Martin Shkreli Mocks Congress in Drug Price Hearing

Martin Shkreli is the former boss of a US company called Turing Pharmaceuticals. On Thursday, he appeared before a Congressional hearing on the company's drug pricing policy but refused to answer questions about why he increased the price of a drug called Daraprim - used by many AIDS patients - by more than 5,000%. The technical term for this is "taking the Fifth". But it was Mr Shkreli’s behaviour in the hearing that annoyed many of those watching. Our reporter tells us what happened.

Donor nations meeting in London have pledged more than 10 billion dollars to help Syrians affected by more than five years of brutal war. The money is to be spent on food, medical care and shelter, as well as education and jobs for refugees in neighbouring countries. The BBC’s Josh Thorpe reports from the conference.

From Aberdeen in Scotland to Asunción in Paraguay, over the past year severe floods have hit many parts of the world. But just how much of the devastation wreaked on communities could have been avoided with better planning? George Monbiot, environmental campaigner and journalist, says he believes far too much emphasis is being placed on flood defences.

The 4th of February is World Cancer Day. Dr Otis Brawley is Chief Medical Officer for the American Cancer Society and he gives us his assessment on where we are in the fight against the disease. Our guest in the studio, Nazneen Rahman, a Professor of Human Genetics at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, tells us about her work in cancer research.

Presenter Fergus Nicoll is also joined throughout the programme by Brian Czech of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. He joins us from Washington DC.

(Picture: Former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli in a Congressional inquiry into drug pricing. Credit: Getty)