now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.onal criminal court's arrest warrant for vladimir putin on war crimes charges represents a massive boost for advocates of internationaljustice, or does it? moscow has dismissed the move as political and a significant number of governments and people around the world appear to agree. and, of course, putin will not be removed from office, still less arrested. well, my guest is the world renowned human rights lawyer geoffrey robertson. is the campaign for global cooperation to uphold international law and human rights going backwards? geoffrey robertson, welcome to hardtalk. how big a deal is the icc�*s decision to charge vladimir putin with war crimes and issue an arrest warrant? it's very important because it has removed a credibility that he would otherwise have had. he is banned now from 123 countries. so, in addition, he may well end up in the hague, not soon, of course, but in years to come, there may be a coup and he may, like milosevic, be handed overfor... to ease sanctions. he m

i'm stephen sackur.oday, i'm in wiltshire, southern england — farming country — where the serene rural views belie deepening economic anxiety. �*cos right now, agriculture is under enormous pressure. spiralling costs, shortages of labour and a demand that farmers produce more at less cost to the environment. my guest today is minette batters. she farms right here. she's also president of the national farmers�* union. as a society, are we asking our farmers for the impossible? minette batters, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it's a great pleasure to be on yourfarm. and the sun is shining and, in some ways, you would think the sun would be shining on farmers. food prices are spiralling higher. you would think that would be good news for farmers. is it? it's — it's quite extraordinary. i don't think, in my lifetime, i've ever faced into anything like the cost inflation that we're facing with our inputs now. so, we're seeing triple digit inflation on — on fertiliser, we've seen diesel costs up

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ed quite a lot. words can bind us together or push us apart. in a sense, we are all wordsmiths, but many of us shy away from the art form that best harnesses the power of words — poetry. but not my guest today. john cooper clarke was once dubbed "the punk poet".

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. they say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.the european union and nato that one member state, hungary, is undermining their collective cohesion. hungary is a consistent outlier on many issues, from supporting ukraine with weapons and sanctions to welcoming sweden into nato. my guest is hungary's foreign minister, peter szijjarto.

welcome to hardtalk from berlin, i'm stephen sackur. mother of all political shocks to germany's elite. suddenly, russian energy supplies could not be relied upon, and germany's traditional foreign policy—making principle —

i'm stephen sackur.putin on war crimes charges represents a massive boost for advocates of internationaljustice, or does it? moscow has dismissed the move as political and a significant number of governments and people around the world appear to agree. and, of course, putin will not be removed from office, still less arrested.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. views belie deepening economic anxiety. because right now agriculture is under enormous pressure. spiralling costs, shortages of labour, and a demand that farmers produce more at less cost to the environment. my guest today is minette batters, she farms right here,

welcome to hardtalk from berlin, i'm stephen sackur.red the mother of all political shocks to germany's elite. suddenly, russian energy supplies could not be relied upon, and germany's traditional foreign policy—making principle — putting business first, not military power — well, suddenly it looked like weakness. chancellor 0laf scholz promised dramatic change. my guest is state secretary for economic cooperation niels annen.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.rmination to be in belfast and dublin to mark the 25th anniversary of northern ireland's good friday peace agreement, comes as no surprise the us government continues to use its transatlantic leverage to try to ensure the peace holds, despite political tensions in northern ireland.

i'm stephen sackur.an we trust; facts, data points, original open sources, they're all powerful weapons in this information war and that is why my guest today, christo grozev, bases his investigative journalism in digital detective work. he is bellingcat�*s lead russia investigator and the cause of serial

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. west africa's sahel region has long faced enormous challenges, poor governance, extreme poverty and environmental degradation, to name but three. but it also has a proud tradition of giving cultural riches to the world and my guest today is baaba maal, a world—renowned musician whose roots lie in northern senegal. his voice, guitar and rhythms have won him worldwide acclaim over five decades. he sometimes labelled the voice of the sahel. but how much influence can that voice yield? baaba maal, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. well, it's great to have you back in this hardtalk studio. now, you have a new album out, being — your first for several years — and i was interested to see the other day you describe yourself these days as an elder. does it mean your music is sort of changing as you gain more and more experience and wisdom? it's not changing at all. it's just coming to this natural way of playing music. maybe it's a kind of reflecting of the first way i was writing songs, where i

i'm stephen sackur. vladimir putin's all—out invasion of ukraine delivered the mother of all political shocks to germany's elite. suddenly russian energy supplies could not be relied upon and germany's traditional foreign policy principle, putting business first, not military power, suddenly looked like weakness. chancellor olaf scholz promised dramatic change. my guest is the state secretary for economic cooperation niels annen. so has germany got a new strategic vision? niels annen, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure. it is great to be here. let's start with the war in ukraine. i think there is no doubt that putin's invasion of ukraine shocked germany. would it be fair to say it has also destabilised germany? no, i don't think so but it certainly shocked germany because a lot of our economic model was based on the assumption that we would continue using cheap russian natural gas and it was also based in a kind of historic, i want to say historic experience that although russia was a competitor an

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. they say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. in that context, there are growing concerns in both the european union and nato that one member state, hungary, is undermining their collective cohesion. hungary is a consistent outlier on many issues, from supporting ukraine with weapons and sanctions to welcoming sweden into nato. my guest is hungary's foreign minister, peter szijjarto. will hungary pay a price for its defiance? foreign minister peter szijjarto in budapest, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for the invitation again, iam happy to be here again. it is a pleasure to have you back on the programme, mr szijjarto. let me start with simple question. a terrible war has been raging in ukraine for more than a year as a result of the russian military invasion. who do you in hungary, want to see when that more? we want this war are to be finished, to be stopped as soon as possible because this war takes place in our neighbourhood and you can imagine that if there is a war in your neighbourhood the impacts of the war are be

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ironmental degradation, to name but three. but it also has a proud tradition of giving cultural riches to the world and my guest today is baaba maal,

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. givenjoe biden�*s pride in his irish roots, his determination to be in belfast and dublin to mark the 25th anniversary of northern ireland's good friday peace agreement, it comes as no surprise the us government continues to use its transatlantic leverage to try to ensure the peace holds, despite political tensions in northern ireland. my guest is us congressman richard neal, a democrat and co—chair of the friends of ireland caucus group. to what extent is the wider us—uk relationship tied to the situation in northern ireland? congressman richard neal in springfield, massachusetts, welcome to hardtalk. pleased to be with you. well, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. what doesjoe biden�*s determination to be on the island of ireland to mark this 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, what does it tell us about the priority he puts on doing what he can to maintaining the solidity of the peace there? well, i think it's a historic anniversary and i think america served as an

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. there is no mistaking the deep sense of unease hanging over israel. the death toll in the conflict of the palestinians has surged in recent months just as israel's far—right nationalist government led by benjamin netanyahu has been rocked by mass protests and civil disobedience at home and unprecedented criticism from allies overseas. my guest is a member of parliament in mr netanyahu's likud party, and former minister, danny danon. is the great survivor netanyahu nowjeopardising the future of israel? danny danon injerusalem, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me, stephen. it is a pleasure to have you on the show. would you agree that right now israel appears to be in a very perilous position? you have deep political turmoil at home and a security crisis at the very same time. the former makes it more difficult to deal with the latter, doesn't it? well, it is never boring here in israel. we are a very dynamic democracy and as you mentioned we don't have the best neighbours in t

i'm stephen sackur. points, original open sources, all powerful weapons in this war and that is why my guest today, christo grozev, bases his investigative journalism in

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. there — i've just used seven words and communicated quite a lot. words can bind us together or push us apart. in a sense, we are all wordsmiths, but many of us shy away from the art form that best harnesses the power of words — poetry. but not my guest today. john cooper clarke was once dubbed "the punk poet". all his life, he has used words, rhythm and rhyme to find humour and truth in the chaos of everyday life. thanks to the internet, one of his poems has become a worldwide viral sensation. so, where does his word magic come from? john cooper clarke, welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen. it's great to have you here, john. ijust read your memoir and one of the first sentences in it is this one — "all my life, all i ever wanted to be was a professional poet." now, i've heard of kids who want to be train drivers, professional footballers, but very rare to find a kid who always knew he wanted to be a poet. how come? when i say "always," i guess from the age of 12 i became enamoured of p

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. they say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.lect of cohesion. hungary is a consistent outlier on many issues from supporting ukraine with weapons and sanctions to

i'm stephen sackur. finding your voice as a writer, cutting through the cacophony of noise in 21st—century culture is not easy. it helps if you have a talent for writing. it also helps if you have something to say which is powerful, authentic and confronts tough questions about the human condition. my guest, american writer and academic roxane gay, has most definitely cut through with her books, which include unflinching testimony on the impact of being raped, on fatness and the meaning of feminism. how scary is this level of self—exposure? roxane gay, welcome to hardtalk. stephen, thank you for having me. well, it's a great pleasure to have you here. you've written with extraordinary candour about your own life... i have. ..and it strikes me that writing about it — presumably a solitary occupation — is one thing but then, speaking about it in public is quite another. it is, it is. over the years, has the speaking about it become easier? it has. i'm actually afraid of public speaking, and that's why i'm

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.vironmental degradation, to name but three —— sahel. but it also has a proud tradition of giving cultural riches to the world and my guest

i'm stephen sackur. in a world awash with information and disinformation, who and what can we trust? fact, data points, original open sources — they are all powerful weapons in this information war. and that's why my guest today, christo grozev, bases his investigative journalism in digital detective work. he is bellingcat�*s lead russia investigator and the cause of serial embarrassment to the kremlin with his revelations about the poisoning of alexei navalny and other russian military and intelligence operations. he says he follows the facts wherever they lead, but what's his motivation? christo grozev in washington dc, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it's a pleasure. now, alexei navalny famously described you once as "just a bulgarian nerd with a laptop". since he said that, you've become the joint winner of an oscar. you are in the international limelight as an investigative journalist. does all of this attention make yourjob harder? well, not necessarily. i was oblivious of

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.estinians has surged in recent months just as israel's far—right

i'm stephen sackur.if you have a talent for writing. it also helps if you have something to say which is powerful, authentic and confronts tough questions about the human condition. my guest, american writer and academic roxane gay,

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. to mark the 25th anniversary of northern ireland's good friday peace agreement, it comes as no surprise the us government continues to use its transatlantic leverage to try to ensure the peace holds, despite political tensions in northern ireland.