stephen sackur interviews president trump is not former director of communications anthony scaramucci an hour here on bbc news. at least 18 people have been confirmed dead in an attack by taliban militants on a luxury hotel in the afghan capital, kabul. the gunmen entered the hotel last night, spraying guests with bullets before breaking into rooms

welcome to hardtalk from new york, with me stephen sackur. this city and los angeles are the twin capitals of america's giant movie, media and entertainment business. a business that has been rocked by allegations of systemic sexism, misogyny and abusive behaviour. my guest today is ashleyjudd, the actor and activist and one of the first women to go public with her accusations about the mega—producer harvey weinstein. what began with voices of anger and pain has become a movement, demanding radical change. how far can it go? of women speaking out. are you satisfied that this has come about or are you deeply frustrated that it has taken so long for this to come about, what is your overriding emotion right now? joy- just unmitigated, electrifying joy. i am so happy. i am so happy it's is here. i have been telling the story of a long time from the moment it happened in fact, my particular moments of harassment with harvey weinstein, i am a teller to use the words used that laura dern used on stage at the golden globes, i am a taddler. you know,

i'm stephen sackur. prides itself on its system ofjustice. an international centre for dispute arbitration. but are the cracks starting to show in a system steeped in tradition? of the uk supreme court. does the british judicial system need a 21st century reboot? lord neuberger, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. i dare say that makes it easier for you to speak in public. distant from the public they serve? i think, i can say many things about. impartial both in court and out of court. society is going. into the law and very senior positions in the law. hugely important matters? to claim that i am perfect. and yes, you are right. by our background and more confident about the world we know. have had the experience of. and its reputation reaching around the world. but it is quite a secretive and closed institutional framework. is that something that needs to be addressed? that is being addressed. you are entirely right. like a priesthood almost shunned away from society. and explain to people what they do an

i'm stephen sackur.arting to show in a system steeped in tradition? of the uk supreme court. does the british judicial system need a 21st century reboot?

i'm stephen sackur. not so long ago, british food was the laughing stock of the world — bland, stodgy and flavourless. but how things have changed. today, the nation seems obsessed with cooking and baking on tv and fine dining. my guest today is one of the new breed of top celebrity television chefs, marcus wareing. yes, we are now obsessed with good food, but is that altogether healthy? marcus wareing, welcome to hardtalk. there are an awful lot of chefs in the world. only a very few elite, top chefs. what distinguishes the very best from the rest? i think it is — i think first of all it's a mindset, it's a work ethic and i think there is a type of sacrifice that a top chef has and wants to sort of drive themselves individually, and as an individual, to excel head and shoulders above everybody else. and a lot of advice that i've ever had through the years coming through the ranks was... and it came from my father originally, was to stand out from the crowd and to do that you need to do something differe

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.onald trump broke with long established diplomatic convention by recognising jerusalem as israel's capital. his recent tweets on the israeli — palestinian conflict have been music to the ears of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. so what do the palestinians do now? my guest today is mahmoud zahar, co—founder of the islamist movement hamas, which controls gaza and has been at loggerheads with the palestinian authority in the west bank for more than a decade. are the palestinians staring defeat in the face? mahmoud zahar in gaza, welcome to hardtalk. most welcome. i have to begin by asking you about your frame of mind, your spirit at the beginning of this new year, 2018. i look at the diplomatic, the political and the economic situation in gaza and i can barely imagine anything more bleak. is that the way you feel too? first of all, i'd like to address that this is one of the most important points in our history. yes, our life is very miserable, not because of bad management from

i'm stephen sackur.owly but inevitably losing the generation of men who fought in and survived the last world war. and what we are left with are monuments to courage and to loss like this one in central london which is dedicated to the 55,000 young men who lost their lives serving in britain's bomber command. my guest today is 96—year—old george ‘johnny‘ johnson, the last remaining british survivor of one of the most extraordinary and most famous aerial missions of world war ii, the dambusters raid. it was costly and it wasn't entirely successful — so why has it become such a part of britain's national folklore? theme music plays. johnnyjohnson, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. i want to begin by asking you whether you feel more pride or sadness that you are the last british dambuster? i think it is both. pride, certainly, because i am still able to support that squadron that ijoined in that time. so many things happened in my favour, or seem to, i have to remind people i am the lucky one. i am still aliv

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the white house has never before seen a president like donald trump. he doesn't play by any conventional political rules. that much is obvious from his twitter feed, from his hiring and firing of staff, and his apparent relish for outrage. my guest today is anthony scaramucci, the white house director of communications for all of 11 days before he was fired in a media firestorm. but ‘the mooch‘ has stayed loyal to his former boss. why? anthony scaramucci, welcome to hardtalk. it's good to be back. do you believe that donald trump is a president that the american people can be proud of? yeah, i mean, listen, we're in a polarised country, so certainly 40—60% of the people are not going to like the president at any given time, i think that's been true unfortunately for the last 30 years. but, yeah, if you look at the diagnostics of what's going on in the last year in terms of the economic growth, the wage increases, the fact that he's tackling, or at least handling, our adversaries, and

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk stephen sackur is in new york to speak to the hollywood actor

nearly one year since donald trump came into office and a stephen sackur has been speaking with formerhe bbc‘s hard talk programme. his tenure lasted ten days but he still pushing the president's agenda and predicts the american public will give donald trump four more years. he's going to get re—elected. it'll probably be a landslide of the election. the way the american political system works, it's almost impossible to defeat a sitting president unless you have a calamitous situation like a depression or some kind of historic rise. you just agreed with me... is standing is at an historic low.” said he's roughly at the same approval rating that barack obama had. what universe are you living in? i'm living in the same universe you are, that's why i want to get invited back when he winds, we'll be p°ppin9 invited back when he winds, we'll be popping champagne together you and i. he's going to win the re—election because he's got the right policies for the american people. you can watch more of the interview with anthony scaramucci right here on bbc world news. it's almost 1000 years old

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 a

the bbc‘s stephen sackur has been speaking with former white house aide anthony scaramucci for the bbcbut he is still pushing the president's agenda, and predicts the american public will give mr trump four more years. he's going to get re—elected. i mean, it'll probably be a landslide re—election. the way the american political system works, it's almost impossible to defeat a sitting president, unless you have a calamitous situation like a depression. you just agreed with me that his standing now with american public is at an historic low. i didn't say historic lows. i said he's roughly at the same approval rating that 0bama had. i'm tempted to ask what universe you are are you living on. i'm living in the same universe you are on, and that's why i want to get invited back when he wins, and we'll be popping champagne together, you and i, 0k? he's going to win re—election, because he's got the right policies for the american people. you can see more of that interview with anthony scaramucci on hardtalk, here on bbc world news. it is almost 1,000 years old, and commemorates probably the

i'm stephen sackur.eginning of the year is a time for reflecting on the past and plotting a betterfuture. in britain, the focus is on where brexit is taking the nation. how will leaving the eu will affect the uk's sense of itself and its international standing? my guest is a distinguished political veteran, lord david owen, a former labour foreign secretary who tried and failed to change the face of british politics by launching a new party on the centre—left. does the uk currently have a clue where it is going? lord owen, welcome to hardtalk. nice to be here. let's begin with brexit. 2018 must be the year a deal is done. an agreement reached between britain and the eu 27 on the shape of brexit. if it is not done this year, there will be no time to ratify it before 2019. do you believe a deal will be done? it can be done and i think it will be done. i am more optimistic now that we have a transition period which many people called for and i think it is essential. alighted immediately, you have, upon the

i'm stephen sackur. the fierce argument about the roots of islamistjihadist violence can sometimes be a matter of life and death. my guest today knows that all too well. zineb el rhazoui is a french—moroccanjournalist who was working for the satirical magazine charlie hebdo when 12 people were murdered in the magazine's paris office in 2015. zineb happened to be on holiday. now she lives under police protection. she has since written a book on what she calls "islamic fascism." to what extent does she feel she is fighting a war? zineb el rhazoui, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. there are words which seem to me to define your life. they are words like fight, struggle, resistance. how long do you feel that these words have been at the centre of your life? you know, as a muslim—born woman, i realised very early in my life that i had to struggle against injustice and inequality, because i grew up in morocco, and in morocco, when you start to understand things, you realise very fast that you don't have the sam

stephen sackur interviews president trump is not former director of communications anthony scaramucciur here on bbc news. at least 18 people have been confirmed dead in an attack by taliban militants on a luxury hotel in the afghan capital, kabul. the gunmen entered the hotel last night, spraying guests with bullets before breaking into rooms and taking hostages. 160 people were rescued from the hotel by the security forces. our correspondent zia shahreyar reports from kabul. the final moments of a fight that had lasted all night. gunfire and explosions, as afghan special forces battled to regain control of the intercontinental hotel. one soldier throws a grenade. he moves away, then the explosion. the room is soon on fire, evidence of the struggle that had taken place. the afghan national flag waving from the roof, proof that the building has been reta ken. more than 150 people, including some foreigners, were inside yesterday evening, when gunmen burst in and opened fire. translation: there were old people and children inside the hotel's rooms, and the attackers were knocking on the

i'm stephen sackur. new year, same old donald trump.ay goes by without a new media storm over a presidential comment, tweet or announcement that had democrats decrying him as unfit for office and republicans, well... what — what do republicans feel and do about their de facto party leader? my guest is michael steele, a former chairman of the republican national committee. should the party stand with or dump trump? michael steele, welcome to hardtalk. it's good to be here, yeah. great to have you here. i want to take you back to that day in november 2016 when it became clear donald trump was going to be the next president of the united states. for you, as a long and loyal republican, how did you feel? i guess the emotion would be, "here we go. let's strap in, get ready." because i knew — i'd worked with donald trump in the past, i know what kind of campaign, obviously, he had run over the past 1.5 years, and had predicted his eventual win earlier on. but if i may say so, not in neutralfashion. this is a quote from you after you observed

‘the mooch‘ , as he became known during his short tenure, has been speaking to stephen sackur for bbcs the global community at ease. when he's doing that, ok, some did like don junior myself, we look at that, we laugh. ok. we get thejoke embedded inside of that. we get the sarcasm laced inside of it. we don't micro—analyse it like liberal journalists do and then strike a match to it, we look at it for exactly what it is. when he says he bigger than the other guy's, it's a joke. it's part of his wit, part of his personality. you may not like it but he's 71 years old and he believes, and i also believe, he used twitter to jump over the mainstream media to direct message, to people that voted for him. former white has gamine additions direct anthony scaramucci. to see more of the interview you can watch hardtalk on the bbc news channel at half—past midnight tonight. then it will be on the bbc iplayer. a man who was abused by the former football coach barry bennell has told a court that the former wales manager — gary speed — was one of four men who took their own lives. they'd all been c

iron stephen sackur. written prides itself on its system of justice. sackur.tten prides itself on its system ofjustice. centuries of common law are proudly independent judiciary and a reputation with dumb at full fair dealing which has made itan at full fair dealing which has made it an international centre for dispute arbitration. at our cracks starting to show in a system steeped in tradition? i guessed today, lord neuberger, was until a ship present of the uk supreme court, does the britishjudicial of the uk supreme court, does the british judicial system and 21st century reboot? —— need. lord neuberger, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you are now retired from the supreme court, i dare say that makes it easier for you to speak in public. do you think it is a problem thatjudges in the uk are seen as quite distant from the public they serve? i think, i can quite distant from the public they serve? ithink, i can see quite distant from the public they serve? i think, i can see many things about. —— say. to an extent you have to be remote becausejudges are meant