VoiceofRussia UK

Title: British prisoners win compensation
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Three prisoners have successfully argued that their human rights were breached after they were unable to get onto rehabilitation courses during their indeterminate jail sentences (IPP) in the UK.

There are more than 6,000 prisoners in England and Wales serving IPP sentences, which have now been scrapped.

Juliet Spare discusses this with Noel Smith from Inside Time magazine; Matthew Evans from the Prisoners' Advice Service; UKIP party secretary Michael Greaves and Nikhil Roy from Penal Reform International.

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Photo: Getty Images

Title: Should British police carry arms?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A vigil has been held for the two female officers shot dead in Manchester on the 18th of September.

WPCs Fiona Bone and Nicole Hughes, who were both unarmed, died from gunshot wounds in an attack still under investigation.
Their deaths have renewed calls for the British police force to be routinely issued firearms.

But those calls were countered by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who warned against any knee-jerk response to the tragedy.
Mr Clegg said the move had 'considerable risks' & could damage relations between police & the community.

The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers also says guns 'don't necessarily solve the problem.'

But the widower of another murdered WPC Sharon Beshenivsky said officers should carry firearms so they were prepared for any situation. She was killed in 2005. It was the last time when a female officer was killed.

In the last decade fewer than ten British po...

Title: World Alzheimer's Month
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: September 2012 marks the first global World Alzheimer's Month, an international campaign to raise awareness and challenge the stigma attached to dementia. In 2010, it was estimated that 36 million people worldwide were living with the illness.The figure is expected to rise to 66 million by 2030. Currently in the UK, up to 820 thousand people live with dementia.

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses dementia and what needs to be done to beat Alzheimer's with her guests: Beth Britton a freelance writer, blogger & dementia campaigner after her father lived with vascular dementia for the last 19 years of his life; Professor of Neurochemistry and Director of Brains for Dementia Research at King's College London, Paul Francis; Independent Health and Social Care Consultant, Janet Crampton; and on the telephone, Leon Smith, Chief Executive of Nightingale, a partly publicly funded residential care home that specializes in dementia.

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Photo: Institu...

Title: Should British police carry arms?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A vigil has been held for the two female officers shot dead in Manchester on the 18th of September.

WPCs Fiona Bone and Nicole Hughes, who were both unarmed, died from gunshot wounds in an attack still under investigation.
Their deaths have renewed calls for the British police force to be routinely issued firearms.

But those calls were countered by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who warned against any knee-jerk response to the tragedy.

Mr Clegg said the move had 'considerable risks' & could damage relations between police & the community.

The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers also says guns 'don't necessarily solve the problem.'

But the widower of another murdered WPC Sharon Beshenivsky said officers should carry firearms so they were prepared for any situation. She was killed in 2005, the last time a female officer was killed.

In the last decade fewer than ten British ...

Islamic film protests: a fundamental rift between the Muslim world and the West?

Title: Islamic film protests: a fundamental rift between the Muslim world and the West?
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: This studio discussion is on the protests that have spread across the Muslim world over a US made video insulting the prophet Muhammad.

Those protests have now been going on for 10 days. The first began in Cairo, then the unrest spread to Libya. That cost the US ambassador Christopher Stevens his life.

Protests engulfed Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia.

More violent scenes have been reported in Pakistan, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Exacerbating the anger is the publication in a French satirical magazine of cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad.

So are we witnessing a fundamental rift between the West and its values, which says free speech is paramount, and the Islamic world which says insults against religion should not be tolerated?

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with Charlie Wolf, American broadcaster who blogs for the Daily Mail; Rodney Shakespeare, co-founder of the Global Justice Movement; Assed Baig, a freela...

Why are some countries more charitable than others?

Title: Why are some countries more charitable than others?
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The latest 'world giving index', published by the Charities Aid Foundation, surveyed nearly 200,000 people in 153 countries, and asked them whether they had given money to charity, volunteered or helped a stranger over a period of a month.
Developing economies, such as China and India, rank among the least altruistic countries.

The United Kingdom ranks as the eighth most charitable nation in the world, while Russia lingers in fourteenth place from the bottom.

But some of the world's poorest places, like Lao, Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan, all rank inside the top 20 charitable nations.

So why are some countries more charitable than others?

VOR's Tim Walklate discusses this with Richard Harrison, Director of Research at Charities Aid Foundation; Professor Kimberley Scharf, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick; and Dr Catherine Walker, Head of STEAM at the Directory of Social Change and an author of several books on cha...

Title: Blasphemy and Islam
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: As protests continue across North Africa and the Arab world against a film Muslims consider offensive, is it because it is considered blasphemous or is there a political element to the violence?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Dr Carool Kersten, senior lecturer in the study of Islam at Kings College London; Anne Marie Waters, spokesperson for One Law for All, a group that campaigns against Sharia Law; Hajar Alkuhtany, executive director of the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue; and Myriam Francois-Carrah, a journalist and post-graduate researcher at Oxford University.

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Photo: Getty Images

Title: The patent war: Apple vs. Samsung
Runtime: 28:29
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A US court recently ordered the South Korean tech company, Samsung to pay its Californian competitor, Apple $1 billion damages for infringing intellectual property.

A jury made up of nine lay-people decided a number of Samsung's devices had blatantly infringed Apple's software and design patents. Now Apple is expected to seek import bans on eight Samsung products, prohibiting their sale in the US. Samsung meanwhile, says it will appeal.

The clash between the technology titans has raised many questions about intellectual property law and the US patent system.

The Voice of Russia's Vivienne Nunis discusses the court case - and its ramifications - with Kevin Palmer, the director of the design studio Kin; Aaron Wood, an intellectual property lawyer at Briffa; Professor Bart Clarysee, the Chair of Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London and the Queen Mary University Innovation lecturer, Dr Gaetano Dimita.

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Ph...

Title: The country the Arab Spring forgot
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Are human rights improving in Bahrain and why has the kingdom fallen off the media's radar compared to other agitations in the Arab World?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with his guests Saeed Shehabi, a member of the Bahrain Freedom Movement; Kaye Stearman, a media co-ordinator from the group Campaign against Arms Trade; and Khalid Ibrahim, the acting director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.

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Photo: Al Jazeera English http://www.flickr.com/people/aljazeeraenglish/

Title: Should divorce laws be reformed?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: VOR's Juliet Spare discusses why London is the divorce capital of the world and asks if it is time the divorce laws in England and Wales should be changed?

Studio guests: Jeremy Levison, founder of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Levison Meltzer Pigott; Gavin Scott, Solicitor at Stowe Family Law LLP; Tony Roe, Principal from Tony Roe Solicitors; and Suzy Miller, a divorce planner, and inventor of Divorce in a Box.

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Have the Games changed perceptions towards disability in the UK?

Title: Have the Games changed perceptions towards disability in the UK?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Last Sunday night the closing ceremony of the Paralympics games was held, marking the end of Britain's spectacular Olympic summer.

While the impact of the able-bodied Olympics may have been expected, the popularity of the Paralympics perhaps came as more of surprise, with record crowds, record TV audiences and widespread admiration for the efforts of the athletes themselves.

So have the Games changed perceptions towards disability for good in the UK?

VOR's Hywel Davies discusses this with his guests: Neil Coyle, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Disability Rights UK; Jody Mcintyre, journalist and author of the Life on Wheels blog; and over the phone, Jonathan Freedland, the Guardian columnist.

Image: Getty Images

Title: Should women give birth at home?
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A recent study by Oxford University found the risk of complications for first time mums who had a home birth was significantly higher than those who delivered in hospital.

The study reported there were 9.3 serious complications per one thousand home births, compared to 5.3 per one thousand hospital birthday in first time mothers.

If the benefits of mothers giving birth at home outweigh any risks. Should women be given the freedom to choose whether to have their baby at home, or in a hospital?

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this with Beverley Beech, Chair of the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services; Maureen Treadwell, co-founder of the Birth Trauma Association; Liz Fraser author of books about how to be a parent; Jacque Gerrard, the Royal College of Midwives.

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Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47343144@N03/4835827453/

One too many: changing the law on drink driving

Title: One too many: changing the law on drink driving
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The Scottish government has decided to launch a consultation on reducing the drink-driving limit. The current limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is already higher than the European standard of 50mg, and has remained unchanged since 1966.

Britain has the highest alcohol limit in the world. The Scottish Justice Secretary says the change would save 17 lives a year. But road safety campaigners are calling for a 'zero tolerance' approach.

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with his guests: Tony Dring, former chairman of the Campaign Against Drinking and Driving; Kevin Delaney, the Head of Road Safety at the Institute of Advanced Motorists; on the phone Jeanette Miller, the CEO of the Association of Motor Offence Lawyers and Alexey Sharapov, a driving expert from the motoring magazine TopGear Russia.

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Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurentsilvani/5670367253/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Title: Legacy of 9/11, eleven years on
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: On the 11th anniversary of the attacks on America, are we any further along in the fight against Al-Qaeda and what is the state of the so-called 'War on Terror'.
VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with his guests: Dr Alia Brahimi, research fellow at the London School of Economics; Prof Roger Griffin, professor of Modern History at Oxford Brookes University and author of the book Terrorist's Creed; Dr Tobias Feakin, director of the National Security and Resilience department of the Royal United Services Institute; and James Reinl, Middle East and East Africa Nairobi-based correspondent.

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Cameron's new cabinet is 'too white, too male and too rich'

Title: Cameron's new cabinet is 'too white, too male and too rich'
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: This week British Prime Minister David Cameron and his Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg reshuffled the cabinet for the very first time since taking office in 2010.

The reshuffle of some of the most senior ministers in the government comes amid a stalling economy, a series of policy u-turns and tensions over the expansion of Heathrow.

The prime minister has been accused of creating a cabinet, which is 'too white, too male and too rich.'

Although some of the key players are staying in place, the reshuffle means the public might see policy changes over health, justice and transport.

VOR's Daniel Cinna discuss this with Dr Mark Bennister, a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Canterbury Christ Church University; Dr Chris Hanretty, a Lecturer in Politics at the University of East Anglia; Simon Woolley, the Director of Operation Black Vote.

Historians discuss Borodino and the 1812 campaign

Title: Historians discuss Borodino and the 1812 campaign
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: On the 7th of September 1812, the invading forces of Napoleon Bonaparte fought Russia's armies at the obscure village of Borodino, 70 miles west of Moscow. The bloodiest battle of the campaign -- it was to prove fateful for Napoleon's military schemes.
A month later, the bedraggled remains of the Grand Armée began their long, disorderly retreat, harried by Cossacks and the bitter Russian winter. But what caused Napoleon to invade in the first place? And why did the campaign of 1812 prove such a disaster?

Voice of Russia's Joseph Richardson discusses this with Hew Strachan, Professor of the History of War at All Souls College, Oxford, and Michael Broers, Professor of European History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

Image: Getty Images

Should farmers be growing more food or biofuels?

Title: Should farmers be growing more food or biofuels?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation is calling for international action, urging countries to review their biofuel mandates. It comes after world food prices reached similar levels to those during the 2008 food crisis while America suffers the worst drought in more than half a century.

Is the world on the brink of another food crisis and what needs to be done to avoid it?

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses food security with Robert Bailey, a senior research fellow, Energy Environment and Resources, Chatham House; Dr Benny Peiser, the director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation; James Heartfield, a writer and lecturer in Economic Regeneration; Guy Gagen, chief arable adviser for the NFU in the UK.

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Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/enuwy/4958855990/sizes/m/in/photostream/

No prosecution for deaths of prisoners in CIA custody

Title: No prosecution for deaths of prisoners in CIA custody
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Last week the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, announced that no one would be prosecuted for the deaths of two prisoners, held in CIA custody ten years ago during the presidency of George W. Bush. He said there was insufficient evidence to mount a realistic prosecution.

VOR's Hywel Davies discusses this with his guests: Charlie Wolf, the American broadcaster and blogger for the Daily Mail; Richard Norton-Taylor, the security editor at the Guardian; Keith Best, Chief Executive at Freedom from Torture; and on the phone Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

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Image: Romel http://www.flickr.com/people/wolfsoul/

Title: No place like someone else's home
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Squatting in a residential building is now a criminal offence in England and Wales. The new law means squatters would face a jail sentence or a fine.

Until now squatting has been a civil matter and homeowners had to go to a court to prove the squatters have trespassed before they can be evicted.

The British Government say the new law will offer better protection for homeowners, but campaigners warn that the legislation will criminalise vulnerable people and increase the numbers of people sleeping rough.

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with Tatiana Svetlova, a lawyer and partner at Svetlova LLP; David Cox, a Senior Policy Officer at National Landlords Association; Catherine Brogan from Squatters' Action for Secure Homes; Sheila Stocking, a former squatter.

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Title: Boy or girl?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: In this discussion Juliet Spare asks if parents have the right to use science to choose the sex of their unborn baby. It has recently emerged that up to forty British couples per year are travelling to the United States to undergo pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

The process of PGD for choosing the sex of a child is illegal in the UK under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this with a leading specialist in PGD, Dr Alan Thornhill; Professor of Bioethics at Keele University, Stephen Wilkinson; Anthony Ozimic from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children and Dr Peter Sarosi from the Manhattan Fertility Clinic.

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Photo: http://www.flickr.com/people/jbird/

The Voice of Russia, London

Title: UK visas in exchange for talent
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: One thousand visas are being reserved each year for what the UK Border Agency reportedly says is for 'the next generation of Nobel Prize winners.' If visas should be reserved for exceptionally talented scientists, artists and musicians who want to live in Britain, is the policy of selective immigration fair?

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this with Chris Magrath, the senior partner and the head of Immigration and Employment Law at Magrath LLP; Carlos Vargas-Silva, a senior researcher at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at Oxford University; and Anne Morris, Principal at DavidsonMorris Solicitors.

Image: X-ray delta one http://www.flickr.com/photos/40143737@N02/3968092988/

Title: Political ads: to ban or not to ban?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Political advertisements are banned from TV and radio in Britain outside election campaigns. Many believe that protects Britain from the attack ads that characterise party politics in the United States.

But the era of apolitical ad breaks may be coming to an end. An animal rights group is challenging the UK ban in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming it violates freedom of expression.

The Voice of Russia's Vivienne Nunis discusses the issue with Ben Harris-Quiney from the Conservative thinktank, the Bow Group and Stephen Tall of the Liberal Democrat Voice. Joining the discussion over the phone were Dr Matthew Ashton from Nottingham Trent University and journalist Julian Bray.

Image: Getty Images

Title: Call for Unity
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Can Syria's fragmented opposition come together and will a new peace envoy make any difference?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses and the spiralling violence in Syria with Karl Sharro, a columnist for the publication al-Akhbar English; Dr Alan Mendoza, founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society; Vicheslav Matuzov, former Russian diplomat and chairman of the Russian-Friendship Society with Arab Countries; and Dr Omar Ashour, director at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.

Title: Is breastfeeding best for every baby?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A study has revealed almost half of all new mothers in the UK are not being given basic advice from health officials when it comes to breastfeeding.

Over 1,200 mums completed the Lansinoh Breastfeeding Survey and nearly a quarter of them felt that they didn't receive enough support from their midwives or health visitors.

Today's discussion for the Voice of Russia asks why some women in the UK aren't being supported enough when it comes to breastfeeding, and what is wrong with using alternative formula milk?

Juliet Spare discusses this with Viv Groskop, a British journalist and writer; Jill Dye from La Leche League which help mothers to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support; Midwife Sharon Trotter, who is also an independent Mother & Baby Consultant; Suzanne Barston, the author of Bottled Up: How the Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, and Why It Shouldn't.

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Title: Reading the Pussy Riot act
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: VOR's Brendan Cole discusses the conviction and sentencing of Pussy Riot with Alexander Nekrassov, a former Kremlin advisor, Paul Craig Roberts, a columnist for Creators Syndicate and a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration; Katya Glod, Robert Bosch Fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Chatham House think tank; and Tanya Lokshina from Human Rights Watch, Russia.

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Photo: Getty Images

Title: Religion and medical decision making
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A new study published in the Journal of Medical ethics, suggests some paediatricians are concerned that deep religious beliefs are leading some parents to insist aggressive treatment carries on despite it not being in the best interests of the sick child.

The authors of this new study, who all work at Great Ormand Street's hospital in London, say it's time to review the current ethics and legality of these cases. Doctors say religious beliefs are prompting sick kids to be given 'futile' treatment and that hopes of 'miraculous intervention' are causing children to suffer needlessly.

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this Dr Evan Harris, a former MP for Oxford West; Charles Foster, a research fellow at Green Templeton College at Oxford University; Dr James Boys, a senior visiting research fellow at Kings College London; Dr Antony Lempert, a chairman of the Secular Medical Forum.

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The British economy: time for plan B, George?

Title: The British economy: time for plan B, George?
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Business leaders have accused the British Chancellor George Osborne of failing to kick-start the economy by doing 'too little, too slowly.'

A survey by the Institute of Directors shows that many believe the government's attempts at economic and business reform have been unsuccessful. Two in three business leaders think the UK will stay in recession at least until the end of this year.

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with David Newbery, Professor of Economics from the University of Cambridge; Mark Littlewood, the Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs; David Smith, the Economics Editor of The Sunday Times; Wouter Den Haan, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.

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Title: Julian Assange: where to from here?
Runtime: 28:29
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London despite being granted asylum by the South American country last week. The British Foreign Office says it won't give Assange safe passage to an airport, saying it must fulfil its international law obligations and extradite him to Sweden.

Authorities there want to question the Australian over allegations of sexual misconduct, but Assange says Sweden will extradite him to the United States to face a secret grand jury over WikiLeaks.

The crisis escalated when the Foreign Office told Ecuador that under British law, police could arrest Assange inside the embassy, infuriating Quito and sparking a bitter diplomatic row.

Vivienne Nunis discusses the stalemate with Carl Gardner, a former government lawyer and legal advisor; Charles Crawford, a former British diplomat and negotiation consultant and Annie Machon, a former MI5 intelligence officer who blew the whistle on alle...

Title: Witchcraft-related child abuse rising
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The UK government has launched an action plan to tackle child abuse linked to witchcraft or religion in England. Tim Loughton, the children's minister, said there is a 'wall of silence' around the scale and extent of these crimes taking place in England.

After holding discussions between police, child welfare charities and faith groups, the government is about to introduce training for teachers, police officers and social workers to look out for signs of child abuse by parents and church leaders who believe in witchcraft.

It follows the conviction earlier this year of Eric Bikubi, a football coach in London, and his partner Magalie Bamu, for torturing and murdering a 15-year-old boy because they believed he was practicing witchcraft.

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this with Dr Richard Hoskins, an expert on African studies; Simon Bass, the Chief Executive of Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service in London; John Azah, the Director of Kingston Ra...

Open Access: a new horizon for scientific research?

Title: Open Access: a new horizon for scientific research?
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The British Government plans to make all taxpayer funded research open access by 2014. The plans would mean that scientific research would become freely available online for universities, companies and members of the public. Proponents say it's the most radical shakeup of academic publishing since the internet was invented.

Critics question how the move will be funded. If it falls to the authors of the research -- how will they or their universities be able to afford it? VOR's Daniel Cinna is joined in the studio by Ross Mounce -- from the Open Knowledge Foundation, Rita Gardner -- Director of the Royal Geographical Society, as well as Bjorn Brembs -- Professor at the Department of Genetics at the University of Lyepzig and Timothy Gowers -- Maths Professor at Cambridge University over the phone

Image: PGRsOnline http://www.flickr.com/photos/salfordpgrs/

Title: Will the UK political marriage survive?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: With strained ties between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party, will the British coalition survive until the next election in 2015?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Stephen Tall, co-Editor of the Liberal Democrat Voice; Sebastian Payne, online editor of The Spectator; Patrick Hayes Editor of the website Spiked; and on the phone, Andrew Gimson, a political journalist and author of the book Boris - the Rise of Boris Johnson.

Image: Getty Images

Is UK university education the right route to take?

Title: Is UK university education the right route to take?
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: It's that time of year in England and Wales when 17 and 18-year-olds anxiously await the results of their A-level exams. For some, it won't be the grades that will prevent them from going to university -- but the debt.
The Coalition Government has decided to increase tuition fees in England and Wales to nearly £9,000 a year. So, is going to university necessarily the right route to take?

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this is Professor of Education at University College London Anthony Smith; Managing Director of www.notgoingtouni.co.uk, Spencer Mehlman; Annika Olsen, researcher at the Institute for Public Policy Research Commission on the Future of Higher Education; and 22- year-old Calum Lynch-Strachan, who has been offered a place at university, but still hasn't made up his mind whether to go or not.

Title: Belarus' strained ties with the west
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The European Union met to discuss Belarus, hinting that more sanctions could be imposed on Minsk soon. It has further strained EU-Belarusian ties. So which way is Minsk turning towards, the EU or Moscow? What does the future look like for the country when its president is so criticised by the west.

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Yaraslau Kryvoi, editor of Belarusdigest.com; Jana Kobzova, analyst from the European Council on Foreign Relations; Katia Glod, who is a fellow on the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House; and Horia-Victor Lefter, an independent analyst on Central and Eastern Europe.

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Olympics Legacy: do state school come up short on sports?

Title: Olympics Legacy: do state school come up short on sports?
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: After Team GB won 29 gold medals at London 2012, calls have been made to make sure that Britain capitalises on the wave sweeping the nation. Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, said that it was wholly unacceptable that more than half of Team GB's medallists at the Beijing Olympics came from independent schools, especially when only 7 per cent of children in the country are privately educated.
Prime Minister David Cameron has urged state schools to take a lead in promoting sport among the young, prompting questions asking whether children are doing enough sport in school. VOR's Tim Walklate discusses the topic with his guests:

Dr Adrian Elliott, a retired head teacher of a state secondary school in York in the north of England, former school inspector, advisor to schools, and author of several books on education;
Mihir Bose, one of Britain's leading sports journalists;
John Pettit, a former PE teacher, and current director of P...

A career, a family, or both, what do women want?

Title: A career, a family, or both, what do women want?
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The Conservative Member of Parliament for the British government, Louise Mensch, has recently announced she will stand down after two years in Parliament.
In her resignation letter, Mrs Mensch thanked the Prime Minister David Cameron for his support, but said that she 'had been struggling for some time to find the best outcome for her family life, and had decided, in order to keep the family together, to move to New York', where her husband lives.

What should a woman in 2012 put first, their career or their family, or both?

Juliet Spare discusses this with Mike Buchanan, the Chief Executive of the Anti-Feminism League; Lynne Burnham, Secretary of Mothers at Home Matter; Author and psychologist Averil Leimon, who founded the White Water Group. Averil is married with two daughters aged 23 and 19 and is writing a book on motherhood and coaching.

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Title: Libya's next step
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Libya's National Transition Council has handed power over to elected representatives, signalling the next stage of democratisation in the country since it overthrew Gaddafi.

What next for Libya?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Michel Cousins, the editor of the Libya Herald; Jason Pack, a researcher of Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University and President of Libya-Analysis.com; Ahmed Gebreel, the Deputy Head of the Libyan embassy in London and Professor Saad Jawad from the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics.

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Organs for sale: solving the world's organ shortage

Title: Organs for sale: solving the world's organ shortage
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Around a thousand people die every year in Britain waiting for an organ transplant. It's estimated that more than 10,000 people in the UK are currently waiting for an organ. According to the Lancet medical journal research, 10% of grieving families are blocking thousands of potentially life-saving organ donations.

So what is the solution to a shortage of organs?

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with Professor Nadey Hakim, a transplantation surgeon, Simon Rippon is a research fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Nick Triggle is a Health correspondent for the BBC; Roger Goff from Patient Concern, a campaign group promoting choice for all users of the National Health Service.

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Image: Mika Marttila http://www.flickr.com/photos/marttila/4558747424

Charities fighting to stop female genital mutilation

Title: Charities fighting to stop female genital mutilation
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Charities working to stop female genital mutilation are seeing a rise in the number of white teenage girls pressured into changing the shape of their own vagina. Meanwhile, around 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

According to the World Health Organisation, FGM is not only a painful and traumatic procedure, but a danger to unborn children. FGM is also classed as a violation of the human rights of girls and women by the World Health Organisation.

VOR's Juliet Spare discusses this with Anne-Marie Wilson, a founder of the anti-FGM charity 28 Too Many; Dr Comfort Momoh, a midwife and FGM specialist at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London; Nimco Ali, the director of Daughters of Eve, a non-profit organisation working to protect young girls and women at risk of FGM; Sista Fa, who is a hip-hop artist from Senegal and survivor of FGM. Sister Fa has used her music to campaign against all mutilati...

Title: Behind the riots
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: It was the biggest display of civil unrest in Britain for 30 years. One year on from the London riots more than 3,000 people have been arrested in connection with the unrest, and prison sentences totalling more than 1,800 years have been handed out to the rioters.

The disorder began in Tottenham in North London where locals had been protesting after police shot dead Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four. From Tottenham - rioting spread across England to cities such as Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester.

Since then rioters have been handed harsh prison sentences and the Metropolitan police have introduced new technology to monitor social media sites which they say were used to coordinate looting.

But have the underlying causes been tackled?

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with Kerris Cooper, an analyst on the Reading the Riots Research project, investigating England's riots; Paul Lewis, the Special Projects Editor at the Guar...

Title: Sports: long wait for sex revolution?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Over the course of the London Olympic Games, 4,847 women will have taken part in the Games. Never before will every competing nation have been represented by at least one female athlete. On one hand, inside the Games, equality is closer than ever.

Back in 1900 the first 22 women, out of a total of 997 athletes, took part. As recently as 1984, at the Los Angeles Games, the number of women involved remained less than a quarter. Four years ago in Beijing it was 43% and in London it will be 44%.

Should we be celebrating how far women in sport have come or lamenting the fact that there is still so much further they could go?

Female athletes are still speaking publicly about the pressures faced by women in sport, women's sports command a fraction of the sponsorship or media attention that men's sports do.

Who should be blame: the media, the sponsors, or perhaps this isn't a problem at all?

VOR's Polina Boiko discusses this with...

Title: Berlusconi: is the game over?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Just last November Silvio Berlusconi left the presidential palace in Rome by the back door, to avoid jeering crowds. Nine months later the most controversial politician of contemporary Italy looks set to seek re-election as prime minister.

Polls commissioned by Berlusconi show that his return to politics would increase his party's poll ratings from 10% to almost 30%. But the former prime minister is still on trial, accused of paying for sex at the famous bunga - bunga parties he held at his mansion outside Milan.

Is there still a future in Italian politics for the man who's guided Italy through eight of the last ten years? Or is the 75-year-old clutching at straws in the twilight of his political career?

VOR's Hywel Davis discusses this with Dr Andrea Mammone of Kingston University London; Dr Marco Simoni, a Lecturer at the London School of Economics; Dr Marco De Andreis of the The European Council on Foreign Relations.

The Voice of R...

Title: No freedom of tweet
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: A man who joked on Twitter that he wanted to blow up an airport was prosecuted for sending a 'message of menacing character.' As a result he lost his job and was forced to appeal against his conviction. He sent the tweet after being frustrated at finding his local airport closed by bad weather.

Overturning the conviction, the judge noted there was no evidence to suggest any followers found the message to be menacing or alarming. It's a case which will have implications for the way online communication is dealt with by the courts.

Also this week during the Olympic Games a teenager has been handed a harassment warning by police for sending a tweet to the British diver Tom Daley saying 'you let your dad down I hope you know that'; Daley's father died of brain cancer last year.

Daniel Cinna discusses this with Vanessa Barnett, a partner at Charles Russell LLP; Mark Pack, the Head of Digital at MHP Communications and Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voic...

Title: Protecting man's best friend
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Three dog breeders have been jailed after two newborn puppies were found buried alive in their garden. James and Lorraine Perks and their lodger Stephen Jenkins were each sentenced to 25 weeks in prison and banned from keeping animals for life.

Another 15 puppies and nine dogs were removed from the address by inspectors from the Royal Society Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who described the state of the house as 'disgusting.'

The sentence comes as the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs finishes its consultation on whether to introduce compulsory micro chipping for dogs -- the results of which are due to be published shortly.

VOR's Daniel Cinna discusses this with Rachel Cunningham from the animal welfare charity Blue Cross; Andrew Knight, a fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics; Tony Woodley, an inspector at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and Beverley Cuddy, the Editor of Dogs Today mag...

Egypt: women's rights after the revolution

Title: Egypt: women's rights after the revolution
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Reports of harassment of women in Egypt are on the rise. Will the toppling of a dictator and the installation of a president mean more freedom for women or will the fight for influence among Islamists mean women will be worse off?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Dr Usama Hasan, a senior researcher at the Muslim think tank the Quilliam Foundation; An Egyptian feminist, Dina Wahba and Mustafa Ragab, the director of the London-based culture centre, Egyptian House.

Photo: Getty Images

What is the future for the next generation of young Brits?

Title: What is the future for the next generation of young Brits?
Runtime: 28:30
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: This generation of teenagers think they will have a harder life than their parents. The think tank British Future says 83% of 18 to 24 year-olds believe it will be harder for today's teenagers to buy a home than it was for their parents. Their report also found that 72% think it will be harder for today's teenagers to get a good job than it was for their parents - with only 7% thinking it will be easier.

Guests: Simon Ross, the Chief Executive of Population Matters; Shelley Angelie Saggar, a student and a co-founder of Look-left Platform for young left-wing teenagers; and Toni Pearce, the Vice-President of Further Education at the National Union of Students.

Image: Alfonso http://www.flickr.com/people/tochis/

Title: Sir says, 'God created the World'
Runtime: 28:32
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The theory of evolution is taught in English schools but is there a place for creationism as well?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Andy McIntosh, the co-director of the group Truth in Science; Geoff Chapman, the director of the Creation Resources Trust; Peter Williams, from the group Catholic Voices; Roger Stanyard, the spokesman for the British Centre for Science Education and Alom Shaha, the science teacher and author of The Young Atheists' Handbook.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/people/ellenm1/

Title: Syria's sorrier situation
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: How is the rhetoric of the West affecting the conflict in Syria? Is it an information war and if it is an endgame for Bashar al-Assad, what will replace his regime?

VOR's Brendan Cole discusses this with Guardian columnist, foreign correspondent and author Jonathan Steele; Associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa programme for Chatham House, London, Nadim Shehadi; Middle East analyst and senior associate at St Antony's College, Oxford, Sharmine Narwaniand head of the St Petersburg Centre for Modern Middle East studies, Gumer Isaev.

Image: Getty Images

Male circumcision: venerable religious ritual or 'violation of physical integrity'?

Title: Male circumcision: venerable religious ritual or 'violation of physical integrity'?
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: VOR's Juliet Spare holds a discussion on male circumcision after a regional court in Germany ruled that the removal of a boy's foreskin amounted to bodily harm and that ritual circumcision constituted a 'violation of physical integrity' and was illegal.

Guests: Glen Poole, the Strategic Director of the Men's Network in Brighton & Hove;

Rabbi Josh Levy of Alyth - North Western Reform Synagogue - in Golders Green, London;

Professor David R. Katz, Professor of Immunopathology at UCL, participating as convenor of the Brit Milah Group at the Board of Deputies of British Jews;

Dr. Antony Lempert, the Chair of the Secular Medical Forum;

Berl Lazar, the Chief Rabbi of Russia.

Image: Getty Images

Title: US: presidential race in dead heat
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: The most powerful country on earth will select its next President in just four months' time. The race looks set to be between the incumbent Barak Obama and the presumptive Republican candidate, Mitt Romney.

Romney has been coming under fire in recent weeks for failing to reveal his financial records but the latest polling shows the race is a dead heat. So does that mean the faltering US economy is a bigger issue that Romney's personal finances -- and one that voters are blaming President Obama for?

Guests: Dr Timothy Stanley, a historian and a writer for the Daily Telegraph newspaper; Dr Robert P. Barnidge, a Republican voter and a lecturer in the school of law at the University of Reading; James Thackara, a Democratic voter, a human rights activist and the author of three novels, including best-selling The Book of Kings; and Michael Cox, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Associate Fellow at the Americas Program in Chat...

The gender and social status of drug addiction

Title: The gender and social status of drug addiction
Runtime: 28:31
Date posted: 14 years ago
Description: Eva Rausing, one of Britain's richest women was found dead in the bedroom of her 70 million pound Belgravia home in London on the 9th of July.

The American born 49 year old will be remembered by the world for her drug addiction and her marriage to billionaire heir to the Tetra Pak packaging empire, Hans Kristian Rausing.

Does the tragic story of Eva Rausing prove that addiction knows no social class or gender? Or does being a billionaire make you more likely to become a drug addict?

Guests: Dr Tim Williams, a Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist; Harry Shapiro, the Director of Communications and Information at Drugscope; the drugs policy analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies, Kathy Gyngell; and Marcus Connolley, which is not his real name, who is a drug dealer and user in London.

Image: Jason http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasmic/

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