news. the top stories up to russia and hello. this is bbc world news. the top stories up to russia and the us have failed to resolve their differences over the future of syria despite hours of talks in moscow. us secretary of state rex tillerson spent nearly two hours of talks behind closed doors with president putin. afterwards, he said the level of distrust between the two superpowers could not continue. donald trump has entered a process to talk about north korea with china. he said he forged a good chemistry with xi jinping at their recent meeting in florida. and this story is proving popular on bbc.com. because inside these rather non—descript crates is a consignment of pandas destined for a new home, the netherlands, after a mass on a dozen kilometre journey from china. —— massive 15,000 kilometre. they will spend the next five years in their new home. now it is time for

hardtalk. she has been a singing star since the ‘60s, a civil rights activist and a woman you don't mess with on or off stage. she's worked with martin luther king and has sung everywhere that's anywhere. and once she even shot at someone who threatened to cheat her in a business deal. still a huge star and as powerful as ever, she is our guest today on hardtalk. # i love you, porgy, # don't let him take me, # don't let them handle me, # and drive me mad. # if you can keep me, # i want to stay here with you forever,

# two days after forever, # with you forever... # ‘cause i got my man. nina simone, dr simone, a very warm welcome to the programme. thank you tim sebastian, you have the same name as bach, my first love. i can't lose with that, can i? no, you can't. you can but i can't. tell me about music as a political weapon which you've used it as. 0h, now. that's a hard one. um, as a political weapon. it has helped me for 30 years defend the rights of american blacks and third world people all over the world and to

defend them with protest songs. and it helps to change the world. when you get up on the stage and you sing, what's in your mind? just the singing, or... no, to move the audience. to make them conscious of what has been done to my people around the world. so, you sing from anger? no, i sing from... intelligence. i sing from letting them know that i know who they are, and what they have done to my people around the world. that's not anger. anger, anger has its place. anger has fire and fire moves things! but i sing from intelligence, i don't want them to think that i don't know who they are, darling. who are they?

they are the white people around the world with exception of nelson mandela whom i met this year. i went to his his marriage and his anniversary in 1998. and you weren't disappointed? oh no, my god, he is a saint, he's the greatest person on the planet. how much does fame mean to you, how much does your success mean to you? my success means a great deal to me and my stage presence and being on stage means a great deal to me. my music is first in my life. and what's a second? what do you sacrifice for your music? i don't sacrifice anything for my music.

but secondly, i would love to be married, you know, i think i'll marry the cameraman over there. but i would love to be married and have a man of my own but that's second to my music. my music, nothing takes its place, nothing. you've been married before. i've been married twice. unlucky in love? unlucky at marriages. not so unlucky at love. lots of love, few marriages. yes, two marriages. why didn't they work out? the music got in the way in the one where i married the cop from the united states. the music got in the way and he treated me like a horse. you know, a non—stop, workaholic horse. and the one in tunisia, well, that was very hot like a volcano and his family didn't want him

to move to france and france didn't want him because he's a north african. and the volcano didn't last? no but it lasted long enough for me never to forget it, i'll tell you that. among all the unforgettable things and unforgettable people in your life, there was martin luther king, wasn't there? yes, well i marched with him, i knew him, i composed a song for him, i knew his wife, all his children and i was in the selma march with him and the march on alabama at the college and the march on washington. i was right right beside his side. we saw the public face, the public man. what was he like in those private moments when he was out of the public eye? darling, he was always on stage.

his dedication was of such immense proportion that he never forgot for a minute that he was there to lead my people. he never forgot that for a minute. and when he was not on stage, he was still on stage. he was always talking about equal rights. you've said in the past that you would have worked to try to get him the presidency. do you think realistically that he could ever have had a shot? yes, he could have. yes, he could have, baby. he could have if he hadn't gotten killed and we'd had a little bit more support. you really think america was ready for a black president? yes, i do. because even black politicians in washington these days say they don't think that's the case. not now! jesse jackson was no match for him!

there's not been a man since then. and his dream came true with nelson mandela. because nelson got it done in south african. in south africa. so the same thing that was done in south africa could have... could have been done in the united states, yes. i distinctly believe that. i need a cigarette. you're making me hot. can i have a light? please? go ahead. how did you feel when he died? oh, god, man, iwas devastated. i wrote a song in his honour the next day called the king of love is dead. how much did that devastate you? i think i must have cried for two weeks. and it killed my inspiration for the civil rights movement... i'm ready. ..and the united states and i moved away.

you were also scared, weren't you? because of all the killing going on... yes, i was scared. ..because jack kennedy was killed, robert kennedy was killed. do you think they were coming after you? not only that, the fbi was after me! they had a file on you. mm—hm. in washington. you never saw it, did you? uh, no, we were told about it and it's in my book, i wrote a book called i put a spell on you, and i did a film called nina simone — la legende, and it's in there that the fbi has a file on me, and indeed they went to curtis institute of music, where i was rejected for a scholarship, and asked vladimir sokoloff if i had ever been mixed up in the rebellion. and he said they never found anything but they actually went to curtis institute and enquired about me. dr simone, you were born

in north carolina. yes, i was. very poor, your family. very poor, yes, very poor. a lot of love. a lot of love but not much to eat? at times... my mother had a saying, she'd say, well, we don't know what we're going to get dinner tonight but i'll pray and it'll come. and sure enough, she prayed and it came. she's been a minister for 57 years. she's now 97 years old. and you first sang in her church. mm—hm. what was that like? it was fun because i had never studied the piano. i was a child prodigy. so when they got up and started shouting, istarted playing. literally just sat

down and started... started playing. the first song i played was god be with you till we meet again. i played that at three years old. and then you went on to train as a classical pianist. yes. that was your love, wasn't it, classical piano? i'm not over it yet. are you disappointed that you didn't, in the end, become what you and your parents... yes, yes! ...the first black concert pianist. yes, because we don't have any! all we have is andre watts and they don't accept in very much because he's part german. the blacks don't accept him but they would've accepted me. at the age of 12, you were playing in a library, weren't you? a music library. yeah, it was my first recital. and something happened, somebody said something to your parents, didn't they. what did they say? they put them in the back of the room to watch me and i got up bravely, i was only 12,

and i said "if my parents don't sit in the front seat, i don't play." and they were put there because they were black. that's right. how did that make you feel? it was my first encounter with racism. my favourite record that i listen to now is marian anderson who is the first, the world's first black contralto, i listen to her every morning. she wakes me up and gives me inspiration to start the day. she sings a song, 0 rest in the lord, wait patiently for him and he will give you your heart's desire. and he will give you your heart's desire. religion is deeply ingrained in you. deeply ingrained. all religions? all religions. you have an interest in religion, don't you?

i don't believe in any one religion. no, i don't believe in one religion. i believe in allah, i believe in the hindu religion because i studied yoga for 21 years. i believe in buddhism, i believe in all of them because they are necessary for the sheep, darling. the sheep have to have something to follow. and religion is necessary. i believe in all of them. so when you got turned down by the curtis school in philadelphia, you needed to make some money, didn't you? yes, i did, to help my parents. so you started playing in bars and supper parties... yes, idid. what was that like? it was awful. but it got you some money. it got me $90 a week, 50 of which i gave my parents. and they came to philadelphia to be close to you. yes, they did.

what was your big break? my big break was going to atlantic city and playing in a supper club, and singing the song porgy which was given to me by a fan, as student there. and he liked billie holiday. i can't stand her but he liked her. and he asked me if i would sing it. so since i didn't have to practise the piano, while i was cleaning up my room in atlantic city to work every night from 9—4, i learnt the song and first sang it there in a bar. and an agent heard me and took me to new york and put it on a record. and then in 1957 came carnegie hall. that is right. a huge success, wasn't it? yes, it was.

but something disappointed you because you wrote a letter to your parents, didn't you? i don't remember that now. you apparently wrote a letter to your parents saying "this is where you wanted me to play, but i should have been playing bach." bach. your favourite composer. idid. i did do that. so this was your glorious occasion, but you were still disappointed. well, i loved the audience, but i wasn't playing classical music, and i wanted to be, and so i wrote, and i quote again what you have just said, i wrote, "yes, i'm in carnegie hall, finally, but i'm not playing bach." and then came "my baby just cares for me." oh, well that's years later. years later, but it was huge, wasn't it? yes, it was huge. it started out as a song for it an ad, didn't it? no, it started out as a piece of play—doh for children in england. it started out as a video for children.

and then it, um, it got bigger and bigger, and everybody started to hear it, and it became very famous, and it is the most famous song i have recorded. people say it turned you from cult into legend. yeah. i think so. so, you knew after that you are on your way. yeah. i was on my way before that because, let's face it, i had been playing, i was playing, around the world before then. i heard about it in switzerland. when you left america in 1972, you left because you couldn't stand the... racism. just that? racism. you couldn't stand it any longer. i couldn't stand it.

i still can't stand it. crossing the street! you get racism crossing the street! you get it in every... it's in the very fabric of american society. you can't stand to go to america? no, i can't. i went this year for the first time. two times. and i worked in newark, new stadium, and seattle, and they were so happy and surprised to see me because they had not seen me in how many years, clifton? seven. in seven years. but you didn't feel well treated? this time. yes. this time they were more than happy to see me. they had not seen me in so long they thought i was dead. but you wouldn't go back and live there? no way! and you keep telling them that? no way am i going to ever go back there again. and i'm not the only one.

josephine baker went back twice, and after her second time she never went back. so you went to liberia, didn't you? oh, yes. and that was apparently the happiest time in your life. it was. why? i was at home. and, you remember that liberia had a liaison with america, so it was known as a place for blacks whom they could not contain, and they were all rich, i lived on the beach. i had house servants and the president's daughter gave me a house on the beach. i stayed on the beach every damn day. it was fantastic. i was happier there, and what's more, i got engaged to the foreign minister's father, who was at that time 70 years old. but he was killed, wasn't he? yes, he was killed, they killed 13 of them. ina coup.

life seems to have gone wrong for you. no, i wouldn't say that. my music has always lifted me, and i have had a few love affairs. life has not gone wrong for me. i have been unlucky... ..no, i haven't been. no, i have no complaints about my life. but in 1978, in england, you told a newspaper "my personal life is a shambles, i'm black, and i've been struggling for half my life." well, that's true. my personal life was a shambles. and it still is. i don't have a lover. i have a friend, but not a lover. my personal life has been a shambles because everything has had to be sacrificed for the music. but then there were reports

in the late ‘705 of a drug overdose and... no, no, no. running out of money... i had enough money, i was never homeless, i have never been homeless. that's a lie. you also seem to have had a lot of problems with the music industry. racqueteers... yes, for god's sake, they don't pay you. i still have 60 albums being pirated in england right now! nobody‘s actually paying you for these? no! i have a great lawyer from san francisco, and he goes after as many pirates as he can, but he can't catch them all. they run the streets too fast. i've been pirated all over the world. when you get up on a stage now, and they said this in 1987, when you were at ronnie scott's jazz club in london...

oh, yes. they said, "you get the whole nina simone when she's up on stage. "you get her mood, you get the monologue, you get the music." is this the whole nina simone experience? that's true. and you keep waiting until you're ready? that's right, all the time. why? because i have to be composed, i have to be poised, i have to remember what my first piano teacher told me, "you do not touch that piano until you are ready, and until they are ready to listen to you." you just make them wait. how do you judge that moment? 0h, ijudge it from my... ..from my head, and from my instincts. and then when it's ready, and when you're happy, and when the crowd's happy. when they are ready i play for them. is it always a buzz, is it always a huge kick for you?

yes, it's always a huge kick. does it get better with the years? yes, it does. in what way? you're here! do you still enjoy it? oh yes, i enjoyed as much. do you happen to be travelling as much as you did? do you ever get tired? yes, i get very tired. i stay tired. but i don't mind being on the road for my music. before i let you go, one question, there is a report that at a business meeting once you pulled out a knife. i sure damn did! did you? yes, idid. why? well, because... bleep oh dear. because it was a record company. you were about to say something you shouldn't! i dare say it was a record company that stole my albums and did not

pay me and they came to switzerland and i said "where is my money, they said, "we are not going to give you any money." i said, "oh, yes you are." and i got a gun. it was a gun! it wasn't a knife, and ifollowed them to a restaurant and i tried to kill him. i missed him and i went back to america. you actually pulled the trigger? of course bleep... excuse me! yes, idid. and felt better for it? oh, yes! sorry i didn't get him! now we've advertised that side of your life, you say you're still looking for a lover. people, men, are going to be a bit nervous, aren't they?

they are very. do you manage to put them out? no. you don't try too hard. no. i refuse to cook or to clean. so they have to take you as you are? they have to take me as i am and recognise that i'm a star as well as a woman, and they have to deal with the two. and treat you properly. definitely. nina simone, dr simone, it has been a pleasure having you on the programme. can i say one more thing? i am a doctor, do you know why? you are a doctor of humanities. yes. from malcolm x university in chicago. and a doctor of music. from ambrose college in ambrose massachusetts. 0k, thank you for setting the record straight. it's been a great pleasure. good morning. it looks like it will be on the cool side for the easter weekend. more on that in a moment.

we've introduced cooler air at the moment behind this very weak weather front that moved down across the country. this north—westerly airflow. particularly chilly first thing in eastern scotland and eastern england, but with the cloud more broken in the countryside, temperatures briefly not far from freezing. at least we have early sunshine through lincolnshire, east anglia and the south—east. the tendency through the day is to increase the cloud from the west. that's already happening in south—west england, across wales and in the north—west cloud is thick enough for some light rain or drizzle, mainly over the hills. again, fine to the east of the pennines. as it will be in eastern scotland, with sunshine. western scotland is dull and damp. sunshine for northern ireland too. through the day it clouds over across the eastern side of england and scotland. at the same time in the afternoon we open up a gap in the cloud across south wales, south—west england and that should push into the south—east. here we have the best of the sunshine in the afternoon and the highest temperatures

still only 13—111. furthermore north, a lot of places dry. around the western hills primarily we get the damp weather. over the easter weekend temperatures disappointing for the time of year. a cool feel. warm when the sun is out, but on the whole there will be a lot of cloud. probably not much rain around. just a bit a nuisance. these weather systems coming into the uk for good friday are going to be very much on the weak side. but across england and wales we will have a lot of cloud. there will be some pockets of light rain or drizzle here and there. no great amounts. but a bit of a damp picture, especially for south wales and south—west england. to the north of northern england, scotland and northern ireland, something a bit brighter, but also showers. a strong wind will make it feel chilly in scotland. maybe sneaking a 16 in the south—east if we are very lucky. those weather systems pull away and we are back into the cooler north—westerly airflow. so we fluctuate almost from one day to the next over the easter weekend. on saturday, easter saturday,

much drier and brighter. most places will have a fine day. a little sunshine at times, not doing an awful lot for temperatures. there could be a few showers in the north of scotland. then we are back into the fluctuation for easter day. more weather fronts arriving across the uk. high pressure in the south. those weather fronts again are fairly weak. most of the rain over the hills, across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. to the south, it should be dry and bright. 15 perhaps in london, nine in glasgow. hello, and welcome to bbc news. a public show of unity, but russia and america failed to resolve their differences over the syrian chemical attack and president assad's future. there is a low level of trust between our two countries. the two foremost nuclear powers

cannot have this relationship. we report from pyongyang as donald trump talks about north korea with china. new zealanders brace themselves for another tropical storm, just a week after being lashed by cyclone debbie. 100 years of history. we meet chairman mao's secretary, who ended up defying the communist