The Interview

With elections approaching in six months, many Kenyans are apprehensive. The last disputed presidential election resulted in violence which claimed 1500 lives. Two of today’s presidential candidates face charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague as a result of their alleged involvement in 2008’s bloodshed. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur talks to one of those men, former education ministe...

In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.

Can the euro be saved? Europe's leaders think so; its central bank says there's no limit to the money it's prepared to spend to defend it. But is their solution in danger of destroying not just a currency but Europe's union, too? Otmar Issing fears so. As one of the most senior officials when the European Central Bank was founded, he helped bring the euro into being. Until this year he advised Ger...

In the lead-up to November's Presidential election in the United States, groups on the right and left are sounding the alarm at the influence of money on US politics. Katya Adler speaks to one guest who knows a lot about that. At the height of his career he made millions as a career lobbyist in Washington, wining, dining and influencing lawmakers. His fall from grace was dramatic and saw him publi...

Europe's economic crisis has pushed its governments further and faster down the road of economic integration than many might have expected. But it is also raising serious questions about countries' individual powers and identity. At a time when the people of Europe say they've never trusted the EU less what is the European Union's ultimate goal - to be a federal super-state or a looser union based...

Kurds in Iraq are growing restless and impatient over the violence and open political rivalries in Baghdad, between Shias and Sunnis. Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region of four million is a haven of relative stability and prosperity and what's more has its own oil riches to exploit. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Ashti Hawrami. For the last six years, he's been Minister for Natural Resources in Kurdistan's...

Have opposition politicians in Zimbabwe learned the lessons of the violent and disputed elections in 2008 in which Robert Mugabe and his party Zanu-PF outmanoeuvred the Movement for Democratic Change, and held onto power. The MDC has since been in an uneasy power-sharing government, in which its main leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is prime minister. But a breakaway MDC faction led by the Commerce and...

Germany's pivotal role in resolving the Eurozone crisis has sparked fierce international discussion but also deep rifts at home. Katya Adler speaks to Hans-Werner Sinn, one of Germany's most influential and controversial economists, who is at the heart of that debate. Recently he joined forces with more than 100 colleagues to oppose any move towards Germany paying for the bank debts of other count...

Chile's economy is booming, growing at a rate which almost echoes that of China. While Chile is the world's largest producer of copper, China the biggest importer - a perfect marriage except that China is losing its appetite. So how will Chile cope? Shaun Ley speaks to the Chilean finance minister, Felipe Larrain, discussing the country's economic future. (Image: Chile Finance Minister Felipe Larr...

To their critics they're publicity hungry blasphemers; to their minds they are feminist punk rockers protesting against what they say is Russian president Vladimir Putin's authoritarianism and sexism. When three members of the Russian band Pussy Riot were jailed in August, there was an international outcry. They were found guilty of hooliganism for staging an illegal performance early this year in...

For years, it's been one of the biggest questions in sport. Did Lance Armstrong - the seven time winner of cycling's greatest race, the Tour de France - dope? Is the man who beat cancer to become one of the greatest sporting figures ever - a cheat? Armstrong has denied wrongdoing. But now a former teammate and roommate of Armstrong's, Tyler Hamilton, has produced the most detailed and wounding set...

The future of the Gulf state of Bahrain remains uncertain after 18 months of street protests inspired by the Arab Spring. Some of the most outspoken Bahraini critics of the ruling Al Khalifa family are behind bars, violent clashes between police and demonstrators continue. Maryam Al Khawaja is a prominent human rights campaigner, whose father was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to overthr...

The 2008 banking crash prompted a prolonged crisis of confidence in the financial institutions and markets that underpin Western capitalism. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic have tried to recalibrate the balance between risk and reward and to encourage genuine wealth creation rather than short term speculation. Xavier Rolet is the CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group. Have financial mar...

The grim threat of renewed conflict hangs over the Democratic Republic of Congo. An armed rebellion in the East - on the Rwandan border - has already forced hundreds of thousands to flee. The DRC army is in disarray and the Kinshasa government has been undermined by allegations of electoral fraud and corruption. Stephen Sackur talks to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raymond Tshibanda. What hope...

Tarek al-Hashimi is in a very strange position: he is Iraq's vice president but right now he is a de facto fugitive in Turkey. He is being tried in absentia on charges of sponsoring death squads inside Iraq. The conflict in Syria is fuelling sectarian tension across the Middle East. In neighbouring Iraq a political and security crisis has deepened in the last year. What hope is there for justice o...

While some Arab states are actively funding the Syrian opposition, the West has publicly refused to provide arms. The US, in particular, has been criticised for its reluctance to get involved beyond talks and diplomacy. Brian Sayers is a lobbyist for a US-based non-profit organisation. The Syrian Support Group has been given the green light by the US Treasury to raise money for the Free Syrian Arm...

Maajid Nawaz is a British born Muslim who became a radical Islamist. He was arrested and imprisoned in Hosni Mubarak's Egypt but when he emerged from prison he renounced his former views and launched a campaign to counter Islamist ideology. To some he's a truth teller, to others a traitor. Stephen Sackur asks him to explain his extraordinary transformation.

Stephen Sackur talks to Rob Davies, South Africa’s Minister for Trade and Industry. The labour unrest in South Africa’s platinum mines has claimed the lives of dozens and produced the kind of violence not seen since apartheid. The strike has driven up the cost of platinum prices and shaken investor confidence. It has also drawn the world’s attention to the low wages and poor working conditions of...

Angélique Kidjo has been hailed as Africa's premier diva, known for her passionate voice and fierce determination to help African girls fulfil their potential. Three decades ago she left her home continent and became an international star. Stephen Sackur asks Kidjo how much Africa and its music scene has changed between then and now. (Image: Angelique Kidjo performing in 2010. Credit: AFP / Getty...

The expenses scandal tarnished those at the very heart of British democracy. Some politicians in the so-called Mother of Parliaments were shown to be greedy and a few criminal. A handful went to jail and one of those is the former Conservative peer and former leader of Essex County Council Lord Hanningfield. So why did he do it? Is there something fundamentally wrong with Britain's political cultu...

Katya Adler speaks to Lord Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympics Association and Director of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games. London 2012 has been a resounding success, applauded at home and abroad, but what can be done to ensure an enduring sporting legacy? British sports are celebrating their best collective performance in over a century. So now that the Games are over,...

Katya Adler speaks to Sharon Bowles, Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. The Eurozone crisis has been a test not only for Europe's politicians but also its institutions. The European Union's response to the economic turbulence in its midst has been criticised as too slow and ineffective. Sharon Bowles is at the heart of the EU’s decision-making process and h...

The United Nations had hoped that by 2015 every child would be able to go to primary school. But the last time they reported on progress to that goal, they said 69 million children were still not getting an education - most of those in sub-Saharan Africa. Michael Barber has advised governments around the world about education. He's now working for the international company Pearson. It recently ann...

London's reputation as a global financial centre has been tarnished yet again. This time another British bank Standard Chartered, stands accused of irregularities. New York's top financial regulator claims the bank carried out $240 billion dollars of illegal transactions with Iran over the past decade. The bank refutes the claim. This latest case follows on the heels of other scandals in the City...

As another wave of financial fear sweeps through the Eurozone, with Spain seemingly staggering towards a bail out and Italy not far behind, the voices of the continents Eurosceptics grow louder. Most prominent among them is Nigel Farage, leader of the UK independence party and self-styled scourge of the EU establishment in his role as a member of the European Parliament. In Europe's crisis he sees...