the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk has passed 100,000, the highest in europe. prime minister borisjohnson said he was deeply sorry for every life lost and promised that lessons would be learned. the country has been struggling to contain a new more contagious variant that emerged late last year. the european commission president has warned producers of covid vaccines that they must deliver on their promises, as a row grows over the supply of the jabs within the eu. two companies — astrazeneca and pfizer—biontech — both said production problems meant deliveries were likely to be lower than expected. the us senate has rejected an attempt to stop donald trump's impeachment trial. the republican rand paul argued the hearing would be unconstitutional because mr trump is no longer president. but he was defeated by 55 votes to a5. now on bbc news, it was once the richest democracy in latin america, but under president nicolas maduro, venezuela has been in

an economic tailspin. venezuela was once considered by many as the crown jewel of south america. but that golden era is long gone. its economy is in crisis, oil prices have slumped as has production. president maduro has been accused of directing the economy into freefall but the opposition has not succeeded in unseating him. there is no solution in sight and, all the while, venezuela is in the grip of covid—19.

what is the future venezuela? and how did it come to this? beauty that has been brought to its knees. venezuela may boast the largest proven oil reserves in the world, but it is now better known for the hunger and economic woes piled on its people each and every day. when this is your only chance of a decent meal, it's worth waiting for. soup kitchens are not new here. before covid—19, people struggled to work, to pay for basic meals, to survive. for the past year, it

has been tougher than ever for venezuelans. those making lunch our mothers themselves and everyone here helps each other out. in these covid times, the soup kitchen can no longer provide a safe space to eat. instead, every child the relies on lunch brings their own part to take back home. for dailys, the last year has been a struggle. i've been covering venezuela for several

yea rs. the suffering is everywhere to see. and every time i return, life feels harder. the same man is in power and the same problems just get worse. venezuela, newly rich from her vast oil reserves, is busy developing her other resources. the collapse of the country oil industry is astonishing. a massive oil producer. by the 1970s, the oil bonanza meant it was the richest

country in latin america. but the sector is a shadow of its former self. years of neglect and mismanagement and a crash in the oil price and, more recently, us sanctions, have piled on the pressure. the industry has never recovered and that has hit the country hard. more than 5 million people have now left venezuela. president nicolas maduro was elected in 2013. he is being blamed for driving the economy further into the ground. he blames us sanctions for the problems venezuela faces. the us, once the largest purchaser of their oil, now seeks to remove him.

maduro. mr maduro was elected for a second term, a poll that was highly controversial, a vote that the opposition boycotted. it was in the shadow of elections deemed neitherfree norfair, but this man, juan guaido, started to become well known. as leader of the national assembly, his prominence rose and citing several articles of the constitution, he declared himself acting president, a decision that was backed by around 50 countries. but two years on, despite the political wrangling, the man sitting in miraflores palace is still president nicolas maduro. he is going nowhere, for now. in december, the government insisted on holding parliamentary elections to vote for a new national assembly while the opposition boycotted it once again, there are still those who feel voting is important. candidates rallied, supporters turned up at it it's this man, hugo chavez who keeps them going.

chavez was the charismatic leader who kept the so—called bolivarian revolution back in 1999. the man who, through socialism, promised a better future for more venezuelans, so long forgotten. today's venezuela is not the same as it was. it is poorer, malnutrition, unemployment is rising. but it is a religion not easily given up. this man, nicolasito, is the son of president maduro, and was one of the candidates running in december�*s selection.

0nstage, he knew evoking chavez was a way to people's hearts, to better to win votes. a message believed by many in the crowds. but in among the supporters, there is also apathy, even fear. so often masked in these crowds. people unwilling to talk on camera and get the tort

they felt compelled to vote for benefits, forjobs, for what is left of their livelihoods. unsurprisingly, government loyalists won the election. but the opposition continues to fight on. butjuan guaido has become irrelevant to so many, he's no longer a politician in the national assembly and despite him arguing that his position still stands because of the corrupt government, fewer people now stand by him. this trip felt very different than the rest. normally a country so fixated by the political game,

now it feels like there are more people united and batting way politicians of all stripes. rather than opting to pick a side. if nobody fixing the problems, why vote for them at all? jonathan lives with his three children in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of caracas.

jonathan's wife, layla, left to find work in colombia at the start of 2020. they had no choice — there was nothing here in venezuela. the plan was for the family to follow a few months later, but then came covid, and they've not seen her since. jonathan has had to learn the roles of both mum and dad.

when covid hit, president nicolas maduro imposed a tough lockdown. life got even harder. with hospitals across the country looking like this, lacking basic sanitation and equipment, the government knew that this system could not cope if the virus took hold. not far away from where jonathan lives, this covid word is been busy. while the government boasts about keeping numbers relatively low compared to neighbours like brazil, medical professionals warn that despite the threats, there was such little testing that real numbers are vastly underreported.

and like so much of the world, over the christmas period, restrictions were eased and people started to relax. doctors are now warning the country is in the middle of the second wave and one that many fear will be far more serious than the first. and they're still scared about speaking out. for the pandemic. and we did collect some donations and things that allowed us to attend this first. but now, we have run out of all of that and it is hard to find people right now who will donate protection equipment and medicine for hospitals, so we

are struggling, really. when a patient comes to hospital needing oxygen, are you having to turn them away and say we cannot help? right now, we are doing that because all of our beds with oxygen are occupied. so, new patients that have come from yesterday or the day before, we have been forced to turn them away. all of this in the context of an economy on its knees. this is a country where hyperinflation is rampant. worthless banknotes dumped on the streets tell you all you need to know about the countries problems. in the past year or so, though, there have been some improvements. allowing the use of dollars, for example. it has released a much—needed pressure valve in the economy. and it has gone some way to reviving it. in caracas, you can see examples of that recovery clearly.

the hotel humboldt is a national icon and it has just been renovated and reopened. the government is hoping it can help boost tourism in this troubled country. the hotel is more than 2,000m above sea level and sits on top of the avila, a mountain range overlooking caracas and the caribbean coast and it was built in the 1950s during the dictatorship ofjimenez, a time of the country was oil—rich and it was a show of power, politics and modernity. carlos salos is one of the managers. he showed me around.

how much demand is there from venezuelans to be able to come and enjoy this iconic building? but while there are haves, there are still far more have—nots. many driveaway in this neighbourhood are having to fight on many different fronts.

this is a mixture of floodwater and sewage that is cited for three months and the people are trying to get the level down with a pump that doesn't get turned on every day and when it does it floods the houses once again. trying to salvage what he could from his home. franklin explains there is a lake on the other side of the street. recent rains have exacerbated flooding here. covid—i9 feels like the least of franklins problems. 2020 has been a tough year. his neighbour shows me into her place.

still, a government supporter, she doesn't blame nicolas maduro for all of the struggles. most of the belongings were ruined because of the floods. by the lake, residents are scavenging for firewood, with gas shortages, this is the only way they can cook now. this 70—year—old is angry.

this is the most oil—rich country in the world and get people have no fuel, it is hard to comprehend. driving even the shortest distance is a logistical challenge — everywhere you go, you see queues. years of underinvestment in mismanagement made all the harder by us sanctions on the oil sector has led to this. venezuela's once prosperous oil industry up in smoke. the queue for petrol all the way up the blocking comes back along here and it goes up there, around the corner and up another block and around the street. that's where people can fill up. they have been waiting hours here and sometimes they wait days and you can see people spending their nights in the car. five days in and this is a good day, betsy tells me. but she's still exasperated.

this is a petrol queue, drivers are waiting in line — they're not going anywhere until the police allow them to. across the road he could see the petrol station is cordoned off and only when the police say they can go through and fill up one by one. further down the line, he struggles to look me in the eye because he is so angry. who's in charge at the top feels so relevant to those of the bottom.

it's all about survival now. juan, not his real name, he doesn't want to be identified, but he has turned the petrol shortage he fills his tank up in themselves that at twice the price. it may not be legal, but in today's venezuela, people do what they have to do. we've never lived or something like this, he also buys fuel from the military, they have access to everything and are the ones in control. across venezuela, not just in the big cities, life continues to a struggle. it dawned on the caribbean coast. but do not be fooled, this is no paradise. they bring in the first catch of the day, but they're disappointed. they'll be lucky if they get $3 each from this hall. they'd head back out to see if they could, but they cannot get hold of the fuel.

they spend the day here, who was to blame them. what he does know is that the president probably doesn't suffer the way he does.

as night falls, one last trip, and one last chance for a decent catch. but today isn't their day. and they've used a precious tank of petrol for nothing. with no guarantees that tomorrow will be any better. and what will tomorrow bring for venezuela? nobody knows. years of political wrangling, of polarisation and attempts at changing the course of the country have led to nothing. a new us administration could mean a new approach, but nobody�*s hopeful of a radical shake—up anytime soon. the only thing that seems guaranteed is more of the same, economic hardship and political stalemate.

hello there. big temperature contrasts in the forecast for the next few days. many of us feeling the effects of a flow of mild air from the south—west. with that, a lot of cloud on our earlier satellite image, but the orange colour is working in, showing the milder air. however, notice the blue colours up towards the north, cold air holds on, particularly across the northern half of scotland. a cold start to wednesday here, much more mild down towards the south, but across southern england into southern and western wales, it's going to be quite misty and murky, damp and drizzly for the good part of the day. for the midlands and

the east anglia northwards, any sleet and snow towards scotland shouldest tend to fade. the best sunshine to be found across the far north of scotland and that is also where we will have the lowest of the temperatures. down south, highs of ii or 12 degrees was up through wednesday night, this band of heavy rain will work its way north—eastward is, it could be enough rain to cause some flooding across parts of north wales and north—west england. remember, the ground he was still very wet. quite an array of temperatures as we start thursday morning, and with our band of rain, working northwards into the cold air and then becoming very slow—moving, we could see some significant snow. i think this will mostly be over the high ground, say above 200 metres in the pennines, into the southern uplands, the south of the grampians as well, where this snow does fall, it's going to be falling for a good part of the day so that could cause some travel disruption, more likely rain and sleet at low levels. northern scotland seeing brightness, but very cold, two or three degrees.

down towards the south, if we see sunshine, highs of 13 orili, exceptional for this time of year. the snow will be falling for across high ground. 15—30 centimetres of snow is possible and that could cause disruption on high—level routes during thursday night. this next band of wet weather could help to add to these snow totals but as we get on into friday, the wet and wintry weather should tend to ease away and it will turn increasingly dry with some sunshine. still chilly across the north and mild in the south with highs of 12 degrees.

welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: the united kingdom is the first european state to record more than 100,000 thousand deaths linked to the pandemic. i am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as prime minister, i take full responsibility for everything that the government has done. a battle over covid vaccine supplies — as the european union threatens to impose export controls on any made within the bloc. the us senate sees off an attempt by republican rand paul to stop donald trump's second impeachment trial. and clashes in delhi as thousands of farmers protesting against new agriculture laws, break

through police barricades, and scale the iconic red fort.