Profile

Claire Bolderson profiles Lord Justice Leveson, the judge who is leading the public inquiry into the phone hacking scandal and relationships between politicians, journalists and police officers. Brian Leveson was born and brought up in Liverpool and worked there, as a young barrister, for a number of years before becoming a QC. His later career involved some of the biggest commercial trials of the time - among them BCCI, Polly Peck and Barings. He also prosecuted Ken Dodd on behalf of the Inland Revenue and, in a rare setback, he lost the case. And he's turned his hand to the criminal bar and prosecuted one of the UK's most infamous serial killers - Rosemary West. If he handles the public inquiry into phone hacking successfully, many believe he will be one step closer to the ultimate legal prize - the position of Lord Chief Justice. Contributors Judge Henry Globe Dominic Carman Sasha Wass QC Producers: Rosamund Jones Linda Pressly.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the easyJet entrepreneur at the heart of the low-budget airline revolution, is the subject of this week's Profile. Stelios - as he is better known - has just set up Fastjet.com in a surprise move that has angered executives at his old company. Presenter Rosie Goldsmith talks to friends, foes and fans of the Greek-Cypriot tycoon.Producer: Lucy Proctor.

As President Obama announces his deficit reduction plan, which includes the 'Buffett Rule', to increase taxes on America's richest, Profile looks at the billionaire investor Warren Buffett. At 81 years of age, he's one of the richest men in the world closing in on a personal fortune of nearly 40 billion dollars. Recently Buffett decided to do a small tax survey in his Omaha office to find out what proportion of everybody's salary was being taxed. He discovered that he was paying a much lower share of his income in tax than his staff. So he proposed that that America's tax laws be changed so that he and his "mega-rich friends" pay more income tax. President Obama took the call. Mary Ann Sieghart talks to family, friends and Buffett experts to get an insight into the man known as the 'Oracle of Omaha' who many say has inspired a new American tax system.Producer Deiniol Buxton.

Profile looks at the man who was appointed this week to the top job in policing - the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe. Described as a tough, straight northerner, he spent five years running the Merseyside police to 2009. He introduced a zero tolerance approach to crime which he describes as "total policing". Under his leadership there were significant falls in crime and anti-social behaviour.He is not afraid to court controversy and spoke out against judges for being soft on gun crime. He adopted a high public profile with regular web-chats and appearances on radio phone-ins.He has a love of horses and also made regular public appearances on horsebackDanny Shaw talks to former colleagues, politicians and criminologists and others and finds out what drives Bernard Hogan-Howe and what sort of Metropolitan Police Commissioner he might be.

Rick Perry won the seat of Governor of Texas vacated by George W Bush when he was elected President of the United States. Perry has held the post for over ten years, making him the longest serving governor in state history. Now he is seeking nomination as the Republican Party's candidate to oppose Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. Over last few weeks he's become a front runner to succeed, taking part in a series of televised debates within the last few days. In this week's Profile, we hear from his former scouting buddies in the small village of Paint Creek where he was raised that "there are only three things to do in Paint Creek: school, church and scouting". They describe the simple farming background that influenced his life and informed his politics. We also hear from Retired Lt General Joseph Weber Marine, a contemporary of Perry at Texas A+M University. The Governor's father was a B17 Gunner in WW2 and flew missions out of the U.K. "I know Rick visited where he'd been and was very interes

Edward Stourton profiles Vanessa Redgrave, the multi-award and Oscar-winning actress and political activist. A leading member of the Redgrave family of actors, she is the daughter, wife, mother and aunt of some of Britain's best known actors and directors. She has hit the headlines just as often for her political and human rights activities, as for her stage, film and theatre work. This week, she is in the news for supporting the travellers currently facing eviction from a site in Basildon. Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Harbinder Minhas.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil is a former Justice Minister for the Gaddafi regime and now head of Libya's National Transitional Council. He publicly challenged Gaddafi's authority and offered his resignation but it was turned down and the dictator preferred to keep Mustafa Abdul Jalil close, apparently encouraged by the leader's son Saif al-islam Gadaffi.Known as a man of integrity and a stickler for the law, he defected in February after visiting the city of Bengazi, and saw peaceful protestors being shot. In May Mr Abdul Jalil did the rounds of European capitals calling on their governments to support the rebel National Transitional Council. But as Nick Ravenscroft reports there are doubts as to whether he has the leadership qualities to manage the disparate groups and steer the country toward democracy. Producer: Rob Cave.

The Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger is credited with turning around the fortunes of his club and forging a new approach to football management. Known as the 'Professor' and lauded as a genius, he now faces criticism from some of his own loyal fans. Andy Denwood profiles the Frenchman at the heart of English football. Producer - Gail Champion.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, is centre stage as she deals with the aftermath of riots across England which have shocked the country and led to the recall of Parliament. The police are under scrutiny for their tactics and performance in London particularly, with reported tensions arising between the Home Secretary and the Met Commissioner. May is a politician who's not afraid to challenge the existing order - and speak the unspeakable. Last year, she told the police that they need to cut their spending and re-organise the way they work. As the chair of the Conservatives in the early 2000s, she said the party was perceived by the public as the "nasty party." It was a start of the rebranding of the Conservatives.The daughter of a clergyman, she attended an independent convent and a number of state schools before going to Oxford. After graduating, she joined the City - working for a time at the Bank of England. She took the hard route into politics - starting off stuffing envelopes in a constituency office be

When Iran makes the news it is often that country's flamboyant and provocative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who finds himself under the spotlight. But the man who wields real power in Iran is not Ahmadinejad, nor was it any of his predecessors as president. Instead it is the man who has served as the head of the country's religious structure since 1989, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The Ayatollah owes his rise to power to two men - his predecessor as Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the previous president, Hashemi Rafsanjani. Ayatollah Khamenei has been a cleric for most of his life, beginning as a religious scholar in the city of Mashhad at the tender age of 11. He served several terms in jail as a result of his religious convictions during the secular dictatorship of the Shah. His rise to power began with the revolution of 1979 that turned Iran into the Islamic Republic. Khamenei became, first president, a post with relatively little power, and his election as Supreme Leader aft

With a year to go until London 2012 Shari Vahl profiles John Armitt CBE, Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority and charged with delivering the £9bn project on time and budget.

There were cheers and jeers in the House this week when Elizabeth Filkin was named as head of the enquiry to advise on cleaning up the relationship between the Met and the media following the hacking scandal.As former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards she challenged vested interests at Westminster, until she was 'hounded out' by MPs in 2002 after questioning the probity of some of their number. She took on Keith Vaz - who this week chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee's questioning of recently resigned Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson - during her investigation into his links with the Hinduja family and accused him of deliberately trying to thwart her enquiries.Supporters describe her as "fair but firm... someone who cannot be bribed, bought or bullied."Filkin doesn't come with the typical background for a Government-appointed inquisitor. She is a former community worker, having worked in the London Borough of Brent back in the 1970s. She went on to to be an academic, as well a

Rupert Murdoch is the head of News Corporation and at the centre of the political and public storm over phone hacking and the payment of police officers. Steve Hewlett profiles the 80 year old whose high risk and audacious business gambles built an empire, but is now seeing the alleged high risk behaviour of some of its former employees threaten to undermine it. Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Jonathan Maitland profiles Nick Davies, the investigative journalist behind the story of the News of the World phone-hacking allegations that are dominating the headlines. Nick Davies decided to become an investigative journalist after he saw the film All the President's Men, about the US journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who revealed the Watergate story that brought down president Richard Nixon. Thirty-five years later, Nick Davies is considered one of Britain's top investigative journalists. He has broken numerous stories, mostly for the Guardian newspaper. His scoops include the story about the nurse turned serial child murderer, Beverley Allitt, and the recent Wikileaks revelations. He has written several books, including Flat Earth News. In this book he accuses many British newspapers of what he calls "churnalism", churning out stories based entirely on PR, press releases or wire copy, without further fact-checking. This did not make him the most popular man in Fleet Street, but he is one of

The IMF elects the French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde as its new Managing Director. Front-runner Ms Lagarde, who's used to breaking glass ceilings in the world of politics and economics, becomes the first female head of this international financial institution. A yoga and exercise enthusiast - she once represented France in synchronised swimming - she wears Chanel and treasures the simple pleasures of her rural retreat in Normandy. A healthy contrast perhaps to the challenges facing the International Monetary Fund in Europe as Greece struggles to manage its political crisis and the threat of default. Adrian Goldberg reports.

Bashar al-Assad of Syria is facing a serious challenge to his rule in the form of widespread political protest across the country. Simon Cox examines how instead of training to be an eye doctor in London he was thrust into the role of leader of an Arab state in the of a political storm. Had his brother not died, Bashar would almost certainly have been destined for a quiet life outside politics and far from the spotlight. He came to power in 2000 on a wave of hope for political and economic reform. Under his leadership, the country underwent a degree of relaxation, with hundreds of political prisoners being released and a few tentative steps towards easing media restrictions. But the pace of change has slowed - if not reversed - and President Assad has made clear his priority is economic rather than political reform. The Syrian leader's vocal opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq prompted US anger, but it was popular in Syria and in the region. His administration has also come under fire for its alleged s

Martin Amis has a reputation as a literary bad boy and has caused a stir in a recent interview with a French magazine talking about the 'moral decrepitude of England' and saying he would 'prefer not to be English'. It's not the first time Amis has courted controversy: he offended Muslims by saying they 'ought to suffer until they get their house in order' and earlier this year he riled children's authors by saying 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book'. Those who've met him, however, say he can be charming and he commands the loyalty of several high profile friends.

On the day of her resignation, Edward Stourton profiles the former News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks. He asks how she became one of the most powerful women in Britain - and charts the mixture of charm and ruthlessness which took her to the top. Producer: Ben Crighton.

In the week that artist Ai Weiwei was detained by the Chinese authorities, Mary Ann Sieghart profiles the outspoken designer of the 'Bird's Nest' Olympics stadium.Reporter - Mary Ann Sieghart Producer - Ben Crighton (The programme includes material from Alison Klayman's documentary: Ai Weiwei - Never Sorry).

In the week that singer-songwriter Adele's critically acclaimed second album retains the UK top spot for the ninth consecutive week, Colin Paterson asks whether she can beat the record set by Madonna to become the female solo artist with the longest-running album at number one for consecutive weeks.At just 21 years old, how did this 'ordinary girl' from North London conquer the charts? Reporter - Colin Paterson Producer - Gail Champion.