officially, this is the postponed first test to me by the vietnamese defendant doan thi huong. fendants in this extraordinary case but that of course was thrown into disarray when thejudge ordered the course was thrown into disarray when the judge ordered the release of her indonesian co—defendant. in that time, the three days per postman that postponement of this hearing, her lawyers have petitioned for her to be released in the vietnamese government which has been relatively quiet up till now has specifically asked the malaysian government to do the same for her. it is possible in theory that could happen but the evidence against doan thi huong is stronger. she was the one caught on airport security camera video putting her hands over the face of kimjong—nam and putting her hands over the face of kim jong—nam and then fleeing to the bathroom, apparently to wash off the substance she had put on it. she has also argued, as her co—defendant did, that she was duped to carry out what she believed was a televised prank. what we believe about her background in the entertainment indus

doan thi huong, who was seen on security video putting her hands over the face of kimjong—nam and thenestify for the first time. jonathan head is our south asia correspondent. he's in kuala lumpur. just being us up—to—date on this, there is only one defendant left. the other one has been released already. yes, there was a shock decision on monday when the prosecution decided to drop charges against siti aisyah, the indonesian co—defendant in this case. only two defendants, remember. all the north koreans who were involved at the time managed to flee the country, so these are the only two people the malaysians got to carry the can for the can for this extraordinary crime. now, she was released because a shock decision on monday when the prosecution decided to drop charges against siti aisyah, the indonesian co—defendant in this case. only two defendants, remember. all the north koreans who were involved at the time managed to flee the country, so these are the only two people the malaysians got to carry the can for this extraordinary crime. now, she was released because the lawyers said

we are expecting to hear from doan thi huong, who is still on trial, in the next couple of days. is such a significant case in the region. well, the assassination was extraordinary. kim jong—nam, the strange half of the north korean leader, kim jong—un, often strange half of the north korean leader, kimjong—un, often travelled around south east asia. he didn't live in north korea any more. but he suddenly died two years ago, and it turned out he had been killed in this extraordinary way. it was very shocking, in an international airport using a deadly nerve agent, very risky for passengers, and for a while, malaysia pretty much broke off relations with north korea, or downgraded them, and it showsjust how far north korea is willing to go to get to people who they believe are hostile to the regime. having said that, all the people in the region seem to be trying to manage their relations with north korea. we saw kim jong—un their relations with north korea. we saw kimjong—un in their relations with north korea. we saw kim jong—un in vietnam's just at the beginning of this month, b

siti aisyah and doan thi huong both deny the charges and could face the death penalty if found guiltyst asia correspondent, jonathan head, told me more. we are expect things to support her defence position, which is that although she and this indonesian defendant, siti aisyah, were both responsible for smearing the agent on kimjong—nam, she responsible for smearing the agent on kim jong—nam, she was the second to do it, so they believe that the indonesian defendant initially put a precursor on. it is too dangerous to handle on its own, this nerve agent, and it was doan thi huong who put on the activating agent. we are expecting her to read a statement in vietnamese, it will be translated, and we expect her to explain that she was recruited by what we now know to be north korean agents. we know to be north korean agents. we know that they are now agents for a tv show, and she was carrying out televised pranks. she will claim that at no point did she understand that at no point did she understand that she was carrying out a public execution. there were more than 30 witnesses, and the ju

siti aisyah and doan thi huong both deny the charges and could face the death penalty if found guiltyve to kuala lumpur, where are southeast asia correspondentjonathan where are southeast asia correspondent jonathan head where are southeast asia correspondentjonathan head joins us from outside the high court. what are we expecting the vietnamese defendant to say? well, we are expecting our to support her defence position, which is that although she and this indonesian defendant, siti aisyah, were both involved in smearing the nerve agent on kim jong—nam, she was the second is to do it, so what the prosecution have said is that they believe the indonesian defendant initially put a precursor on. it is too dangerous to handle as an element on its own, this nerve agent, and then doan thi huong smeared on the second activating agent on kim jong—nam's face at the port. that turned it into vx nerve agent. —— airport. we are expecting her to read a statement in vietnamese which will be translated, where we expect to explain that she was recruited by what we now know to be korean agents, but s

today was the day we were supposed to be hearing from the vietnamese defendant, doan thi huong, the second on the face of kim jong—nam, but it was the face of kim jong—nam, but it was the other defendant, from indonesia, siti aisyah, who had her charges dropped. the lawyers say the evidence against her was not as strong, as there was no security footage catching her smearing anything on the north korean‘s face, and also there is footage of doan thi huong going to the bathroom to wash the liquid off. this, they say, is enough evidence to suggest that she knew the liquid was harmful. both women have said they believed they were taking part in a televised pranks. they had no idea the men they were working for war north korean agents. siti aisyah‘s lawyer believes that echoes the evidence against her was weaker, that is why they have dropped the charges. so this leaves just one defendant is 110w this leaves just one defendant is now in this extraordinary case. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: the venezuelan government has told workers and students to stay at home o

hearfrom doan several delays, and we are expecting only to hear from doan thi several delays, and we are expecting only to hearfrom doan thi huongendant, who was the second person who smeared a liquid onto the face of kimjong—nam at who smeared a liquid onto the face of kim jong—nam at kuala who smeared a liquid onto the face of kimjong—nam at kuala lumpur‘s international airport. it is believed that each of them had part of the ingredients of the nerve agent that killed him. she was then seen racing to the toilet afterwards to wash her hands. she would have been most at risk of being exposed to both agents. she was expected in her sworn statement today to explain that she was duped, effectively, recruited by what she believed to be people carrying out televised pranks, and that she was entering show business as a career. she was paid to this, had done several rehearsals before hand, and she was trying to persuade the judge that she has no idea what she was doing was illegal. there is a case that she must have known what she was doing was dangerous. obviously, the case is being watched where you are, but also in the region as we

malaysian authorities arrested aisyah and a vietnamese woman named doan thi huong after the deadly poisoninglf brother kim jong nam. security cameras filmed what appears to be the two women wiping something on his face in kuala lumpur airport in february 2017. soon after, he died, poisoned by vx nerve agent. both women pleaded not guilty. four north koreans have also been charged with kim's killing. their whereabouts are unknown. aisyah's unexpected release on monday apparently the result of high level lobbying. at a press conference, indonesian officials showed journalists this remarkable correspondence. this undated l ed letter from near indonesia orders to set aisyah free. it orders, "miss aisyah was led to believe her actions were for a reality show, hence she had no intention of killing kim jong-nam." on march 8th the attorney general wrote back saying "aisyah would be set free after, "taking into account the good relations between our respective countries." aisyah' release raises sudden questions about the fate of fellow suspect, doan, from vietnam. a question i raised this month with

doan thi huong was seen on security video putting her hands over the face of kim jong—nam, then rushingirport bathroom. you up—to—date on the headlines. now on bbc news, hardtalk. —— are. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. for millions of venezuelans, every day is a struggle for survival. this is an oil—rich country where the shops are empty, the power is out, and healthca re is collapsing. and politics offers little hope of salvation. the maduro government is clinging to the trappings of power, while the country's other self—proclaimed president, juan guaido, leads mass protests against him. my my guest is one of guaido‘s key allies in the venezuelan parliament, juan andres mejia. is there a way out of venezuela's protracted agony? juan andres mejia in caracas, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, it isa welcome to hardtalk. thank you, it is a pleasure to be here. we have a big time delay on this line, but my first question is a pretty simple one. your party colleague and associate juan guaido one. your party colleague and associatejuan guaido proclaimed himself to be president of ven

the trial of vietnamese doan thi huong, one of two women charged with murdering the estranged half—brotheris due to resume shortly. malaysia's attorney—general rejected vietnam's request to free her. huong and an indonesian woman were charged with killing kim jong—nam by smearing his face with poison at kuala lumpur airport in february 2017. liverpool have returned to the top of the english premier league after a dramatic late goal against tottenham hotspur. the two sides had been drawing at anfield until the closing minutes, when an own—goal gave them a dramatic win. we will have much more reaction to that game coming up on sport today in half an hour's time. here in the uk, we are expecting another eventful week regarding brexit. 0ur political correspondent iain watson has been telling me what we can expect. well, on monday mps, members of parliament here at westminster, seized control of the agenda from the government. they came up with their own alternatives to theresa may's deal. they will be discussing up may's deal. they will be discussing up to nine different options. now, some of