hello and welcome. ukraine s application to join the european union looks set to take a step forward today. senior eu officials will give their recommendation on whether to grant the country what s known as candidate status . but it s a long and complicated process to actually become a member. in his nightly address, president zelensky said ukraine has never been closer to the european union than it is now. here s azadeh moshiri. ukraine s president called it a truly historic day, describing a visit to kyiv by some of europe s most powerful leaders. from france, germany and italy, three of the eurozone s largest economies as well as romania, and while president zelensky has grown accustomed to receiving politicians who wish to see the war first hand, this time he had clear demands, more weapons and shoring up support for ukraine s candidacy to the european union. translation: ukraine has felt the support of four powerful european states at once and in particular support for
we start here in the uk, where the bank of england has raised the cost of borrowing to its highest level in 13 years. the quarter of a percentage point rise, to 1.25%, was less than some were expecting. but financial markets are now betting uk interest rates will have to rise a lot further from here, to get control over soaring inflation. the worry is, too steep a rise in borrowing costs could tip the economy into recession. and the warning signs are already there. our economics editor faisal islam reports. on faisal islam reports. the outskirts of doncaster, a on the outskirts of doncaster, a successful business, the crown hotel, grappling with energy, food prices and wages going up at the same time that household income is being squeezed and now a relentless run of interest rate rises to hit some buyers on variable rate within hours. hit some buyers on variable rate within hours. with got a mortgage rate within hours. with got a mortgage and rate within hours. with got
and economic assistance still urgently required. well, my guest is one of ukraine s deputy prime ministers, olha stefanishyna. is ukraine getting the backing it needs? deputy pm olha stefanishyna, in kyiv welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen. thank you very much forjoining us. now, over the last few hours, you have been heavily involved in hosting the leaders of france, germany and italy in kyiv. the meeting, as we speak, is still ongoing. does the fact of this visit give you hope that you re finally going to get the levels of assistance from europe that you say you need? well, we have been very clear from the very beginning that regardless the outcomes of the negotiations, which are in fact are still ongoing for the third hour already between the leaders, regardless of these outcomes, this visit is already historical and it will be historical not only because of their physical presence here, but also because the historical issues on the agenda. first and foremost, these are
surrounding british gymnastics, damning report brings to light the physical, emotionaland damning report brings to light the physical, emotional and sexual abuse suffered by young athletes. the hollywood actor kevin spacey appears in court in london charged with sexual assualt. and temperatures soar in england and wales it could hit 3a degrees tomorrow. and coming up on the bbc news channel. the new premier league fixtures are out. premier league champions manchester city take on west ham united to start the season. good evening. the bank of england has raised interest rates to their highest level for 13 years as it tries to dampen down the rapidly rising cost of living. they ve risen from 1% to 1.25% the fifth increase in a row as it tries to curb inflation. but inflation s still on the rise the rate at which prices go up is currently at a a0 year high of 9%, and there are warnings it could top 11% later this year. and if that wasn t difficult enough already on t