voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. during her 16 years at the head of the german government, angela merkel was often viewed as the most powerful woman 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 1 million asylum seekers she now finds herself defending. i was happy to become your

friend as i watched you draw on your humour, pragmatism and an unrelenting moral compass.

to emanuel macron?

you have written your memoir, freedom, what have you been doing with your freedom from politics apart from writing?

you have written your memoir, freedom, what have you been doing with your freedom from politics apart from writing? often the only woman or one of very few women at international summits, angela merkel got denote leaders the world over during her 16 years in government in china, russia, europe and the us —— angela merkel got to know. each relationship hold its own story. you were chancellor when donald trump came to the white house for the first time. he was fear of europe, especially germany, about trade, about defence spending. he was personally

critical of you. 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 cheap 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, but going back further to 2008, then 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 overi 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 a very untypically...

..merkel. you were seen as a rational leader who took a while to make decisions, what caused that impulse on 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?

between communism and democracy, made a lasting impression on angela merkel. brexit, conflict with russia, eu neighbours slamming shut borders, riffs were to be neighbours slamming shut but her motives were often questioned. —— rifts. 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, a pleasure to talk to you.

hello there. the rest of this week looks like one of two halves. we'll certainly have some quieter, colderweather for the next couple of days with some decent spells of sunshine, could see some snow on the hills across the north through tuesday night, and then, as we push towards the end of the week, it turns milder, but very much wetter and windier, as deep areas of low pressure move in off the atlantic. so we're in this ridge of high pressure, though, for tuesday, and this wedge of colder air, as you can see on the airmass chart, so it will be a colder start for many for tuesday morning. very cold across scotland, perhaps down to —7, —8 celsius over the highlands and the grampians,

and there will be some freezing fog patches around. some fog patches further south, too, which may lift into low cloud, but for many, it'll be a dry and a sunny day, with light winds. but across south—west england, northern ireland, western scotland, we'll start to see a weather front pushing in, bringing outbreaks of rain and increasing breeze here, but for most, it stays dry through the day, but a cold one to come, temperatures struggling to get above freezing across scotland, to around four or five degrees in the south. but as that rain bumps into the cold air across scotland during tuesday evening, we could see a spell of fairly significant hill snow here, with some accumulations, and maybe some for northern england, the cumbrian fells, north wales, as we move through tuesday night. but as the weather front moves southwards and eastwards, it tends to fizzle out, so no more than a band of cloud, with a few showers across southern areas. but again, it's going to be another cold night to come, a touch of frost in there, and possibly some ice, too. so, wednesday, then, it should be a mostly dry day once again, thanks to a ridge of high pressure. so plenty of sunshine around, one or two showers around coastal areas, but later

in the day, we'll start to see the next weather front arriving across western areas. that will bring increasing cloud, breeze and also some rain, with temperatures lifting here, but another chilly day to come, elsewhere. it's all change, though, beyond wednesday. thursday, friday, we'll start to see a deep area of low pressure spread across the country, bringing a spell of very wet and windy weather, with widespread gales, and another one hot on its heels. so we'll see wet, windy weather early on thursday push its way eastwards, a bit of sunshine, then the wind, the rain, the gales start to build up again, as another system pushes in from the southwest, but that'll be ushering in some milder air, with temperatures ranging from 10 to 14 or 15 degrees from north to south across the country. could see a spell of potentially very stormy weather friday night into saturday, this is certainly one to watch, and then for part two of the weekend, it'll turn colder but brighter once again. take care.

live from singapore, this is bbc news. syria's president blames the us and other western countries for a rebel takeover of the city of aleppo that has reignited the civil war. georgia's president speaks to the bbc, as mass anti—government protests

continue for a fifth night. and republicans and some democrats criticisejoe biden�*s decision to issue a presidential pardon to his son, hunter. welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai. we start in the middle east, where syria's president, bashar al—assad, says the us is behind a rebel offensive that has reignited the country's civil war. he claims washington and its allies want to redraw the map of the middle east. syria and its allies russia are bombarding rebel—held positions — this was the aftermath of a russian strike on a hospital in idlib. the syrian army says they've killed hundreds of the advancing fighters, while rebel groups and independent observers say many of the dead are civilians. aleppo — syria's second city —

was seized in a surprise attack last week. here's our international editor, jeremy bowen. the syrian regime is striking back. in the last two days, the un humanitarian office says more than 50 air strikes hit idlib, the province that is the powerhouse of the rebels.