November’s First Wednesday will see an expert panel address the top stories of the week. With the results just in, we will be discussing the US midterms and the repercussions of the results.

Following the failed attempt this weekend to plant bombs on cargo planes destined for the US, we will be discussing Yemen, its politics and the response of the US to this latest terrorist threat.

Another opportunity to join in a lively public meeting, hosted by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House, bringing together experts and commentators and mixing their views with contributions from our audience.

With:

Felicity Spector, chief writer and American politics expert for Channel 4 News;

Dr Thomas D. Grant, chair of Republicans Abroad UK;

Bill Barnard, chair of Democrats Abroad UK;

Abdallah Homouda, Journalist and Yemen specialist;

Ginny Hill, Journalist, Yemen expert and author of Chatham House briefing paper, Yemen: Fear of Failure;

James Brandon, head of research at Quilliam, former journalist who lived in Yemen in 2002 and 2004/5 and worked on both Yemen’s English language newspapers;

Tom Finn, freelance journalist, currently working as a copy editor for the Yemen Times in Sana’a (via online link up).

As the US midterm elections approach we will be discussing their significance for Barack Obama’s Presidency.

What are the prospects of the Democrats losing their Senate majority altogether after the 2 November polls? What impact will it have on the remainder of President Obama’s term in office if his party loses control of the legislative branch to the Republicans?

Join us at the Frontline Club where we will be looking ahead to the midterm elections and the next two years for President Obama’s in the White House with congressional scholar, Professor Thomas Mann, an expert on campaigns, elections and the effectiveness of Congress.

Chaired by Michael Goldfarb, London correspondent for globalpost.com

With:

Bill Barnard, chair of Democrats Abroad UK;

Dr Thomas D. Grant, chair of Republicans Abroad UK;

Professor Robert McKeever, Dean of the Faculty of Law Governance and International Relations, London Metropolitan University, and author of Raw Judicial Power? The Supreme Court and American Society, The United States Supreme Court: A Political and Legal Analysis and lead author of (with Professor Philip Davies) of the major textbook Politics USA: third edition due out in 2011.