91Èȱ¬

0650

The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko made an emotional speech in Davos yesterday, holding up what he said was evidence of Russian missile attacks on his country and saying there are 9,000 Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. One flashpoint of the fighting there has been for control of the airport at Donetsk. We speak to the journalist Oliver Carroll, who writes for the Independent and Newsweek.

0710

The 0.1% has descended on Davos for this year's World Economic Forum where they will discuss trends affecting global economics and politics. Global inequality will be high on the agenda. Winnie Byanyima is Oxfam International’s Executive Director and a co-chair of Davos.

0715

The Prime Minister will be in Scotland to publish more details on Thursday about how the UK Government will deliver more powers to Scotland following the Smith Commission Agreement. Danny Alexander is chief secretary to the Treasury.

0720

The government has said it will press ahead with the introduction of unbranded cigarette packaging in England, asking MPs to vote on legislation before May's election. It follows a series of public consultations on the issue. Christopher Snowdon is director of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, the tobacco industry is among those who fund it. Professor John Britton is director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies.

0730

Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry will co-host the ‘Counter-ISIL Coalition Small Group Meeting’ in London on 22 January. Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi might attend alongside 21 other representatives of the US-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State (IS). Phillip Hammond is foreign secretary.

0740

The actor Brian Blessed collapsed on stage during a performance of King Lear, after apparently suffering from a heart complaint. But after a short break, he returned to the stage and soldiered on to finish a gruelling three hour performance. 'The show must go on' but actors often have to draw on their powers of ingenuity, resilience and humour to make it to the curtain call. From malfunctioning props to characters going AWOL in the middle of a scene - what lengths do actors go to in order to finish a performance and what sort of obstacles do they have to overcome to make it to the final curtain? We speak to actor Michael Simkins and theatre critic Fiona Mountford.

0750

The man with arguably the most crucial role in fixing the European economy is absent from Davos. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, was supposed to attend but instead is in Frankfurt, where the bank is expected to take a big step today and begin quantitative easing. Stephanie Flanders is chief market strategist for the UK and Europe at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

0810

Inequality is high on the agenda at Davos (see 0710). Bill and Melinda Gates publish the annual letter from their Foundation on Thursday describing their hopes for what they can achieve in the next 15 years. The letter includes a series of bets about key poverty indicators they believe are likely to be solved between now and 2030, the time horizon for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We’ve spoken to Bill and Melinda Gates.

0815

Bill Gates has been on a mission to get some of the world's newer billionaires, especially in China, to give away more, or perhaps even some, of their money. Economics editor Robert Peston is in Davos.

0820

Reporter Zoe Conway has been to the Churchill Gardens Youth Club in London to find out what the young people there make of the career advice they were given at school.

0830

Russia and Ukraine can agree that the ceasefire technically in place isn't working. Mishal Husain has spoken to the Ukrainian boxer, now Mayor of Kiev, Vitaly Klitschko, as well as Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

0840

David Cameron is in Scotland on Thursday to give details on the extra powers being devolved to the Scottish parliament in line with the pledges made by the unionist parties before the independence referendum in September. We speak to the Scottish finance secretary and Ms Sturgeon's deputy, John Swinney.

0850

UK scientists may have found a way of reducing the number of babies at risk of autism developing the condition. Although children with autism typically start to receive treatment from the age of 3 or 4, a study has found that filming and playing back to parents footage of them interacting with children in the first year of life both identifies and allows them to target the earliest risk markers of autism such as lack of attention or reduced social interest. The work is published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal on Thursday. Professor Jonathan Green is lead author of the study.

0855

Inequality has been one of the themes of this year’s meeting in Davos. The divide between rich and poor is something the forum has tried to address for several years. Is this incongruous? A bit like turning up to discuss climate change in your private plane, also not unknown at Davos. Brendan Cox is of Save the Children. Gideon Rachman is chief foreign affairs columnist at the financial times.

All subject to change.