My mothers side to come from donegal. Um id grown up with a very clear understanding of the troubles and you would wait literally every morning and the 19 seventies 19 eighties. 19 nineties. Um. To use on on the uk media of acts of terrorism or destruction. Death story, tragic stories of the families of the victims of the troubles. So it was all it was part of my own personal history. But i also thought, you know john major, who would be my predecessors. Prime minister had tried and got somewhere there was some stirring. You could see some possibility, even though the thing is broken down by the time we came to office, and i thought i mean, ive often wondered whether it was just because you were straight into government and maybe the you know you had this feeling that everything was possible. And so youre prepared to give what most people thought was impossible about. So what . For all of those reasons that the first speech i made as Prime Minister was here in Northern Ireland. Um and
stories we re watching today the first is joe biden heading to monterey park, california the president will deliver remarks on gun safety. we are also following a developing situation out of ukraine involving a u.s. intelligence aircraft that was forced down by russian war planes but we start today with the race to the bottom in the republic primary the leading contenders for the presidential nomination making clear that they will not stand with the fledgeling democracy. a statement from ron desantis in response to a questionnaire than none other than fox news and america s most prominent putin defender tucker carlson reads in quote, while the u.s. has many vital national interests, securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the chinese communist party, becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between ukraine and russia is not
all the way to the kremlin. but their relationship soured. pugachev was accused of massive financial crimes. he fled from moscow, first to london and then here to nice, where he enjoys french citizenship. he now has his own private security and an extraordinary story to tell, which gives us insights into both the strengths and the weaknesses of vladimir putin. sergei pugachev, welcome to hardtalk. hello, thank you for the invitation. it s a very great pleasure to meet you. let me start with something you said three years ago. you said theoretically, i think i am number three on vladimir putin s hit list. do you still do you still think that? yes, sure. do you have evidence to back up the feeling that you, like navalny, like browder, are an enemy that putin wants to eliminate? yes, of course. what is the evidence? what does this do this feeling you have that you still represent a threat that putin would like to eliminate, what does this do to your psychology, for example?
threat from china. rishi sunak is due to meet the australian prime minister and the us president. the three countries are expected to agree to provide australia with nuclear powered submarines. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur and today i m in nice on the french riviera, a glamorous corner of europe, which has long been a favorite haunt of russia s oligarchs. and my guest today, sergei pugachev, is one of them, or at least he was the billionaire businessman helped vladimir putin make it all the way to the kremlin. but their relationship soured. pugachev was accused of massive financial crimes. he fled from moscow, first to london and then here to nice, where he enjoys french citizenship. he now has his own private security and an extraordinary story to tell, which gives us insights into both the strengths and the weaknesses of vladimir putin. sergei pugachev, welcome to hardtalk. hello, thank you for the invitation.
welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. vladimir putin s ruthless bid to impose his will on ukraine hasn t worked, at least not yet. on the contrary, it has taken an enormous toll of russian blood and treasure, and left the country militarily and economically weakened. so, how come there hasn t been more open dissent within the russian elite? is it fear, brainwashing or a deeper, shared ethno nationalism? well, my guest, boris bondarev, is unique. he s a russian diplomat who quit and condemned putin s ukraine war. why is his a lone voice of insider dissent? boris bondarev, in switzerland, welcome to hardtalk. i want to begin, if i may, by getting a sense of what life is like for you today. last may, you quit your post. you delivered a scathing condemnation of putin and his war. so how is life for you today? well, it s become relatively easier than it was because i don t have to go to my office any more. and i. well, officially and practically, iam now unemployed, so i have a