On air: Has President Obama got it right on Afghanistan?

US President Barack Obama has issued new orders for the US military in Afghanistan, he is set to formally announce that a further 30,000 troops are to be sent to Afghanistan in a televised address on Tuesday.

On air: Switzerland bans minarets

‘In Switzerland, we feel more that this minaret ban is a symbol that we are a well-run direct democracy. It also allows us to keep the presence of our cultural identity. However, I fear that Islamic nations may react wrongly to this,’ so says Charles-Alexander from Switzerland. And he’s one of thousands of you, who’ve got in touch about this ban. What’s your reaction?

Should this man be on trial?

John Demjanjuk is old and ill, and here you can see him arriving in court accused of helping to murder more than 27,000 Jews at a Nazi death camp. Is Germany right to pursue these charges? Is there still a value in going back over what happened in those death camps and trying to ascertain this man’s role? He is of course guilty until proven otherwise and what might the reprecussions if he is acquited?

Is there a role for vigilantes in society?

When it comes to low level crime is it sometimes better to have a respected member of the community deal with trouble makers? Do we rely too much on the long arm of the law these days?

On one public housing estate in Darlington in northern England, a former boxer, “Fearless” Francis Jones, charges around six dollars a week – to deal with trouble makers. Shop keepers call him when rowdy teenagers gather outside their stores intimidating customers or throwing things at passing cars.  They say he responds immediately while the police force can take hours. 

Tired traditions

Aaaaaaaargh – sprouts! Now I love Christmas as much as the next hyper-active 10-year-old but just keep me away from those small, sour, green beasts of doom. Then there is turkey, that most tasteless of meat, and all the thoughtless, tacky, useless presents (admittedly mainly from me).

On air: Should Dubai be helped out of its financial crisis?

POST YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT DUBAI HERE.
Dubai, or to be exact the state-owned Dubai World, wants to delay repaying some of its debt. This comes after story after story has detailed how projects there have not been hitting targets. If you’re a golf fan you’ll be aware the final tournament of ‘The Road To Dubai’ was played on a course where some building weren’t completed. And of course there are examples on a far greater scale.

Now, you only have to look at the markets for evidence of how worried the money men are about this. So what to do?

On air: Your questions about Dubai

We’re aware that you’ve a lot of questions about what could happen next in Dubai and what it’ll mean for the world’s economy. We’ll have a number of experts ready to give you some answers. Please post your queries here.

Is Dubai’s culture of excess too good to last?

South Korea,  India,  Canada, Mexico – you’ll struggle to find a market that hasn’t woken up to the here we go again syndrome today. 

A leading state-owned firm in Dubai has announced  it will be delaying debt repayments for six months, plunging markets into mayhem.

Are we about to embark on global financial crisis  ’round two’? And after decades of lavish living, is it time to say bye bye to Dubai?

On air: Should Israelis and Palestinians be left to make their own peace?

The Palestinian leadership “wants a deal with Israel without any negotiations” and Israel’s leadership “wants negotiations with the Palestinians without any deal.”

And given the latest offer by the Israeli government and the negative response it had from the Palestinian authority, it looks like neither negotiations nor any deal are on the table at the moment.

The Israeli government has offered to stop settlement building in the West Bank for 10 months. But the Palestinian authority is not impressed and officials say that this is nothing new and unless it involves East Jerusalem it was unacceptable.

Are the Swiss being paranoid over minarets?

The Islamic call for prayers – the Azan – is one of Islam’s most iconic rituals.
Years ago members of the clergy would climb the minarets and spread the word by shouting, this was of course before they were replaced by tape recorders and loudspeakers. The minarets thus still perform their function, and has become a subject of debate in societies where Muslims are a minority.