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05/05/2015

Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

3 hours

Last on

Tue 5 May 2015 06:00

Today's running order

0645

David Cameron has said legalising same sex marriage in England and Wales last year was one of his proudest achievements though many of his backbench MPs who disagreed. It was the cause of the biggest Conservative backbench rebellion in the last Parliament. But what about gay voters, what effect has it had on the way they intend to vote? Dave McMullan went to a meeting of gay people in a pub in south London. 

0650

Thousands have died in Nepal's earthquake and the death toll is still mounting. People have been displaced after their homes were destroyed and aid agencies have said that more than a million children have been affected. In Kathmandu, one of the most well-known private orphanages has been damaged and more than a 100 children have had to move to temporary shelters. Our correspondent Yogita Limaye reports.

0655

From today the UK's Supreme Court's proceedings can be viewed anytime, anyplace with the launch of a "catch-up TV" style service on the Court's website. Footage from each case will be uploaded the following day and will be available on line as part of an archive of past hearings. The service complements the Court's existing live broadcasts. Clive Coleman is the BBC’s Legal Correspondent.

0710

One of the two gunmen shot dead at an event in Texas exhibiting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad had previously been a terror suspect, according to court documents. Elton Simpson had been under surveillance since 2006 and was convicted in 2010 for lying about plans to go to Somalia.  Authorities in the US have named the other gunman as Nadir Soofi. Usama Shami is president of the Islamic Community Centre in Phoenix

0715

On Monday the leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, questioned the legitimacy of a UK government which did not include Scottish MPs.  Speaking at a rally in Dumfries, she told supporters it would be undemocratic if Scottish voices were not heard at Westminster. John Swinney is the deputy First Minister of Scotland.

0720

A new screening test that tracks changing levels of a protein in the blood can detect twice as many ovarian cancers as conventional methods, new research suggests. The technique relies on a statistical calculation to interpret variations in the level of a protein called CA125 which is linked to ovarian cancer. Professor Usha Menon is co-principal investigator and trial co-ordinator at UCL.

0725

What do outsiders make of our strange election campaign? Frank Luntz is an American pollster and political pundit who’s been coming here for our elections for years. Our reporter Sima Kotecha went with him  to the Labour held constituency of Corby in Northamptonshire.

0730

More than 7,000 migrants have been rescued from overcrowded boats crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since Friday. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres is running its own operation in the Mediterranean, and we've asked one of their doctors on board one of the rescue ships, Erna Rijnierse, to record a diary of her experience for us.  Here's her account of the weekend's events.

0740                                                                                                                                   

Over the past four years Chris the cuckoo has visited twenty eight different countries, crossed the Sahara Desert eight times and reached speeds of up to 60mph. He’s just returned again to Suffolk after his annual migratory trip to Southern Africa. He was fitted with a satellite tag in May 2011 which means scientists now have four years’ worth of very detailed information which they describe as "unparalleled" and a "massive contribution to science".  Cuckoos are in huge decline, with almost three quarters wiped out since the late 80s. Chris Hewson is the lead scientist on the project at the British Trust for Ornithology.

0750

Under a FOI request, two internal South Yorkshire Police documents have been made public for the first time. The reports, from 2003 and 2006, show the extent of the warnings the police were given in relation to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham and to a lesser extent Sheffield. They were written by an analyst for South Yorkshire police, and despite setting out links between drugs and violence and the exploiters, they did not lead to action. The documents have been referenced before in Alexis Jay's report. She led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham and was the author of the investigation's report, published in August 2014. Dr Alan Billings is the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

0810

As part of our round of final interviews with the party leaders ahead of the General Election we speak to Nick Clegg the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

0830

Mount Everest remains open to climbers, despite avalanches triggered by last month's earthquake.  The Nepali government says it's up to climbers and organisers as permits have already been issued.  Most expedition groups have already called off their climbs. The Nepali group (the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee) which is responsible for deploying 'ice doctors' - experienced and expert Sherpas - say this spring season has now become "almost impossible" because the routes damaged "will take a long time" to reconstruct. The earthquake has killed more than 7,200 people, including at least 18 climbers on Everest who were hit by a massive avalanche that wiped out part of the base camp. Nick Talbot was attempting to be the first person with cystic fibrosis to climb Everest & was injured at base camp when an avalanche was triggered by the earthquake. He arrived back in the UK on Friday and Rebecca Stephens is the first British woman to reach the summit of Everest and chair of the charity, Himalayan Trust UK.

0840

Despite the emergence of the smaller parties during this election, is the traditional party system more intact than we imagined? Caroline Lucas is the former leader of the Green Party.

0845

Casting our votes in the ballot box is one of the only things in life that's truly secret. The voter is presented with the ballot paper, a pencil and a sealed black box. Tonight, a play is being staged at the Donmar in London - and televised on More 4 - showing the last 90 minutes of voting day in a fictional polling station in a marginal seat (between 8.30 and 10.00 – i.e. in real time). The cast includes Catherine Tate and Judi Dench. James Graham is the playwright of The Vote.

0850

One of France's best-known architects has been labelled an 'outright Fascist' by the author of a new book on his life. Xavier de Jarcy - whose book on Le Corbusier is titled 'A French Fascism' is one of two French authors to produce new research on the architect's allegedly Fascist politics.  It coincides with the opening of an exhibition on Le Corbusier's work at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, from where our correspondent Lucy Williamson reports.

0855

Gregor Samsa, the character in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, is transformed into an insect in the 1915 novella. But what kind of insect exactly? Kafka never explicitly states it but there are plenty of clues - Gregor's "numerous legs", his concave back, the gum that he secretes and so on. David Baddiel has made a programme for Radio 4, broadcast this Saturday, with real insect experts, exploring what Gregor could be. David Baddiel and Beulah Garner is senior curator of Coleoptra with the Natural History Museum.

All subject to change.

Broadcast

  • Tue 5 May 2015 06:00