i'm stephen sackur. this city has been ripped apart by six years of conflict.housands have been killed, tens of thousands have fled. eastern libya and the west are run by rival political institutions but there is now something resembling a functioning authority here, imposed by the military strongman in eastern libya, marshal khalifa haftar. can the commander who once served kadhafi pull libya back from the brink? myjourney to libya starts with a little piece of history. the first scheduled flight bound to benghazi in three years. the city's airport was closed down by heavy fighting in 2014. back then, jihadists seized most of the city. those days are over. thank you. 0k, bye. so here we have one small sign of normality returning to one libyan city. the terminal building is nothing but a shed. there aren't many flights. but to the people of benghazi, this feels like the lifting of a siege. this is what the war left behind. entire neighbourhoods of benghazi deserted, reduced to rubble. ganfouda is one of the last readouts of so—called islamic state. benghazi uni

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. for more than two decades, the anc has been south africa's impregnable political structure, but now cracks are appearing. at least 30 anc mps defied the party whip and supported a no confidence motion against party leader and national president, jacob zuma. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. cue bitter recriminations. my guest today is pravin gordhan, the man president zuma sacked as finance minister in controversial circumstances earlier this year. does the anc need to be broken up to enable south africa to thrive? pravin gordhan in johannesburg, welcome to hardtalk thank you, thank you for having me. long distance as it might be. let's consider what is happening in your country today and particularly the fallout from the motion of no—confidence against president jacob zuma, which didn't succeed, but got 177 votes, which was significant. it clearly included a substantial number of anc mps. how toxic is the atmosphere inside the anc as a result of that vote? there certainly is a

stephen sackur, bbc news, benghazi.on the road in eastern libya — from tomorrow, on the bbc iplayer. football, and in tonight's premier league game, manchester city and everton drew one—all. wayne rooney scored his 200th premier league goalfor the visitors, but manchester city equalised late on, despite having had kyle walker sent off in the first half. big ben fell silent this afternoon. the nation's most famous bell won't chime again, except for on special occasions, until 2021. major repair work is getting underway at the houses of parliament, but some mps are unhappy at the length of time it will take. our political correspondent, ben wright, joined the crowds in westminster. big ben chimes as midday approached, a crowd swelled in parliament square. all eyes on the clock, waiting for the bell. there's about ten minutes to go until we hear it for the last time. what does big ben mean to you? well, it's just part of being british, isn't it? you're around in london and it's one of those things that's always been there.

stephen sackur talks sebastian gorka, deputy assistant to president trump.to mention that the interview was recorded before news of anthony scaramucci's dismissal from the white house. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. donald trump promised to be a disruptive president. right now, the thing he's disrupting the most is his own white house team. he now has a new chief of staff and a new director of communications, but what he can't is the sense of a presidency in crisis, at odds with republicans in congress and still dogged by federal investigations of russia's alleged meddling in last year's election. my guest is sebastian gorka, a deputy assistant to the president on national security. where does the trump presidency go from here? sebastian gorka in washington, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. i want to begin with something you just said five days ago, you said, "the atmosphere here in the white house is absolutely wonderful. we've got a new broom sweeping through the communications shop in anthony scaramucci and we are humming along on all cy

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.elations between the united states and north korea have long been difficult. the recent toe—to—toe confrontation between donald trump and kim jong—un raised fears of a conflagration on the korean peninsula. my guess today has a unique perspective on north korea's often impenetrable mindset. kenneth bae is an american christian missionary of korean descent who was arrested inside north korea and spent two years in a pyongyang prison. what does his experience tell us about the world's most secretive country? kenneth bae, welcome to hardtalk. let's begin with your decision to go and live in china in 2006. quite soon afterwards, you began undertaking tours into north korea, that special economic zone inside north korea, close to the chinese border. why did you undertake those tours? i was sent as a missionary to china, and i was living in the chinese community. while i was serving in the chinese community, i was able to meet with north korean defectors and others. i ended up visiting north

i am stephen sackur and today i am joined by an audience here at the bbc radio theatre to celebrate 20 years of hardtalk interviews. who better to have on our birthday than sir ian mckellen? whether you think of him as richard iii or gandalf, he has won hearts and accolades around the world. not just for decades of work on screen but his passion of public campaigning, particularly on the issue of gay rights. please give a warm welcome to ian mckellen. that was quite a welcome. ian mckellen, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. there's a lot to talk about both personal and in terms of yourcampaigning. but there are very few actors with the diversity you have offered your audiences, from the great shakespearean roles to comic book characters in x—men. is there a common thread through everything you have done? the common thread is there is no common thread. there is a variety. what i always admired in my youth was people playing different sorts of parts in different environments. i was proud of having played widow twankey, which is a drag role in a british christmas entertainment, or pantomime

i'm stephen sackur.his summer has perhaps given iraqis a glimmer of hope amid all of the darkness that has enveloped their country for so long. mosul, iraq's second city, has been liberated from the jihadists of so—called islamic state, and their caliphate is shrinking fast. but will any semblance of unity and stability follow? my guest today is the veteran vice president of iraq, ayad allawi. does iraq have a viable future? ayad allawi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. let's begin with the fallout from iraq's national army victory over so—called islamic state in mosul. your prime minister, mr abadi, hailed it as a great victory for iraq. there was a sense of triumphalism in his voice. are you feeling triumphant today? not really. winning a battle or two was not like winning the war. we want to win the war against extremism and against terrorism. in mosul of course this was a good in achievement but indeed we have not to lose sight of the people of mosul, their steadfastness did, and what he int

i'm stephen sackur. my guest today has been called america's greatest living crime writer.la quartet and many other novels, james ellroy has painted a uniquely dark portrait of this city of angels, a nightmare world of psychotic killers, corrupt cops and depraved appetites. ellroy writes of what he knows, his own mother was murdered when he was a child. and is that simple, terrible fact the key to understanding all the words he's ever written? james ellroy, welcome to hardtalk. hey, boss, what's shaking? we are going to talk about 35 years of novel writing and of your books has been set in and around los angeles. absolutely untrue — right off the bat, bam. i've wrote three novels, the underworld usa trilogy, the american tabloid, which was time magazine's novel of the year year in 1995. the cold six thousand and blood's a rover are set outside la. right, but southern california is your world. i'm from there and it's where i go when women divorce me. i suppose what i'm getting at is whether you've ever been tempted to go for outside your own background milieu, where you're f

i'm stephen sackur. there are writers of world renown whose reputation rests on one great book.re are others who write more prolifically, but always in the same territory. and then there's my guest today. margaret atwood's output fizzes with energy, diversity and experimentation. she's best known for her novels, the handmaid's tale, the blind assassin, oryx and crake. but she's written poetry, blog fiction and, this year, a superhero comic book, too. she has a worldwide legion of fans. so what keeps her creative juices flowing? margaret atwood, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. ijust referred to your prolific and diverse output over many years. but you've just done something you've never done before. you've taken on adapting shakespeare. and you've always said shakespeare is pretty much your favourite author. so how daunting was that? very, very daunting. first of all you knew that you were going to get a lot of people saying that you shouldn't do it, and you can't improve on shakespeare, etc. and second because i took on the tempest. and that has a whole slew of problems of its o

i'm stephen sackur.hen the aljazeera news network was launched in qatar in 1996, it had a seismic impact on the media landscape in the middle east. here was an arab broadcaster refusing to play by local rules. it was ambitious, punchy and provocative in its coverage of the region and the world. two decades on, maybe it's time for payback. saudi arabia and its closest allies recently demanded qatar close the network down. my guest is mostefa souag, director general of aljazeera. do his channel have a future? mostefa souag, welcome to hardtalk. good day, stephen. we have to start with the threat of closure that appeared to be hanging over aljazeera just a few short days ago. the threat of course which came from saudi arabia and its allies, which demanded the closing of the aljazeera network as a condition for lifting an economic blockade on qatar. be clear with me. is there still a risk you may have to shut down? well, first of all i would like to say that aljazeera has created a new media environment in t

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. venezuela's political and economic crisis is precariously poised. the maduro regime is determined to rewrite the constitution to strengthen its grip on power. the opposition is intent on using mass protest to bring the government down. the current stand—off is not sustainable, but which side will prevail? my guest is isaias medina, until last month the venezuelan diplomat at the un. now an anti—maduro dissident. can maduro outlast his enemies? isaias medina, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you so much, stephen. i would like to express my gratitude not only to you personally but to hardtalk and the bbc for representing objectively the hardships that the venezuelan people are living in right now in my country. well, let's examine the situation in your country in some detail. let's start with a simple explanation, if you like. why did you change sides? because for the last couple of years, you've been a diplomat at the united nations, representing venezuela and the venezuelan gover

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.s 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 abou

now on bbc news, stephen sackur reports from eastern libya in hardtalk on the road.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ism and race hate are alive and kicking in the united states. the violence in charlottesville was shocking notjust because a life was taken but also because of the polarising impact of president trump's responds, fault lines that almost broke the us in the civil war have not been erased. my guest is richard cohen, president of the southern poverty law center, a group devoted to civil rights activism. how fanciful is the notion of a 21st—century american civil war? richard cohen in montgomery, alabama, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, looking forward to speaking with you. of course you join us after all of the discussion of what happened in charlottesville just a few days ago. in your opinion, what we're seeing in the united states today, all of the heated debate, the anger, the passion, the hatred, is it a blip or is it part of a much deeper trend? it's both. it's both part of a longer term trend and it's also something that has been energised at this particular moment in our country. l

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.the age of donald trump, maybe we're getting used to international politics delivering the unexpected. nonetheless, the political career of my guest today is still breathtakingly bizarre. mikheil saakashvili served two terms as president of georgia. he then abandoned his home country to take citizenship in ukraine, serving as a regional governor until he fell out spectacularly with the ukrainian president. now he has been stripped of ukrainian citizenship, and is stateless. so is this the end of mikhail saakashvili's political career? mikheil saakashvili, in warsaw, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me, stephen. i have to ask you, why on earth are you in the polish capital? is it because, as a stateless person, you have no home, and you really don't know where to go? well, i have a home. i have a home, certainly, in ukraine. that is my permanent place of residence. and i still have a home in georgia. i am here because i was invited by my polish friends, after this decision of

hardtalk‘s stephen sackur has this special report from benghazi.ded country. jihadist fighters from so—called islamic state were driven out of fear for months ago. hundreds died, thousands lost their home. 0nly died, thousands lost their home. only now are few venturing back. how do you feel looking at your house? when colonel gaddafi was overthrown six years ago, the leaders of britain and france rush to benghazi to claim credit for this liberation. colonel gaddafi said he would hunt you down like rats that you showed the courage of lions and we salute your courage. the triumphalism was misplaced. jihadist militants turned benghazi into an annexe of their so—called comfort. this man rooted the jihadist out. marshal khalifa haftar, once gaddafi's favourite general, now commander of an army which has become libya's dominant force. marshal khalifa haftar‘s army 110w force. marshal khalifa haftar‘s army now controls at libya's key assets stashed oil and gas. this is the breaker refinery complex. there have been time when it has looked like the violenc

i am stephen sackur. politicians and civil serva nts sackur.icians and civil servants usually abandon their offices in the dog days of august, but not this year in london, where brexit is now an overwhelming political priority. theresa may's government has issued a raft of proposals on what trade, border and legal arrangements might look like post brexit, with a striking focus on continuity rather than change. my guest to one of the conservative party's staunchest brexiteers, mep daniel hannan. if brexit isn't a clean break, then what's the point? daniel hammond, welcome to hardtalk. we are six months into a two—year process that will end with the departure of the uk from the european union. are you satisfied with what has happened in those first six months? yes i am. i think it is gone better than many expected. we were told during the referendum campaign that the very act of voting leave would trigger a downturn. i don't think anyone now argues that happen. we grew faster in the six months after than we did in the six months after than we did

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.