Today: Friday 6 June 2008

PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to offer transcripts for our programme interviews.

0709 Gordon Brown's plan to scrap A-levels in favour of a new set of diplomas "risks disaster" for the education system, says a report from the University of Buckingham. We speak to report author Professor Alan Smithers and education minister Jim Knight.

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Business with

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Are the Bush administration trying to set up permanent military bases in Iraq? We speak to General Jack Keane.

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The commission for responsible for inspecting care homes for the elderly comes under the spotlight in the latest in Today reporter Jon Manel's series on care for the elderly.

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Today's papers.

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Have you ever bought a dacey or been bitten by a guggy? To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Oxford English Dictionary, the English Project are launching a campaign to collect the secret vocabulary used by families in homes around the UK.

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Thought for the Day with the Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks

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Rural firms could be almost twice as successful if they had the same access to funding and technical support as their urban counterparts according to a report by the Commission for Rural Communities. We speak to its author Stuart Burgess.

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Coal may not seem an obvious subject matter for a new oratorio, but "Carbon 12" does just that. The Welsh National Opera are performing the work which incorporates two hundred performers including choirs and a brass band from Welsh mining communities.

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Sport from Garry Richardson.

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Business with

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Would you trust a robot to look after your child? Noel Sharkey, a professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at Sheffield University and Professor Yorick Wilks from Oxford University's Internet Institute discuss robo-carers.

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