in lambasting senior republicans. many senior republicans have backed mr trump's position. hong kong's opposition has walked out of the legislature after four colleagues were expelled. britain says china has clearly breached its joint declaration. beijing has labelled the mass resignation as a challenge to its authority. boris johnson's most senior aide, dominic cummings, is set to leave downing street at the end of the year. it follows the departure of the british prime minister's director of communications earlier this week. amnesty international says it has evidence that scores and possibly hundreds of civilians have been killed in what it calls a massacre in ethiopia's tigray region. the government has launched an offensive there against local forces. a controversial plan to dig

a road tunnel near stonehenge has been given the go—ahead by the government. highways england says the two—mile stretch will remove noise and visual distraction from the historic landmark. but campaign groups and archaeologists are worried the wiltshire landscape could be damaged. duncan kennedy reports. the a303, gateway to the south—west, but routed past the richness of this world heritage site. for 30 years, they've debated how to save stonehenge from the roads noise and pollution. well, now the government says the a303 is to be buried into a tunnel, creating a traffic—free landscape. english heritage say it will transform the monument. it makes good on a decades—long ambition to remove this noisy and polluting road from this very important prehistoric landscape. the tunnel will be two miles long, and the

government insists there won't be any major damage to the archaeology here. it's only when you get here on the ground that you realise just how close the stones are to the a303. it's just a matter of about 150—200 yards. and this is a road that attracts between 30—50,000 cars a day. but some campaigners have fought for years to stop a tunnel, saying it will damage the archaeology of this unique setting. the landscape to each side of the tunnel will be gouged out into deep cuttings, with dual carriageways in them, huge tunnel entrances, masses of concrete, major road interchanges to each side of the world heritage site. this is devastation on a major scale. there have been many promises before to put the a303 into a tunnel, but the main work here is finally expected to start in three years‘ time. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at stonehenge. now on bbc news — our world.

five years ago, an electrician called ali motamed was shot and killed in almere, just outside amsterdam. it looked like a professional hitjob but why would anyone want to assassinate a seemingly innocent electrician? jiyar gol follows a trail of destruction across europe in a story of spies, lies and geopolitics. warning this programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting. the american assassination of iran's top general earlier this year set the world on edge. qasem soleimani commanded the shadowy quds force. tehran has vowed to take revenge. the iranian regime can strike anywhere. for the past two years, i have been investigating bomb plots and assassinations on european soil.

what concerns me, in this city an assassination was conducted. the trail of destruction leads from denmark to the netherlands. we saw my dad lying on the ground covered in his blood. this is the extraordinary story of iran and the mystery murders. my investigation starts here, in the small dutch city of almere, near amsterdam. 0ne quiet morning, five years ago, two hitmen lie in wait. shots ring out, killing their target instantly.

the assassins escape in a stolen black bmw, later found abandoned and burned out just a few blocks away. the victim was a middle—aged electrician, but who was he, and why did he have to die? normally, assassinations are one criminal assassinating another criminal, but this time it was an electrician. that is why i kept asking questions. how come? paul vughts is an investigative journalist known for his inside stories on amsterdam's gang violence and drugs trade. his assassination was a big surprise for the police, and so people thought maybe he was in the world of growing weed, hashish, maybe as an electrician, if you grow weed and need electricity and power and don't want to be seen. so that was the first thought. but there was no evidence

of any drugs linked. then a few months later, the police released to the victim's name and a photograph. he was a 56—year—old iranian called ali motamed. this was the street where ali motamed lived. those who knew him, they say he was a family man. but what they didn't know was that he was being watched by two men sitting in a carfor days. cctv recordings appear to show ali motamed's white van and repeated appearances by the assassins‘ black bmw. but why would professional hitmen target a seemingly innocent electrician? this man is an iranian dissident, who lives in the netherlands.

in the dutch iranian community, there were rumours that the victim had a dark past. and investigative journalist paul vught was hearing the same thing. someone tipped me that the victim of the assassination was called ali motamed, was not really ali motamed but was mr kolahi. paul vught was right. within hours of the killing, ali motamed's wife told police he had another identity. his real name was mohammad—reza kolahi samadi. he was considered both a terrorist and a wanted man by the iranian regime. in 1981, a massive bomb destroyed the headquarters of the iranian regime's ruling

party, killing more than 70 people, including high—ranking officials. the bombing was carried out by the mek, a dissident faction that launched deadly attacks against the iranian regime and is still considered its sworn enemy. saeed shahsavandi was a senior member of the mek at the time, and he knew kolahi samadi, or ali motamed, personally.

iran's revolutionary court sentenced kolahi samadi to death in absentia. in 1991, kolahi cut his ties to the mek and claimed asylum in the netherlands. he changed his name to ali motamed, got married, and settled down to what he thought would be a quiet life in almere. so could the iranian regime have ordered his killing? local politicians here were horrified at the prospect. everybody is keeping their mouths shut. what concerns me in this city, though, an assassination was conducted, maybe by a foreign country. this is of course, people deserve to know what happened and especially of course iranian dissidents. of course i can imagine they are frightened now. two months after the assassination, a dutch intelligence officer contacted a dutch human rights activist,

morteza sadeghi, with a warning for other iranian dissidents living in the netherlands. but within months, there was another murder. in november, 2017, iranian dissident ahmad mola nissi, was walking home in the hague. two men in a black bmw were following him. 0ne got out of the car and shot nissi at point—blank range.

this mobile footage apparently shows killers escaping. nissi died on the spot. his daughter, hawra, was home at the time. i went downstairs with my brothers and sisters and my mum and we saw my dad lying on the ground, covered in his blood. it was very difficult, very shocking, even to this moment. it is something that i wish nobody can experience. ahmad mola nissi was the leader of the asmla, a separatist group fighting for a homeland for the arab minority. iran regards it as a terrorist group.

he was threatened a couple of times. who threatened him, we don't know. we don't have any information. but we know that, as a charismatic leader, he brought all the ahwazi resistance group together. he was a target for his enemies inside iran and outside iran. so, within months of each other, there were two mysterious murders where the victims were both opponents of the iranian regime. the matter of the fact is they were both assassinated mafia style. there was a bmw, i think it was a hit—style by proxy. i think a professional criminal organisations were hired to do the assassination. who did the formal order is unclear yet, but there are some indications that the state of iran was responsible. in early 2018, dutch police arrested two associates of this man, amsterdam crime boss naoufal fassih, in connection with the first

killing, that of ali motamed. those who had followed the case were baffled at first. from what i understand of the police investigation, there are no ties or connections whatsoever connecting this man to criminal activity, money—laundering, drugs. nothing. naoufal fassih and his associates were found guilty of ali motamed's murder. the prosecution claimed the hitmen were each played 10,000 euros for pulling the trigger, and naoufal fassih got 130,000 euros for organising the killing but he refused to say who had paid him. if that kind of money is paid to a criminal organisation for an assassination, for a political assassination, that is a clear indication of state sponsorship.

the eu stayed silent on any links between the murders and iran. in 2015, it had helped negotiate a major deal with iran to limit its nuclear ambitions. the priority that the european powers gave to preserving the nuclear deal above all other outstanding issues, which includes iranian activities on european soil, really gave tehran a bargaining chip because each time it stepped out of line, such as activities in europe, you know, terror plots, assassinations, europe would bite its tongue. but in the summer of 2018, donald trump announced the us was walking away from the nuclear deal, and a key trump lieutenant had no problem with calling out iran in public. the iranian quds force conducts covert assassination operations in the heart of europe. something was about to happen, which would add fuel

to the fire. in the summer of 2018, the anti—iranian government mek's conference opened just outside paris. the group was still pushing for regime change in iran, and by now, they had won some powerfulfriends, including members of president trump's inner circle. thank god my president turned his back on that very dangerous agreement with iran! butjust as a conference opened, belgian police acted to stop what they said with a plot to bomb the event, masterminded by iran. france has accused iran of attempting to set off a bomb in paris... an iranian—belgian couple that was with explosives in theircar. a couple were arrested at the scene, allegedly with a detonator and half a kilogram of explosive.

this man, assadollah assadi, a serving iranian diplomat based in vienna was later detained in germany. the foreign minister of iran took to twitter to deny any involvement and suggested it was fake news. four people, including assadi and the couple, will stand on trial in belgium on terrorism charges this month. they are expected to deny the charges. by now, the allegations of iranian involvement in terror attacks in europe were out in the open and i was on the trail of the story. in september, 2018, gunmen opened fire on a military parade in the iranian city of ahvaz, killing around 25 and injuring 60.

the iranian regime blamed arab ahwazi separatists, and its foreign minister promised to hit back hard. now, the plot thickened in an unexpected place, denmark. reporter: it was one of the most visible manhunts in denmark in decades. reporter: ..iranian nationals over alleged assassination plots in denmark and france. after a tipoff, the danes shut down major bridges and motorways as they hunted for a terrorist suspect. at the time, denmark's intelligence chief told me why. the case you're talking about is a highly unusual case and in my view a very serious case. in brief, it involves iranian intelligence activities in denmark and, in our assessment, aimed at planning an assassination of a person living in denmark. the target of the assassination attempt was the leader

of the asmla, the ahwazi separatist group. until now, the eu had said nothing about iran's alleged involvement in terror attacks on european soil but events forced their hand. they imposed targeted sanctions on iran's intelligence ministry. the dutch went further. intelligence we've got from our intelligence service was so strong that it made us decide to expel two iranian diplomats. the european country tolerated iranian activities on european soil because the nuclear deal with iran and the economic benefits of it were more important for them, is that the case? that is nonsense. the question is you waited so long? the activities we are speaking about now, murdering or trying to murder former iranian nationals on european soil, are unacceptable.

at the same time, we think the nuclear deal was, and still is, a just measure to avoid nuclear proliferation in the middle east. supporters of iran blame rogue elements inside the regime for trying to undermine the government. i would be really sorry for my country when my supreme leader, my president, the national security council, the parliament, they all decide to build an excellent relationship with europe, and some rogue elements, they undo. but you cannot blame the government, the state. we can very, very confidently assert that any activity beyond iran's borders, whether that is terrorist activity, the assassination

of political dissidents, that will have come from top—down. iran's regime is, afterall, an authoritarian regime. it is very tightly controlled. and all of these activities are very, very well—planned, carefully co—ordinated and executed, using the iranian state's privileges abroad. for almost a year, the trail went cold. then, in november 2019, i received a tipoff about a threat against another iranian dissident, based in the netherlands. i'm on my way to a tv station in the hague. one of the presenters has been threatened. he is under the dutch police protection. hidden away in these backstreets are the anonymous studios of ahwazna tv, it broadcasts to iran's

minority arab population and has close links to the asmla group. their message is uncompromising. they want an independent homeland for iranian arabs and actively encourage people to rise up against the regime in tehran. eissa al—fakher hosts the most popular programme. it is called "my words are my sword". its links to the asmla have placed his life in real danger.

raghdan al—khazali was an iraqi journalist based in sweden and someone eissa al—fakher knew well.

the iranian threat was seen as so serious, eissa and his colleagues were issued with panic buttons. his story was confirmed by the swedish authorities. in december 2019, raghdan al—khazali was jailed in stockholm for 2.5 years for carrying out hostile surveillance on behalf of the iranian regime. the court said his activities may have caused a number of opposition ahwazis

or their relatives to be persecuted, seriously injured or killed. the evidence against iran was beginning to mount. in denmark, this summer, a man was convicted of events leading to the police mayhem in 2018, that shut denmark's roads and bridges. he was found guilty of spying for iran and an accessory to murder and jailed for seven years. the man who was convicted is now appealing. but in another extraordinary twist, the targets of his espionage were themselves charged by danish authorities with spying for saudi arabia. they deny the charges

and are awaiting trial. now, we have discovered that eissa al—fakher, the man with the panic button, has himself been arrested in the netherlands and charged with planning an act of terrorism in iran. he denies the charges and is in prison, awaiting trial. two years ago, i set out to investigate two mysterious murders with links to iran at a time few wanted to talk to me. now, a serving iranian diplomat is about to go on trial for terrorism offences and there have been a series of other convictions across europe. this extraordinary story still has a long way to run.

hello there. today is shaping up to be not too bad a day. we should see a bit of sunshine around once we lose the morning rain. the band of rain has been spending its way east slowly during overnight. and followed by blustery showers which will be running into scotland and northern ireland. so this is the rain i'm talking about, lying on the cold front, fresh air behind it, it will be working its way eastwards and ahead of it, cloudy, breezy and mild. there will be lots of showers across the north—west from the word go. sunshine behind the rained band, continuing to journey eastwards through this morning, eventually clearing the south—east by around lunchtime. then, a bright afternoon for most but the showers will continue in the north—west with some heavy, perhaps even thundery. blustery day to come

for all, but very windy for the north—west of scotland and winds here touching 50 mph. for the temperatures, it will feel cooler, particularly in the north, 9— 11 degrees. 12— 1a degrees for the south. as we head through the overnight period, it looks like it will stay dry for a while but then the next area of low pressure sweeps in from the atlantic bringing cloud and wind and rain getting heavier across southern and western areas. signs of milder air getting into the south of the country by the end of the night but most are in single digits. into the weekend, it will stay unsettled because we will have low pressure nearby, windy with gales and heavy rain in places, too. low pressure will be moving in right across the country for saturday, many isoba rs on the charts and it will be largely cloudy for most, outbreaks of fairly heavy rain at times but not raining all the time and going to be windy with gales around the irish sea coast and south coast, up to 50 mph.

a mild day to come, 14—16 degrees in england and wales and 10—12 further north. further rain saturday night into sunday low pressure still with us, a squeeze in the isobars, you'll notice there, across southern britain and lots of weather fronts indicating outbreaks of rain. southern britain, gales up to 50—60 mph through the day causing disruption and spells, showers and longer spells of the rain in places but there will be some sunshine around as well. not a complete washout. cooler day on sunday, your highs 10—14 degrees.

welcome to bbc news. our top stories. with president trump still refusing to concede the election, barack 0bama accuses senior us republicans of undermining democracy. it's one more step in delegitimising, notjust the incoming biden administration, but democracy in general. china condemns the mass resignation of 0pposition politicians in hong kong, britain says new rules disqualifying lawmakers violate the treaty between the two countries. the migrant crisis continues. 70 people drown off the coast in libya. in nagorno—karabakh, the ethnic

armenians burning