We'll begin with the difficult and complex situation in Afghanistan which led to the fatal attack in Helmand on three British troops and the wounding of four more by a renegade Afghan soldier operating a rocket propelled grenade.

Tonight, as more details emerge, we will discuss the incident itself, but also the viability of Britain and America's exit strategy from Afghanistan. You should also know that we have a very important and influential guest lined up to give his reaction.

We delve into the murky tale of the Iranian scientist, the CIA and You Tube... no sign of Jason Bourne so Richard Watson is on the case.

And why is the Royal Court in London so successful with younger playwrights? Answer: they really do care, reading everything that's sent to them. Will Gompertz looks at their astonishing hit rate. You can read more about this story here.

Do join me at 10.30pm on BBC TWO.

Kirsty.

From this morning:

News has been coming in of the deaths of three British troops in Afghanistan, reportedly killed by Afghan forces. We'll have the latest.

"This is a matter of extreme uncertainty and the possibilities certainly include a double-dip recession, but they also include a stronger recovery." So said Sir Alan Budd, head of the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, who has been appearing in front of the Commons Treasury Committee. Earlier this month, he announced he was stepping down from the post after only three months in the job. We'll be discussing his views on the state of the British economy, and concerns about the independence of the OBR.

It's 54 years since John Osborne's Look Back in Anger premiered at the Royal Court, ushering in the modern age of British drama. Tonight, the BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz examines the Royal Court's more recent successes. In particular, the remarkable achievements of its Young Writers' Programme, which has been regularly churning out new, dynamic playwrights. One such writer is Anya Reiss, who this year has gone from a schoolgirl studying for her A Levels to the writer of a play that opens this week. So how has the Royal Court managed to produce so much talent?

Do join Kirsty tonight.

What was your cultural highlight of 2008? You can click here 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 clicking here.

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.

Click here to see Ian Hislop, Nicole Kidman, Boris Johnson and others discuss their cultural highlights of the year.

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, Jeremy Paxman meets three soldiers, 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.

HBOS SOS

The black horse of LloydsTSB seems to have come riding to the rescue of ailing HBOS.

Tonight we'll look at how the financial sector got into this state and whether anything can be done - or should be done - to prevent a repeat of this crisis. Jeremy will be talking to Shadow Chancellor George Osborne and in the studio we'll be discussing whether capitalism still works with a panel of opinionated guests.

Newsnight's Economics Editor Paul Mason will also be bringing us the latest from state side.

Does capitalism still work? Join the debate here.

Back to Bosnia

One hundred people died every day during the three-and-a-half years of war which engulfed Bosnia 16 years ago. As the former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic awaits trial at the Hague, Allan Little returns to Bosnia to ask whether the warlord actually did succeed in creating an ethnically pure state.

Back from Bournemouth

Michael Crick is currently returning from Bournemouth to bring us his assessment of Nick Clegg's first conference speech as leader of the Lib Dems.

Place that face

And don't forget to go to our website to play Place That Face - your chance to rank the 12 post-war prime ministers in order of greatness. Click here for more.

But the banks may now be in trouble, and today we learned that Halifax Bank of Scotland is in advanced merger talks with LloydsTSB, following uncertainty about the strength of HBOS after a run on its shares.

But what would regulation achieve and would it go against the ethos of capitalism?

What exactly should regulators have stopped the banks from doing? And did banks, in fact, cause the house price bubble by excessive lending?

Watch Newsnight's discussion below:

And you can of course comment on each or any of the prime ministers below.

McCain's big night

Sarah Palin electrified the Republican Convention last night with a confident, sassy speech which spoke of small town America and traditional values. She took on Barack Obama, shot down the Washington elites, and paved the way for John McCain's big night tonight. We'll be talking to Henry Kissinger ahead of that speech about what McCain has to do to convince the voters he has fresh policies and lives a world away from George W Bush.

Then Emily will be assessing with Tom Brokaw and others the impact Palin, in particular, has had on the campaign.

Brown and Clarke

"It's just Charles being Charles," was the response of Ed Balls - Education Secretary and loyal Brownite - to the broadside fired by Charles Clarke at the Labour Government warning that unless change is imminent Labour is "doomed".

Tonight, in a speech in Glasgow, Gordon Brown will attempt to wrest back the agenda and steady nerves on the economy. He'll be speaking to the Scottish CBI and is expected to spell out how he will develop special policies to cope with the "unique" economic circumstances of rocketing energy prices combined with the global credit crunch.

We'll be analysing the speech and asking whether, at least in the short term, he has done enough to see off any pretenders.

What next for Zimbabwe?

There is deadlock in Zimbabwe as President Mugabe is threatening to form a new government without the opposition, if his rival Morgan Tsvangirai does not sign a power sharing deal today. According to the opposition MDC party, the talks between the two sides stalled after Robert Mugabe stated he wanted to retain control of the country's security forces. This follows too the failure of the South African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate in Zimbabwe. We'll be exploring what happens next.

What's in store for 2012?

And then our Culture Correspondent Steve Smith takes on the Cultural Olympiad, announced today, to find out what is in store, when so much has been promised.

See you later,

Kirsty

And don't forget that Newsnight Review returns tomorrow with a look at The Duchess and Tess of the D'Urbervilles - but can a screen adaptation ever better the book it was based on? Join the debate here.

Whereas Foreman's book covered all aspects of Georgiana's life - from her politics and activism to her psychological makeup - the film sticks doggedly to her relationships and unconventional marriage. Fans of the book could well be disappointed, but do we expect any more of literary adaptations?

And it's not only in the cinema. We're also looking at Tess on Review this week - the BBC's adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - which kicks off another season of page-to-screen transfers across all genres including Dickens's Little Dorrit, CJ Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series, Affinity by Sarah Waters and Jilly Cooper's Octavia.

Is it time for writers to look elsewhere for their inspiration? Is there any point in watching a film or television adaptation because you liked the book? Has a book ever actually been bettered by a screen adaptation?

Discuss this topic below and don't forget that Newsnight Review will be putting The Duchess and Tess under the spotlight when it returns this Friday at 11pm on BBC TWO.

To read more and watch a preview of The Duchess click here.

Good morning.

We have an embarrassment of riches from the Republican Convention tonight - Palin's speech, a preview of McCain's address and an interview with Henry Kissinger.

We need to do more chasing on the Brown story following Clarke's intervention and Brown's speech tonight to the Scottish CBI.

Plans for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad come out this morning - a worthy legacy or "culture by committee"? What could we do on the findings by the Human Rights Commission on the lack of women in top jobs?

Ideas and guest suggestions please.

See you at 10.30.

Dan

Good morning everyone.

There's lots more fascinating stuff from the Republican convention today - more on Sarah Palin ahead of her big speech late tonight - and an interview with Tom Ridge, the first US Secretary of Homeland Security who is very close to John McCain.

Dick Cheney is in the Caucasus talking to oil barons... and other people too.

Alex Salmond wants to replace the poll tax with a local income tax. What are the implications of that for the rest of Britain?

Shall we look ahead to the interest rate decision tomorrow?

What else interests you?

See you in a minute.

Yours, Shaminder

Good morning.

Stamp duty is to be abolished for a year on properties costing less than £175,000 as part of a long awaited package of measures to help the housing market. Will it have much of an effect on house sales and what are the broader political and economic implications? As the Government unveiled its plans, the OECD said that Britain would be in recession over the second half of this year. Which guest would you like on?

Susan Watts has just returned from a trip to the Arctic with British scientists. This is a critical year for the sea ice - last year it fell to a record low, and scientists hoped that might be a blip, but Newsnight has been told that the indications are that this year could be worse. Newsnight's five week "Arctic Adventure" (see the web blogs and clips) followed scientists studying the smallest plant and animal life forms in the Arctic Ocean. Susan's film also captures the beauty of the landscape and the wildlife in the area.

We have the Republican Convention too...what else?

Dan

Sarah Palin for VP:

How do you stop a youthful, multi-ethnic, charismatic speaker from becoming America's first ever black president? Well, if you're Republican rival John McCain, you think it's with the help of a woman nearly thirty years younger than you, with five children. After all the speculation over the Mitts and Mikes of the Republican primaries becoming his VP, the announcement came out of the blue. Sarah Palin - who has been the governor of Alaska for just two years - has just been confirmed as his chosen one.

Will her social conservatism, her youth and her, well, novelty value, give his campaign just the tension and the kick it needs to take him into the Republican Convention and beyond? Or will it be an own goal for the Republicans? The Democrats argue that her age, inexperience and back-story make Barack Obama look positively mature.

We'll have the latest from Peter Marshall in the United States and bring you that debate live here tonight.

Illegal Immigration:

Is it ever possible to clamp down entirely on illegal immigration? Tonight, in the last of this formidable series on the subject we focus on the ease with which forged documents can be obtained that give immigrants the right to work here. Many of the documents are convincing enough to stand up to basic scrutiny - indeed, that's why so many find work so easily. We look at the scams that are being used, and ask if you can ever make the system watertight enough to stop them.

Join us this evening at 10.30pm on BBC2.

Emily

The series concludes this evening with a look at how easy it is for some illegal immigrants to obtain false documents which allow them to work in the UK.

You can watch the first two films online and we'll be discussing the issues all three films raise in tonight's programme, including the main question - is it actually possible to stop illegal immigration into the UK?

Let us know your views on the issue.

Immigration

We kick off with the second film in our Immigration Game series. Last night the award-winning independent journalist Sorious Samura explored the routes that illegal immigrants take to get into the country. Tonight, he investigates one of the ways they find work - by cloning other people's identities. He manages to secure employment using someone else's papers. It's worth watching.

You can watch his first film online - click here.

Russia

Russia has been told it could face sanctions from the EU over its actions in Georgia. There is still a Russian military presence in Georgia - beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Today the Georgian President said that Georgians in the two provinces were being pushed out by the Russians. I'll be speaking to the Georgian President Saakashvili and asking him why he started a war he could not win.

Obama

Last night Bill Clinton gave his wholehearted backing to the man who knocked his wife out of the race to be Democratic nominee. Tonight the cavalcade moves from the convention centre to the huge stadium a mile away - the home of the Denver Broncos - where Barack Obama will accept the nomination in front of 75,000 people - and make American history. But what does he have to do in the next 11 weeks to reach the White House? Gavin and David Grossman will be live at the stadium with a stellar line-up of guests.

Titians

And finally: cut price Titians - on offer to Scotland and England at the knock down price of £100 million - a third of what they would be expected to reach on the open market. The seller, the Duke of Sutherland, wants the National Galleries of Scotland and England to share the two masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance - Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto. They have both been on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland since 1945. Should some of the money come from the public purse or, in these times of economic stringency, can we not afford to keep them on public display? We'll be discussing that live with a well-known British artist. Do let us know what you think via our website or if you have any ideas on who could be persuaded to cough up for the paintings on behalf of the state!

Kirsty

Good morning.

Team America has another great line up for us which I'll discuss in the meeting.

We have the second Sorious Samura film - how illegal immigrants get work using cloned identities. It's strong stuff.

There are some other good stories - house prices, possible sanctions against Russia, Titian - let's discuss what else you'd like to do.

See you at 10:30.