Robin Lustig

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Robin Francis Lustig (born 30 August 1948) is a BBC journalist and radio broadcaster who currently presents programmes for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4.

After studying politics at the University of Sussex, Lustig became a foreign correspondent for the European news agency Reuters and was based in the Spanish capital, Madrid, later moving to Paris and Rome. He then worked for the British broadsheet Sunday paper The Observer for twelve years, where he was Home Affairs Editor, Middle East Correspondent and Assistant Editor. In 1998, he won the prestigious Sony Silver Award for Talk/News Broadcaster of the Year. During the 1991 Gulf War he was a volunteer presenter on the BBC Radio 4 News FM service^[1].

As an election specialist, Lustig has anchored special election programmes for the BBC in the last three election years - 1997, 2001 and 2005 - and also provided coverage of the US Presidential election of 2004. His understanding of world politics has also led him to interview prominent world leaders, including Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Currently, Lustig is a main presenter of BBC Radio 4's news programme The World Tonight which is broadcasted live on weekdays at 2200 hours GMT/BST. When Lustig is absent, BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Julian Worricker, Jackie Hardgrave and Claire Bolderson have deputised. Lustig travelled to the two Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan in May 2006, reporting on the Maoist rebellion and protests against the monarchy from the former and how the Government wishes to increase 'Gross National Happiness' from the latter. For the BBC World Service, Lustig has presented Newshour and, since 1998, the global phone-in talk show Have Your Say (formerly Talking Point) which airs simultaneously on BBC World television and the internet. He also hosted a five-part documentary series in December 2006 for BBC Generation Next.