is the not what has happened, it is the weirdest thing to be going throughout the minute and for his family, much, much worse than i am feeling. family, much, much worse than i am feelina. ,, , a, , feeling. you spoke to his wife toniuht, feeling. you spoke to his wife tonight, didn't _ feeling. you spoke to his wife tonight, didn't you? - feeling. you spoke to his wife tonight, didn't you? i- feeling. you spoke to his wife tonight, didn't you? i did. - feeling. you spoke to his wife tonight, didn't you? i did. it. feeling. you spoke to his wife| tonight, didn't you? i did. it is feeling. you spoke to his wife - tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up to his family _ tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up to his family to _ tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up to his family to tell— tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up to his family to tell you _ tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up to his family to tell you their- tonight, didn't you? i did. it is up to his family to tell you their side i to his family to tell you their side of things. the great thing about benjamin is that he has left us with his charm, his poetry, his revolutionary ways, his caring for people, his inclusiveness. if you talk about empire and the wrongness of it, but while he was talking about that, he was mixing with all sorts of people in all sorts of different society in britain. he might say that i'm not interested in the monarchy but he would talk to the monarchy but he would talk to the monarchy. you

the monarchy but he would talk to the monarchy-— the monarchy but he would talk to the monarch . ., ., ., the monarchy. you disagreed on that, ou were the monarchy. you disagreed on that, you were both — the monarchy. you disagreed on that, you were both born _ the monarchy. you disagreed on that, you were both born -- _ the monarchy. you disagreed on that, you were both born -- both _ the monarchy. you disagreed on that, you were both born -- both grew - the monarchy. you disagreed on that, you were both born -- both grew up l you were both born —— both grew up in birmingham, he was a poet, you are lyricist, you both love words and clearly love english language. absolutely. benjamin really had it down. he was a very intelligent chap. and he taught poetry, is a professor, and he taught youngsters to love poetry, to love words, to love performing the words, to make that their communication. so, young people got a lot out of him. i was going to say that people will miss him, yes, they will miss him, but the stuff that he was teaching is still there, you know? so we were lucky to have him, we really were. such a lovely thing to say and so true, actually. obviously, his words

are his legacy. but also, what about his ability to have those difficult conversations, whether about multiculturalism or empire or social injustice? that is part of his legacy as well, isn't it? absolutely. he was not scared to talk about these subjects. i think what you are trying to do was just make people think. don'tjust accept something just because it was presented to them. he wanted people to question things, to find out, is this really how it should be, is there a better way? he is or was looking for a better way. he was totally into fitness, about finding out about people's culture, he wanted to find, is there a better way of doing these things? iwhen; way of doing these things? very briefl , way of doing these things? very briefly. sorry. — way of doing these things? very briefly, sorry, we _ way of doing these things? very briefly, sorry, we are _ way of doing these things? very briefly, sorry, we are coming to the end of the programme, did he love

being in peaky blinders? he absolutely _ being in peaky blinders? he: absolutely loved it. you drop anything to be in it. absolutely. thank you so much, joan. we can view the love coming through the television to us as you are speaking about benjamin. —— we can feel the love. and just to say actually, straight after us there will be a special showing of a picture of birmingham where benjamin revists the city on a mission to compose a new poem. that's all for us tonight — i'll be back tomorrow. goodnight.

breaking news from around the world 24 breaking news from around the world 2a hours a day, this is bbc is that i share their frustration. what i'm saying, notjust to my mps, but the entire country, is that i share their frustration. but the entire country, right? but the entire country, my patience with this has worn thin. but the entire country, it's patiently unfair, what is happening at the moment, which is why it requires action like this, that is novel, that is contentious, but that's what we're about. we're about getting stuff done on the things that matter. this matters, and we're going to make sure that we deliver. so, what exactly is this new plan? the safety of rwanda bill, where i was the other day when the home secretary visited kigali, to sign a treaty with the country, will say rwanda is safe and give ministers the power to disregard parts of the human rights act.

but critics reckon it doesn't go far enough, and will still get gummed up in the courts. ultimately, this bill will fail. i'm just being honest about where we are. we've put two acts of parliament through already. we've done huge amounts of work to stop this problem. we have not succeeded in stopping the boats. time is running out. we cannot afford to put forward yet another bill that is destined to fail. will he lead the conservatives into the next general election? listen, i hope he does. "i hope he does" is about as tepid an endorsement of a prime minister as you're likely to hear. and here's another tricky thing for rishi sunak. others in the conservative party, including the ioo—plus mps and peers too in what's called the one nation caucus, have a different instinct. it's rather like a bill which says that parliament has decided that all dogs are cats. but we know that all dogs are not cats. but we're being told that, apparently, parliament has reached a conclusion that rwanda is safe, when the evidence before the supreme court, and the court below it, was that it wasn't. and all this after robertjenrick

packed it in as immigration minister, suggesting the prime minister needed to be more brave and more willing to contest international law. replacing robertjenrick at the home office, two men. michael tomlinson is the minister for illegal migration, and tom pursglove is minister for legal migration. emergency legislation, and now emergency reshuffle, and, as we speak, an emergency press conference. it's total chaos. they are now in free—fall, unable to govern. all the while, families worried about paying their bills and affording christmas. mps will debate the latest rwanda plan on tuesday. its future, and prime minister's authority, up in lights. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. former uk prime minister boris johnson has told the covid inquiry that claims he didn't care about the suffering being inflicted on the country and wanted to let

covid rip were simply not right. appearing for a second day — he said he had experienced at first our deputy political editor vicki young has the details summer 2020, the end of the first lockdown. the government was keen to boost the economy, get people spending again. as chancellor, rishi sunak did his bit, despite some warnings that the eat out to help out scheme could spread the virus. borisjohnson has previously insisted that medical experts like sir patrick vallance and sir chris whitty were consulted about the idea, something they've denied. but now, today, you're saying you're not sure whether it was discussed with them, and you're surprised that it wasn't? the reason i said that in my statement is because i, frankly, assumed that it must have been discussed with them. and i... i'm perplexed. in light of your views, secretly held, about people dying, having reached their time anyway... mrjohnson looked irritated when he was read extracts from sir patrick vallance's diary, suggesting he advocated "letting the virus rip".

frankly, it does not do justice to what we did, ourthoughts, ourfeelings, my thoughts, my feelings, to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country. questioning then turned to rule breaking. first, his chief adviser, dominic cummings' visit to barnard castle. it was obviously damaging. it was a bad moment. and i won't, you know, pretend otherwise. and what about the parties in downing street, which led to more than 100 fines, including ones for the former and current prime ministers? he apologised again, but said he and staff thought they were within the rules. the version of events that has entered the popular consciousness about what is supposed to have happened in downing street is a million miles from the reality of what actually happened in numberio.

bereaved families said today that mrjohnson was unfit for power and had failed to act quickly enough to protect lives. he, though, told the inquiry what he'd felt after being in hospital with covid. i knew from that experience what an appalling disease this is. to say that i didn't care about the suffering that was being inflicted on the country is simply not right. some will never be persuaded by borisjohnson�*s arguments. he insists he was at all times focused on saving lives. vicki young, bbc news. the poet and writer benjamin zephaniah has died at the age of 65. he was diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago. our media correspondent david sillito looks back at his life. i used to think nurses were women. i used to think police were men. i used to think poets were boring,

until i became one of them. this is benjamin zephaniah. benjamin zephaniah... i love me mudder and me mudder love me. we come so far from over de sea. he rose to fame in the �*80s. his dub poetry rooted in the rhythms, language and street politics of his home, handsworth, in birmingham. his words were political, musical, radical. he turned down an obe, saying they'd obviously not read his words about empire. when he began, he could barely read. by the end, he had 16 honorary doctorates. and for one friend and fellow poet, his passing, a terrible loss. he was incredibly friendly, approachable, kind on a personal basis. he could talk to us about things that matter and the things that mattered to him, which is the oppression that he himself experienced but he sees and saw around him in the world and he could express that to almost any age of person in very direct terms.

he also appeared more recently in peaky blinders. dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join together in holy matrimony... in a statement, his family said he was a true pioneer and innovator, who has left the world a joyful and fantastic legacy, the poetry of benjamin zephaniah. i am not the problem. i greet you with a smile. you put me in a pigeon hole. but i am versatile. well, these conditions may affect me as i get older, and i am positively sure i have no chips upon my shoulders. black is not the problem. mother country, get it right. and just for the record, some of my best friends are white. she danced with vladimir putin at her wedding — now austria's former foreign minister kareen knigh—suhl has moved to russia.

she says she was forced out of austria by political pressure and has found freedom in russia — describing president putin as �*the most intelligent gentleman'. she's been speaking to our russia editor steve rosenberg in st petersburg. dancing the waltz, vladimir putin and karin kneissl in 2018. then austria's foreign minister, she'd invited russia's president to her wedding. a private visit — strictly. butjust months after the salisbury poisonings, which the eu, like the uk, have linked to the russian state. now, with her boxer winston churchill, karen kneissl has moved to st petersburg. she claims that after leaving office, she had problems at home. she was seen as too close to russia. it was all about not being able to work. so this was number one and that was political pressure. she's running a russian think tank. controversial considering russia's war in ukraine. isn't there a danger

that by being here that you are legitimising the invasion, the war and also the domestic repression that takes place in russia? well, so far, i have not seen any sort of repression in my immediate surrounding. i can work here in a kind of academic freedom, which i started missing when i was still teaching at various universities. just a few days ago in this city, a young russian woman was sent to prison for seven years for replacing some price tags in a supermarket with anti—war slogans. yeah. and so what do i have to do with that? i just explained at length the situation that i have been going through. and what about that dance? you see, i've done other things in my life before and after, and honestly, it's so boring. honestly, it's very boring. to talk about the wedding? yes. so we should just... i mean, i think there are other more

interesting topics we can discuss. honestly. you have no regrets about it? i consider it as honestly boring. and the dog just fell asleep and was snoring because he knows the topic. and her view now of vladimir putin? he is the most intelligent gentleman, with the focus on gentleman, and i've met a few, in the sense of what jane austen wrote about the accomplished gentleman in pride and prejudice, he amounts to this standards. we're seeing a wave of repression domestically and we've seen russia invade ukraine. it's hard to classify that as a gentlemanly action. well, tony blair, cameron, they all were involved with the governments being involved in military actions. finally, i mean, you say that there are people in austria who've accused you, or accuse you of high treason, accuse you of being... a russian spy. ..a russian spy. can you, to an extent, understand?

no, not to an inch. not to, not even to an inch. i don't understand it. it's just dirty fantasy. the former austrian diplomat, who claims to have been hounded in the west and moved east. at a time when the gulf between russia and europe feels wider than ever. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. thursday's weather was pretty wet for many of us, and we're going to see further bouts of heavy rain moving their way in over the next few days. but i think for many there'll be a brief respite in the really wet conditions on friday with some sunnier spells. but we've still got this area of low pressure into friday, and that's going to keep things pretty unsettled. but the bulk of the rain that we had on thursday has cleared away

to the north and the east. and as we start off on friday, temperatures for many of us positive, so about 6—8 degrees celsius. still quite wet and windy in the northern isles throughout the day, and we'll see these showers moving their way in from the west. but there will at least be some sunny spells, particularly towards eastern and south—eastern areas for much of the day. one or two showers eventually moving in, and temperatures probably getting into double figures for many of us. about 6—8 celsius across scotland. now, the winds will strengthen for a time around the irish sea and the north channel coasts. with that, some further heavy rain spreading through, and then into saturday morning, another band of very heavy rain will slowly move its way in, making it a very wet start to saturday morning. but again, overnight temperatures into saturday staying up into positive figures. now, for the weekend, it will stay unsettled. there'll be rain at times, but it's not going to be a complete wash—out. there'll be some sunshine around for a time as well. but a very wet start, as i

mentioned, for many on saturday. some pulses of heavy rain spreading its way north and eastward. by lunchtime, spreading into central parts of scotland, northern ireland. for england and wales, there'll be a few showers towards northern and western areas. otherwise, though, a drier afternoon with some sunny spells. and again temperatures 11—13 degrees in the south, 7—8 degrees further north. that area of rain will continue to move to the north with that area of low pressure, and then another area of low pressure develops as we head into sunday. that's one to watch. we could see some pretty strong winds linked in with that, with again rain spreading its way in from the south—west, pushing north and eastwards. so, yes, a spell of rain for a time before it clears, and there'll be something a bit brighter towards england and wales into the afternoon. just eastern areas staying on the wet side, and temperatures once again about 6—12 degrees celsius. into next week, it starts to calm down a little bit from mid—week onward with something a bit drier. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. over three decades, rwanda has persuaded many outsiders that it's africa's shining example

of political stability and sound economics — so much so that, right now, the uk government is looking to team up with rwanda in a controversial migrant transfer deal. how does that sit with rwandans who oppose long—serving president paul kagame? well, my guest is former political prisoner and opposition leader victoire ingabire umuhoza. does rwanda deserve the plaudits it's getting? victoire ingabire umuhoza,

in kigali, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me.