welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories — argentinianjoy: lionel messi leads his country into the world cup semi—finals, after a dramatic penalty shoot out against the netherlands. but heartbreak for their south american rivals, brazil — they are out, also after a penalty shoot out. croatia's win over brazil puts them into a second successive world cup semifinal. in other news, the us says russia and iran are developing a full—scale defence partnership, with moscow offering support, in return for

drones to use against ukraine. russian opposition politician, ilya yashin, remains defiant in the face of an eight—and—a—half year sentence for commenting on the war in ukraine. mark and a last chance for the national wealth. the biodiversity conference wants about the extension of millions of species. hello and welcome to the programme. it's been a dramatic day in the football world cup in doha, as the first two quarterfinals ended in penalties. the favourites to win this year's tournament, brazil, have been kicked out, after losing to croatia. they'll bejoined in the semi—finals by argentina, who defeated the netherlands. tim allman has been watching the action.. crowd groans this was not part of the plan.

despair in rio after brazil crashed out of the world cup. you can see from the looks on their faces, everyone here expected their team to go a lot further than just the quarter—finals. translation: the guys played very well, - but i think they lacked passion. unfortunately it ended in penalties. this is very hard for us. translation: it was a silly mistake, - everyone went forward, there was a counter attack and this unfortunate thing happened. how different things look a little earlier when neymar put the brazilians ahead. this his 77th goal for his country, equalling the official record held by a someone called pele. but if brazil thought that was going to be that, they were wrong — bruno petkovic equalising with three minutes to go. so, to penalties and brazilian fans may want to look away now. their first kick was saved, their last one hit the post. croatia pulling off another upset in a world cup that has been full of them.

europe one, south america zero. but argentina were looking to change that. a first—half goal from nahuel molina putting them on their way. then a second—half penalty from lionel messi doubled their advantage. but two late goals from weghorst, one in the 11th minute of injury time, and we had the second penalty shoot—out of the day. this time, it was the europeans who came up short. emilio martinez saving from virgil van dijk and steven berghuis. so, it all came down to this, lautaro martinez scoring the decisive spot kick. glorious scenes for argentina. brazil's world cup dream may be over, but his is alive and kicking. tim allman, bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at how that result went down. here's some reactions from the streets of argentina's

capital, buenos aires. translation: we started very well. i translation: we started very well- i was _ translation: we started very well. i was super— translation: we started very well. i was super confident - translation: we started very well. i was super confident and i well. i was super confident and then we got scared. then it was like keep supporting the selection. there were all the emotions come you are happy, nervous, supporting, always supporting, all the way. translation: ., , , translation: honestly, it was cra , i translation: honestly, it was crazy. i swear— translation: honestly, it was crazy. i swear my _ translation: honestly, it was crazy, i swear my heart - translation: honestly, it was crazy, i swear my heart was - crazy, i swear my heart was exhausted, it actually had to breathe! _ exhausted, it actually had to breathe! �* ,, �* exhausted, it actually had to breathe!_ we | breathe! translation: we suffered but _ breathe! translation: we suffered but we _ breathe! translation: we suffered but we won, - breathe! translation: we suffered but we won, that's| suffered but we won, that's what — suffered but we won, that's what counts. _ let's hear now from buenos aires. i asked dan edwards, the co—host of the argentinian football podcast �*the hand of pod'. i spoke to him early and asked what _ i spoke to him early and asked what it— i spoke to him early and asked what it had _ ispoke to him early and asked what it had been— i spoke to him early and asked what it had been like - i spoke to him early and asked what it had been like watching| what it had been like watching the game _ an absolute roller—coaster of emotions the entire evening. a little bit of schadenfreude seeing brazil go out to the very real concern that argentina may be going the same way after it looked so promising, and then at the end,

just thatjoy of promising, and then at the end, just that joy of seeing lao tyrone martinez netted the winning penalty after more penalty heroics from martinez. we have two more games of this and i don't know if we're going to get through them. figs and i don't know if we're going to get through them.— to get through them. as you mentioned. _ to get through them. as you mentioned, the _ to get through them. as you mentioned, the netherlands equalising pretty close to the end. did you feel like it was going to slip through argentina's cans at some point? i think another moment you think, wejust saw i think another moment you think, we just saw it i think another moment you think, wejust saw it in i think another moment you think, we just saw it in the brazil game, when the momentum shift so late and so decisively. that is very hard for a team to come back and recoverfrom for a team to come back and recover from that, for a team to come back and recoverfrom that, but for a team to come back and recover from that, but what this argentina team has going for them as they have such a good attitude, such a good team spirit, they were able to ride that out, the press to all the way in extra time and just got that character to bring themselves through the penalty shoot out, and i think that really says a lot for this team, just as it did coming back from that first day defeat against saudi arabia and getting into this position. it is a team thatjust wants to win and stay together, and they've got a lot going for

them. ,, ., they've got a lot going for them. , they've got a lot going for them, ., , they've got a lot going for them. ., , ., them. so up against croatia next, them. so up against croatia next. who _ them. so up against croatia next, who also _ them. so up against croatia next, who also won - them. so up against croatia next, who also won on - them. so up against croatia - next, who also won on penalties of course. now, team spirit is one thing, but when it comes to techniques and tactics, how do croatia play as a team? what does argentina have to consider in their match against them? i think against croatia, we are going to see a very similar game to what we saw today against the netherlands. croatia are showing they are very disciplined, very resolute. perhaps they are not the team left in qatar with the most dangerous offensive potential, but they don't give up potential, but they don't give up much. they held brazil at bay. all those brilliant strikers for almost 120 minutes, then got the goal when they need to. i don't know, no one in argentina will take them lately. memories of that crushing defeat back in 2018 are going to be fresh. but if argentina play like they did today and keep it tight and of course utilise lionel messi was having a fantastic tournament, i think they've got a good

chance. let's get some reaction from the other quarter final. semi—final, croatia through to their second successive world cup semi—final, something the prime minister was keen to enjoy. this is a brilliant generation of croatian players, led by our captain luka modric chu has been playing in spain for more than ten years, real madrid, with an excellent trainer, is let go dulwich, and all the others we have had a subtle i would say complimentary new young players who fit in the core of the team was already forged back in russia four years ago. so two world cups in a row to be again in the semifinals with the perspective that we might again end up in the final, it is a fantastic feeling. the entire croatia and croatian people at home and across the world are in a very special state of good mood today. {lii special state of good mood toda . , ., special state of good mood toda. , ., ., .,

today. of course, to have a winner. _ today. of course, to have a winner. you _ today. of course, to have a winner, you have _ today. of course, to have a winner, you have to - today. of course, to have a winner, you have to have . today. of course, to have a winner, you have to have a| winner, you have to have a loser. for brazil, this was a devastating defeat — crashing out of a tournament many believed they could win. here's katy watson in sao paolo. you can hear the band has started up, musicians who presumably have been booked to celebrate a win by brazil, going through to the semi—finals, but now, if they have been booked, they might as well enjoy the party. you can see people sitting behind me. iit is an unbelievable result for the brazilians. they were so convinced they were going to win this game and go through to the final. i have never seen such confidence from a nation. football means everything to brazilians. and especially after a difficult few years, politically, with so much division. i was talking to one woman, who said that brazil comes together with football. it does not matter about class, race, politics or religion, that brazil comes together when there is a world cup. and in fact, they used to... they take the day off, nobody works because football matters so much. but instead, they are going to have to find another team to support. i was talking to one

couple, who said they i was talking to one couple, who said they will now be supporting croatia. they of course beat brazil, they are a good team to support, they say. but the mood is definitely heavy. my partner has just rocked up to a kids' party, he says it feels like they have double booked it with a funeral. it will take some hours, some days, for that mood to left. away from the sport. 0ne sad piece of news to bring you from qatar. it has come to the bbc news from in the last hour or so. —— the bbc news room. —— the bbc news room. the acclaimed sports journalist grant wahl has died. he covered american and world soccer on his substack for cbs sports, nbc news, and previously worked for sports illustrated. the us news network npr said he collapsed at the argentina quarterfinal on friday. grant wahl made headlines earlier on in the tournament when he wore a black t—shirt with a circle in the colors of the rainbow wrapping around a soccer ball in support of the lgbtq+ community. he claimed then he'd been refused entry to the game initially, because of

what he was wearing. the united states and the united kingdom say russia and iran have strengthened their relationship into a fully—fledged defence partnership. the white house's national security spokesman john kirby says washington has seen reports the two countries are considering joint production of lethal drones. it comes as the us announced a new $275 million aid package to help boost ukraine's air defences, against russian drones in particular. i asked our news reporter azadeh moshiri what else we know about these warnings. this is not the first time there have been concerns around the relationship between iran and russia. you'll remember that at one point the united states and ukraine warned that iran was supplying drones to russia to use during this invasion in ukraine. at the time, iran denied it and then later on said these are iranian—made drones but they were supplied before the invasion began. but now the concerns that the united states and the united kingdom are spelling out are more serious. they are essentially saying

that this military cooperation the two countries had before, has now deepened and morphed into a fully fledged defence partnership and they are saying this is not only threatening ukraine but it's also threatening iran's regional neighbours as well as the international community as a whole. in terms of the detail, the united states says it has seen a report that says russia and iran are considering a joint production of lethal drones and the us is also concerned that iran may start supply ballistic missiles. but let's take a listen to what barbara woodward, the united kingdom ambassador to the united nations said, because she's spelling out another bigger concern. russia is now attempting to obtain more weapons, including hundreds of ballistic missiles, in return — in return — russia is offering iran an unprecedented level of military and technical support. we are concerned that russia intends to provide iran with more advanced military components, which would allow iran to strengthen their

weapons capability. she is talking about a reciprocal relationship, iran potentially being made a more dangerous threat by russian sending them the possibility to strengthen their own weapons. it is something the british ministerjames cleverly has called a threat because of the sordid deals between the two countries. running in parallel to this story are the ongoing anti—government demonstrations in iran. what is the latest there? protests have continued and that's despite the islamic republic conducting its first execution of a protester, mohsen shekari, a 23—year—old, and that is a gamble and a bet that the iranian government, the islamic republic are making that perhaps they will be able to instil fear in these protesters by seeing that the death sentences are carried out. the judiciary right now says 11

more are currently facing the death penalty and yet people still turned out on the streets and chanted, "death to the dictator" — a reference of the supreme leader ali khamenei. you are watching bbc news, a reminder of the top stories. argentina and croatia will meet in the semi—final of the football world cup in doha. both teams prevailed in penalty shoot outs in matches against the netherlands and brazil. the us says russia and iran are developing a full—scale defence partnership — with moscow offering support in return for drones to use against ukraine. to to use against ukraine. south asia now. a number of leaders of bangladesh's opposition party have been arrested for organising a mass anti—government protest, planned for saturday in the capital dhaka. it comes as concerns grow about freedom of expression

in the country as the prime minister sheikh hasina, seeks re—election next year. figures from the united nations say as many as 76 people are listed as having "disappeared" in bangladesh in recent months. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan has been speaking to those directly affected by the crackdown. gunfire. a show of force on the streets of dhaka. a government long accused of trying to silence its critics, clamping down on the opposition ahead of their mass protest, arresting hundreds. for these families, it is all too familiar. they say their relatives were also rounded up by security forces — brothers, sons, husbands and fathers, supporters of the opposition who have been missing for years, like sajidul islam shumon, a political organiser. sanjida says her brother was abducted in 2013. she still wants answers.

if they deny that law enforcement agency has not abducted them, who has abducted them? it also lies to them, the government, to find out, where are the citizens? we put sanjida and other families' concerns to the foreign minister. he said un figures on enforced disappearances are not accurate. unfortunately, the un collected those informations from some quarters who are politically motivated and they have a habit of magnifying things and they have a habit of doctoring information. we have spoken to families who say that their husbands or their brothers, their fathers, were taken away. are you saying they are not telling the truth? we would welcome them to come to us, tell their true story. bangladesh's prime minister sheikh hasina has dismissed

accusations her government is responsible for human rights abuses. we have spoken to a number of people who have shared allegations of violence and intimidation by the security forces. many of them say they are too scared to go on camera for fear of reprisal. shafikul islam kajol�*s story is one reason why. he says he was tortured in an underground detention cell, handcuffed and blindfolded for more than 50 days before he was released. the journalist says it was after he published an investigation into government officials. bangladesh's home minister says it is all untrue. translation: they asked me why i wrote the story. - i was tortured and interrogated for hours at a time. it was horrible. ahead of saturday's protest, a beefed up presence on the streets. bangladesh's government says the country is a beacon of democracy.

what happens tomorrow will be another test of that promise. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news. one of russia's leading opposition politicians has been jailed for speaking out about russian war crimes in ukraine. ilya yashin told his supporters not to worry about him as he was led away for his 8.5—year sentence. from moscow, here's our russia editor steve rosenberg: handcuffed and locked inside a glass cage as if a dangerous criminal. but ilya yashin is a russian politician, a fierce critic of vladimir putin. he had been put on trial for talking publicly about evidence of russian atrocities in the ukrainian town of bucha. thejudge convicted him of spreading "fake news" about the russian army and sent him to prison for 8.5 years. "don't worry," he told his supporters, "it's ok."

shouting. outside the courthouse, "freedom," they shout. but just a tiny few. perhaps this is why. eight years of prison is a lot. some people that murder someone may get less. so it's understandable why not many voices you hear now like yashin�*s one. the trial that has now ended here reflects the growing wave of repression in russia since vladimir putin invaded ukraine. the message from the kremlin to its critics, to its opponents, is clear — "stay silent." later, vladimir putin was asked for his reaction to the 8.5—year prison sentence. "isn't that brutal?", asks the journalist. the president's reply: "casting doubt on the decision

of a court is inappropriate." in a statement, ilya yashin said this: "strong leaders are calm and confident. "0nly weak ones try to silence people." steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. when the leading crypto—currency exchange ftx collapsed, the role of its boss sam bankman—fried came under close scrutiny. he's now facing multiple federal investigations, and says that now, far from being a billionaire, he's close to being broke. he's currently in the bahamas, and our cyber reporterjoe tidy has been to meet him. for weeks, this island paradise has been at the centre of one of the biggest financial scandals in history. at the centre of the centre, sam bankman—fried. but instead of hiding in his luxury apartment, he is on a mission to say sorry. look, ishould have been on top of this. it was a huge oversight.

i made a lot of mistakes that are things i would give anything to be able to do over again. regardless of any apparent remorse, there is only really one question victims, investigators and reporters want an answer to. were you incompetent or were you fraudulent? i didn't knowingly commit fraud, i don't think i committed fraud. i didn't want any of this to happen. i was certainly not nearly as competent as i thought i was. bankman—fried's ftx was a giant of the crypto currency industry. the exchange allowed people to trade their normal money for digital tokens like bitcoin. but last month, it was revealed ftx and bankman—fried's separate company, alameda research, were financially unstable. everything came crashing down, billions of dollars are now missing, more than a million people out of pocket. it is alleged that the alameda hedge fund was using ftx customer money that

should have been secured. until very recently, this was the headquarters of a $32 billion ftx empire. we have spoken to a former senior employee of the company who worked here with sam bankman—fried. he is furious at how the ceo has handled the collapse, but also about what he is saying right now. he says you are lying, he says that you knew about it, and that it is impossible, he says, for you not to know that ftx's customer funds were being used on these big, risky bets for alameda research, and this is all, in his words, "a bold—faced lie and a cover—up." is that true? no. no, it is not. that doesn't change the fact, though, that it was a really bad mistake and that it hurt a lot of people. and, like, that is on me, one way or another. the former billionaire claims he is now close to being broke, but the 30—year—old's dream, if he can get through multiple federal investigations,

is to start a new business. i think at the very least i have a duty to ftx's users to do right by them as best as i can. you mean somehow make money and pay them back? i would give anything to be able to do that. so you want to get this clear and you want to start some sort of new venture that you can make lots of money to pay back ftx customers? if i could do that, that would be great. closer to home, locals are left angry. the american�*s bold promise to build a silicon valley of crypto have vanished. a big disappointment because a lot of people who locally had sold land and stuff to them... i mean, everything just went, you know. so, overnight everything hasjust gone? everything gone. first question, where - is the money coming from? nobody could ever. answer that question. where is the money coming from? in spite of the serious allegations, bankman—fried seems confident that investigators here and in the us won't find him guilty of fraud.

even though jail time is possible, he says he tries not to think about it. joe tidy, bbc news, in the bahamas. conservation experts say the sea cow is being driven to the edge of extinction. according to an update of the international union for the conservation of nature's red list, the dugong is almost wiped out in some parts of the world. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill sent this report from the un biodiversity conference in montreal, where the latest findings were revealed. the red list is something no creature wants to be on. it's a list of more than 40,000 species now threatened with extinction. and the international union for the conservation of nature revealed the latest update to this list here at the biodiversity talks in montreal. it laid out what conservationists have called a barrage of threats to the marine world. marine species are facing unsustainable fishing and by—catch, poaching, criminal networks, pollution, climate change, disease.

the pillar coral that's found throughout the caribbean is now deemed critically endangered, threatened by pollution and warming seas. many other species feed and live on these corals. the dugong, a large grazing marine mammal is now on the brink of extinction, with trawling and pollution wrecking its habitat. what is happening here in montreal aims to turn this around by agreeing a global deal to protect nature. indigenous people, many of whom live in some of the most biodiverse places on earth, are here to remind all of those countries that their rights are a fundamental part of that. where we are able to protect our territories and practice our traditional livelihoods, that is where nature remains and biodiversity remains. so these are hot spots that are left. the most biodiverse areas are indigenous people and local communities' areas. places where they live.

not places where guards are wearing uniforms and guns to guard, no. it's where people live, because then they know the value of this biodiversity, and that is why they live in harmony with it. there are almost two weeks left of these negotiations, but there are already some concerns that there is a lot of division remaining between all the countries, particularly on how to pay for the protection of biodiversity. with a million species now facing extinction according to the un, this is being called a last chance for the natural world. before we go — a rare malayan species related to the horse and the rhinoceros has been born at chester zoo in england. take a look at this picture. the female calf named nessa was nine kilograms and has a red coat of spots and stripes. these uses the animal is highly significant as only 2500 i said

to remain across southeast asia. species numbers have halved in the last a0 years. very cute. that is it from us for now. you can get me on twitter. hello there. it does look like this cold spell is here to stay for the foreseeable future. we are likely to see further spells of rain, sleet and snow. some significant accumulations towards the second part of the weekend in one or two areas. we will start to see increasing amounts of freezing fog developing as the winds will turn lighter, particularly across england and wales. bitterly cold start to the weekend then, as you can see from these temperatures, even lower in a few spots, maybe down to —9 in places, and watch out for ice first thing around northern and western coastal areas. it is here where we are likely to see the wintry showers continuing throughout the day. elsewhere, there will be a lot of wintry sunshine around. we could see this area of snow becoming heavier and more persistent across the north—east. and the east of scotland through the day, some

significant accumulations of snow, certainly over the grampians. temperatures range from freezing to around a or 5. another very cold day to come, temperatures below par for the time of year. through saturday night it stays icy, northern and western areas where we have had this rubbish, this area of snow continues, drifts south into southern scotland, particularly towards the borders, perhaps up to the very far north—north—east of england. again, a widespread sharp frost across the uk. temperatures down to around —7 or —8 in a few places. into sunday, we need to keep an eye on this weak area of low pressure, this weather front developing towards the south—east quadrant of england. that could develop thicker cloud and even some sleet and snow, particularly later in the day, which could affect parts of the south—east and east anglia. elsewhere, another bright day on sunday. however, areas that start with some freezing fog could stay quite grey and very cold through the day. parts of east wales, the midlands and eastern england, so no higher than freezing here, elsewhere

1 to a degrees. for sunday evening and sunday night, we could see that area of sleet and snow affect the south—east, could see some significant accumulations in the south downs. there could be some disruption in places for monday morning across the south—east. stay tuned to the forecast as this might change. elsewhere, largely clear, another very cold night to come, wintry showers around coastal areas. you can see the upcoming week, it is remaining cold, all areas will stay very cold, temperatures below the seasonal norm.

argentina are through to the last a of the football world cup after beating the netherlands in a penalty shoot—out. they'll face croatia in the semi—final, who knocked out the favourites brazil in another penalty shootout. croatia's win puts them into a second successive world cup semi final. the united states says russia and iran are transforming their relationship into a fully—fledged defence partnership — with serious consequences for ukraine, and for iran's neighbours. the us national security spokesman, john kirby, said iran is supplying hundreds of drones that have been used to attack ukraine's infrastructure. and a leading russian opposition politician has given a defiant response to an 8—and—a—half year prison sentence for comments he made

related to the war in ukraine. ilya yashin was found guilty of spreading what moscow claims