now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. the global coronavirus pandemic has changed pretty much everything for almost everybody. it is of course a public health emergency, but it also is having massive economic social and cultural impacts. this very building usually houses our hardtalk studio. now, that is currently out of commission. 00:01:32,878 --> 2147483051:37:31,153 but thanks to the wonders 2147483051:37:31,153 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 of modern technology, the show can go on, and my guest today is the much—acclaimed british succession. now, he is living in self—isolation in upstate new york, brian cox in new york state, welcome to hardtalk. welcome. thank you, stephen. well, thank you for inviting us into your home so to speak via your laptop. you have been living in brooklyn, now you're in a cabin in new york state. new york state of course is at the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in the us. what has life been like for you? well, i haven't...because i'm a diabetic, i haven't been engaging in anything, apart

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.oronavirus pandemic has given humanity and almighty shock stop here we are in our technologically advanced, interconnected societies, now living in lockdown, fearful for our health and the future of our economies. so what better time than now to talk to my guest today, the bestselling israeli author and historian, yuval noah harari. what are the lessons we can learn from the impacts of coronavirus? yuval noah harari, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, thank you for inviting me. you are known around the world for taking the grand historical perspective of us, homo sapiens, and you have described with wonderful detail how our extraordinary cognitive abilities have led to a mastery on our environment. but this seems to be a moment when we are learning that our mastery of the environment is extremely fragile. do you see it that way? yeah, it is very fragile, though i have to say we're still in a much better position with to infectious diseases then perhaps on any previous time in history sinc

now on bbc news — hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. stephen sackur. 80 years ago, hundreds of jewish children were smuggled out of nazi—occupied europe by train in a covert humanitarian mission which became known as the ‘kindertransport‘. my guest today, dame stephanie shirley, was one of those children. she went on to live an extraordinary life of achievement and philanthropy, blazing a trail for women in business. so, what lessons can we learn from a woman determined to make the most of a life so nearly extinguished in childhood? theme music plays. dame stephanie shirley, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. we've invited you almost 80 years — exactly 80 years — from that moment when you were forced to leave your home. your father put you on a train, it's called the ‘kindertransport‘, and you ended up in an alien country, in london, in england. what do you remember of that journey? well, of course, i was only five years old, so all the things that i remember, the childish things. i remember the little boy that kept being s

now on bbc news — hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.est today is an extremist of a very special kind. nothing to do with his political views, but recognition of a lifetime spent embracing physical challenges at the extreme limit of human endurance. sir ranulph fiennes has taken on and conquered the polar ice, the world's highest peaks and the most gruelling deserts. he's been described as one of the world's greatest living explorers. so, what is the motivation for this life of extreme adventure? sir ranulph fiennes, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. seems to me, your entire life, you have spent testing yourself, challenging yourself. why this preoccupation with tests? it doesn't come about in that particular way, it comes about because of being brought up in south africa, arriving in the uk, not getting a—levels — that's what it comes from, because that's not what i wanted to do, it's what my dad had done, commanding the royal scots‘ greatest tank regiment when he was killed in the second world war, and i wanted to command that

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcomed to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.the global effort to control covid—19 continues, so arguments about culpability for the spread of the virus intensify. and at the heart of the story, china, where the outbreak began. did the chinese government's impulse to cover up the truth put the world in danger, or did beijing respond with admirable determination? my guest today is china's ambassador in london, liu xiaoming. is china the villain or the hero of this pandemic? ambassador liu xiaoming, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you to be with you again. we are delighted to have you on this programme at this difficult time. let me start, actually, with a very simple, direct question. do you accept that covid—19 has its origins in china? it was first discovered in wuhan, but i can't say it originated from wuhan. you know, according to many information, many reports, including bbc, it can be everywhere and anywhere. you know, it can be in aircraft carriers. it can even be found in the submarine and it can be found in some cou

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hartog. i am stephen sackur.lobal coronavirus pandemic has changed pretty much everything for almost everybody —— hardtalk. it is of course a public health emergency but it also is having massive economic social and cultural impacts. this very building usually houses our hardtalk studio. that is currently out of commission. thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the show can go on, and my guest today is a much acclaimed british actor brian cox was currently in the smash hit hbo tv drama succession. now, he is living in self isolation in upstate new york, but i am happy to say is able to talk to me. brian cox in new york state, welcome to hardtalk. welcome. thank you. thank you for inviting us into your home so to speak via your lap top. you have been living in brooklyn, now you are in a cabin in new york state. new york state of course is at the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in the us. what has life been like for you? well, because i ama been like for you? well, because i am a diabetic, i haven't bee

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.may be a global pandemic but covid—19 has hardly united the world in a collective response. national governments are focused on self interest, not international cooperation, and that could spell disaster for the world's most vulnerable people if and when the virus spreads through their communities. well, my guest today is the former uk foreign secretary, now president of the international rescue committee, david miliband. in this age of coronavirus, is the world getting the leadership it needs? david miliband, welcome to hardtalk. thanks very much, good to be with you. this terrible pandemic represents a huge challenge right across the world. if we are to generalise massively at the outset of this interview, how do you feel the international community is handling the response? to generalise, badly. we know that some countries have handled the disease well. germany springs to mind. south korea as well, but we know that there has been far too much what i would call denialism, too much he

now on bbc news — hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ne having an extraordinary sporting talent but finding yourself traumatised by the realities of elite—level competition. imagine being defined by your gender and physicality in ways that crushed your own sense of yourself. add to that a prolonged battle with alcohol and drugs and you have the pain—filled early life of my guest today, olympic swimmer—turned—artist, model and now writer, casey legler. what did it take to emerge from the darkness? casey legler, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me. you come here having just written a rather extraordinary memoir of your early life, the first 21 years or so of your life. it is raw, it is full of pain and it exposes some of the very dark places in your own life. how hard was it to write? um, first i just want to say that it's great to be here. i told you before we started that i'm a huge fan but my wife is a massive fan and i've done, i've done, you know, vogue covers, features, and this is what we've been most excited about so thanks f

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.ly is the european country hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. it took a virulent hold in northern italy in february and now the national death toll stands at more than 25,000. italy's healthcare system has been stretched to the very limit and the social and economic consequences, well, they threaten to blight the country for years to come. maybe the rapid spread of covid—i9 in lombardy was something to do with the ageing population or the italian way of intergenerational contact. at first, the government tried to isolate the worst—affected areas from the rest of the country. it wasn't until thousands of people had been infected that prime minister giuseppe conte announced a nationwide lockdown on march 9. vibrant, noisy italy was plunged into fearful silence. except in the hospitals, which were filled to overflowing with the victims of this cruel virus. mostly the elderly and the vulnerable. the death toll exceeded 10,000 before march was out. with intensive care units full, doct

now on bbc news it's time for hardtalk. mac welcome to hardtalk.taking emergency measures restricting liberties to safeguard public health and no european nation has gone further than hungary. my guest today is the chief international spokesman, he is covid—19 ushered in europe's first defective dictatorship. —— de facto. kovacs, welcome to hardtalk. would you explain to me, the reasoning behind the extraordinary powers that your government has taken in the wa ke your government has taken in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. your government has taken in the wake of the coronavirus crisisi believe the reasons are as simple as in the country around the globe. we face an unknown enemy in the way of the virus. we have seen viruses coming and going and this one seems to be special and around the globe for some extraordinary measures to be able to handle that situation and address the challenges according to day by day or week by week. nobody knows when the pandemic is going to end and that is why we have asked for parliament, extraordinary measures th

now on bbc news, it is time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. on stephen sackur.oronavirus pandemic is a multilayered global crisis. it sta rts a multilayered global crisis. it starts with public health, of course, but it reaches deep into the world economy and the global security system too. good fears of covid—19 be used for malign purposes? will this crisis undermine 01’ purposes? will this crisis undermine or enhance multilateral institutions? well, my guest today is the secretary general of nato, jens stoltenberg, and has nato risen to the coronavirus challenge? jens stoltenberg. welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me. let me ask you this. how is the coronavirus crisis, the pandemic across the world, affecting nato's ability to carry out its mission? the reality is that nato is carrying out its mission, as we did before the crisis. of course we have made some adjustments. we had to also take, take into consideration the consequences of the coronavirus crisis but mainly we continue to provide the defence, we maintain our operational readiness and

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur.s across the world struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, there has never been a greater need for an internationally co—ordinated response, and that is where the un agency the world health organization should come in. but right now, the who is itself at the centre of a political storm. president donald trump has withdrawn american funding, accusing the who of being china centric. my guest today is the who special envoy for covid—19, doctor david nabarro. is his agency failing its biggest test? david nabarro in geneva, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. let us hardtalk. thank you very much. let us start with an overview, as a vetera n us start with an overview, as a veteran of fighting disease from malaria after cholera to ebola, you have now become the who special envoy on covid—19. are you more worried today than you were a month ago about the way it is spreading around the world 7 ago about the way it is spreading around the world? i was always anxious about this, eve

brian cox in new york state, welcome to hardtalk. welcome. thank you, stephen.l, thank you for inviting us into your home so to speak via your laptop. you have been living in brooklyn, now you're in a cabin in new york state. new york state of course is at the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in the us. what has life been like for you? well, i haven't...because i'm a diabetic, i haven't been engaging in anything apart from — the person who has been doing wonders is my wife, she's been fantastic. she's done the shopping and done all of that, and she's very meticulous about gloves and masks and bacterial wipes. i mean, she does the whole bit. and ijust sit here kind of like some kind of sacred cow. laughs a sacred bull, i guess! a sacred bull, i beg your pardon, yeah! laughs. and you're laughing about it, but it is stressful, isn't it? oh, yeah, it's very stressful. we have our two boys with us and they're beginning to get the cabin fever. i'm not too bad. i'm quite reclusive. i spend a lot of time, you know, flitting between here and london, so i'm quite goo

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me zeinab badawi in new york.y guest is the british actress, activist and model, jameela jamil. after breaking into the us and the critically acclaimed comedy series, the good place, she's been getting attention for her criticisms of celebrities like the kardashians, for their promotion of diet products to millions of young women on social media. is her campaign to make us feel better about our bodies working? jameela jamil, welcome to hardtalk. hello. thanks for having me. so, you were in your early 20s, you decided you wanted to go into music presenting and you get this big break, you become the solo female host of a very prestigious show on radio in the uk. how important is it for you to break barriers? i think it's very important for me to break barriers. i come from a particularly erased people, you just don't see south asians in positions of privilege very often, especially not in mainstream media. and so it's something that means a lot to me because i was very damaged, i would say, by not seeing anyone like

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. donald trump, the leader of the richest, most powerful nation on earth has just suspended american funding for the world health organization. what does that tell us about the international community's ability to co—operate to combat the covid—19 pandemic? my guest today, in an exclusive interview, is the former british prime minister gordon brown. he's pushing hard for a much bigger international response but what chance does he have, given the current geopolitical climate? gordon brown, welcome to hardtalk. hello. you are leading a big international effort to get the world community to do so much more in response to the coronavirus challenge. i wonder, therefore, how you respond to the news overnight that us president donald trump has suspended america's funding of the world health organization? well, i think it's difficult, but i think we can overcome this and i think we must not be discouraged. i was dealing with a financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, it was very difficult to persuad

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me in new york.guess is the british press, activist and model jameela york. my guess is the british press, activist and modeljameela jamil, after breaking into the us in the critically acclaimed comedy series the good place, she has been getting attention for her criticisms of celebrities like the kardashian‘s for the promotion of diet product to millions of young women on social media. as her campaign to make us feel better about our bodies working? jameela jamil, welcome to hardtalk. for having these light you were in your early 20s, you decided that you wa nted your early 20s, you decided that you wanted to go into music presenting and you get this big break, you become the solo female host of a very prestigious show on radio in the uk... how important is it for you to break barriers?” the uk... how important is it for you to break barriers? i think it is very important for me to break barriers. come from a particularly irate, you just don't see south asians and positions of privilege, especially

welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much.seems to me that your entire life has been spent testing yourself. challenging yourself. why this preoccupation with tense? yourself. why this preoccupation with tense ?m does not come about in the particular way. it comes about from being brought up in south africa, arriving in the uk not getting a levels. that is recon from the tank regiment when he was killed in the second world war andi killed in the second world war and i wanted to command that same one scottish regiment but in my time, i could not. and i had a second crate of cadet school and would never become a criminal of the regiment. so i joined the regiment but had only eight years of army service before was thrown out. and so i did not do what i wa nted and so i did not do what i wanted to do and i did as long asi wanted to do and i did as long as i could in the army and then, ifind as i could in the army and then, i find myself as i could in the army and then, ifind myself with no income. i married my wife, who have virtu

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. the european country hit first and hardest by the spread of covid—19. it took a virulent hold in northern italy in february and other national death toll stands at more than 25,000. italy's healthcare system has been stretched to the very limit and the social and economic consequences, they threaten to blight the country for years to come. maybe the rapid spread of covid—i9 in lombardi was something to do with the ageing population or the italian way of intergenerational contacted but first, the government tried to isolate the worst affected areas from the rest of the country. it wasn't until thousands of people had been infected that the prime minister announced a nationwide lockdown on march nine.. vibrant, noisy italy was plunged into fea rful vibrant, noisy italy was plunged into fearful silence. except in the hospitals which were filled to overflowing with civic dems of this cruel virus. mostly the elderly and the vulnerable. the death toll exceeded 10,000 before march was out. w

jens stoltenberg, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me.ask you this — how is the coronavirus crisis, the pandemic across the world, affecting nato's ability to carry out its mission? the reality is that nato is carrying out its mission as we did before the crisis. of course, we have made some adjustments. we have to also take — take into our organisation the consequences of the coronavirus crisis but fundamentally, we continue to provide the terrorism defence, we maintain our operational readiness, we maintain the forces deployable, the high readiness forces, the combat groups in the eastern part of the alliance and missions and operations fighting international terrorism, so nato's main responsibility in this crisis is to make sure that this health crisis doesn't become a security crisis and therefore, nato continues to maintain credible deterrents and defence. right. that message of business as usual, though — surely it doesn't tally with the facts. i'm looking at the fact, for example, that a major training exercise that you had planned

now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i‘m stephen sackur.s very building usually houses our hardtalk studio. now, that is currently out of commission. but thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the show can go on, and my guest today is the much—acclaimed british actor brian cox who is currently in the smash hit hbo tv drama succession.

but speaking to stephen sackur on our hardtalk programme, china's ambassador to the uk said, it was theld be targetting. i think presidency and president trump keep a very close contact. they are two telephone conversations. compare notes. ijust wa nt to conversations. compare notes. ijust want to let american know that china is not an enemy of the united states. this virus is the enemy of the united states. they need to find the united states. they need to find the right target. and you'll be able to watch stephen sackur‘s full interview with the chinese ambassador to the uk on hardtalk here on bbc world news on wednesday and thursday. the head of the tokyo olympics says the games will be scrapped altogether if they can't take place next year. it follows the decision to postpone the games from 2020 tojuly 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. let's take a look at the sums involved: the official budget for the games is $12.6 billion, following the construction of numerous venues including a national stadium and athletes' village. but japanese media has reported that the figure could be