The beginning of the program

On air: Does swine flu show the rich world can’t handle a crisis?

Here in Indianapolis, Indiana the 24 hour news channels are still filled with reports, advice, discussions, interactive maps, questions and not to many answers about the swine flu. And a quick skirt around international news websites shows it’s still the top story in much of the developed world. But is it all overreaction? When a plane crew refuses to board a plane headed to Mexico, and Russia bans meat imported from America because of flu fears, does it show that in countries where we generally have life pretty good, that we overreact when things go slightly not according to plan?

Are we really panicking about swine flu?

The World Health Organization has raised the alert for swine flu to level five and is warning a pandemic is imminent.

So are we really panicking or not? This blogger thinks the fear is real, and this paper says there’s panic in New York. But this blog says there isn’t.

Goodbye, and thank you Kokomo, Indiana

Shaimaa and I jumped in our hire care today for the last time to hit US Highway 31, the road that cuts through Kokomo that we have come to know so well over the last couple of days. This time we were headed south to Indianapolis, leaving for the last time.

On air: 100 days of Obama

The measure of the first 100 days in office may be a pretty arbitrary one, but in President Obama’s case, the scorecard looks pretty full. We’re going to be assessing how the candidate who came to power promising change has done so far from the vantage point of Kokomo, Indiana.

Has the media decided the swine flu story it wants to tell?

We’re all back safe and sound from Mexico, and the past few days there feel all the more odd looking back at them from a few thousand miles away. I just wanted to share an interesting (and depressing) moment as we came out of arrivals at the airport. It wasn’t journalism’s finest hour.

Is the world over-reacting to swine flu?

Heading home

We´ve just decided that all team here in Mexico is going to go straight back to London after Tuesday´s show.

Swine Flu: your questions answered

Today’s show will,  once again,  largely be from Mexico where Ros and the team are going to be back on their roof with more guests.   They are operating under the same restrictions as before: limited numbers of people,   not sitting too close together and face masks for all who want to wear them.  

We’ll also have guests here in the studio in London and, of course,  we want to bring in as many voices and opinions as possible from around the World.  This is clearly a rapidly developing situation.

Talking Points: 28 April

The swine flu epidemic can no longer be contained and the World Health Organization has raised it’s alert level after more people have died in Mexico. 152 people are now dead there, and suspected cases in the US have nearly doubled.

Three more cases have been confirmed in Dallas. A woman from Michigan may have caught it. There are 10 more possible cases in Queensland. And airports in Cambodia are re-installing thermal scanners that were used during the bird flu outbreak.

The UN’s FAO is sending teams of experts to find out if the virus has a direct connection to pig farming. But this farmers newspaper in the UK says there’s no link. What do you think is causing it?

Ros and the team are live from Mexico again on WHYS today, and then they have to fly straight home to the UK and go into quarantine for a week. What are your fears about swine flu? What are the best ways to stop it spreading? Do you think people should stop travelling?