Friday, August 7, 2009

In tonight's Newsnight & Newsnight Review

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Friday 7 August 2009 - 22.30 BST - BBC TWO
Presented by Gavin Esler & Kwame Kwei Armah



"I am not going to be a shrinking violet" - Labour's deputy leader, Harriet Harman.

We'll get to the non-shrinking violet in a moment, but we expect to lead tonight with news that Pakistan's most wanted man, Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, has reportedly been killed by a US missile. President Barack Obama's spokesman greeted the news with "If he is dead, without a doubt, the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result." We'll be asking what this means for stability in the region. The news comes as the MoD confirmed that three members of the Parachute Regiment have been killed while in southern Afghanistan. They were killed when their Jackal armoured vehicle was hit by an explosion and small-arms fire. Click here to watch Barbara Plett's 2008 Newsnight report from Pakistan on the growing strength of the Taliban when she was taken to see Baitullah Mehsud.

Plus, Harriet Harman and Peter Mandelson (among others) are taking it in turns to occupy the headlines while Gordon Brown enjoys his summer break. Are they running the country or making the running for a post-Brown Labour party?

At the time of writing, it seems that England are on the brink of disaster in Leeds. We've got a film from New York about how the police department there are using cricket to help improve relations with the city's ethnic minorities. Gavin will be joined by Joseph O'Neill, author of "Netherland", the story of cricket in a post-9/11 New York - the book Barack Obama describes as "brilliant".

And on Newsnight Review at 11pm, Kwame Kwei Armah is joined by comedians Natalie Haynes and David Schneider, and the politician Michael Gove to look at your best cultural options for a staycation this summer.

The Junior Officers' Reading Club tops a reading list given out to Conservative MPs for the summer recess. Patrick Hennessey's memoir of his time serving in Afghanistan is an account of the highs and the horrors of army life. With the deaths of three more British soldiers announced today, his frank assessment couldn't be more timely. But can policy makers learn from it?

Frank McGuinness' new version of Euripedes' play, Helen at London's Globe Theatre nods towards ideas of the futilty of war too, meanwhileTom Payne's book Fame traces the origins of celebrity culture to 500BC. There has been a flurry of renewed interest in the classics on stage and page - is it because they particularly chime with our times?

We'll also be looking at a new road movie staring Isabelle Huppert where no-one leaves Home, and asking whether summer entertainment phenomenon Big Brother has had its day.

Join us from 10.30pm on BBC Two tonight.




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