dropped its objections to finland and swedenjoining nato after spending weeks refusing to do so. turkey had accused both countries of harbouring kurdish militants but says it has now got what it wanted from talks at the summit in madrid. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. singapore is a city state that has thrived in the era of globalisation, international supply chains and mobile workers. but what happens when the geopolitical weather changes? when great power hostility and economic nationalism hold sway? well, my guest is singapore s long serving home minister, k shanmugam. is singapore s political and economic balancing act sustainable in a world of rising tensions? minister k shanmugam in singapore, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, mr sackur. let me ask you about singapore s model. it was sort of set up by lee kuan yew. it s been in effect for well over six decades. it combines economic openness with a real sense
but what happens when the geopolitical weather changes? when great power hostility and economic nationalism hold sway? well, my guest is singapore s long serving home minister, k shanmugam. is singapore s political and economic balancing act sustainable in a world of rising tensions? minister k shanmugam in singapore, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, mr sackur. let me ask you about singapore s model. it was sort of set up by lee kuan yew. it s been in effect for well over six decades. it combines economic openness with a real sense of political control and social control. do you think that model needs to change? well, i disagree with the assumptions in your question about political control and economic control. you know, in the last elections, we had 61%, the opposition had 40% of the votes. voting is free and fair. the reason why the pap has managed a substantial dominance is because in 1965, when the pap came to. when we took independence, or when we had independence thrust
First line of russian defences and part of the south. Now mine fields have been blocking the troops for weeks. That means when they are blocked, of course they are vulnerable to russian shelly. Its been dangerous, but careful my Clearing Operation has been making it where they can advance. Ukraine says gains have been made in the south and have expanded their units towards the town of tokmak, Logistics Centre for russian forces. In the last hour or two we have these pictures into the newsroom of zelensky there visiting with troops on the front line. This is it donetsk. I spoke to drjenny mathers. She is a Senior Lecturer at the department of International Politics of the Aberystwyth University in wales. I asked just how significant this is. I think its potentially very significant both symbolically and in material terms because i think weve known for the last several months that the russian defences were very formidable. They would be difficult for the ukrainians to get through, and th
Youre watching bbc newsroom live its11am and these are the main stories this morning. A major blow for plans for a third runway at heathrow the court of appeal rules it unlawful as a result of the uks climate commitments. Two more people in the uk test positive for coronavirus bringing the total number of cases here to 15. With more than a0 countries now infected with coronavirus, saudi arabia stops pilgrims from entering the country over fears about the spread of the virus President Trump tries to calm fears in the us, telling his country the risk remains very low. Hes put Vice President mike pence in charge of the american response. Theres a dramatic surge in the number of cases in italy more than 400 people
are now infected. And 1,000 tourists remain quarantined at a hotel in tenerife 160 of them british. The government sets out its demands for the post brexit trade deal with the eu threatening to walk away in months unless it gets what it wants. Warnings of another ten days of floo
Now on bbc news in a special edition of the programme, Stephen Sackur is in scotland for hardtalk 0n the road. Written is a proud island nation. The surrounding seas have always been vital source of food. Britain. But who profits most from the uks offshore riches . Forfour decades, the eu made the key decisions. But then came brexit. Britain and the eu are locking horns over the terms of their future relationship and places like these are on the frontline. There is going to bea are on the frontline. There is going to be a fight over fishing and it could get ugly. Prime minister Boris Johnson says he is taking back control of britains unrivalled marine resources. In france, they respond with talk of seaborne confrontation and economic retaliation. Could fishing sink hopes of post brexit collaboration . Dawn in fraserborough in deep midwinter. Scotlands north east coast looks out on some of the best fishing grounds in the world. Its easy to see why britains fishermen have long felt isola