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24/04/2015

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

3 hours

Last on

Fri 24 Apr 2015 06:00

Today's running order

0710

The Prime Minister says today that a Conservative government would legislate within a hundred days of taking office for what's become known as "English votes for English laws" as part of an English manifesto. He says it's the proper response to more devolution to Scotland in the aftermath of the independence referendum. His predecessor Gordon Brown, however, is accusing him of mimicking the SNP by 'driving a wedge between Scotland and England.' We're joined from Westminster by the Environment Secretary Liz Truss.

0715

The Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders has told Newsnight she made the "right decision" not to prosecute Lord Janner over child sex allegations. She said his dementia was such that he could "play no part in the trial". Linda Lee is a former president of the law society and now chairs Voice which supports victims and witnesses in Northamptonshire.

0720

Events take place today in Turkey to mark 100 years since the Gallipoli Campaign, when Allied troops landed on the beaches of the Gallipoli Peninsula, hoping to invade what was then Constantinople and force the Ottoman Empire out of the First World War. It failed and tens of thousands died before the Allies withdrew nine months later. But it led to a new national spirit among the Australian and New Zealand troops who fought with the Allies, and inspired Turks to fight for their independence a few years later. Our Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen is in Gallipoli.

0730

Ed Miliband will criticise David Cameron for presiding over the greatest loss of British influence in a generation.  In a speech to Chatham House, he will say the Coalition’s foreign policy is ‘characterised by inward-looking, small-minded isolationism which too often has put short-term party political interests ahead of the national interest.’ Douglas Alexander is shadow foreign secretary.

0740

Exactly twenty-five years ago today, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space and remarkably, it is still producing ground-breaking images that continue to influence the way we think about the universe.  Our North America correspondent Aleem Maqbool reports.

0750

The mayoral election in the London borough of Tower Hamlets was yesterday declared void after the winner, Lutfur Rahman, was found guilty of corruption and illegal practices. An Election Commissioner concluded Rahman had breached election rules and must vacate his post immediately. The contest must now be re-run. Andy Erlam is the main petitioner, in 2014 he stood as an independent, anti-corruption candidate for councillor in Bow East. Councillor Oliur Rahman is Deputy Mayor.

0810

EU leaders are considering how to implement a deal, aimed at protecting migrants who want to get from Africa to Europe. Leaders are to triple funding for search-and-rescue operations aimed at migrant boats in the Mediterranean following the crisis talks in Brussels. The EU will also look at ways to capture and destroy smugglers' boats and deploy immigration officers to non-EU countries, officials said. Several EU member states have promised more ships and other resources.  Katya Adler is our Europe editor and Dr Kandeh Yumkella is UN Under-Secretary-General and former Sierra Leone trade minister.

0820

It's the fourth day of the trial of 93 year old former Nazi SS guard Oskar Groening for being an accessory to the murder of at least 300,000 Jews at Auschwitz. He has said he is "morally" guilty but had no direct role in the genocide. He is being tried in the German town of Lueneburg. 81 year old Eva Kor gave evidence at his trial earlier this week. She was subjected to live medical experiments along with her twin sister whilst they were held at Auschwitz. During her time on the witness stand she questioned Oskar Groening, asking him whether he knew what Josef Mengele had been doing to twins like her. Eva Kor is a survivor of Auschwitz who was experimented on by Josef Mengele along with her twin Miriam.

0830

A first attempt to create genetically modified (GM) human embryos has been made by Chinese scientists. The team at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhouhas reported editing human embryos to remove the gene responsible for the hereditary blood disease beta-thalassaemia. It’s believed to be the first time such an experiment has been carried out. Professor Robin Lovell-Badge is a stem cell scientist at the Francis Crick Institute.

0835

The series finale of Poldark airs this weekend. The period drama remake was an instant hit for Â鶹ԼÅÄ1, pulling in some of the channel’s highest ratings in over a decade. A second series of the drama has been commissioned. So what is it about the series that’s attracted so many viewers? If the paper reviews are anything to go by, it's got very little to do with the history of the Cornish mining industry and everything to do with Aidan Turner, who has won over legions of fans as the brooding, scythe-wielding Cornish hero, Ross Poldark. Debbie Horsfield is a writer and executive producer of the series. Heida Reed plays Elizabeth, Poldark's first love.

0840

In a speech tonight, Danny Alexander will highlight the risks to the British economy of ‘confidence and supply’ arrangements and single party government. He will warn that the markets are already reacting to potential political uncertainty arising from the election campaign. Danny Alexander is chief secretary to the Treasury.

0845

In the latest of our series on 100 constituencies our chief correspondent Matthew Price has been to the London borough of Brent.

0850

Events are taking place in Turkey today to mark a hundred years since the Gallipoli campaign, when Allied forces launched a failed land invasion of the Ottoman Empire. After intense fighting, the Allies withdrew eight months later but the campaign was central to the birth of national spirit in Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Prince Charles and Prince Harry are attending the commemoration. Nick Hewitt is the curator of a new exhibition about the campaign at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. Dr Pheroze Unwalla is assistant professor of Modern Middle East History at York University in Toronto.


All subject to change.

Broadcast

  • Fri 24 Apr 2015 06:00