grief turns to anger in beirut, as people there accuse the lebanese government of negligence and say corruption and mismanagement led to tuesday's huge blast at a warehouse in the city. more than 130 people died and 300,000 are homeless after thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded. france's president is the first foreign leader to visit the country since the disaster. he was mobbed people pleading for help and asking that those responsible face justice. emmanuel macron called for a "profound change" in lebanon's leadership and an international investigation. the state of new york is suing the powerful gun lobby the national rifle association, with the intention of dissolving it. state attorney general letitia james accused the organisation of financial mismanagement. the nra has called the lawsuit "baseless and desperate". it is just after 12:30am. that

is it for me. liz will be here at the top of the hour. now on bbc news, hardtalk. stephen sackur talks to vanessa neumann — venezuela's opposition envoy to the uk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. 18 months ago, venezuela seemed to be on the brink of political upheaval. the leader of the national assembly declared himself president and he won the backing of more than 50 countries. but today, the socialist government is still in power — president nicolas maduro overseeing a deep economic and health care crisis. my guest today is vanessa neumann, the london envoy of the would—be president juan guaido. has the opposition missed its main chance?

vanessa neumann in new york city, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me. it's a pleasure to be back with you, stephen. let's reflect on the big declaration made byjuan guaido some 18 months ago, when he declared himself president of venezuela. he said that he was going to deliverfreedom and democracy and a better life to the people of venezuela. are you somewhat embarrassed when you think back to those claims? no, absolutely not. i think we have made a lot of progress. we have 61 countries now that recognise the interim president — including the united kingdom — now by act of law in the british courts and three international organisations. and what has happened is that it has become patently

clear that the dictatorship of maduro has done everything in its power to prevent the free and fair elections. juan guaido‘s commitment, according to the constitution and his duty, is to get us to free and fair elections. we have done everything in our power to get there, and those being blocked is by maduro. so what has succeeded is we have offered help, we have brought in humanitarian aid to the people of venezuela, and highlighted to the world the criminality of maduro and that he is the single greatest sanction and source of suffering and obstacle to democracy in venezuela. you talk about the economic aid that guaido has delivered to the people of venezuela. it's simply not true. for all of the big claims that he would get the us and neighbouring colombia to deliver millions of tonnes of humanitarian aid, none of that has happened and that's why the people of your country are now, it seems, deeply sceptical

about mr guaido‘s claims. no, absolutely not. what has been highlighted is how maduro stopped the international aid. your own country, the united kingdom, has pledged over £1145 million in aid that has come through un organisations and distributed within venezuela. and their concern is that, in providing more aid, it is blocked, stolen and sold on the black market by maduro. the single person stopping the entrance of more internationally observed aid is maduro, so that has been highlighted. and that is...that has become clearer and clearer to the world. he is the sanction. he is the stoppage of international aid. if he's so concerned, he can return some of the $300 to $400 billion he has been personally involved in stealing. but i'm looking at this from the point of view of ordinary

people in venezuela, who are suffering so much. they have suffered for so long from a profound economic collapse and crisis. they are also today, of course, like so many others in latin america, suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and its effects as well. and surely the reality of the crisis today is that venezuela's people have no appetite for taking to the streets for mass protest, for joining the campaign to get rid of maduro. that phase appears to be over. no. i beg to differ on that. i think that it is true that maduro has used the lockdown measures of coronavirus pandemic to quell dissent and to keep people from complaining and dissenting. but we have also seen that when people in venezuela... we have nine million people who are in a precarious food situation, which means on the verge of starvation. nine million people. while maduro uses any food

supply to fund his military and to pocket money for them, his people starve. and so when venezuelans go out and break the quarantine to find food, to decide which of their children will eat tonight, he sends out colectivos, which are illegal non—state armed groups who function as proxies to beat people seeking food. but what i want to focus on with you isn't the prevailing sense of crisis in venezuela — that is indeed true, undeniable, and we put those points whenever we can to people from the regime who agree to talk to us — but my focus with you is on the problem, the political problem, thatjuan guaido has right now. looking at survey evidence, i'm looking at an independent data analysis survey of opinion in venezuela. while mr maduro‘s standings are dismal at around 13%, the problem for guaido is that his approval rating has tumbled from 60%, when he declared himself

president, tojust around 30% today. his support is crumbling and i notice that when he tweets now about the political situation in venezuela, he gets hundreds rather than tens of thousands of approvals and likes on twitter. his campaign is faltering. keep in mind that he is a constitutional interim president of venezuela. his obligation is to get the country to free and fair elections. what we are fighting for is not to tell the people whom they should like, but give them the opportunity to choose for themselves. what we are trying to do is to have free and fair elections exactly as you have in the united kingdom, you know, to a fair international standard to let the people decide. we are not dictating to them whom they should like. having said that, what is clear is that the people of venezuela do not want maduro in

power any more. and who they want in power after maduro is what we are working to give them the opportunity to decide. that is a fundamental human right. you've scored some real own goals, haven't you? for example, two members of the guaido team allegedly involved in corruption, misusing and profligately spending for themselves moneys from various international aid agencies and the united states that were supposed to help exiles in colombia actually went to spending on hotels, on luxuries, on a carfor two associates of mr guaido inside colombia. that's the kind of corruption you accuse maduro of. yes. yes, it is, and corruption is always unfortunate and, as you know, it happens in absolutely every political system, including europe, including in the western world. and those people were let go

and it was dealt with. so i think... hang on, the whole point of your campaign is that you are going to change venezuela, you are going to root out the corruption, and here it is — two senior associates of mr guaido were deeply corrupt themselves and misusing this aid money. i can respond only for my own actions, my team, my choices, my decisions, and i stand by the integrity of the work i have done in the united kingdom. i'm right with my god and with my people. however, it is unfortunate when you have individuals in any organisation who make bad choices and then we have dealt with them. we understand that corruption is really what has destroyed venezuela. it is a kleptocracy on the hist...you know, on a global scale, the likes we've never seen in history. and now it will be part of the challenge to change, not... to change the minds and the culture throughout the country.

and it's unfortunate when a few individuals make a poor choice, and we dealt with them accordingly. unlike maduro, who promotes them. you talk about a couple of bad apples. the problem is it's a much deeper problem than that. mr guaido himself looks like he's responsible for some very poor decisions, including association with what are alleged to be two na rco traffickers when he entered colombia in february of last year. can you explain that association? no. as far... there is no evidence of a deeper association beyond just a photograph. you know, as many people do, they come up to you when you are a public figure and say, "will you have your photograph taken with me?" i'm just a diplomat and it happens to me, never mind the interim president. i have no evidence that there is a deeper tie and, if there is, we support the rule of law. we support the independence of institutions in finding out the truth. and it is...

we have to leave it to them. but these two paramilitaries pictured with mr guaido, in a smiling photograph, work for an organisation which is responsible for cocaine trafficking, illegal mining, kidnapping, ransom, extortion, and you're telling me that you haven't wished for any deeper investigation of what this was all about? no, stephen, that's not what i said. i said that we would allow any investigation to move forward and we have not interfered, and we mustjust await to see what happens with that. as you know, it is unfortunate that in a desperate situation that venezuelans find themselves under maduro, that they have to flee the border and cross trochas. and these trochas, which are very narrow paths, are unfortunately controlled, basically, by armed and criminal groups. this is a direct consequence

of the brutality of the maduro dictatorship that does not respect its constitution, does not respect the will of the people and imposes and tries to imprison, basically, its political opposition and allow. . .and won't allow them to leave the country. in a normal country, juan guaido would go through the main airport and leave and fly to bogota. it is unfortunate that he and many of my colleagues, and if i ever had to enter the country again, it would basically have to be through those narrow pathways that unfortunately are controlled by non—state armed groups. let me ask you this... in this conversation so far, you've stressed your commitment to freedom, democracy and the venezuelan constitution. is it, therefore, time to acknowledge that the guaido campaign's flirtation with a coup, removal of maduro by force, at least twice in the last 18 months, that was a terrible mistake? no. first of all, not a coup. second of all, because we

are the legitimate... with respect, it wasn't a coup because both times... both times violence was contemplated, it failed. so, yes, there was no coup but it is quite clear that associates of guaido and very possibly mr guaido himself supported efforts to get rid of maduro by force. you're mixing two issues. first of all, the core of april 30th was for the military to come in support of what is the constitution and to serve the constitution to which they have pledged allegiance and to support their...our interim president. period. pea cefully. the effort was to be peaceful. second of all, if you're referring to that operation with the sort of two—bit cartoon operation with these two americans who didn't even turn up, and it was an operation that really no—one

took seriously, and then was used by the dictatorship as a false flag operation for propaganda purposes, again, i don't see that as... well... i don't see that as a call for a coup at all. i'm sure you don't, because it's so embarrassing. but the truth is that one of mr guaido‘s advisors in the united states, juan rendon, was quite clearly associated with a us security firm that had plans to capture nicolas maduro. now, it may have been a mickey mouse operation, but the fact is guaido‘s associates were connected to that plan. you're only one of his advisers. maybe you don't know what the others are doing. there's always that possibility, stephen. however, you know, that, as you know, president guaido, you know, accepted the resignation of jj rendon after that. and also jj rendon and others stepped away when they realised how half—ba ked this security organisation was.

so no—one serious took this seriously, and then the people who even contemplated it were let go. let me make one further point, however. we have always advocated for a peaceful transition. we are the ones who kept going with the oslo accords. we are the ones who keep calling to the...you know, to the military to come on side peacefully and support the constitution. let's talk about diplomacy, because you are the uk representative of the guaido team in london. now, you...when you spoke to me a little more than a year ago, you seemed very confident that the international community, led by the trump administration, was going to do whatever it took, ultimately, to back you and get rid of maduro. you must be sorely disappointed because all the evidence is that donald trump himself and his administration are clearly cooling on their support for your man, guaido. nobody‘s cooling on their

support for the venezuelan people and democracy. and i am not at all disappointed in, for instance, the actions of her majesty's government. as you know, we have won the single biggest legal precedent. well, hang on, before we get to the british... frankly, the british don't matter as much as donald trump. when you say you're not disappointed, did you hear donald trump sayjust a few months back that he hadn't necessarily been in favour of what he called guaido‘s election — not quite clear what he meant by election — but he says, "i don't think that guaido‘s election or appointment was very meaningful one way or the other. all we want," he said, "is somebody that has the support of the people. i support the person that has the support of the people." and he patently doesn't believe any more that guaido is that man. i cannot speak to what may or may not be inside the head of the president of the united states. i just can't. i can't speak to what's in the head of anybody else. all i can point to is to the results and repeat that once again what we are fighting

for in venezuela is to give the right to venezuelans to choose who they want to be led. juan guaido is the interim president by virtue of the maduro dictatorship. the maduro dictatorship created the interim presidency ofjuan guaido by stealing the 2018 elections, where everybody was imprisoned and the ones that weren't in prison were inhabilitados, and they had a farce of an election with two so—called opposition who actually had worked inside the regime up until a few months before. there were no international standards. what created juan guaido was the maduro dictatorship‘s unwillingness to have free and fair elections. that left the presidency vacant, and according to our constitution, the president of the national assembly assumes that role. but what. .. vanessa neumann, what you call the guaido presidency is nothing more than an

alice in wonderland fantasy if it lacks international credibility, and my point to you is that, over the last few months, it has begun to seriously haemorrhage international credibility. well, i beg to differ. let me point you to the gold decision that we just won onjuly 2nd. it was a ground—breaking verdict in the british high court thatjuan guaido is the constitutional interim president of venezuela and the head of state of venezuela. and let's talk big picture. the fact is that maduro has proved much more durable than you thought he would because he has the staunch support of russia with money and materiel, with iran who gave him his petrol products, with china and with turkey who leverage some of his financial dealings. these countries are still backing him. to quote mr lavrov recently, "we have firmly expressed our support for venezuela's sovereignty, our solidarity with the venezuelan leadership and nation against illegal

pressures imposed by the us and their allies." as long as that is the case, maduro has the cards. you'll forgive my smile, stephen, but to hear the russians talk about our sovereignty will make any venezuelan laugh, quite frankly. because they have their own military on the ground, we have them photographed buying food and bottles of vodka in our own supermarkets in caracas that our own people cannot afford. they are making a fortune there by basically ensuring our murder, so to hear a russian talk about our sovereignty, they should start by pulling out the people who are murdering us. second of all, the only reason why turkey, iran and russia support him is because maduro and chavez before him turned venezuela into a major criminal enterprise and a money—laundering operation. you've got a problem because you're telling me there are nine million people at least hungry in venezuela

today and yet you're supporting ever tougher sanctions which are going to hit those very same people harder and harder and to many people on the ground in venezuela, your solution to all this, which is ever more sanctions, simply seems to them to be hurting their futures and their children's futures. i'm so sorry, stephen, but i disagree with that because basically the biggest sanction on venezuela is the presence of maduro. there would be... the economic decline started in 2013. we started tracking the growing hunger in venezuela in 2013. it started even while oil prices were high. basically, because of gross mismanagement and incompetence and inability to manage both the monetary reserves or to have any, you know, investment and now he... vanessa neumann, we're short of time. i just want you to very quickly address my point... but my point is that your strategy, which is to call

for ever tougher sanctions, is not going to help the ordinary people of your country. i'm going to quote patrick gaspard, who is president of the open society foundation, served as a us ambassador under the 0bama administration. he says this of venezuela today — "broad sanctions," he says, "hurting ordinary people will only entrench the power of those at the top." you need a new strategy. first of all, the only people disallowing... sanctions do not prevent food or medicine. any food or medicine and humanitarian aid can enter venezuela. that is allowed under the sanctions. with respect, sanctions are adding... the only person blocking that... ..adding to the destruction of the venezuelan economy, the knock—on effect of that is that people go hungry, so telling me that humanitarian assistance is not blocked isn't really addressing the problem. i'll wait until you're finished, stephen, and then i'll answer your question. 0k. basically, what we are...

no, what has happened is maduro won't allow the food in and the economic decline is because of the theft of between $300 and $400 billion, the incompetence, the kleptocracy, the corruption. the only food and medicine that maduro wants to let in is that that can be distributed by his army so they can steal it and sell it on the black market and he can keep their loyalty. he lets the venezuelan people die. if you want the venezuelan people to prosper, you need to get maduro out. your second question was what is our strategy to do that? our strategy to do that is to continue to strangle the illicit financing network of the top of the maduro regime. they steal the gold and send it to iran. they have stolen tonnes and tonnes of gold. none of that has gone to address the covid—19 crisis. in the end, though, isn't there going to have to be a dialogue between you in the opposition and maduro and his associates in caracas?

you had the oslo process last year. by september, you walked away from it, said it had failed. no, i'm sorry, no. he walked away from it. well... he walked away from it. it depends who you listen to, but the fact is it ended. the norwegians, i noticed, sent officials back to caracas just a couple of weeks ago. are you, here and now, prepared to talk to maduro and his people again and will you commit to fighting in the legislative assembly elections in december which would be one sign that a political process could begin? that's very sweet of you, stephen. i'm rather surprised by your naivete in the question. first of all, let's... i'll take the second part first. the legislative elections are a fraud. we have been absolutely very clear that we want free and fair elections. for instance, how are you going to hold the election?

there is not a single voting machine in all of venezuelan. not one. because they were blown up and burned by the maduro regime in a warehouse. they are hoping to get some from argentina by a company that is controlled from within the regime, so, no. in terms of dialogue, we are always willing to have a conversation about the conditions under which maduro will step aside from the presidency and that's it. we want a peaceful transition, get on a plane out, tell us what it will take to get on a plane out and then for us to plan the international observers with. . .free access to media, with credible polling stations, with, you know, advertising and international observation at every point in the electoral process. and when maduro... we are always open to that discussion of how he will get out so that our people can get back to prosperity and democracy. vanessa neumann, we have

to end, but i thank you very much forjoining me from new york. thank you very much. hello. friday brings some weather deja vu, with temperatures soaring once again. one week on from last friday, this is how it looked at the start of the day. the uk was set to record its third—highest temperature on record. so, here we go again this friday. heat surging up from the south. not everybody‘s going to get it, but the hottest area — around london — could reach 36 celsius. and unlike last friday, this is the start of several

days of heat, so for parts of england and perhaps wales, the start of a heat wave. but, again, not everybody will get it. this weather front for northern ireland, into scotland, will bring some outbreaks of rain and keep temperatures into the low 20s. pretty warm and muggy start to friday. some cloud around, a lot of sunshine from the word go through central and eastern england. but for northern ireland and scotland, here comes the rain. maybe some heavy and thundery bursts pushing eastwards during the day. i think parts of the east and southeast of scotland will stay largely dry until the evening. there may well be some misty low cloud hanging on towards some western coasts of england and wales. could be a bit drizzly in places here, but for the bulk of england and wales, it'll be sunny, though the cloud increasing in southern england mayjust bring the odd sharp shower later in the day. but, really, it's about those temperatures in england and wales. very warm to hot. parts of the midlands, eastern and southeast england in excess of 30 celsius, and exceptionally hot in the hottest parts of southeast england, where, of course, after such a very warm to hot day, it'll be very warm overnight and into saturday morning

through a large part of england and wales. even where you have clear skies, difficult forsleeping. but as that weather front has pushed on and cleared away from scotland and northern ireland, some cooler, fresher air here, and some actuallyjust dip into single figures as saturday begins. high pressure in control on saturday. that means a lot of fine weather to start the weekend. plenty of sunshine. bit of a breeze just kicking in towards some of these north sea coasts will actually take temperatures back down a bit from friday. even where it was so very hot, you may not be quite as hot on saturday, not so much, i think, as many people would notice. it is still very warm to hot across a large part of england and wales. 0vernight and into sunday for england and wales, the growing chance of seeing a few showers and thunderstorms break out, but many places will still stay dry and have a fine sunday. quite a range of temperatures across the uk, but it's those hottest parts of england and wales that will see the heat continue into the start of the week.

this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. police and protesters clash on the streets of beirut. france's president calls for "profound change" from lebanon's leadership and an international investigation, as he visits beirut after tuesday's explosion. taking aim at the national rifle association — new york's attorney general accuses the group of fraud and attempts to disband it. a landslide at the ballot box in sri lanka, but the ruling party's win sees little celebrations among human rights campaigners. and as italy struggles to draw back the tourists, new ways to try to make visitors feel safe.