Jehovah’s Witnesses blood u-turn, billionaire ethics, Laurence Olivier’s vicar father

For decades Jehovah's Witnesses have refused blood transfusions on religious grounds. That policy has now changed. Members may now decide for themselves whether to accept or donate red or white blood cells, plasma and platelets, although the ban on whole blood transfusions remains. Supporters say the move reflects a refined understanding of scripture, while critics argue it raises difficult questions about those who suffered or died under the previous policy. Many of the word’s big tech bosses joined President Trump and China's Xi Jinping for the White House state dinner this week. A clear signal for many that billionaires are at the top table, influencing politics. They have extraordinary wealth and power, but what should their responsibility be to the rest of society? Nick Hanauer has just shy of a billion from a career in business. He explains why he's committed to giving half of it away.Laurence Oliver was one of the greatest actors of his generation. This month marks 35 years since his ashes were interred in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey. New research has now come to light about the huge influence of his vicar father on his career.Presenter: Emily Buchanan Producers: Dan Tierney and Liberty Phelan Editor: Chloe Walker.

A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week with Emily Buchanan.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an interfaith award from a Pakistani cleric, days after presenting it on the 25 anniversary of 9/11. Comments from 2007 resurfaced in which Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said he would give Osama bin Laden the title "Sword of God". He told the BBC his comments have been taken out of context. William Crawley speaks to Dr Edward Kessler, President of the Woolf Institute, which promotes understanding between Jews, Christians and Muslims.It's the centenary of John Coltrane's birth on Wednesday. In 1965 a young couple in San Francisco say they experienced a 'sound baptism' watching John Coltrane play. They went on to set up the The St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church - where the late saxophonist is venerated as a saint. We hear from BBC's Ben Cottam, who has been to San Francisco to attend the church’s Sunday serviceRow over a controversial Quran burial site in West Yorkshire. Residents in Sowerby Bridge are demanding the removal of a large marble structure they say has been built without permission and is linked to the burial of thousands of worn-out Quran. More than twelve hundred people have signed a petition for its removal. The site's users say it's simply a place to rest and garden, and that burying sacred texts is entirely lawful. Adam Wilkinson is a Labour Councillor representing Sowerby Bridge on Calderdale Council. Beyond those planning issues, the Sunday programme turns to Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an Imam in Leicester to tell us why disused copies of the Quran are buried in the first place.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Katy Booth Studio Managers: Sharon Hughes & Georgia mae-Browne Editor: Tim Pemberton

What a week it has been for Doomsday warnings around AI. A researcher resigned from the AI company Anthropic saying colleagues across the industry believe artificial intelligence could kill us all by the end of the decade. Then the boss of Anthropic called for the pace of development of AI models to slow down and to be closely monitored. It's prompted calls for action towards an international treaty to regulate their growth. What role should faith leaders be playing in that regulation? We speak to Dr Steven Croft, the former Bishop of Oxford, who spent years advising the Church of England on the ethics of AI.The decision by the UK government to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank prompted a strong response from the UK's Chief Rabbi who called it a 'truly dark day for British Jews' that would 'succeed only in bolstering the very extremism they seek to target'. But other rabbis have supported the action, designed to curb settler violence. We hear from Rabbi Jeremy Gordon from the New London Synagogue.Plus, we find out about Ganga Aarti on the Thames, a Hindu ceremony of light, traditionally performed on the River Ganges in India, now being staged in Greenwich on a scale rarely attempted in Britain before. And, we learn more about how faith propelled the career of Irish world champion boxer Katie Taylor.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: James Graham and James Leesley Studio Managers: Kelly Young and Nathaniel Danter Editor: Catherine Murray

Over a week since the catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet, and hundreds of foreign citizens are believed to be among the more than 5,000 people still missing. Among them, a group of 16 Hindu pilgrims who had set off from a small temple in south London, the Sanatan Mandir and Community Centre. Emily Buchanan visits the community to find out how those left behind are coping.Prayer rooms are often indicated with a small sign at the airport, a quiet room off a hospital corridor marked 'multi‑faith' or 'quiet' space. These rooms are prompting fresh questions about how they are used and what their design reveals about how to accommodate faith needs in modern Britain.For many church goers, organ music is an intrinsic part of the whole experience. However, more than 400 of the UK's church pipe organs are falling silent due to neglect every year, according to a recent survey by the charity Pipe Up. Bucking the trend is Gloucester Cathedral, where a new organ now sits within restored 17th-century cases. To mark the completion of the work, a festival of celebration has been held, with its final event a Gala Concert on Saturday the 12 September.Presenter: Emily Buchanan Producers: Katy Booth and Rosie Dawson Studio Managers: Amy Brennan and Teifi James Editor: Chloe Walker

Sunday hears the latest from China, on the region devastated by flooding, the attempts to get aid to remote areas and the religious landscape of this region, which features in Hindu scripture and is dotted with sacred lakes and sites of pilgrimageUS theology scholar L. Patrick Burrows on Dolly Parton and the influence her theme park, Dollywood had on him as a young gay Christian. A BBC investigation reveals religious hate crime is rising faster than any other recognised form of hate crime in England and Wales -The rate of anti-Semitic hate crime rose by almost three fifths, while anti-Muslim hate crime increased by over a quarter.Against the backdrop of hundreds of church closures in Scotland, we have some good news. Brechin Cathedral, a 800 year old building has been taken over by the community after closing down 5 years ago. As the BBC Proms gets ready to celebrate the 90th birthday of composer Steve Reich, we talk to him about the inspiration he draws from his Jewish heritagePresenter: Emily Buchanan Producers: Catherine Murray & Rebecca Kelly Studio Managers: Scott Henderson & Sharon Hughes Editor: Tim Pemberton

The Chosen is the most successful crowdfunded drama in television history. It tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth through the eyes of his disciples, followers and opponents. Five series are now on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, alongside a new spin off called The Chosen in the Wild. It's hosted by TV adventurer Bear Grylls and features the cast and crew taking on outdoor challenges.Farming can be one of the loneliest jobs in Britain. Men who work the land are twice as likely to take their own lives as the national average, with rural suicide rates the highest of any community type, according to Farmers Weekly. The Methodist Church in west Devon has set up Rural Recharge, a men's support group which offers a place to talk. Long before sponsorship deals and big money transfers, football grew up alongside the church. Victorian ministers believed sporting talent was God-given and saw the game as a way of drawing young men away from the pub. Clubs from Everton to Fulham trace their roots to a parish hall, and some of football's fiercest rivalries, Celtic and Rangers among them, are rooted in religion. As the new Premier League season kicked off this weekend, we explore this history.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: Katy Booth and James Leesley Studio Managers: Jack Morris, Amy Brennan and Isabelle Whitehead Editor: Tim Pemberton

William Crawley and guests reflect on the death of Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor who had been the subject of an investigation into his qualifications amid intense media scrutiny over claims of plagiarism and misrepresentation. The Catholic theologian and philosopher Dr Carmody Grey explains why she turned down an opportunity to discuss ethics with Anthropic, the AI giant behind the Claude chatbot. And Father Bashar Fawadleh, a priest in the last entirely Christian town in the West Bank, speaks about living with settler violence.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: James Graham and Liberty Phelan Studio Managers: Nat Stokes and Isabelle Whitehead Editor: Dan Tierney

A follower of the Bahá'í faith who is being held by the Iranian regime has published a vivid and shocking memoir of her time in prison. Mahvash Sabet is an award-winning educator and poet. She has been in and out of detention since 2010, suffering solitary confinement and psychological torture. Bahá'ís are Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority and are regarded as a threat to the state. Alongside the harshness in jail, Mahvash writes about resilience and friendship. One of those she shared a prison ward with for almost a year is Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe - who was herself imprisoned and held hostage by the Iranian State for six years. Julie speaks to Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe and Bahiyyih Nakhjavani who translated the memoir Open Wide the Doors into English.In the occupied West Bank, thousands of ancient sites remain unexcavated. Israel has recently expropriated Palestinian land to develop two of them. Palestinians say archaeology is being used to deepen Israeli control of the territory. Israel says it's protecting and preserving its heritage. But a UNESCO move to add Sebastia, near Nablus, to both its World Heritage List and its List of World Heritage in Danger, has brought the dispute into sharper focus. Palestinian officials have welcomed the decision. Israel's foreign minister has condemned it as an attempt to 'change history'. Our global affairs correspondent Sebastian Usher reports from Sebastia.Until a couple of weeks ago, Emma Roberts was getting on with her life as a Quaker chaplain in Swansea. Then almost overnight, she became an internet sensation - due to her likeness to the new prime minister, Andy Burnham. She already had a social media presence on her YouTube channel Quakerology. Now she's viral on TikTok, with a new persona: 'Mandy Burnham'.Presenter: Julie Etchingham Producers: Katy Booth and James Leesley Studio Managers: Nat Stokes and Matthew Dempsey Editor: Tim Pemberton

US President Donald Trump says an agreement has been reached for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. The deal faces big obstacles, and behind the negotiations lies a deeper question - for a movement that has long-framed armed resistance as a religious duty, can Hamas actually disarm and survive ideologically intact?The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, has just completed a 10-day tour of West Africa, her first major trip abroad since taking up the role. It’s a region that’s also home to some of her fiercest critics, including some conservative Anglicans who oppose the appointment of a woman to the see of Canterbury. We assess how the archbishop had been received in West Africa.Plus, we hear from two nuns behind a hit podcast which has taken off on TikTok, and an author whose novel A Short Stay in Hell is riding a wave of popularity.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: James Graham and James Leesley Studio Managers: Isabelle Whitehead and Kelly Young Editor: Catherine Murray