91Èȱ¬

Hi this is Joe, blogging under Ros' name. I'll be keeping you up to date as to what's happening on the show, and trying to post the best of your texts and emails.

"Assassinated on the streets of Beirut": we're starting the show withabout the shooting of Pierre Gemayel.

Amin Gemayal, the father of Pierre, is quoted saying "We don't want revenge" and Walid emails from Beirut: "People are genuinely afraid. It's scary."

Tim Hewell is the 91Èȱ¬'s man in Beirut, and briefly explains what happened: 24 bullets were said to have been found at the scene of the shooting. Tim also reports of several hundred angry demonstrators on the streets of Beirut - what's it like there? Like Walid (above), email us. Tim says 'this is leading to more and more tension.'

Tim: "Pierre Gemayal wasn't too well known, comparatively young, but comes from a very important Christian family: his uncle (also assassinated) and father being former Presidents."

Texts are coming through:

"Hello, Im Lubna from Iraq.This crime sadly doesnt serve but interests of Lebanon enemies and give them excuse to intefere more in Lebanon internal affairs"

Toufiq, in the Lebanon calling in, blames Syria for the killing - his evidence is "thirty years of killings". He wants his government to ratify the international tribunal as soon as possible, but believes they won't, as they want to protect Syria: it's a grand scheme".

A texter in France claims that this killing bears the hallmark of the Syrian Secret Service.

Shawkat in New York calls into the programme, he's a Lebanese Christian, and agrees with Toufiq. He says he can't understand why so many Christians are supporting Syria and Iran. He asks that Lebanese stand together.

Mariah in London reacts by saying, as a lot of emailers and texters have: "I am very angry and upset about what happened. It's scary where we are headed, we need to put an end to these killings. In my opinion, the first thing we need to do is to press forward with the tribunal - it's the only way we can put an end to thirty years fighting. Enough killing." She also points out: "I am Lebanese Muslim, and I am anti-Syrian. What's happening right now is not about Christian or Muslim. It's Pro or Anti Syrian."

Do you agree with Mariah? Post on the blog, or email us.

The theme of fear is coming out strongly in your comments.

Firaz in the Lebanon states: "reading the news has become a big issue - i'm scared about reading another death"

Likewise, calls for peace come in:

Bilal in Dubai calls 'I won't say i'm anti Syrian or Israeli - i'm anti anyone who wants to play this game. We want peace in Lebanon."

David: "keep interfering fingers out of this. Let the Lebanese govern their own future".

Plenty of texters and callers are discussing whether the Kremlin is behind the poisoning. The Kremlin has stated that accusations 'are sheer nonsense'.

Mary Dejevsky, in our studio, is reluctant to point a finger at anyone. With these sort of spy stories, its very difficult to find out the truth behind this. The temptation is obviously to accuse the Kremlin, but this is simplistic.

Andrei Shkarubo, in Russia, is convinced, however. "An indicator is the use of poison in Russia - it's not unusual."

Frank texts us "He had it coming all spyservices hate traitors!

Des Grant, in Ireland, echoes Mary's call not to point fingers. He suggests that there's no evidence for all these accusations.

Another text on the issue: "Alexander was poisoned because he chose to speak out."

Stephen emails us: "Alexander was 'hit' because he had the guts to speak out. I'm sure russian agents had a hand in it...We will never know."

We're back after the news, and Mary Dejevesky is explaining who this Russian spy was. "A career spy, very recently obtained British citizenship. The émigré community in London, some of whom lobby against Putin, may have wanted someone with an agents training in investigating

Nick says 'this is a false flag crime: the Kremlin is not so stupid as to do this so openly".

Derek in New York is comparing similar assassinations in the 90s and 2000s, some ascribed to Russia without concrete evidence, some with hallmarks of FSB killings.

Vibeeker in Denmark: "I find it possible that the FSB was behind this. Russia has silenced critics through killings before. It may not be direct, but this climate of fear and hatred against critics of Putin is what killed her."

Andrei of the Glasnost Foundation, a human rights organisation, claims it's 'naive to demand evidence for this crime on its own. One mustn't see this one alone.'

Sergie emails in: "Litvinenko is a traitor! In Russia nobody could care less about him, so the English should look for the person who poisioned him in their own kingdom."

Callers aren't sure whether we'll ever know the truth behind this event.

Alex in Austria, calls us and suggests "this is an event that seems over the top, he wasn't that great a threat to the government"

ADOPTION

A UK survey has suggested adopted people would like more information on their birth parents.
We have three callers to talk about their experiences on air:

Betsie: "I was adopted in 1960 and was always curious about my background. I have red hair, and people would say 'are you Irish?'. I wondered who i looked like and why i had been put up for adoption. I read some books on adoption which suggested finding your birth parents can be positive, and I went for it."

Wendy: "I was adopted as a baby; a Barnados baby. My parents were never particularly curious about birth parents - they thought it didn't matter because i was with them now. I wrote to my natural mother, just asking about the first moments of my life: she wrote back a short letter, obviously not keen on establishing a relationship. But this letter didn't answer my questions and left me a bit more confused really. I was disappointed, but i didn't want to push it. I can understand that she gave me up for adoption."

Hugh: "I was adopted as well, and have just discovered my biological mother. It should be a fundamental human right to find your biological parents. It was a great relief to my biological mother too, to see what had been happening to me. I find it very insulting to sometimes hear that adopted people shoudn't be able to contact biological parents."

Wendy agrees: "Just simple things like Doctors asking whether you have any family history of this or that - you can't answer"

Hugh "you can feel more complete as a person by knowing your natural parents. However unpleasant the truth may be - at least you know".

Wendy: "this is something you strongly consider before you do it."

Ros asks - will this right discourage people to give up their kids for adoption?

Betsie "that's not true at all. My birth mother gave me away because she couldn't raise me at that time, not because she didn't want to know me."

Luis, in Belgium, is an adopting father: "Firstly we are real parents. We can't know anything about our daughter, we can't tell her that she was adopted and we don't know what the reasons were for our daughters biological parents to give her up for adoption. My daughter's birth was at home, and the parents went to the hospital to provide the baby with the care and the attention that she could not: it must have been very sad for them."

Unfortunately that's all we've got time for, as the fascinating debate on adoption ends the show. You can keep posting on our blog, just hit the button below.

Thanks for reading, and as always, with WHYS, you set the agenda, so tell us what we should be talking about tomorrow.