on the united states and britain, following the election of president trump and brexit. the german chancellor said europeans must take their destiny into their own hands. british airways says it intends to operate a full schedule of long—haulflights and a ‘high proportion‘ of its short—haul programme from heathrow on monday — after a weekend of disruption caused by a computer failure. it says all flights will run from gatwick as normal. thousands of people have rallied in rio dejaneiro, calling on brazil's president to step down over allegations of corruption. a supreme court investigation has released testimony alleging that michel temer took millions of dollars in bribes, and a number of parties have left his governing coalition. now on bbc news, as part of hardtalk‘s 20—year anniversary, another chance to see stephen sackur‘s 2010 interview with the late venezuelan

leader hugo chavez. welcome to the miraflores presidential palace in caracas and a special edition of hardtalk. my guest is one of the most polarising leaders in the world today. president hugo chavez of venezuela is committed to socialism and the anti—imperialist struggle. for decades fidel castro was the keeper of latin america's revolutionary flames. well, now it is chavez. but are venezuela's people beginning to tire of their firebrand president? president hugo chavez, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much.

i want to begin by asking you about the venezuelan economy. you have a serious problem with inflation. you have a currency that has been devalued and your country is still in recession. is it fair to say that socialism right now is not working? you had growth. but now you do not have growth. you're the only latin american country that this year, as well as last year, is not growing at all and is in recession. is it possible, you say it's possible, to have some form

of capitalism with in a socialist system. is it possible to have genuine democracy and respect for the rule of law within your socialist system? you are absolutely right that you have won elections, and you have won them very easily. but democracy is more than aboutjust winning elections. can i put one case to you that suggests you perhaps do not adhere to the wider rule of law and the independence of thejudiciary. let me mention the case here, a judge in venezuela, maria afiuni. she made a decision to release a man who you regarded as... as a corrupt opponent of your regime. but the fact was the judge decided after two years in detention she followed the law and she released him from detention. you then made a speech in which you said her actions had been worse than those of an assassin. you demanded she be put

injailfor30 years, and she is currently in a prison. what does that say about your respect for the independence of thejudiciary? but many independent observers look at what you have done, in that case and others, and have concluded, and i'm quoting the inter—american commission on human rights, "the political system in venezuela is fundamentally undermined by the lack ofjudicial independence." but mr president, there are many different international groups...

latin american groups, who have questioned your commitment to the rule of law. when human rights watch wrote a report about this subject you threw out the two people that wrote the report. it seems whenever people are critical of your record you do not accept it. you said that you would not listen to the inter—american commission on human rights, you said they had no credibility. amnesty international, human rights watch, other latin american organisations have said you do not respect the rule of law. but when you hear the criticism you react against the critics. you threw out two of the people from human rights watch who wrote a report about you. it is difficult to have a credible opposition in this country, and i'm sure you agree opposition is a big part of democracy, if when an opponent becomes a very loud critic you lock them up.

it's very difficult then to be in opposition. yes, of course. there are some people... but the point is there are many people who can't insult you on the tv because they're in prison. for example, raul baduel, he used to be a very good colleague of yours, he used to be your defence minister. but when he became a critic of yours and joined the opposition you had him locked up. i know that but you only decided he was corrupt when he became

an opponent of yours. there are many examples... you say give me examples... we obviously could go through every example, mr president, but one more example... let's talk about one more example, the former presidential candidate, oswaldo alvarez paz, you have now charged him as well. he is another leading opponent of yours and he is also now facing charges. i've been used. how have i been used?

i sense your frustration that you feel that you're misunderstood in the world beyond venezuela and latin america. i want to ask you about some of your international policies, your policies looking outward beyond venezuela's borders. in the last decade it's fair to say you have made a lot of headlines with your powerful criticism of the united states, of us imperialism, and george w bush in particular. but bush is gone, he left the picture more than a year ago. president obama is now president of the united states. do you now see a very different united states? what signals do you see right now? do you see signals that would lead you to still use

the word ‘imperialism?’ do you still see imperialism coming out of washington? are you determined to do what you can to undermine it and to destroy it? can i take it from your answer that your axis of unity with iran will continue? in the past, you have said that you will be with the iranians. you said that to president ahmadinejad in 2006. do you stand by those words? you have a very deep relationship with iran. trade, military intelligence, there are many aspects to the relationship. are you saying you will ignore any new sanctions? does that mean if the iranians want to trade uranium with you, you would be prepared to do that? before we finish, i want to ask you about your view of latin america and south america's future.

you have been a beacon and a leader for many countries in this region. they have adopted many of the same socialist ideas. south america is divided. there are other countries, colombia, chile, that do not share your vision of where south america should go. you have talked about the grand union for south america. you have spoken about having a common currency, maybe even a common government. do you believe it can happen? it is not happening with colombia. not so long ago, your troops were gathering on the border

as though war was a possibility. a final point. many people have likened you to fidel castro. you have now become the carrier of the torch for the socialist revolution in latin america. fidel castro built his revolution over a0 years. how long will it take you to build yours? so you will definitely run again in 2012? you can now, you have removed the term limits. you are determined to keep running for president. president hugo chavez, thank you for coming on hardtalk. hello.

this is the shape of things to come rather than what we saw for many, at least, during the course of sunday, which was a decent enough day for many. 0ur weather watchers were out in force yet again. but it really clouded up in southern parts through the afternoon and on into the evening. that came as we began to see the first signs of very humid air piling its way out of france across the channel up into the southern part of the british isles. and then late in the day, thunder storms brewing up in the south of france. some will go overnight into the southern half of britain. very muggy fare here. something much fresher into the northern parts of scotland where it will start dry on monday. that will not last all day, i assure you, because there is a general progression of the cloud and rain from the north of england and northern ireland ever further north into scotland. by the middle part of the day there will be some brightness just about holding on and then down

across the murray firth as well. further south than that, murky. drizzly rain. the odd burst in northern ireland. and it will be there to be had too in parts of the north of england and down into wales. somewhat drier conditions in the south. a very close feeling. and if you get a bit of brightness, those temperatures will rocket higher in the afternoon. but it may also spawn some showers in east anglia and the south—east. 0ut towards the west and down the south—west of england that we may well see some very violent thunderstorms. with some sunshine, you could add 4—5 degrees through cardiff and over towards the london area. through the evening, a migration of thunderstorms if they do break out ever further towards the east. all the while, there's still the danger of something coming out of france pushing north on the breeze. cloud and rain is there to be had

all the while across northern scotland, even as we start tuesday. we have been between two weather systems. a lot of cloud hanging on in the north of scotland. murky conditions. through the day, the weather front will push smartly through northern ireland, bringing rain to scotland, going through the north and west of england and down in the wales. it will take an age before it gets down to the far south—eastern corner. once that is away, pressure builds in. wednesday is looking glorious with some very pleasant spring sunshine. take care. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: a warning from merkel — the german chancellor says europe can no longer rely on the united states and britain. did british security services miss

chances to stop the manchester bomb? another brazilian leader under pressure — thousands rally on copacabana beach to accuse president temer of massive corruption. and i'm jamie robertson. frances newly elected president emmanuel macron faces a diplomatic challenge as he meets with russia's vladimir putin. but the country's have deep economic ties. sri lanka's government faces criticism for the sale of valuable infrastructure projects to china.