this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines. as protests continue in iran there are reports coming in that —gun shots can be heard from iran's evin prison in tehran and there is a huge fire on the premises — where hundreds of iranian political prisoners — and dozens of dual nationals — are held. as the uk prime minister fights for herjob — the new chancellor signals he'll make major changes to her economic policy. in northern turkey, at least 41 coal miners have been killed in an underground explosion. president erdogan promises an investigation during a visit of the scene.

hello and welcome to bbc news. in iran, a fire has broken out at the notorious evin prison in the capital tehran, where political prisoners including dozens of foreign nationals are being held. in videos posted on social media, gunshots and an alarm can also be heard. there has been no official comment from the iranian government.|t comes as iran enters its fifth week of nationwide protests, sparked by the death in custody of a young woman detained for not correctly wearing the mandatory headscarf. the internet was shut down accross much of the country on saturday,

but videos have emerged showing protests in a dozen cities, including tehran. in the northwestern city of ardabil, there have been running battles between security forces and protesters throwing rocks and chanting "death to the dictator". i'm joined now by the bbc�*s middle east editor, sebastian usher. so, just looking at these elitists reports, we've got fires, running battles, bring us up—to—date with the details we do know and what this means. the the details we do know and what this means. ., , the details we do know and what this means. , ., ., . means. the most dramatic thing that's happened _ means. the most dramatic thing that's happened in _ means. the most dramatic thing that's happened in the _ means. the most dramatic thing that's happened in the last - means. the most dramatic thing that's happened in the last half. that's happened in the last half hour or so it is, as you are saying, this that has broken out in tehran. this is, as you are saying where hundreds of political prisoners are held, have been held for years, dual nationals, we only have these videos at the moment to go on, but what is

clearfrom that is at the moment to go on, but what is clear from that is that this is a fire on a very big scale. the bbc persia hasjust spoken fire on a very big scale. the bbc persia has just spoken to a lawyer with the prison who is saying what he has heard, that the riot police have entered the prison, also that families, of course, of the prisoners are gathering with great concern over what is happening. there are reports that i've seen appearing talking about prisoners on the roof. it's unclear whether this is a demonstration perhaps by day and... into theirfifth is a demonstration perhaps by day and... into their fifth week, these protests, or something else has happened now, as i say, it is unclear. we don't have anything official from the iranian so far and very little from inside. people inside the prison do have phones. so if there is the possibility of them being able to speak and i think we probably will get a better idea of the situation relatively soon. before we discuss some of the other protests taking place in the

country, what more can you tell us? it's described as notorious. yes. country, what more can you tell us? it's described as notorious.- it's described as notorious. yes, it is, it's essentially _ it's described as notorious. yes, it is, it's essentially where _ it's described as notorious. yes, it is, it's essentially where political i is, it's essentially where political prisoners are sent and it gets particular attention worldwide to be because, as i was saying, dual nationals are there. obviously british prisoners, most famous naz as a means of gary ratcliff was held there. many others from other countries these are conditions and people can be held there for years and years. it really has made its mark, notjust inside iran, but outside of iran as a symbol of the most repressed —— repressive regime. we have reports of fierce protest and conflict in the city. the involvement of schools as well, how significant is that?—

significant is that? there have been a lot of clashes _ significant is that? there have been a lot of clashes with _ significant is that? there have been a lot of clashes with the _ significant is that? there have been a lot of clashes with the security - a lot of clashes with the security forces and protests up and down the country. these are protests over the past month that have spread across the hall of the country. saturday has become the really big day for activists to want to make their presence known, to want to get out on the streets. for that reason, clearly the authorities closed down the internet as far as they could this morning. we still receive quite a lot of videos, quite a lot of information from a number of cities. as you say, this city is one where we have heard from activists who are receiving information from them, they found a way to circumvent the blockade of the internet, that there have been reports of security forces, again, opening fire. now, the anger on the streets there, this is an ethnic city, and on wednesday, there was an incident where security forces broke into a school, a high

school, where students were protesting and reports from their say that the number of students, girls, were severely beaten, a number of others arrested. there are reports circulating which we haven't been able to confirm yet potentially of deaths, but certainly severe beatings. so that field to further the anger that they already was on the anger that they already was on the streets and also it shows that these protests which began as everyone will remember, i think, over that death in the custody of the morality police of a young woman in the kurdish area of iran for not wearing her headscarf appropriately. it became very much a women's uprising against all the restrictions they face down the years from the hard—line islamic authorities. it's developed well beyond that, and these that ethnicity such make up a big part of

iran had very much taken parts, partly to support the women, partly to support those demands for greater universal rights in the country, but also to push their demands for their rights as ethnic groups who say that they don't see the same treatment as people elsewhere in the country. sebastian, how would you read or assess the scale of the crackdown? yesterday, rather thursday, assess the scale of the crackdown? yesterday, ratherthursday, iranian yesterday, rather thursday, iranian forces yesterday, ratherthursday, iranian forces were targeting kurdish areas. yes, as i was saying, the young woman who's death triggered the protest —— whose death triggered the protest. though cities have been at the forefront of the protests. at times when we haven't heard quite as much from other parts of the country, does have continued. there have been strikes and most of those cities. they have been protests every day, and the security forces and at least two of those cities have responded with live gunfire.

there have been reports of people being killed. we don't have an exact number of the protesters who been killed, when human rights group which provides names has said more than 200. i think the most conservative estimate is over 100. what we haven't seen perhaps is the full unleashing of the power, the repressive power of the security forces on the protesters that we saw backin forces on the protesters that we saw back in 2019 when there were protests field marred by the economic problems in the country. that may be partly because we have seen particularly in the past two or three weeks that those who really leading these protests are notjust students in universities, and we see that again at a lot of universities today, but people, young teenagers in high schools within their schools outside their schools really making their voices heard. really standing up their voices heard. really standing up as a new generation saying that they do not want to live under this system any more. that may

potentially, one would imagine, provide some kind of restraint on how hard the authorities want to go on. obviously they don't want to be seen with a large amount of the blood of young people on their hands. already as i say, one of these human rights groups as said by their estimate at least 23 children died, but it could've been even more by now and we might, obviously, as this goes on, that possibility remains. 0k, ok, sebastian, thank you very for that. joining me on the studio, the bbc persian service responded. thank you very much forjoining us here. i went to pick up on what we were discussing there, the scale of the crackdown. it is the basij militia who are at the forefront of this. why is that, and who are they? that's malacia are not official

uniform forces in iran. they have been formed after the revolution, as like volunteers, basically. they call them volunteers who are supported —— supporters of the regime. but what do we see is that they are some carrying weapons and they are some carrying weapons and they are some carrying weapons and they are attacking protesters. they are everywhere. they have universities, every city, every town, every mosque, they have a forest. they are militias, hard—line supporters of the regime. this forest. they are militias, hard-line supporters of the regime.- supporters of the regime. this is the fifth week _ supporters of the regime. this is the fifth week now _ supporters of the regime. this is the fifth week now of _ supporters of the regime. this is the fifth week now of these - the fifth week now of these protests. what can we say about how things are going for iran and for the protesters as well? h0 things are going for iran and for the protesters as well?- the protesters as well? no one exected the protesters as well? no one exnected that _ the protesters as well? no one expected that the _ the protesters as well? no one expected that the protest - the protesters as well? no one expected that the protest goes j the protesters as well? no one i expected that the protest goes on the protesters as well? no one - expected that the protest goes on so long because we have seen before

2019, as sebastian was mentioning, in 2019, we had a protest, but after a couple of weeks, itjust died down because of the crackdown, very hard to crackdown on the protesters. at this time, this matter protest is not going away and we see that they are stepping up under the crackdown, but it is still going on strong. it is a good question, we don't know where it's heading. 50 is a good question, we don't know where it's heading.— where it's heading. so what does that say about — where it's heading. so what does that say about the _ where it's heading. so what does that say about the mindset - where it's heading. so what does that say about the mindset of. where it's heading. so what does i that say about the mindset of those who are protesting? initially it was when then, it was students. but we know now that that feeling, the sentiment, the reason for people going out onto the streets and protesting has gone beyond that initial reason, hasn't it? the death initial reason, hasn't it? the death in custody of the young lady. yes. in custody of the young lady. yes, still, in custody of the young lady. yes, still. women _ in custody of the young lady. yes, still, women are _ in custody of the young lady. yes, still, women are at _ in custody of the young lady. yes, still, women are at the _ in custody of the young lady. ye: still, women are at the forefront of these protests. he still see them taking their scarf out, going to the

straight but as you said, it is expanding. it's notjust about compulsory head job. these are the people who have been denied their basic rights, denied their basic rights for choosing their clothes. they are under tremendous economic pressure to mother economy is really, really in a bad situation since a few years ago, the inflammation rates going up, and these people are struggling every day. these people, these mostly young people, we can see that they are in the street. he said the young people that had access to the internet, they know what's going on in the world, they see them selves as part of the world. but what the government wants to tell them, the government wants to tell them, the government wants to dictate how they should live, how they should dress, watch they should listen to, every aspect of their life has been

dictated by the authorities. i think they are just fed up and theyjust don't want to take it any more. ok. don't want to take it any more. 0k, thank ou don't want to take it any more. 0k, thank you you _ don't want to take it any more. 0k, thank you you very much indeed. excuse me. moving to the uk and getting the latest there where there is the expectation of big changes to come to country's entire economic plan. the country's new finance minister, jeremy hunt, says taxes could rise to help reassure financial markets. on friday the prime minister, liz truss, sacked the previous chancellor — and announced more u—turns on her big economic ideas — but is still facing criticism from her own mps. here's our political correspondent, ione wells. hours into his newjob, the chancellor was tasked with setting out his stall, it was a very different one from the one the prime minister set out. on wednesday, she said she is absolutely not planning public spending cuts but listen to this. we have some very difficult decisions ahead, difficult decisions on spending,

which is not going to rise as much as people hope and i am going to be asking all government departments to find additional efficiency savings. one person's efficiency savings is another person's cut. - yes. and remember when liz truss said the country cannot tax its way to economic growth? we are also going to have pressure on the tax—side, taxes are not going to come down by as much as people hoped and some taxes will have to go up. then there was her pledge to boost spending on defence to 3% of national income by 2030. but the defence department, too, is going to have to help find efficiencies. the long—term ability to fund an increasing defence spending will depend on stability in the economic situation and a healthily growing economy. the prime minister moved in here just weeks ago, promising to cut taxes, to not cut public spending, and boost defence spending. the new chancellor, who will base himself here, just next door,

has now said that all of those things are back on the table. this leaves massive questions for liz truss about what she stands for, and who is really in charge, after the economic plan that she won the tory leadership election on now all hangs on the balance. the opposition were quick to say it was not enough for the prime minister to just replace her chancellor. they did notjust tank the british economy, they also clung on, clung on as they made the pound sink, clung on as they took our pensions to the brink of collapse, clung on as they pushed the mortgages and bills of the british public through the roof. they did all of this. all the pain our country faces now is down to them. and there is still one person clinging on, the prime minister. um... the prime minister's press

conference yesterday did little to ease conservative mps' fears about her leadership. supporters of her policies are annoyed she has done a u—turn on some of her tax cuts. i have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation - tax that was planned by the previous government. mps who did not like them think she is not the right person for thejob. some think it would be mad to oust her already. others argue that would be better than the alternative. aren't you going to say sorry? and she faces more clashes with them ahead, on possible spending cuts, on her plans to bring back fracking, on changes to house—building and planning rules. she is still in the top job but feels far from being completely in control of her increasingly divided party. ione wells, bbc news. the uk's central bank has warned that interest rates may rise by more than previously expected. the governor of the bank of england,

andrew bailey, spoke to the new chancellor yesterday — saying there was a "clear meeting of minds" on the importance of stability. here's our business correspondent, marc ashdown. all smiles, launching the mini budget at the end of september, and with it a new political phrase. trussonomics. describing liz truss's vision for a high growth, high wage, low tax economy. butjust three weeks later, her new chancellor has buried it. have you been given a clean slate? can you change elements of the mini budget if you want to? yes. and the fundamental thing the prime minister wants me to do and i need to do is to be completely honest with the country. trussonomics reversed, then. tax cuts likely replaced with tax rises, huge investment replaced with a spending slowdown. this rethink has largely been driven by the turmoil in the financial markets since the mini budget was announced. the pound has had a torrid time.

the effective cost of government borrowing has soared and the bank of england had to step in with an emergency programme buying up government bonds to stabilise the pension sector. there is a pressing need, then, to restore some confidence and credibility. bank of england governor andrew bailey said he spoke to the new chancellor yesterday and had an immediate meeting of minds. but in a speech in washington dc, he had this warning on interest rates. we will not hesitate to raise interest rates to meet the inflation target. and as things stand today, my best guess is that inflationary pressures will require a stronger response than we perhaps thought in august. the current base rate is 2.25%. investors are expecting a rise of up to one percentage point in november to 3.25%. most mortgage offers are currently already around 6%, but a bigger rise in the base rate will affect the economy elsewhere. and even with a change of approach, the government's problems remain the same. how to find tens of billions of pounds to help people

with their energy bills and make the sums add up. we're certainly looking at a really tough couple of years, we've got a very tough economic environment. we've got very stretched public finances. i think we're going to see some even further reversal of the tax cuts that we've had, and in addition, probably some very tight spending rounds. the first verdict will come when financial markets open next week. i don't expect a dramatic. reversal, because the devil will be in the detail. and when we find out the detail of the budget on the 31st of october, that will be perhaps a more holisticjudgment being made by financial markets. that's a fortnight away, a long time in the life of a chancellor. marc ashdown, bbc news. so does all this turmoil mean prime minister liz truss could soon be out of a job?

some have suggested she could be out the door within the week — making her the shortest serving uk prime minister for nearly 200 years. our correspondent, ben wright, has more. it is completely extraordinary. liz truss is only been in the office for a0 days. she has won the tory leadership contest, planning to rip up previous treasury orthodoxy and embark on a programme of unfunded tax cuts to try and ignite economic growth. and now that is all gone. it's in the bin. and today the new chancellorjeremy hunt was clear that he is willing to do pretty much anything to restore financial credibility in the british government and economic system and that will include tax rises, spending cuts, and other measures which just a few days ago liz truss was saying would not happen. so it is extraordinary about turn and leaves her clearly very damaged. i was talking to one former minister today who said, "jeremy hunt now is undeniably the most powerful man in the very weakened government and is effectively the de facto prime minister." that's how a lot of tory mps are seeing it.

let's get more on the reaction of tory mps. to turkey now — and the latest on the explosion in a mine on friday. earlier, whilst on a visit of the scene of the disaster, president erdogan confirmed that 41 people had died. it's believed a build—up of methane gas caused the explosion at the coal mine in the northern city of amasra on the black sea coast. the bbc�*s anjana gadgil reports. a funeral for one of the miners killed in the blast in the black sea costal town of amasra. other families waited outside the morgue where their relatives' bodies lay. it's one of turkey's deadliest industrial accidents in years, and left smoke billowing into the sky. over 100 people were working there at the time. more than 70 workers took part in rescue efforts, which went on throughout the night. crowds gathered around the head of the mineshaft. many were family members of the dead and injured. it's believed methane ignited

at a depth of 300 metres, causing a fire in one of the tunnels. president erdogan made a visit to the scene and said he hoped no more lives would be lost. translation: of course we will find out how this explosion happened - and if there any people are responsible for it with the prosecutions which already started. turkey suffered its deadliest coal mining disaster in 2014, when 301 workers died in a blast in the western town of soma. the local prosecutor's office said it was treating this incident at the state—owned coal mine as an accident and has begun an investigation. anjana gadgil, bbc news. the leader of china, xijinping, is set to be given an historic third term in power this weekend. and the effort to boost his image and popularity is in full swing across the country. state media has headlined stories about how poorer towns have been

transformed after visits from the president. our correspondent, celia hatton, reports the rise to power of xi. applause. when he strode onto the stage ten years ago, signalling he'd become china's new leader, he was a relative unknown. he was supposed to rule alongside these six other officials. but now it's clear that he's reshaped the communist party, the military, and the government, so that he's at the top of it all. some call him the chairman of everything. so, how did he do it? how did he become so powerful? he started out with a bold vision — the china dream. it unleashed big projects to build things like high speed rail networks and new global trading routes that aimed to revitalise the whole country. and through viral incidents like this, a visit to a beijing steamed bun shop. he cultivated a different image for himself, making sure everyone

in china knew his story and saw him as the top leader. he reorganised the military, too. by ousting hundreds of generals and replacing them with his allies, he's firmly in control. and let's not forget the ongoing anti—corruption crackdown. this man, zhou yongkang, is the former top security chief now in prison for amassing $14 billion in ill—gotten gains. more than a million party officials have been punished under xi, silencing all rivals. the campaign's popular with the public, but it's also bred fear. xi is at the top of his game, but he faces serious challenges. china's economy is suffering under tight covid restrictions, and he's made quite a few enemies behind the scenes. china watchers will be looking to see if he begins to delegate any responsibilities, sharing the power and also the blame. celia hatton, bbc news.

the footballer, mason greenwood, has been charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. the 21—year—old manchester united striker was first arrested on suspicion of rape and assault injanuary — and was immediately suspended from playing or training by the club. he was re—arrested earlier today, for allegedly breaching bail conditions. there appears to be a huge fire at evin prison in tehran — an update here at bbc news. that takes us to iran. there were reports earlier of a large fire acts evan prison in tehran — the l— the significance of this is that evin prison is the place where numerous iranian political prisoners are

incarcerated. dozens of dual nationals also held here. of course, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe spent time at evin as well. in these videos that were posted online, there were reports of gunfire, sirens as well could also be heard. what we are learning now from sources is that the fire has been put out and officials blaming the unrest on thugs. that's the latest from iran. you are watching bbc news. hello. for those of you who've had a wet and blustery saturday, sunday looks to be drier with some sunshine. this is the area of low pressure responsible for saturday's rain and gusty winds, only slowly pulling away north and eastwards through the evening and overnight. behind it, a quieter spell of weather for much of sunday, before our next system arrives

from the southwest. back to tonight, still plenty of showers around, especially for northern ireland, scotland and northern england. further south, still some showers around at first, they'll tend to fade as the night wears on with some clearer spells developing. temperatures in range from 6—9 celsius, so we're frost free, although some rural parts of scotland could fall a few degrees lower. so for much of sunday, it's looking mainly dry with some sunshine. i say "for much of sunday" because there will be some rain arriving from the southwest through the afternoon and also some showers in the morning across northern ireland, scotland and northern england. they'll soon be out of the way, then dry with plenty of sunshine for the uk before the cloud starts to build from the south and the southwest, eventually pushing rain into southern and southwestern counties of england, wales and northern ireland through the afternoon. still some noticeable wind strengths, particularly along irish sea coasts and the northern isles. but the winds not nearly as strong as they have been on saturday, and temperatures on a par with saturday afternoon, 11—13 celsius for the north of the uk

and 14—18 celsius further south. then that band of rain continues on its journey, gradually north and eastwards through sunday evening and overnight. most of us will see a spell of sometimes heavy rain all tied in with this area of low pressure, which is still with us on monday. slow to clear from scotland. so we're likely to keep some rain here, and potentially first thing on monday as well, some cloud and rain slow to clear from the south east of england and east anglia, but behind it, for many on monday, mainly dry, plenty of sunshine, but still those showers lingering across a large swathe of scotland with some gusty winds as well. temperatures on monday still in the mid to high teens for much of england and wales, 11—13 celsius for scotland and northern ireland. then from tuesday and into wednesday, tuesday looks to be a quieter day, but i'm sure you can see this next system arriving in from the atlantic as we head into wednesday. so it's a drier start to the week with a good deal of sunshine for many on both monday and tuesday before some rain arrives midweek, and with it, some stronger winds. bye— bye.

now on bbc news, it's time for political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking. and boy, there is quite a lot of politics to think about, isn't there? all this drama masks a dramatic shift in our politics. it has been sketch may become the conventional wisdom of a night that labour will win the next election. the polling suggests there has been a bigger swing in recent weeks than there has been during the last

financial crisis.