大象传媒

For nearly three decades human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has bravely defended Zimbabweans who she says have been unfairly arrested and tortured. Under President Mugabe, she says, the rule of law is under siege. She is highly committed to her work, yet it places her in considerable danger. Around the last elections in 2008 Amnesty International say rights activists were abducted and also tortured as 鈥渉orrendous human rights abuses鈥� left 200 people dead and 10 000 injured. Beatrice defends those journalists, activists, and ordinary people who speak out, but in protecting their rights she too has been detained and beaten by police. In March this year she was arrested as she worked, and now finds herself as the defendant as she stands for trial in court. It鈥檚 a situation that some fear spells a return to the previous crackdown 鈥� particularly since President Mugabe last week announced elections on the 31 July. As a new documentary film, Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law, is screened tonight in London, Beatrice joins Jenni in the studio to explain the importance 鈥� and also the dangers 鈥� of her work.

Two first novels, The Hive by Gill Hornby and An Englishwoman in New York by Anne-Marie Casey, have a lot in common.听 They feature a group of women who meet through their children鈥檚 school, and reveal the type of friendships that develop amongst them.听 The Hive looks in particular at the politics of female friendship groups 鈥� queen bees, wannabees, the devoted slaves, the sad uninvited. An Englishwoman in New York is more concerned with the situational friendships that develop between the four main characters. The two authors join Jenni to discuss adult female friendships in all their permutations.听

An Englishwoman in New York is published by John Murray on 20th July

The Hive is published by Little Brown

A dedicated band of women in the north west of Ireland have taken up the traditional pursuit of Loy Digging.听 The loy is a spade with a thin curved blade which was designed to be used on land which was difficult to dig.听It was used in farming up until the 1960s but was replaced with more modern techniques.听 Now loy digging is being revived as a traditional sport at ploughing matches. Our reporter Helen Mark went to meet the enthusiasts in County Sligo.

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National Ploughing Championships

What happens when relatives look after children who would otherwise go into care? A growing number of these 鈥榢inship carers鈥� are looking after children full time, but they don鈥檛 qualify for benefits or get much support from social services 鈥� what should be done to help them? Jenni is joined by kinship carer Sue Hamilton, her solicitor听 Nigel Priestley and by David Simmonds,听 Chairman of the LGA鈥檚 Children & Young People Board.

The Grandparents' Association