Michael Caine

Nafie Ali Nafie says that genocide is not taking place in the Sudan Darfur conflict

Sudan’s Darfur conflict has been an unmitigated humanitarian disaster.

More than two million people have been driven from their homes and the UN estimates that as many as 300,000 people may have been killed in the violence.
 
The US and some human rights groups say that genocide is taking place.

The conflict began in 2003 after rebels began attacking government targets.
 

The rebels complain that the government is oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs, and that the impoverished region is neglected by Khartoum.
 

The Sudanese government admits forming “self-defence militias”, but denies any links to the Janjaweed, the group accused of perpetrating some of the worst violence.

Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, an aide to Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, joins Sir David. 

Nafie says that genocide is not taking place and that the number of people killed has been hugely exaggerated. 

He also calls on the rebel groups to come to the negotiation table.  

Watch the interview with Dr Nafie Ali Nafie on YouTube
 

Vuk Jeremic

Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s foreign minister, joins Sir David to discuss the upcoming elections

This week Serbia signed an agreement with the EU, the first step towards joining the Union. 

The pact, when ratified, will grant Serbs closer trade relations and more lenient visa requirements with the EU.
The agreement comes before parliamentary elections on May 11. These will pit President Boris Tadic’s pro-EU Democratic Party against nationalist parties opposed to membership of the group. 

The vote comes at a pivotal time for Serbia after Kosovo’s secession from the country earlier this year.

Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s foreign minister, joins Sir David to discuss the upcoming elections. 

Jeremic says that the poll is effectively going to be a referendum on Serbia joining the EU.
 
He warns that victory for the nationalists could isolate the country for another generation; and says Kosovo’s declaration of independence has created uncertainty and instability in the region.

Knox Chitiyo

Knox Chitiyo discusses with Sir David what is next for Zimbabwe and the elections

It has now been more than a month since Zimbabwe’s elections.

After recounts in 23 seats the electoral commission finally confirmed this week that the opposition MDC did win a majority in parliament.

However, the wrangling still continues over the presidential vote.

ZANU-PF did concede for the first time that Robert Mugabe lost the vote, but said that the opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai failed to secure an outright win and that a second round would be necessary.

Knox Chitiyo is from the Royal United Sevices Institute thinktank and tells Sir David what is next for Zimbabwe.

Watch the interview with Vuk Jeremic and Knox Chitiyo on YouTube

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs claims that with international will seemingly insurmountable problems can be averted

Almost any headline these days tells us how the world’s outlook seems gloomy.

Population growth, climate change, poverty: the problems of the world seem insurmountable.

But not everyone agrees.

In his new book, Jeffrey Sachs, a special adviser to the UN secretary general and director of the Earth Institute, claims that with international will and cooperation, all these crises can be averted.

Emily Morris

Emily Morris discusses changes in Cuba with Sir David

Since taking over as president from his older brother Fidel in February, Raul Castro has been sending mixed signals.

On the one hand, Cuba has seen a series of liberalising measures: A ban on owning mobile phones, renting cars and buying computers was lifted; nearly all death sentences are to be commuted to prison terms of between 30 years and life.

On the other hand, repression is never far away: last week a group of 10 women, known as Ladies in White, were detained in Havana while staging a peaceful protest to call for their jailed dissident husbands to be freed.

Emily Morris from the Economist Intelligence Unit tells Sir David what all these changes really mean. 

Watch the interview with Jeffrey Sachs and Emily Morris on YouTube

Frost over the World airs at 18:00GMT every Friday on Al Jazeera English and is repeated during the week.

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