What do you expect from us?

Hi – I’m Tolu Adeoye and I’m one of a new group of trainees on the BBC’s Journalism Trainee Scheme. We’re all pictured here with Helen Boaden, Director, BBC News. The programme is designed to attract people to journalism who have not trained, or worked, as broadcast journalists before – recruiting people who can use their experiences and skills to reach diverse audiences. Krupa and Trish, who work on World Have your Say, were trainees on the 2008 scheme. We’d love to hear what World Have Your Say listeners want and expect from new BBC journalists.

On air: Has America lost its power over Israel?

US Vice President Joe Biden’s trying to recover from the embarrassment of arriving in Israel on a peace mission, to be greeted by an announcement of 1,600 new homes being built in disputed East Jerusalem. So is the US now ignored by Israel? A once strong force that has lost its influence? Or has Israel always done what it wants, regardless of outside pressure? This is how the visit is playing in Israeli and Palestinian newspapers.

On air: Is fast food unfairly demonised?

If you’re trying to shed a few pounds, eating fast food probably wouldn’t be your first thought. However Weight Watchers has joined forces with McDonalds in New Zealand.

Both companies say it helps people making a lifestyle change to still enjoy treats in moderation and by giving fast food meals “points” it makes it easier for dieters.  Not so, say numerous critics who have accused weight watchers of selling out.

Talking points 18 March

How far should a parent go to find a sexual partner for her disabled son? That’s exactly what one woman in the UK is actively doing. She’s even going as far to say she would consider paying for a prostitute for her son who has Downs Syndrome.

This blogger asks How many mothers seek hookers for their sons?

Here are some of the conversations going on on a BBC messageboard. This agony aunt in the UK says she believes this young man Otto Baxter, who has Downs, has the right to sex.

On air: Are employers killing you by making you work nights?

The Danish government has set a precedent by paying out compensation to women who have developed breast cancer after working night shifts. The move comes after the UN-backed International Agency For Research On Cancer found that there was an increased likelihood of developing cancer for those who worked nights.

Are you a night worker? Do you feel you’re risking your health for the sake of your job?

On air: Is this justice for the shoe thrower?

Back in December he took out his anger on President Bush by throwing his shoe at him during a trip to Iraq. A grave insult in Arab culture. Today that same journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, has been jailed for three years for assaulting a Head of State, despite being hailed a hero in the Arab world.

The right to bear arms?

Why did an apparently perfectly normal 17-year-old in Germany go onto kill 15 people?  It seems he used one of his father’s guns ….So should people be allowed to keep guns at home?

On air: Staring into the abyss?

Hello I’m Stephen Nolan. Today I’ve been asked to present World Have Your Say from my home town of Belfast. On my phone-in radio programme that went out on BBC Ulster today, I listened to Angela the wife of a police officer who told me how her son clung to her husband terrified he would be shot, begging him not to go to work. She echoed the fear and shock for many in our province that dissident factions have murdered two soldiers and one police officer in the last few days.

Back to the troubles?

As I write Shaimaa is grabbing our technical equipment and heading to the airport for tomorrow’s special programme live from Belfast. In the last 48 hours 2 soldiers and a policeman have been shot dead in two separate incidents. The first murders of security forces in more than a decade.

The programme will be hosted by the Sony Award winning presenter Stephen Nolan, from an as yet undecided location. He’s born and bred in Belfast and presents radio and TV programmes on BBC Radio Ulster and our sister station here in the UK BBC Radio Five Live. There is, frankly, no-one better to illustrate to the world what the mood is like in Northern Ireland at the moment.

What could the rich world’s banks learn from the poor world’s?

He’s an economist, a banker and the man who developed the concept of microcredit. Mohammad Yunus  set up the Grameen bank in Bangladesh more than 30 years ago, and in 2006 they were jointly awarded the the Nobel Peace Prize. In simple terms the concept he dreamt up was to loan small amounts of money to entrepreneurs, too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. His view was that rural poor people had skills that with a little financial backing could help lift them out of poverty. He also strongly believed that people from a poorer background were more likely to repay their loans.