HARDtalk Hall of Fame

Stephen Sackur on the set of HardTalk

HARDtalk - BBC World News' flagship and most watched interview programme - has a weekly global audience of nearly 60 million people.

HARDtalk is a one-on-one 24 minute interview programme which explores global issues and is recorded "as live." It is broadcast on BBC World News, the BBC's international news and information network which prides itself on accuracy and impartiality.

Our presenter

Stephen Sackur is one of the BBC's highest profile and trusted foreign correspondents.

Stephen has had a long and distinguished career at the BBC, having worked in Washington, Brussels and Jerusalem. He has also won numerous awards for his journalism and interviewed some of the world's most powerful figures including US Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Since taking over as HARDtalk's presenter, he has interviewed French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, OPEC Secretary-General Dr Adnan Shihab-Eldin, European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen, German Foreign Minister Joscha Fischer, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the President of Iraq Jalal Talabani, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Poland's Prime Minister amongst others.

A roll call of global leaders on HARDtalk

Stephen with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winners, Al Gore and Rajendra Pachauri

In its ten year history, the programme has assembled an extraordinary roll call of world leaders and global figures including Nelson Mandela, President Carter, President Jacques Chirac, Mikhail Gorbachev, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros Ghali, Benazir Bhutto, Hans Blix, the Dalai Lama, President Vicente Fox, President Alberto Fujimori, President Ricardo Lagos, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and King Hussein of Jordan.

Henry Kissinger, President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Lee Kuan Yew, President Thabo Mbeki, President Robert Mugabe, President Paul Kagame, President Pervez Musharraf, President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Eduard Shevardnadze, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and General Tommy Franks have also appeared on the programme.