this is bbc world news today. our top stories: a court in egypt sentences 75 people over anti—government protests in 2013, which left hundreds of people dead. air attacks by syrian and russian airplanes intensify on the rebel province of idlib as government ground forces mass on the edges. one of china's richest men, jack ma, says he's stepping down as boss of the online giant ali baba to become a philanthropist. serena williams seeks her 24th grand slam. in a match starting right now, she faces naomi osaka, who is playing herfirst major final. hello and welcome to world news today. human rights groups have described it as egypt's tianamen square.

at least 800 protesters were killed as armed police officers swept in to bring an anti—government protest to an end. five years on, a court has sentenced 75 people to death, blaming them for the violence that took place. the demonstration in 2013 was in support of the muslim brotherhood. authorities say eight police officers died when the occupation was broken up, but pressure remains on the government to explain the actions of security forces. our middle east regional editor, alan johnston, reports. in the court room, a cage crowded with defendants. this was a mass trial. it involved more than 700 people. among those behind bars were senior figures in the muslim brotherhood organisation, and some of the accused were condemned to be hanged. the judges confirmed 75 death sentences, originally handed down in july. they gave other

defendants jail terms. the brotherhood's spiritual leader got life in prison. this mountain of cases was tied to an event in cairo in 2013. the security forces were sent to clear a square. it had been occupied by anti—government protesters. there was extraordinary violence. human rights groups say more than 800 demonstrators were killed in one of the worst such massacres of modern times. no police officer has been called to account for what happened. the authority say eight security force members were killed and the defendants in the mass trial were accused of possessing weapons and murder. but for the well—known photojournalist, there was some relief. he was given a five—yearjail term, but he's already served that time

in detention and may soon be freed. translation: the sentence is unfair because he did not commit any crime to be imprisoned for five years. he was a journalist, only doing hisjob. many others in this huge trial must now come to terms with long jail sentences and some know they may face death. alan johnston, bbc news. syrian and russian warplanes have continued their bombing of rebel positions in the syrian province of idlib. the united nations has warned of a new humanitarian crisis if syria and its russian allies launch an all—out military offensive. idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in the north of the country. thousands of civilians are trapped in the area, and turkey says it can't accommodate any more refugees, who may flee across the border. our middle east correspondent, yollande knell, reports.

today in the idlib countryside. the full—scale offensive here hasn't yet started, but these were powerful blasts. syrian government helicopters dropping barrels packed with explosives. and after each strike, the white helmets civil defence rushing in, searching for survivors. with the fate of idlib hanging in the balance, its residents are taking to the streets. desperately calling for international intervention to prevent a deadly government offensive in this rebel—held area. but president assad, surveying territory already recaptured by his forces, now looks on course to win back all of syria, supported by russia and iran. his troops amassing on the borders of idlib and insist they'll drive out the islamist militants they see as terrorists. and although rebel fighters

are preparing for battle, they look set to be massively outgunned. some residents fled idlib early on in the war. as refugees here in lebanon, they can see the hills that lead to home, and they worry about family left behind. translation: they're telling us it's terrible, tragic. they don't know what to do or where to go. it's hard. maybe they will get hit as they're running away. the situation has been terrible there for a long time. among the latest targets, a village hospital, completely destroyed. fortunately, it was empty when the bomb hit. now, with syrian and russian warplanes still in action in the skies overhead, there is a growing sense that this seven—year—old war that has killed hundreds of thousands is reaching its final stages.

yollande knell, bbc news, beirut. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. iraq has imposed an indefinite curfew in basra after days of violent protests which saw government buildings and the iranian consulate set on fire. residents have been holding demonstrations against corruption, unemployment as well as poor water and electricity in the city. the curfew came into effect earlier this afternoon at 13 gmt. a giant plastic catcher, part of a $20 million project to remove plastic drifting in the pacific ocean, has passed underneath san francisco's famous bay bridge. the 600—metre long structure is designed to form a u—shape in the water and, drifting with the wind and the currents, it will gather plastics which can later be removed and recycled. it's an ambitious but experimental effort to clean up a section of the ocean that's so polluted it's become known as the great pacific garbage patch. a tornado has swept across the sky in the south—east of spain. this weather phenomenon was filmed

over the mediterranean resort of la mata. it made its way slowly inland, but it isn't thought to have caused any major damage. a wildfire is burning out of control in northern california. this was the scene late on friday near redding, which is around 250 kilometres north of sacramento. the flames have forced authorities to close an 80 kilometre stretch of an interstate highway until at least sunday. people are paying tribute to the us rapper mac miller, who's been found dead at his home in los angeles after an apparent drug overdose. the 26—year—old had just released a new album and was due to start touring later this month. i've been speaking to keyon harrold, a jazz musician who collaborated with mac miller, and described him as extremely talented. he was such a cool person and the

timei he was such a cool person and the time i have had with him in the studio has been a fantastic experience, such creative soul creative artist who was brimming with music, always trying to push stuff to the next level. he was such an inspiring type of person. i am a jazz musician per se and he was collaborating with the best from myself to robert glass, so many amazing artists, so it has been a pleasure to hang out with him and create music. it was a long struggle with substance abuse for him, wasn't it? and one that he was very open about. talk me through that.|j it? and one that he was very open about. talk me through that. i know mac from a creative and artistic point, not totally personally in that way, but the idea of him struggling with substance abuse is a

reality that so many artists have to deal with at times. unfortunately, he lost the battle. hopefully, this can bea he lost the battle. hopefully, this can be a memorial that can help people get the help that they need and hopefully... iwish people get the help that they need and hopefully... i wish people had the opportunity to learn from this, and it could be something that is not altogether a tragedy. he seemed to have matured in the public eye, both from a young man into a mature artist, but also as a musician as well. what was his music like, for those of us who do not know much about it? his music... it came from about it? his music... it came from a place of creativity and beautiful art. he was a talent. he was a producer, rapper, an mc, an amazing multi—instrumentalist and was always collaborative. he was a special

person, he was an artist's artist. he was really cool. from the acting, from just being a funny person. it really breaks my heart that he is gone. a musician then who collaborated with the rapper mac miller who has died at the age of 26. it's the last day of campaigning in sweden before sunday's general election. opinion polls suggest the anti—immigrant sweden democrats will win around 20% of the votes, which would make it the second biggest party in parliament. jenny hill has been gauging how the nation is feeling. today, we fight! and it is a battle for the soul of this country. as they recreate sweden's past, populists fight the establishment and its future. the people. they all

taking the people's voice and putting into politics. he is talking about the sweden democrats, once a neo—nazi party, they don't like the eu and they don't like migrants. this is where they live. they put cars on fire. it is very common. they blamed them for crime, even though it is falling. they say it is more safe now, but that is force because there is more gang violence, gang rapes. some things will not before, but now it is all the time. is it responsible, as a political party, to spread this kind of message of fear? yes. it is information for the citizens. have you met any of the asylum seekers who still live in the town? know. i'm not interested. it is three

yea rs i'm not interested. it is three years since hundreds of thousands of people began to seek asylum in sweden's shores. other issues, health, the environment, dominate now, and yet it is migration which could yet change the political landscape. apparently, classical parties like us do not provide a vision of the future, which is really attractive, so we're doing something wrong. is sweden changing this country? well, perhaps not more than other countries, i would say. maybe we are turning to a more normal european country. the vikings are long gone. perhaps sweden's liberal era is ending as well. the syrian refugee is now part of the plan. even so, she knows, she tells us, people do not like foreigners.

when i meet them, she says, it i am learning swedish, i have a job here. as political currents trap europe to the right, even sweden, rich, secure, may not be able to resist. we will have full coverage of that election and results from sweden as they come in along with analysis on what they might mean. that's here on bbc world news from 21 gmt on sunday. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the miraculous escape of a mother and child who fell onto a train track in the london underground. freedom itself was attacked this morning and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those

responsible. desmond tutu becomes the spiritual leader of 100,000 arguments here. —— anglicans. the spiritual leader of 100,000 arguments here. -- anglicans. we say to you today, in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough! the difficult decision we reach together is one that requires great and exceptional courage. reach together is one that requires great and exceptional couragem reach together is one that requires great and exceptional courage. it is an exodus of up to 60,000 people caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. lam free! this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: a court in egypt has sentenced 75

supporters of the muslim botherhood to death over a protest in which at least 800 people died. air attacks by syrian and russian airplanes on the rebel province of idlib have intensifed as government ground forces mass on the edges. let's turn to some history now. in 1991, the russian city of leningrad became the first city in the ussr to change its name in a referendum and it abandoned lenin's name. historian and politcian ludmilla narusova tells witness how it happened. the campaign to restore leningrad to the original st petersburg is gathering momentum. this was the

first time in the ussr that citizens got to choose the name of the city ina got to choose the name of the city in a referendum. st petersburg was the cradle of the bolshevik revolution and in 192a it was renamed in honour of vladimir lenin, revolutionary leader and founder of soviet communist ideology. now his ideology has been rejected by the leadership it no longer want his name stamped on the city. rejecting lenin's name meant a complete turnaround. away from totalitarianism towards a new mentality and towards europe. totalitarianism towards a new mentality and towards europem totalitarianism towards a new mentality and towards europe. it is the most european of all russian cities. its founders peter the great said it was russia's window on europe. the hardline communist fighting to keep leningrad in on this issue there were undignified scuffles. the old guard are outraged at the challenge to the historic struggle. no one, not even

ourselves, believe we would succeed in changing the city's name because the position was very strong. this is the last stronghold of communists. lenin and his legacy. is the last stronghold of communists. lenin and his legacylj communists. lenin and his legacy.” remember 2a hour vigils outside our home where old communists shouted, we will not allow you to dump lenin's name! and so on. when pollsters predicted the result at 49-50, when pollsters predicted the result at 49—50, on the eve of the referendum, the orthodox church published its opinion. i quote,

leningrad is an ideological construct imposed upon the name of st peter in whose honour this city was named. a russian orthodox service was held on the steps of the cathedral at st peter and st paul, close by the communists. church leaders who want the city to bear the name of st peter. do you know what our guiding light was? the words of peter the great himself. the impossible does happen. and it happened. this was a surprising result, a slim but safe majority voted yes to the referendum question whether leningrad should come st petersburg once more. -- become. it was an indescribable feeling of great romantic illusions and hopes, that this was the first step up a great ladder. many of our hopes did

not come to pass. the enthusiasm fizzled out during the painful years of economic shock therapy, suffering and hardship. today, with the promotion of soviet nostalgia by politicians and on tv, i think the results would've been different. a mother and child who accidentally fell onto an underground track moments before a train arrived have escaped unhurt by moving into a pit under the track. police said the woman was pushing a buggy along a platform when she veered too close to the edge and fell. charlotte gallagher has this report. emergency services swarmed around baker street station last night. people who saw what happened were

screaming and running away in tears. suddenly, alarms started going off, and all the members of staff were running around the place, yelling. i was on the escalators going down to the platform when a number of staff was running down the escalators, yelling at people to get out of the way. it was on this platform where the family had their miraculous escape. distracted by the arrivals board, the mother fell off the platform, along with her child in a buggy. her partnerjumped down to help, and the three managed to crawl into the shallow pit under the rails. the whole point about the pits, which the people cowered underneath the train, is that they were built precisely for this eventuality. so the people who designed the tube more than 100 years ago realised that people might fall onto the tracks, and that they might be able to hide underneath the train in the pit. and that's what it

did, it did itsjob. the track's electric current was shut down, and the family managed to escape. they were taken to hospital, but amazingly did not suffer any serious injuries. transport for london says it is believed the family managed to escape unharmed after the accident here last night, but says it emphasises the need for people to stay behind the yellow line on its platforms. on social media, witnesses expressed their shock and relief about what happened. a near miss which could've been a horrifying tragedy. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. john watson has all the sport. how is the tennis match going? serena williams looking to draw level with marageret court's all—time record of 2a grand slam singles titles if she can beat japan's naomi osaka.

osaka hoping to become the first japanese woman to win a grand slam title. in the early stages. we are in the first game of the first set so plenty still to come. coverage over on 5 live sports extra. england are on top in the fifth and final match of their test series with india, leading by 158 runs at the end of day two at the oval in london. the hosts turned 198—7 into 332 all out, thanks largely tojos buttler who made 89. alongside stuart broad who made 38. in reply, broad also took the wicket of opener dhawan before rahual went, and then pujara — the first of two wickets forjames anderson, who's now just two wickets short of glenn mcgrath's test wickets record for a pace bowler. and then ben stokes took the key wicket of india captain

virat kohli just one run short of his half—century to leave england in a strong position heading into day three. in football, places at euro 2020 are up for grabs in the new uefa tournament, the nations league, which is designed to end meaningless international friendlies. liverpool winger xherdan shaqiri on the scoresheet for switzerland as they beat iceland 6—0. wins too for finland, boznia and herzegovina and belarus. world cup semifinalists england taking on spain at wembley, they trail 2—1. this is the first match since they lost in the semifinals of the world cup. australia came from behind to beat south africa in another tight encounter between the two sides. it was australia's first win in this year's rugby championship. new zealand beat argentina 46—21; in the day's other game. scrum half tj perenara scored two tries for the all blacks, and argentina's nicolas sanchez scored 1a points in the game to reach 655 in his career to become his country's highest test scorer.

i thought they played particularly well at times and put us under pressure so we well at times and put us under pressure so we showed a lot of mentalfortitude. some of pressure so we showed a lot of mental fortitude. some of our defensive work at times was not as good as it could have been. we wouldn't touch the ball for a period. at some point we would let them have one. i really like the response, every time they scored we came back and showed a lot of strength of character, i think. the bmw championship, the third tournament in the fed ex cup play offs is being staged in pensylvania. justin rose leads on 16 under through eight holes. five under for his round today. xander shaufle is one shopt further back, having been the overnight leader. rory mcilroy three further back — only the top 30 in the money list after this tournament will make it through to play in the tour chamnpionship in two weeks.

tiger woods six shots off the lead. britain's simon yates has retaken the lead at the vuelta a espana with a spectacular summit victory on stage 1a. yates burst clear in the final kilometre, leaving behind rivals nairo quintana and alejandro valverde. the englishman is now 20 seconds clear of second—placed valverde and 25 seconds ahead of the spaniards movistar team leader quintana in third. and finally, the world athletics masters is taking place in spain at the moment, and one of the competition's undoubted stars is japan's hiroo tanaka. he's 87 and he triumphed in some style to reach the final of his age category in the 200 metres. he left all his rivals in his wake and in a pretty stunning time too of 33.25 seconds although it's more than a second outside his personal best. he says he wants to keep going until he's 90. that's all the sport for now. it has been a mixed weekend so far,

thatis it has been a mixed weekend so far, that is the kind of theme that continues for the rest of the weekend. hard to summarise sunday in a headline, different weather the different parts of the country, but where the breezy at times, equally bit of sunshine. saturday's weather dominated by this pipeline of cloud streaming in from the atlantic, bringing their the heavy rain, much of that sliding out into the north sea. further rain returning to western and northern areas as the night wears on. north—east scotland in england holding on to clear spell so here relatively to clear spell so here relatively cheaper elsewhere at night in prospect. as we go into sunday, low pressure in charge, sitting up to the north—west, various different frontal systems, a compact weather story. a warm front will bring patchy rain across the south—west of england, wales and

northern ireland as we go through the morning. heavy rain drips northwards across scotland with the odd rumble of thunder and further showers returning to the north—west later in the day but dry weather as well. the south of england and the channel island seeing sunshine, breezy and warm as well, 23 celsius in london and not too bad across the midlands. a chance that shower in the afternoon as this weakening front drifts across wales. in northern england, fine conditions and in northern ireland and eastern scotla nd and in northern ireland and eastern scotland but western scotland seeing heavy showers pushing in on an increasingly brisk wind during sunday night. wind gusts of 5011 55 mph across parts of western and north—western scotland. wet weather to come here but elsewhere, despite ikeme breeze, a relatively quiet night. on monday, anotherfrontal system night. on monday, anotherfrontal syste m co m es night. on monday, anotherfrontal system comes in towards north—western areas bringing rain, and then this trailing cold front will sit in place, slight easing the country into by the time we get into

tuesday. the south that frontal system, we will draw in relatively warm acid temperatures could get up into the middle 20s. to the north of the front, cool the consent our direction. temperature stuck in the low to mid teens across some parts of the north as we go to the stars of the north as we go to the stars of the north as we go to the stars of the new working week. rain around as well. further south, of the new working week. rain around as well. furthersouth, cloud of the new working week. rain around as well. further south, cloud and central areas but southern areas seeing sunshine and we could get to the middle 20s. this is bbc world news and these are our headlines: a court in egypt has sentenced 75 supporters of the muslim brotherhood to death over a protest which killed at least 800 people five years ago. the demonstration in cairo began after the military removed the then president mohamed morsi from office. the united nations is warning of a humanitarian crisis in syria's idlib province as russian warplanes intensify airstrikes on rebel positions there.

idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in northern syria. one of china's richest men, jack ma, says he's stepping down as boss of the online giant alibaba to become a philanthropist. alibaba is now the world's fifth biggest tech company. serena williams is seeking a 24th grand slam.