the anc has been damaged by economic stagnation, a protracted energy crisis, and massive inequality. my guest today is the leader of the biggest opposition party, the democratic alliance, john steenhuisen. could he become south africa s first white leader since apartheid? john steenhuisen, welcome to hardtalk. great to be with you, stephen. well, it s great to be here in cape town. let s start with a very simple question. when you said not so long ago, there is a changing of the guard coming in south africa, the anc s decline is terminal. it s just a matter of how fast, did you really believe that? of course i believed it then. i think it s a fair assessment about where the anc find themselves in the last local government elections, in 2021, they, for the first time in post democratic south africa, lost their majority and fell below 50%. this obviously allied with the fact that our economy s not growing, we ve got 30 million people living in poverty, 12 million people une
a reservoir in connection with the disappearance of british girl madeleine mccann. it s 8am in singapore, and 3am in the russian region belgorod, where russia says it s hunting ukrainian saboteurs who crossed the border and injured eight people. the local governor said one village had been shelled and several people had suffered shrapnel wounds. ukraine has denied having anything to do with the attack but suggested russian paramilitaries were involved. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. smoke in the distance. the first hint of the drama ahead. russia said saboteurs had forced their way from ukraine into russian territory. the bbc has located this video to a border checkpoint south of belgorod. it appears to show military vehicles having crossed over. ukraine denied responsibility. it said russian citizens from two paramilitary groups were behind the attack. the russian army sent in reinforcements. local residents couldn t believe what was happening. the local govern
we start tonight in washington, where talks to avoid a us debt default have been described as productive, but there s still no deal. presidentjoe biden and speaker of the house kevin mccarthy led negotiations on raising the debt ceiling to ensure the us can continue to pay its bills. biden and republican congressional leaders now have just ten days to avoid a default. president biden said: kevin mccarthy spoke outside the white house, and the bbc s nomia iqbal was watching. he said the meeting was productive. he said the tone was good. he appeared in an upbeat mood and he said there was still a way to go before they make a compromise. he did say that he believed the president does want to make a deal. bear in mind, we are fast approaching the deadline, and if a deal is passed, it would take more than a week, or about a week, to get through congress. the speaker appeared confident that would happen. i never wanted to be here. i do not like the idea that you govern by chaos, yo
where negogtiators working to avoid a us debt default are back on capitol hill for talks tonight. negotiations have been described as productive, but there s still no deal. earlier, presidentjoe biden and speaker of the house kevin mccarthy led talks on raising the debt ceiling to ensure the us can continue to pay its bills. biden and republican congressional leaders now have just ten days to avoid a default. president biden said: kevin mccarthy spoke outside the white house, and the bbc s nomia iqbal was watching. he said the meeting was productive. he said the tone was good. he appeared in an upbeat mood and he said there was still a way to go before they make a compromise. he did say that he believed the president does want to make a deal. bear in mind, we are fast approaching the deadline, and if a deal is passed, it would take more than a week, or about a week, to get through congress. the speaker appeared confident that would happen. i never wanted to be here. i do not
my guest today is the leader of the biggest opposition party, the democratic alliance, john steenhuisen. could he become south africa s first white leader since apartheid? john steenhuisen, welcome to hardtalk. great to be with you, stephen. well, it s great to be here in cape town. let s start with a very simple question. when you said not so long ago, there is a changing of the guard coming in south africa, the anc s decline is terminal. it s just a matter of how fast, did you really believe that? of course i believed it then. i think it s a fair assessment about where the anc find themselves, in the last local government elections, in 2021, they, for the first time in post democratic south africa, lost their majority and fell below 50%. this obviously allied with the fact that our economy s not growing, we ve got 30 million people living in poverty, 12 million people unemployed, and loadshedding, rolling blackouts, which have reached into every home and switched off the