Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London.

I'm James Menendez. And coming up a little later in the program, Washington's decision to send

anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, despite the fact that many countries, including Ukraine,

are signatories to a treaty banning their use. We'll hear why the Biden

administration's reversed its position and what it might mean for Ukraine on the battlefield.

Also, we'll be speaking to the Australian novelist Richard Flanagan about becoming the first writer

to win a top prize for fiction and now a prestigious prize for non-fiction. That's in about 15 minutes. But we are going

to begin in Hong Kong. And if you were listening yesterday, you'll have heard us talking about

the 45 democracy activists who were sent to prison after being found guilty of threatening

the territory's national security law, a sweeping piece of legislation imposed by Beijing to clamp down on protest

and dissent. Well, today, the highest profile figure to full foul of that law appeared in court

for the first time. He's Jimmy Lai, the multi-millionaire media tycoon who's long campaigned

for media freedom in Hong Kong through his publications, including the popular tabloid Apple Daily,

now closed down. He's already in prison on other charges. But here he is speaking to Newsauer

in August 2020 when he was briefly released on bail following his initial arrest under the

national security law. That's not the first time I was arrested.

I was arrested two or three times before.

This time they said that it's national security law, which is more scary.

I just forgot while I fell.

I just asked them, okay, can I go up and have a balance change?

Because I just finished my exercise.

And they said, oh, let's make it quick,

...