The Interview

Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium is the venue for the Fifa World Cup final in 2018 – at least it is if Russia retains its status as host nation to the World’s biggest sporting event. The decision to award the next two World cups to Russia then Qatar is now being investigated by the authorities in Switzerland and the US. Stephen Sackur asks the chief of Russia’s world cup organising committee, Alexei Sorokin, what are the odds on the World Cup actually making it to Moscow?

(Photo: Alexei Sorokin, CEO, Russian world cup organising committee. BBC copyright)

Barack Obama is due to visit Kenya - his father's homeland - next month. When Obama came to power as the first African-American president of the US, hopes were high in Africa that the continent would bask in his reflected glory and enjoy a new focus in US foreign policy. Zeinab Badawi talks to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Assistant-Secretary of State for African Affairs and asks does Obama have a vision for Africa?

(Photo: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Assistant-Secretary of State for African Affairs. BBC copyright)

China has been accused by Washington of bullying its neighbours in the South China Sea over disputed territory there. Washington is seeking a new trade pact in Asia that excludes Beijing, whilst China is spending hundreds of billions in investment projects across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, extending its economic power the world over. Hardtalk’s Zeinab Badawi talks to one of China's most senior diplomats Ambassador Wu Jianmin. Is China the world's new superpower?

(Photo: Ambassador Wu Jianmin. BBC copyright)

Stephen Sackur speaks to an Irish writer whose intense, lyrical novels have won him awards, acclaim and most importantly millions of readers around the world. Colm Tóibín is not so much a flamboyant storyteller, he is more an acute observer of character and the deepest human feelings. There are recurring themes in his work - loss, mourning, exile, which might suggest a dark, brooding presence - but how close is that to the real Colm Tóibín?

West Africa has perhaps lulled outsiders into a false sense of security. The regional economy has grown fast and key countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal have embraced democratic transitions. But, the appearance of stability may be illusory. Boko Haram's militant insurgency threatens not just Nigeria, but neighbouring states. Poverty, corruption and repression are still endemic. Stephen Sackur speaks to the UN's Special Representative for West Africa Mohamed Ibn Chambas. How fragile is West Africa?

(Photo: Mohamed Ibn Chambas in conference, in Khartoum, 2014. Credit: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images)

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

When the self-styled Islamic State movement took control of Ramadi, capital of Iraq's Anbar province, it was another humiliation for the Baghdad government. Another discomforting development for the United States which has bombed IS, but failed to neutralise the jihadi threat. Stephen Sackur talks to Emma Sky, a British woman who was a senior adviser to the US military in Iraq until 2010. Where do the roots of the current mess lie and what should America and the West be doing now?

(Photo: Emma Sky, former adviser to the US in Iraq)

The ANC has come under fire for its response to the xenophobic violence which left seven people dead. Some critics say the government’s response was too slow and neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi expressed outrage at the treatment of their citizens and were quick to remind South Africa of the outside help that was given to them during the years of the anti-apartheid struggle. Stephen Sackur is in Pretoria to talk to Minister of Traditional Affairs, Pravin Gordhan. In the aftermath of the recent violence what is the ANC doing to ensure the violence doesn’t flare again and is the legacy of Nelson Mandela being betrayed?

(Photo: Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Traditional Affairs, South Africa. Credit: Roger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images)

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