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Bush-Iran, Amy Winehouse, Nelson Mandela and role models, Sudanese floods, Pakistan, Germany-Poland war treasures and New Orleans

Martin Vennard | 08:59 UK time, Wednesday, 29 August 2007

President Bush has warned Iran to stop supporting militants fighting against US forces in Iraq. He said he had authorised US military commanders in Iraq to confront what he called "Tehran's murderous activities."

Shortly after Mr Bush made his speech to veterans in Washington, US troops arrested a group of at a hotel in Baghdad.

The men were later released after the intervention of the Iraqi government, while the Iranian embassy in Baghdad said the seven were helping rebuild electricity power stations in Iraq.

Earlier, the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said US power in Iraq was on the verge of collapse and this would lead to "a huge vacuum" which Iran would be willing to fill.

Is President Bush right to once again focus on Iranian involvement in Iraq, or is he looking for a scapegoat for US failings there?

On Tuesday, one of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's domestic radio stations, 5 Live, broadcast an interview with the in-laws of the troubled British singer Amy Winehouse.

Amy and her husband recently quit a drugs rehabilitation programme, while she has cancelled her US tour because of her problems. Her father-in-law said fans should buying her records until she sorts out her problems and he urged her record company to do more to help her.

Amy's father later defended the record company on the same station and said the boycott suggestion was "clutching at straws".

What do you think? If you are the parent or relative of a drug addict, is tough love needed to make them kick the habit? What did you do to help your child deal with a drug problem?

A statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela is being unveiled in London today. Mr Mandela will be among those at the ceremony in Parliament Square.

The mayor of London Ken Livingston has called Mr Mandela a black role model. Earlier this week, Britain's New Nation newspaper published its list of the country's most influential blackmen and women. It doesn't include many sports or pop stars.

The paper's editor, Michael Eboda, has written an article highlighting the importance of role models for young black people. Maybe we should be talking about who the black role models should be or whether role models specifically for black people are still needed.

The Sudanese Government and the UN have launched an appeal to raise $20m to help more than 400,000 people hit by . The UN says at least three-and-a-half million could be at risk from water-borne diseases such as cholera. Should we be hearing from Sudan?

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has reportedly been given a final by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to give a firm commitment by August 31st that he will stop wearing his military uniform while he is president.

General Musharraf’s aides were said to have been told in clear words that if the president did not meet the deadline, Ms Bhutto would walk out of the ongoing negotiations with him. Should we get an update from Pakistan?

The Polish government is demanding billions of dollars in compensation from Germany for which were stolen or destroyed during the second world war.

The Polish foreign minister, Anna Fotyga, said a list was being prepared of all the cultural treasures Poland lost to Germany. It follows a recent call from Berlin for Poland to return "war booty" it said had been stolen from Germany.

Ms Fotyga said Poland had stolen nothing from Germany, rather the German cultural treasures in Poland were "left behind by fleeing Nazis" at the end of the war, and she urged Germany to recognise the cultural devastation it had wrought in Poland.

President Bush is marking the second anniversary today of Hurricane Katrina's devastating arrival in New Orleans by the city.

It is the president's 15th visit to the Gulf Coast since the massive hurricane obliterated coastal Mississippi, drowned most of New Orleans and killed 1,600 people, but only his second stop in the region since last year's anniversary.

World Have Your Say has been to the city twice in the last two years and has built up a rapport with some of the local people. Maybe we could hear from some of them today.

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