in more than 70 countries. computers in thousands of locations have been locked by a programme that demands a three hundred dollar payment to restore users‘ access. companies, individuals and public services, including hospitals, have been affected. the white house has refused to confirm or deny whether president trump recorded conversations with james comey, the man he sacked as director of the fbi. in a tweet earlier, mr trump warned mr comey not to leak stories to the media, saying he had "better hope there are no tapes of our conversations". thousands of elderly venezuelans have taken to the streets of the capital, caracas, and other cities to protest against the government of nicolas maduro and show their discontentment with the worsening economic crisis. police blocked access to a main road in caracas and used pepper gas to try to control the crowd. now on bbc news, hardtalk celebrates its 20th anniversary with one of its classic interviews. 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 wants 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 2! 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's 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 that have lifted me. 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 ‘70s of a drug overdose and... no, no, no. running out of money and being homeless. 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 them 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 enjoy it 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 there 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 didn't 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.

hello. showers or longer spells of rain were the mark of the day on friday in many parts of the british isles, but other areas too got away with a pretty decent sort of day. that was the end of the day in kings cross in london. that was the day in cornwall. and what's driving things at the moment? this area of low pressure, sat in the middle of this great swirl of cloud. you can see the persistent rain showing up, and those with a good eye can see the speckling of showers, some of those were really quite sharp. as we get on into the body of saturday, rather than friday, the same area of low pressure has drifted a little bit further north,

taking the prospect with it of those longer spells of rain. not a cold start to the day wherever you're starting it. the temperatures just about dipping away into single figures, across a rather murky north—eastern quarter of scotland. but further south, across the greater part of southern england and wales, it's not wall—to—wall sunshine, but it is mild as you step out of the door first thing perhaps, and a lot of dry weather too. you've got to start moving towards the north—west of wales, to northern ireland, the north—west england and up into the heart of scotland, where you are in the centre of the low, and you will see more cloud, thick enough for some rain and further north and east, as i say, a coolerfeel, with a noticeable south—easterly wind there and a lot of low cloud. it's going to be one of those days i'm afraid in that neck of the woods. but let's not major too much on the rain and showers, because, across a greater part of england and wales, yes, isolated light showers, but a lot of dry weather too. with the sunshine coming out, quite strong at this time of year, 18 or 19 could be yours. and i suspect, down on the south coast, bournemouth versus burnley, mid—afternoon, there'll be

a lot of sunshine there, a really glorious spring afternoon. however, closer to the low pressure and some of the fixtures, especially on the western side of scotland, they could be pretty wet affairs. if you're coming further south, and it is the challenge cup weekend for the rugby league fans amongst you, castleford versus st helens, i think that one will be essentially a dry fixture. saturday evening on into sunday, if you're out and about you'll have to put up with a couple of hours at least of pretty weather as the front moves west to east. it'll be away from most eastern coastal areas, say for the north—east of scotland, as you wake up on sunday. another day of sunny spells and showers, some of them sharp, especially in the north—western quarter of scotland, but i hope you have some time on the weekend to enjoy at least some of this dry weather. and i urge you to do it if you can, because this is what monday looks like — rather wet, rather windy to say the least. hello, i'm tom donkin. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. here's our top stories: a global cyber attack blocks computers

and demands a ransom from governments, companies, individuals and even hospitals. a veiled threat to the former fbi boss — the white house won't say whether or not there are tapes of his conversations with president trump. a series of cyber attacks has hit many companies and organisations in dozens of countries across the world. thousands of computers have been locked by a virus, with hackers demanding money to restore access.