�* being unjustly months of being unjustly detained in russia, held under under tolerable circumstances. in a much—hyped new documentary series, harry and meghan go into detail about their relationship, press intrusion and racism. iran carries out its first execution of a protester who took part in the recent anti—government demonstrations. we have a special report from the seychelles on how vast seagrass meadows are being used in the fight against climate change. they can play an important role in reducing global warming. they can capture carbon that is heating up our atmosphere. and he's become a hero for millions. french footballer kylian mbappe and his rise from paris suburb to worldwide stardom.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the american basketball player brittney griner has been released from prison in russia after nearly 10 months. moscow and the us agreed to a prisoner swap in exchange for a russian arms dealer who sold weapons to warlords and rogue governments, and who'd been sentenced to 25 years injail in the us. here's our north america editor sarah smith. still in the dark, brittney griner doesn't know why she's being led onto a plane. this footage, released by the russian authorities, shows her being given the news. you know where i'm heading to? no. no? no. you're flying back home, to the us. she is safe, she's on a plane, is on her way home, after months of being unjustly detained in russia. here on the tarmac in abu dhabi, the handover.

brittney griner, in the red jacket, being released, and swapped for a notorious russian arms dealer, viktor bout. he'd been in an american jail and is now on his way back home. the basketball star had been detained in russia since february, when she was arrested at an airport in moscow for trying to smuggle vape cartridges containing marijuana into the country. something she described as an honest mistake. i understand everything that's being said against me, the charges that are against me, therefore i'm pleading guilty. after that guilty plea she was sentenced to nine years injail and last month was moved to an extremely harsh labour camp. viktor bout, the russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death, has been injail in america since 2011. he's now also free man. the white house offered to swap bout for ms griner and paul whelan. he's an american who is being held on charges of espionage which the us says are false. russia refused to include mr whelan in the exchange.

britney griner has become a real cause celebre in america and herfreedom is being celebrated but the president is being criticised for releasing a man is clearly dangerous as viktor bout. brittney griner�*s wife campaign tirelessly for her release. it's a happy day for myself and my family so i'm going to smile. brittney griner will soon arrive back in america after ten months in russia. sarah smith, bbc news, russia. lets speak to brianna turner who's in austin, texas. she's brittney griner�*s team mate on the phoenix mercury in the wnba. thank you very much forjoining us. what is your reaction to this news?— this news? pure 'oy and excitement. _ this news? pure 'oy and excitement. it _ this news? pure joy and excitement. it has - this news? pure joy and excitement. it has been this news? pure joy and i excitement. it has been a wonderful day for me. tell us a bit more about _ wonderful day for me. tell us a bit more about what _ wonderful day for me. tell us a bit more about what the - wonderful day for me. tell us a bit more about what the last i bit more about what the last ten months have been like. britney was locked up in february and since then it was never really clear when she would be released if at all.

definitely. it has been a lot of confusion and uncertainty but i never lost hope. i spent 294 days and it has been 249 days of hope. i 294 days and it has been 249 days of horse-— days of hope. i imagine the text messages _ days of hope. i imagine the text messages started - days of hope. i imagine thei text messages started back days of hope. i imagine the - text messages started back and forwards with your friends and colleagues. tell us a bit more about what britney is like on the court and offers a friend. on the court she is one of the best basketball players in the world. she is a two—time olympian. she has won numerous championships and all—star appearances. of the court i would say she is a kind, nice and giving person, always willing to give a helping hand and help people in need whether it is a free meal or a ride. she is one of the most generous people that i know.— people that i know. during her incarceration _ people that i know. during her incarceration in _ people that i know. during her incarceration in russia - people that i know. during her incarceration in russia were i incarceration in russia were you or any of her colleagues able to have any contact with

her at all? i able to have any contact with her at all?— her at all? i was not able to talk on the _ her at all? i was not able to talk on the phone _ her at all? i was not able to talk on the phone with - her at all? i was not able to talk on the phone with her. her at all? i was not able to i talk on the phone with her but i was able to write her a letter a couple of times. we heard in _ letter a couple of times. we heard in the _ letter a couple of times. we heard in the new _ letter a couple of times. we heard in the new storage as there her wife and also president biden talking about their relief that she is now back home. do you think the us government did enough to fight her corner while she was still in prison? i her corner while she was still in prison?— her corner while she was still in rison? ., ., _ in prison? i mean, i would say es. in prison? i mean, i would say yes- she _ in prison? i mean, i would say yes- she is— in prison? i mean, i would say yes. she is here. _ in prison? i mean, i would say yes. she is here. it— in prison? i mean, i would say yes. she is here. it has - in prison? i mean, i would say yes. she is here. it has been l yes. she is here. it has been a long time but i am just happy she is home. the us government, i think they were doing what they could and right now is the right time to make a trade happen so i am happy that she was able to get released. she is back home. as you say, she will need a bit of time to decompress, spend time with family and friends. moving forward, what you hope will happen next?— forward, what you hope will ha en next? . , , ., happen next? that is up to her. if she happen next? that is up to her. if she does _ happen next? that is up to her. if she does not _ happen next? that is up to her. if she does not play _ happen next? that is up to her. if she does not play another i if she does not play another basketball game in her life i will not be mad at her. i am

going to support her anyway i can. i think the main focus is to get her recovery in from her time away and be with her family. time away and be with her famil . �* ., ., family. breanna turner, brittney _ family. breanna turner, brittney griner- family. breanna turner, brittney griner 's i family. breanna turner, i brittney griner 's teammate, thank you forjoining us. prince harry has criticised what he called a media feeding frenzy over his relationship with meghan in the first episodes of a new netflix series about their lives. he said he felt it was his duty to expose exploitation and bribery in the media, and criticised some press coverage for having racist undertones. in the series, his wife meghan speaks of her belief that the media wanted to destroy her, and says race race was never an issue for her until she came to britain. buckingham palace hasn't commented on the film. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it is the truth according to harry and megan. the story of two people who fell in love, but whose lives, in their view, were compromised by others conspiring against them.

no—one knows the full truth. we know the full truth. the behaviour of the press is a constant theme. harry believes there was a racial undertone to media coverage when it emerged that he was in a relationship with meghan markle — a woman of mixed race. the couple think the royal family and buckingham palace should have done more to support them. it was almost like a rite of passage, and people in the royal family thought, "my wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend get special treatment?" why should she be protected? i said the difference here is the race element. meghan too evidently believes she was not given a fair chance by the palace or the press. truth be told, no matter how hard i tried, no matter how good i was, no matter what i did, they were still

going to find a way to destroy me. there is no explicit allegation against royal family members on the race issue, though harry says there is unconscious bias. in this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution and there is a huge level of unconscious bias. the thing with unconscious bias is it is actually no—one's fault, but once it has been pointed out or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right. it is education. it is awareness. queen elizabeth, though, was warm and welcoming. meghan recalled their first meeting at windsor castle and her first curtsy. i curtsied as though i was like...

"pleasure to meet you, your majesty." so, have these programmes changed anything? this morning, king charles was out and about on a official visit. buckingham palace is saying nothing publicly, though privately officials are growing weary. i think there is a sort of sense of both disappointment and exasperation at the palace. the couple feel the need to keep going on about how miserable they were in their own existence. at the same time, the couple feel they need to keep telling the world why they left. i accept that there will be people around the world who fundamentally disagree with what i have done and how i have done it, but i knew that i had to do everything i could to protect my family. three more hours of harry and meghan telling that truth will be released next week. especially after what happened to my mum. yeah, that is your grandmother, diana. i don't want history

to repeat itself. does the series live up to the hype so far? kj matthews is an la—based entertainment reporter and shejoins us now. katie, good to see you again. you have watched the first three episodes that are currently out on netflix. what do you make of them? it currently out on netflix. what do you make of them?- do you make of them? it was very surprising. _ do you make of them? it was very surprising. i _ do you make of them? it was very surprising. i did - very surprising. i did not have high hopes for it to be honest with you because she had told so much over a year ago when she did the oprah winfrey interview and so much has been said in tabloids and ijust thought what could this doc you series show me or tell me that i don't already know and it did do pretty good for the first half. the first three episodes focused on how they met and how they got to where they are today, and we really got to hear from today, and we really got to hearfrom meghan today, and we really got to hear from meghan markle's side of the family that we have not heard from. i think for so long we wanted to hear from her

mother. her mother has been throughout her side throughout this ordeal, very quiet, very poised, elegant, classy, holding it all in, but we really did not ever hear from her what was going through her mind when they were following her supposedly when the paparazzi was supposedly looking through her trash and she could not go to the store without them following her. i always wondered what was going on with her and i wondered, and i think a lot of people, including people of colour here including people of colour here in america wonder why it was doria rachlin the only family member that showed up at the wedding. now we know a lot of it was that they were being told, especially according to meghan and harry, but she could not even invite her knees who she was closed due to the wedding so there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes that i think people will find interesting from the stocky series and take away and have a better understanding according to them as to why they feel the way they do and

why they felt that they just had to leave the uk in order to survive mentally at least. lets crab the survive mentally at least. lets grab the bull— survive mentally at least. lets grab the bull by _ survive mentally at least. lets grab the bull by the _ survive mentally at least. lets grab the bull by the horns and talk about racier. it is something that harry mentions and meghan mentions and it is something that their family and friends mention. what do they have to say about the topic of race and meghan's acceptance into the family and how do you think that will be received? across the uk people are tired of meghan and harry and they are tired of being labelled as racist. that is what i am hearing from the uk residents. here in america i don't think people are tired of that. i think there are people of colour, particularly black people that were not surprised and they were treating her like and they were treating her like a black woman and i found and they were treating her like a black woman and ifound it interesting and smart of them to actually really grabbed the bull by the horns and openly talk about race and openly talk about the racism that was

levied towards them and the fact that her mother even called it before prince harry and meghan even wanted to acknowledge that what you are dealing with is racism. they even brought up the fact that they had the headline straight out of compton and those undertones and i think so many people of colour spotted it straightaway. we saw the headlines and knew this was not a woman that was raised in compton. we knew she was raised in los angeles which is a another suburb, in los angeles which is a anothersuburb, part in los angeles which is a another suburb, part of los angeles but they were throwing all these headlines out there. we knew a lot of it has to do with race but we also knew that a lot of people but not admitted because they were negatively coming at her and a lot of people don't understand racism can be indirect and unconscious bias. the fact that they were dealing with it in almost i think the entire second and third episode was surprising and i am looking forward to seeing the final three episodes next thursday. 0k. three episodes next thursday. ok. we will watch out for those

landing on netflix. thank you very much forjoining us. very much for 'oining us. thank ou. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the seagrass meadows of the seychelles, helping the fight against global warming. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man. they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. - to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila. she is facing seven charges

of tax evasion, estimated at £120 million. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: us basketball star brittney griner has been released from a russian prison colony, exchanged for a notorious russian arms dealer nicknamed the merchant of death. in a much—hyped new documentary series, harry & meghan go into detail about their relationship, press intrusion and racism. iran has carried out its first execution of a protestor who's taken part in recent anti—government demonstrations in the country. at least 11 protesters have so far been sentenced to death, prompting widespread international condemnation. many more people have been killed in the unrest which has

gripped the country since september. tom brada reports. this is mosan. on thursday morning he was hanged, guilty according to a revolutionary court of amity against god. he was accused of blocking a street in tehran and injuring a military force with a machete. human rights courts have condemned the process that decided he should be killed as a sham. the trial process lasted around seven weeks without lawyers present. what is really worrisome is that the even shorter time that it has taken the judiciary to issue an execute a sentence of this nature. more than 18,000 people have detained since the unrest began, sparked by the death

of mahsa amini in police custody. the execution of mohsen shekari has people concerned that the brutality of the state could get worse. with the lawlessness that we see in the iranian judiciary, they can basically sentence anyone they want to death and execute them, unless the international community and people inside iran show a reaction. part of the international community have spoken out. the uk foreign secretary tweeted: the german foreign minister said that: and later that day they summoned the iranian ambassador. for some, this response does not go far enough.— not go far enough. people around the _ not go far enough. people around the world - not go far enough. people around the world are i not go far enough. people i around the world are reacting through social media and

statements but it is time for action. unsurprisingly, the iranian regime is not impressed by criticism. translation: the west thinks iran is like other countries i that might give into the rioters. here we have educated men and women. no, the aroney and students won't let the protesters do whatever they want. iran's leaders are taking a gamble. by executing a executing a protester they hope others will not take to the streets but they risk more rage from the many thousands of people still desperate for change. let's get some of the day's other news. the us house of representatives has passed legislation protecting the rights of same—sex and inter—racial couples in federal law. 39 republicansjoined democrats to vote in favour. president biden says he'll sign the legislation proudly and promptly. ajudge in peru has ordered that the ousted president pedro castillo be

held in custody for at least seven days while he's investigated on charges of rebellion and conspiracy. mr castillo was removed from office by congress on wednesday. an american woman who sparked a diplomatic row when she caused the death of a teenager here in the uk has been handed an eight month suspended sentence. harry dunn died when anne sacoolas drove on the wrong side of the road near a british military base in 2019. she later left the country, claiming diplomatic immunity. and the canadian singer celine dion has revealed she has a rare, incurable, neurological disease, which has forced her to postpone concerts in the uk and europe. she says she's been diagnosed with "stiff person syndrome" which causes severe muscle spasms. the republic of seychelles, a country of over a hundred islands in the indian ocean, about 1,000 miles off the coast of east africa, says it's leading the way in protecting and using coastal wetlands

to capture carbon, which experts say could be a powerful way of tackling global warming. the bbc�*s komla dumor award, named in memory of the bbc world news presenter who died in 2014, has been won this year by dingindaba jonah buyoya, who reports on the global potential of the seychelles project. beneath these calm waters, these seagrass meadows are helping to fight climate change. there is enough seagrass and mangroves in seychelles to fill up hundreds of thousands of football pitches, and they can play an important role in reducing global warming. they can capture carbon that is heating up our atmosphere. seagrass and mangroves can take in many more times carbon than rainforest, defend against rising waters, and are a habitat for marine life. but globally, they have been neglected. here on seychelles' main island, residents held up a hotel

development that would build over a seagrass meadows. there are bound to be a lot of loss when they are going and dredge to do reclamation for the hotel, so it is a loss for seagrass. a lot of seagrass meadows here. there's a lot of fishermen, so they depend on this area. despite the development plans, seychelles has committed to protecting all these ecosystems by 2030. now a project is accurately mapping all its seagrass, making it one of the first countries to do so. and it's taking thousands of sediment samples. scientists have been breaking them down to see how much carbon they take in over time. we would like to use these numbers as mitigation to climate change. we need to find resolution to estimate how fast the sediment accumulates this organic carbon

from the seagrass. so the government could trade carbon with countries wanting to offset emissions. and it says there could be more benefits. the seagrass meadows of a small island nation are providing lessons in the fight against climate change. dingindaba jonah buyoya, bbc news, seychelles. with five world cup goals to his name already in qatar, kylian mbappe is this tournament's top scorer and the player many teams fear most of all. he's also a hero to millions around the world, not least in the suburbs of paris where he grew up, as our correspondent lucy williamson has been finding out. it was once kylian mbappe practising his footwork here in bondy. he's now scoring goals in this year's world cup — five of them so far. they speak french. and there's fierce argument here over whether, at 23, he's already the best player in the world.

translation: when i saw all those goals he scored l last sunday, i thought, "wow, france will win the world cup. with him, no—one can stop us". mbappe trained here from the age of six. his former trainer, still a family friend, said he was already a phenomenon. translation: he was fast, | but not faster than the others because they were bigger and stronger than him. he was a little shrimp, a skinny little shrimp, but technically very strong. at 23, mbappe is already more thanjust a footballer for france. a star from the paris suburbs who takes a stand on social issues and is used to receiving phone calls direct from president macron. he speaks french. last year, president macron called mbappe while on a popular

social media game show. he also urged him privately this year not to leave his french club for real madrid. now, with training underway for saturday's match, his career goals are clear. the only objective for me is to win the world cup — now to win the next game, quarterfinal is the most important thing, and that's what i dream. back in bondy, there's respect for the england squad too. they speak french. especially captain harry kane. and the predicted outcome — victory for france, of course. a decade after he trained on this patch of ground near paris, kylian mbappe, the "skinny shrimp" from bondy, has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders and the world at his feet. lucy williamson,

bbc news, paris. and you will find lots more on all the stories we are covering including the latest world cup fixtures and results on our website. there is also the latest there on the brush at us prisoner swap. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. from all of us here on the team, thanks for your company and we will see you next time. well, it looks like this cold weather is going to stick around for quite a few more days. it's not desperately cold during the day. it's the night—time that's especially chilly, with temperatures perhaps getting as low as minus ten in rural spots in the next few nights. but snow showers, icy stretches, sharp frosts, those are the main points as this cold air arrives and has indeed arrived

from the northern climes all the way from the arctic. but we'll see subtle changes in the wind direction over the coming days. so that means that snow showers will be affecting perhaps different areas. but the northerly winds have been bringing in quite persistent snow showers to scotland. we've had some grazing the eastern counties of england as well, even reports of hail showers in places. and through the course of the night, icy stretches in some areas. it's also going to turn quite cloudy across parts of the midlands, east anglia, the south—east. maybe a few flakes of snow from that as well, but really not an awful lot. these are the inner city temperatures, so minus three, minus four. but in rural spots, as i indicated earlier on, it will be a good deal colder than that. so here's the morning — lots of sunshine right from the word go, but not necessarily in the south—east. could be really quite raw and dull for a time before the sun arrives. wintry showers continue in the north, in some western areas, northern ireland, too. and again, briefly in the afternoon,

temperatures for most of us touching around about three to five celsius. and then the following night, so friday night into early saturday, again, these are the inner city values with lower temperatures expected in rural spots. so this weekend, of course, it's staying cold, but freezing fog, lingering freezing fog could be a problem. now, let's have a look at the forecast map, then. and you can see a low pressure establishing itself across the uk. that means lighter winds if we're in the centre of the low. that will help the fog to form. and also notice that blobs of blue, white are starting to appear in other parts of the country. that's an indication of the winds shifting around the uk and perhaps pushing in some of the wintry showers to areas that haven't seen anything so far. so, yes, the outlook staying cold, not desperately cold by day, certainly not subzero for most of us, but chilly nights. and of course, you can track the weather as always on ourfabulous weather app, bye—bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the american basketball player brittney griner has been released from prison in russia after nearly ten months in a prisoner swap. her freedom was exchanged for a notorious russian arms dealer nicknamed the merchant of death, who sold weapons to warlords and rogue governments.

in a much—hyped new documentary series, harry and meghan have