my guest is us congressman richard neal, a democrat and co chair of the friends of ireland caucus group. to what extent is the wider us uk relationship tied to the situation in northern ireland? congressman richard neal in springfield, massachusetts, welcome to hardtalk. pleased to be with you. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. what doesjoe biden s determination to be on the island of ireland to mark this 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, what does it tell us about the priority he puts on doing what he can to maintaining the solidity of the peace there? well, i think it s a historic anniversary and i think america served as an honest broker through the negotiations and they were able through, i think, strategy and patience to bring about a successful conclusion to the agreement, recalling that before the agreement, there were 30,000 british soldiers in an area the size of our state of connecticut. there were 106 military installations, there was a ro
you re watching bbc news. now it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. the first anniversary of russia s all out invasion of ukraine is fast approaching. there s both a feeling in both kyiv and moscow that it would herald a new phase in the war. president zelensky is visiting european allies with his focus firmly on the challenges to come. a new russian offensive is seemingly imminent. the west is arming ukraine, but still not at the speed and scale kyiv would wish. my guest is ukrainian mp kira rudik. can ukraine win a long war? kira rudik in kyiv, welcome to hardtalk. hello. thank you so much for having me, stephen. a pleasure to have you on the show. i would like you to reflect on president zelensky s message here in europe. do you think the focus from the ukrainian government is more on the gratitude for what european partners have already delivered or more on the urgency to give more now? i think it is 50 50. what we learned over this last year is
in the north eastern kharkiv region and it s feared it will take decades to clear them completely. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse brought us this report. it reflects the size of the battlefield. the reality is, in areas where the russians initially advanced, where they occupied territory for a number of months on them. in the ukrainian counteroffensive, these areas where theissue counteroffensive, these areas where the issue of landmines is the most acute. these are also areas where people are looking to continue their lives and live an incredibly challenging conditions. we ve been to a town in the east. we ve been to a town in the east. this is what you call a scratching of the surface, a sweep and a gentle prod for hidden killers. a job with very obvious occupational hazards. translation: my family calls me in the morning l and tells me to be careful, to watch where i trad. of course, they are worried, very much worried. before we would work with shells from w
in northern ireland. my guest is us congressman richard neal, a democrat and co chair of the friends of ireland caucus group. to what extent is the wider us uk relationship tied to the situation in northern ireland? congressman richard neal in springfield, massachusetts, welcome to hardtalk. pleased to be with you. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. what doesjoe biden s determination to be on the island of ireland to mark this 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, what does it tell us about the priority he puts on doing what he can to maintaining the solidity of the peace there? well, i think it s a historic anniversary and i think america served as an honest broker through the negotiations and they were able through, i think, strategy and patience to bring about a successful conclusion to the agreement, recalling that before the agreement, there were 30,000 british soldiers in an area the size of our state of connecticut. there were 106 military installa
let s get down to business, there were no january blues on wall street as the month ended on a high for investors. lets look at the numbers some of the biggest names in corporate america have been reporting their latest earnings. the dow is up 2% in the month, the s&p is up 596. the rally comes as investors also look ahead to the us federal reserve as a two day meeting gets underway. my colleague samira hussain, with more from new york. 2022 was the worst year for the stock market since 2008 year, so far, is proving to be different with financial markets posting strong again for the month of january. markets posting strong again for the month ofjanuary. 0n for the month ofjanuary. on wednesday, all eyes moved to washington for the latest interest rate decision. traders are expecting to see rates increase by 25 points, a far cry from the aggressive interest rate hikes last year when america s central bank raised interest rates by three quarters of a percent four times. but the