Today - 20/09/2008

Presented by Sarah Montague and Edward Stourton. Jamie Coomarasamy reports on US promises for a financial rescue package. Iain Watson reports from Manchester where the Labour Party is gathering for the opening day of the Labour Conference. South Africa's governing African National Congress is in turmoil over whether to call for President Thabo Mbeki to resign. Peter Biles reports from Johannesburg. The new president of Pakistan will address the country's parliament. Barbara Plett reports from Islamabad. Marks and Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose talks to Robert Peston about the problems faced by retailers. How is the Indian establishment handling the threat of Islamist terrorism? Chris Morris reports from Delhi. Russell Taylor, the writer of Alex, the cartoon of city life, has written a riposte to James Stewart's speech in It's A Wonderful Life. Thought For The Day with Rev Joel Edwards, general director of the Evangelical Alliance. Richard Dowden, director of the Royal Africa Society, and writer William Gumede discuss the difficulties of power sharing in Zimbabwe. Former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke talks about the financial crisis. Susan Blackmore reports on her investigations into futurist memory aids for a BBC documentary. Australia is suffering from a steep drop in the number of British backpackers heading there. Phil Mercer reports from Sydney. We speak to James Galbraith, Professor of Economics at the University of Texas and one of Barack Obama's economic advisers.