minister laurence boone, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, zeinab. why have the authorities decided to ban the use of fireworks during the july 14th bastille day celebrations this year? so, you know, after the riots last week, things have calmed down. it has been a huge drama and obviously people were really moved. and there s also been some riot that are absolutely unacceptable. the tension has softened and it s gone away and we think the situation is under control. but usually bastille day is the opportunity of fireworks, celebration and sometimes obviously some incidents. so given how close we are to the time of the riots, it was better to calm things down and avoid this. as well, you know, in some areas of france, there has been drought, and with fireworks, we better be careful. all right. does the government have a clear strategy to deal with this latest crisis? yeah, very much so. i mean, as you know, this is not a french specificity. it happened here in the uk exactly a
turnout is expected to be huge. the poll is one of the most consequential in the country s modern history, with mr erdogan s islamic party challenged by an opposition set on a more secular course, and promising closer ties to the west. president tayyip erdogan cast his vote in istanbul. and this is his key rival kimil kilicdaroglu. he s the leader of a broad opposition alliance hoping to end mr erdogan s time in power. as polls closed, president erdogan tweeted: the voting process has been completed throughout the country in a way that befits our democracy. now, as always, it is time to firmly protect the ballot boxes. until the results are finalised, we will continue to protect the will of our people. let s talk now to our correspondent, selin girit at the opposition s headquarters in istanbul. hello to you. i suppose we can talk a bit more freely now that polls have closed but this is a tight race is in? it have closed but this is a tight race is in? , , have closed
hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the russian ministry of defence says its troops have left the strategic town of lemann, in eastern ukraine. a ministry spokesman was quoted by russian news agencies as saying the withdrawal was carried out because of a threat of encirclement. earlier, the ukrainian military said its troops were inside the town. lyman was a key strategic target used by russia as a major logistics hub and sits in the donetsk region which the government in moscow has just declared to be a part of russia. video footage shared online shows ukrainian soldiers waving their national flag on the outskirts of lyman. we cannot however verify exactly where the flag raising is taking place. alina frolova is a former deputy defence minister of ukraine and is now the deputy chairman of the centre for defence strategy think tank. she told me more about the significance of this development. you know, that yesterday russia declared its so call
hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the russian ministry of defence says its troops have left the strategic town of lyman, in eastern ukraine. a ministry spokesman was quoted by russian news agencies as saying the withdrawal was carried out because of a threat of encirclement. earlier, the ukrainian military said its troops were inside the town. lyman was a key strategic target, used by russia as a major logistics hub, and sits in the donetsk region which the government in moscow has just declared to be a part of russia. video footage shared online shows ukrainian soldiers waving their national flag on the outskirts of lyman. we cannot however verify exactly where the flag raising is taking place. this report is from our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. ukraine s counteroffensives have slowed, but for ukrainians, progress is still progress. traces of occupation are being removed, and quickly. lyman was a logistics hub for russia s invasi