i'm at stephen sackur. —— i'm stephen sackur. has big ambitions to be a 21st—century regional superpower. it has the right kind of assets in terms of population, natural resources, and strategic position, but there are clouds on the horizon. not least in west papua, the vast territory incorporated into indonesia after the end of dutch colonial rule. for five decades, jakarta has suppressed a papuan independence movement. in recent months tensions have flared into violence. my guest is benny wenda, exiled leader of the west papuan liberation movement. can he take onjakarta and win? benny wenda, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. last month we saw violent clashes between indonesian security personnel and civilians in west papua. there were a number of deaths, some very serious clashes. now the indonesians say the situation is now calm and order has been restored. you are in constant contact with west papua, what do you believe is going on? this situation escalated from jakarta to west papua because of, you know, the indonesian police

i'm stephen sackur.ember the time when the internet was trumpeted as the tech tool that would deliver us a golden age of knowledge, freedom and democracy? well, now we are in a darker, more cynical place. the digital revolution has generated fears about lost privacy, mass surveillance and systemic misinformation. have the corporate titans of tech failed us? well, my guest today is brad smith, president of microsoft. how do we ensure our astonishing technological advances are harnessed for good, not harm? brad smith, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, nice to be here. you have served an extraordinary amount of time at microsoft, the best part of three decades. you have seen the evolution of our attitudes towards information technology and the internet in particular. i have referred to the sort of great positivity, the optimism, in the early years. would you agree that these days, we are much more anxious and fearful about what the internet does, and how it might betray some of our values? i think that's the

welcome to hardtalk, i stephen sackur. remember the time when the internet was trumpeted as the tech tool that would deliver us a golden age of knowledge, freedom and democracy? now, we are in a darker, more cynical place, the digital revolution has generated fears about lost privacy, mass surveillance and systemic misinformation. had the corporate titans of tech failed us? my corporate titans of tech failed us? my guest today is brad smith, president of microsoft. how do we ensure our astonishing technological advances are harnessed for good, not harm? brad smith, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, nice to be here. you have served an extraordinary amount of time at microsoft, the best part of three decades. you have seen the evolution of our attitudes towards information technology and the internet in particular. i refer to the great positivity, the optimism in the early years. would you agree that these days we are much more anxious and fearful about what the internet does, and how it might betray some of our values?” inter

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.n hong kong, extraordinary events have become the norm in the last three months. the territory has become a cockpit of political protest and sporadic violence as many thousands of hong kongers continue to demand democratic reform. my guest is close to the centre of the storm. anson chan was the chief secretary of hong kong during the handover from british to chinese rule. beijing now accuses her of fomenting the protests. is hong kong's fragile status quo irretrievably broken? anson chan, in hong kong, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. in your city, we have seen three months now of street demonstrations and protests. they have become increasingly violent. is your heart and your head still with the protest movement? yes, very much so. i think it is a pity that there is escalating violence, both on the part of the protesters, although involving a very small number of people, but also on the part of the police. the police are increasingly brutal and unrestrained in exercise of their powers.

stephen sackur talks to sea resuce captain carola rackete. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.he number of migrants making the sea crossing from north africa to southern europe has fallen dramatically in the last two years. tragically, the number of deaths hasn't declined as fast, why? well, humanitarian activists blame the anti—migration policies of eu member states led by italy. my guest is carola rackete, who defied the italian authorities to land the rescue ship sea—watch 3 in sicily with 50 migrants onboard. to some she's become humanitarian hero, but will her actions merely encourage more people smuggling and more suffering? carola rackete, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for inviting me. you have emerged from an extraordinary experience earlier this summer, captaining a rescue vessel in the mediterranean, picking up almost 50 or so migrants, ending up docking in italy in defiance of the italian authorities and then in detention for a while. how much of a toll has that experience taken on you? my first experience in this organisation was in 2016, volunteering. se

stephen sackur speaks to dame stephanie shirley. welcome to hardtalk.phen 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 sick,

now on bbc news it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome too hard to talk. i am a stephen sackur. all of the conflicts and tensions in the wider middle east coalesce in the discordant politics of one small state: lebanon. currently a quarter of the lebanese population is made of syrians seeking refuge from war. iran wields huge influence through its sponsorship of the shia islamist group hezbollah, while israel has a history of intervention in its northern neighbour. my guest today is lebanese foreign minister gebran bassil. is his government making lebanon's problems worse? gebran bassil, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. once again, it looks as though lebanon could be drawn in to a dangerous regional conflict. and your government appears to be doing nothing right now to reduce the tension. why is that? actually, we wa nt to tension. why is that? actually, we want to avoid getting into any trouble. our policy is to be disassociated from any conflict in the region but we are obliged to protect our country and we are repeatedly addressed by israeli violations. imagine that in the las

now on bbc news it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.me to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the number of migrants making the sea crossing from north africa to southern europe has fallen dramatically in the last two years. tragically, the number of deaths hasn't declined as fast. why? well, humanitarian activists blamed the anti— migration policies of eu member states, led by italy. my guest defied the italian authorities to land the rescue ships she watch see with 50 migrants on board. to some, she has become a humanitarian hero but will her actions merely encourage more people smuggling and more smuggling? carola rackete, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for inviting me. you have emerged from an extraordinary experience earlier this summer, which involved you captaining a rescue vessel in the mediterranean, picking up almost 50 or so migrants, ending up docking in italy in defiance of the italian authorities and then in detention for a while. how much of a toll has that experience taken on you? well i've first been volunteering in

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.t's tempting to ask what almost two decades of american intervention in afghanistan have achieved. even now, the death toll in the afghan conflict far outstrips the losses in syria and yemen. but the grim statistics tell only a part of afghanistan's story. also important is the testimony of my guest today, kimberley motley, an american lawyer who went to kabul in a training capacity and stayed to become a respected litigator, fighting for the rights of the abused and powerless, especially women. does her experience give grounds for hope or despair? kimberley motley, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me. i want to take you back a little bit. i'm just wondering whatever prompted you as a young lawyer in the united states to sign up for this us government programme to go to afghanistan. it seems quite a remarkable decision to take as a young woman? it definitely was. i went to afghanistan in 2008, basically to train and mentor afghan defence attorneys. prior to going there i was a de

stephen sackur interviews lord falconer. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.tish politics is in full—on meltdown mode. prime minister borisjohnson has lost a series of key votes on brexit, and he's lost his parliamentary majority. he is now seeking a general election in mid—october to let british voters decide whether brexit should happen, come what may, at the end of next month. but will the labour 0pposition agree to a snap poll? well, my guest is former labour cabinet minister lord falconer. is labour in any fit state to win an election, amid britain?s brexit chaos? lord falconer, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. prime minister borisjohnson right now is intent on ending the protracted brexit turmoil, crisis, call it what you will, in westminster. and your party, the labour party, appears to be intent on drawing out, prolonging, that crisis. why? well, i think the conflict between boris, the prime minister, and jeremy, the leader of the opposition, is that before there's any election, the labour party is keen to secure that there cannot be a crashing—out of t

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.xit is stress—testing britain's political and constitutional conventions to the very limit. with prime minister borisjohnson apparently intent on ignoring the will of parliament and exiting the eu at the end of october, the eye of the brexit storm is fast approaching. my guest is heidi allen mp, who quit the conservative party in early 2019 and co—founded a new pro—remain centrist party, but that bid to break the political mould failed. what does her experience tell us about the clarity and coherence of brexit‘s opponents? heidi allen, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you quit the conservative party seven months ago. you clearly wanted to change the dynamic of the brexit debate in the united kingdom. seven months on, are you ready to say you failed? to be honest, i mean, brexit was the catalyst that drew us together, those that jumped was the catalyst that drew us together, those thatjumped at the same time from both labour and conservative but we all had slightly different reasons as w

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.or more than three years, british politics has been convulsed by brexit. we've seen endless parliamentary arguments with no resolution. this week, that may change. prime minister boris johnson's determination to be out of the eu come what may on october the 31st, and his decision to suspend parliament for more than a month starting next week means opponents of a no—deal brexit have just days to thwart him. my guest is conservative mp and ardent brexiteer peter bone. 00:01:37,669 --> 2147483051:37:33,549 is brexit about to break his party 2147483051:37:33,549 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 and britain's democratic reputation? peter bone, welcome to hardtalk. you've been a parliamentarian for, what, 1a years or so. do you accept that parliament must be the alternate —— ultimate arbiter of how britain makes an exit from the european union? no. i mean, under normal circumstances i think parliament must decide. it's sovereign. but according to... but we live in a representative democracy. indeed,

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.or more than three years, british politics has been convulsed by brexit. we've seen endless parliamentary arguments with no resolution. this week, that may change. prime minister boris johnson's determination to be out of the eu come what may on october the 31st, and his decision to suspend parliament for more than a month starting next week means opponents of a no—deal brexit have just days to thwart him. my guest is conservative mp and ardent brexiteer peter bone. is brexit about to break his party and britain's democratic reputation? peter bone, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you've been a parliamentarian for m yea rs you've been a parliamentarian for m years or $0, you've been a parliamentarian for m years or so, do you accept that parliament must be the alternate arbiter of how britain makes an exit from the european union? no. under normal circumstances i think parliament must decide, its sovereign. but we live in a representative moxie. indeed. but parliament decided to delegat

now on bbc news it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, i am stephen sackur. trump presidency has seen us politics become ever more polarised and partisan. but in the words of one commentator, you ain't seen nothing yet. the democrats‘ decision to begin impeachment proceedings based on emerging details of president trump's dealings with the president of ukraine has intensified the political warfare in washington. my guest is anthony scaramucci, former trump cheerleader, briefly his communications director and now an arch critic. is impeachment a trap for the president's opponents? anthony scaramucci in new york city, welcome to hardtalk. it is great to be back with you. democratic leadership, after a lot of agonising, has decided to launch impeachment proceedings, impeachment investigations into resident donald trump. do you believe they have made the right decision? i don't really think it was necessarily a right or wrong decision. i sort of feel it was the only decision. the inspector general whistleblower report is out. i read through it this morning. there

a point stephen sackur put to economy minister bruno le maire, when he appeared on hardtalk earlier thist earlier this year. seems, not for the first time in france, it seems, not for the first time in france, that the ambitions of a reformist president has been dashed by the french population. we've been here before. but we will stick to the path of reforms and transformation for one single reason... but you've already started u—turns! single reason... but you've already started u-turns! we were elected on that promise of transformation reforms and full overhaul of the french economic model so that we will get more prosperity and more fairness. george buckley is co—head of european economics at nomura. thanks very much joining thanks very muchjoining me, george. george, macron came to power to sort out the public finances and he's been entirely derailed from doing that. does that matter and is that fair? should we bejudging him by election promises when france is a very different country these days? they've never worried about the deficits in the past. looking at the deficits in the pas

i'm stephen sackur.tish prime minister borisjohnson has positioned himself as the country's brexit champion, but his pledge to take britain out of the eu on 31 october is in trouble. parliament has passed a law requiring him to seek a deadline extension from the eu so either he negotiates a new exit deal in short order, or he attempts to defy the law. how is this british melodrama being viewed in europe? my guest is french mep and former europe minister, nathalie loiseau. has eu patience with british indecision run out? theme music plays. nathalie loiseau, in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. hello. i want to pick you up on something you said yesterday, in fact, you talked of a "brexit madness". how would you characterise this madness? who exactly is mad? well, first and foremost, i would say that, even if we respect the decision of the british people, we still regret it very much because, at a moment in history where there is a need for unity, where we have big powers throughout the globe which are not alw

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.th africa's mandela—led liberation struggle against white rule gave the country a special place in african hearts but continent wide respect and admiration is dwindling and south africa has again witnessed a surge in violent, xenophobic attacks on african migrants. my guest today is south africa's minister for international relations, naledi pandor, she is a longtime servant of the anc but is the anc failing to serve the south african people? minister naledi pandor in cape town, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much and good afternoon. minister, your country, south africa today looks desperately ill at ease with itself. would you agree? no, i don't think so. i don't think ill at ease, i think south africa is confronted by many very difficult and challenging problems. but given its history, i'm not surprised that it is confronted by these problems. so i wouldn't characterise us in the way that you have, but i certainly admit that we are facing very deep and complex challenges, that w

now on bbc news, stephen sackur speaks to microsoft's president brad

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.