i'm stephen sackur. this city—state is one of the remarkable economic success stories of the last 50 years. if you want to find a place that has ridden the wave of globalisation, well, this is it. but storm clouds are gathering over singapore. president trump is challenging assumptions about global free trade, security tensions are rising across east asia. i have an exclusive interview today with the prime minister of singapore, lee hsien loong. is singapore feeling vulnerable? theme music plays. prime minister lee hsien loong, welcome to hardtalk. let's start with the international political climate. donald trump is now president of the united states. he talks about protectionism, he talks about ripping up trade deals that have been bad for america. how dangerous is this new political climate for singapore? we are watching it very carefully. we of all countries depend most heavily on trade, our foreign trade is 3.5 times our gdp — probably the highest in the world. we have free trade agreements with man

i'm stephen sackur. my my guest today... mohammed fairouz, a youthful artist who has spent much of his creative life defying boundaries and stereotypes. his work ranges from symphonies to opera, to unique fusions of music and poetry. he's an arab educated and resident in the west, an outspoken advocate for creative freedom who nonetheless rails against western cultural imperialism. his aim is to foster cultural crossover rather than confrontation, but can this artist avoid taking sides? mohammed fairouz, welcome to heart talk. it is great to be here. arab pa rents, talk. it is great to be here. arab parents, but schooling and residential life a lot of it in the us and some in the uk. in terms of the tradition which is the bedrock of your music, would you say it is western or arab? the truthful answer is that it is much more of a mess than that. music has no respect for borders, sound has no respect for walls. you go tojerusalem and you hear the bells from the hollis —— wholly support intermingle with the mask. put it this wa

i'm stephen sackur.y guest today is a youthful artist who has spent his already strikingly successful creative life defying boundaries and stereotypes. mohammed fairouz is a composer, his work ranges from symphonies to opera, to unique fusions of music and poetry. he's an arab educated and resident in the west, an outspoken advocate for creative freedom who sometimes rails against western cultural imperialism. his aim is to foster cultural crossover rather than confrontation, but can this artist avoid taking sides? mohammed fairouz, welcome to hardtalk. it is great to be here, stephen. i want to talk about your musical inheritance — arab parents, spent a lot of your schooling and residential life in the us and some of it in the uk. in terms of the tradition which is the bedrock for your own music, would you say it's western or it's arab? well, i...the truthful answer to that question is that it is much more of a mess than that, and it's always been. i mean, music has no respect for borders, sound has no

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. today i'm in rural northern germany.ble, prosperous, 21st century germany. but i'm here to talk about the past and its relationship to the present. my guest is the writer, journalist and son, niklas frank. now, his father was appointed by hitler to be the governor general of nazi—occupied poland. he was intimately involved in the murder of millions of people. so, how has this german son dealt with the terrible crimes of his father? niklas, i'm wondering why you have chosen to make your life in the very far north of germany. is it because you wanted to get as far away as possible from yourfamily background in bavaria? no, i still love bavaria. and every year we have about many weeks in bavaria, in the same village where i grew up. but it was my profession as a journalist at stern magazine, which i worked for 23 years, was based in hamburg. so, i had to lure my wife, she was attached to munich, because she is a big gardener, to her house with a big garden, so we've lived here for 33 years. this place where you now live is

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. nigeria's stability and unity is threatened by internal tensions, conflict and corruption, from the boko haram insurgency in the north to violent militancy in the south and separatist aspirations in the east. amid all this turmoil, how effective in securing the country as the nigerian army? my guest is army chief, lieutenant general tukur yusuf buratai. by by his force is playing a constructive or destructive role as nigeria tries to keep a lid on its problems —— are his forces? general tukur yusuf buratai, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. a couple of yea rs thank you, stephen. a couple of years ago your president, new president, set you a clear mission to eradicate boko haram. he said it could be done within months. it would be fair to say, would it not, that you have failed in that mission? we have not failed. we have achieved that particular mandate, as at that time. we were... appointed on the 10th ofjuly, and on the day of our decoration, we were given that mandate to end

stephen sackur talks to singapore's prime minister lee hsien loong.

i'm stephen sackur. after recent terrorist attacks, the uk is preoccupied with questions about how best to counter the jihadist threat. for politicians, the focus is on policing, intelligence and negotiating powers. my guest today has a different point of view. her son was radicalised in birmingham, went to fight with the islamic state in syria and was killed at the age of 19. she now offers support to other families facing the dangers of radicalisation at home. how best to slam the door on thejihadis? nicola benyahia, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. i wonder what kind of impact the news of the last few weeks has upon you? we've seen this spate of horrifying terrorist attacks in the united kingdom. the focus has been onjihadists inside the uk. this is very personal for you. i wonder what the impact is? it's been very difficult, especially because you have manchester and then recently london in close proximity. it really brings it home, how much of a problem there is and there are days when i think, why a

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in britain. in those 50 years, the campaign for lgbt rights has won landmark victories in many parts of the world, perhaps best symbolised by the normalisation of gay marriage in a host of countries. my guest today is american filmmaker and screenwriter dustin lance black, who won an oscar for the film milk and has just completed a major series on the struggle for gay rights. has the time come to declare a famous victory? dustin lance black, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you for having me. to what extent do you think that your experiences from childhood to now as a gay person have come to define your creative output? oh, boy. it's one of the many things about me that does define me creatively. certainly, when i'm teaching my students — because i teach some classes in screenwriting sometimes — and i say to them, tell me about you, what is it about you that's unique, where do you come from, what are you interested in, tell me about