Should the Lockerbie bomber be freed on compassionate grounds?

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, is expected to be released on compassionate grounds.

Eight and half years ago he was jailed for life for the murders of 270 people but now he is terminally ill.

Are you celebrating Baitullah Mehsud’s death?

There are strong indications that a top Pakistani Taliban leader was killed in a US air attack in the South Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan. The White House has just said although they can’t confirm the death, there seems to be a growing consensus that Baitullah Mehsud had been killed.

Talking points for 29th August

Hi everyone, Kate here today – Thank-you to Sheikh for a great moderating debut.

On air: Is this the start of a new cold war?

Two words that haven’t been on the political stage for a number of years but slowly people are starting to utter them again, Cold war. The old east / west rivalries seem to be resurfacing.

President Bush and his aides have stepped up their rhetoric against Russia over its continued military presence in Georgia. The US President says Russia’s behaviour belongs in the cold war era.

On air: Will America still be America if whites are the minority?

Whites will become an ethnic minority in the United States in a generation as Hispanic and Asian populations transform the make up of the leader of the western world. The US Census Bureau projects that whites, now 66 per cent of the population, will make up less than half the total in 2042 – eight years sooner than previously predicted.

Your national anthem: Olympic pride? Or can’t abide?

The Olympics are now in full flight, and medal ceremonies are coming thick and fast. But does your national anthem make your breast swell with pride or make you want to cringe behind the sofa? And what are the alternatives?

Stories for Monday 10 March

Hi there from a rainy and wind swept London.. A number of things have caught our eye today.  Do Americans have the rights to keep out people they consider a threat; do we have a right to happiness; more doom and gloom from Iraq and an old British comedy about France under Nazi occupattion is to be screened on German TV.

Stories for Tuesday 4 March

Good morning, first up today is the Middle East – we didn’t talk about it yesterday but US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now in the region on a trip aimed at saving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas broke off contacts with Israel in protest at its recent offensive in Gaza, so I guess there are talks to save. I’m not sure how far they’ve got since the conference in Annapolis late last year.

Stories for Monday 3 March

Good morning, how’s your week so far? It’s a little early to tell I guess, so how was your weekend? Dmitry Medvedev’s was as good as expected. It’s our top story, but is that news?

Slightly less predictable than the Russian presidential election are tomorrow’s Democratic Party primaries in Ohio and Texas (although some of what I read over the weekend sounded a lot like an obituary for Hillary Clinton’s campaign).

The state of Kosovo?

Good morning, what to talk about today? The news website isn’t much help – its top story, “Vaccine against HIV ‘no nearer'”, is a headline I would have got a ticking off for way back when I worked at a newspaper. The theory is that if nothing has changed, why would someone want to read it? Anyway, moving on to the World Service, our first item is the Serbian foreign minister telling the UN Security Council that it must stop the province of Kosovo declaring independence.