Archives for September 2009
Is Angola ready to host a major football tournament?
This story comes from our sport reporter, Matt Williams:
Friday of this week marks 100 days from the start of the African Cup of Nations held in Angola.
Ghana and the Ivory Coast are among the sides already qualified so the likes of Chelsea's Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou will be travelling to the Southern African nation alongside Kolo Toure of Manchester City with Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor still hopeful of qualifying.
But is the country ready to host a major football tournament?
A billion dollars have been spent trying to get the stadiums up to scratch, building new roads and refitting the airports. But my understanding is that, of the four venues that will stage the event next January - it will be a race against time to get at least one of them ready.
We're live from Brighton today
5 live is at the Labour party conference today with an audience of 5 live listeners.
Jack Straw, Caroline Flint, Charles Clarke, Tessa Jowell, Tony McNulty, Neil Kinnock and David Blunkett will join us over the course of the morning as we debate what Labour would do with another 4 or 5 years in power and ask "can anything save Labour?"
Conference argy-bargy in Bournemouth
Can you remember the world, pre-expenses, of 12 months ago? Think back to last year's party conferences... The bizarre 'announcement' in the early of hours of the morning by one Damian McBride in a luxurious Manchester hotel that Ruth Kelly was to step down from the Cabinet to spend more time with her family. It was a big story then but seems small beer compared to the week in June this year when Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears and Caroline Flint all quit the cabinet.
Read the rest of this post and leave comments on the 5 live blog.
The row over the sacked dinner lady
Carol Hill lost her job at a primary school in Essex for telling the parents of a 7 year old Chloe David she'd been tied up and whipped in the playground. I've just recorded an interview with Chloe's father Scott David which you can hear at ten.
UPDATE:
Listen back to Jeanette Gilderdale's interview
So many of you got in contact with us to tell us how you moved you were by Victoria's interview with Jeanette Gilderdale. When doctors told her that her 13 year-old daughter Rachael had only six months to live, she decided not to tell her. Rachael had skin cancer and defied medical expectations by living four more years, dying just a month before her 18th birthday .But she never knew how ill she was. Please do listen back to the interview here. If you want to find our more about the charity Jeanette set up on Rachael's behalf you can find them here.
We heard some amazing stories from callers who've had to face similar tough decisions. Lots of you were struck by Carol's story. She described how her son was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was 17 but she didn't tell him just how serious it was. He died 10 years later. We've been back in contact with Carol to pass on your best wishes and she told us: "I'm so touched by all the messages from the 5 live listeners. It's comforting to know that I'm not alone. I've got some very good friends and they help me get through life when it's tough."
Would you tell a teenage child of yours that they were dying?
This morning we'll talk to a mum who decided not to reveal to her 13 year old that doctors believed the little girl had only 6 months to live.
Also we're going to look in detail at something the Conservatives hope will be a vote winner at the next general election - their education policy. They say they are going to give parents the opportunity to set up their own schools, which the local council will pay for.
And when might YOU be prosecuted if you help a loved one or patient commit suicide - the Director of Public Prosecutions will clarify the circumstances today and we'll talk to Keir Starmer after 12
Britain's biggest rap superstar
Dizzee Rascal's on the programme this morning. He's Britain biggest rap star.
He was excluded from three different schools in as many years. He grew up on an estate in East London and in his words he was "a bit of a naughty boy", getting involved with gangs and crime when he was barely in his teens. He nearly died when he was stabbed several times on the Cypriot holiday island of Ayia Napa.
But despite all this Dizzee, aka Dylan Mills, has sold millions of records, his last three singles going to number one in the UK charts, he's peformed in front of hundreds of thousands of people at festivals all around the world and he became the first black man to win the Mercury music prize.
His latest album "Tongue n Cheek", out this week, is expected to confirm him as the biggest selling and most successful British rapper of all time. And he isn't afraid of taking on politics and the big issues - with tracks on his latest album focusing on the recession and gang violence.
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We're live in Bournemouth
Morning. We're at the Lib Dems' party conference with an audience of 200 listeners. Nick Clegg joins us on the programme and you can talk to him by ringing 0500 909 693. It's the last conference before a general election so should be fascinating.
Among the Lib Dem policies up for scrutiny today - taking 4 million people out of income tax altogether. That would cost £17bn and would partly be paid for by this new mansion tax. Plus back in March, the Lib Dems confirmed their policy of scrapping tuition fees - since then, Nick Clegg appears to have shelved that promise, and today the CBI has called for students to pay higher tuition fees.
And we'll ask... is a vote for the Liberal Democrats a wasted vote?
(Victoria takes to the microphone as her audience take their seats for the live broadcast)
Welfare to work ?
We'll look in detail at Iain Duncan Smith's plan for cutting the welfare bill and reforming the benefits system. Also, Jordan says she was raped by a celebrity. Why do some women not report rape to the police?
And, we'll talk to the football supporter who was banned from the game for three years after being convicted of indecent chanting. He's just had the conviction overturned. You can listen to the interview here:
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Do you support cuts in public spending?
This morning we'll bring you live the speech of Brendan Barber head of the TUC, and that of Peter Mandelson at the London School of Economics.
Plus we'll talk to one of the country's leading fertility experts about women who risk death and bankruptcy in their desperation to become mothers.
And in the Monday music review: Bananarama join us to talk about their new album.
I want you back (don't care what I have to do)
Bananarama are back with a new album, Viva Bananarama and they'll be joining Victoria for our Monday Music Review. Their new album's produced by Ian Masterson, whose recent collaborations include Pet Shop Boys and Girls Aloud. Also up for review this week, Madonna's new song Celebration. Her last single, Miles Away, only reached number 39 in the charts, ending a run of 64 Top 20 singles in a row. Will Celebration do better? Plus, we'll review Pixie Lott's debut album and a new single from Florence and the Machine.
The latest on MG Rover and Caster Semenya
The four directors who took over MG Rover have given a scathing response to the report into the collapse of the firm 4 years ago. they use words like "whitewash" and "witchhunt" - and we'll talk to their spokesman at ten. Plus if you worked for MG Rover or supplied them - get in touch this morning with your reaction to the report.
We're bringing you more on the case of Caster Semenya - the 18-year-old South African who came fron nowhere to become the 800m world champion. It's being reported that she has both male and female organs. We're going to the Indian runner who attempted suicide in 2007 after failing a gender test and being stripped of the silver medal she won in the 800m at the 2006 Asian Games. Her name isi Santhi Soundararajan and she is fascinating - she says she is treated as an outacast in Indian society even now..
Plus should the well-off lose their child benefit to save public money? Do you rely on it, does it make a big difference to your weekly budget - or is it a handy bonus that if you're honest you don't really need?
UPDATE: Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan failed a gender verification test after the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and she was stripped of her silver medal for the 800m race.
Speaking through a male interpreter, Soundarajan talked to BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire about the controversy surrounding South Africa 800m world champion Caster Semenya, after reports suggest that gender tests show Semenya to have an inter-gender condition.
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Listen back to the Chairman of the BBC Trust
The Chairman of the BBC Trust told Victoria this morning that the BBC shouldn't allow itself to be "put over a barrel" when deciding how much to pay performers and senior executives.
Sir Michael Lyons also defended his own expenses (£70,00 over six months) and use of a chauffeur-driven car, which he said enabled him to work more efficiently.
Listen back to the interview here:
What do you want from the BBC in the future?
Sir Michael Lyons is Chairman of the BBC Trust and is here at ten to talk to you (0500 909693). He's written an open letter to licence fee payers - read it here - and wants your input. So tell him this morning if you'd be happy to see some of your £142.50 being given to the BBC's commercial rivals in regional news, or if you agree with James Murdoch that the "scale and scope of the BBC's current activities and future ambitions is chilling.' Maybe you feel the BBC is value for money - I'm sure he'd like to hear you tell him that...
Wed's prog
We're just getting the details of the rescue of a British journalist who'd been kidnapped in Afghanistan. Stephen Farrell was snatched on Saturday with his Afghan interpretor - who it's being reported died during the rescue attempt which involved British special forces. The details are still coming in but we'll bring you what we know at ten.
Plus he's from Wales, she's from Canada but now Adam and Rochelle Wallis face being separated for the next 18 months because of a law designed to protect young British Asian women from being forced into marriages against their will. We'll talk to them on the programme today before Mrs Wallis leaves the country this afternoon.
Bournemouth, Brighton, Manchester...want to join us?
In a few weeks time, our programme will be coming live from the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Party conferences. There is SO much to talk about. Last year was lively, enlightening, occasionally chaotic and it was terrific to meet so many Five Live listeners. Would you like to be in the audience this time around? With 7/8 months to go until a general election it should be fascinating. The dates are: Monday 21st September for the Liberal Democrat party conference in Bournemouth, Monday 28th September for the Labour party conference in Brighton and Monday October the 5th for the Conservative party conference in Manchester.
If you'd like to come to any/all of the above, email me and we'll contact you about tickets... victoria@bbc.co.uk.
This Photo Appeared in Glamour Magazine in the US
(Image credit: AP Photo/Glamour/Walter Chin)
Do you want to see more women like this in women's mags or do you see enough rolls of fat/skin in the street?
How far have you gone to gain access to your children?
After an 8 year legal battle, a fathers' rights campaigner has finally won what he wanted: a chance to live with his own daughter. You may know Fathers4Justice member Jonathan Stanesby. The name probably doesn't ring a bell - but he's the man who last summer spent 24 hours on Harriet Harman's roof, he's the man who back in 2004 handcuffed himself to the then Children's Minister Margaret Hodge. He was given a 2 month prison sentence for the roof stunt and the registered childminder shared a cell in Wormwood Scrubs jail with a drug-smuggler and a man convicted of a stabbing.
The inspiring story of a British 9/11 widow
Elizabeth Turner was seven months pregnant when her husband died in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Her son William is now seven and he's old enough to ask how his father was killed. So Elizabeth has written an account of what happened in a book called the Blue Skies of Autumn.. we'll talk to her this morning.
On today's programme
We'll have the latest news and sport for you as always, plus we'll investigate a riot involving around 200 people in Belfast last night.
We'll bring you a news conference from Northamptonshire police about the murder of Stacey Lawrence, the nine-year-old girl killed by her mother's boyfriend before he committed suicide.
A report today suggests two-thirds of parents think the economic downturn has helped them to talk to their children about the value of money; so how do you teach yours about money?
And we'll be live in Bristol where the council is asking residents if they want graffiti or murals across the city to be painted over - or if they want to keep them. Photos of the graffiti will be posted on the council's website and the public asked to give their opinions. One art critic said, "For Bristol to be guided by the opinion of people who don't know anything about art is lunacy."
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