18/04/2010

Synopsis

This week on BH, we heard about the continued suspension of flights across the UK for a fourth day because of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland. We had Icelandic lava in the studio, and a live update from near the site in Iceland.

Thousands of people gathered in Krakow today for the state funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who along with 96 others, died in a plane crash last weekend. Ryszard Kaczorowski was sentenced to death by the Soviets during the war, but freed to join the Allied forces after Germany invaded Russia. In peace, he lived here to defy Communism, later becoming President in Exile. Jerzy Ostoja-Kozniewski knew him for fifty years, and was due to board the plane to Smolensk with him. For BH, Jerzy reflected on the fate of his friend, the flight and his country.

A report this week predicted that the use of electronic payments will overtake notes and coins within five years. This is old news for James Allan, who told us he has lived without using cash for two years.

The Sunday newspapers were reviewed by social campaigner Dennis Goldberg, who was sentenced with Nelson Mandela and served twenty two years in an apartheid jail; Sarah Sands the Deputy Editor of the London Evening Standard, and Impressionist Jan Ravens.