Today - 15/09/2009

Presented by James Naughtie and John Humphrys It is exactly a year since the US bank Lehman Brothers collapsed and filed for bankruptcy. Hugh Pym reports on the continuing impact of the bank's failure. US forces have 'likely killed' a top Al-Qaeda suspect during a US military raid in Somalia, a US official has told the BBC. Mike Thomson reports on the suspect, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who has been on the FBI's wanted list for years. For decades, the motor industry has been promising that electric motoring is just around the corner. Dr Peter Wells, of the Centre for Automotive Research at Cardiff Business School, discusses the launch of new electric car, the Vauxhall Ampera, and the continuing expectations placed on the electric vehicle by the motor industry. England has become 'the divorce capital of Europe' because of the way assets are divided after a break-up, the chairman of the Bar Standards Board says. Baroness Deech, who believes the system is paternalistic and unprincipled, discusses her view with divorce and family lawyer Vanessa Lloyd Platt. The government is to look again at how a new vetting system for those working with children will operate. Chairman of the new Independent Safeguarding Agency, Sir Roger Singleton, who will review the system, discusses how 'frequent or intensive' contact with children could be defined. Amid the wreckage caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, some people spotted an opportunity. Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays Capital, snapped up Lehman's US business in the aftermath of the biggest bankruptcy in history. Greg Wood speaks to him about the deal. Thought for the Day with the Right Rev Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark. A scheme in which heroin is given to addicts in supervised clinics has led to big reductions in the use of street drugs and crime, the BBC has learned. Home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw talks to some of those involved in the scheme. Prof John Strang, director of the National Addiction Centre, discusses the implications of these findings. Attempts to sort out Lehman's European network of trades and investments 'may take a decade', the administrator of Lehman Brothers' European operations warns. Business editor Robert Peston and Howard Davies, director of the LSE, discuss whether or not the lessons have been learned from the collapse. The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown has released his new novel, The Lost Symbol. The book has been shrouded in secrecy and copies were only removed from their plain brown wrappers at midnight. Jon Howells of Waterstone's and novelist Kate Mosse give their initial reaction to the title and the secrecy surrounding its release. Dirty Dancing film star Patrick Swayze has died aged 57, his publicist says. Annett Wolf added that the US actor, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for nearly two years, died with family at his side. A scheme to give heroin addicts access to the drug under supervision has resulted in less of the drug being bought on the streets and fewer crimes being committed, according to the scheme's organisers. Paul Hayes, of the National Treatment Agency, and Neil McKeganey, Professor of Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow, discuss whether ministers should set up further trials. Investigations are still going on into allegations of massive fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election and concern is growing about how to find a way out of what could become a dangerous political deadlock. Chris Morris reports on the increasing tension in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The time it took reptiles to learn to walk upright - a development which led to the evolution of mammals - happened more quickly than originally thought, research in the journal Palaeontology says. Mike Benton, Professor of Palaeontology at University of Bristol, explains the development, which the research authors say could have taken place 250 million years ago. Celebrity chef Keith Floyd has died following a heart attack, aged 65. He died at his partner's home in Dorset after the heart attack on Monday night, according to the ghost-writer of his autobiography, James Steen. Chef Marco Pierre White describes 'a beautiful man' on 'a sad day for the nation'. Was allowing US bank Lehman Brothers to fail a good or bad idea? Times columnist Anatole Kaletsky and David Smith, chair of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, discuss why the bank failed and why the US government refused to prop it up despite offering assistance to rival bank AIG.