at a time of heightened tensions with china. and coming up roses — the world—famous chelsea flower show gets under way in london. let's mark now on iran confining the death of president ebrahim raisi who died along with the foreign minister when their helicopter crashed on sunday. let's speak now to someone from the university of iran. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. clearly shocking and tragic events of the last day. how is the death of the president and foreign minister being reacted to by the iranian

people? being reacted to by the iranian --eole? , ., _ ., ., , being reacted to by the iranian --eole? , ., _ ., ., people? obviously iranians are mourning. _ people? obviously iranians are mourning. he _ people? obviously iranians are mourning, he was _ people? obviously iranians are mourning, he was a _ people? obviously iranians are mourning, he was a very - people? obviously iranians are i mourning, he was a very popular figure especially among working—class people and people of the lower middle classes because he spent a lot of time going to the different provinces in different cities and different regions which were left behind or which were deprived of decent goods and services. he was also very likeable. his harsh political opponent in brown who had been attacking him relentlessly over the last three years online and off—line, they have been expressing their condolences and calling for people to pray because he is a very likeable person. he is very humble, people who meet him would be surprised if they didn't know he was the

president. so people are rallying around. there will be an enormous funeral which i will expose which will show how popular he was among iranians. ., ., , ., , , , iranians. you have emphasised his penularity- — iranians. you have emphasised his penularity- there _ iranians. you have emphasised his popularity. there has _ iranians. you have emphasised his popularity. there has been - iranians. you have emphasised his i popularity. there has been undressed on the streets of tehran over the last couple of years and the president has been accused of introducing hard—line rules, laws and has been seen as a divisive figure. i and has been seen as a divisive fiaure. ~ ., ., ., ., , figure. i think a lot of that comes from western _ figure. i think a lot of that comes from western sources _ figure. i think a lot of that comes from western sources and - figure. i think a lot of that comes from western sources and there l figure. i think a lot of that comes l from western sources and there is figure. i think a lot of that comes i from western sources and there is a lot of animosity towards iran in the west, largely because of iran's support for the palestinian people, the palestinian cause and iran's opposition to the genocide in gaza. but i think, as i said earlier, the funeral will reveal to everyone whether he was popular or not and i

think it is a big mistake that western governments, they rely very much on people hostile towards iran for their analysis and further information and that is what makes them pursue mistaken policies that only backfire. and we see western policy backfiring constantly when it comes to our region and iran. so i think that we will see, we will see in the coming days whether he was popular or divisive. find in the coming days whether he was popular or divisive.— popular or divisive. and we will also see who — popular or divisive. and we will also see who is _ popular or divisive. and we will also see who is a _ popular or divisive. and we will also see who is a replacementl popular or divisive. and we will. also see who is a replacement will be. do you expect a smooth transition to find the next president? is there somebody who is a clear front president? is there somebody who is a clearfront runner? ida. president? is there somebody who is a clear front runner?— a clear front runner? no, at the moment there _ a clear front runner? no, at the moment there is _ a clear front runner? no, at the moment there is no _ a clear front runner? no, at the moment there is no talk - a clear front runner? no, at the moment there is no talk of - a clear front runner? no, at the moment there is no talk of who | a clear front runner? no, at the - moment there is no talk of who will succeed him. we have 50 days, the government is already preparing the ground for new elections. we have gone through this before in the

19805, gone through this before in the 1980s, the terrorist organisation which has offices in your country and bases across europe, they murdered our president and our prime minister within the previous constitution. we did have a prime minister. they murdered the head of thejudiciary and many minister. they murdered the head of the judiciary and many government ministers and mp5. but we had elections and they were replaced and this was during saddam hussein's war, so the western saddam hussain by carrying out terrorist attacks on iran, killing ordinary people and senior officials but the constitution provided the way forward. we had new officials put in place and the government during war continue to function normally sell right now iran is a much stronger country. it is emerging as the power in west asia and i see no difficulty

in west asia and i see no difficulty in the transition period coming forward. ., , , ., forward. from the university of tehran. thank _ forward. from the university of tehran. thank you _ forward. from the university of tehran. thank you for - forward. from the university of tehran. thank you for your - forward. from the university of. tehran. thank you for your time. iran's first vice president is expected to assume the presidency ahead of elections. iran's first vice president, mohammad mokhber, is expected to assume the presidency ahead of elections. bbc persian�*s washington correspondent, khashayarjoneidi, told us what the process will be now the president's death has been confirmed. there will be a vacuum of power because the president is not the highest authority in iran, it is the supreme leader who is the highest authority, the final arbiter and final decision—maker in terms of foreign policy, internal policy and he is a commander in chief so the president is a chief executive of the executive branch. that is what the executive branch. that is what the president's rowley. he wanted day by day operations of the administration. so he is not their main person responsible for the governing of the country but what

happens here is now, according to iranian constitution, it is upon the first vice president to take over the response edges of the president wants the president is incapacitated or not capable of performing his duties. and then their first vice president in cooperation with the heads of the parliament and judiciary are responsible for holding elections to elect a new president in 50 days. so we will have... once it is officially announced it will be a running period, and that will be followed by a process of those candidates who are interested to offer president to register, they have to be vetted by the guardian council, there will be some campaigning and an election. in additional to their president,

another passenger was the foreign minister hossein amir—abdollahian, but i have two had that within the establishment of the islamic republic, foreign ministers are not the main players in terms of implementing foreign policy, policy making. they are actually implementing the policies of the system. so when it comes to iran's neighbouring countries, especially within the arab world or israel, it is the goods force which is a main player, although behind the curtains and the foreign minister is a person who executes the policies that the regime has decided to follow. and it is the same with the president. he is the same with the president. he is a figurehead but you have the leader who is their main arbiter when it comes to policy, plus irjc, so their policies of the regime, we are expecting the habits wouldn't

change of we are not expecting to see suffering very traumatic it very depends on how this crash will be reported and there will be an investigation into this, whether it is foul play or a technical issue. we will see some finger pointing toward certain elements in the region accusing them of having a role that may happen, and that will have a role but it is very much dependent on the regime to see in what situation it is located now internally and externally and how to react. that is what we will have to wait and see. we react. that is what we will have to wait and see-— wait and see. we have a live page on a website about _ wait and see. we have a live page on a website about the _ wait and see. we have a live page on a website about the helicopter- wait and see. we have a live page on a website about the helicopter crash | a website about the helicopter crash involving the president of iran. just log onto the bbc website or go via the bbc app. i was after taiwan

inaugurated its new president, china has warmed the self—governing island that independence is a dead end. he called for dialogue with china's leaders but also said he would not back down in the face of intimidation, adding that taiwan must continue to strengthen its defensive capability. regime considers the self—governing island to be its territory and regards him a dangerous separatist. the commemoration event have continued where the presidential partyjoined him for some of the singing and dancing at an event designed to celebrate taiwan plasma cultural heritage. let's listen to what president i had to say. translation: in the face of the many threats and infiltration _ attempt from china, we must demonstrate our resolution to defend our nation and we must also raise our defence effort and strengthen our legal framework

for national security. our asia correpondent, rupert wingfield—hayes was watching events in taipei. this was really a big celebration. you can see they are already dismantling the stage behind me here where the celebrations and the inauguration were held. it is part celebration, part a celebration of taiwan's culture, its democracy, it society, it way of life here, and it was partly a fairly robust, i would say robust but cautious speech by taiwan's new president william lai, lai ching—te. he very much follows the line taken by the previous president tsai ing—wen when he talked about china, so holding very firm to the idea that taiwan under its official name, the republic of china, is an independent sovereign nation and that it will stand up for itself against china, but also that he is not going to change the status quo.

so looking to america, looking to thailand's friends looking to taiwan's friends and allies and saying, "look, i am not going to do anything to change the status quo here. i am basically a safe pair of hands. you don't need to worry, and we want to maintain basically the situation that has been here for the last eight years under president tsai ing—wen." so this is more of a continuation of the presidency than something completely new. a final decision could be made today on whether the wiki leaders found thatjulie and signage should be sent to the united states to face trial on spying charges. he is wanted in relation to the release of thousands of secret documents on the wars in iraq and afghanistan. he has resisted expedition for more than ten years. —— extradition. let's go to the high court where supporters of his ad been gathering from early morning we will take you there as soon as any verdict is made public. around the world and across the uk,

this is bbc news.

thousands of people continue to take to the streets of the georgian capital tbilisi, protesting about a new law that they say will stifle free speech. european political leaders have expressed concern about the legislation, saying georgia is abandoning its path towards eu membership and moving closer to its neighbour russia. although the law was vetoed yesterday by georgia's president, it's likely to come into force soon. andrew harding reports from tbilisi. it is not easy being russia's neighbour. and right now the tiny nation of georgia is in trouble. on the streets of the capital tbilisi, the young are protesting in huge numbers. chanting

angry that their government seems to be moving closer to russia and wrecking georgia's path towards joining the european union. russia tries very, very hard to pull us back to them because russia has this mentality to have this big empire like it was in the ussr, and they have this big dream which they never left. you don't want that? of course we don't want that. at issue, a new law that looks like a kremlin—style measure to limit freedoms. i want a better future for my children. i cannot see a better future in the country which will get laws like this. you don't have to travel far from tbilisi to understand georgia's fears about russia. an hour away lies one of two big chunks of territory occupied by russian troops. i can see a big russian military base, army trucks, barbed wire. this view says so much

about georgia today. it has fears of more russian aggression and the widespread belief that the kremlin is always meddling, stirring up trouble, trying to weaken georgia's independent. but how should georgia respond? older people here seem more wary of provoking the kremlin. we don't want war, she says, we are just a small country. georgian government officials go further, accusing the west of bullying them, fuelling instability here. translation: the main thing we want is peace, maintaining _ peace. we will not let our country share the same destiny as ukraine, and what is happening there. but is this peace? security footage of an opposition mp being attacked by

masked thugs. activists here are being targeted by the security forces and badly beaten, kremlin—style. my nose is broken, this bone is broken, the bone which holds an eye. we all know that in russia it does not exist a free society, there is no freedom. you are worried that it's going to come and happen here as well? yeah, so we are on the way. which explains why these street protests are continuing, a russian flag set on fire. chanting young georgians have made their choice. they are determined to have a future inside

europe, but with an ever more aggressive authoritarian russia right next door, it is going to be a long struggle. "we are georgia," they shout. but this country's future, its very identity hang in the balance. the chelsea flower show is getting under way and for the first time it features a garden designed by children. charlotte gallagher reports. children are taking over the chelsea flower show. the rhs no adults allowed garden has been planned by kids, for kids with help, of course, from designer harry holding. who would you like to see here? maybe like the king. the king? i think if he comes, i think he'll want to see this garden. it's actually kind of cool because there's like not a lot of gardens where there's a den inside of it. and this is a really special den.

do you think the king would go down the slide? maybe! so what's the verdict from the bosses? a 9.9 because there's no hammock. there's no hammock, harry! hammock didn't make the cut, did it? and watch out, monty don. the bbc presenter has competition this year. hector has been selected as the show�*s mini monty. i'm hector from thomas st catherine. and this is ian, my rowan dream. i've been calling him since he was a tiny seed at christmas, and i can't wait to make jam out of his berries. and when he's a lot bigger, i can't wait to plant him in my garden. more than 70 juniorjudges will also cast their eye on the extravagant show gardens. but will any get a ten if they don't have a hammock? 100 miles from chelsea flower show, there's another spectacular garden. this is highgrove, home of the new rhs patron, the king.

he's famously a keen gardener and we got an exclusive tour. when the king moved in in the early �*80s it was fairly blank canvas, which was one of the reasons why he chose highgrove. he had a desire to create a place and improve it forfuture generations. there's been a lot of input from many different people, designers and plantsmen, over the years since since he moved in. would you get the king out doing a bit of weeding, do you think? well, he has been very hands on in the past and so forth in the garden. highgrove is also the home of the king's foundation, which supports traditional crafts that the monarch is passionate about. some, like willow weaving, will be on display at the flower show. so you've had support from the king to keep this traditional ancient art going?

yes, over the years, the king has supported me in my business, and it's just wonderful to be able to use the traditional material like willow, but to work in a more of a contemporary way, you know, to the point now where i'm making beth and bluebell, the king and queen's jack russell terriers, which will be on the centre stage in the highgrove shop at chelsea this year. the garden at highgrove has been decades in the making, but the ones at chelsea flower show need to be installed in just a few short weeks. through the garden you'll see there's this ponding area here. and then there are these swales and channels that run through the entire garden. so when it rains, these fill up with rainwater and water runs off the higher parts of the garden into these low points collecting rainwater. so that's a really simple thing. you know, people at home could do that. you could dig a small pond, disconnect your rainwater down pipe and collect rainwater in channels. there's just time now for those final finishing touches, some pruning and some sweeping as the show gets ready to welcome thousands of visitors. charlotte gallagher, bbc news.

it looks lovely. the trend for selling clothes online could be affecting the quality of donations be made to charity shops. the last few years have seen a huge rise in the second and clothes market. the last few years have seen a huge rise in the second—hand clothes market on sites like vinted and depop as well as the online giants like ebay and amazon. charities like mind and marie curie say they're seeing a drop in the quality of clothes being donated which could be down to more people selling their clothes online. ben boulos reports. lisa, jenny and deborah have been friends since they were 17. now retired, they volunteer for the charity mind at this warehouse in blaby in leicestershire. can we, can we salvage those? quite dirty, can we wipe them up a bit? sorting almost 150 bags every day, lisa says the quality of the donations they receive is getting worse.

they ought to always consider as well the quality of the item that they're donating to us. to send us an inferior item, and i don't mean that to be disrespectful because everything is worth something to us, but the quality items, we can actually sell, get money for for the charity. so its quality over quantity they need. but why aren't charities getting the best of our unwanted clothes? people are selling more, you know within your own teams, people are selling more online, especially to vinted. and since they done the advertising, you know, people have noticed it a lot more. so definitely, that's having an impact. we still sell less quality. obviously, we can't command the higher prices, but we still, there is still a market there for less quality stock. but for some charities, donations of clothes and other items are actually costing them money. hospice and charity dove house in east yorkshire spends around £45,000 a year getting rid of everything it can't sell or recycle because it has to go

as commercial waste. it does cost us a lot of money to get rid of items that we cannot sell. that's sort of mainly broken items. that money is money that wouldn't be able to go towards caring for patients. so what do you do with clothes that are unwearable, perhaps damaged or too worn out to be resold? there aren't many options for recycling them, but oxfam and m&s are running a postal trial, which they think could be a solution. the unwearable clothes that we can't find a second life for will be sent for recycling to be used as mattress filler or upholstery, or even as wipers for industry. whether it's sites like vinted, the rise of fast fashion or the cost of living crisis, what we donate and how is clearly changing.

the orkney islands to the north of scotland have established themselves as a hub for clean energy. there's plentiful wind power and an array of prototype wave and tidal power projects. now there are plans to focus that pioneering spirit in another area — clean and cheap sea transport. theo leggett reports. for the people of the orkney islands, ferries like this one offer a vital lifeline. the islands lie some ten miles off the north coast of scotland. they are connected to one another and to the mainland by a network of ferry routes. absolutely vital. ships like this, this is the only means of transport to certain islands in orkney, so if the boat isn't going, there is no way of getting goods and services off the island, so they have to be very robust and reliable to maintain the service and the range of weather conditions we do experience in this area. but many of the ferries serving the islands are ageing and costly to run. they also burn diesel, producing a significant amount of carbon emissions.

now people here are looking to the future and thinking of ways to make the network leaner and more efficient. it is a 25 kilowatt turbine. this is one of them. andrew banks runs a ferry service to and from the islands. this wind turbine provides his vessels with all the power they need when they are moored up between services. he is also invested in modern catamaran ferries but he thinks in the future more radical technologies will be needed. for me, i think the way forward is hydrogen, because in orkney we produce so much electricity and we are well placed to produce hydrogen. it is not the only possible solution.

a trial of two fully electric hydrofoils is due to start on interisland services from next year, backed by £15.5 million of government money. ferries like these offer vital economic and social links to the island is here in orkney but the lessons learnt here about making them cleaner, more efficient and cheaper to run will notjust be relevant for the orkney islands, but also for other remote communities across the globe. lovely looking weather in orkney. how is it looking around the rest of the uk. the start of the week is fine and dry but it will be more unsettled through the rest of the week. more details in a moment. we will continue with sunny spells, the risk of some showers cropping up on those likely to watch part of north wales and southern areas of england this afternoon, we will see showers developing, and the risk of some thunderstorms and heavy showers towards the west of northern ireland. elsewhere, cloud across northern england, southern scotland but decent sunny spells, and onshore wind, temperature is 15 to 18

degrees on the north sea coast further inland we see temperatures getting into the 20s. through tonight we will see those showers continuing around the south—east, drifting northward, more substantial showers spreading into northern areas of england into tuesday morning and overnight temperatures generally down to about five to 10 degrees but a bit chilly impact parts of eastern scotland where there will be low cloud, mist and fog around the east of scotland and the eastern side of england. some showers around north west england through tuesday and elsewhere there could be further showers, particularly toward the eastern side of england. some showers around north west england through tuesday and elsewhere there could be further showers, particularly towards a south—eastern through south—western areas of the, 17 to 20 or 21 degrees. wednesday and thursday, an area of low pressure brings very heavy rain, especially towards northern part of the uk, northern england into scotland getting the brunt of that wet weather as we go through the week but that area of low pressure close by and you can

see from the rainfall accumulation chart where we have greens here across north—east scotland. we could see up to 100 millimetres of rain so there is a risk of flooding in northern areas through wednesday and thursday. worth staying tuned to the forecast. 0n thursday. worth staying tuned to the forecast. on wednesday, heavy rain spreading into parts of eastern and northern areas of england into scotland by the end of the day, heavy and thundery showers developing across southern areas on wednesday with sunny spells, temperature is about 17 to 20 celsius and that wet weather will continue across northern areas as we go through the rest of this week. further south, go through the rest of this week. furthersouth, not go through the rest of this week. further south, not as wet, some sunny spells, temperatures 1a to 20 celsius. goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. iran's president and foreign minister are killed after their helicopter crashed in the northwest of the country. the two men were returning from a visit to the border with azerbaijan — it's thought there are no survivors. waiting for the truth — the public inquiry into the uk's infected blood scandal will publish its final report in the next few hours. wikileaks founderjulian assange could learn today whether his

extradition to the us will go ahead. a decision is expected at the high court in london, where supporters of mr assange have been gathering. hello. our top story this hour — iran has confirmed the death of president ebrahim raisi, who died along with the iranian foreign minister when their helicopter crashed on sunday. their bodies have now been recovered from the crash site. it's thought another 7 people might have been on the helicopter, which crashed in thick fog and rain. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has announced five days of public mourning. the search — in a mountainous area in north—western iran — near tabriz — has been hampered by bad weather. graham satchell has the story. search teams have been

scouring the mountains of north—west iran all night.