welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is lebo diseko. our top stories: a court in egypt sentences 75 people to death over a huge anti—government protest in 2013. human rights groups call the trial a mockery of justice. syrian and russian airstrikes on rebel positions in idlib intensify, after calls for a truce are rejected. sweden's prime minister issues a warning about extremism as the country prepares to vote in a general election. and japan's naomi osaka wins herfirst grand slam at the us open, but her opponent serena williams clashes with the umpire. hello and thanks forjoining us.

human rights groups have described it as egypt's tianamen square. at least 800 protesters were killed when armed police officers swept in to end a huge anti—government sit—in in 2013. five years on, a court has sentenced 75 people to death, blaming them for the violence that took place. the demonstration was in support of the muslim brotherhood, and came just weeks after the former president, mohammed morsi, was ousted from office. authorities say 8 police officers died, but the government is still under pressure to explain the actions of the security forces. our middle east regional editor, alan johnston reports. in the courtroom, 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. thejudges confirmed 75 death sentences, originally handed down injuly.

they gave other defendants jail terms. the brotherhood's spiritual leader mohammed badie got life in prison. this mountain of cases was tied to an event in cairo in 2013. gunfire. the security forces were sent to clear a square called rabaa al—adawiya. 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 authorities 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, shawkan, 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 shawkan didn't commit any crime to be imprisone 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. in syria, government and russian warplanes have carried out the most intensive bombing on rebel positions in the province of idlib, in almost a month. at least 9 people are said to have been killed, including two children. the united nations is warning of a new humanitarian crisis if there's an all—out military offensive. here's our middle east correspondent, yollande knell. today in the idlib countryside. explosion. the full—scale offensive here hasn't yet started, but these were powerful blasts.

amazingly, those nearby survived. activists say the bombing intensified. here, syrian government helicopters dropping barrels packed with explosives. siren wails. and after each strike, the white helmets civil defence rushing in, searching for survivors. all chant. 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. many syrians opposed to the regime fled to this province from other parts of the country, swelling its population to 3 million and the un warns any battle here will be horrific and bloody. although these rebel fighters are defiant, they look set to be massively outgunned. some are aligned with turkey

but in a confusing mix of shifting alliances, much of the province is under the control of jihadists formerly linked to al-qaeda. 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 are telling us it's terrible. tragic. they don't know what to do or where to go. it's hard. maybe they'll get hit as they're running away. the situation has been terrible there for a long time. but president assad, surveying territory already recaptured by his forces, now looks on course to win back all of syria. the support of russia and iran has been crucial to his triumphs. as his troops mass on the borders of idlib, they insist they'll drive out the militants they see as terrorists. so far, international calls for a ceasefire are being ignored and there is a growing sense

that this 7—year—old war that has killed hundreds of thousands is reaching its final stages. yollande knell, bbc news, beirut. as the country prepares to vote in a general election, sweden's prime minister has warned about the dangers of extremism and fascism. opinions polls suggest that the country's anti—immigrant party, sweden democrats, could become the second biggest in parliament. our correspondent, jenny hill, is in the swedish capital, stockholm. well, this is certainly the most significant collections well, this is certainly the most significant election for sweden in decades. the sweden democrats, the anti— migrant nationalists, anti—eu party looks set to take at least a fifth of the vote and that represents a serious challenge to this country's political establishment. prime minister is clearly concerned, even he is warning about what he describes as dark forces mobilising within the country. sweden, in the last few years,

took in more people seeking asylum per head of population than any other european country and the sweden democrats have made political gain out of the crisis, focusing on what they say is migrant related crime. this collection will no doubt be closely scrutinised in other eu capitals. not least because, like so many other european countries, sweden, for all its long and roll tradition, finally seems to be shifting to the political right. 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 2100 gmt on sunday. let's get some of the day's other news: iraqi authorities in the city of basra have lifted a curfew. there have been anti—government demonstrations there all week, and 12 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces. thousands of people were hospitalised after drinking

polluted water, and residents are angry about water and electricity shortages, corruption and unemployment. north korea is marking the seventieth anniversary of its founding. a concert in the capital pyongyang kicked off the events. the nation's military top brass were there, ahead of a major parade later. the north korean leader kimjong—un has been moving towards improved international relations this year, including a meeting with the us president donald trump injune. the japanese tennis player, naomi osaka, has won the us open ladies final in new york, beating 23—time grand slam champion serena williams, 6—2, 6—4. it was a match of high drama. williams was penalised for on—court coaching, smashing her racket down and calling the umpire a liar and a thief. but she did congratulat osaka, who's now the first japanese player to win a grand slam singles title.

fred varcoe is former sports editor of the japan times and he joins us from tokyo. thank you for staying up to talk to us. thank you for staying up to talk to us. what has the reaction of an over there? it is still fairly early morning here, ten o'clock in the morning. it is the second lead story on most of the news channel after the deadly earthquake and a typhoon before that. it is a huge here and it will be even bigger news when naomi osaka comes here the week after next. what kind of celebrations will there be? after next. what kind of celebrations will there be ?|j after next. what kind of celebrations will there be? i do not think there will be a parade but people may go to the airport. she will be playing in the pan pacific open and there will be massive

interest and great demand for tickets. in terms of the sport over there, how big is it and will this encourage people to take more interest as well? tennis is a popular sport for people who play it. it is played a lot injunior high school. in terms of professional popularity, it goes hand in hand with the success of their players. we have had successful players in the past. most recently kei nishikori. it will be a big boost for tennis in japan recently kei nishikori. it will be a big boost for tennis injapan and they love their sports start so i think it will be good for tennis. naomi osaka has said she wanted to play serena williams since she was a little girl. will they be little girls injapan thinking, wow, if i

could be like that one day. girls injapan thinking, wow, if i could be like that one daylj girls injapan thinking, wow, if i could be like that one day. i am sure there will be little girls looking at naomi osaka and thinking i want to be like her. herfather looking at naomi osaka and thinking i want to be like her. her father is from haiti, her motherfrom japan and she's in america. japan is not really a multicultural party. it is slowly becoming so. do you think people have taken her as one of the home. as you mentioned she lives in the state and has mixed heritage.- the state and has mixed heritage.- the end of every game she tries to send a message injapanese to her japanese fans. they are very cute and charming and she's very to japanese fans and japanese public in general. thank you so much. we

appreciate your time. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: mexican drama, roma, takes the top award at the venice film festival, but it's also a big night for the streaming service, netflix. we'll tell you why. freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes the spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough! translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people,

caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. lam free! this is bbc news. 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. let's stay with our top story now. earlier, i spoke to nancy 0kail. she is executive director of the tahrir institute for middle east policy. in 2013, she was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for using foreign funds to encourage unrest. it's a charge she denies. i asked her what her reaction was to the sentences. of course, i mean, it isjust like one of the most devastating

moments to see a lot of people who are subject to mass trials, whether the ones who are sentenced to death, or those who are sentenced to life or the others who got 15 years in prison orfive years in prison, because there is no indication that there is actual implementation of justice in what's going on and it is very clear that this regime is using the law to settle scores and to repress their political opponents and even a wider score of people who would have any form of independence in the country. now, i just want to talk a little bit about your own situation. you were in egypt waking for n60, but you ended up in prison for more than a year — around 18 months or so. there's this very famous picture of you behind — in that cage as it were, reading a george orwell book.

tell us about your experience of the justice system in egypt. well, i mean, this was in 2011. the peace started at that point. i was summoned for interrogation at the end of the year and then after that, by february of 2012, i was indicted and turned to court for charges of receiving funding from a foreign government without a licence and operating an office without a licence. at the time, i was the country director of freedom house in egypt. when i was first summoned, it was the time of the transition and it was an alarm that things had not changed. and a lot of people had interpreted this is the time that not everything is settled and this will only be resolved in a few months. but, 1.5 years later,

i was on trial for six months in egypt. i left in the middle of the trial to the united states, and injune 2012, i got sentenced to five years in prison. at the beginning of my trial, a lot of people had advised me to leave the country and i completely refused to do that because i knew i didn't break the law and this is my country and i'm going to stay and attend the trial and defend myself. but after a few trial, it was very clear that it's a sham trial, it was a show for the public, it was sort of a message like, if you are going to persue that route of following the human rights defenders career, or have those particular stands that criticises the military or whoever was in charge at the time, this is going to be

your destination. and it was very particular, like, our pictures there in the cage as sort of a message. and it was very clear it was a political case. there was no evidence whatsoever on all the claims that they had so it was a clear beginning for that. nancy, very briefly, you say that this is the government trying to settle scores. the government says these people killed a number of policemen and that this is justice taking its cause. well, actually, there is no indication of how the prosecution, the process of interrogation had taken place. there is complete lack of transparency. it is only indicative when you see that in one session, 529 individuals get sentenced to death, that was in 2014. and at that time, we thought that the government is just using this as a way of intimidating everyone who is opposing the government,

but actually, they started executing, the process of hanging. in 2015, they had 22 people hanged. in 2016, it was doubled to 1m. last year, it was 49. in 1991, the russian city of leningrad became the first in the ussr to change its name in a referendum, and became saint petersburg again. the historian and politician, ludmilla narusova, has been telling the bbc‘s witness programme how it happened. newsreel: the campaign to restore leningrad to the original st petersburg is gathering momentum. translation: this was the first time in the ussr that citizens got to choose the name of their 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 reformist leadership here, they no longer want his name stamped on their city. translation: rejecting lenin's name meant a complete turnaround away from totalitarianism, towards a new mentality and towards europe. it is the most european of all russian cities. its founder, peter the great, said it was russia's window on europe. the hardline communists are fighting to keep leningrad and on this issue, there were undignified scuffles. the old guard outraged at the challenge to their historic struggle. translation: no-one, not even ourselves, believed we would succeed in changing the city's name because the opposition was very strong. this was the last stronghold

of communists, lenin and his legacy. i remember 24—hour vigils outside our home where old communists shouted, "we will not allow you to dump lenin's name" and so on. translation: when pollsters predicted the result at 49-50 or 50-49, 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 the city was named." a russian orthodox service was held

on the steps of the cathedral of st peter and st paul, closed by the communists. church leaders here want the city to bear the name of st peter. translation: 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 on whether leningrad should become st petersburg once more. translation: 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 result would have been different. oscar—winning director alfonso cuaron‘s roma has won the golden lion at the venice film festival, bringing netflix its first major festival victory. it seals the online streaming company's reputation as a big name in arthouse movies, as laura westbrook reports. roma is a deeply personal black memoir. it was inspired by his childhood in the roman district of mexico city. the film seems to have

inspired thejudges as mexico city. the film seems to have inspired the judges as well. taking the top prize at the venice film festival. it was a decision that was reached entirely unanimously by the entire jury. so, 9-0. reached entirely unanimously by the entirejury. so, 9-0. iam reached entirely unanimously by the entirejury. so, 9-0. i am the queen. but you are mad. the favourite focuses on female characters. its star 0livia colman received the best actress award for her portrayal of queen anne. best actor went to william dafoe who played vincent van gough in the biotech and eternity‘s gate. despite stories about women dominating the festival, only one of the film was directed by a woman. jennifer kent took the specialjury prize for the nightingale, a revenge thriller set in the 19th century tasmania, and she made a plea in her accent and

speech. i would just she made a plea in her accent and speech. i wouldjust also she made a plea in her accent and speech. i would just also like to say to all of those women out there wanting to make films, these go and do it. we need you. applause however, the talk of the night was most certainly netflix. roma was one of six netflix films that premiered here and it is one of the first win for the streaming service as a major festival. kanban netflix from its competition. the online giant has been attacked for its strategy of making films available for streaming on the same day they are released in cinemas —— cannes. while some worry what that will do to the movie industry, this filmmaker sees it as an opportunity. it in black and white, spanish and mystical and mexican. with non— recognisable actors as stars. and it has been given a huge international push for this film. not any company does

that. as a conversation about the future of film continues, what does seem certain it that we will hear more about roma as the awards season approaches. time to remind you of oui’ approaches. time to remind you of our top story. a court in egypt has sentenced people 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 from office. amnesty international has called the sentence is a mockery ofjustice. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lebo? diseko. always lovely to hear from you about any of our stories. i would have the headlines in about two minutes time. join us then. hello. the first half of the weekend has

brought some fairly mixed weather and i can't see the second half being particularly different. sunday will bring rain at times. breezy weather, even windy weather across the north. but amidst all of that, there will still be some spells of sunshine. the pressure pattern is a fairly complicated one. low pressure up to the north—west. a few different frontal systems here crossing the country, bringing outbreaks of rain. this front in the west will bring some outbreaks of patchy rain across the south—west of england, wales, north—west england, northern ireland for a time through the first part of the morning. tending to fizzle as they drift eastwards. some heavier rain, though, moving northwards across scotland. by the afternoon, many places should be fine and dry, if rather breezy. there will be some spells of sunshine, a bit of patchy cloud as well, but a warmer day across the south—eastern corner. 23 degrees in london. there could be some showers from our old weather front just moving across wales, into the midlands, maybe north—west england. much of northern england fine with some spells of sunshine. northern ireland having a decent afternoon. eastern scotland

cheering up quite nicely. but for western scotland, you can see these showers and perhaps thunderstorms pushing back in from the west. they will continue during sunday evening into the night, blown in on an increasingly strong wind. we could see wind gusts of up to 50, maybe 55mph. so that wet and windy weather will continue to sweep eastwards across scotland as we go through into the early hours of monday. further south, largely dry. some clear spells, but despite those clear, starry skies overhead, there will still be a bit of a breeze so it's probably not going to get too cold. many places holding up in double digits. so, we get into monday and we still have showers across northern and western parts of scotland. further south, a decent day. spells of sunshine and then later on, rain will return to northern ireland and once again, the western side of scotland, the odd heavy burst and it will turn windy again as well. 15 or 16 degrees across parts of scotland, but 22, still quite warm towards the south—east. that sort of split is going to continue as we get deeper into the week.

by tuesday, we're going to be left with this trailing cold front. uncertainty about exactly where it will turn up but it will bring some cloud, it'll bring some outbreaks of patchy rain. to the north of it will be bringing in some cool air. but down to the south, we will be drawing in some fairly warm air. so, a split in our temperatures as we get deeper into the week. northern areas rather cool, quite breezy and there will be some rain at times. further south, those temperatures could get up into the middle 20s for a time, particularly on tuesday. but even here, we're expecting something a little bit cooler and fresher for the middle of the week. this is bbc news. the headlines — a court in egypt has sentenced 75 supporters of the muslim botherhood 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. amnesty international says the sentences are a mockery of justice. 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. sweden's prime minister has issued a warning about the dangers of extremism, as the country prepares to go to the polls in its general election on sunday. opinion polls suggest that the anti—immigrant sweden democrats are likely to become the second biggest party in parliament. now on bbc news, dateline london.