Profile Folgen

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is at the centre of a storm over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.This week the Crown Prince broke his silence and denounced the killing. But with Donald Trump calling it “the worst cover up ever” and Western leaders threatening sanctions, will his path to the Saudi throne be blocked? Helen Grady finds out how the young prince – now aged 33 – came to power so quickly. A Washington-based analyst tells us why he’d argue the Crown Prince is a reformer, but not the kind the West thought he’d be. And we talk to a Middle East expert about whether she thinks the Khashoggi killing has damaged Mohammed bin Salman’s reputation. Producers Smita Patel & Oliver Jones Editor Penny Murphy

Government minister Esther McVey has become a lightening rod for anger about benefit cuts and welfare reform. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions knows all about financial struggle, starting out in life as a foster child. Mark Coles finds out how the former presenter has gone from a breakfast TV sofa to the front benches of the House of Commons. In a rare interview, Esther’s father Jim tells us why he decided to put his daughter into care, and how he helped kick-start her on-screen career. We find out what a former producer really thinks of her, and her partner Conservative MP Philip Davies reveals what made him fall for Esther.

British blogger Eliot Higgins and his investigative website Bellingcat have been making headlines around the world this week with claims that they’ve uncovered the true identities of two Russian men suspected of carrying out a nerve agent attack in Salisbury. Not tourists as the Kremlin maintains – but highly decorated members of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. Higgins – isn’t your typical journalist. A former video gamer, in the past he’s worked for a bank, an oil rig company even a lingerie firm. Unlike old-school foreign correspondents, he uses ‘armchair analytics’ – what he calls ‘open source’ materials like Facebook, twitter and Google earth to try to uncover what’s really going on in far away conflicts. Chemical weapons in Syria, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine and most recently the attempted poisoning of Sergei and Julia Skripal in Salisbury, he’s had one scoop after another. On Profile this week, Mark Coles tries to discover more about the man.His brother Ross Higgins, gives us his first ever broadcast interview. Guardian journalist Luke Harding explains why he thinks Higgins is a pioneer, in digital investigative journalism. And we hear from those who suspect Eliot Higgins is being used as a front Producer Smita Patel Researcher Oliver Jones Editor Emma Rippon