of 5.5% for teachers and nhs workers. inflation is currently 2%. former president donald trump tells republican supporters at a michigan rally he "took a bullet for democracy" after he survived an assasination attempt a week ago. bangladesh's top court has scrapped most of the quotas on government jobs, that have triggered nationwide anti—government demonstrations. more than 100 people have died in the violence, with more than 50 people killed on friday alone. israel has carried out a series of airstrikes on the port city of hodeidah in yemen — which is controlled now on bbc news... the interview: volodymyr zelensky.

president zelensky of ukraine, europe's wartime leader. he's been in the uk for a meeting of the european political community, an informal club of 40—plus countries that came together after russia's full scale invasion of ukraine in 2022. he also visited downing street and addressed a special meeting of the cabinet. and on your behalf, i had the opportunity to meet him, and here is our conversation. mr president, thank you for talking to bbc news. could you possibly have imagined when russia mounted its full scale invasion two and a half years ago that here we would be, with war still going on? translation: to be honest,

no-one predicted as far backl as in 2014 that the occupation of the crimea and the occupation of a part of our donbas would happen. later, there was a frozen conflict — minsk agreements. after that, for sure, nobody expected a full scale invasion, a full scale invasion with people killed, mass tortures, mass burials, executions and a large number of hostages, such atrocities from a neighbour who had always talked about friendly relations. then there was another stage of the war. it was very hard. then we started to take back territories and then it was very hard again. i appreciate this is a difficult question about your enemy, but i wonder how you would describe

vladimir putin. translation: i don't believe that murderers have - any distinctive features. it is not about talent. it is not about geniuses who we should describe and remember. we talk about murderers. they may be different — mass murderers, emotional ones. however, there are very pragmatic ones. he is a pragmatic murderer. he gives orders. he doesn't do anything with his own hands, but that doesn't relieve him of the responsibility. that is very important to understand. he loves power greatly, and that is primitive. it is very, you know, primitive. in english: it's not too smart.

translation: here, l he clings with a number of tortured people... ..in ukraine, or it was in chechnya previously. after chechnya, you remember there was georgia and abkhazia and many more different conflicts, in syria and africa. everywhere, mass murders and tortures to stay in power. he is not the first. however, in the modern world, it is especially incomprehensible, with the world having gone through trials of that kind, through tyranny, authoritarianism, etc. the world has seen the consequences and what they are — world wars and millions of victims. so one could have learned, even if you want to stick to your power so much,

you have to learn to do that without casualties. therefore, i don't consider him particularly smart. i don't. he is merciless and not too smart. and merciless is even more dangerous. therefore, i consider him dangerous. tell me about how you find your relationship with the uk, because in the time since the full scale invasion of ukraine, you've now dealt with four british prime ministers. that level of change, that level of turnover can't have been helpful. translation: since the beginning of the full scale invasion, _ britain demonstrated leadership positions. it is very peculiar.

britain couldn't afford to give more than the united states of america. we cannot compare. that is perfectly obvious. different way, due to the amount of weapons, due to the economy. but here is what happened. i believe that the initiative was in the hands of britain. when we needed something with the tank coalition and the partners couldn't gather the coalition for a long time and make a positive decision, britain made a decision regarding the challengers. when we had a story with long range weapons, at a certain point, i wasn't even asking, i was demanding because it was very hard for us to fight. we were being killed and we couldn't even respond.

britain stepped forward with the storm shadow. after that, the united states and francejoined. i'm grateful to these three countries for that decision. honestly, i have had powerful relations with all your prime ministers. different in duration, true. withjohnson, it was longer, with liz truss, shorter. later, there was rishi, and the relations were different. but still, every single prime minister added something. why? because prime ministers are the face of the society. when one is not liked, the face changes. but disliked by whom? disliked by the society.

and not vice versa. when the pm dislikes his people, like in russia, when the leader dislikes those who elect him, this is where the difference lies between tyranny and democracy. that's why we are talking about a democratic society, a truly united kingdom which stayed united around ukraine, even when dealing with internal political and electoral issues with it. in english: we had this | feeling, united kingdom - united kingdom, around people, around values, around freedom and democracy. translation: and that's why you now have the fourth pm. i but i don't think that britain's position will change. but i would very much like prime minister starmer

to become a special one — first of all, for his own people. i'm not talking about your internal issues. what matters is that he is the leader of the british people, but internationally protecting global security. with regards to the war in ukraine, i would like him to be special. you're heading to downing street to address what's described as an extraordinary meeting of the british cabinet. what will you say to the prime minister and his senior ministers? i really appreciate for everything uk did for ukraine — very important, crucial, a very difficult period for us. i think now, period is very tough — like i said, a new page in history. but britain came when it was so difficult, unbelievably difficult.

and that's why, we've been together in unity at those moments, so i think we can be... and we've been strong — strong enough — and russia began to be afraid. that's why i think that now, we can be strong. we can be stronger than russians. it will be difficult. it's not a simple enemy. this is the biggest enemy in the world for today, for our country, which is smaller. but people are strong. that's why we need very strong support from prime minister. we need this decision about long distance weapons, long range, to use it. we need it very much. we need... they're targeting our hospitals, schools, universities, like i've said to you, they're targeting our just civilians, just railway stations, just trains, buses, everything — centres of the cities

museums, churches. 176 churches, they destroyed in ukraine. so with people or without people, for them, it was nothing. they are crazy people, really crazy. what we want, we just want to answer...exactly to the point where from they target us, where from their missiles came to us, killed our children, ourfamilies. this decision for me is very important. the one thing you need is that permission from your allies to use weapons they have given you to fire deep into russia? i think it's important thing to lift out all these limitations. i think it's really about just answers. and if that escalates the war, because russia would see it as a provocation?

but what to do, to look while they kill our children? what to do else? so we will stay. so we will stay and do it. let's talk about the united states. did your heart sink last week when president biden, standing right next to you, introduced you as president putin, of all people? translation: no. it was just a slip of tongue on his part. frankly, that meant nothing to me. i don't take it as a comparison of any kind. he thinks about ukraine in the context of the war with russia. that was a simple mistake, so i treat it as a simple mistake. when donald trump said last year that he thought this war could end within 2a hours

if he was to meet both you and vladimir putin, what did you make of that? so, everybody will be happy if one person in the world — and this person donald trump — can stop the war during 2a hours. the question is, what's the price and who will pay? so do you think you would pay? i think in his... i don't... no, no, i'm not meaning that his idea is to push us to pay. but if he wants to do it during 2a hours, the simple way is to push us to pay, because it's understandable how. it meansjust stop and give and forget. sanctions out, everything out. putin will take the land. putin will...make a victory for his society, for the world. and no, nothing, nobody

in prison — nothing. any accountability, nothing. tribunal, nothing. zero. yes, it's a very simple way. but we will never go on this, never. and there is not any guy in the world who can push us to do it. donald trump this week has picked the man he would like to be, his vice president, jd vance, who has said in the past that he doesn't really care what happens in ukraine one way or another. what do you make of those remarks? maybe he really doesn't understand what goes on in ukraine. so for us, we have to work with united states. and if new team will come, we have to work with them. we need their support... could be hard work, i guess? hard work. could be hard work to persuade them? yes, but we don't... we're not afraid of hard work. in february, you said that ukraine had lost

31,000 soldiers. that's a huge loss of your fellow citizens. do you know how many you have now lost? translation: i know how many we have lost as of now. - i know how many people we are losing every day. this is a very painful issue for me and a very important one. i see these changes every day, unfortunately, and they are not moving towards a positive direction. and right now, i can't tell you this number because it is a moment like this — we don't want the russians to know all the information. how long can your country continue to sustain such significant losses? translation: when we talk

about war and our fight, - we must look at the people and minimise the losses as much as possible. by the way, this is why the difference between the killed and the wounded is very large. if we have one killed for every six to eight wounded, for them, it's every third or every second person. this indicates that they don't fight for the survival of their person. they leave them on the battlefield. therefore, i cannot compare this process. how long we can continue it primarily depends on the morale of the military, it depends on the morale of the people who work to ensure that the military has money and salaries and it depends on the unity between the military

and civilians in ukraine. and it depends on the unity of the west. so, it is a great unity and we can fight until victory, but only if all these elements will work together. i want to take your mind back, if i may, to a moment i remember very keenly. it was when you visited the uk in february of last year, and you addressed the british parliament, just down the road from here. and i was there as a reporter watching, and you presented to the audience a helmet of a pilot, of a fighter pilot, asking for the uk's help, for europe's help, with planes. here we are 18 months later — has that promise been kept?

translation: the 'ets haven't arrived yet. j- have you been let down? translation: not me, no. they let themselves down. it is them who are the respected national leaders. it is them who haven't realised that we need those jets now to save our people. we are grateful for everything we've been given, but if we are in this fight together, then everybody should do more than they can. how does this war end and how soon could it do? do you have to restore ukraine to the borders that you had before 2014 in order for you to be convinced that that is grounds for peace? translation: | think - if we are united and we will be

going according to the peace summit format, for example, we can end the hot stage of war. we can try doing that by the end of this year. the plan will be ready. the plan will be ready anyway. we want to do it. if it leads to ending the hot stage of war, it will be very right and very strong. it depends on us. we will get the plan ready, but the plan should be coordinated with our partners. it depends on their wish too, so that no—one would be playing with their own initiatives to end the war. it will depend on the partners, who will then pressure russia, in order for russia to agree to sit down and think about ending the war. it doesn't mean that all the territories will have to be taken back by force. i think that the power of diplomacy can help.

yes, you need to be strong on the battlefield. yes, it is better not to retreat, it is better to stand. and it is even better to take some steps that will weaken russia on the battlefield. it will give you stronger positions at the negotiation table. i think it is possible to agree a settlement with a diplomatic way. and would you personally talk to russia, even talk to president putin if you had to, to try and end what you describe as this hot phase of the war — the fighting, the combat? translation: we have always

said that we see that _ on the second peace summit, if the plan is fully ready, if russia is ready to talk about the plan and negotiate about ending the war according to the un charter and solving all the crises the caused, we will be ready, together with the partners, to talk with the representatives of russia. whether it's putin or not putin, it doesn't matter. if we want to end the war and if the world is united around ukraine, we will be talking to those who decide everything in russia. i want to ask you about corruption in ukraine. in late may, the former deputy head of the presidential administration was charged with illicit enrichment. in april, you sacked the head of cyber security in the ukraine secret service after allegations of corruption.

within the past year, the country's chiefjustice was charged over taking bribes. corruption�*s out of control in ukraine, isn't it? translation: we are just fighting with corruption. i that's it. are you fighting it hard enough? translation: |think| that we do as much as possible during the war. you can see this fight. we have the results. we do not turn a blind eye on that. i think the fact we are fighting and it is visible, it shows that we will overcome it. it shows that there are no exceptions. there are mistakes. the system wasn't perfect. we have been a soviet union system for many years, and after that, we had independence, restoration of independence, a young country with consequences,

with same former party workers who remained in independent ukraine but with the same habits and so on. and it is a very complicated process to fully reload the system. but you need to fight. you need to fight despite anything, and there will definitely be a strong result. we have launched a system of anti—corruption bodies. it is one of the most powerful and one of the most complicated in europe, to be honest. those institutions are functioning. are independent. i want to try and understand, on behalf of our audience, how it is to be a wartime leader. how do you keep going?

i'm not sure that i'm some special man or something like this, really. i had, ithink, very good parents. and they've been very tough, sometimes tough with me. yes, i went to school like a lot of different, ordinary children, but i had to study a lot, to read the right books and to have, ithink, values, values of ordinary, normal people. we all... yes. and i think that that is the first. the second, i'm very thankful to my parents that they gave me education, judicial university. it was difficult because we lived not in a rich family,

in a very simple family of... my father is a scientist, yes. and my mother, she's an engineer. but in '90s, it was a difficult period. i mean, such families have been not rich. i mean, it's not... so you had to work. so i studied to work... to study, to work. and i think that it gave me such traits, to be honest, and to love my country, love family, my family, my country. and i think that's all... and i think i'm very responsible. i can't do my work badly. we all have our limits. we're all human. could you reach the point where you couldn't go on as president? yes, i think yes. everybody...

because we are just people. you could reach the point where you'd have to hand over to someone else? yes, of course. in the next year, the next few years, or...? after the war. so you keep going untilthe war...? yes, we will finish with it. yes, i told you that i'm very... you feel a responsibility to it? yes. that's why. that's why we have to finish with it. you will serve until the war is over? we have to finish with it and we have to finish with him. i think it's very important for our people, our country. finish with vladimir putin? yes. mr president, thank you for your time. thanks so much. thank you.

hello there! 0ur weekend started off hot and humid in the east, very wet and at times windy in the west. now the rain, however, has spread its way steadily eastwards and we're allowing for a slightly quieter second half of the weekend. sunday sees this ridge of high pressure building in which will come certainly as welcome news for the golf at royal troon. a much better day in prospect. lovely sunrise here. slightly different story in east anglia after seeing highs of 29 degrees on saturday. cloudier skies and a fresher story to come today, but there will be a good deal of dry weather in the forecast. any showers will be very isolated indeed and mostly out towards the west, so by the middle part of the afternoon it's a case of sunny spells and just a few isolated coastal showers, a little bit fresher, top temperatures of around 23 degrees. noticeably fresher in east anglia. cloudier skies with showery outbreaks of rain starting to show its hand across northern ireland. a much better story for troon.

lighter winds, still the risk of an isolated shower. but in comparison to yesterday, certainly better. and parts of aberdeenshire should see highs of 19 degrees. now, as we go through the evening and overnight, that patchy rain will start to pep up a little across northern ireland. as we see this weather front sweeping its way slowly eastwards, it will bring outbreaks of showery rain to central and southern scotland, along with north west england and wales. 0vernight, a blanket of cloud moving in temperatures will stay up into the mid—teens to start the day on monday, but the rain will be quite light and patchy and will continue to push its way east as we go through the day on monday. to the north and the south of that, there will be some sunnier skies from time to time, a few scattered showers and some of these showers eventually in scotland could be heavy and possibly thundery. so the best of the sunnier weather down towards the south and the southwest. highs likely at 23 or 2a degrees and it will feel quite pleasant in the sunshine. so we're going to pass the baton between sunnier skies and weather fronts,

bringing rain at times, so we continue with a similar trend for the remainder of the week ahead. no two days the same. but that said, if you get the sunshine, the sun is strong at this time of year, you will still continue to see some warmth from time to time. live from london, this is bbc news. the chancellor, rachel reeves, hints she will award public sector workers above inflation pay increases. there is a cost to not settling.

a cost of further industrial action, a cost in terms of the challenge we face recruiting and retaining doctors and nurses and teachers as well, but we will do it in a proper way and make sure that the sums add up. former president donald trump tells republican supporters at a michigan rally he "took a bullet for democracy". israel says it has intercepted a missile launched from yemen shortly after the israeli air force carried out a series of strikes. bangladesh's top court has scrapped most of the quotas on government jobs, that have triggered nationwide anti—government demonstrations. hello, i'm tanya beckett. the chancellor, rachel reeves, has said the government will "make sure the sums add up" if public sector workers are given above inflation pay rises.

the remark came after independent pay review bodies recommended