The student was last seen by her friends in the early hours of Sunday, leaving a nightclub in the West End of Glasgow. Catriona Renton is a ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Scotland Correspondent.

0720

Kenya has been the target of repeated attacks by the militant Somali group, Al Shabab, since sending troops into Somalia in 2011. The most recent was the most deadly so far, nearly 150 people massacred by Al Shabab gunmen at a university in Garissa two weeks ago. One of the four gunmen was a Kenyan and now the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ has found more evidence that Al Shabab is recruiting home-grown fighters from Kenya. Our East Africa Correspondent Karen Allen reports.

0725

The International Monetary Fund is warning that the next Government will find not be able to reduce the budget deficit to zero by 2020, because of pressure to increase spending and lower than hoped tax revenue. The IMF’s analysis will pose a problem for all the major political parties in the run up to the election. Robert Peston is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Economics Editor.

0730

The Crown Prosecution Service will today announce whether it will charge the Labour peer Lord Janner with child sexual abuse offences. The Times newspaper is reporting the prosecution will not go ahead because the CPS has decided it would not be in the public interest. Lord Janner is 86 and prosecutors have been considering whether his health would allow him to be tried. The peer was first accused of abuse offences in the 1990s but the CPS at the time decided there was insufficient evidence to charge him. Peter Saunders is chief Executive of The National Association for People Abused in Childhood.

0735

More than half a million families in England will hear today which primary school their child has got into. There's a growing squeeze on school places as the number of pupils is rising. Our Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys has been to Peterborough, a city where schools have been feeling the pressure.

0740

TV cameras have been allowed to film inside the MI5 headquarters in London for the first time - not for a special investigation or a blockbuster, but for a special edition of the Children's programme Blue Peter, which will be shown tonight. Since January, CΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ has been running a competition known as Project Petra, which has whittled down three CΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Intelligence Officers from more than 5,000 interested viewers. The final episode of Project Petra, on Blue Peter at 5pm tonight, sees the three teenagers take a tour of the spy-centre. Reuben, 13, from North Yorkshire and Jamie, 13, from Glasgow are CΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Intelligence officers.

0750

Save the Children will launch a campaign today in major UK newspapers, calling on UK politicians to put pressure on European leaders to re-start a rescue operation in the Mediterranean, after up to 400 migrants were feared to have drowned when their boat capsized. A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ that current capacity to rescue the migrants was less than adequate. Up to 20,000 people fleeing poverty and conflict have made the perilous crossing to Italy since the start of the year, similar to the same period in 2014, a year when a record 170,000 reached the country's shores. James Reynolds is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Rome correspondent and Sandro Gozi is the Italian Europe Minister.

0810

The former chief executive of the NHS in England has accused politicians of failing to be honest about a major looming hole in the finances of the health service. In his first interview since retiring last year, Sir David Nicholson told this programme the NHS faced β€œmanaged decline” (see 0710). Sir David Nicholson is the former chief executive of NHS in England and Hugh Pym is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Health Editor.

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A seemingly baffling maths problem posted on Facebook by Singaporean television has become an unlikely internet sensation. The puzzle, designed for high-achieving teenagers, asks students to determine the birthday of β€œCheryl” based on a series of short statements by β€œAlbert” and β€œBernard”. Is it easy to learn how to approach these sorts of problems and should we all be taught this way? Rob Eastaway is director of Maths Inspiration, which puts on public maths lectures, and author of books on maths and everyday life and Laura Clarke is a senior lecturer in education specialising in mathematics at the University of Winchester. Laura’s PhD is on the Singapore bar model of mathematics.

0830

Investment in renewable energy capacity has now overtaken investment in power plants running on fossil fuels (see 0640). Andrew Austin is chief Executive Officer of oil and gas exploration and production company I Gas and Sandra Bernick is an economist at the New Economics Foundation.

0840

Elections in Northern Ireland are fairly predictable affairs. Most of those who vote go for either a Unionist, or a Nationalist. At present those on the harder-line of each persuasion hold the majority of the country's 18 seats at Westminster. But is that a fair reflection of how people in Northern Ireland feel? Our Ireland Correspondent Andy Martin reports.

0845

It's emerged that three refugees who fled the fighting in Syria were jailed when they arrived in Britain because they didn't have correct passports. ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ News has been told that the three men, who've since been allowed to stay in the UK, have now been granted appeals against their convictions. David James Smith is the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) Commissioner.

0850

At least five foreigners, including a 14-year-old boy, have been killed in attacks in South Africa's coastal city of Durban since last week. Some foreign-owned shops in the main city Johannesburg have shut amid fears that the violence could spread.

0855

Who truly holds the power in Britain and should citizens be granted greater political influence? A new book by Professor Anthony King claims that political leaders β€œconsistently promise more than they can perform”. He says political power is no longer concentrated in Whitehall and that the β€œclassic British political order …no longer exists”.Β  Paul Twivy calls for political decisions to be brought closer to the people through policies such as a North of England and a Midlands Assembly.

All subject to change.

Broadcast

  • Thu 16 Apr 2015 06:00