Hardtalk

Afghanistan is reckoned to be one of the worst places on Earth to be a woman. Forced early marriage, high maternal mortality rates and little secondary education. Hardtalk talks to Dr Sima Samar, a medical doctor, educator and Chairperson of Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission. Ten years ago she also became her country’s first ever Minister for Women’s Affairs. She has been a pioneer for human rights in Afghanistan but does she have the right strategy to win greater freedoms for Afghan women?(Image: Sima Samar, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The politics of Palestine are in a state of flux. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the stalwarts of his Fatah movement face a crisis of credibility; they've been outmanoeuvred in recent weeks by the hardliners in Hamas whose message is defiance, not diplomacy. Hardtalk speaks with the Palestinian Authority envoy to the European Union Leila Shahid. Is the game up for Palestine's old guard moderates?(Image: Leila Shahid, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

To Britain it's the Falklands, to Argentina the Malvinas. Thirty years ago, the two countries went to war over these islands in the South Atlantic. Now they can smell oil - eight billion barrels worth is being drilled for this year. Is that why Buenos Aires and London are trading insults once again? Jan Cheek is one of the leaders of the 3000 islanders who are about to be asked to vote on whether there should be negotiations with Argentina. She says no but by what right do the Islanders insist they should stay linked to a country on the other side of the world? And for how much longer will the British be prepared to pay the military and diplomatic bill?

HARDtalk travels to Oslo for the annual Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. This year, the prize has been awarded to the European Union which has, according to the panel "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe". José Manuel Barroso has been President of the European Commission since 2004. With the continent’s economic future increasingly uncertain, and as austerity bites, is he confident of a peaceful future for the European Union?(Image: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Renault has been long regarded as a jewel in the crown of French industry. But Renault has lost much of its lustre. Despite joining forces with the Japanese giant Nissan, Renault has seen sales and profits slump which is making the French government nervous. Carlos Ghosn is the CEO of Renault and Nissan. He turned Nissan’s fortunes around but can he do the same for Renault?(Image: Carlos Ghosn, Credit: Getty Images)

Mike Newell is responsible for box office hits like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He could make almost any film he wants. So why choose his latest movie - a remake of the classic Dickens novel Great Expectations. What more is there to add when there have already been so many adaptions?(Image: Mike Newell, Credit: Getty Images)

The United States is about to become the world's largest producer of oil and gas. Quite remarkable for a country that only a few years ago was the world's largest importer of gas. It's a turnaround made possible by shale and it comes at a time of rapidly increasing demand from China, India and the Middle East. Peter Voser is the boss of Royal Dutch Shell one of the biggest energy companies in the world. With economies so thirsty for power, producers are being driven to new frontiers - but at what cost?(Image: Peter Voser, Credit: Getty Images)

How far will Barack Obama go in taking on critics who say the United States has abandoned its role as the global champion of human rights? America's counter-terrorism measures after 9/11 - including targeted killings and indefinite periods of detention without trial - have angered many. Former President Jimmy Carter has said the US has now lost its moral authority as a result. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Jeh Johnson, the General Counsel of the US Defense Department, the Pentagon's top lawyer and a close ally of Barack Obama.(Image: Jeh Johnson. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

Zeinab Badawi speaks to the British businessman Michael Woodford, who rose to become chief-executive of one of the most iconic Japanese companies - the camera and medical equipment maker, Olympus. He then exposed fraud at the heart of its leadership and was sacked after 30 years of service. Three bosses of the Tokyo-based company subsequently admitted he was right and it emerged they had hidden $1.7 billion in investment losses, dating back to the 1990s. What does his case tell us about business culture, corporate scandals and whistle-blowing today?

It has become known as the 'Marikana massacre', when 34 people were killed as police in South Africa opened fire on striking miners. For many it had echoes of Sharpeville in 1960, one of the defining events which opened the world's eyes to the consequences of apartheid. For Frans Baleni, General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Marikana is a challenge - not just to his union - but to the whole post-apartheid political system in which the NUM has been a key player. Eighteen years after black South Africans won legal equality, is the violence evidence that the system has failed all but a tiny political elite?(Image: Hundreds of people attend a memorial service for the people killed in a wildcat strike at Lonmin's Marikana mine. Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/GettyImages)

Greenpeace has campaigned against environmental degradation, for more than 40 years. This month it’s mobilising its activists to make a stand on saving the planet at the UN climate change conference in Doha. Four decades on and with global warming slipping down the agenda – is anyone listening to what Greenpeace have to say? Hardtalk talks to South African Kumi Naidoo – executive director of Greenpeace International. Doesn’t his organisation need a new bold vision to make an impact – and if so – what is it? (Image: Kumi Naidoo, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

HARDtalk travels to the Jordanian capital Amman, just 100km north of the Syrian border. Three months ago Riad Hijab crossed that border and became the most senior Syrian government official to defect from the regime of President Bashar al Assad. He had been appointed Prime Minister by President Assad in June, but six weeks later he fled. Why? And is there a role for Baathist defectors in Syria's future?(Image: Riad Hijab in front of a number of microphones, Credit: AFP/Getty)

Hardtalk speaks to the original tree hugger. The phrase was coined back in the 1970s when she - along with a group of women in India - hugged trees to stop them from being chopped down. In the decades since, Vandana Shiva has become known throughout the world for her environmental campaigns. She says a billion people go hungry in the world because of the way greedy international companies go about their business. So is it a naïve world view or could we really end poverty and improve everyone's life by returning to old fashioned ways of farming?(Image: Vandana Shiva hugging a tree, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

James Cracknell is a former Olympic rowing champion who has performed astonishing feats of endurance from the Sahara to Antarctica. But his toughest challenge has come by accident, not design. Two years ago his skull was smashed by a truck as he cycled across America. Miraculously he survived and his body healed, but his brain suffered significant damage. How has he responded to a test which changed his personality and his life?

Poland’s economy is growing, as is its diplomatic clout. The Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has backed Germany's vision of much deeper EU integration. But do Poles really want to cede their hard won sovereignty to Brussels and Berlin?

Ukraine's just held parliamentary elections. A cause for celebration, and the flowering of democracy in a former Soviet republic? Not if you read the reports of international election monitors or hear the comments of the world's top diplomats. So eight years after the Orange Revolution, with some of the government's leading critics serving long sentences in jail, has Ukraine made its choice? Is it in effect turning its back on the offer of membership of the EU, the club of Europe?

Hardtalk is in Cairo to assess the state of Egypt's post-revolutionary politics. Right now, the report card is decidedly mixed. Egypt has a democratically-elected president but arguments over the framing of a new constitution have sparked clashes between rival Islamist and secular activists in Tahrir Square. Stephen Sackur speaks to Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and asks is the new Egyptian government living up to the promise of the Tahrir revolution?(Image: Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil. Credit: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/GettyImages)

The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize for fostering unity in Europe, but the award was made during the current EU presidency of its only divided member - Cyprus. Since 1974 the island has been partitioned between its Turkish-occupied north and the Republic of Cyprus which joined the EU eight years ago.Cyprus is also presiding over the biggest crisis in the EU's history - a potential financial meltdown triggered by indebted nations like Greece and Cyprus itself. Zeinab Badawi talks to Andreas Mavroyiannis the deputy minister for European Affairs for Cyprus. Does he believe the peace prize is a shot in the arm for the EU that will help boost its confidence and bring vital momentum in finding a blueprint for recovery?

Next Tuesday’s US Presidential Election promises to be the closest since the Bush/Gore race ended in a dispute over hanging chads a dozen years ago. And Barack Obama could yet join the list of underwhelming one-term presidents. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to a veteran Democratic party consultant and campaign strategist, Bob Shrum, and asks why President Obama is struggling to rekindle the enthusiasm he generated four years ago.(Image: Bob Shrum, Credit: Getty Images)

Mitt Romney and his Republican advisers claim momentum is on their side as the US presidential election enters the final stretch. Their unrelenting focus is on the ailing US economy and their claim that a Romney administration would rebuild America as a low tax, small government engine of economic enterprise. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Grover Norquist, founder of the advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform - one of the most influential figures in Republican politics. Just how credible is the Romney rescue plan for America?