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News International boss Rebekah Brooks could be questioned by police investigating allegations of phone hacking, as a witness. The government is preparing to publish its plans for opening up public services to private providers. Also on today's programme, do we still think of the village green and the parish church when we think of England?

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0615
Business news with Adam Shaw: Thousands of council workers will today accept lower wages or face redundancy. Matthew Lewis, of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, considers the case for unfair dismissal. Alan Clarke, of Scotia Capital, and David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, look at whether the UK economy has moved into reverse. And Alpesh Patel, of Praefinium Partners, looks at the markets. Download the podcast

0650
The Obama administration is cutting one third of its military aid to Pakistan - about $800m - in response to what it says is a lack of co-operation and increased "unhelpfulness" from Islamabad. Democrat Congressman Adam Smith explains why he sees it is a justified response from Washington.

0709
What should the government do with the News International bid for the whole of BSkyB? Business editor Robert Peston reports on "embarrassing" questions about the "fitness and properness" of the deal. Liberal Democrat party president Tim Farron MP and media analyst Claire Enders discuss whether ministers should play for time.

0717
Business news with Adam Shaw.

0720
The guidelines on whether people over a certain body mass index should automatically be entitled to a gastric band from the NHS will be tested in the Court of Appeal today. Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, and Jo Webber, deputy director of policy at the NHS Confederation, discuss who should qualify for help.

0727
Sports news with Jonathan Legard.

0731
Desperate government officials in drought-stricken areas of Somalia, where 80% of livestock has already perished, are telling people to trust in God and survive by eating the leaves off trees. Reporter Andrew Hosken has been one of the first western reporters to visit the badly affected area of Karkar, and reports on a region heading into humanitarian disaster.

0740
Paper review.

0743
The prime minister is to set out a government blueprint to end what he calls the "top down" culture in public services, calling for more competition in sectors such as health care and education. Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, describes his own party's reaction.

0748
Thought for the day with Clifford Longley, a religious commentator.

0752
A pastoral image of rural England still defines the modern sense of English national identity, according to historian Sir Roy Strong, former director of the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A. Presenter Justin Webb went with him to the Kentish Weald to survey the view and ask him why a vision of the rural idyll continues to hold our imagination.

0810
Landlords owning all 752 care homes in the Southern Cross Group have said they want to leave the group. Former NHS Trust chairman Roy Lilley, an independent health policy analyst, explains the background of the story. Christopher Fisher, chairman of Southern Cross, discuses what will happen to the 31,000 elderly residents currently looked after by the healthcare group.

0816
Around 100 people, many of them children, are feared dead after a tourist boat sank in central Russia. Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg reports on the disaster.

0818
The government has yet to make its final ruling on whether Rupert Murdoch's British company News International should be able to takeover BSkyB. Ingrid Gubbay of Hausfeld & Co examines the legality of the bid. And Conservative MP John Whittingdale, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, explains why the deal should be "put on hold".

0825
Sports news with Jonathan Legard.

0832
A group called Waterloo 200 has accused the government of being too reluctant to mark the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo. Major General Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter, who was the last colonel of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment before its amalgamation into the Yorkshire Regiment, and Benedicte Paviot, London correspondent for France 24, debate why plans to celebrate the occasion seem lukewarm and whether ministers are wary of insulting France.

0837
Business news with Adam Shaw.

0844
The highly unusual life of Marina Abramovic, known to many as the grandmother of performance art, is now the inspiration for a major new theatre production at the Manchester International Festival. Arts editor Will Gompertz reports on why the genre of performance art is suddenly being taken seriously.

0845
The US is going to withhold $800m in military aid to Pakistan. Aleem Maqbool reports on what is being seen as "a gamble" by the United States.

0848
The care home operator Southern Cross is to close down. The company, which runs more than 750 residential homes had been trying to reach a deal with its landlords because it was struggling to pay the rent. Peter Hay, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, discusses the future for the 31,000 residents.

0855
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is seeking fresh advice on News Corp's takeover bid for BSkyB. Steve Hewlett, presenter of the Media Show on Radio 4, analyses how ministers will deal with this new "immensely complex twist" in the saga.

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