大象传媒

0655

An inquiry has found that twenty-four doctors took their own lives over an eight-year period while being investigated by the UK's medical regulator, and four others were suspected to have died by suicide. The General Medical Council, which commissioned the independent review, has acknowledged it needs to do more to make its processes "quick, simple and as low stress as possible". Dr Clare Gerada is medical director of the Practitioner Health Programme.

0710

Police in Australia say eight children have been found dead at a house in a suburb of the northern Queensland city of Cairns. 聽Local media report that a woman has been taken to hospital with stab wounds. Jon Donnison reports from Sydney.

0712

Women could be allowed to serve in British infantry units for the first time by 2016. The army was ordered to review the ban on women serving in close combat roles by the previous defence secretary. Last May Philip Hammond said he wanted to send a signal that the military is open to all who can meet the standards. In Denmark women have served in the infantry for many years. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale reports.

0715

The FBI has confirmed to the 大象传媒 that it used a New York lawyer, Stanley Cohen, as a go-between in a failed attempt to negotiate the release of the ISIS hostage Peter Kassig. Cohen travelled to the Middle East to negotiate with Al Qaeda-linked clerics including Abu Qatada, but the plan went awry when one of the clerics negotiating with ISIS on Cohen鈥檚 behalf, Abu Muhammed al-Maqdisi, was arrested by Jordanian police. Raijini Vajdjanathan reports.

0720

The Today Programme will be keeping you entertained over Christmas with its annual crop of guest editors. 聽This year's line-up is John Bercow, Tracey Thorn, 聽Mervyn King, Lenny Henry and Elizabeth Butler-Sloss. 聽The programmes start on Boxing Day. On Friday we play a sneak preview of what listeners will hear.

0730

The UK's oil industry is "close to collapse" according to Robin Allan, chairman of the independent explorers' association Brindex. He said it is "almost impossible to make money" with the oil price below 60 US dollars (拢38) a barrel and there will be no new investments. And a top oil executive has warned that amid this price slump could be the loss of thousands of jobs. Mike Tholen is economics director for Oil and Gas UK.

0745

Ecologists have discovered that at least one bird species deliberately dodged the tornadoes that devastated the central US in April. The storms caused $1 billion in property damage and claimed 35 human lives, but golden-winged warblers appear to have fled one day ahead of the devastation, and returned when it was safe. They were most likely tipped off by low-frequency noise outside the range of human ears. Dr Henry Streby is population ecologist at University of California.

0750

In the House of Commons Emergency Health Debate yesterday, Jeremy Hunt and Andy Burnham sparred over the pressures facing the health service. Earlier this week the medical director of NHS England said the "system is creaking" as winter begins to take hold. Sir Bruce Keogh says ambulance services in some parts of the country are struggling and A&E units are stretched. Given the financial pressures and strains that the NHS under will it be able to cope if we have a winter cold snap or will it send the service over the edge? Dr Mark Porter is chair of the council at the British Medical Association. Dr Barbara Hakin is national director of commissioning operations for NHS England.

0810

Further analysis of women potentially being allowed to serve in British infantry units for the first time by 2016 (see 0712). Major Judith Webb is the first woman to command an all-male field force squadron in the British army. Michael Fallon is the defence secretary.

0820

Analysis of the implications of the Peshawar attack for Pakistan. Fergal Keane reports.

0830

The last EU summit of the year ended early on Thursday evening. It鈥檚 been quite a remarkable year in the fractious relationship between Britain and the EU, from the row over Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants, the rise of Ukip at the European elections, to Britain鈥檚 EU bill being higher than expected. But is the mood music really as negative in Brussels? As we go into 2015, how should we take our relationship with the EU forward and keep us together? Charles Grant is director of the Centre for European Reform. Mats Persson is director of Open Europe.

0840

The number of illegal migrants attempting to reach Britain has soared in 2014, according to data released by the Home Office. In the first four months of this year nearly 12,000 鈥渃landestines鈥� were detected attempting entry to the UK at ports like Calais, almost 100 each day. The number has almost quadrupled in the past four years.

0845

2014 has been remarkable for many things. Some of the most evocative have been the events to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. And the war left us with a stranger cultural legacy, a huge rise in the popularity of Spiritualism, the belief that the dead can communicate with the living. Tom Bateman reports.

0850

Many wonder if the attack that has killed more than 130 children at a Pakistani school will be a watershed in the country's long, conflicted history with Islamic militancy. Is this the moment when Pakistan finally changes its duplicitous relationship with the various militant groups that operate within its territory? Dr Christine Fair is assistant professor in the Centre for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University. Huma Yusuf is Pakistan analyst at Control Risks and columnist at Dawn newspaper.


All subject to change.