angela merkel was often viewed as the most powerful woman in the world. leading notjust her country but to a large extent the whole of the european union, through the financial crisis, the covid pandemic and the migrant crisis of 2015. she famously allowed in more than one million asylum seekers and other migrants here to germany, and it's a legacy she now finds herself defending. she won plaudits from then—us president obama. i was happy to become your friend, as i watched you draw on your humour, wise pragmatism, and an unrelenting moral compass. but angela merkel�*s time in office is blighted by controversy. critics accuse her of being too soft on vladimir putin, too slow to help ukraine.

angela merkel had a huge impact on europe. now, three years since retiring from politics, she's published her memoirs. her personal take on her years in power. dr merkel, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. we live in such turbulent times. i wonder, do you miss the power and politics? you got to know so many world leaders so well over the years. don't you just itch to pick up the phon, say, to emmanuel macron in france, and talk to him about ukraine, and what's going on the world?

you have written your memoir,

freedom, what have you been doing often the only woman or one of very few women at international summits, angela merkel got to know leaders

the world over during her 16 years in government in china, russia, europe and the us. each relationship hold its own story. you were chancellor when donald trump came to the white house for the first time. he was furious with europe, especially germany, about trade, about defence spending. he was personally critical of you. you mention that in your book. he is very unpredictable. how did you manage him?

so, can i show you this photo? may i give it to you? it went viral on social media at the time. do you remember that moment?

he looks very much like the strongman leader that he wants to be in that case. you're talking strongly back to him. do you have advice for newer world leaders such as sir keir starmer of the united kingdom, the manner he should use when he talks to donald trump?

you've got to know vladimir putin very early on in your political career. he knew full well that you're nervous around dogs but he decided to bring his dog along to a public meeting that you had. what was going through your mind?

you say in your memoir is that it became very clear to you that the biggest priority for vladimir putin was power and reducing western influence in europe it had gained after the cold war. but despite that you allowed germany to become energy dependent on russia. how do you respond to those who criticise you and say you put german business interests before european security? i come back to energy dependency, though, dr merkel, because you have

president obama who you are close to at the time.

he begged you not to build a second gas pipeline to russia. it was built in 2014 after bellamy after vladimir putin had already invaded. volodymyr zelensky described the gas as a geopolitical weapon and dangerous for europe but you didn't listen to president obama and ukraine. do you regret that now?

and staying ukraine in back further to 2008, president bush wanted ukraine to become a nato member. you stopped the progress and explained why in your memoirs. if you hadn't done that, would there be war now?

let's talk about migration politics. in 2015, you let over one million asylum seekers and other migrants into germany.

the migrant crisis was probably the defining moment of angela merkel�*s political career, she was hailed by some, hated by others for opening germany's doors to syrian refugees and other migrants, many arriving on people smugglers�* boats. her actions boosted support for the far right afd party. why did she do it? explaining that in her own words, she says, was the starting point for her memoirs. that was seen at the time as very untypically merkel. you were seen as a rational leader who took a while to make decisions, what caused that impulse in you at the time, did it have something to do perhaps with your religious belief? you are a pastor's daughter.

but for european governments, money is tight now for their own people, with the cost of living. do you accept the criticism of those who say that your migration politics at the time of 2015 actually breathed life into the far right in germany, but in the rest of europe as well?

you're writing a book about brexit and you describe it as a humiliation for europe, something that made europe weaker. eight years on after the brexit vote, do you still feel the same way?

growing up in a divided germany, split east and west between communism and democracy, made a lasting impression on angela merkel. brexit, conflict with russia, eu neighbours slamming shut borders, rifts were to be avoided, but her motives were often questioned. in your memoir, you describe your life in two parts, one part behind the berlin wall and communism, and the other part in germany, mainly in the world of politics, but you always come back to being viewed by some as an outsider. during your political career, people looked at you and said, you never really got or appreciated democracy, did that hurt your feelings?

how did that make you feel? so i have a number of short questions to ask you, just to try to get to know you are a bit better. first of all, do you still feel like an outsider?

who has been the biggest influence on you in your life, or the biggest help to you? do you have any indulgences or little weaknesses? chocolate or anything like that that you might have as a weakness? i like those things as well! i hear that in private, you have enjoyed in the past to imitate some world leaders. is that right, and do you have a favourite leader

to imitate, would you like to share that with us? before you were a politician, you were a professional scientist. did that background affect your manner in politics, do you think?

if the angela merkel of today would meet the teenage angela back in east germany when you were growing up, what would you say to your younger self about the future lying

ahead of you? thank you so much, doctor merkel, thank you so much, doctor merkel, a pleasure to talk to you. a pleasure to talk to you.

hello. meteorologically speaking, sunday was the first day of winter. now, there were a number of showers around, but it was a pretty mild day. indeed, across wales, we had temperatures of 15.4 celsius recorded at both hawarden, in flintshire, and also in cardiff — those temperatures way above the december average. and those mild weather conditions were brought to us by these southwesterly winds, which are still across a good part of the country. however, look at this band of rain sinking south across scotland. behind that, we start to see the winds turn more to a northerly direction — and it's those northerly winds that, through monday, will push this zone of colder air southwards. so, it will feel much colder as we go through the day, across northern areas in particular. so, the rain starts today — southern scotland, pushes southwards across northern england, reaches north wales and the midlands through the afternoon. brighter conditions follow, but it will be gusty around irish sea and north sea coasts, gusts of around 40—50mph. temperatures in england and wales about 8—11 celsius,

so still relatively mild. through the afternoon, it turns colder for scotland and northern ireland — temperatures here around 4—6 celsius. and then, that cold air surges southwards — monday night, a much colder night than we've been used to, with a widespread frost. so, a frosty and cold start to your day on tuesday, but with plenty of sunshine for most areas. however, band of rain is going to move in off the atlantic, so it turns wet in northern ireland, and eventually, the rain reaches western scotland, as well. temperatures really struggle — 4—7 celsius — it will be a chilly day on tuesday for most. then tuesday night, the rain starts to turn to snow — and that's especially the case in scotland, and especially for eastern areas, we could have some accumulations of snow, potentially bringing some localised disruption. but ultimately, the snow will turn back to rain, as milder air works its way in. and, as we head through wednesday, that milder weather pushes in from the west, we'll have a lot of low cloud, some mist and fog. quite a murky—looking day, perhaps

turning a bit brighter as we head

thousands of protesters are on the streets of georgia for a fourth night, in response to the government suspending talks tojoin the european union. these are the live pictures from the capital tblisi where demostrators are outside parliament. some protesters threw fireworks towards police officers crouching behind shields. the latest protests come after georgia's prime minister seemed to contradict the very comments that sparked this week's demonstrations. he denied that his government is suspending moves to join the european union. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg is in tbilisi and spoke to the prime minister. he sent this report. fireworks explode. in tbilisi, now, every night is fireworks night. a fourth night of protests outside parliament, while inside, police try to keep protesters at bay. a brolly helps at moments like these. so the police right now are firing streams of water from inside the parliament, and going the other