大象传媒

0645

Health and the future of the NHS has been one of the biggest concerns of this general election campaign and nowhere more so than Stafford, where the Mid Staffs Hospital was at the centre of one of the biggest health scandals in recent times. As part of our 100 constituencies tour, Hugh Pym has been to Stafford, where he met a woman who has felt the sharp end of the squeeze on services.

0650

Researchers from Imperial College London writing in The Lancet say that by 2030, life expectancy in England and Wales is expected to reach 85.7 years for men and 87.6 years for women - closing the gap between male and female life expectancy from 6.0 years in 1981 to just 1.9 years by 2030. However, the researchers say this overall progress masks increasing gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor across England and Wales - Blackpool had the lowest male life expectancy for men at 75.2 years, while Middlesbrough and Manchester had the lowest for women, at 80.2 years. Professor Majid Ezzati is Public Health Specialist from Imperial College London.

0655

Rural communities could play a key role in what looks set to be an extremely close-run election next week. Earlier this week, as part of our visits to 100 constituencies, we heard from a group of dairy farmers about their concerns ahead of the election: these ranged from feeling let down by politicians on issues like supermarket food pricing to concerns over the spread of Bovine TB. So what are the parties proposing to try and help farmers and what are the other big issues that are affecting farming communities ahead of the election? Tom Heap is a presenter of 大象传媒 One鈥檚 鈥淐ountryfile鈥� and鈥� Radio 4鈥檚 鈥淐osting the Earth鈥�.

0710

Desperate survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people clashed with riot police in Nepal's capital on Wednesday, as the United Nations appealed for $415 million for the devastated Himalayan nation. The Foreign Office has confirmed that a Briton living overseas has been killed in the devastating earthquake in Nepal, while more than 100 British nationals left stranded by the disaster are expected to arrive back in the UK. More than 5,000 people have killed since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday. Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said the death toll could eventually rise to more than 10,000. We hear from some of those arriving at Stansted airport and Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

0715

Svetlana Lokhova was awarded more than three million pounds in damages for sex discrimination by an employment tribunal earlier this month and in her first interview since the judgment she has been telling the 大象传媒 about the huge toll it has taken on her health, her family and her finances. She spoke to reporter Simon Cox.

0720

Marion Coutts was announced last night as the winner of the Wellcome Book Prize her memoir The Iceberg. The prize recognizes exceptional works of fiction and non-fiction on the subject of medicine and our everyday encounters with it. Marion鈥檚 book describes the painful 18 months leading up to the death of her husband, the art critic Tom Lubbock, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour situated in the part of the brain controlling speech and language.

0730

Desperate survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people clashed with riot police in Nepal's capital on Wednesday, as the United Nations appealed for $415 million for the devastated Himalayan nation. John Rankin is the British Ambassador to Nepal.

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The Royal Ballet is to stage a new production about the life and writings of Virginia Woolf. The centrepiece of the new season stars ballerina Allesandra Ferri. Now in her 50s she has an illustrious past dancing with Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. For this production she had created a new vision of Woolf for the stage. It opens at the Royal Opera House on May 11th. Nicola Stanbridge has been behind the scenes at rehearsals.

0750

One of our round of final interviews with the party leaders ahead of the General Election we speak to the leader of the Green Party Natalie Bennett.

0810

The Liberal Democrats have published what they say were secret plans put forward by the Tories three years ago to cut child benefit and child tax credit. Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, claims his party blocked the measures but he says they show how the Conservatives would try to make savings to the welfare budget if they got back into government. The Conservatives say they don't recognise any of the proposals. The Liberal Democrats will also say that increasing the Personal Allowance will be a 鈥榬ed line鈥� for the party in any coalition negotiations. The Conservatives, unlike Labour, have made a similar commitment in their manifesto. Danny Alexander is Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

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Today marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The last American troops left in March 1973, but fighting between northern and southern forces continued until northern tanks rolled unopposed into the heart of Saigon on April 30th 1975. The victorious communists reunified the country and renamed Saigon Ho Chi Minh City. Ha Mi grew up in Hanoi in northern Vietnam and remembers the end of the war and Don McCullin is an award winning photojournalist who was in Saigon hours before the collapse.

0830

The Liberal Democrats have published what they say were secret plans put forward by the Tories three years ago to cut child benefit and child tax credit (see 0810).

0840

The newspapers are beginning to make their endorsements and one has a particularly interesting split. The Sun this morning in London says that a vote for the Conservatives is important to 'stop the SNP running the country' while The Sun in Glasgow says you should vote for the SNP. Jim's there and late last night, as the presses began to role, he talked to the political editor of the Scottish Sun - Andrew Nicholl - and asked him why the paper now backs the SNP when it didn't come down for a Yes vote in the referendum.

0845

How much does the growing gap between rich and poor matter? Quite a lot if you listen to politicians and others who worry about the direction of the country.聽 The difference between rich and poor is most apparent in cities like London but significant gaps existing within much smaller areas as well.聽 In the latest of our 100 constituencies series, our social affairs correspondent, Michael Buchanan reports from Harrogate in north Yorkshire.

0850

A group of criminologists has warned voters that the election manifestos of five of the UK's biggest parties contain "sweeping" claims about the causes of crime and policies to reduce it. The experts have a written a report for the organisation, 鈥淪ense About Science鈥�, alongside a "crime exaggeration checklist" so people can spot misleading claims. Prateek Buch is a policy director of the 'Evidence Matters' campaign at Sense About Science.

0855

A documentary called 'My Mother's Sari', which airs later this morning on 大象传媒 Radio 4, explores the history of the garment and what it means to generations of British Asian women like Dr Shahidha Bari and her mother before her. The programme examines the psychology and philosophy of traditional clothing and how it sheds light on relationships between mothers and daughters 鈥� the clothes they share and the lives they live differently. Dr Shahidha Bari and Priti Vyas is a beauty and well-being journalist and holistic therapist.

All subject to change.