now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur.audi journalist to mile khashoggi disappeared after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul last week. amid a welter of speculation and lurid allegations, a cloud of

welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi.t today is the oldest head of government in the world. malaysia's prime minister, mahathir mohamad, came back to office in may after a shock election victory against his own former ruling coalition. the country has been mired in allegations of corruption swirling around the previous government, which has dented confidence at home and abroad. first time around, mahathir was prime minister for more than 20 consecutive years until 2003. can he leave his own chequered past behind and lead malaysia to a brighter future? prime minister mahathir mohamad, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. extraordinary return to power in may for you, after 15 years of retirement, what made you want to return to government? people came to me frequently, groups of people, asking me to please do something about a government which they found not the kind of usual government. it is very oppressive, it's very corrupt. so you have got this big corruption case against the former prime minister, najib razak, in connectio

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. -- hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i am stephen sackur.ted states of america is a republic divided, the trump presidency has exposed fissures that run along lines of race, gender, education and culture. ‘s midterm elections, the fight for political power will be between the two traditional parties, republican and democrat, but perhaps a different sort of activism is needed to deliver real change. my guest is kimberle crenshaw, a professor of law, social activist, and an influential advocate of the idea of intersectionality. is that the group, not the individual, that matters most in today's america? -- is it. kimberle crenshaw in philadelphia, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. let me ask you this. do you believe in united, in the united states of america? that is a country where all citizens are equal under the law and share a sense of common purpose, shared values, do you believe in that? well, ifi believe, if you are asking me to i believe in the ideal of equality and shared values, equal citizenship, yes, of course. that is

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur.audi journalist to mile khashoggi disappeared after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul last week. amid a welter of speculation and lurid allegations, a cloud of suspicion now hangs over the saudi government. to put it bluntly, the record of crown prince mohammad bin salman suggests a ruthless determination to silence all criticism. my guests today are saudi academic madawi al—rasheed and former senior us diplomat nicholas burns. is the man known as m e s taking his kingdom down a dangerous path? madawi al—rasheed here in london and nicholas burns from sta nford london and nicholas burns from stanford university in california, welcome both of you to hardtalk. we must begin with jamal khashoggi. he has not been seen since he walked into the saudi consulate in istanbul over one week ago. we do not know what has happened to him but how disturbed are you by the details of this case? i am very distressed and also worried about the hundreds of saudi dissidents and activists who had take

it is time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.o mark the one—year anniversary of catalonia's hugely controversial independence referendum, more than 150,000 catalans took to the streets of barcelona. some blocked roads and rail lines, and they scuffled with police. it was a howl of frustration from people whose dream has been thwarted. well, my guest today is ernest maragall, self—styled minister of foreign action in the catalan regional government. was the separatists‘ decision to go for broke a year ago a major strategic error? ernest maragall, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. here we are, one year on from that referendum, which you separatists claim gave you a mandate for independence, but which, of course, the madrid government declared completely illegal. and many people believe that right now, your movement has lost momentum and has no clear strategy. that's a legitimate thought, this one. but i think things are slightly different. we're finding our new path, no? we are building it, this new path. we've had this... after the

yanis va roufakis, welcome to hardtalk. you still play a political role.new political party, which you are determined to make a force in greece and in europe. but would you accept that as a radical, as a leftist, the tide in europe, the tide of public opinion is running against you? absolutely. civilisation is in retreat. we are experiencing a new, a post—modern 1930s moment. the liberal establishment has made a mess of it. they have been insisting on policies that are failing left, right and centre, and they are crumbling, like the weimar republic. thankfully not with the brownshirts of the streets yet, but we have the nationalist republic rising across europe. look at the salvini phenomenon in italy and so on. we are losing the battle. this is why this is the time to regroup across a broad alliance of progressives, democrat, liberals, left—wingers, that have civilisation at the heart. before we drill down into the detail of that analysis, i do want to ask you whether you think it is justifiable to, as so many progressives and leftists do, use this trope

just after liz30am, it is now time for hardtalk. —— just after 12:30am, it is now time for hardtalk. to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. almost two billion of the world's people are muslim, and yet half of them, the female half, have traditionally played little or no role in the institutions of theirfaith. that is changing, albeit very slowly. my guest today, sherin khankan, became scandinavia's first female imam when she opened the mariam mosque in copenhagen. her focus on women's rights in a 21st century brand of islamic practice has stirred controversy and debate far beyond denmark's borders. is islam ready to empower women? sherin khankan, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. you are one of europe's very few female imams, but you're also a writer, a social activist. what do you see as your most important role? actually, i'm not one of a few. there are actually quite a lot of female imams around the world, also in europe, so it's a myth that female imams is a totally new phenomenon. well, how many? we've had female imams in china since 1820, in the us, in canada, in germany they

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.fghans will have to wait till next month to get the results of last sunday's parliamentary election. but in one sense, the verdict is already in. the ballot again exposed widespread insecurity and the absence of government control in many parts of the country. my guest today is president ashraf ghani's recently appointed and strikingly young national security adviser, hamdullah mohib. as the us government decided to engage with the taliban regardless of the wishes of the afghan government. hamdullah mohib in kabul, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. good to be here. we speak of course after the parliamentary elections. would you accept that the way those elections worked out with so many afghans facing the impossibility of going to the polls because of insecurity and a lack of government control of key parts of your territory, they brutally exposed everything that is currently wrong with afghanistan and its politics. wrong with afghanistan and its politics? stephen, there were mu

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi.y guest is a former business executive—turned—politician. he is saulos chilima, the vice president of the small southern african state of malawi. he was president mutharika's running mate in the elections in 2014. now he has left the ruling democratic progressive party, and says he will run against him in the presidential elections next year to, as he puts it, save the country from destruction and corruption. why is he criticising a government of which he still is a member, and if corruption is really as bad as he describes, why doesn't the vice president use his influence to stop the rot? vice president saulos chilima, of malawi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. why are you running against the very man you stood with in 2014, on a joint ticket? times change. and, first of all, it's a constitutional right in malawi for any person above the age of 35, and who has got the right qualifications, to contest for office. i am not saying that you are not fit to run for president. i am just enqu

now on bbc news — hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. stephen sackur and this is the vast turbine hall in london's tate modern gallery. it has been home to a series of installations by some of the world's leading contemporary artists, and right now it is showing a work by my guest today, the cu ban conceptual artist, tania bruguera. her installations and performances have won her acclaim right around the world. also, they have prompted harassment, censorship and detention inside cuba. so is she an artist, activist, or maybe both at once? tania bruguera, welcome to hardtalk. here we are in the tate modern gallery. it is stuffed full of things, of paintings, sculpture, and yet you as an artist seem much less concerned about things, much more focused on ideas. would that be fair? absolutely. i think the work i do as an artist is focused on gestures, i want to do political gestures, institutional gestures, human gestures, and i always feel that some things are invisible. and in a sense, it strikes me that the tools of your art are people, bo

welcome to hardtalk, i'm sarah montague.ont—page news around the world when a mass grave was discovered at a mother and baby home in ireland. the remains of almost 800 babies were found. but research by paul redmond, my guest today, showed that was only the tip of the iceberg. he collected evidence of higher death rates at homes for illegitimate children across ireland, and he also claimed catholic nuns who ran them were trading in adoptions, being paid to send children to the united states for adoption, often against the mother's wishes, and sometimes without her knowledge. he was born in one of those homes and adopted before he was a month old. now he feels he has a duty to expose what went on. paul redmond, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you refer to a life—changing moment in your book the adoption machine when you went back to the home in which you were born, in 2011, with a group of other people who had been adopted, and you visited something that is called the angels' plot. can you tell us about it? yes, the angels' p

now on bbc news, stephen sackur speaks to labour mp david lammy on hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. injust five months‘ time, britain will be out of the european union. but on what basis? under whose leadership? and could it yet not happen? brexit uncertainty is coursing through the veins of british politics, leaving little room for anything else. the governing conservative party is deeply divided. so is the labour opposition. my guest, david lammy, is a prominent labour advocate of another referendum on any final brexit deal. but how would that help britain move beyond its brexit breakdown? david lammy, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you have been in the house of commons for, what, about 18 years? can you ever remember a time when the atmosphere was more poisonous, and politicians‘ ability to develop a policy on the main issue of the day was more lacking? no, in short. i mean, this is an extraordinary period in the uk's history. there seems to be little common ground, frankly, between the senior politicians of the day. the country is hopelessly divided, and it

. —— it is hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.ident erdogan says the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi was a savage crime meticulously planned in riyadh. he wants all those responsible to stand trial in turkey. as the pressure on the house of saud mounts, will the kingdom's partners in the west take punitive action? my guest today is alan duncan, minister of state in the uk foreign office. has the time come for britain to end lucrative arms exports to saudi arabia? siralan duncan, welcome to hardtalk. top of the agenda on international affairs right now is what president erdogan of turkey has said about the murder ofjamal khashoggi, the saudi journalist killed in istanbul. does the british government accept that he was murdered on orders that go to the very top of the saudi state? we can certainly take the first half of that sentence, he was undoubtedly murdered. president erdogan has outlined today how it was planned, and that is the question, how far up the line did it go? the foreign secretary has made absolutely clear

it is time now for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. ramaphosa replaced jacob zuma as leader of the anc and president of south africa with a promise to revive the country's economy, tackle poverty and root out corruption. maybe he underestimated the scale of the challenge, because south africa is currently in recession and popular discontent is rising. one key sector, energy, threatens the stability of the entire economy. my guest is deputy energy minister, thembisile majola. is the anc incapable of delivering the change south africa needs? thembisile majola, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. cyril ramaphosa, he had a honeymoon, it seemed that there was a great deal of optimism when he took over in south africa in february. that honeymoon did not last long, did it? it didn't last long, but he has not been sitting on his laurels. he has been working very hard. as you are aware, he started off with making sure that we put together a whole series of commissions of enquiry to deal with theissues commissions of enquiry to deal with the issues

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i am stephen sackur.osturing and prevaricating, the brexit endgame is under way. this is the week the uk government and the eu 27 earmarked for agreeing a deal on the divorce and outlining a future close relationship. but on the eve of another eu summit, there is still talk of an impasse, focusing on the irish border and northern ireland's status post—brexit. my guest today is mairead mcguinness, irish mep and vice president of the european parliament. is brexit about to get very messy and very costly? mairead mcguinness, welcome to hardtalk. glad to be here. are you surprised that after a year and a half of intense negotiation between the uk and the eu officials, here we are with this endgame that ijust described under way and it seems the issue of the irish border and the post— brexit status of northern ireland are obstacles that cannot be overcome. i am disappointed. maybe i am not surprised. but i am not without hope. let me take this because everyone is anxious about what didn't happen at the weekend

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.