The BBC World Service is running Globesity a season of programmes on the issue.

As part of the season, presenter Paul Bakibinga - who has battled with his weight all of his life - has travelled to South Africa and Denmark. He hears from those who are affected by obesity, and compares their experiences to his own.

Paul will be joining us for our programme on Thursday 26th July. If you would like to talk to Paul, ask him a question or merely comment on the subject send us your details.

Thanks

Martin

"That in turn will mean less carbon dioxide is being pumped into the atmosphere because there will be fewer people to drive cars and use electricity. The crucial point is that to achieve this goal you would only have to spend a fraction of the money that will be needed to bring about technological fixes, new nuclear power plants or renewable energy plants. However, everyone has decided, quietly, to ignore the issue."

We plan to speak to Mr Rapley in the programme on Monday or Tuesday so he can explain his view and, hopefully, answer questions from you, our audience.

Let us know what you think about his views and send us your phone number if you would like to take part in the programme.

Thanks

Martin

It's Martin Vennard here. After a storming show from New Orleans yesterday, it was pouring down outside as I came into work at TV Centre in West London this morning. True, there's nothing unusual about that in Britain in the summer, but, to my surprise, water was also falling from above inside our office here.

It turned out that it was the air conditioning unit and not a hole in the roof that was too blame. Two guys are currently trying to repair it.

Turkey goes to the polls on Sunday to vote in a general election after months of tension between the ruling AK Party, which has strong Islamic ties, and secularists. The powerful military has reminded Turkey that it is ready to defend secularism. Will you be voting?

Following on from yesterday's programme, and the announcement that Norman E. Borlaug had received America's highest civilian honour, we asked you for your nominations for America's greatest living American. We hope to talk to some of you about some of your suggestions and maybe to some of those people you nominated.

We're planning to talk to Ali in Kuwait, who criticised the portrayal of Islam in the media. We posted his comment on the blog and a heated debate has been building. There's still time for you to take part, so let us know your thoughts on the issue.

The final Harry Potter book, the Deathly Hallows, comes out tonight and already Potter fans are queuing up outside bookshops to be one of the first to get a copy. Tight security surrounds its release, but already two New York newspapers have published reviews of the book. Are you mad about Harry, or is the hype just too much for you?

Vietnam's footballer of the year Phan Van Tai Em will miss his team's Asian Cup quarter-final against Iraq after he planned his wedding for the same day.
Have you ever rated your team's chances of success so low that you decided to forget about a match and go off and do something more constructive?

This is in response to the case of three year old Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Portugal while her parents were at a nearby restaurant.

If you want to get involved:

Call us: +44 20 70 83 72 72
Text: +44 77 86 20 60 80
Email: worldhaveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

Listen live

Abdelilah in Morocco says
The worst thing that can happen to parents is to have their children come to harm. Child kidnapping is stressful experience for the parents as a part of them is lost. Perhaps the best thing to do is never to take one's eyes off one's children. Parents should foresee the consequences of leaving their children unattended.

Barry from London says
No one deserves this... But would the media be so sympathetic if the child of a pair of unemployed drug addicts got snatched from their council house while they were in the pub around the corner?

Simeon in Malawi.
With my African world view I would say that children are wealth and they need to be protected at all cost. I say bravo to our neighbour who has offered a substantial reward to anyone who may come across her. Please dear parents be responsible for the children especially at the time that their life is heavily dependent on you. Let us as much as possible reduce cases like the one we are hearing today.

Chawezi emails
The world still is not a safe place and our children are prone to all kinds of abuse by society. What we need is divine intervention for a peaceful environment for our children. God can work wonders if each one of us lights a candle for this missing girl.

Julie in UK says
I cannot believe that in this day and age that there are people who think it is acceptable to leave children alone. I never, never left mine alone.

Bernardine in the UK asks
Could the Eurovision song Contest be used to publicise Maddie's disappearance and circulate her picture across Europe?

Simeon - Malawi
The issue of Madeleine McCann has emotionally charged me. With my African world view I would say that children are wealth and they need to be protected at all cost. I say bravo to our neighbour who has offered a substantial reward to anyone who may come across her.

Steve in USA
I do think that parents unfortunately have to be very protective over their children, but it must be balanced with allowing them out to have fun and exercise too.

Anon
Checking on her every half hour? They left a 3yr old without adult supervision?? That's not protective enough for me.

Anon
What were the parents thinking of? The children were toddlers. Not old enough to be left alone.

Greg in Britain
The British press jumping in on this are not helping the child or parents with their criticisms.

Dave in Cleveland
In the US there are laws against leaving children alone until they are around 10 or 11. It is useful to know how old the twins were.

One texter says
Surely the age of the child is the criterion. A 3-year-old is surely too old to be left alone.
What were the parents thinking of? The children were toddlers. Not old enough to be left alone.

Anon
Checking on her every half hour? They left a 3yr old without adult supervision?? That's not protective enough for me.

Anon
What were the parents thinking of? The children were toddlers. Not old enough to be left alone.

Muhammad, Pakistan
Parents can only take extra measures for their children protection. Practically, it is impossible for parents to ever protect children.

Steve in Canada says
Parenting is of the most difficult thing in life, and passing judgment on others when you have not experienced it yourself is cruel.

Tatia USA says
I am a big proponent of children developing autonomy and having time where they are not under the constant supervision of adults. However, I don't know one person that would leave such a young child alone

Terri in Colorado Springs
It is not possible to ensure our children's safety, and as a parent I am ultimately responsible for what happens to my children.

One texter says
My wife always leave our 2 and 6yr old

catherine in canada
Does the kidnapping get more attention because the family is of a higher class? Yes -there is a rubbernecking quality-we think of people with money as being insulated from bad things in life

Timo in Paraguay
This morning my wife left our 10 month old daughter alone for 2 minutes and she almost choked to death on a piece of plastic, luckily my wife found her in time to save her.

Mary Ryan says
I'm sure these parents feel very guilty and regretful. There's not need for others to add to that. They need support, not criticism.

Don Baxter, the executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, said it's surprising that Mr Howard didn't know his own government's exisiting policy as it's already very difficult to get into Australia with HIV. It's also counterproductive from a public health point of view as it's giving Australians a false sense of security, as they may believe they can have unprotected sex or share needles.

Shathani said it was unfair to export HIV, but he wouldn't ban HIV-positive people who marry Australians from going to Australia.

Priscilla moved to Florida from UK and was tested for HIV before being allowed to stay there. She said HIV is spreading in the US and she didn't feel she was being singled out. It reassured her and it reflects what happened in the 19th Century to immigrants to the US.

Rob in London is HIV positive. He said he visited the States and lied to the authorities there about his status.

Shathani said it should be a criminal offence to lie about such a matter.

Rob said someone's HIV status as a visitor shouldn't make any difference. But if they are going to another country in the hope of getting treatment that is another matter.

Dr Satvinder Juss, from Kings College London, specialises in International Refugee Law. He said many countries enforce immigration restrictions to protect their own population. But whether an HIV positive person is a threat is a question that still has to be answered. He said HIV continues to be stigmatised and that it's a throwback to past-times to test migrants for such conditions. We should only test for conditions that really represent a threat.

Adam in Portland, Oregon, said Mr Howard was right to suggest such restrictions, whatever their justification.

Lou in New York said two of his relatives have died as a result of AIDS, but that every nation had the sovereign right to do such things. He thinks if people want to enter another country they may pass it on to others there. It would be different if they wore signs warning of their status, he said.

Don said it was bad policy as Australia is suffering a labour shortage and such a blanket ban would reduce the number of people who can enter the country.

Lou said letting people with a "death sentence" on them into another country would only create problems.

Arun in Mumba, India, said Mr Howard was very much within his rights.

We received many emails on the matter.

Ben in London, UK

I have a friend who's Australian, and has lived in the UK since 1996, since when she caught HIV from a boyfriend. In this time, she's done huge amounts of voluntary work for people affected by HIV and AIDS, and is an inspiration to me and others. Does this mean she's not allowed back to see her family in Australia, or carry on her work there? As for John Howard, the sooner he goes, the better...he makes George Bush look like a statesman!

Abi in Portland Oregon

Australia's ideas about banning the migration of people with HIV is barbaric, whether they have the right to do it or not. Maybe they think they should ban some one with physical disabilities whose life will not be very productive, or what about people with other diseases, such as TB ? The lack of compassion shown by this decision disgusts me. People with HIV need our care not our scorn.

JB wrote

If people are going to be denied entrance because of HIV, then are Aussie citizens going to have to leave Australia?

Jessica, CA, wrote

I am appalled by the man who suggested that people with HIV should wear a bracelet to identify their illness.. Perhaps he should wear a bracelet to identify himself as being ignorant so people can avoid him.

Kim in USA

Why should a foreigner with HIV have to wear a bracelet and those who live in the US shouldn't? Is it okay to spread a disease as long as you are a citizen?

Jeremy in Brussels

Tell Lou that perhaps HIV negative people should wear a bracelet telling everyone that they are not a threat.

Jason, Portland, Oregon

A bracelet or a badge? Perhaps like a Jewish star? This is just another form of discrimination. Australia is wrong with this!

We received many messages saying Paul Wolwowitz should resign as head of the World Bank for helping his girlfriend get a promotion and big pay rise.

On China and Japan

Charlie, a Chinese man in London, said the Chinese prime minister was right to visit Japan and try and improve relations.

Y. Shimizu in Tokyo said the visit was welcome, but many Japanese people had mixed feelings about the two countries' relations.

Charlie said he would like to visit Japan to check it out and that Chinese people have complicated feelings towards Japan because of the Japanese invasions of the 20th Centuries, but they also have positive feelings to the Japanese.

Mr Shimizu said he had been to China several times and loved it. The two countries have a very similar culture.

Charlie said most Chinese people wanted the Japanese government to face up to history.
Mr Shimizu said there is a lot of misunderstanding between the two, as Japan has apologised many times for what has happened.

Sussana, a Chinese woman in Edmonton, Canada, said the visit was welcome.

Mirek Kondracki, in Poland, said relations between the two countries will be determined by mutual interests. The threats in the region and Chinese re-armament are two issues that will decide on their relations.

Yuhei, a Japanese man in London, said the relations need to be improved.

Mr Shimizu said Japan gives lots of economic aid, but in return they get a nuclear threat and Chinese submarines in the surrounding seas.

Charlie said Japanese government ministers should stop visiting a war shrine, that some Chinese people see as glorifying Japan's military past.

The Gene debate

Professor Mark McCarthy, from Oxford University, said they used new technology and found that people with two copies of a particular gene were about 3kg heavier on average than others and 70 per cent more likely to be fat

Maria in Munich said the research is at an early stage, and asked, Where were all the obese people 20 years ago? Is obesity not due to our lifestyle?

Mark said the gene is just one of the factors and lifestyle is tremendously important, and other genes may also be involved.

Lucie in Manchester, UK, is slightly overweight and her friend lost more weight when they followed the same diets and the research helps explains that.

Nathalie in Nottingham, UK, has lost about 50 kg since the beginning of 2006, and said some people may use the research as an excuse for not trying to lose weight.

Mark said the gene may also contribute to higher cases of diabetes and other conditions.

Alex in Rockville, Canada, said eating too much and not exercising enough are the main reasons for being overweight.

Chris in the UK said it is luck that he's thin. Some people have genes that allow them to stay that way, but the genetic factor may mask the lifestyle one.

Mark said the "fat" gene could not be switched off. He said he hoped the discovery may lead to drug treatments that can help conditions related to weight. He said the discovery means there's a responsibility to avoid attitudes of guilt about being overweight.

We also had many emails about the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who went missing in the Gaza Strip, and is believed to have been abducted, just over a month ago. They were calling for his release.

Anyway, that's got that off my chest. I'm not sure there's a discussion to be had there, but I wanted to vent.

I'm not sure there's a discussion here either, but the International Committee of the Red Cross says the situation for ordinary Iraqis is getting steadily worse. And Oxfam says its staff are encountering anti-Britishness when trying to work in conflict zones due to the situation in Iraq.

And yesterday Mark posted on the blog to ask why we're not talking about the French elections. The official campaign started on Monday, although as Mark said, they've been going at it for some time:

A lot is at stake for France, the EU, and the world... It seems to me France has a multitude of intractable problems, the political realities in utter opposition to any hope to solve the serious economic and social dilemmas of the country. This will be an interesting one. The future course of France and the EU could hang in the balance on the outcome.

The latest talking point is Nicolas Sarkosy saying that paedophiles are born rather than made.

Something we spotted yesterday - Madeleine Bunting warning in the Guardian that failure for Ségolène Royal and Hillary Clinton in their respective presidential bids could haunt a generation of female politicians. Although there are women presidents in Germany, Chile and Liberia, she argues that because Clinton and Royal have put their sex at the heart of their campaigns, "entrenched sexism" means the risks are high.

OK, we'll be back with more when the meeting starts in about an hour, but we'd like your ideas too - post them now.

The Meeting:

The blog is painfully slow today (it likes to be predicatable) so it's Anna now, adding on all the ideas from the meeting.

Iran - "Can anyone convince me we should be talking about this today" - asks Pete? Rozita says it could just be rhetoric, it's important, but it's not really moving. Jo isn't thrilled either.

Christiane suggests this - Pakistan's tourism minister has rejected a fatwa against her by hardline clerics who want her sacked after she was photographed hugging a man. Should the government do more to tackle hardliners in Pakistan? There's already a debate on BBC News online about it.

Bloggers code of conduct

This links with a story in the UK about cyber bullying - Education Secretary Alan Johnston has stepped in to say websites should be doing more to protect teachers and students. We've had an admission from Karnie that she used to be a teacher, so it's a subject close to her heart. She tells us about the situation in South Africa where discipline is also a problem. Join the online debate here.

Abortion in Brazil. Under present law, abortion is only permitted when the life of the mother is at risk, or in the case of rape. 200,000 women are treated every year for complications following abortions. Should abortion law be about religion and morality or purely an issue of health?

It's Natallie Evan's last chance to be a mother - her ex partner doesn't want her to use frozen embryo's. There's a ruling in Strasbourg today, so I think it's a great one for us to talk about, with many issues arising.

Open air pyres for Hindus in the UK:
They're the third largest faith group in the UK, and a "model migrant community" - so why shouldn't Hindus be allowed traditional funeral rites? Mr Ghai (founder and president of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society) - can we hear from him and opposition? Karnie suggests this may not be an issue for many Hindu's, probably only the older generation. Can we hear a debate between Hindu's?

A couple more from Pete.

Chadian troops crossed into Sudan and attacked the army, Sudan says, in what would be their first direct battle.

And South African President Thabo Mbeki is due to arrive in Sudan as part of efforts to persuade Khartoum to accept a new peacekeeping force in Darfur.

The Ministry of Defence decision has sparked outrage, but now we know that Faye Turney "felt like a traitor". You can join the debate here.

Also, there's been a strong turn-out in East Timor's first presidential election since independence and Roman Catholic bishops in Zimbabwe have warned of a revolt and launched a campaign for a new constitution.

There's also the start of the official campaign in France's presidential election. The first round of voting is due in two weeks' time. Polls suggest that the right-wing candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, is extending his lead.

But on to the news - the top story on the web site and World Service radio is that a major UN report is set to conclude that climate change is already having an impact on the natural world.

The IPCC's Rajendra Pachauri said G8 governments' actions would be affected by the change in public opinion - do you agree? He admitted that previous gatherings have sounded good but delivered little. Pahauri also said that it is the poorest people and the poorest countries - those least responsible for emitting greenhouse gases - which will be worst hit. He wants to see the industrial powers of the G8 act. But for now, the scientists can't even agree on what their report should say...

We've also talked a lot about the British sailors who were held in Iran. Iranian radio this morning made a point of telling its listeners that the 15 service personnel weren't allowed to speak to reporters when they returned home. So the PR-war goes on. But does our conversation?

Many of you who get in touch refer to the dispute over where the two boats were captured. The British navy says it has begun a "wide-ranging" inquiry into the capture of 15 of its personnel by Iran. Should we have a trial in the court of public opinion?

The English disease?

And another story from yesterday's programme - hooloiganism. Both fans of English clubs Manchester United and Middlesbrough blamed Roma fans for instigating violence around Wednesday's game, and a year ago when Boro visited Rome. But last night Tottenham Hotspur went to Spain and today Uefa says it will investigate the trouble in the stands.

So is the "English disease" back? Pat, a Man United fan in Edmonton, wrote on the blog:

Every time this type of incident happens and it usually does, when Utd. play away in Europe, we are expected to believe that it always the fault of the opposition’s fans and their police forces. We can no longer treat each incident as an entity, we have to look at the trend and that is a disgraceful picture. Club and Supporter’s Associations always want to blame others. Come on guys accept the blame and lets all do something about it!!

Kamran points out that the night before there was no trouble in Milan between the fans of AC Milan and Bayern Munich. He concludes:

Manchester United has been fined by UEFA in their previous away match against Lille as well for 'crowd disturbance'. Their supporters are not really as innocent as they're portrayed to be by the media.

However, writing in The Times, Gabriele Marcotti puts it down to English fans not being familiar with Italian policing.

Punish Sudan?

Britain's international development secretary says Sudan should be punished over Darfur. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Hilary Benn catalogues a series of ways in which Khartoum was not cooperating with efforts to resolve the crisis in Darfur.

And there's a lot of buzz about the "Talibanisation" of Pakistan in the news at the moment. http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/06/top7.htm

A couple of weeks' ago, Time Magazine detailed how it was happening along the Afghan-Pakistan border, and today The Times reports on Talibanisation in the capital Islamabad, where yesterday there were protests against militant madrassa students.

It has been scrapped by the Constitutional Court because it treated men and women unequally.

Could we talk about the changing response to immorality in the Muslim world? Or is it about the law and public opinion? Or is it about the name Playboy and actually about nationalism?

Should we return to Iran? Yesterday we heard your reaction to the news that the servicemen and woman would be freed - what would you like to hear on it today? Our feeling is that we need more news - about the discussions over their release, about the conditions of their detention, about the circumstances of their capture - before we have anything new to discuss. What do you think?

UPDATE - British Prime Minister Tony Blair has just spoken and talked of new channels of communication with Iran, but returned repeatedly to the issue of support for terrorism. So there's our new news. We'll be talking about this today, asking (among other things) if anything has changed in relations with Iran.

Next, something we were going to talk about yesterday - until the Iranians decided to free the British sailors.

Manchester United warned their fans to be careful when travelling to the game against Roma (which Roma won 2-1, incidentally); Rome's mayor took offence; and then there was a lot of violence.

Who was to blame for the ugly scenes involving Roma and Manchester United fans, and the Italian police? How to stop it happening again?

A few other stories to throw out:

Ian Thorpe from Anna's early post.

Nursery kids' bad behaviour: Toddlers turn into thugs in when they spend too much time at the nursery.

A German woman becomes Venice's first women gondolier - but the city's union of gondoliers wants her license revoked.

Right, that's enough of that. What to talk about today?

What do you think?

How about a programme about kidnapping? BBC journalist Alan Johnston is still missing in Gaza and Palestinian journalists have begun a three-day strike to protest the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to secure his release; meanwhile, a British oil worker is still missing after being kidnapped in Nigeria; kidnapping is big business in some countries; and Iranian TV has shown new footage of two of the British navy personnel captured nine days ago - what is gained by parading the troops on TV?

Elsewhere, there are signs of cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbours, and Iraqis find a reason to celebrate after their countrywoman wins a pan-Arab TV talent show.

In other news, it's the 25th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands. Britain on Sunday expressed regret over the deaths on both sides in the conflict.

And a story from Jamaica that isn't the Cricket World Cup (where the West Indies look like they've had it, and England's coach has realised they must do better. Which at least shows more awareness of his team's performances than Steve McClaren sees to have.) - the government says crime is rising because Britain and the United States keep deporting criminals back to the Caribbean.

In the not so much news department, a "No Impact Man" in Manhattan is trying to live as greenly as possible for a year, and blogging about it, and also on the web, a man is webcasting every minute of his life at Justin.tv.

Perhaps now is the time. The most recommended comments on the Have Your Say debate seem to lay out the discussion pretty well. And here are the views of some Iranians. What do you think?

We have talked about South Africa's role - is there something more or new to discuss?

From southern Africa to South America, and where Argentina is worrying about one of the country's favourite sons - former football star Diego Maradona has been taken to hospital in the Buenos Aires.

Staying in the southern hemisphere (do you think I might be fed up with winter?), let's go west across the Pacific to New Zealand, where hundreds of people have held a protest against a proposed law which would ban parents from hitting their children to discipline them.

And tonight we will continue to broadcast a selection of your messages to Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent who has been missing in Gaza for more than two weeks.

But I've had my day off and am officially recovered. It's a new day and there's plenty to talk about. Apparently the BBC's domestic audience loathed the coverage of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. What did you think?

Well, that's the top story on the web site. The World Service is going with Burma unveiling its new capital city - foreign journalists have been allowed into the country for an Armed Forces Day parade and to see Naypyidaw.

We're at the KOPB studios and in the next cubicle I can hear Ros' co-host April, Eve and Fiona speculating about what people might want to talk about tomorrow. I'm happily blogging away, uploading photos from Columbus and the Bagdad Theater here in Portland - and then the phone rings.

We're not going to make the flight, he tells me, please can you find an alternative. Hmmmm. I booked the flights and I'm pretty sure that Jetblue's 7.30 pm flight was the only way to get to Portland in time for tomorrow morning's broadcast. I harangue him a bit for an apparent lack of urgency in the team's efforts to get from Sylvia's to JFK. It was apparent to me at least.

And then, having predicted an hour-plus to get to the airport, they're there at 6pm. Mark called to say so, and said he'd call back when they're safely checked in etc. Probably forgot about that with the relief of making the flight, but they are through and hopefully all the kit should make it onto the plane.

Anyway, that's our little logistical scare of the day. I'm sure there will be another tomorrow, but hopefully nothing to compare with the horror of finding out on Tuesday that we had no ISDN line in Harlem.

But that's all in the past. The march of our US tour is relentless (just ask Ros, Mark, Vlod and Shona, who have to be at every venue) and now we have to look forward to what we will talk about with Portlanders (Portlandites? Should I have just gone with Oregonians?) tomorrow.

We've already had plenty of suggestions (as well as what we should see and where we should eat while in Portland) but here are the main points of Fiona's chat with April and Eve:

Thursday is World Water Day - Oregon has plenty of water (in fact, it's known for it in much the same way as Britain is) but should it rely so much on hydroelectric power, or consider selling water to drier states to the south?

Another issue that is central to Oregon is the medical use of marijuana. I'll just leave that hanging...

Iraq, of course, is an issue people want to talk about. But can we find a new aspect of the war to talk about? We've heard American and Iraqi views on the current situation, and we've talked about impeaching (or not) President Bush. Is there anything in military recruiters being allowed at schools?

We also wondered about following up on the Harlem programme - we heard some startling comments from the audience there, and got a huge response from Oregon and across the country. What do Thursday's audience think of what they heard on Wednesday?

And a final option for now - how far will leaders go to get their own way? How far should we allow our politicans to have a free hand? There's lots of anger over the treatment of Judges in the US, and can we link it to the row over Musharraf's suspension of Pakistan's top lawyer?

One of the things we'll be taking about is the campaign to impeach President Bush over the war. Washington State Senator Eric Oemig to join us on Tuesday to debate impeachment - he's one of the leading voices calling for Bush to be impeached.

Do you think the president has done anything that would warrant impeachment?

It's a question we might put to the Iraqis that will be joining us for the programme. Tuesday is the anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq - there's special coverage on the BBC all this week - and we will try to hear from Iraqis to get their views on the invasion, the situation now, and the future.

If you could talk to an Iraqi, what one question would you ask? Tell us and we'll try to give you your chance.