Today - 10/10/2009

Presented by John Humphrys and James Naughtie. Political parties in Northern Ireland are closer to a deal with the government about the devolution of policing and justice powers to Belfast. The debate over devolution had been threatening the survival of the power-sharing executive. Northern Ireland correspondent Mark Devenport examines the chances of a deal being reached. Judges have voiced concerns about plans to build prefabricated courtrooms next to a court in south-east London. Home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw explains judges' concerns over the use of portakabins in some of the most high-profile terrorism and organised crime trials. What is a recession and how can you analyse the impact it has on general psychological and emotional wellbeing? Some charities have said there has been an increase in mental health problems linked to unemployment, personal debt and home repossession. Reporter Mike Sergeant speaks to some of those who say they have been badly affected. NASA has crash-landed two rockets onto the surface of the moon in a mission to find ice on its surface. Dr Vincent Eke, from the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, explains what the data being collected could reveal. Turkey and Armenia are preparing to sign a historic agreement normalising relations between them after a century of hostility. The deal has been met by protests in Armenia, where many people say it does not fully address the 1915 killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians under Ottoman rule. Correspondent Tom Esslemont reports from an opposition demonstration in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and the Turkey specialist at Chatham House, Fadi Hakura, discusses divisions between the two countries. The BBC Trust has told the corporation to cut back on swearing. Peter Silverton, author of Filthy English: The How, Why, When and What of Everyday Swearing discuss the use of swear words. Thought for the Day with Brian Draper, Associate Lecturer at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. General Sir Richard Dannatt's move to the Conservatives' defence team has been met with huge criticism. The former Labour defence minister, Peter Kilfoyle, and Colonel Bob Stewart, a former British commander in Bosnia who himself is hoping to become an MP at the next election, examine the line between the military and the politicians. MPs are facing a further challenge to their expense claims when Parliament resumes after the summer recess on Monday. A number of MPs will receive a letter from Sir Thomas Legg, a former senior civil servant who has been given the task of poring over claims made over the last five years, asking for the money to be repaid. Political correspondent Terry Stiastny explains the latest developments in the Parliamentary expenses scandal. It is a year since the bail-out of the banks started. Panicked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Bush administration and the British government began to pour vast amounts of public money into institutions that had been celebrated for years for their seeming ability to promote endless economic growth and prosperity. Historian Niall Ferguson, a visiting professor at Harvard University, has written a paper taking issue with the thinking of governments, and George Magnus, senior economic adviser to the Swiss bank UBS, discuss whether or not governments made the right decisions in the aftermath of the Lehman collapse. Prefabricated buildings are to be used as courts in Woolwich, south-east London. Five modular courtrooms will be assembled in the car park of the crown court. Keith Cutler, a member of the council of circuit judges, discusses the judiciary's concerns about the plans. What species has had the greatest impact on the planet? Author Christopher Lloyd has been trying to answer the question for his new book, What on Earth Evolved? Mr Lloyd outlines his research. The Nobel committee has come under criticism for awarding its Peace Prize to President Obama, who many see as not having achieved anything to warrant receiving the prize. Former UK Ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, and former foreign office minister Lord Mark Malloch-Brown examine if this decision has damaged the honour's prestige. The government is hoping to finalise the devolution of policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland. Professor Lord Bew of Queens University, Belfast comments on the importance of finalising the devolution. Strictly Come Dancing performer Anton Du Beke has apologised on-air after making a racist remark to dance partner Laila Rouass. Radio 1 and BBC Asian Network's DJ Nihal and Councillor Gurcharan Singh, Conservative PPC for Ealing South, examine the use of the word 'Paki'. Romanian-born German author Herta Mueller, who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, is relatively unknown in the UK. Ms Mueller suffered death threats and censorship in her native Romania under Nicolae Ceausescu's totalitarian regime, which p