president a week after his predecessor was arrested in a corruption probe. hello, and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. the duke and duchess of sussex s highly anticipated tv interview with oprah winfrey is set to air in the us in the next hour. harry and meghan are expected to discuss their new life in the us and their experiences as senior members of the royal family. earlier, the queen spoke of the importance of maintaining a sense of closeness with friends and family. she was among senior royals appearing in a special programme to mark commonwealth day. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. they sing an image of common unity and purpose. yet this is about two different broadcasts and sharply diverging agendas. first, in celebration of the commonwealth. it embraces nearly a third of the world s population and it s been one of the abiding commitments of the queen over the many decades of her reign. tonight, a pre recorded broadcast in which t
welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. the idea of a social contract is a staple of political philosophy, put curedly, it s the ties and obligations that bind the individual, the community and the state. but what happens when that contract is threatened by forces beyond the control of any national government, say, a climate crisis or right now, a global pandemic? my guest is baroness minouche shafik, the director of london school of economics, former top official at the world bank. is humanity capable of collective action to meet global challenges? baroness minouche shafik, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. lovely to be here. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. you have written extensively through a long career as a top economist about the relationship between the individual and the collective, whether it be the community, the nation state or indeed, the wider world. what do you think the covid pandemic has revealed to us about the limitations of, for example,
hello and thanks forjoining us. it s a big night for anyone interested in the royals, because harry and meghan s highly anticipated tv interview with oprah winfrey is just getting under way. it was recorded last month in los angeles. it comes after the duke and duchess of sussex decided to step back as senior members of the british royal family last year. our north america correspondent peter bowes says there is huge interest in the royal family as celebrities but the issue of racism is likely to be discussed. it is an issue but i think also, and just watching some of the commentary over the last few days, many americans are watching this because of the soap opera style interest in the activities of the british royal family. they have watched the crown here, which is raised on a fit dishes interpretation of real life events. i think thatis that is the fishbone through which many people see the royal family. what they are looking at this interview for is some real life and rea
now on bbc news the week in parliament. hello there, and welcome to the week in parliament, where the chancellor sets out his budget to repair the nation s finances after coronavirus. rishi sunak announces an extension to furlough and higher universal credit, but a freeze on tax thresholds and a tax increase for big business. i recognise they might not be popular, but they are honest. but labour reckons the plans fall short of what s needed. what we got was a budget that papered over the cracks rather than rebuilding the foundations. angry exchanges in the scottish parliament as the row over the alex salmond case continues. there s no argument. if nicola sturgeon broke the ministerial code. the argument is only- about how badly she broke it. this is just about desperate political games for the conservatives. also on this programme, cross party condemnation of a planned cut in aid for yemen. and, in a rare appearance before mps, david cameron says his government did plan for
hello and thanks forjoining us. we start with breaking news. the duchess of sussex has told oprah winfrey that she considered taking her own life doing her lowest point while living as a royal. in a wide ranging interview broadcast on cbs, meghan admitted she had been a even her expectations of what royal life would be like. she said things turned against her following an untrue story in the british press that she made her sister in law, the british press that she made hersister in law, kate her sister in law, kate middleton, cry. hersister in law, kate middleton, cry. prince harry said he spoke to the queen about his decision to step down as a senior royal and revealed that his father, charles, had stopped taking his calls. the couple said they were expecting a baby girl. our north america correspondent peter bowesjoins me now. peter, this was two hours of revelation after revelation. take us through the main points, please. points, please. yes. it ended just a few moments