he was hiding out as a pizza chef. and covid, vaccines, and those conspiracy theories. we speak to the microsoft founder bill gates. i guess people are looking for the bogeyman behind the curtain their over simplistic explanation. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. and we begin in the us, where the department of defense says a chinese surveillance balloon is hovering over the northern us. officials at the pentagon say the balloon had flown over the state of montana but haven t revealed its current location. these are the first pictures we have received, which are believed to be of the balloon. the department of defence says the balloon was most certainly launched by china, but there s been no word yet from beijing. the pentagon press secretary brigadier general pat ryder posted a statement on the department of defense website, saying, our north america correspondent, peter bowes, has been following the story and gives us some more detail. this is
the 27 year old s guilty plea came after his lawyers failed to have the charge dismissed on mental health grounds. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i?m stephen sackur. the war in ukraine is stuck in a form of bloody winter stalemate. but the expectation is major military offensives are coming as both russia and ukraine seek a game changing shift in the dynamic of the conflict. putin has a clear numbers advantage when it comes to fighting an all out war, but will that be enough given russia s evident vulnerabilities? my guest is vetreran russian foreign policy analyst and kremlin adviser sergey karaganov. is putin s invasion turning into a longterm disaster for russia? sergey karaganov in moscow, welcome to hardtalk. good afternoon. good afternoon and welcome, and let me ask you a simple question. after almost a year of war in ukraine, is russia ready to acknowledge that it is going badly wrong? it is a war. and we will be winning the war, there is
written about his wife s alzheimer s, be chosen to represent ireland at the eurovision song contest? hello, and welcome to the programme. we start with breaking news. the australian tennis star nick kyrgios has admitted assaulting a former girlfriend, but has escaped conviction. his guilty plea in a court in canberra came after his lawyers failed to have the charge dismissed on mental health grounds. the court was told that kyrgios pushed his then partner to the ground, during an argument in december 2021. the magistrate called the incident a single act of stupidity or frustration , when sparing him a criminal record. our correspondent phil mercer is outside the court in canberra. take us through the facts of this case. well, next krygios s lawyer said that the assault, in january 2021 on his former partner, was completely out of character, and genuinely an isolated incident. his legal team had tried to have the charges against him overturned on mental health grounds. that f
and 48 hours to come up with the next generation of video games. we ll be hearing from the man behind the global gamejam. hello there. we start here in the uk, where the bank of england has raised the cost of borrowing for the tenth time in a row. the half a percent rise puts uk interest rates at 4%, their highest level in more than 1a years. a bonus, of course, for savers, but it piles more pressure on businesses and those with mortgages, loans and credit card debt. the good news is that the bank now thinks the uk s recession will be shorter and less severe than it previously thought, and there s a hint that rates may not have to go any higher. but a recovery could take years as our economics editor faisal islam reports. the squeeze continues. an official interest rate of 4% should not feel huge, but it does, and notjust here in nuneaton, forjoanne, who runs a furniture and gift shop. the mortgage a furniture and gift shop. the mortgage on a furniture and gift shop. th
the energy regulator ofgem has asked suppliers to pause the forced installation of prepaid metres. it follows revelations that a debt collection company working for british gas broke into the homes of vulnerable people to install the metres. prepayment metres require customers to pay for their energy in advance. it s more expensive than paying by direct debit, but are sometimes the only option for people who have struggled to pay and are in debt to a supplier. ben king has more. an undercover reporter from the times newspaper joined a team of debt collectors, entering the home of a single father with three young children. they count as vulnerable. but, these workers from arvato financial solutions, working for british gas, opened the door and installed a prepayment meter anyway. installing prepayment meters by force is legal, but it s meant to be a last resort, and should not be done to vulnerable households. if people cannot afford to top up the meters, they will be left wit