this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: us basketball star brittney griner is released from a russian prison colony, exchanged for a notorious russian arms dealer nicknamed the �*merchant of death'. her team—mate tells us she's thrilled. i never lost hope. it's been 294 days, and it's been 294 days of hope. 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 celine dion reveals she has a rare incurable disease. it's forced her to cancel several shows. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we begin in the united states. the american basketball player brittney griner has been released from prison in russia after nearly ten 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. victor boot has already arrived in moscow. 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. do you know where you're heading to? no. no? no. you're flying back home, to the us. she's safe, she's on a plane, she's 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. 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

and, 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. brittney griner has become a real celeb in the us and herfreedom is being celebrated, but the president is being criticised for releasing a man as clearly dangerous as viktor bout. ms griner�*s wife campaigned tirelessly for her release. it's a happy day for me and my family so i'm going to smile right now! brittney griner will soon arrive back in america after ten months in russia. sarah smith, bbc news, washington.

a short time ago, i spoke to brianna turner, a team—mate of brittney griner�*s at the phoenix mercury wnba team. i asked her how she reacted to the news of griner�*s release. pure joy and excitement. it's been a wonderful day for me. tell us a bit more about what the last ten months have been like. brittney was locked up in february, and since then, it was never really clear when she would be released, if at all. yeah, definitely. it's been a lot of confusion, a lot of uncertainty, but i never lost hope. it's been 294 days and it's been 249 days of hope. i imagine when the news came through a few hours ago, the text messages started back and forth, the whatsapp messages with your friends and colleagues. tell us a bit more about what brittney is like both

on the court and off as a friend. on the court, she is one of the best women's basketball players in the world, she is a two—time olympian. she has won numerous world championships, numerous all—star appearances. off the court, i would say she is such a kind, nice and giving person, always willing to give a helping hand, always willing to help someone in need whether it is giving someone a free meal or giving someone a ride. she is one of the most generous people that i know. during her incarceration in russia, were you or were any of her colleagues able to have any contact with her at all? i was not able to talk on the phone with her, but i was able to write her letters a couple of times. we heard in the news story just 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 mean, i would say yes. she is here. it has obviously been a long time, but i am just happy she is home. the us government, i think they were doing what they could and obviously right now

was the right time to make a trade happen, so i am happy that she was able to get released. she is now back home. as you say, she will need a bit of time to decompress, spend time with herfamily and herfriends. moving forward, what do you hope will happen next? do you hope to see her back on the court? that is up to her. if she does not play another basketball game in her life, i won't be mad at her. i am going to support her in any way i can. i think right now the main focus is to get her recovery in from her time away and really be with her family. 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 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 institution knows the full truth and the media know the full truth because they've been in on it. 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 some of the members thought, "my wife had to go through that,

"so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? "why do you get special treatment?" i said, "the difference here is the race element." meghan believes she was not given a fair chance by the palace or the press. but 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's 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's actually no—one�*s fault, but once it's been pointed out or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right. it's education. it's 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 that 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 that 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've done and how i've 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 their truth will be released next week. especially after what happened to my mum. yeah, that's your grandma, diana. i don't want history to repeat itself. you can find a lot more coverage of that story on our website. oryou coverage of that story on our website. or you can download the bbc news app if you don't already have it. we will be hearing from the entertainment reporter to get her reaction to the first three episodes. 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 interracial couples in federal law. 39 republicansjoined democrats to vote in favour. president biden says he'll sign the legislation proudly and promptly. president putin has vowed to continue attacking

ukraine's energy infrastructure. moscow's missile strikes have left millions of people without electricity as temperatures plummet. but he said growing global criticism would not interfere with missions in ukraine. 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. 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. let us go to the middle east. 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 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 mohsen shekari. on thursday morning, he was hanged, guilty, according to a revolutionary court, of enmity against god. he was accused of blocking a street in tehran and injuring a member of a paramilitary force with a machete. human rights groups have condemned the process, which 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 been detained since the unrest began,

sparked by the death of the 22—year—old mahsa amini in police custody. the execution of mohsen shekari has many 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. parts 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. governments and people all around the world are reacting on social media

and through statements, but it is time for action. unsurprisingly, the iranian regime is not impressed by external criticism. translation: the west thinks iran is like other countries - who might give in to the rioters. here we have educated men and women. no, the iranian students won't let the protesters do whatever they want. iran's leaders are taking a gamble. by executing a young protester, they hope others will be too frightened to take to the streets. but with each repressive act, they risk more rage from the many thousands of people still desperate for change. tom brada, bbc news. 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. - elsewhere. — people have been gathering 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 world 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 and meghan go into detail about their relationship, press intrusion and racism. let's stay with that story. kj matthews is an la—based entertainment reporter. i asked her if the series lived up to the hype. it was 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 almost daily in tabloids, i just thought what could this netflix docu—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 really focused on how they met and how they got to where they are today, and we really got to hearfrom meghan markle's side of the family that we have not heard from. i think for so long we really wanted to hear from her mother. her mother has been by her side throughout the beginning of this entire ordeal, very quiet, very poised, very elegant, classy, just 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 also wondered, and i think a lot of people, including people of colour here in america, wondered why was doria ragland 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, that she could not even invite her niece who she was close to to the wedding, so there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes that i think people will find interesting from the docu—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, you know, mentally at, least. lets grab the bull by the horns and talk about race here. it is something that harry mentions, it is something that 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 in the royalfamily, and how do you think that will be received? i think across the pond in the uk people are tired of meghan and harry, and they are certainly 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 hearing that. i think there are people

of colour, particularly black people, that were not surprised that in her words they were treating — the paparazzi at least were treating her like a black woman, and ifound it interesting and smart of them to actually really grab 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 it — that what you are dealing with is racism. they even brought up the fact that they had the headline �*straight out of compton�* and all those undertones, and i think so many people here of colour spotted it straight away. we saw the headlines. we knew this was not a woman who was raised in compton. we knew she was raised in los angeles, which was another suburb, a black part of los angeles, but it was not compton, and 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 would not admit it because they were negatively coming at her and a lot of people still don't

understand racism that can be indirect in an unconscious bias. the fact that they were dealing with it in almost i think the entire second and third episode was really surprising, and i am looking forward to seeing the final three episodes next thursday. kj matthews there on that new netflix series with harry and meghan. the republic of seychelles, a country of over 100 islands in the indian ocean, about 1000 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 rainforests, 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. we depend greatly on fisheries and tourism, but they are considered the pillars of our economy. but when you look at the foundation of those pillars, the environment. by protecting the environment it means those pillars can stand and this is how we can grow. some say it can be done in other countries.

solutions lie in nature. once we have the tools in terms of data, in terms of analytics, in terms of maps, i think we can make those right policy decisions that will make it meaningful and effective to combat global emissions. the seagrass meadows of a small island nation are providing lessons in the fight against climate change. dingindaba jonah buyoya, bbc news, seychelles. let's turn to the qatar football world cup, and there are reports that a migrant worker has died while working at a world cup facility. the athletic website reported that a filipino nationalfell to his death while carrying out repair work at a resort where the saudia arabian team was staying. fifa has released a statement in response, saying that, "the organisation is deeply sadded by this tragedy, and our thoughts and sympathies are with the worker's family."

western media investigations have claimed that as many as 6,500 migrants have died while working on construction projects in qatar in the run—up to the world cup. qatar disputes this, saying there have been just three work—related deaths, and 37 which were not related to work. qatar's spokesman say they will investigate and help the family of the man who died. and they called on the media to concentrate on the football. death is a natural part of life, whether it is at work, whether it is in your sleep. of course, a worker died. our condolences go to his family. the canadian singer celine dion has revealed she has been diagnosed with a rate autoimmune disease, known as stiff—person syndrome. it means she's had to cancel herforthcoming shows in the uk and europe and has been unable to live life the way she wants. she announced the news on her instagram channel, saying she still hoped to come to terms with the disorder, but that she was relieved to know what had been causing her long—term

health issues. u nfortu nately, unfortunately, the spasms affect every aspect of my daily life. sometimes, causing difficulties when i walk, and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way i am used to. pat cords to sing the way i am used to. �* ., , ., to. at the moment there is no cure for stiff-person - to. at the moment there is no | cure for stiff-person syndrome cure for stiff—person syndrome but there are treatments including antianxiety medications and muscle relaxants. not long to go before christmas, and that means that in the italian city of naples, the famous nativity figurines are once again on display. here they are, traditionally hand—carved and painted, with many of the characters you would associate with christmas, such as wise men and shepherds and a few you might not, like batman, thejoker and various politicians. according to tradition,

neapolitans buyjust one figure each year. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @rich preston. from all of us here in london, thanks for watching. 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 our fabulous 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 & meghan have gone into detail about their relationship, press intrusion and racism. prince harry has criticised what he called a media "feeding frenzy" over their relationship, saying he felt it was his duty to expose exploitation and bribery in the media. there's been widespread condemnation after iran carried out its first execution of a protester who took part

in the recent anti—government demonstrations.