91Èȱ¬

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 1 November 2010. Listen to the programme.

More details on the cargo bomb plot have unfolded over the weekend but there are still so many questions. Today we'll beÌýtaking your questions for experts on the situation.

Here's a couple of questions that have come in already.

Berit in Norway posted on our :

Looks like there are just a handful countries who we have good reason to fear now. To be careful and put a pressure on those, might it be an idea to ban cargo from these countries?

Gerry The Comedian posted

Will any review be conducted on existing practices to assuage public fears?

What do you want to know? And who would you like to hear from? ÌýPost below and we'll try make it happen on Monday.

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This programme was discussed on World Have Your Say on Friday 29th October. Listen to the programme.

The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has told his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh that the World's big enough for both India and China to develop.

China is India's largest trading partner; but there are still tensions between the two. Would either be at the top your list when it comes to choosing the next global superpower? Who would you like to see in that role?

Matthew from Texas posted on facebook,

"I wouldn't mind seeing a consolidation of third world countries become a superpower"

Sipho on facebook says,

"between india and china i would pick china.. they have already made their mark.. they have supplied the world with so many products.. i am guessing everyone here failed to run away from having something made by them chinese"

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The couple, who are thought to be Swiss, received a torrent of abuse from the hotel worker who was conducting the ceremony in the local Dhivehi language. The man has over the incident.

The video has received tens of thousands of hits since it was released onto You Tube earlier this week.

Lots of people have been sympathising with the way the couple was treated.

Carolematthews tweets

Don't think we'll be going to the Maldives for our wedding then

NazzarenaArman tweets

The video is quite disturbing & sad to watch... as I said 'wedding tourism gone bad'

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 28 October. Listen to the programme.

This blog post was written by WHYS editor Mark Sandell...

I've just flown into Belfast from London Heathrow this morning. A one hour flight from one part of the UK to another. Before boarding the plane I had to put all my luggage (when I say 'all' it was just a plastic bag but that's not important) through a scanner and had to remove both my belt and shoes before being allowed to go airside.

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I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room - just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.

This is what a writer for the US edition of the fashion magazine Marie Claire said talking about an American TV comedy programme called Mike and Molly, the show centres around a couple who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous group . Since she said this she has .

Believe it or not, I never wanted anyone to feel bullied or ashamed after reading this, and I sorely regret that it upset people so much. A lot of what I said was unnecessary.

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"Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.'

This is that's pushed Arundhati Roy to the Kashmiri frontline. The award-winning author of The God of Small Things is hardly a stranger when it comes to voicing her opinions. But this time, her words have got many questioning her loyalty to India.

The Indian governmentÌýis on charges of sedition. YesterdayÌýshe issued

'In the papers some have accused me of giving 'hate-speeches', of wanting India to break up. On the contrary, what I say comes from love and pride. It comes from not wanting people to be killed, raped, imprisoned or have their finger-nails pulled out in order to force them to say they are Indians...Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.'

But themetromonkey in India reacts on Twitter: 'There is a difference between freedom and complete disregard of national sentiments. Arundhati Roy has crossed the line.'

Does freedom of speech stop when your comments are thought toÌýinsult your country?

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You probably know the name Tariq Aziz. He was the Iraqi foreign minister under Saddam Hussein.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to death by the Iraqi Supreme Court. This was an unexpected change from his previous 27 year prison sentence. The Iraqi High Court said his conviction was in connection with the persecution of religious parties.ÌýA heated debateÌýis going on over whether the death sentence is a just one for Aziz.

Iraqi Ahmed Al-Rikabi from Radio Dijla says:

He deserves the death penalty because nobody with honour would be part of Saddam's regime. He has blood on his hands.

So what really lies behind the decision by Iraq's high tribunal to pass a death sentence on Tariq Aziz, long serving Iraqi foreign minister and number two to Saddam Hussein? The decision has caused shock waves around the World, largely because the sentence has the feel of vengeance to it.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai responded to Saturday's that said Iran is giving Afghanistan bags of cash.

President Karzai admitted yesterday that he regularly receives millions of dollars from the Iranian government, he also said 'we are grateful to the Iranians' and that 'patriotism has a price'. The money is small potatoes compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars given by the United States to Afghanistan.

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After weeks of protest and days of strikes, it'sÌýthe students turn today. They are planning in France. But as a quarter of refinery workers and rubbish collectors suspend their strike in Marseille, some are claiming the protests are .

Seven refineries are still closed and unless they re-open France could still face an even worse fuel crisis. The French government, which is due to have a finalÌývote on pension reforms this week, has warned the disruption is harming its economic recovery. People around the world are split over whether they think the French people are setting the right example.

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 25 October.ÌýListen to the programme.Ìý

The is back on the front pages.

The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has released 400,000 army documents relating to the conflict in Iraq. The documents reveal details of civilian deaths and prisoner abuse, and suggest that the US ignored evidence of torture by Iraqi authorities.

So much for Western ­'civilised' values ,

'The Iraq war was fought in the name of ­civilised values and ­common decency. The British and Americans presented themselves as the good guys, bringing ­democracy and the rule of law and ­humanity to a ­dysfunctional country ruled by a lunatic ­genocidal tyrant...If this neat contrast between good and evil has already worn pretty thin in the seven-and-a-half years since the invasion of Iraq, it has now finally been blown apart by a massive leak of nearly 400,000 official ­American military 'field reports' by WikiLeaks.'

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If Mayor Bobbio from Castellammare di Stabia gets his way, miniskirts, low-cut jeans, sunbathing, playing football in public places, and blasphemy will all be outlawed in his southern Italian seaside town.

It's all up for approval today at a council meeting. And it's a result of extra powers given to local governments by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to fight crime and anti-social behaviour.

Jonathan Turley sees it as a trend against free speech in the West. His article is called

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Lets face it - not everyone has the time or money to visit Paris.

For some visitors, it's as iconic as the real one - for others, .

In Britain, archaeologists have now decided there's nothing wrong with faking the tomb of the most famous Egyptian pharaoh.

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This blog post was written by Marcellin from Rwanda. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of the wider 91Èȱ¬.

Umuganda can involve building schools and other community projects

Never been to Rwanda before? Here is what you should know about this land of a thousand hills.

Rwanda is a mountainous land with a moderate climate - but always carry an umbrella with you, because you never know when it might rain. The sky is blue at 8 o'clock in the morning; but may turn grey the next hour - and then the downpour comes.

Kigali, the capital, is the cleanest city in the whole Great Lakes Region - thanks to "Umuganda", or community service, that takes place every last Saturday of the month.

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This blog post was written by Marcellin from Rwanda. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of the wider 91Èȱ¬.

President Paul Kagame's recent return to office after the September elections has given him another seven-year mandate - but it took place amid genocide accusations by the United Nations that have now led to Kagame threatening to pull Rwandan troops from helping around the world.

For some, Kagame's success means Rwandans are no longer ashamed of belonging to a country that was once known for only its mountain gorillas and the 1994 genocide.

"Wherever I travel, I feel proud to be Rwandan because I come from a country that is ruled by a man who is respected world over", a Uganda-based Rwandan businessman told me.

But the United Nations recently published a report accusing Rwandan army of committing genocide crimes against Rwandan Hutu rebels in DR Congo in 1998.

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 22 October. Listen to the programme.

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It was for America's National Public Radio.

This is what Juan Williams had this to say during a Fox news interview which has lead to him losing his job.

"I'm not a bigot, but when I get on a plane, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

It's taken me quite some time to sieve through the endless chatter about this on the blogosphere, Twitter and newspapers. I'm just going to throw some of it out there for you to make up your minds as to whether or not NPR did the right thing.

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It's a recently started newspaper, run by students and with a readership of a couple of thousand. Yet there's been global uproar after Rolling Stone newspaper in Uganda called for all gay people to be hanged and has now published the names, addresses and photos of what it calls Uganda's .

At least four people on the list have already been attacked and say many more are in hiding. The paper claims that some of this group are actively recruiting children in school and that was why it felt compelled to publish.

Well the editor Giles Muhame is the managing editor of the newspaper and has agreed to come onto WHYS to speak to gay ugandans and take your questions. Post them here.

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Earlier this week, the British government announced its spending review. ThisÌýwill affect the way the 91Èȱ¬ World Service is funded. The cost of the World Service will come from the 91Èȱ¬ licence fee, and no longer from the UKÌýForeign and Commonwealth Office.

Many of you have already been in touch asking how you can help and sharing your concerns, like Jodie in Virginia who emailed,

'Exactly how much is the fee and where and how do I send my license fee payment? I would prefer to pay with my American Express card, but can send a cheque if that is preferable.'

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Since wrting the post below, a cholera outbreak has leftÌýover 100 people deadÌýin Haiti. We'll try and get Dris on the show today to tell us what's going on.

This blog post was written by Dris from Haiti. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of the wider 91Èȱ¬.

Port-au-Prince these days look like a city ready for a big carnival party; the election campaign was officially launched on 27 September.

The posters and billboards with the pictures of candidates wearing presidential masks are everywhere - mostly those of President Preval's INETE party. The walls of private properties, public administration offices, churches and historic monuments are not spared in this massive effort to win the votes of electors in November.

Elections are a fuzzy process in Haiti. Millions are spent by the international; the runners and their political parties invest huge amount from the financial backup they receive from various sources such as the government, drug trafficking, and other organized crimes and foreign governments which want to influence the future of the country, or preserve its nature of failed state.

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ChallengingÌýnews,Ìýadventurous trips, an endless supply of unhealthy munchies, witty exchanges and 'marshmallow' comments from yours truly mean it's never a dull day on WHYS.

I started my 91Èȱ¬ career around two years ago as a journalism trainee on the on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4. I'd been knocking on the 91Èȱ¬'s door for quite some time without any joy so I was thrilled to finally have my foot in the door!

Prior to this, IÌýworked inÌýthe development sector for a couple of years, with various agencies including the on projects with illegal migrants from South Asia.

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 20 October 2010. Listen to the programme.

Two stories are developing through the day, and we're going to follow your reactions. So I'd start by asking....

Do you support the UK government's approach to national debt? And would you like your government to follow suit? Full coverage .

Do you admire the willingness of the French to protest against pension reform (which many call cuts)?Ìý

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But is prioritising money at work such a bad thing? How do your priorities line-up? Does the salary you get matter more than where you earn it or the colleagues you work with? Is working simply about getting as much money for you and your family?

(For those of you in the States who may be living a football-free life, Rooney is the biggest football star in England, one of the best players in the world and had been expected to stay at Manchester United for many years. )

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 19 October 2010. Listen to the programme.

That's the arrangement set up by an American concern, - and the first man in the UK to take advantage has done so today.

"John" - not his real name - received £200 for being sterilised. He says he should "never be a father."

The founder of Project Prevention, Barbara Harris, set up her charity in North Carolina after adopting the children of a crack addict. She has told the 91Èȱ¬:

The birth mother of my children obviously dabbled in all drugs and alcohol - she literally had a baby every year for eight years. I get very angry about the damage that drugs do to these children.

But a drug charity in the UK has said that it "exploits very vulnerable people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol at probably the lowest point in their lives."

Is it right to pay drug addicts not to have children?

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It's a very important week here in the UK, the government is announcing how's its going to tackle the country's growing debt. Massive cuts are expected.

Today we've learnt that the flagship of the Royal Navy, the aircraft carrier , is to be scrapped along with the famous Harrier jump jet. The Army and Navy will also lose thousands of personnel and a hundred tanks and heavy artillery. The level of cuts are surprising, last week Hillary Clinton said she was about the scale of UK and European defence cutbacks.

The UK is not the only country slashing its budgets. The US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has recently said the military has grown unwieldy and he want to . Greece spends a higher proportion of its income on its military than any other EU member and its looking to also cut its budgets. and are also making steep cuts.

How would you like to see your country's budget cut? Should defence be saved at the expense of social benefits? Does cutting defence make you feel less safe? At a time of war should it be the last department to be cut? Or can government restructure their armies to meet today's needs? Do armed forces need to be more flexible? Do cuts mean more chances for peace?

The idea of multi-culturalism has "failed, utterly failed" in Germany, according to the country's Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Over the weekend she told a gathering of younger members of her Christian Democratic Union party at Postsdam that what Germans call "multi-kulti" did not work, and immigrants needed to do more to integrate - including learning German.

The 91Èȱ¬'s Stephen Evans explained the context:

The words "utterly failed" are very strong, but there are also nuanced messages about the usefulness of immigrants in a country that needs skilled labour. The chancellor is basically saying that Germany needs immigrants but immigrants need to do something to get into the society.

It's at a time when there are numerous across Europe about the role of immigrants, multi-culturalism, and how - if at all - they fit together. If multi-culturalism cannot work, what can - or will?

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 15 October 2010.

While most of the world's attention has been on the (literally) uplifting events in Chile, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been in Lebanon. And now that the miners are going home, the focus is shifting to what, exactly, he is saying and doing there.

There is no doubting that Ahmadinejad was warmly received - just look at the thousands of waving flags in the video on this piece by the 91Èȱ¬'s Wyre Davis to see that.

Speaking to the crowds of thousands of Shia Lebanese in Bint Jbeil, he said he had not come to provoke, but to show solidarity with the people of southern Lebanon.

But then he threw in comments about Israel like "the Zionists will disappear," adding "the occupying Zionists today have no choice but to accept reality and go back to their countries of origin" - hardly the words of a man not seeking to provoke.

The issue is, is this all just rhetoric in front of an audience that loves his defiant attitude to the West - or is it deliberate provocation that increases the chances of war?

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Is she right to sound a warning?

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We're updating all the time: / / /

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 14 October 2010. Listen to the programme.

After 69 days they've finally done it. All 33 miners are up and people are overjoyed. "I feel so proud to be a human." A sentiment repeated in many of the seemingly endless emails you've sent us on the Chilean miners rescue.

I've spent most of the morning clicking through your comments, from St Vincents to Pakistan I get a real sense that the world stopped to watch these men emerge from the ground. I can't recall ever seeing so many heartfelt messages.

How has this story affected you? Are you now pausing for reflection? Has this story made you put things into perspective? Are you left with a greater faith in Humanity or God? Or is this a short term moment with no real lasting affects?

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If you didn't see the WHYS TV special on the rescue of the 69 miners trapped underground in Chile, you can watch it here.

We've cut the programme into three chunks; here's the first ...

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We discussed the rescue on a special World Have Your Say on Wed 13th October. to listen to the programme.

Are you staying up late or getting up early to watch the much-anticipated rescue? If so, Ìýyou've got a lot of company all around the world, including me. ÌýIt's an extraordinary story. You can watch developmentsÌýlive here.

And you can comment below and/or take part live in one of our three WHYS programmes on Wednesday as the story evolves.

Here's when to catch us: Radio at 0830 GMT, WHYS TV on 91Èȱ¬ World at 1430 GMT and our regular radio slot at 1700 GMT, 1800 GMT if you are in Africa.

A US grenade , but the Taliban's still to blame for the death of aid-worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan .

'Whether she was killed by a Taliban suicide vest or a US grenade, Linda Norgrove died because extremist killers seized her with the intention of exploiting her for propaganda then butchering her. '

Many like Colonel Kemp aren't surprised by the changing accounts of how Linda was killed. on the complexities of such a rescue mission.

Despite the emerging news, remains convinced that the rescuers did everything they could to save her - are you?

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'Friday the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, an incarcerated Chinese criminal...The Nobel committee once again displayed its arrogance and prejudice against a country that has made the most remarkable economic and social progress in the past three decades. The Nobel Prize has been generally perceived as a prestigious award in China, but many Chinese feel the peace prize is loaded with Western ideology In 1989, the Dalai Lama, a separatist, won the prize. Liu Xiaobo, the new winner, wants to copy Western political systems in China....The Nobel committee made an unwise choice, but it and the political force it represents cannot dictate China's future growth.China's success story speaks louder than the Nobel Peace Prize.'

It's a taste of the country's position on the winner that many elsewhereÌýare calling a . And whilst China would prefer to call Mr. Xiaobo anything but, the economic giant is hardly surprised by the West's reaction. According to , the award highlights one thing; 'an extraordinary terror of China's rise and the Chinese model."

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 8 October. Listen to the programme.

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Not quite as surprising as last year’s announcement but I’m sure this years won’t be welcomed by Beijing. Just last month, the Chinese foreign ministry warned the committee not to award him the prize, saying it would be against Nobel principles.

The head of the Nobel Prize committee has described Mr Xiaobo as "the foremost symbol of the wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China". So what will this mean for Human Rights in China?

China will surely view this as an attack on their human rights record so could this announcement do more harm than good? Is this kind of pressure the right way to tackle human rights in China?

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See below for parts 2 and 3.

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 7 October 2010. Listen to the programme.

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In a week when terror alerts have dominated the headlines Tony Blair has called for a in the fight against terrorism.

The former British Prime Minister has warned that a failure to challenge the "narrative" that Muslims were oppressed by the west was fuelling extremism around the world. Mr Blair made it clear what he thinks this narrative is;

It is that Islam is basically oppressed by the west; disrespected and treated unfairly; that the military action we took post-9/11 was against countries because they are Muslim; and that in the Middle East we ignore the injustice done to the Palestinians in our desire to support Israel, because the Palestinians are Muslims, and the Israelis Jews. It is a narrative that now has vast numbers of assembled websites, blogs and organisations.

Mr Blair went on to say this narrative weakens moderate Muslims.

The irony is that the many Muslims who believe passionately in co-existence and tolerance are not empowered but frequently disempowered by our refusal to confront the narrative. We think if we sympathise with the narrative – that essentially this extremism has arisen as a result, partly, of our actions – we meet it half way, we help the modernisers to be more persuasive. We don't. We indulge it and we weaken them.

Is Tony Blair right? Is it impossible to defeat extremism "without defeating the narrative that nurtures it"?

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Where do you like it? - cheeky question or distasteful joke?

The words of in the film Seven. And two awareness campaigns in recent days - one based around breast cancer, and one about the 10:10 climate change effort - have certainly highlighted that argument.

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Two things have come out of the toxic sludge spill in Hungary. First you are very interested in hearing from those affected. And second, amongst the condemnation there have been discussion of whether we have to accept that some accidents, though of course the minimum possible, are inevitable.

The majority of national economies are industrialised and our desire for the products and lifestyle that comes with that makes any alternative unthinkable. Are accidents like this a regrettable consequence?

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A straightforward enough story, routine even. But Gamu seems to have of hundreds of thousands of people here after the X Factor.

The 18 year old was controversially voted off the show last week amid dark- and unproven- rumours that her impending deportation affected the decision.

Since then, "Gamu should have got through" has 220 thousand people signed up- and - campaigning against her deportation- has just started.

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The British governmentÌýis to high earners. But will the move bring out the Ìýor leave them at a loss?

The ,

'Why should people become clients of the state as soon as they have a child? It could be argued that such a universal benefit is an inherently socialist measure; a benign disguise for a sinister project to nationalise family life.'

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Three of today's big talking points: the would be Times Square bomber gets life in prison, are arrested in France and a US drone attack in Pakistan thought to have terror links in Europe.

'All this points to a picture of unsuccessful would-be jihadis on the one hand, and the dramatically improved policing and intelligence sharing that Europe, the US, and other states have developed since 9/11,' writes Monitor.Ìý'None of this means that some day an attacker won't get through the net. As the old cliché goes, a terrorist only has to get lucky once. But given the scores of young Muslim men who have gone from the US, Europe, and across the Middle East to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and smaller wars in Somalia and Yemen, Al Qaeda's desire to reexport terrorism has largely been a failure so far. '

Is thisÌýthe WestÌýat its most vulnerableÌýor ?

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UPDATE:Ìý 91Èȱ¬'s Frank Gardner has a Q & A on the latest about theÌýterror alerts.

BEN'S ORIGINAL POST:

Japan has become the latest country to issue a travel warning about travelling to Europe. The fear is that al-Qaeda is planning to attack cities on the continent.

In particular, people have been urged to be vigilant when using public transport or visiting tourist sites - indeed, the Eiffel Tower has been evacuated twice in recent weeks.

The US government has warned its citizens to stay away from crowded places in Europe. Critics there say the terror alerts are an "" - a news event with the potential to influence the outcome of an election.

Certainly, comments German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there was no concrete evidence of an imminent attack and "no reason to be alarmist at this time".

Is the US government in particular manipulating the terror threat level for its own ends?

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Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, will be coming onto World Have Your Say to take questions from our global audience on October 4th. The show will be live from the in Birmingham on the 91Èȱ¬ World Service radio at 1800-1900 BST. You'll be able to .

Whether you have a question about the war in Afghanistan, China's emerging economy or nuclear weapons in Iran, Mr. Hague will be happy to respond.

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Pop your question on foreign policy below.

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Central to this is how we view this sad story and whether his desperate state of mind was caused by a) extreme embarrassment at being shown having sex, or b) by emotions specific to his sexuality and sexual behaviour becoming much more widely known that they had been before, or by c) the cumulative effect of being attacked or undermined because of his sexuality. Clearly we can't know.

(Read some accounts - - and the narrative of 'gay bullying online leads to suicide' doesn't appear to add up.)

So we'll be guided by you and your reaction to this story. I'll explain the different areas we're looking at...

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This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 1 October 2010. Listen to the programme.

or Population overload or ? or lazy dwarf? There are many ways to look at Nigeria as it turns 50 today, and lots of you on our Facebook page as well as Twitter, have asked to talk about them.

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This post has been written by Mark Sandell, WHYS editor currently in Monserrat.

It took nearly two hours to snake around the roads from Salem but when it arrived it was impressive. Hundreds - and I mean hundreds -of cars formed a motorcade to begin the events leading up to today's funeral of Arrow, the Soca King, known to his friends here on Montserrat as "Phonsie".

The cars had their headlights on, some had hazards on, most were flying flags, but all were playing the music of this island's most famous son. It was an impressive sight with the bats wheeling overhead and the lights of Nevis twinkling in the Caribbean distance.

Even though this is the beginning of a period of sadness, it's also oddly and appropriately joyful. Many people watching the processions commented that "Arrow would have loved this".

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