Newsnight 16 Sept

Presented by Jeremy Paxman.

You can get a daily e-mail from one of the Newsnight presenters. Click here to subscribe and find out the latest from the Newsnight office.

Hutton Inquiry

Stage Two of the Hutton Inquiry began properly with lawyers representing both the BBC and the Kelly family cross examining witnesses. First up was Martin Howard, the deputy chief of Defence Intelligence at the MOD. He was accused of playing a "game of Russian roulette" with David Kelly over the protection of his identity.

Road Map to peace

In New York, the Security Council was set to vote on a motion condemning Israel for its recent statements proposing the expulsion, or even execution of Yasser Arafat. On the eve of the 25th Anniversary of the Camp David Peace Accords we asked whether the so-called Road Map to peace is dead and whether its demise will also destroy any possibility of a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel.

Click here for our interview with the UN's Special Envoy to the Middle East.

Derailment

In the morning rail chiefs were hailing a rare good news story on the network - the completion of the first stage of the high speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel. Predictably, by the afternoon a more familiar story was making the news after an express train derailed outside King's Cross station. This time, however, someone took responsibility. Engineering firm Jarvis Rail - already under fire over the Potters Bar rail crash - confirmed that its engineering work had not been properly completed.

By-election

And, to coin a phrase, it should really be a "cake-walk". On Thursday the "safe" Labour seat of Brent East is up for grabs in the first by-election for 18 months. The Home Secretary raised the possibility that the Liberal Democrats may win. So is this a scare mongering attempt to get out the Labour vote or the first sign of Tony Blair's new found unpopularity?

Newsnight can be seen on BBC Two at 2230 BST 2130 GMT, or in Real video, either live or on demand, by clicking on the latest programme button.