our top story: mark zuckerberg has apologised to a us senate committee for allowing firms to misuse personal data gathered by facebook. he said that facebook did not take a broad enough view of its responsibility and that it was his personal mistake. his testimony was well received by the markets and facebook shares closed the day 4.5% up. the likelihood of military action against president assad by the united states, britain and france has increased after russia blocked a un vote on an investigation into a suspected chemical attack in syria. yulia skripal, the daughter of a former russian spy, has left hospital five weeks after she was poisoned by a nerve agent. it's understood she's been moved to a secure location. her father is still receiving treatment. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it's time for hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. ethiopia is africa's second most populous nation and has big ambitions to be a dominant regional power. it also has a new leader, abiy ahmed, who has pledged to heal internal divisions after years of authoritarian rule. my guest is neamin zeleke, one of the leaders in exile of an ethiopian opposition movement which has embraced armed resistance to the addis regime. so, how real is the threat of conflict inside ethiopia? neamin zeleke in washington, dc, welcome to hardtalk.

thank you. would you agree with me that given the appointment of a new prime minister, this is a moment of hope and opportunity for ethiopia? yes. we see some opportunities and definitely hope, but the challenges and the political crisis facing ethiopia are really enormous and he has, on his way, way too much complex problems to tackle. so there is hope and there

is an opportunity, if he uses it, if he has the political will to use the opportunities to make substantive political and economic reforms. the reforms may come but should we pause forjust a moment and reflect on how symbolically important it is that here we have a man who is, first of all, the first muslim to be leader of ethiopia, but also a man who comes from the oromo ethnic part of the country and therefore breaks the monopoly on power that has been held by the tigrayans inside the ruling coalition for the last quarter century or so? so, would you accept that this does indicate a wind of change sweeping through your country? well, first of all, this is not the first time an oromo leader came into power in ethiopia.

previously, there were two oromo prime ministers and the leader of the military regime but, of course, he may identify himself primarily as ethnic oromo. second, definitely, as i say, there is hope and opportunity for the country because according to the information we have, he came to the home as a chairman of the area, and also subsequently prime minister, as a result of internal struggle within the ruling aprdf and he is apparently among those wanting some reform measures within the ruling aprdf. in that sense, if he follows through, then there is hope for the country. and let me if i may... if i may...

keep in mind that aprdf is still the dominant authoritarian party and he's the leader of that party. so, his challenge will be to transform and reform the country towards a genuine political order. yes, indeed. so here's something he said around the time of swearing in as new pm. he said, "i apologise wholeheartedly to the families of human rights defenders, politicians, the change seeking youth whose lives were snapped at a young age, and all of those who were subjected to psychological and physical crises". that apology is something which does change the atmosphere, does it not? it does, to a degree. but the regime, you know, has been known in the past to make public apologies after committing crimes, atrocities and violations in various parts of ethiopia. so this is not in particular, you know, new for the leaders of the current authoritarian

regime to apologise. it's notjust words... definitely there is a marked difference... it's notjust words though, it's also actions. you know, under the outgoing pm, hailemariam, we saw hundreds of political prisoners released and indeed, in the first days of the new pm, we've seen more releases. ii anti—government bloggers, journalists and activists who were jailed actually in march during some clashes and security sweeps by the government. they were released, including some well—known online activists from the zone nine group, including two journalists who are well—known in ethiopia as oppositionists. these are — again, ijust wonder whether you're just being a little gloomy and a bit of a naysayer when some really important, different things are happening

inside your country. yes, uh... there are some changes. as i say, we see some glimmer of hope and opportunities going forward, but let's take, for instance, what you just said: the release of political prisoners. you know what happened, after they released hundreds of political prisoners? they rearrested, you know, the most prominent ones, including the one you mentioned. yes, but they have let him out again. i agree with you, they rearrested him but now they've let him out again. to begin with, with all due respect, all these political prisoners should not have been put in prison, because they didn't commit any crime. their only crime was to be a journalist like you,

and political dissenters like me. so this authoritarian, deeply authoritarian, brutal regime, imprisoned, in the past, thousands of political prisoners in ethiopia. there was just a few that were released. we still believe there are ten thousands of political prisoners throughout ethiopia in many regions of the country, not only in addis ababa. but... so that has to end. criminalisation of dissent has to end. all these repressive laws the authoritarian regime, the aprdf, has instituted, they have to be repealed and the state of emergency has to be lifted. all these measures will indicate what you say, if there is hope and opportunity. right. is not the message of what has happened over the last 18 months,

two years and more, that civil disobedience, mass peaceful protests on the streets of ethiopia's towns and cities can work, and that you guys in exile who call for armed resistance, have not been the agent and vehicle of change, it's the people inside the country committed to peaceful resistance who have achieved this change? first of all, definitely we have an organisationl outfit in exile. but keep in mind, we are also on the ground. where in many parts of ethiopia, our movement works not only through our struggle but part of the civil disobedience that you mentioned. so we espouse not only an armed struggle, but we will embrace all forms of struggle. with respect, you are an organisation which is deemed a terrorist organisation

and is outlawed inside ethiopia. as i understand it, you, inside the country, operate with a secret cell structure. so you're not the people who've been on the ground organising the protests on the streets, the protest outside gas stations and other forms of civil disobedience, because you're a secret cell structure, banned organisation. my point is that there are groups like the group in oromo who have been on the streets, active youth movements, who've achieved real change. no. i think you have your information wrong. we are on the ground, yes. yes, we are banned and we are branded as a terrorist, but we do have structures inside ethiopian undertaking and organising civil disobedience. not only self defence,

armoured undertakings, but also civil disobedience. yes, it is true that the oromo areas and in other regions, other groups are organising and leading this civil disobedience but we are there as well. we are in many parts of the country part of this process. your movement and you, as i understand it, have committed, you've made last may this commitment to depose the government by any means necessary. you talked to me about armed resistance. yes, yes. by any means necessary. armed resistance is not what has been happening in ethiopia in terms of pushing the government to release prisoners and to change course. it is civil disobedience, and are you not playing into the hands of the hardliners in the ruling coalition when you talk about deposing

the government by any means necessary? when we say by any means necessary, it means all instruments of struggle. all forms of tactics, we deploy to organise the people. that includes armed struggle. we have armed movement in the northern part of the country and we also believe civil disobedience, economic embargoes and boycotts of all kinds to blunt the region's arsenals. to erode and weaken the pillars of its repression so we believe in all forms of struggle when we say by any means necessary. we cannot exclude civil disobedience as a very potent weapon to weaken the regime and to organise the people in these protests to depose the region. where is your leader? where is he? he is currently in eritrea.

in eritrea? yes. and eritrea, of course, long—time hostile enemy of ethiopia. it doesn't look good, does it? when you, and i know you go to eritrea too. you spend all of your time not in ethiopia and not always in washington, but much of your time in a country which is the most hostile enemy of ethiopia. well, eritrea is the most hostile enemy of the region, in ethiopia, not ethiopians and ethiopia. we disagree on that one. this regime, especially the dominant peoples‘ liberation front has worked to fight against the previous military regime, communist regime. so, why would it be wrong for us to work with eritreans? it makes me wonder about where your

interests really lie. how much money does the eritrea government give your organisation? i cannot speculate on that. they don't give us money, but they harbour thousands of our freedom fighters in eritrea because that's the only safe and secure place for ethiopians. this brutal regime, in many countries, kenya, sudan, the safest place is eritrea. but they give you money, don't they? they may, they may. i'm not going to speculate the amount. they definitely support ourfreedom fighters. yes.

they harbour. you don't deny that they give you money. i deny. i just told you. there are thousands of our freedom fighters, they harbour them and they shelter, and they provide them with all forms of assistance. it's many thousands. according to the un monitoring group, it's many thousands of dollars a month handed to you and your fellow leaders and arms and training camps inside eritrea. i'm just wondering how all this sounds to the ethiopian people. they will remember the years of war. we are the most popular organisation, one of the most popular. we have millions of supporters in ethiopia. i don't know if you have your information correctly or which versions of the report, there are various reports from various entities that you are reading but we have solely support of ethiopia and the ethiopian people don't see eritrean people as enemies.

it's the region that has been at loggerheads and also wants to have hostile intentions to us, eritrea and the eritrean government. right, so you take the side of eritrea against your own government? it is not our own government. our own government is one we, the people, elect underfree, fair elections, our government. this is a dictatorial, tyrannical, brutal regime, a minority regime that has captured the state and the economy to benefit a few tigrayan elites and their cronies. this is not our government. until we, the ethiopian people, like you, in britain, under free and fair elections, we elect our leaders,

this is not our government. that is the sentiment of the majority of ethiopians. it seems to me you're going to have a problem if dr abiy, in his role now as prime minister, does what he stated, a few days ago, to end the "years of misunderstandings with the eritrean government and to that end, we will play our part." you're going to be in big trouble if the ethiopian government reaches out a hand of friendship to eritrea because you'll be bargaining chips and you and your fellow leaders may find yourselves without a home. we shall see when we get there. first of all, the minority regime has to withdraw. there is a long—standing ruling by the commission, which is the flashpoint of the dispute and conflict that led to that bloody war wtih eritrea. but thus far, the regime has not withdrawn from the sovereign territories of eritrea.

that will be a very difficult undertaking for the region because most tigrayans consider the region not to be part of eritrea. and another word about, for example, egypt, a country that does not have a good relationship with ethiopia, not least because of disputes about water, and the waters of the nile. you are taking money and support from egypt too. that's the narrative and the fiction of the regime. we never took money, neither weapons from egypt. but if it serves our end, and our end is to have democratic order, like britain, like any government, don't you think it's a double standard ?

your government or any government deals with whoever, serves their interests. our interests are democracy, freedom, justice and equity in ethiopia. that's why you have these protests throughout ethiopia for the last three years. so long as it serves our purpose, we'll do it, but we have not accepted any form of assistance from egyptians. so you say. so that it's a strange statement you'd said to me, "we will accept any assistance from anybody but terrorists." you conduct terrorism yourselves. you just said to me that... that's what the regime says. under tyranny... hang on, let me... justified... if i may... ..morallyjustified to defend yourself with your families are being tortured, when your sisters are being gang—raped, when your father is being

humiliated and murdered. that's what has been happening and this minority regime supported by those who claim to champion democracy and freedom throughout the world, including the uk. but if you want to claim that you are better than the government in ethiopia, i don't see how it helps for your people claiming loyalty to you, to launch bomb attacks... sir, with all due respect, your interview... hang on, hang on. 10 years ago, and our leader was among the victims, those thrown in jail. the leaders of the cud. he tried tried best. many who formed ginbot 7 were the leaders of the cud, including ourchairman, they tried their best peacefully. and this region doesn't understand peaceful struggle.

so you think it is now acceptable to launch gun and bomb attacks which killed dozens of people? no, no, we don't believe in terrorism or promote terrorism. we conduct self—defence measures, armed activities in self—defence and that's a right, even under international law. self—defence, defending yourself, your families from brutality, atrocity, bordering genocide, ethnic cleansing, that this brutal minority regime has undertaken throughout ethiopia, it's a right to defend yourself, don't you think? what would happen, let me ask you — what would happen if the ira from ireland came and took over britain, captures all the economy, irish people, only 4 million out of the 60 million, they control the economy, they control the military, the security, what would you feel? and you, as a journalist, how do you react? are you not playing with fire here? we know that ethiopia's

ethnic mix is, to put it bluntly, fragile. and we know when you accuse the government of being a front for tigrayan security, military and intelligence interests, we know that that kind of language is going to inflame ethnic tensions given the mix of peoples in your country, and it seems to me that when you tweet things like this, and i'm going to quote a tweet of yours from just a month ago. you said, "give me death or give me liberty. either we live with freedom and equality or oppression, injustice and servitude under this brutal fascist tyranny, will be the option." you are laying things out in a way which seems to me, leading only one way and that is to the kind of terrible civil war that we have seen in syria, for example. we don't want a civil war in ethiopia, we want peace, we want stability, we want prosperity.

but with justice, freedom, like you, as i said, in britain or any western democracy. we want this unacceptable, brutal, tyrannical order to go. we need freedom, we need justice, we need equity. it is a known fact now internationally that 6% of the population, if you read all the reports recently that have been written by various journalists, western journalists included, for the first time, they are admitting that people who claim to represent 6% of the population out of 100 million have captured the state, the security, the military and the economy. and that's the truth.

my last question — to avoid the possibility of terrible violence inside your country, do you not now have to give dr abiy, the new pm, a chance to lift the state of emergency, a chance to develop a dialogue with the opposition, a chance to release the political prisoners? give him a chance? yes, we will give him a chance, we have stated, in no uncertain terms, we have issued a public statement and interviews by our chairman, we are willing to give a chance provided dr abiy, the prime minister, delivers what he has pledged. reconciliation, national dialogue and institution constitutional democracy and all the substantive political and economic reforms that the people of ethiopia expect, yes, we will give him a chance. all right.

well, with that thought in mind, we must end this interview. but neamin zeleke, thank you for being on hardtalk. hello, good morning. there is warmer weather on the way for all of us in the outlook eventually. but it was along the south coast and in sussex, with some sunshine like this, that we had 18 degrees, compared with around six or seven along some north sea coasts. that was thanks to that wind off the north sea. and similar contrasts, really,

through the rest of this week. in general a lot of cloud around, and some further bursts of rain, too. now, the pressure pattern looks like this. low pressure to the south of the uk, some very wet weather again across iberia into southern france. higher pressure extending across the north from scandinavia, and that easterly wind. we've seen some heavy rain, though, across parts of the south overnight, and that will tend to head its way away from the south—west, keeping, though, a cloudier zone through wales, the midlands, east anglia, parts of southern england, and maybe a few showers towards the south coast, where we may get some warm sunshine again. sunshine across north—western parts of england, maybe northern ireland, the north and west of scotland, where we're sheltered from that easterly wind which keeps it cold and grey around some north sea coasts, and still pretty misty overnight. some further bursts of rain as we head towards the end of the night, into thursday morning, but nowhere particularly cold. and, if anything, that rain is tending to move its way a bit further north on thursday, so it should be drying off across much of wales

and the midlands. rain pushing northwards, patchy rain, across northern england into northern ireland, but turning wetter across south—east scotland and north—east england, and without that rain from the north sea, it really will feel pretty cold. get some sunshine, it's a bit warmer, especially in the south—east, although there could be one or two showers around. not a great deal of change as we head into thursday, from thursday into friday. again, lower pressure to the south, higher pressure to the north. an easterly wind, which is going to be stronger to the north of the humber, and this is where we've got most of the rain. so friday, again, it's the northern half of the uk that sees the wet weather. this time around, the rain could be wetter friday. watch out for some sharp showers in the south and south—west, but again some warmth in that sunshine when it comes through, but not everywhere getting it just yet. we start to see some changes as we head into the weekend. a big area of low pressure approaching from the atlantic, but it draws up more of a southerly wind as we head through the weekend. still got some rain, though, in north—eastern scotland. cold and wet here.

but otherwise, more of a southerly. we're losing the onshore wind for most of us, and that means some sunshine coming through, lifting the temperatures. one or two showers, but not as cold across south—east scotland and north—east england. and the higher temperatures move across the whole of the country as we head into the beginning of next week, as we get that southerly wind. most places will be dry, and there'll be some sunshine too. welcome to newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: mark zuckerberg gets grilled in the us senate. the head of facebook explains how data was shared and admits they didn't always get it right. we have made a lot of mistakes in running the company. i think it's pretty much impossible, i believe, to start a company in your dorm room and grow it to be at the scale we're at now without making some mistakes. responding to a suspected chemical attack in syria — the us, france and the uk discuss coordinated action against president assad. poisoned by a nerve agent five weeks ago, yulia skripal is discharged from hospital. she's now been moved to a secure location. and after five months

in prison in myanmar,