Gaza

After five days of fighting, the Palestinian group Hamas is now in control of virtually all the Gaza Strip and is launching attacks on the security and political command centres of its rival, Fatah.

The battles have raged on despite a statement from both sides that they had agreed a ceasefire based on conditions set by Hamas.

Last night we heard from Gaza residents who told us how they were trying to get on with their lives, amidst the fighting. How would you like us to cover it today?

Lebanon

Staying in the Middle East, and today is a national day of mourning in Lebanon after an anti-Syrian MP was killed in a bomb blast in Beirut on Wednesday.

Mass funerals will be held today for Walid Eido and the others - including his son - killed in the massive explosion on the city's seafront.

The leader of the anti-Syrian group in parliament, Saad Hariri, indirectly accused Syria of carrying out the killing. Mr Eido was the seventh anti-Syrian figure assassinated in the past two years.

Here's a roundup of blogs reacting to the events, many also blaming Syria.

Thailand

Teachers in southern Thailand seem to be the target of a bloody conflict, as thirteen schools have been set on fire in the region.

The Thai authorities have blamed Muslim insurgents for a series of recent attacks on schools, as part of their separatist campaign.

According to education officials, more than 200 schools have been torched and 77 teachers killed.

Why are teachers being targeted? If you are in the region, tell us what it's like.

Is it abuse to overfeed your child?

Should parents who overfeed young children be charged with abuse or neglect? Some doctors approached by the BBC thought so and the British Medical Association will debate a motion on the issue at their upcoming annual conference at the end of the month.

Please send us your ideas so I can put them up here for discussion before we hold the morning editorial meeting. And don't forget you can join us via the telephone if you would like to pitch your idea to the team, just call us on +44 207 557 0635 and we'll call you back.

A big story that broke last night here in Britain is that of the 20 year old Banaz Mahmood who was killed by her father and uncle for falling in love with someone they didn’t want her to be with.

In what's been dubbed as an "honour killing", because the men believed she had brought shame upon the family by insisting to carry on with her relationship with her boyfriend.

Honour killings are rife in certain parts of the world, where honour is highly valued by the elders in a family. In South Asia for instance, honour is often said to be in the hands of the women of the family, if that is tarnished then there can be serious consequences.

Why is it so prevalent in some societies? What can be done to stop this kind of crime happening? If you are in a country where this does happen, what is being done by the authorities to stop it?

Send us your thoughts, here.

Violence in Gaza

In renewed violence in Gaza, at least 16 people have been killed in an upsurge of fighting between the rival Palestinian groups, Fatah and Hamas, despite a new ceasefire being declared.

Gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Gaza home of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, the third time he has come under attack since Monday. And mortars were also fired at the Gaza compound of President Mahmoud Abbas.

We've talked previously about the factional fighting in the region, but what can be done to resolve the situation? A ceasefire doesnt seem to be working, so should there be international intervention?

The violence poses a serious threat to a national unity government that has grouped Fatah and Hamas around the same cabinet table since March with the express aim of halting the bloodshed and ending crippling Western boycotts. But why is the fighting continuing?

Underage sex but consensual - should you go to jail?

A judge in the American state of Georgia has overturned a controversial decision in which a seventeen-year-old was sentenced to ten years in prison for consensual sex with another teenager.

The judge ordered the release of Genarlow Wilson, who is now twenty-one, after he served two years for child molestation. The state's attorney general has said he will file an appeal and seek a ruling from Georgia's supreme court.

In 2003, Mr Wilson was videotaped taking part in consensual oral sex with a fifteen-year-old girl. He was sentenced and permanently registered on the state's sexual offender list under a legal loophole which allowed a felony charge to be brought against him.

The case has provoked controversy in the United States with high profile figures such as former-president Jimmy Carter, supporting the release of Mr Wilson.

So if it is consensual and it can be proved as such, should the charge be dropped?

So, James Gandolfini made the role of Tony Soprano his own -- oh yes he did, no one else could have played the Big Guy with the on-tap schrink. More on that in a moment.

First, our main topic today: how far should immigrants be pushed to integrate, and is it a given that they would benefit from being made to do more -- on their own, in the language of the country where they're trying to settle ?

But the Minister (Ruth Kelly is her name) believes translation had been "used too frequently and without thought". Or put another way, Ms Kelly thinks learning -- and using -- the English language is "key" to helping migrants to integrate.

So, unless you have to learn a language, do you actually just do nothing ? And by doing nothing, do you stay locked in a cultural bubble, and not integrate ?

What do you think ?

Onto The Sopranos -- a show that's been described as the richest achievement in the history of TV, likened both to a Shakespearean drama and a Greek tragedy - the tale of Tony Soprano and the Mafia crime family he controls.

If you're reading this is the US you very possibly know already how the series ended -- so don't give the game away. But the question: The Sopranos -- how good was it, really ?

The award-winning series, which has run for eight years, centred on the life of a dysfunctional mob family in New Jersey. Did you feel their pain ? Did you feel the roller-coaster, going from high (and violent) drama to moments of humour in a few seconds ? And now that it's over - what will you replace it with ?

Contact us as usual to have your say on today's debates.

G8 Deal

The leaders of the world's eight major industrialised nations will end their summit on Friday with a pledge to help Africa. The heads of six African nations will join G8 leaders, and a $60 billion pledge is expected to help fight AIDS and other diseases. A good result?

Do you think it can be achieved?

Harry Potter

As the world waits in anticipation for the final instalment of the Harry Potter series, due out later this year, one teaching assistant wont be pre-booking her copy.

Sariya Allen, a Pentecostal teaching assistant who quit her job at a foundation primary school after she was disciplined for refusing to hear a child read a Harry Potter book, is seeking compensation for religious discrimination.

She claims that the book glorifies witchcraft, and since that is against her faith she objected to the 7 year old girl reading it aloud to her. The case is currently being heard at an employment tribunal, and is expected to end today.

The Harry Potter series series has been widely criticised by evangelical Christian groups as glorifying witchcraft, contrary to the Bible's teachings.Was Ms Allen right to refuse to listen to the girl reading the book..?

Big Brother...Yes, more controversy..

The British version of Big Brother has only been up and running for a little over a week, and already there's some Big controversy.

In a nutshell, a white contestant used the "N" word while in conversation with a few of the other house-mates, one of whom is black. The television channel that screens the programme, already heavily critisised for the way it treated the racism row that erupted over the Celebrity version of the show, immediately acted by throwing the contestant out.

Wise move..? Not everyone thinks so. Some say it was too harsh a decision since it wasn't used to insult the other contestant. But is the way it is sometimes used by white people, a result of them misunderstanding black culture?

Have a read of some of the hundreds of comments that have already come in on this, here.

Donation row

And what do you make of this story...The landowner of the site where Flight 93 came down on the 11th September, is in a row with The National Park Service over a donation box he has installed there.

Mike Svonavec owns 273 acres of the 1,300 acres east of Pittsburgh in Shanksville, Pa., where a $58 million permanent memorial and national park are planned.

Relatives of the crash victims say it is an insult to their memories, Mr Svonavec who owns the land says he needs the donations to cover security costs at the site.

Is he right to be asking for the money to cover his costs..? Tell us what you think, here.

One way or another I've been in journalism since 1979. That makes me older than I'd like to admit, but more cynical than I care to consider. Having said all that, there are some questions which I wouldn't feel comfortable asking of an interviewee. The classic "how did it feel ?" is a big no-no, "tell us more" is lazy and pointless.

But there's been one journalistic question doing the round for several weeks which was not asked -- until yesterday.

You'll remember she hasn't been seen for several weeks, since she disappeared from a village in Portugal. A German reporter, at a news conference yesterday, said;

more and more people seem to be pointing the finger at you, saying the way you behave is not the way people would normally behave when their child is abducted and they seem to imply that you might have something to do with it.."

Believe me, that question has been doing the rounds -- in many newsrooms. But it's not been asked, in general, or specifically of the McCanns themselves. Until now.

Thing is, why not ? Is it a fair question ? What drives any news story ? What's been driving this news story ? And has the way the McCann's have kept there daughter's plight on the front pages, world wide, now begun to back-fire on them ?

Tell us what you think ?

Also, the G8 summit in Germany is up and running -- bringing together world leaders from the main industrial countries for a three-day meeting.

The summit is taking place amid growing tension with Russia over nuclear weapons and the US over climate change.

But, honestly, the G8, what's it for ? Does it really make a difference ? Is there a direct line between what the men and women in suits jaw-jaw about, and your life ? Has the time come for the G8 to become something else ?

As usual please do get in touch

Continuing with the international theme, on Wednesday we'll be live in Paris as France welcomes it's new President, Nicholas Sarkozy.

Anu and I will be in the French capital to find out just how the country is preparing itself for a new era of politics.

As always on WHYS we want you, our audience, to be a part of the programme. If you are in Paris and want to come along to the show on Wednesday, get in touch.

We'll be in the Bastille area of the city, and we want to talk to as many of you as we can.

Not only will be looking ahead, but also looking back, as outgoing President Jacques Chirac bows out of office on Tuesday evening after 12 years at the top.

How did he change France? What will be his lasting legacy? What benefits will Nicholas Sarkozy inherit from Chiracs rule?

Email me now to join us on the programme on Wednesday and tell us what issues you think we should be talking about.

We're on air now and you can click here to listen.

Some of the topics that will definitely be on the agenda today include Nigeria's role in Africa and how Nigerians there see events in Somalia, Darfur and Zimbabwe. The audience also wants to talk about the Niger Delta and what's gone wrong with that region and why.

You can send me your email now or text us your thoughts on +44 77 86 20 60 80 or call u here in London and we'll put you through to our audience in Abuja, the number is country code 44 20 70 83 72 72.

It's the start of the WHYS tour of Africa and we're kicking off in Abuja, Nigeria. If you want to send us your thoughts you can still email us direct.

Maxwell In Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria says..

Welcome to Nigeria! I want you to talk about the plight of the Nigerian graduate. Government officials and employers are saying that the average Nigerian graduate is "underbaked" and not fit enough to secure employment. This is a stigma that is affecting the average Nigerian Graduate in getting employment.

Well, keep sending in your emails, I'll be live blogging tonight and will post them all up here.

As well as Abuja, we also have guests in our studio in Lagos. Steven there wants to talk about the traffic and security situation in Lagos.

People have travelled far and wide to be with us at the British Council Offices in Abuja today, a few guests have been telling us about their treacherous journey, we really appreciate it! It's taken some of you up to ten hours to get to the programme. Kingsley left his home at 6am this morning and get two buses to be with us, leaving his ten day old baby at home with his wife who he says is very happy he made it over!

Ros asked what Abuja was like, Alvin told us how beautiful it was. We were told that Abuja is the Washington of Africa, clean, serene and well developed. But Jude said the beauty of Abuja fades when you become a resident because it is very expensive.

Many of you wanted to talk about the elections in Nigeria that were held in April. Nick said that this election, regardless of whether it was perfect or not, it was part of the solution for Nigeria. But not everyone agrees.

One guest said the elections were a charade. David Anyahele in our Lagos studio fiercely contested the electoral process saying that eligible people simply didn’t get the chance to vote.

Michael in Accra, Ghana has sent us this email:

I’m dismayed by some people who deride the opposition in Nigeria for not uniting to defeat the ruling party. Let me use this medium to tell them that due to the tribal, cultural and geographical nature of Nigeria. The major concern of Nigerians is not to gang up against a ruling party, by adopting a two-party formula. Rather, they desire to see a multi-party system where many parties should win elections according to their strengths, in different local councils and states across the country. This was exactly what Nigerians enjoyed in 1979.........84. Where our legislative houses were composed of different parties. Unlike today when the PDP is controlling their so-called 90% members of both houses. Let the whole world know that it was a pre-conceived agenda of President Obasanjo on assumption of office from day one. To perpetuate himself, that was the reason why he used all the instruments of Government, including the army, police etc to rig the election. He did it previously, and he has done it again.

Of course you can also text us your thoughts, as Joel has done:

Those calling for the cancellation of the elections shd know this cannot be done arbitrarily, there are laid down legal procedures.

And this from from Joe in Abeokuta:

The leadership of the ruling Party PDP are a bunch of crimimals. There was no election in Nigeria. We are no fools !

And Peter in Lagos says:

It's important that we tell ourselves the truth. Obasanjo has achieved some milestones in Nigeria. Banking consolidation, Real pension reforms, Debt clearing etc. However, given the resources at his disposal, the high oil prices since he has been in office, The goodwill from the international community, the cream of Nigerians that are professionals in all Facets of human endeavour who are willing to come and join in the nation building. What he has done most of the time is play politics, and witch-hunt people who do not agree with him(especially on the third term issue) There was minimal elections, but I think we should move ahead, and give Umaru a chance, afterall,He is the first really educated man to be the executive Head of Nigeria.

Kingsley from the Niger Delta told us that although money was being poured in to Abuja, it had to be evenly distributed. For example in the Niger Delta he said people were suffering. He told us that it was filthy, life is hard and pollution is choking the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen.

If you live in the Niger Delta, do text us and tell us what it's like.

Fredrika in Berlin, Germany has called in and wants to know what life is like for gays and lesbians in Abuja. Saffiya in the audience said the whole notion is a foreign concept in Nigeria, because it's not openly discussed. Epiye wanted to say that homosexuality should never be legalised in Nigeria. In response Fredrika thanked the audience for their openness, but was very sad to hear such opposition to homosexuality and the lack of understanding.

Peter Odoma from Liberia has just texted this in:

The problem of Niger Delta can best be resolved by dialogue than the present crisis of kidnapping and blowing up oil pipe lines.

And Lillian in Nairobi

Two things in africa will never work,Democracy and homosexuality.Stay in the closet if you dont want to be shuned or move to where its accepted.

Turi says

Niger Delta states should be among the best state in the country but we can't see it because all the money they got from the states have been taken to Abuja.

We're focusing on Iran at the top of the programme, to get behind what's going on with the 15 detained British Royal Navy personnel, who're all being held (we think) somewhere in Tehran.

What did you make of that video that was released yesterday. It was called a "confection" which is a very nice (and a very polite British) way of saying it's a piece of propoganda.

Has Iran engineered this crisis because it wants to give the UK and the US a bloody nose in the gulf, or were the men and one woman really in the wrong place at the wrong time. How do you think the issue should be resolved..? Should the British send in the SAS, as many people on the Have Your Say debate have suggested?

We're also chasing the Zimbawbe story -- a summit of 14 African countries is being held in Tanzania, with Robert Mugabe's political future, in effect, setting the agenda.

The BBC understands that the African leaders will tell Mr Mugabe that he shouldn’t stand for re-election next year. Can this really be the beginning of the political end for a man who's ruled Zimbawbe since 1980 and apparently believes that more than 25 years in power just isn't enough. He's on record as saying that he will only step down when his "revolution" is complete. He also says he will hand-pick his successor, who must of course come from within the ranks of his Zanu-PF party.

What's the alternative ? Will the people of Zimbawbe do something, indeed should the people of Zimbawbe do something? What do you want to see come out of this meeting?

Tonight we’ve been invited to broadcast the show from the terrace of one of yesterday’s audience members, Ketan. His office is in Mahalaxmi West, and has a beautiful terrace over looking this side of Mumbai.

The bonus of tonight’s venue is that it has lights, seating and a table. Unfortunately no illuminated palm tree, but hey, we can’t have everything..

Patriotism and what it means to be Indian is certainly up there. Talking to a few people yesterday I got the impression that younger Indian’s are probably less patriotic than their parents’ generation. Why? Well, many certainly value the culture and the background that they come from, but they are more open to what the wider world has to offer and talked about how sometimes you have to let go of tradition to fit in to new societies.

Do you agree? Anu has been sharing her experiences too, you can read that here.

Fiona will be live bloggin tonight, so keep sending us your thoughts and if we cant read them out, we'll certainly post them here..

All going well, enjoying listening to Ros, Anu and the passionate crowd in Chandigarh, when Supriya gets a phone call from a friend of hers in blind panic...

When she heard the key in the door of her 14th floor apartment, I think it was all she could do to not scream and throw him out of the window of her bedroom. No, being a sensible and level headed girl she “kicked” him under the foot wide gap beneath her bed, so her parents wouldn’t find him and go crazy at her.

The next hour was spent in conference calls between Supriya at the coffee bar, the girl in question lying in her bed giving the impression she was sleeping, and her boyfriend under the bed holding his breath every time her parents walked in.

This story does have a happy ending; he got out - eventually. Once they could hear the girls father snoring in the adjacent room he made his escape and ran for his life while the rest of us caught up with him outside the apartment block so we could hear all about the great escape.

To me it brought home the reality of what I was talking about in my previous blog post.

Times are changing, young couples here are becoming more and more brave about their relationships. But they know that in reality their parents find it very hard to accept, and so take risks. But when we were discussing it this morning, it seems many of the girls I spoke to decided that the only way to make their parents accept it, is to keep taking those risks..

On to other matters now and I had some very good news today about our Mumbai programme, the ISDN lines will be going in tomorrow so we should be ready to rock and roll on Thursday and Friday with a packed crowd at Koyla and the flat in Mahlaxmi West.

It’s always a bit scary setting up programmes abroad because the ISDN lines that we use to broadcast from are a bit hit and miss. But Supriya has worked her magic and pulled a few very very long strings to make sure it all gets done, thank goodness.

So if you’re reading this and you live in Mumbai and would like to come along to either one of our venues drop an email over to us at WHYS and the guys back at the office will tell you were you need to be and when. And don’t forget to come armed with the list of talking points you want to discuss!

I arrived in this vibrant, friendly city early Sunday morning. Aside from the thick smog and the inevitable throng of waiting taxi drivers only too eager to help you on your journey, the one thing that struck me when I came out of the airport was the rush. Car horns, stall sellers, people just hanging out, the noise was deafening, and it was almost two in the morning!

But is it really any different for economic migrants settling in any major city?

Over coffee and the most indulgent chocolate cake with some of the women who'll be taking part in the Mumbai leg of the programme, the issue of changing Indian cultural values came up. As we sat like many twentysomethings in Out of the Blue, I asked them if they thought parents attitudes about their children's cultural values had changed, as it's one of the topics a few audience members have said they would like to talk about.

Rashi said that less than ten years ago, drinking, smoking and dating amongst Mumbai's young elite was very much an underground thing. Parents forbade it, Children rebelled. Today, things are very different, she said. Once hidden practices, although common place in the west, are now very much in the open and accepted. But much to the dismay of parents. They're not happy, but their hands are tied. If society is beginning to accept it as the norm, who are they to object?

So, has it changed for the better? I get the impression that many parents are desperate to turn back the clock, to a time when their children's lives and their own traditional values were uncomplicated by a much more open society..Are you one of them?

Well, I'm off to our venue in Colaba in a while, hope to have a few more interesting chats with our audience over chai and a little something sweet..

The New York Times looks at the campaign strategy used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. Both women have played up their roles as mothers and/or grandmother alongside their political expertise, the NYT asks if it's right to use it as an asset or is it a step backwards.

Tell us what you think.

But as I write this, police in the Iraqi province of Diyala have confirmed to the BBC that eight people taking part in an Ashura procession in the town of Khanaqin near the Iranian border have been killed by a roadside bomb. They say 23 people were injured.

Security measures have also been increased in countries with large Shia communities, including Lebanon and Pakistan. If you are Shi'ite, under the current pressures how do you go about celebrating important religious events like this?

The president of the Italian Football Federation, Luca Pancalli, has threatened to halt the country's championships after a weekend of violence left one man dead. The man, an amateur league official, died on Saturday in the southern town of Luzzi after being punched while trying to separate brawling players and fans after a match. There was more football-related violence around Italy on Sunday.

If you're in Italy, get in touch. Is this the answer to deal with the problem?

Trouble brewing in Moscow, as the Mayor says he will never allow a gay rights parade in the Russian capital. Yuri Luzhkov described such events as "satanic". Moscow banned a gay march in 2006, citing the threat of violence. People who ignored the ban were beaten up by counter-demonstrators and arrested.

And organisers of this years parade's organisers say they plan to hold the event in May and will appeal against the ban to the European Court of Human Rights. Are you one of them?

We're off air now but this is what we talked about on the show today..

And here is a picture of Stewart from Yorkshire's tree! Many thanks for sending it in Stewart.

In the studio is David Banks, who has started a fundraising campaign for leukemia research in the name of Josie Grove. Josie is the sixteen year old girl from the north of England who is stopping her leukemia treatment even though she will die.

He started off telling us why she had decided to stop her treatment. She says she wants her remaining years to be enjoyable with her family and friends..However long that may be.

Jo Tolck also joined us from the Human Life Alliance, which is a pro-life organisation in Minnesota.

Barbara sent us this email...

I am an Oncology nurse and i believe the decision to discontinue treatment must /should be made jointly between the child, the parents and any person who has been with the child throughout the therapy. It is unacceptable that some self proclaimed expert should intrude themselves into the decisions about therapy and quality of life. Everyone will die someday. Quality of life has meaning. I often see some relative show up after years of treatment and suffering of a family to declare everything must be done. The Care team must do everything they can do to alleviate suffering and if the child and the family want to stop they should no fe forced to go on..

Ahmad in Kano Nigeria texted us..

The treatment is more painful than dying. Everybody will die no matter the treatment for any ailment!

John and Simon joined us from the UK. John suffers from cystic fibrosis and was diagnosed when he was 18 months old, his parents were told then that he may not live through his teens. He's now 23 years old.

He said he has always tried to maintain an active lifestyle, but at times he has felt like refusing treatment for the condition.

Johns father Simon talked about how difficult it was to see him through the years of treatment.

Lewellyn from Freetown says..

I think the girl is too young to take such decisions. Her mother should encourage her to continue taking her treatment.

Sammie B. Fania of Liberia texted to say

I think states legislations should be the most possible option, since they are by law not entitled to such decision due to age limit.

Thomas in Nigeria says...

I feel the child has the right to discontinue the therapy, she is the one that feels the pains and not the law, who will live forever any way!

Tod in los Angeles emailed...

Being a cancer victim, I know about the ravages of treatments. However, they are still children. A better means of deciding such things is to appoint a child advocate. This would ensure the decisions of parents, doctors AND the child were in line with the accepted prognosis of the disease.

We moved on to talk about the US congressman who sent a letter to constituents calling for tougher immigration laws after a muslim was elected to Congress..

A friend of the show, Neil in Detroit has emailed..

I am appalled at the blatant Christianist behavior. Not only is Rep. Goode's comments hateful and discriminatory it is also wrong and a violation of the the terms his working agreement. Namely to uphold the Constitution of the US which explicitly states that no religious test shall ever be required to hold office. He is also very wrong in portraying this as unprecedented. There are too may examples to list but my Representative in Congress and one of my Senators are Jewish and they have never taken an oath on a Christian Bible to take office in their combined 30 years of service to the Federal government.

Jo in the US is very unhappy that we're doing this..

Please, there IS room and not only is there room, it is desirable to have a Muslim in our congress. extremists are extremists. We have been assaulted by Christian fundies , and Jews have done better historically under Islam than under Christianity! We don't want extremists, but we do want diversity! And Muslim leaders HAVE denounced the violence in reaction to the cartoons they just have not gotten the same press exposure. Please don't give such air time to racists!

This Anon text has come in...

If this Congressman had talked about Jewish invasion everyone would have called for his head!

Ogbuagu in Nigeria says..

The comment by the Congressman is an imitation of the EU immigration policy,but with specious reason.Please dont destroy tolerance!.

Ayub Nuri from New York says..

I am a Muslim from Iraq now in the US. I believe a Muslim who wants to get to the house of representatives wants nothing but work for people. And other christian and jewish representatives should appreciate that they have a muslim with them who understands a big part of the american society that's the muslims.

And finally, we asked you what kind of strange weather conditions there have been where you live...

Ken emailed us...

Here in Ohio the temperature is usually at the freezing level for the bulk of December and the snow is at least ankle deep. Not this year! We've only had 1 snowfall and I've only worn wear my winter coat 2 times this year! The winters here have been betting milder and milder every year. I'm beginning to become concerned.

Keep sending us your weird weather worries!

Signing off for tonight, have a great Xmas, we're back on air on Monday!

HIV tests

The government of India's Andhra Pradesh state say a new law will soon make it compulsory for couples to take an HIV test before marriage.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Would you ask your partner to take a test before committing to them?

the debate os already underway here, tell us what you think.

Iraq

And secondly we want to know what you think about President Bush's plan to increase - in the short-term - the size of the US force in Iraq.

Are more troops the answer?

And what do you make of President Bush's latest assessment on the war in Iraq - 'We're not winning the war, but we're not losing it either' ?

Can you have a score-draw in a war?

Tell us what you think here.

Here are the other stories we discussed this morning

Anna was wandering if we should look at the story that seems to have got America talking.

Donald Trump has given Miss USA a second chance to save her title which was to be revoked because her partying ways were deemed to bring the contest into disrepute.

She's not sure there's necessarily a question we should ask, but wants to look into it a bit more to see if it has got people going in the States. And the audio of the televised apology could add some nice colour to the piece.

Widely felt in the office that it has that "so what" factor to the story..I don't think it's going to make it.

Also - Somalia. Heavy clashes have been reported on the BBC News website, we haven't talked about it yet, but Anna would like to hear from people in the region to get an idea of what's happening out there.

If that is possible? David and Pete think it is possoble, and Paul points out that we have some good contacts from the Somali community in London.

Paul says...

he really would like to do the Tsunami Aid story that featured on the BBC's Newsnight programme on Wednesday..

But Pete says that the bigger story is the lack of fulfilled promises by countries who had pledged billions of dollars but two years on have given very little.

Do you feel let down by what your Government has given?

Paul says a nice tie-in is this timely article by the BBC's John Humphrys which argues why when we give, we should avoid the large agencies who appear bureaucratic and deskbound compared to individual actions.

Are smaller donations better to give than large?

Pete and Anna decide that it will probably be best to watch this story over the next week or so and actually talk about it on the second anniversary of the tsunami, 26th December.

Karnie wants to talk about Kenya

Unicef has found that 15,000 girls aged 12 - 18 in Kenya were engaged in casual sex for money. European men represent half of all their clients.

Is a zero tolerance policy the answer to crack down on this? We're struggling to find an angle on this that will open up the debate. Can you think of one?