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30/05/2015

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

2 hours

Last on

Sat 30 May 2015 07:00

Today's running order

0710

Major sponsors of football's world governing body have said they expect its newly re-elected president, Sepp Blatter, to move swiftly to restore the damage done to its reputation by the corruption scandal. McDonalds urged FIFA to act decisively and transparently for the good of the game and its fans. Coca Cola said FIFA must now begin to win back the trust it had lost. Mr Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term at FIFA's annual congress in Zurich yesterday, despite separate US and Swiss criminal investigations into alleged corruption at the organisation. He had resisted calls to stand aside after senior figures within the organisation were arrested in a bribery and fraud investigation. Just after Mr Blatter’s re-election, the US Internal Revenue Service said they were β€œfairly confident” that there would be further indictments in the case. We know what the reaction is in this country but what about those parts of the world where he has plenty of support? Andrew Harding is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’s Africa Correspondent in Johannesburg.

0720

The US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has issued America's strongest warning yet over China’s efforts to extend its sovereignty in the South China Sea by reclaiming land from the sea. Mr Carter called for an immediate halt to all reclamation activity, saying β€˜The United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows’. It comes hours after US officials said China had placed artillery pieces on one of the islands it is manufacturing in the contested waters. Gady Epstein is Beijing bureau chief at the Economist.

0730

A new drug has been shown to more than double the life expectancy of some people with advanced lung cancer. The drug Nivolumab was found to stop the immune system being turned off, allowing the body to keep attacking the cancer tumour, during a trial conducted in Europe and the United States. Earlier this week scientists also announced that they believe they've found an effective new treatment for advanced skin cancer, using a modified version of the virus that causes cold sores. They found that injecting the genetically engineered herpes virus into tumours could halt their growth, or even eradicate them. So is the scientific community making real progress now in the fight against some cancers? And what role is immunotherapy which uses the body’s own immune system to help fight cancer starting to play? Dr Alan Worsley is Senior Science Information Officer, Cancer Research UK.

0735

When it happens, before the end of 2017, the vote on EU membership will be the fourth referendum the UK government has held since 2011. In the context of the UK, four is rather a big number, because we tend not to have major referendums all that often. Unlike Switzerland, the world leader in direct democracy, where four is merely the number of referendums they are holding tomorrow alone. The UK government has so far held 12 referendums, in total, ever. The Swiss had 12 last year alone. Should we take a leaf out of their book, and make more use of referendums, not just on constitutional matters, but on questions of policy too? Regula Stampfli is Swiss political commentator in Zurich. Lord Norton is Conservative peer and Professor of Government at Hull University. Β 

0745

The death of the Nobel Laureate John Nash in a car crash earlier this week has caused great sadness in the world of maths. Nash was widely regarded as one of the finest minds of his generation, celebrated for his work in the field of game theory. The Oscar-winning film "A Beautiful Mind" was inspired by his career as well as his struggle with schizophrenia. Louis Nirenberg is a mathematician, who shared the Abel prize with Nash in Norway just last week. Cedric Villani is a French mathematician.

0755

Greater Manchester's police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd has been selected as the region's interim mayor. The former Labour MP was chosen over Wigan Council leader Lord Smith by a panel representing the area's councils. Mr Lloyd will take up the role in June until 2017, when the public will vote for the region's first elected mayor. Chancellor George Osborne announced plans for an elected mayor last year as part of a project to hand more devolved power to the north. Tony Lloyd interim Mayor of Greater Manchester and Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester.

0810

Her Majesties Revenue & Customs have decided that people who come up with a reasonable excuse will be let off the fine they would normally face for filing their returns late.Β  Is this a sensible concentration of resources on bigger fish, criminal evaders of tax, or a sign that the Revenue is under greater strain and unable to deliver what George Osborne has promised which is a big reduction in the amount of tax that is not properly collected. Paul Lewis is a financial journalist who presents Money Box on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4.

0815

In June of 1965 at The Royal Albert Hall more than 7,000 people turned out to watch a marathon poetry reading. Called the International Poetry Incarnation it was a landmark event, which signalled the birth of UK counter culture in the sixties bringing together so–called beat poets from across the world. This evening, to mark the 50 year anniversary, the event will be recreated at the Roundhouse in Camden in London, with modern day poets and two of those who were in the performance, Pete Brown and Michael Horovitz. Michael Horovitz is a poet and one of the organisers of the first International Poetry Incarnation.

0825

The British Royal Navy flagship the HMS Bulwark is expected to bring hundreds of migrants rescued at sea, safely into the southern Italian port of Taranto. In neighbouring Greece, migrant arrivals are up 640% in spring 2015, compared to spring 2014. This is according to new data provided by the Greek Coast Guard. The island of Kos is less than four miles from the Turkish coast, and for many migrants, it is the quickest and easiest route into the EU. In the course of just a few days 1,200 migrants, many of them from Syria, arrived there. Many are sleeping rough on the promenade while others are squatting in an abandoned hotel. Anna Holligan is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’s Correspondent on the island of Kos. Konstantina Svinou is president of the Hoteliers Association of Kos.

0835

Further analysis of FIFA (see 0710). Louis Saha is a former French international and Manchester United player. Robert Peston is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’s Economics Editor.

0850 Β Β Β Β Β  Β 

After 20 years at the helm, Alan Rusbridger edited his last edition of the Guardian yesterday. What has he achieved? Has the Guardian put national security at risk? What is the future of campaigning newspapers like the Guardian? And of print media in general? Alan Rusbridger is the former editor of the Guardian.

0855

From the latest in the Avengers franchise to Pitch Perfect 2, Cinderella to 50 Shades of Grey, this year’s Hollywood blockbusters have been dominated by sequels, remakes and book adaptations.Β  Disney's latest film β€œTomorrowland”, starring George Clooney, is something of a rarity, an original story, made first as a film, albeit one that’s inspired by a zone in the Disneyland theme park. Unfortunately, despite a degree of originality, it hasn’t done very well at the box office. What should we read into this? Do film-going audiences really want a new story, or are they more content to sit back and let the familiar characters and plot lines wash over them? Dr Hannah Hamad is a Lecturer in Film Studies at Kings College London. Thomas W. Hodgkinson is a screenwriter and film critic. Β 

All subject to change.

Broadcast

  • Sat 30 May 2015 07:00