Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News presenter and correspondent, speaks to Muhammad Yunus, interim leader of Bangladesh.

The 84-year-old is perhaps one of the world’s best-known Bangladeshis. Described as the banker to the world’s poor, he gained international recognition as a Nobel prize-winning economist, who founded the Grameen microfinance bank, which delivered small loans to economically deprived people.

It was a model applauded by many and is one which now operates across more than 100 countries worldwide.

But it’s also a model which was criticised by his political rival - Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who accused Mr Yunus of sucking blood from the poor. Her government made a series of allegations against him, including embezzlement, all of which he denies.

And it was the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina’s government last August that saw Muhammad Yunus thrust into the political spotlight.

Student-led protests saw thousands take to the streets in an uprising against her Awami league government, which was accused of election rigging, human rights abuses and jailing critics.

When Ms Hasina fled to neighbouring India, student leaders picked Muhammad Yunus to unite a divided nation. As well as promising to stamp out corruption, he’s also faced the challenges of managing a refugee crisis on his doorstep and navigating cuts to foreign aid.

So, after nearly a year in the job, how is he faring?

Presenter: Rajini Vaidyanathan

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(Image: Muhammad Yunus. Credit: Reuters/Yves Herman)

James Copnall, presenter of the BBC’s Newsday, speaks to Yoshua Bengio, the world-renowned computer scientist often described as one of the godfathers of artificial intelligence, or AI.

Bengio is a professor at the University of Montreal in Canada, founder of the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute - and recipient of an A.M. Turing Award, “the Nobel Prize of Computing”.

AI allows computers to operate in a way that can seem human, by using programmes that learn vast amounts of data and follow complex instructions. Big tech firms and governments have invested billions of dollars in the development of artificial intelligence, thanks to its potential to increase efficiency, cut costs and support innovation.

Bengio believes there are risks in AI models that attempt to mimic human behaviour with all its flaws. For example, recent experiments have shown how some AI models are developing the capacity to deceive and even blackmail humans, in a quest for their self-preservation.

Instead, he says AI must be safe, scientific and working to understand humans without copying them.

Presenter: James Copnall

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(Image: Yoshua Bengio. Credit: Craig Barritt/Getty)

James Coomarasamy, presenter of the BBC’s Newshour and The World Tonight, speaks to Mike Huckabee, US Ambassador to Israel.

He’s an Evangelical Christian, who has backed the presence of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, which are considered illegal under international law - although Israel rejects this.

Some opposition politicians in the US have been critical of his appointment and previous statements he’s made about the ongoing war in Gaza.

One Democratic senator said Huckabee was "woefully unfit" for the role and accused him of engaging in "brazen denial of the existence of the Palestinian people".

But during questioning by a US Senate committee, Huckabee played down some of his past statements, saying he would "carry out the president's priorities", not his, and denied backing the expulsion of Palestinians.

He takes up the role amid growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and pressure for more humanitarian aid to reach the territory. Despite a number of proposals put forward by the international community, there does not yet appear to be a realistic prospect of an end to the conflict.

Presenter: James Coomarasamy

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(Image: Mike Huckabee. Credit: John Taggart/Bloomberg via Getty Images.)

Waihiga Mwaura, presenter of the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme, speaks to Microsoft co-founder and global philanthropist, Bill Gates.

Mr. Gates, who is 69 years old, announced last month that he plans to give away 99% of his vast fortune over the next 20 years, predominately through his Gates Foundation. The foundation has already given over 100 billion dollars since being established 25 years ago.

He built his vast personal wealth through the software giant Microsoft, which he co-founded back in 1975. Mr. Gates has gradually stepped back from the company in recent decades, first resigning as its chief executive in 2000 and then later as its chairman in 2014.

This has allowed him to turn his attention to global philanthropy, with a particular focus on health initiatives in lower-income countries.

But Mr. Gates fears this work could be at risk as wealthier countries cut back on their own international aid commitments.

Presenter: Waihiga Mwaura

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(Image: Bill Gates. Credit: Reuters)

Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent, speaks to Carsten Breuer, the German chief of defence.

General Carsten Breuer gives his assessment of the threat that Russia poses to the Western alliance Nato. He says that Russia is building up its forces to an "enormous extent" and says that members of the alliance need to prepare for a possible attack from Russia within the next four years, according to assessments from defence analysts. He cites recent attacks on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, and unidentified drones spotted over German power stations and other infrastructure, as possible evidence that Russia is continuously looking for weaknesses in the defence capabilities of Western countries. Russia has denied involvement in these incidents. General Breuer argues that Nato members should build up their militaries, and that European nations should consider security a baseline for prosperity and development.

Presenter: Frank Gardner

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(Image: General Carsten Breuer. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Tom Fletcher, Chief of Humanitarian Affairs for the United Nations, tells Fergal Keane, the BBC’s special correspondent, that Israel is subjecting Gaza to enforced starvation. Gaza faced an aid blockade of nearly three months - now, limited supplies of food, medicine and fuel are being allowed into the territory. But Israel argues Hamas is stealing food aid.

Mr Fletcher has drawn criticism himself for some of the claims he has made about the impact of the blockade, which were retracted by the UN. Now, he says he regrets his choice of words.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Fergal Keane

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Simon Jack, the BBC’s business editor, speaks to Matt Garman, chief executive of Amazon Web Services - part of the retail giant Amazon, and the world’s largest cloud computing company.

Mr Garman started his career at AWS as an intern, and has risen to oversee a global network of huge data centres, providing IT resources for businesses worldwide. In this conversation, he shares his vision for the future of big tech through cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and the potential for economic growth and opportunity he believes they hold.

He also sets out his support for the role for nuclear technology in powering the data centres at that sit at the heart of big tech - and the risks of over-regulation, dismissing claims that the industry is uncompetitive and dominated by huge corporations such as his.

Presenter: Simon Jack

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Tim Franks speaks to a British-Syrian Alawite who came under attack, along with her family, during the sectarian violence on Syria’s coast in March.

The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam and its followers make up around 10 per cent of Syria's population, which is majority Sunni.

The recent violence came after fighters loyal to the country's overthrown former president, Bashar al-Assad, who is an Alawite himself, led deadly raids on the new government’s security forces.

Those attacks resurrected deep-seated anger over Assad’s repressive dictatorship, with Alawite civilians seen by some as complicit in the crimes of his regime - and as part of the insurgency that followed his fall.

The new Sunni Islamist-led government had called for support from various military units and militia groups to respond to the attacks on its security forces – which then escalated into a wave of sectarian anger aimed at Alawite civilians.

Human rights groups estimate that around 900 civilians, mainly Alawites, were killed by pro-government forces across Syria's coastal region in early March.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Tim Franks

BBC Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale speaks to Dovilė Šakalienė, Lithuania’s Defence Minister.

The Baltic nation, along with its neighbours Latvia and Estonia, share a border with Russia, and have nervously watched the invasion of Ukraine, fearing they could be next.

All three countries have had turbulent relationships with their much larger neighbour, Russia. They were annexed by the Soviet Union during the Second World War, and were subject to decades of rule from Moscow up until the end of the Cold War.

In 2004, Lithuania joined both the European Union and Nato, and just over a decade later, adopted the Euro as its currency. But despite looking westwards, the country has always kept one eye on developments over its eastern border in Russia.

Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014 set off alarm bells in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia began in 2022, Lithuania and its neighbours began fearing and preparing for the worst..

Presenter: Jonathan Beale

In an interview from the BBC’s This Cultural Life, presenter John Wilson speaks to the Colombian artist Doris Salcedo.

A childhood growing up amid the political violence of Colombia led to career dedicated to giving voice to the victims of conflict, visiting concentration camps, mass graves and abandoned villages. She says she wants to place herself where there is nothing left but loss.

Presenter: John Wilson

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