what kind of precautions the city and its budget has been in the hands of the ak party in one this is bbc news, the headlines did you take? way or another, four democratic congresswomen told in its present and past by president trump to "go back form, for the past 25 years. where they came from" have described his comments as a racist it's a budget of about $9 billion. attempt to distract from his failing policies. he has again taken to twitter, accusing them of hating america. you said after your first the democratic minority 17 days in office, leader in the senate, when you won the first run chuck schumer, has said republicans are making a "deal with the devil" of the election on march the 31st, that you found a lot of evidence by ignoring president of squandering of public funds. trump's racist tweets. president erdogan has described you, what did you discover? despite your victory, the significance of iran's breaches as a lame—duck. of the international nuclear accord he's right, isn't he? have been played down by the european union's top diplomat. and in an exclusive interview — iran's foreign minister has warned so you use her example as a way that there's a risk his country of exemplifying what you believe could stumble into war with the united states. is this general concern aboutjournalists and media workers being imprisoned in turkey? at least three million people have been displaced across north and north—eastern india as monsoon so let's look at what you have rains take lives and destroy homes. to do here in istanbul. storms and floods have ripped you're in your late 40s, you've come from a relatively through parts of nepal, comfortable background. you know, your family bangladesh and india, i tell you what he means by it. have a construction company. you had a very, very i mean, yes, you won 54% of the vote against your opponent... small restaurant, cafe, killing more than 130 people. just let me finish saying this, yes, you won 54% of the vote. which sold kebabs and so on, binali yildirim from the ak party, so do you understand the fact that

now on bbc news it's hardtalk. your opponent, only got 46%. people are struggling in istanbul? zeinab badawi speaks however, the ruling ak party has 25 but i have to say that the ak party to the new mayor of istanbul, of the 39 districts in istanbul. has categorically denied claims that ekrem imamoglu. they also have the majority it's awarded lucrative contracts to businesses close of the seats on the municipal to the government, and this is one council, and of course overall of the things that has been control of the country. that's why you're a lame—duck. circulating after you came to office. welcome to hardtalk, with me, i just want to make sure that zeinab badawi in istanbul. that denial is there. my guest today is the new mayor but you don't have much of the city, ekrem imamoglu. experience, do you, he dealt a massive setback to the to deal with all these political manoeuvrings that you're that there's 25% youth unemployment, ruling ak party when he defeated going to have to get a grip of? inflation obviously across turkey their candidate not once but twice is extremely high. the turkish lira has when there was a rerun seen its value drop dramatically. can you really empathise with those of the election. people who can't afford president erdogan once said whoever the cost of living? wins istanbul wins turkey. is ekrem imamoglu now the man i mean, you were, after all, to watch in turkish politics? just mayor of a district in istanbul, and you're going to really have to try to unpick this system of patronage and influence that's been built up over many years by the ak party. do you have experience? that's the strength of the ak party, which is why it's been so mayor ekrem imamoglu, welcome to hardtalk. are you surprised that you're successful electorally. for example, one resident, sitting here in the mayor's office? ak party supporter in istanbul,

but your hands are tied, dilber geckin, said, it is, after all, the first time your hands are tied. "we are poor and they, in 25 years that your chp party has you can't do everything are you up to it? the ak party, help us. you want to do because the ak party won this position. is still, as i explained, in this position of power. we are diehard supporters but you're dealing with and we will never change." your party leader, the realities of what's going on. 46% of the vote for the ak party kemal kilicdaroglu, said, "do not forget, today so, for example, canan kaftancioglu, the victor is democracy," who leads the istanbul branch candidate to become mayor, that's when you won, and he said, that's very substantial. of the chp party, is not irrelevant, that's "the whole world that believes appearing in court over in democracy is proud of turkey." allegations dating back to five or six years, the point i'm making. so the ruling ak party, comments that she posted on social president erdogan, your party media which allegedly say are suggesting are good democrats, they 00:02:25,688 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 didn't rig the election? that she criticised president erdogan and the state. i mean, you've condemned this, calling it a political threat, but it's going ahead. that's the kind of reality it doesn't look like that now, does it? because the constitution gives the president of turkey strong powers, and president erdogan has you have to deal with. already moved to curb your powers. for example, in may, he said all mayors in turkey would no longer have the power to elect officials at companies linked to their municipalities, and these are a huge source of income and political patronage, of course, which is a huge diminution 00:02:58,315 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 of your powers.

finding jobs is a key plank of your vision to improve life for the people in istanbul, but you have also talked about employment, linked to the presence of syrian refugees in istanbul. official figures say there are about 600,000 syrian refugees in istanbul, you say the figure is more like one million. are you going to speak up just on behalf of your party members, like kaftancioglu, or are you also going to extend your comments about the 132 journalists and media workers who are currently in prison across turkey, that's according 00:03:33,642 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 to the turkish union ofjournalists. this is what you said about the syrian refugees and their impact on istanbul. "a refugee must be isolated, in a camp if it's necessary, or he must be re—educated. some of our people lost theirjobs. employment rates have dropped down because of informally working refugees." why did you say that?

do you regret the fact there have been clashes between turkish citizens and syrian refugees? do you regret that,

because it's been happening in istanbul? do you regret that? of course, you're unhappy. mr mayor, i put it to you, you have said, for example, "you cannot read the sign boards in certain quarters. this is turkey, this is istanbul." you've made that kind of comment. and a turkish news website, ahva, has said this about you, "in dismissing a significant portion of his city's residents by this rhetorical exclusion, the mayor risks fanning the flames of social unrest." you have done that, haven't you?

but what is the problem with signboards in arabic? do you have no problem with the arabic language?

why is it disturbing to have a sign in arabic in districts where there is large concentrations of syrian refugees? you are a committed muslim. turkey is a predominantly muslim country and arabic is the language of the koran, you are a committed muslim, you pray, you fast, do you have a problem with arabic?

your party, the chp, the republicans, established by mustafa kemal ataturkin the picture there, is very much a secular party. it gave rise to the secular constitution of turkey, and obviously there are many committed muslims, conservatives, traditionalists in turkey. how are you going to win over those who are proud of their islamic heritage practice? they don't necessarily want to see a very secular turkey.

and as ates ilyas bassoy, chp strategist, says, said "we cannot change erdogan. we fight by changing ourselves." so, are you going to become more successful on the national stage by becoming more like the ak party, more aware of your islamic heritage and perhaps toning down the secular elements of the chp?

that's what you said, "we need to add a religious flavou r", and that's the point i'm making. it's also one that's been echoed by mustafa akyol, an independent writer. "the chp is finally getting religion. a political party that does not understand this fact is doomed." "religious flavour", what do you mean by that? you've got a big mountain to climb, you know, when you had this stunning

victory in istanbul when everybody said ‘0h, look, this might be the beginning of the end for president president erdogan and the ak party.‘ but the chp hasn't had a majority government since 1950. in the election in 1999, your party failed to win a single seat. muharrem ince, who stood against president erdogan for the chp won just 30% of the vote compared to the 52%—52.5% that erdogan won. you've got a long way to go before you're relevant.

the chp published a pamphlet called ‘radical love'. you have said during the campaign "a neighbour who doesn't think like you, just give them a hug, show them that walls can be torn down with love." "i like hugging, nobody will escape our hugs. " is that your platform to launch yourself on the national stage? go around hugging everybody?

finally, 2023, the next presidential elections. could we see you stand as a candidate for your party, the chp?

mayor ekrem imamoglu, thank you very much indeed for coming on hardtalk. thank you. thank you, you're welcome. hello again. we'll take a look at the weather picture through tuesday, and i think there's going to be quite a bit of cloud in the sky first thing in the morning, because this is what's going on at the moment. we've got a stripe of cloud in the west. this is a weather front that's going to be pushing eastwards. as it does so, it is all the time pushing into an area of high pressure, so the front itself

is going to be a weak affair, but it will provide the focus for some showers. now, for northern ireland and also for scotland, expect some showers running in here over the next few hours, so it might be worth taking a waterproof jacket with you or an umbrella if you're heading outside over the next few hours. there is also the chance of some shower developments in north wales and north—west england, but otherwise, across eastern england, eastern scotland, it's going to be a dry morning. now, through the rest of the day, those showers in northern ireland and scotland will continue on and off through the morning. as the heat of the day builds further southwards, we'll see further shower development across wales, northern england, and perhaps the midlands as well. some of the heavier showers could be across more eastern portions of england, perhaps across the pennines, somewhere like that. but towards the south—east, it's going to be a fine, sunny afternoon, feeling warm and humid, temperatures up to 27. but more typically, temperatures for most areas low to mid 20s. now, looking at the low pressure into the middle part of the week, an area of low pressure is going to be moving off the atlantic, ultimately pushing a band of rain in, with strengthening

north—westerlies as well. so turning wet for northern ireland and western scotland through the morning. a dry start for eastern scotland and for england and wales on wednesday, with some morning sunshine. things will tend to cloud over as the day goes by, with the rain getting into western fringes of england and wales, and across into eastern scotland as well. now, to the east of our weather front, that's where the highest temperatures are going to be. we'll still be reaching temperatures of around 25 for norwich and london, still feeling rather humid, but ultimately that weather front will push through. it's a cold front, and it will be bringing that fresher air right the way across the country by the time we get to thursday. so thursday's a day of rain clearing, followed by some drier weather and sunshine for england and wales. showers moving into northern ireland and scotland and perhaps northern england as well. the showers quite widespread, heavy, and likely to be thundery at times too. temperatures high teens across northern areas, 23, 2a degrees in the warmest spots further south. what about the end of the week? well, another area of low pressure looks set to move in, but there's a lot of uncertainty how far north or south this one's going. some models take it north, some move it right the way across southern parts of england and wales.

either way, it looks like it's going to be unsettled for some of us, at least, through friday and on into the weekend, with rain at times. that's your latest weather.

this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: president trump refuses to back down from his racist tweets attacking four american congresswomen of colour. if you hate our country, if you are not happy here, then leave.

as we all know, the recent tweets are just a continuation of his racist and xenophobic playbook. we cannot allow this to distract us from the critical work to hold this administration accountable. the twins from pakistan born joined at the head. we have exclusive access as surgeons in london start to separate the sisters.