stephen sackur talks to philanthropist, dame stephanie shirley. welcome to hardtalk. stephen sackur. 80 years ago, hundreds ofjewish 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? 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, i remember losi

i'm stephen sackur. the coronavirus pandemic is a multi—layered global crisis.arts with public health, of course, but it reaches deep into the world economy and the global security system, too. could fears of covid—i9 be used for malign purposes? will this crisis undermine or enhance multilateral institutions? well, my guest today is the secretary general of nato, jens stoltenberg. 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 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

next up, hardtalk, with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.lobal 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. 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. now, he is living in self—isolation in upstate new york, but i'm happy to say he is able to talk to me. 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 engagin

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. my guest 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's 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've 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

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

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

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

i'm stephen sackur. italy is the european country hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.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, doctors had to make desperate decisions about who to prioritise for treatme

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

i'm stephen sackur.h nations 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. thank you very much, stephen. let us start with an overview — as a veteran of fighting disease from malaria to cholera to ebola, you've 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? i was always anxious about this, ever since i first heard about it, and i've got increasingly anxious as the pandemic has gone on. you see, we

i'm stephen sackur. the coronavirus pandemic has given humanity an almighty shock. 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 that we are still in a much better position with regards to infectious diseases then perhaps in any previous time in history since the agricultural revolution. you know, this isn't the middl

i'm stephen sackur.n a collective response. national governments are focused on self interest, not international cooperation, and that could spell disaster

next up, hardtalk, with stephen sackur.

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.

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 cooperate to combat the covid—i9 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 the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. it was very difficult to persua

but speaking to stephen sackur on our hardtalk programme, china‘s ambassador to the uk said, it was thenigeria is extending its lockdown in the capital abuja and main commercial centre, lagos, for another week. but president buhari has said, it will then be gradually eased. however, new measures are being brought in nationwide, including a night curfew. people will also have to wear face masks in public. 0ur nigeria correspondent chi chi izundu reports. from these graves, whispers of rumours started. gravediggers who said they‘d noticed a higher—than—normal number of burials. translation: no, we have never seen anything like this, not since the major cholera outbreak that our parents have told us about — that was 60 years ago. they told us, at that time, they used to run away from the dead bodies, but they will still called to bury the dead. kanu has been in lockdown due to coronavirus for almost two weeks. private healthcare centres, which provide more than half of all healthcare in the state, have closed. testing for covid—19 started in mid april, but it‘s now been suspended for almos