this is bbc news. the headlines: at least 50 people are now known to have died due to the severe arctic freeze that continues to affect the us and canada. one of the worst—hit areas is buffalo in new york state, where the governor called the storm an epic, once—in—a—lifetime event. russia says at least three technical staff have been killed by falling debris following a ukrainian drone attack on an air force base. the russian defence ministry says the engels base in the southern saratov region was targetted by ukrainian drones during the night. two people are being questioned in connection with the shooting dead of a woman at a pub on merseyside in northern

england on christmas eve. the victim has been named as 26—year—old ellie edwards. a 30—year—old man and a 19—year—old woman have been arrested. the number of people heading out to the boxing day sales rose compared to last year but footfall remains far below pre—pandemic levels. although there are the usual discounts on the high street, households are of course now being squeezed by the high cost of living, as katy austin reports. oxford street in central london filled up as the day went on, as shoppers hunted for bargains. yeah, i always come out. it's my birthday today, so, and i don't think it's as busy as it used to be. it used to be a lot busier before. there are a few discounts? just

shops so far are the shops have started giving sales maybe a bit earlier than usual — that's what we heard — but there are still quite a few discounts. a company that tracks how many people are out at shopping destinations says compared to last year, when covid badly affected trading, it's an optimistic picture, numbers are up. however, footfall hasn't recovered to what it was before the pandemic. it's 30% lower than it was on boxing day 2019, so it is significantly lower. but we mustn't forget that there is a train strike. and it's also attached obviously to the cost—of—living crisis, people are a bit more cautious. these days, not all retailers open on boxing day. some started their sales well before christmas, and more and more customers choose to buy online. but for this big shopping centre in liverpool, it's still a crucial week. it's very important for retailers and ourselves. boxing day gives the retailers the chance to clear some of that stock that they perhaps didn't sell before christmas. boxing day is actually one of the quieter days of the week. it builds up throughout this week into some quite extraordinary numbers. cost—of—living pressures are expected to put a dampener on spending, but the manager of this store is optimistic.

i think people are now looking into what they're buying a lot more than what they used to be, but we are still trading quite well. there's a lot of retailers when you look around, you actually see a large amount of people around spending money as well. after a tricky year, retailers hope that the big discounts can draw in much—needed customers. katy austin, bbc news. now on bbc news, our world: iran: catching a killer for the past year, i have been reporting on the most important story of my life. my name is omid montazaeri, and i'm a reporterfor bbc persia. this story is about a massacre that took place in my home country, iran. in 1988, the iranian government, led by ayatollah khomeini, ordered thousands of political prisoners to be killed.

my father was amongst those killed. i was just two years old. now, for the first time in over 30 years, one of the perpetrators of the killings is on trial, a government official called hamid nouri. this is hamid nouri. he is the first member of the islamic republic ever to stand trial outside iran for atrocities committed in iran. protestors chants. less than 15 hours til verdict and everyone is so anxious.

iraj mesdaghi was a political prisoner at the time of the 1988 prison massacre. an estimated 5000 prisoners were killed. iraj survived. ever since, he's vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

and he just found out one of the prison officials, hamid nouri, was planning to come to sweden. iraj contacted lawyers who interviewed witnesses, assembled a case and tipped off the swedish authorities. he sings back in iran, hamid nouri was celebrating his upcoming trip. radio plays upbeat music

i travelled to stockholm to cover the trial for bbc persia. hamid nouri was accused of war crimes and murder. bbc news theme music

in the 1988 massacres, two different groups of political prisoners were killed — members of an armed group known as the mujahideen, and communists. the mujahideen had recently attacked iran from neighbouring iraq. ayatollah khomeini issued a secret decree, a fatwa, saying mujahideen prisoners who refused to repent are waging war against god and are condemned to execution. he ordered, "annihilate the enemies of islam immediately." thousands of mujahideen

prisoners were killed. several hundred leftist political prisoners were also executed. among them was my father, ahmad montazeri, who was killed for being a member of a communist group. the defendant was part of the management of the prison. he was calling out their names, he was bringing them into the so—called death community who eventually made the decision whether the prisoners should be executed or not. he was a god, and he was also bringing the prisoners to the actual place of where they were executed. the prison massacres tore families apart.

vida and her husband majid met through a communist party in iran.

both vida's husband and her brother were killed in the prison massacre. vida testified against hamid nouri. voice off-screen speaks farsi

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

the trial is being closely followed by many people whose relatives were executed by the regime. masida lives in england. a0 years ago, her two brothers and sister—in—law were killed for their communist beliefs.

masida is travelling to hear hamid nouri testify. relatives and survivors have come together to fight forjustice. tomorrow, masida and vida will go to court together. hamid nouri is about to testify.

the atmosphere inside the court is tense. lots of the families of victim are crying and angry.

hamid nouri testified for six days. his defence echoed, his story of denials from the iranian government, which has never acknowledged a massacre. the current president of iran, ebrahim raisi, was one of the death committee judges, and hamid nouri's boss. if hamid nouri is found guilty, this could have consequences for raisi.

iran still in kills and imprisons political prisoners. i have come to cover the verdict. it is around one year that i am reporting about the court and is case. vida has attended nearly all of the trial days.

the bodies of the terms have never been returned to their relatives. the mass grave, where many of the bodies were buried has been repeatedly bulldozed by the iranians authorities. less than 15 hours until the verdict and everyone is so anxious. the lawyer said to her that maybe, maybe, they do not accept your testimony and it is a lot for her but she hopes that they sentence him to

life in prison. it is the day of the verdict. different groups all opposed to the regime are gathering outside the court. countless survivors and victims of the massacre and other acts of regime brutality.

the verdict is to be announced by e—mail. tensions are high.

iam not i am not sure it is a celebration, first of all. it is some kind of expression of what they have kept for a long time. (singing) singing i call my mum and my sister. my

mother was put in prison at the same time as my father. she was only released because she was pregnant with me. she has also been fighting for justice pregnant with me. she has also been fighting forjustice ever seen. they are trying with one eye, they are happy with the other eye. i want to be besides the families. what we hoped, exactly what the persecutor arsenal, namely crime against international

law, war crime and murder and life centres. first of all, in sweden, don't think you can hide yourself if you haven't done crimes against humanity, war crimes etc, and also, if we and sweden could do this, this is a good signal to the whole world. . . , is a good signal to the whole world. . ., , ., world. the iranians government has denounced _ world. the iranians government has denounced the _ world. the iranians government has denounced the verdict - world. the iranians government has denounced the verdict as i has denounced the verdict as politically motivated and said that the charges work fabricated and baseless. his lawyers say they will appeal but the survivors and relatives have not finished either. tomorrow, we will start again, the new case, and we will go further, we're not to stop. now we are going to go to the president of the iranians regime. he was an active member of that regime and raisi should be responsible for what he did in the 1988.

be responsible for what he did in the 1988-— in the 1988. something feels different now. _ in the 1988. something feels different now. he _ in the 1988. something feels different now. he is - in the 1988. something feels different now. he is a - different now. he is a convicted war criminal. this catastrophe which is a blighted all of our lives, has been officially recognised as a crime.

hello. boxing day delivered a colder interlude, in fact, it was cold enough for wintry showers in places, but through the day on tuesday, mild air returns with outbreaks of rain spreading east. there will be some snow in northern parts, as that wet weather bumps into some relatively cold air. this speckled cloud on the satellite picture brought the showers of rain, sleet and snow during boxing day. this shield of cloud behind me, bringing wet weather into northern ireland first thing. ahead of that, some icy conditions likely in parts of northern england and scotland. could be rather slippery on untreated roads and pavements and, as this wet weather slides into the cold air over the highest ground of northern england and southern scotland, we could see some snow for a time. that is likely to turn back to rain, though, as the milder air works in.

and the highlands, well, is likely to stick around for a little bit longer because something a bit colder will cling on in the northern half of scotland. but elsewhere, northern england, wales, the southwest turning very, very wet indeed. east anglia and the southeast staying mainly dry for a good part of the day, brightening up in northern ireland through the afternoon. but it is going to be windy, especially in the southern half of the uk — temperatures ranging from 4 degrees there in aberdeen now, as we go through tuesday night, we'll see these outbreaks of heavy rain continuing to journey southwards and eastwards, lingering across the south of england, and then the rain returning into the southwest and the southern half of wales by the end of the night. some rain will also linger for a time in the northern isles. but for the majority, it is going to stay frost—free, a milder night in prospect. and then for wednesday, well, we bring this next batch of heavy rain northwards and eastwards across the uk, accompanied by strong winds, particularly windy for some southern and western coasts. northern scotland will stay drier and little colder, but northern ireland seeing highs of 9—10 degrees, england and wales, 11—13, so it is going to feel mild, particularly in the south. thursday, a day of sunny spells and showers. for friday, here's another area of low pressure bringing heavy rain

and potentially some really strong winds. we'll be keeping an eye on that weather system. and then, as we head into the weekend and the end of the year, it will stay relatively mild, there'll be rain at times and it will often be windy.

welcome to bbc news, i'm lucy grey. our top stories: the severe winter deep freeze continues in the united states and canada — at least 50 people have died. moscow says at least three of its personnel have been killed in a ukrainian drone attack on a russian airforce base. the head of the un in afghanistan asks the taliban to allow afghan women to work for humanitarian agencies. two people are arrested over the shooting dead of a woman at a pub in merseyside in northern england on christmas eve. and stepping up security head of the inauguration of brazil's president—elect lula de silva after a foiled bomb attack.