The presidential election in Afghanistan was drawn-out and controversial. The man who emerged as the winner is a United States-trained anthropologist who is described by friends as one of the world's leading intellectuals. Ashraf Ghani was born in Afghanistan, studied in Lebanon and the United States, and worked for years for the World Bank. As finance minister of Afghanistan he fell out with President Karzai and most of his colleagues - the same friends who point to his intellectual capacity and moral integrity also acknowledge his ferocious temper. Humility is another word that's often mentioned - it is said that he is never happier than when sitting cross-legged drinking tea with tribal elders in the Afghan provinces. But can he turn his intellectual vision into political reality at this vital moment of transition in Afghanistan?Presenter: Becky Milligan
Producer: Tim Mansel.
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Folge vom 06.12.2014Ashraf Ghani
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Folge vom 29.11.2014Arminka HelicOne of the less likely political partnerships of recent years has been that of the Conservative Foreign Secretary William Hague and the Hollywood actor and director Angelina Jolie. They joined forces three years ago to campaign against rape as a weapon of war, and jointly hosted an international conference in London last summer. This week Mark Coles profiles the woman who brought them together; a refugee from Bosnia who has just taken her seat in the House of Lords. She is Arminka Helic, for ten years a special adviser to William Hague. Hague himself tells us how in 2011 Helic brought Jolie's film "In The Land of Blood and Honey" to him, a film that portrays the tactical use of mass rape against civilians. Helic told him it was a film he needed to watch. Producers: Tim Mansel and Hannah Moor.
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Folge vom 22.11.2014Grace MugabeGrace Mugabe has been an almost silent figure at her husband, Robert Mugabe's side for almost two decades. Now she is starting to flex her own political muscles, which some are interpreting as a bid for the Presidency. But does she have the skill and the support to secure the top job and a Mugabe dynasty? In December she will head Zanu-PF's Women's League which will make her one of the most powerful people in Zimbabwe's governing party. Jo Fidgen questions how much 'soft' power she already has over her husband and whether she makes a credible political leader?
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Folge vom 15.11.2014Benedict CumberbatchAn insight into man of the moment, Benedict Cumberbatch. Code-breaker, physicist, Victorian sleuth. Overnight he became an object of obsession with a Cumber-cult following of adoring fans, spawning internet memes and slash fiction fantasies. What is it about Benedict Cumberbatch that makes the world go weak at the knees?