hello this is bbc news. a massive explosion has severely damaged the strategically important road and rail bridge connecting occupied crimea to russia. the un nuclear watchdog calls for the urgent protection of the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in ukraine after shelling cuts its external power ten people have been killed and eight injured in an explosion at a petrol station in the republic of ireland — police say it appears to have been a "tragic accident". protests continue in iran and around the world as three people are killed in the country.

now on bbc news — it's time for our world. for the past year, i've been reporting on the most important story of my life. my name is omid montazeri, and i'm a reporterfor bbc persian. this story is about a massacre that took place in my home country, iran. in 1988, the iranian government, led by ayatollah khomeini, ordered thousands of political prisoners to be killed. my father was amongst those killed. i was just two years old.

now, for the first time in over 30 years, one of the perpetrators of the killings is on trial. a government official called hamid nouri. this is hamid nouri. he's the first member of the islamic republic ever to stand trial outside iran for atrocities committed in iran. less than 15 hours till the verdict. and everyone is so anxious.

he was a political prisoner at the time of the 1988 prison massacre. an estimated 5000 prisoners were killed. iraq survived. —— iraj survived. ever since, he's vowed to bring those responsible to justice. and he just found out one of the prison officials, hamid nouri, was planning to come to sweden. he contacted lawyers

who interviewed witnesses, assembled a case and tipped off the swedish authorities. back in iran, hamid nouri was celebrating his upcoming trip.

i traveled to stockholm to cover the trial for bbc persian. hamid nouri was accused of war crimes and murder. in the 1988 massacres, two different groups of political prisoners were killed.

members of an armed group known as the mujahideen and communists. the mujahideen had recently attacked iran from neighboring iraq. ayatollah khomeini issued a secret decree, a fatwa, saying mujahideen prisoners who refuse to repent are waging war against god and are condemned to execution. he ordered — annihilate the enemies of islam immediately. thousands of mujahedeen prisoners were killed. several hundred leftist political prisoners were also executed. among them was my father, hamid montazeri, who was killed for being a member of a communist group.

the defendant was part of the management of the prison. he was calling out their names. he was bringing them into this so called death committee who eventually made the decision if the prisoner should be executed or not. he was a guard, and he was also bringing the prisoners to the actual place of where they were executed. the prison massacres tore families apart. they met through a communist party in iran. her husband and her brother were killed in the prison massacre. vida testified against hamid nouri.

in total, 7a people gave evidence. iraj also testified.

the trial is being closely followed by many people whose relatives were executed by the regime. she lives in england. a0 years ago, her two brothers and sister—in—law were killed for their communist beliefs. she is traveling to hear hamid nouri testify. in recent years, relatives

and survivors have come together to fight for justice. tomorrow, they will go to the court together. hamid nouri is about to testify.

the atmosphere inside the court is tense. lots of the families of victims are crying. and angry. hamid nouri testified for six days.

his defence echoed the long history of denials from the iranian government, which has never acknowledged the massacre. the current president of iran, ebrahim raisi, was one of the death committeejudges and hamid nouri's boss. if hamid nouri is found guilty, this could have consequences for raisi. iran still imprisons and kills political prisoners.

i've come to cover the verdict. it's tomorrow and it's around one year that i'm reporting about the court and hamid nouri's case. vida has attended nearly all of the 92 days of the trial.

the bodies of the victims have never been returned to their relatives. the mass graves where many

of the bodies were buried has been repeatedly bulldozed by the iranian authorities. less than 15 hours till the verdict and everyone is so anxious. the lawyer said to her that maybe, maybe they do not accept your testimony. and it's a lot for her. but she hope that maybe they sentence him to life in prison. it's the day of the verdict. different groups all opposed

to the iranian regime are gathering outside the court. among them, countless survivors and relatives of victims of the 1988 massacre and other acts of regime brutality. the verdict is due to be announced by email. tensions are high.

it's some kind of expression of what they keep for a long time. i called my mum and my sister. my mother was put in prison at the same time as my father. she was only released because she was pregnant with me. she too has been fighting forjustice ever since. one year.

they are crying with one eye. they are happy in the other eye. i want to be beside the families. it was what we hoped for and what exactly as the prosecutor asked for, namely crime against international law, war crime and murder and life sentences. first of all, it is a signal from sweden that don't think hide yourself here if you have done a crime against humanity, war crimes, etc. and also if we in sweden could do this, this is a very good

signal to the whole world. the iranian government has denounced the verdict as politically motivated and said that the charges against hamid nouri were fabricated and baseless. his lawyers say they will appeal, but the survivors and relatives haven't finished either. tomorrow we will start again, the new case, and we are going to go further. we are not going to stop. now we are going to go to raisi, the president of iranian regime. he was a very active member of that committee. raisi should pay the price and he should be responsible for what he did in 1988. something feels different now. hamid nouri is a convicted war criminal. this catastrophe, which has blighted all of our lives, has been officially recognised as a crime.

scotla nd scotland and northern ireland will see wet and windy weather move back

in for part two of the weekend. it was after a largely fine start across much of the uk. decent amount of sunshine during saturday and a ridge of high pressure which first thing sunday is moving away. a trailing weather front will bring that wet and windy weather into scotland and for northern ireland it moves in quite quickly in the morning. it'll take longer to reach across the east and south—east of scotland but it'll get in there. there will be heavier burst as well. some of that rain to cumbria, and anglesey, cloud increasing over the western side of england but eastern and south england not as windy. for and south england not as windy. for a time in the morning, certainly into the western isles, gusts up to 70 mph before the easy touch in the afternoon with a scattering of showers. temperatures will be higher to the south of that rain band compared to saturday. the rain continues to feed its way southwards

on monday. heavier burst initially. they will weaken as they reach southern and eastern england as we start monday morning. behind that, clear spells, showers running into western scotland. this weather front around east anglia and the south—east first thing on monday. any patchy rain from that will clear away, sunshine behind it into the afternoon, and another area of high pressure nudges its way in once again. there will be a few showers on the breeze running into scotland, they may feed towards north west england and northern ireland. many places will be dry with well broken cloud and sunny spells. a fresh feel after the system clears away. in the south—east, temperatures in the mid to low teens. high pressure in for tuesday. winds are light is towards the south in particular. mist and fog patches around as tuesday begins before the sun fights its way through those. some thick cloud compared with monday towards the north—west. for northern ireland, especially running into

north—western scotland, you will see some showers or patchy rain and temperatures towards the mid—teens. 0vernight, tuesday into wednesday, the latest area of high pressure moves away. we see low pressure again. to the north of the uk we see that. trailing weather and spring outbreaks of rain. initially towards parts of scotland and northern ireland but feeding in towards wales in the western side of england. the further east you are in england, at least during daytime hours, you will stay largely dry, although the odd shower cannot be ruled out. a cloudy and wet a story for many on wednesday. this weather system will move away thursday. there will be a gap between systems. it isn't very big because the next one is poised to come in from the west. fairly chilly start on wednesday morning where skies have cleared overnight. —— start on thursday morning. a freshening breeze towards the south—west without breaks of rain moving in. starting to feel the weather systems in the south.

starting in the south—west and spreading. low pressure meaning windy weather to end the week and start the weekend with gales in places. another area of low pressure developing tower south—west. it'll feed wet weather across us on the weekend, especially into the start of next week, but it could briefly milder. that's it from me. goodbye.

good evening. you're watching bbc news with me, luxmy gopal. we'll be joined by bbc one viewers shortly for a full round—up of the day's news with ben brown. but first, more on our top story — the huge explosion that brought down part of the only bridge linking russia to crimea. according to russian officials, three people died in the explosion — but russia says the bridge has already re—opened with light traffic. michael clarke is a visiting professor in

the department of war studies at king's college london. he's been telling me about the significance