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Why is Africa Poor ?

BBC correspondent ,Mark Doyle went on the road to ask that question across the continent. He’s come back with three documentaries. Part one – Africa and the world- airs Monday on the BBC World Service Radio. Mark will join us on WHYS do discuss the issue and share some of the things that he has come accross during his visit. Read on and have a look at Mark’s first post from Liberia. Why, do you think, is Africa poor? Also, post any questions you have to Mark here.

On air: Was it right to release the Lockerbie bomber?

He’s going home. The man convicted of killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of a Pam Am flight over the Scottish town in Lockerbie, has been released from prison on compassionate grounds. Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi is already on his way home to Libya, where it is believed he will die of prostate cancer within three months.

Should athletes be excluded for having a natural advantage?

She’s very, very fast. And she’s very, very fit. But is ‘she’ really a she? And do we have the right to demand an answer to that question?

18 year old Caster Semenya has gone from relative anonymity to being discussed around the world after some lightning fast performances on the track in recent times, and winning the 800m in one minute and 55.45 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin yesterday.

But questions are now being asked about the new world champ – very personal questions that go right to the heart of just who Semenya is.

On air: Is a flawed election better than no election?

It’s the eve of elections in Afghanistan but even before a vote is cast, questions are growing about how credible the poll will be. The Taliban say they will disrupt the election and there’s been more violence today. A BBC investigation suggests the election could be beset with fraud and corruption after voting cards were being sold openly.

Is Iraq going backwards?

Iraq is still coming to grips with the deadliest series of attacks in the country this year, which left 95 people dead in the capital Baghdad yesterday. 
And as they reel from those horrors, yet another bomb has reportedly has gone off near a restaurant today, killing another two people.

The prime minister, Nouri Maliki, called Wednesday’s bombings “a desperate attempt to derail the political process” in Iraq and has ordered a security review.  But will a security review make any difference?