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Here's Kirsty with details of tonight's programme.

The Pound

We begin tonight with money, money, money. The euro has just about achieved parity with the pound. Why is this happening? And what's the best way to halt the slide? Or rather, is there any way to halt the slide? Our Economics Editor Paul Mason reports.

US power on the wane?

The fragility of sterling is also an indication of the way that the power of the pound has collapsed as China and the Gulf states buy up stronger currencies - the dollar and the euro - and sideline sterling. In his survey of the year tonight our Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban revisits some of the key moments of 2008 - some of which reinforce the idea that America's position as a superpower is on the wane and the East is on the rise.

Lewis Hamilton

And in the last of our end of year interviews I'll be speaking to the youngest ever Formula One champion, the all-star Lewis Hamilton. We recorded the interview on a double-decker bus in Central London because it was the only time he had in the middle of his "Safe Driving" campaign. As he looked out of the window a crocodile of little children spotted him and started shouting his name and waving. He was so thrilled - he took photos of them and waved back. Throughout the interview he was very relaxed and open - talking about risk taking and the way he's going to approach the championship in the coming year. I asked him about his French motorway speeding offence - 122mph in his Mercedes - and suggested he put a pinger in his car like mine to stop him going too fast.

That's tonight but you can watch the online now.

While you're there, read our editor's end-of-year blog entry which is also his first for Newsnight - and tell us what your cultural highlights of the year have been.

Kirsty

From Newsnight Review's producer, Liz Gibbons:

What was your cultural highlight of 2008? You can to find out which work we've chosen to discuss. Tell us whether you think we've made the right choices. And you can find out what Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Paxman, Ian Hislop, Kate Mosse and a host of other people's highlights and lowlights were by watching the clips below, or by .

The Review team is lucky enough to get to see and to read and to listen to a lot of new work in the course of the year. So they'll be revealing some of their highlights in posts below, to get the debate flowing.

I've decided to pick just a few otherwise I'll be here all night. Actually, I'm going to be here all night anyway...

No Country for Old Men was, for me, the stand-out film of the year, and Javier Bardem's performance in it was astonishing. I still shiver when I recall the scene in the gas station where the toss of a coin is seemingly enough for him to decide whether the hapless pump attendant should live or die.

Talking of shivering a little, Pierce Brosnan's singing in Mamma Mia was a little frightening too. But that was the most surprisingly good thing I saw. I was slightly dreading going to see it after seeing the promotional clips, but I ended up laughing, crying and singing along.

David Tennant's Hamlet was fantastic. I did wonder beforehand whether he could bring anything new to a text that's so well worn. But, in the end, it felt like I was hearing it all for the first ever time.

And Daniel Barenboim's performance of the last Beethoven piano sonata at the Royal Festival Hall was another highlight. He admitted in a Newsnight interview a few days earlier that he is prone to a little improvisation if he loses his way. And this wasn't a note perfect performance. But that didn't matter in the end, because it felt like he reached a musical sphere where hitting all the right notes didn't even matter!

Oh, and I'm still not sure whether Strictly or the X Factor won the talent TV battle this year. But I was addicted to both.

Here's our output editor Robert Morgan with details of tonight's programme.

Babysitter

We begin tonight with the story of Suzanne Holdsworth, following her acquittal today of the killing of two year old Kyle Fisher at a retrial. Suzanne Holdsworth spent three years in jail for a murder she did not commit. It was a Newsnight investigation in December of last year that first raised doubts about her guilt, when the journalist John Sweeney revealed the shortcomings of the medical evidence in the case. His film led directly to the quashing of her conviction at the Court of Appeal, and hence to a retrial. Tonight we tell the story of this dreadful miscarriage of justice - the shocking failures of the pathologist in the case and the inadequacies in the investigation by Cleveland Police.

Read a feature by John Sweeney

Ghaffur

We have a special end of year interview with Tarique Ghaffur who was until his resignation this year from the Metropolitan Police, Britain's most senior Asian police officer. In June he accused the Met of racial discrimination - what does he think of the force now?

Politics

And we look back on the political year and at the extraordinary way the economic crisis swept away everything that had gone before it - and we'll hear from our panel of political insiders Danny Finkelstein, Olly Grender and Peter Hyman.

Here is our output editor Shaminder with details of Wednesday's Newsnight.

Jobs

Today's figures on unemployment make for grim reading and they pose an uncomfortable question for the Government. As the shake out worsens, will it be migrant workers, the young and the old who lose their jobs; or the hi-tech workers who were supposed to be the future of Britain? Paul Mason investigates.

Iraq

Gordon Brown and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki have announced UK forces will have "completed their tasks" and leave the country by the end of July 2009. Our Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban will assess the fallout behind the deal.

vCJD

Susan Watts has an exclusive report on the discovery of variant CJD in a new human genetic group. So far, 164 people have died of variant CJD - which originally came from cows infected with BSE. Cases have been declining since 2000 and all were limited to one genetic group of the population. But Newsnight has learned of a new case that has raised fears there could be a second wave of the human form of the disease.

End of Year interviews

In 2006, the barrister Constance Briscoe wrote a shocking memoir of her childhood detailing the physical and mental abuse meted out to her by her mother - who later took her to court for libel. In her first broadcast interview since winning the case, Constance Briscoe talks about the abuse she suffered, her self-esteem and her decision to undergo plastic surgery and why she believes the lessons of recent child abuse cases will not be learnt.

Here is Gavin Esler with details of Tuesday's programme.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"The dumbing down of Christmas is a kind of lowest common denominator, an embarrassment of why Britain has come to where it is" - Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester.

BOMBERS

Newsnight has exclusive information about the background of the bomber found guilty today of trying to murder hundreds of people in London and Glasgow. Their past offers some interesting insights into how some students are radicalised in the UK.

ECONOMY

At the time of writing we are waiting to hear whether the US Federal reserve will cut interest rates further. Here, Mervyn King has suggested that inflation in Britain will drop sharply next year. We'll be assessing how 2009 is looking for the economy, and whether the steps taken by the Bank and the government in 2008 are really working. We'll be joined by the Chief Executive of Next, Simon Wolfson, by the former Global Head of Communications for Lehman Brothers and by DeAnne Julius, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.

RHYS JONES

The guilty verdicts in the Rhys Jones murder trial close the case but not the political debate about the state of Britain. We'll be asking how the shooting of an 11-year-old boy changed politics and helped to define the Conservative's "Broken Britain" campaign.

CONGO

We have an exclusive report from a rebel held region of Congo where David Loyn has discovered disturbing evidence that rival armies have been snatching children to fight for them.

Gavin

Tonight's Newsnight features a special report by Jeremy Paxman and producers Warwick Harrington and Jonathan Bell:

BACK FROM THE FRONT

The news of four more deaths in Afghanistan on Friday brings home once again the highest price that British soldiers are paying in that country. As the death toll of British military personnel in this conflict passes 130, and recognition grows of serious difficulties in the campaign, the Afghan president today wrote an open letter to the Times newspaper in which he expressed his "profound gratitude" for the sacrifice that thousands of British troops are making every day.

But who are the young people that make these sacrifices, who fight on the politicians' behalf? Who ultimately fight on all our behalf? In this day and age, in a country divided on the wisdom of recent military campaigns, why do people still put themselves in the line of fire and what price do they pay for doing so? In an extraordinary and moving film, , hears their stories and discusses with them the intensity of war, the nature of sacrifice and how they deal with the challenges of coming home.

Watch a preview below:

MADOFF

Banks around the world are counting their losses as a result of what's been called one of the largest financial frauds in history. The Royal Bank of Scotland, and the owners of Abbey - Santander - are among those affected by the 50 billion dollar fraud. It's feared that at least two local authority pension funds were exposed to some losses. We'll be speaking to a leading banker, regulator and politician about whether there was a failure of financial regulation in this case.

Here's Kirsty with a look ahead to tonight's Newsnight:

It was the worst outcome for the Metropolitan Police. The jury at the inquest into the death of the Brazilian, Jean Charles de Menezes, did not believe the police version of events. So did the police lie? after they had been . But the jurors challenged police claims, specifically that of a firearms officer before opening fire on Menezes. Tonight we'll be asking what impact the verdict has on confidence in the Met, and the likelihood of the CPS granting the wish of the family of Jean Charles to re-examine the case to see if a criminal prosecution can be brought.

, but Congress last night knocked back a bail-out plan. Republicans demanded workers take a wage cut but fearful of the impact on millions of people's lives, now President Bush is considering a handout. But would that simply postpone the day when the uncompetitive and overstocked US automotive industry has to restructure and, inevitably, reform wages?

Join us at 10.30pm.

Kirsty

Does the prospect of impending economic disaster make you yearn for frothy musicals and feel good comedy? Or do you want searing political theatre, Dickensian novels depicting the newly poor, satires on those masters of the universe? Tonight we have a Newsnight Review special on the "culture crunch".

In the past, recessions have brought forth masterpieces of social realism and the most baroque of escapist films. We will be asking whether writers and artists will seek inspiration from the tumult of the past year and the despair to come.

Our starting panel is comprised of the Turner Prize winner , the journalist , who advises the London Mayor on culture and the playwright .

How will the arts weather the storm financially if government and private business are strapped for cash? Veteran of the arts world and a man who can remember more than one recession joins that discussion.

What will audiences want to see? The comedian , who's written a funny book about the credit crunch, has a few thoughts on that.

And we will end with musicians who are positively thriving on being thrifty - the Lost and Found Orchestra whose normal instruments include drainpipes and saws. Tonight, however, they are playing cello cases.Obviously.

How can you miss all that?

Martha

Here's the plan for tonight's Newsnight:

Irish Referendum
"If at first you don't succeed try, try again" - that is clearly the EU Commission President's attitude to Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. Insulting? Arrogant? Realpolitik? When the Irish voted no in June, President Sarkozy (France holds the Presidency) said there would have to be another referendum, and after a little "tweaking" of the terms. It looks as if Ireland will have assurances on its military neutrality, independence over abortion and family law - not materially affected by the Lisbon Treaty - but what about the big demand - will Ireland have its own EU Commissioner? Tonight we'll be asking the President of the European Parliament what happens if Ireland votes no again? Will the Treaty be abandoned or will Ireland be booted out?

European Economies
Still with fractiousness in Europe... There may have been a certain froideur between the UK and Germany at the EU summit today, where the agenda will be dominated by EU wide efforts to beat the recession. After all , but Gordon Brown's strategy for dealing with the economic crisis has been mocked by Germany's Finance minister who dubbed it "crass Keynesianism" that would saddle Britons with debt for a generation. The today will not have helped the atmosphere.

Gangs
We have a special investigation into , north London, where three teenagers have lost their lives this year. We speak to a man with inside knowledge, who gives a chilling account of how children as young as 11 years old are recruited and groomed by gang leaders.

Restoration Comedy
And the holy grail of British comedy. How a Dad's Army classic has been resurrected in glorious technicolour.

Join us at 10.30pm.

Kirsty

Here's what's coming up in tonight's Newsnight:

ASSISTED SUICIDE
"When death is hidden and private people don't confront their fears about it."
The words of , the first time such a death has been shown. The broadcast has created intense argument, as have attempts by campaigners to change the 1961 Suicide Act which makes it a crime to assist those who want to kill themselves. The programme is broadcast after . Today the Prime Minister said the law against assisting suicide should remain in place. Tonight we will ask whether it is time to change the law.

GREECE
. Today's action is a pre-planned general strike but follows five days of unrest triggered by the shooting of a teenager by police. Reports talk of the hopelessness of Greek youth who blame the government for focusing on rescuing the economy rather than wider society. So are we seeing the first credit crunch riots?

CARE
Tonight we return to Leicester to revisit our four teenagers who are among 80,000 young people facing Christmas in care. Phil has moved home and is with new foster parents while Jareth is facing his last Christmas in the care system. You can watch Liz Mackean's first film and watch clips about all the teenagers in the series .

IRAQ
. Andrew North looks back to the last time British troops occupied Iraq in the years after World War I and finds remarkable parallels.

Join us tonight.

Jeremy presents tonight. Here's what's coming up on the programme:

Clear Blue Water

, and not at some future date, the Conservative leader said today, promising not to match Labour's spending plans for 2010 and beyond. Immediately, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, accused the Tories of "unbelievable complacency" and challenged Mr Cameron to make clear where spending cuts would fall. The political strategy of both sides is now clear, and the stakes could hardly be higher. But which side has correctly judged the public mood - the high spending Government or the fiscally conservative Tories? Jeremy will be speaking to the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne.

Cancer and genetic screening

We hear almost daily about how a particular diet or foodstuff can help to fight cancer, but a far more effective way of fighting the killer disease may lie in genetic screening and personalised treatments. Do our genes hold the key? Our Science Editor Susan Watts reports.

Olympic Funding

In these straightened economic times the Olympic budget is becoming ever more stretched, and . The Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's Sports Editor Mihir Bose has the inside story on how the 2012 budget ballooned and how the long-term "legacy" of the Olympics could be in doubt .

And

Do join us at 10.30pm.

In this Friday's Newsnight Review, Martha and guests will be looking at how economic downturns affect the arts scene - for artists, financial backers and consumers. We want your evidence.

If you're one of those with less money in your pocket now, does that mean that you are cutting back on trips to the cinema, the theatre or an exhibition, or on buying cds and books?

Are you trying to go to free events now rather than pay for entertainment?

And when you're worried about job losses and mortgage payments would you rather see things which deal with contemporary issues or which are just escapist fun?

The starving artist writing or painting his fingers to the bone in an unheated room has been a popular stereotype. Do you think the government should continue to fund the arts at the same level during difficult economic times, or is it a good area to make cutbacks?

Can economic tough times prompt better art? Will the kind of art and films that are produced, plays and books that are written change as a result of the downturn?

Let us know your answers to any or all of these questions below.

Kavita Puri is tonight's programme producer. Here are some words she has written about what's on:

Car industry
The White House is close to sealing throwing them a crucial lifeline. Today, British car parts maker Wagon PLC said they had gone into administration. There are 850,000 jobs in the British car industry. And sales this year are down 36%. Some foreign-owned companies based here have asked the British government for financial help. Should we be giving assistance to industry as well as the banks? And what is the future of the car industry here?

Damien Green
Michael Crick is watching the debate in the House of Commons over the police raid on Damien Green's office. He'll have the latest on the position of the speaker and Sir Menzies Campbell's amendment calling for an inquiry now.

Russian Economy
We have a fascinating film from Rupert Wingfield-Hayes from Magnitogorsk, Russia's biggest steel works. Built by Stalin, it supports the local economy. Output has temporarily been cut by a third. But the Russian authorities are adamant that news of the failing economy won't get out. Stalin would be proud. As Rupert tried to get to the heart of the story he was tailed by the FSB.

Credit Crunch Christmas
Our cultural correspondent Steve Smith has been looking at what a Christmas recession might look like. You can get a sneak preview of it . And we'll be debating whether these hard times have made us re-assess our values, to forgo materialism.

It's Jeremy, and he's in festive spirit.

See you at 10:30

Here's what's in store on tonight's Newsnight:

SHANNON MATTHEWS
. Kirklees Council said the review would investigate the dealings of all agencies. It's emerged that a critical psychological report was made five years ago on Shannon's mother, who was convicted yesterday of kidnapping her. The safeguarding and protection of children is at the heart of social work, but with high profile cases - such as Shannon Matthews, Baby P and the rapist who impregnated his daughters 19 times - the role of social work and the coordination between social workers, teachers and health service workers is yet again under intense scrutiny. We'll be discussing whether we put social workers under intolerable pressure, whether the system is failing, and whether some practitioners are simply not up to the job.

ZIMBABWE
"A further illustration of the misrule of Zimbabwe's rogue government" was how the Foreign Secretary David Miliband today described the crisis in Zimbabwe. - and the declaration of a national health emergency - has led to renewed calls for Robert Mugabe to step down. Zimbabwe's medical and water treatment systems have all but disappeared and an easily preventable disease is turning into an epidemic. David Miliband's statement followed Condoleezza Rice who said it was well past time for Mugabe to leave office. We are bidding for a ministerial interview on how the international community can best help Zimbabwe, and whether we are impotent to influence political change there.

BANKS
Some mortgage lenders say they won't be passing on the interest rate cut in full, including Halifax and Nationwide. Gordon Brown says he is speaking to banks to convince them to reflect the one percent reduction in all of their mortgages. Abbey and Alliance & Leicester are among the lenders who say their standard variable rates are still under review. Alex Ritson will have the latest on this story. He'll also have further evidence of the downturn with , the biggest monthly rise in unemployment for 34 years.

Here's Kirsty with news of what's coming up on tonight's Newsnight Review:

Tonight on Review I'll be joined by guests , and and we'll kick off with the great big, epic adventure that is Baz Luhrmann's vision .

Read the rest of this entry

Kirsty presents tonight. Here's a look ahead to what's coming up in the programme:

Economic Rescue Plans
Another day, another big lever is pulled to try to kick-start business investment, consumer spending and the housing market. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today to 2% - its lowest for more than half a century. The cost of borrowing has been more than halved since early October, but will the rate cut be passed on by the banks and how can the government enforce lending. Britain's biggest mortgage lender The Halifax has already said it will limit its cut to 1/4%. Tonight with guests including Barack Obama's adviser (who was Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labour) Robert Reich, the chief executive of the advertising agency WPP, Sir Martin Sorrell, and the economist Noreena Hertz, we'll be asking if we are taking the right steps to reverse the slowdown, how long will it take, and if neither fiscal nor monetary measures work, what then?

Shannon Matthews
"Pure evil" is how the police officer who led the case of the disappearance of Shannon Matthews described her mother, Karen Matthews, , of false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. "It is difficult to understand what type of mother would subject her own daughter to such a wicked and evil crime." Karen Matthews partner's uncle, Michael Donovan, was also convicted by a unanimous jury. It is believed that both of them gave nine-year old Karen the drug Temazepam and the travel sickness medication Melocozine for as many as 20 months before her abduction. How did such behaviour go undetected and are there people living so far beyond the boundaries of human decency that other children like Shannon are suffering in silence too? Does this case tell us anything about Britain today?

Lebanon
And more on the economy - how the Lebanese banking system is shielding the country's economy from the global financial crisis.

Do join us at 1030pm.

Here's what's coming up in tonight's programme:

Drama in the House
We'll let you decide how impressive speaker Michael Martin's performance was as he tried to explain to a packed House of Commons , arrested during a police leak inquiry. Suffice to say, his admission that the House authorities did not even ask the police for a warrant before they entered Parliament was met with incredulity by some MPs. So, can the Speaker survive, and will the House of Commons ever have the same relationship with the police again? Jeremy will interview the Leader of the House, and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Harriet Harman.

Mortgage Help Plan
After a fairly predictable , Gordon Brown announced . Householders facing repossession will be able to defer part of their mortgage interest payments for up to two years. The plan is designed to give those who lose their jobs or take a big cut in their income an extended breathing space before their home is at risk. The scheme will cover mortgages worth up to £400,000, the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú understands. But what proportion of payments will be covered by the scheme, and is it as generous as it first appears? We'll try to find out the answers.

The Problem With Bill...
Barack Obama unveiled another new appointment today, yet the new face was familiar to many in Washington. , who will be the new Commerce Secretary, is another retread from the Clinton years. The Clintons themselves are once again the talk of DC, after Hillary was officially chosen to be the new Secretary of State on Monday. Peter Marshall has been investigating what problems the Clintons could bring to the new administration. In particular, could there be conflicts of interest between Bill's "charities", the donors and Hillary's new job? We have an interview with Democrat Party Chair and former Presidential candidate, Howard Dean.

All that coming up tonight with Jeremy at 10.30.

Jeremy presents, Simon Enright producers. Here's Simon's outline of what's planned.

Green
It is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the current police inquiry - the acting boss of the Metropolitan Police has the officers who arrested . And what of the role of the Speaker Michael Martin? We'll be debating all this with the former Conservative leader Michael Howard.

Guantanamo
Guantanamo Bay and its judicial system has been a stain on the US Military and the US constitution - that's the view not of left wing lawyers and peace activists, but a military officer who until a few months ago was prosecuting the suspected terrorists held there. Tonight on Newsnight we have an exclusive interview with Lt Col Darrel Vandeveld. He has spoken for the first time since quitting the military after he witnessed first hand mistreatment of inmates and crucial evidence being withheld from defence lawyers. You can see some of what he has to say on reporter .

India
There have been reports today that the about last week's terror attacks. India has been pointing the finger at Pakistan - but is that simply a default position? Jeremy has been speaking to the Indian High Commissioner.

Tumbling pound
Another day - another drop in the value of the pound. Paul Mason looks at how much worse things could get. And we speak to the French Finance minister about whether it's high time the UK joined the Euro.

Here is programme producer, Robert Morgan, with a look ahead to tonight's programme:

BABY P
. The 17-month-old boy suffered a sustained period of abuse by his mother and two men, even though he was on the North London council's child protection register. The Children's Secretary, Ed Balls, has described the report as devastating. We'll be getting political reaction to today's events and asking: was there a failure of regulation in this case?

CLIMATE CHANGE
. The target, which is based on 2005 levels, is set out in a report by Lord Turner and his Committee on Climate Change. If the recommendations are accepted, it will mean big increases in the use of renewable energy, home insulation and electric cars. Lord Turner will be debating his findings with a power company boss and leading green activist and writer, .

DAMIAN GREEN
Christopher Galley's lawyer added: "If ever there was a case of don't shoot the messenger, this is surely it." The 26-year-old was arrested and held for 17 hours by police on 19 November. Solicitor Neil O'May said Mr Galley had first met shadow immigration minister Damian Green, , in 2006 in parliament. Michael Crick will have the latest on this story.

GOMORRAH
And Stephen Smith speaks to the Italian anti-Mafia writer Roberto Saviano. He's been in hiding since his exposé of the Naples mafia, Gomorrah, became a bestseller and a film. You can read Stephen Smith's article on this story , plus Roberto Saviano explains in his own words . And you can catch what the .