20/12/2014

0710

Detectives investigating the death of off-duty police constable Neil Doyle have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.  The 28-year-old suspect handed himself in to police on Friday evening and was interviewed by detectives overnight.  Ed Thomas is our correspondent in Liverpool.  

0713

Experts in the nation have long been telling us for years that Pakistan is dangerously, horribly, dysfunctional - as a nation it fails its people on multiple fronts - including the very important one of expecting and rewarding decent behaviour.    Does the awful mass murder of children this week change that?  We hear from Huma Yusuf, a  Pakistan analyst at Control Risks and columnist at Dawn newspaper, and Dr Christine Fair, Assistant Professor in the Centre for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, and author of 'Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War'

0718

Millions of people over the world will be travelling over the Christmas holidays, and many of those visiting big cities will be staying in flats which they rent over the Internet. It's known as the AirBnB phenomenon after the website that arranges many of these short holiday lets. It's an arrangement that works for many of those doing the letting and the renting but in Paris, the city authorities are so worried about how fast the phenomenon is growing they've decided to take drastic action.  Hugh Schofield reports.

0722

In the run up to Christmas, Radio 4 have been bringing you little Comedy Christmas Crackers. Here's another - from one of the stars of Dead Ringers, Jan Ravens. The BBC Christmas party is in full swing but Winifred Robinson is causing trouble in the ladies' loos

0731

President Barack Obama has signalled a change in relations between US and Cuba, a few months ago he announced more Russian sanctions, and last night President Obama issued a new executive order blocking the exports of goods, technology or services to Crimea. We hear from Christopher Davies, from the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford, and Malloch Brown, a former under-secretary general at the UN and a former British foreign office minister.

0740

Wasps Rugby Club like to travel - not just for away games but for home fixtures too - the team hails originally from North London but they've gone from place to place - home for the past few years has been a soccer ground in High Wycombe. Now they are finally settling down, seventy five miles further afield - in Coventry. They'll take possession of the stadium for tomorrow's game against London Irish as owners at last, not as tenants. Rob Bonnet reports.

0749

Police in Australia have arrested a woman in connection with the killing of those eight children at a house in Caines -- she's the mother of seven of the children. Phil Mercer is our correspondent.

0752

On Thursday when they pulled it from the cinema Sony said they had no further plans to release the film on any platform. Then the President stepped in. Sony now says they hope the public WILL get to see the film on a "different platform" - maybe as a download. Alistair Leathead reports from Los Angeles.

0810

Pakistan has executed two prisoners following the decision to lift a moratorium on capital punishment after the massacre at a Peshawar school this week. One had been convicted of masterminding an attack on the army headquarters; the other had been found guilty of trying to assassinate the former President, Pervez Musharraf. The hanged militants had no links to this week's Taliban assault. But the executions came at a time when there has been an increasing pressure on the government to send out a tough message to the militants. We hear from Asif Kirmani, Political Secretary to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Syed Abbas, Pakistani High Commissioner for London.

0818

We are reporting this morning that a man has been arrested in connection with the killing of the off duty police constable Neil Doyle -- the man handed himself in to police last night.   PC Doyle had been on a night out -- it is possible that he was recognised by the men who attacked him and his two colleagues, both of whom were only lightly injured. We speak to Peter Singleton, who chairs the Merseyside police federation.

0821

Christmas presents thrown over garden walls and hidden by the bins - no not by Santa - but by couriers - often out delivering for some of the biggest retailers in the country. So what has been going wrong? Some blame the way some delivery companies pay their workers. Several use what they call 'lifestyle couriers' - or in plain english self-employed drivers - who are paid per parcel delivered. Zoe Conway has been to meet one courier - Peter - not his real name - who works for the courier firm Hermes.

0830

Sony Pictures Entertainment has released a statement responding to President Obama’s comment that it “made a mistake” in cancelling the release of a film thought to have provoked a hacking attack. The company said the film was only pulled because theatres across the US would not show it. Yesterday the USA said it had sufficient evidence to conclude that North Korea was responsible for the attack, and Obama said the USA would respond "in a place and manner and time that we choose". We hear from Dr Samantha Ravich, former Deputy National Security Advisor for Vice President Cheney, and Ambassador Christopher Hill, a former US envoy to North Korea.

0839

President Barack Obama has praised the reopening of diplomatic relations with Cuba but says he doesn't expect it to bring overnight change on the island, a quick end to the U.S. economic embargo or the likelihood that he will soon visit the communist nation. Mr Obama was speaking at his end of year news conference before taking a two week holiday in Hawaii. We speak to Brian Wilson, former Trade Minister who now chairs Havana Energy which is developing renewable energy biomass plants with the Cuban authorities.

0847

Submarines played a substantial role during the Second World War and German U-boats sunk hundreds of allies' ships and did so many many miles away from our shores. In 1942, U.S. Navy Commander Herbert Claudius engaged in a battle against a German submarine that was attacking a passenger ship in the Gulf of Mexico off the southern United States. And when he saw oil and debris on the surface, he thought he had downed the submarine. But the US Navy did not believe him: he was removed from his position and sent back to anti-sub-warfare school. 72 years later, an expedition supported by the National Geographic Society found the German U-boat and Claudius was awarded a posthumous medal. Robert Ballard is the oceanographer who became famous for the discovery of the Titanic. He also took part in this new expedition.

0852

Today is the last day you can send your cards by first class post with the Royal Mail and be certain they will reach their destination before Christmas. But, with a first class stamp now setting you back 62p and a multitude of options available online is the physical Christmas card coming to a festive end? We hear from Sharon Little who runs the Greeting Card Association and Radik Sanghani, a reporter at the Telegraph, features & lifestyle.