Today: Wednesday 25th April

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has rejected calls for his resignation saying he handled News Corporation's proposed takeover of BSkyB with "scrupulous fairness". How green is the UK governmnet? And also on today's programme, we'll speak to the man who plans to fall to earth from the edge of space.

We are no longer providing clips of every part of the programme but you will be able to listen via the BBC iPlayer .

0615
Business news with Simon Jack, on the release of the latest UK GDP figures.

0649

As part of our party leader interviews, Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the Green Party , speaks to the Today programme's Justin Webb ahead of the local elections on 3 May.

0709

The Leveson Inquiry into press standards yesterday released a dossier of 163 emails detailing contacts between the Culture Secretary's office and a senior executive at News Corporation. Mike Granatt, former head of the Government Information Service, explains the implications.

0713
Senior officials from the European Commission in Brussels are expected to propose a 6.8% rise in the annual EU budget for 2013. Richard Corbett, adviser to European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, outlines the reasons for the rise.

0717
Business news with Simon Jack.

0720

The traditional fairground sideshow is making a comeback, with a new performance devoted to them at London's Roundhouse. The BBC's Tom Bateman reports.

In pictures: The return of the fairground sideshow

0724
Sport news with Garry Richardson.

0731

Can the coalition still claim to be the greenest government ever? Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, defends the credibility of the government's Green strategy.

0737
Rupert Murdoch is set to follow his son to give evidence at the Leveson enquiry. The BBC's Business Editor Robert Peston explains what to expect.

0740
Paper review.

0743

In the summer, Felix Baumgartner is going to attempt to break the world sky-diving record. He's not just doing a high parachute jump, he's going up to the edge of space. Felix Baumagartner and Joe Kittinger, the current record holder, explain why.

0748
Thought for the Day with Vishvapani, who is an ordained Buddhist

0751
Tonight, the Oxford University Scientific Society will be debating the motion "This house wants to defeat ageing entirely". Colin Blakemore, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, explains why he thinks the concept isn't feasible.

0810

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has rejected Labour calls for him to resign over claims that he privately supported attempts by News Corporation to take full control of BSkyB. The BBC's Peter Hunt reports on the revelations from the Leveson inquiry. Lord Fowler, former Conservative party chairman, and Damian Collins MP, Conservative member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, discuss the implications of these allegations. Political editor Nick Robinson gives his analysis.

0823

Test cards have been used since the earliest television broadcasts with the most famous of all being the test card of a girl and a clown playing noughts and crosses. Tonight, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London will be exploring how test cards and their music affected the television watching public. The Today programme's Nicola Stanbridge reports.

0827
Sport news with Garry Richardson.

0828
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir says Sudan has "declared war" on his country, following weeks of fighting along their common border. Abdullahi Al Azreg, ambassador for Sudan, gives his take on the situation.

0833

To mark the Queen's Jubilee year, the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has edited a specially commissioned anthology of poems - Jubilee Lines. She reads her poem The Thames, London 2012.

0838
The First Minister, Alex Salmond, has been drawn into the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics over his relationship with Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation. BBC Scotland's political editor Brian Taylor has the details.

0841
Business news with Simon Jack.

0847

It appears that Newham council's attempts to find homes for some of its poorer residents in accommodation around the country, is not an isolated case - Waltham Forest houses a small number of people in Luton and Margate and it recently acquired further units in Walsall. The Today programme's Tom Feilden spoke to one single mother, who didn't want us to use her name, who has been offered a house in Walsall.

0852
Official figures out later this morning will show whether or not there is a double-dip recession in the UK. Dr Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank, and Erik Britton, director at Fathom Financial Consulting, discuss the impending GDP figures.

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