after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. a few days ago, oleksandr shapoval, one of ukraine s leading ballet dancers, was killed while serving in the ukrainian army fighting the russian invasion. art and culture are not immune from the impact of war. my guest today knows that well. alexei ratmansky is a world renowned choreographer with roots in both russia and ukraine, once director of the bolshoi ballet in moscow, and now putting on a special production of giselle with the united ukrainian ballet, to show the world ukrainian culture lives on. has ballet become a battleground? thank you very much, it s an honour to be here. delighted to have you here. you are here in london because you are mounting this extraordinary set of performances of giselle, performed by ukrainian dancers. how can you go about putting on a performance with ukrainians when their country is at war? there was an extraordinary project, it started in march. i received a call from my friend
pete: we have a party going on with crowd control entertainment, working the turntables. we learned how to swing dance. will: that is next, swing dancing. pete: you have encountered swing dancing. we will not unlike texas swing or two step. we did a little irish step dancing. irish step dancing. and they were really good. we committed. rachel: you look like not really doing anything. pete: i m doing exactly what it is. rachel: you are just doing this. you look like a leprechaun. will: you feel it in your hand these? rachel: i was out of breath. and ballet dancers first and irish step. and similarities, they are oppressive. pete: they would traverse what do i do with my hands. rachel: and a lot more dancing coming up. my high school girlfriend told me to try swing dancing. will: backup, back up, swing dancing champion. rachel: stay with us, we are going to prove that white boys can dance. will: a little bit of news, we start with a fox news alert. another bus of illegals
who s died at the age of 90. ms lynn enjoyed a successful, six decade long career. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk with zeinab badawi. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi. as the war in ukraine rages on, we speak to a russian rock legend whose life and career have mirrored his motherland s journey from the soviet era, through the break up of the soviet union, to putin s authoritarian state. my guest is boris grebenshchikov. he last played in russia the day before putin invaded ukraine in february, and is now living in london. bg, as he s known to his fans, risks prosecution for his anti war comments if he returns to russia. the role cultural icons have to play in the politics of protests is a well trodden one, but do their voices have any impact inside russia? boris grebenshchikov, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me. all right, so you last performed in russia just six hours before putin invaded ukraine. you say you had a sense of foreboding that something monume
island of luzon has been hit by flooding as a result of heavy rain from super tycoon noru. emergency services in low lying areas have rescued people in low lying areas from the roofs of their houses. noru is the strongest storm to hit the philippines this year. and now on bbc news, time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. a few days ago, oleksandr shapoval, one of ukraine s leading ballet dancers, was killed while serving in the ukrainian army fighting the russian invasion. art and culture are not immune from the impact of war. my guest today knows that well. alexei ratmansky is a world renowned choreographer with roots in both russia and ukraine, once director of the bolshoi ballet in moscow, and now putting on a special production of giselle with the united ukrainian ballet, to show the world ukrainian culture lives on. has ballet become a battleground? alexei ratmansky, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, it s an honour to be here. delighted to hav
a6 thousand migrants tried to reach the uk across the english channel last year a new record and a 60% rise and a 100 year old war hero, who s now a reading teacher, is the oldest person to get an award in the uk s new year s day honours. hello and welcome. luiz inacio lula da silva, has been sworn in as brazil s new president, 20 years after first becoming the country s leader. almost five years ago he was sent to jail for corruption, on charges that have since been annulled. he ll now lead a deeply divided country. at his inauguration in the capital brasilia he told the crowds he d rebuild brazil from what he called the terrible ruins he had inherited from jair bolsonaro. 0ur south america correspondent, katy watson now reports. a return to powerfor the man barack 0bama once called the most popular politician in the world. security was tight amid threats of violence by supporters of his far right predecessor, jair bolsonaro. mr bolsanoro didn t even hand over th