´óÏó´«Ã½

China
Chinese stocks fell yesterday for a second day in a row after the government raised a tax on trading to cool a market boom amid fears of a price bubble. China's stock market has seen prices rise by more than fifty percent this year.

Regular listener Margaret from Portland Oregon e-mailed us to say it's been on her mind for a couple of weeks, and offers an interesting angle:

I am worried for their economy and for the world's food and medications that use China's ingredients as a source. What about the effect of China's care or lack there of ingredients for food and medications that are being shipped world wide. I now know that the US's Food and Drug Administration is severely lacking in checking for contaminated food products... too many ports, too few inspectors. I am wondering how this is being handled in other parts of the world. How is China's standards of food handling and shipping effecting the world food and medications? Could this also be effecting their stock market?

Litvinenko
Unfolding on the television before me this morning, is the latest development in the dramatic case of the . The man accused of the killing, Andrei Lugovoi, has denied all allegations, and said it could not have happened without the involvement of British secret services. A former KGB officer and British agent, described Mr Lugovoi's claims as "silly fantasies".

This story continues to sound like something from a James Bond film, and surely must have people talking. Would you like to hear more on this latest development today?

Earlier this week, we talked about the closure of RCTV in Venezuela.

Since then, we have received e-mails from listeners, keen to address some wider issues in Venezuela. Shane asks:

Why is there nothing about Venezuela on the mainline ´óÏó´«Ã½ or CNN web sites? You have a man, slowly positioning himself as a world player, undermining his people in a power play that international journalists should, at the very least, be documenting... and this is not any world leader. This is a man who stood in the united nations and called the US president satan. This is a man who has sworn to back Iran in whatever they choose to do... and what we are seeing is the people rising against his overriding use of power in a democratic, non violent way...CNN and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ are not giving them a voice... I seriously question why this is? Are you scared of the court of Chavez' opinion?

Nelson wrote urging us to .

Every night around 10 p.m. people all over make noise to protest, police comandos go around shooting at buildings, houses, etc. to make them stop. I suggest this is considered by your staff as a theme for one of your programs.

Israel campaign to "woo" homosexual couples
The government are facing a major backlash after a controversial advertising campaign aimed at bringing gay tourists to the Holy Land. On Tuesday's programme we talked about the opposition to "the promotion of a homosexual lifestyle" in Poland (although that involved a large, purple children's television character who carries a handbag).
Next week in the Israeli parliament, there's a debate about allowing the Gay Pride march to take place, as well as a vote on whether these adverts should be banned. So plenty for discussion...

The money is to be used to fund educational facilities at some former Nazi camps, now run as museums. Dachau is one such museum, it's visited by 800,000 people each year, but the camp museum can only afford to pay one full-time educational assistant. The spokesman for the Central Board of Jews in Germany says:

These are graveyards; you do not pay to mourn the dead

But if the money is to be used to fund educating youngsters about the Holocaust, then isn't it being well spent? Perhaps the government should be offering more financial assistance though? Tell us what you think.

Caste riots in Delhi
14 people have been left dead following , who are demanding they be included among India's "scheduled tribes," the lowest category in India's social hierarchy. They want to benefit from job quotas reserved for low castes. We heard a lot about the complicated caste system during our trip to India, shall we revisit the debate today?

Rubbish
And what about the people of Naples who are trying to deal with a garbage crisis? As you can see from , it's not good for business.