大象传媒

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The Californian company Uber has shaken-up the existing taxi industry in major cities worldwide with its lower prices and smartphone app for summoning a cab. In London, Uber has even attracted a legal challenge from the licenced "black-cabs". But a new wave of taxi apps is launching in London this week, whose emphasis is driving down fares even further by letting passengers share a journey. Our technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones reports.

0650

Christianity is facing the greatest threat to its existence in the very place where it was born. Jane Corbin travelled across the Middle East to some of the holiest places in Christendom and finds that hundreds of thousands of Christians are fleeing Islamic extremists, conflict and persecution. Jane Corbin is the presenter of 鈥淭his World: Kill The Christians鈥�.

0655

The nationalist Northern Ireland party the SDLP launches its general election manifesto today. The party had three MPs at the last election and could be involved in coalition discussions in the event of a hung Parliament. So what are their policies and what might they demand for their support? Andy Martin is our Ireland Correspondent.

0710

400 people are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, after a boat capsized off Libya. Laurens Jolles is the UNHCR's Southern Europe Representative.

0715

UKIP are launching their manifesto today. Suzanne Evans is the UKIP Deputy Chairman & Parliamentary Candidate for Shrewsbury & Atcham.

0720

The names Nassar Hussain, Mark Ramprakesh, and Moeen Ali will mean something to cricket fans around the world.聽 All are successful England players - past and present - and all are of South Asian origin.聽 Those from an Indian and Pakistani background are six times more likely to play the sport than the average recreational player according to the England and Wales cricket board, so why is it then that they only make up 6 percent of this country's first class cricket players? Sima Kotecha reports.

0730

British typhoon jets have been scrambled to keep an eye on Russian long range bombers flying off the British coast. In Russia, opinion polls suggest that President Putin can afford to stand firm. How deep does President Putin's popularity really go, especially in poorer parts of the country now struggling economically? For the third of her special reports for us from Russia, Bridget Kendall has been into the countryside, to a provincial town four hours' drive south of Moscow, to test the mood.

0740

On the eve of the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, it's emerged the crime novelist hated the cover of her book 鈥淪ad Cyprus鈥� so much she requested the product be pulped and reprinted with a better design. It's very rare to see authors have such a say in how their books are marketed - that is for the publishers to decide upon. So who judges best - what book design works and what are the tensions that can arise? Sophie Hannah is a crime novelist and author of the new Poirot book and Professor Phil Baines is a 聽graphic designer and professor of typography at Central St Martins.

0750

70 years ago today, British and Canadian troops arrived at the gates of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany. It was the first camp to be liberated by British forces - until then the only accounts of conditions in the camps had come from come from the Red Army in Poland. What the Allied soldiers - and the 大象传媒's Richard Dimbleby - saw at Belsen would haunt them, and provide searing images of the Holocaust - corpses piled up, many thousands of sick and starving prisoners. Mishal spoke to survivor Gena Turgel now 92, about her memories of 1945.

0810

The Liberal Democrats launch their manifesto today 鈥� with a commitment to spend an extra 2.5 billion pounds on education for 2-19 year olds by 2020. David Laws is the Schools minister.

0820听听听听听听

400 people are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, after a boat capsized off Libya. The Italian coast guard had rescued 144 people on Monday, and according to the testimonies collected by the charity Save the Children many of the victims were children. The European Union says that more than 7,000 migrants have been rescued since Friday, as good weather has prompted a surge in the number of boats trying to make the crossing from Libya. Quentin Sommerville is the 大象传媒 Middle East Correspondent and Emma Bonino is the former Foreign Minister of Italy (and former European Commissioner for humanitarian aid, fisheries and consumer policy.

0830

It seems increasingly clear that no party will gain a clear majority in the election and so what happens on May 8th is important. The civil service are going to be very important in fixing whatever comes after. What preparations are the civil service making for a hung parliament, where a minority government with a confidence and supply, or vote-by-vote support is becoming increasingly likely? Lord O鈥橠onnell is a former Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service and is now a crossbench peer.

0835

Those from an Indian and Pakistani background are six times more likely to play the sport than the average recreational player according to the England and Wales cricket board, so why is it then that they only make up 6 percent of this country's first class cricket players (see 0720)? Wasim Khan is Chief Executive Leicester County Cricket and was the first British-born Pakistani to play professional cricket in England and Taj Butt is a South Asian community officer for Yorkshire County Cricket.

0840

Politics in parts of Kent used to be predictable. This was a strictly Conservative part of the world - that was until the days of New Labour. But now UKIP has made its home in Kent, with Nigel Farage staking his leadership of the party on winning South Thanet. The seat has become a three-way battle between UKIP, Labour and the Conservatives - and the stakes are high, as Tom Bateman's been finding out.

0845

A British woman who鈥檚 facing death by firing squad in Indonesia for smuggling more than 10 pounds of cocaine (worth 拢1.6m) into the country is making a last ditch effort to escape the death sentence.聽 Lindsay Sandiford, 57, from Redcar is trying to raise 拢250,000 dollars for an appeal and has taken on New Zealand-based human rights lawyer Craig Tuck to try to get the Indonesian courts to allow her a new appeal hearing. Craig Tuck is a human rights barrister at Tuck Law.

0850

Following the 大象传媒鈥檚 Diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall鈥檚 reports on the Russian economy, patriotism and support for President Putin, we discuss he state of play in the country鈥檚 society. Bridget Kendall is the 大象传媒鈥檚 Diplomatic correspondent and Sir Andrew Wood is a former British Ambassador to Moscow.

All subject to change.