Questions about Kenya

Hi everyone. Welcome to Deeana in Oregon, Kalenga in Uganda (but from DR Congo) and Zainab in Iraq – three of a fair few of you who have signed up to the Daily Email while I’ve been off. Good to have you all with us.

Jared in Kampala suggests, ‘that Kenyan elections should be the talk today. I feel there were multiple irregularities that should be put into attention. EU observers note it, but it is ignored!!!’

Ignored by some perhaps, denied by others and most definitely talked about by the thousands of people getting in touch with the BBC. And irregularities are no longer the only story. We now have reports that over a hundred people have died in the violent reaction to Mwai Kibaki’s victory. So can you help us answer the two fundamental questions at the heart of this story?

Can democracy ever work in Pakistan?

We’re off air now, but you can podcast the programme here   

Hello everyone I’m Komla Dumor. Join us for a global debate on the future of Pakistan at 1800GMT.

Can Democracy Ever Work in Pakistan? Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been buried today following her assassination yesterday. Her murder is another bloody milestone in Pakistan’s tortured democratic experiment that has seen several politically motivated killings and military intervention.

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto

We’re off air now, but you can podcast the programme here  

 Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack at an election rally in Rawalpindi near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. So that’s what we’ll be talking about today – talking to terrorists will have to wait for another day (possibly tomorrow).

As for today – how will you remember Benazir Bhutto? With elections due on January 8 what does the killing mean for Pakistan? Join the discussion at 1800 GMT.

TALKING TO “TERRORISTS” – A GOOD IDEA?

Hello there. My name’s Jo Fidgen, and I’ll be with you for World Have Your Say from 1800 GMT this evening.

Lots going on today. There are the two officials from the UN and the EU who’ve been thrown out of Afghanistan for “talking to the Taleban”. It seems they were having conversations with all sorts of people opposed to the Afghan government to try to calm the situation down. But some government officials didn’t like it.

Then the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, has said he’s negotiated the release of three hostages held by the FARC rebel group in Colombia. They could be out in the next day or so.

And Sri Lanka’s war is picking up again. The military says it’s bombed a naval base of the Tamil Tiger separatists. The President says he sees no point in discussing a political settlement until what he calls ‘terrorism’ has been defeated.

Which begs a big question: SHOULD GOVERNMENTS BE TALKING TO GROUPS CONSIDERED TO BE TERRORISTS?

WHYS on Boxing Day (2007)

Ahhhh, Boxing Day. I always feel like Brits get weird looks when we talk about Boxing Day – I mean, it’s fine to take a day off after Christmas, but why call it Boxing Day?

Anyway, while most people are not working today (although far fewer than used to not work, since many shops have started their New Year sales today) that’s not the case for four of us in the WHYS office. We’re in (kind of) constant communication with Calcutta, where presenter-for-the-day Rahul Tandon is based.

But let me get to the point – what are we asking today? “Does religious belief make for better politicians?” Do religious people have a superior moral compass that helps them work for the good of society more than non-believers?

Christmas Day at WHYS

This is the scene. Tommy has brought quiche in, a fine looking apple tart and is wearing a red paper hat. Leonardo is looking at re-runs of himself on Creature Comforts , has brought in a chopping board which he intends to use in the preparation of “Brazilian drinks” (when we’re off-air naturally) and has abandoned his hat for a pair of headphones. Rabsy is upstairs in the newsroom, having started her shift 9 hours ago , ready to come down and present for us. Fiona is doing her expenses in between serious research on the Kenyan elections and is wearing a purple paper hat. Over on Newshour, there’s a bit of light-hearted banter between them and us and Lyse Doucet is in the chair telling us to keep the noise down. Their team have a BBC trolley of what looks like ham and chocolates. Our trolley hasn’t arrived. Outside, it’s very grey, very rainy and i’ve just seen an open top tourist bus go past with a top deck full of soaked Japanese tourists on board.  We’ve all swopped stories about our mornings before we came in and the whole atmosphere is very surreal. A friend of mine phones to say that his wife woke up in the early hours- worried that not every present wrapped for the family was in the right place. She decided to unwrap them all to make sure. My friend was then up at 3.00 a.m to re-wrap them and make sure they were ok. They were. I’ve just had e-mails from my friends Lubna in Baghdad and Izumi in Japan, neither of whom are “celebrating” Christmas but were thoughtful enough to e-mail while we’re at work. I’m very grateful. Ros, of course, isn’t here- tho’ is “on call” in case we need him to go to the Cornwall unattended studio tomorrow, in case the line to Calcutta goes down (Rahul is presenting from there). yeah, sure.

It’s a sort of Global Conversation. Happy Christmas. Oh, and Leo has not only got his chopping board out- he’s got a pestle and mortar out and is mixing ingredients.

Merry Christmas to all our listeners

There’s a few stories around today, despite the fact it is quiet on the news front in many countries. My colleagues have already started work on at least two things:

KENYA

 The Kenyan elections, which are predicted to be the closest in the country’s history, are set to take place on Thursday.

Campaigning isn’t allowed on Wednesday so today seems a good day to talk about them. What are the hopes of the elections helping rid the country of corruption?

CHRISTMAS TRAGEDIES

There is also a set up on how people cope with tragedy at Christmas.

IRAQ ATTACK

In Iraq, at least 20 people have been killed in a bomb attack in the north of the country. Baghdad has been relatively calm in recent times, but is this a sign that the insurgents are striking back?

How you can tell it’s Christmas Eve in London..

1)…..you can get a seat on the train.

2) There are ridiculous queues at our airports…

3) Ros is on holiday and so are all the World Service suits….

4) The World Today are already running “lookback” items… 

5) There’s not much in the papers…. 

SCHENGEN & WHALES

Morning / afternoon / evening — Peter Dobbie here with news of todays World Have Your Say on air at the usual time: 1800 GMT. Today:

SCHENGEN & WHALES

First, 48 hours of celebrations are taking place to mark nine new states joining a European border-free zone. The Schengen agreement, which allows passport-free travel across the area, now embraces 24 nations. Some 2,000 people celebrated in the town of Frankfurt on Oder at Germany’s border with Poland, amid fireworks and the EU anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

(If you don’t know what that sounds like just dip into this site and click on play:

Anyway, we digress. The point of our debate today is one of security. This is a huge land mass, which, in terms of security, just got a lot bigger – more people can now move around more often, with more ease than ever before. Certain countries however have rejected fears that this might create a crime wave. And the European Commission says that one billion euros has been spent on beefing up security on the new EU frontiers, including the establishing of missions along the Polish and Slovak borders.

What do you think ? Does this make Europe safer or less secure ? Does it make Europe more attractive to criminals ? Will there now be an explosion of organised crime, covering everything from drugs, to people smuggling and terrorism ? Get in touch and tell us your thoughts.

Getting the hump…

…..a good day if you’re a humpback whale as the Japanese call off their hunt after pressure from around the world….but particularly in Australia. Proof of the power of pressure ? or unwonted intereference in other country’s affairs ?

Apple have shut down a “rumours” site after a long legal battle. The site was set up by fans of Apple and throws up a few issues like : is it wise to sue people who like your products ? and should bloggers have the same rights as journalists when it comes to protecting sources ?