welcome to bbc news. our top stories: president biden faces tough questions from reporters after a second set of classified records are found. this time in his garage. classified material next to your corvette? what were you thinking? mi; your corvette? what were you thinkin: ? y ., , your corvette? what were you thinkin: ? g ., , ., thinking? my corvette is in a locked garage, _ thinking? my corvette is in a locked garage, 0k? - thinking? my corvette is in a locked garage, ok? so - thinking? my corvette is in a locked garage, ok? so it's l thinking? my corvette is in a l locked garage, ok? so it's not like they— locked garage, ok? so it's not like they are sitting out on the — like they are sitting out on the street. iran releases an alleged confession of spying by a british iranian man who's facing the death sentence. he says the confession was forced. ukraine says heavy fighting

with russian forces, continues in the eastern town of soledar, with a senior defence official calling the situation there "difficult". and the brit award nominations are out, but with a notable absence of women, in the category of �*artist of the year'. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we begin with some breaking news, in the last few minutes it's been confirmed by reuters news agency that lisa marie presley has died in hospital in california. her mother is believed to have been at her side and earlier called for privacy. media reports have suggested that there

55—year—old daughter of elvis had suffered a cardiac arrest is was last seen in public when she attended the golden globe awards with her mother. we can now speak to peter bowes in los angeles. peter, thanks for your time. what more do we know so far? ~ ., , time. what more do we know so far? ~ . , ., far? well, we are 'ust learning these details _ far? well, we are 'ust learning these details that_ far? well, we arejust learning these details that tragically . these details that tragically lisa marie presley at the age of 5a lisa marie presley at the age of sa has died and as you have been saying, we heard some hours ago that she had been taken to hospital. she lived in the los angeles suburb of calabasas, just down the outskirts of the city and she was, according to multiple reports, was found unconscious at her home, paramedics were called and an attempt was made to save her life, to get her heart going again and we know from priscilla presley, her mother, who put a message into

social media a couple of hours ago that she had been taken to hospital and she was asking at that time for people's prayers but as a say we now hear tragically she has died. the only daughter of elvis presley and as you say, we saw herjust and as you say, we saw herjust a couple of days ago here in los angeles at the golden globe awards, posing for photographs with priscilla presley and austin butler, the who plays elvis in the latest film, the new film about elvis presley. so this is terribly sad news. lisa marie presley of course a successful singer and songwriter in her own right. she was married, several times including for a short period of time to michaeljackson. i know people have very fond thoughts of her and had been hoping for the best and this will come as a terrible shock at such a young age to so many people.

peter, thank you. sad news and just to remind you there of the top story that it has been confirmed that the singer songwriter lisa marie presley has in california and we will bring you more on that as we get it. the us attorney—general has appointed a special counsel to investigate whether joe biden broke the law in his handling of classified records from his time as vice president. it comes after a second set of documents was found in a garage at mr biden�*s home in delaware. a first batch had been discovered earlier in his former office at a washington think tank. after admitting he was keeping classified documents at his delaware home, stored in the garage alongside his vintage sports car, president biden has a lot of explaining to do. classified materials next to your corvette, what were you thinking? my corvette's in a locked garage, ok, so it's not like it's

sitting out in the street. people know i take classified documents and classified materials seriously. i also said we are cooperating fully and completely with the justice department's review. earlier this week we learned that classified documents had been found in a washington office mr biden used after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. that prompted his lawyers to search his residence in wilmington, where a small number of documents were found, and immediately turned over to thejustice department. wholly different, says the white house, to the hundreds of classified documents uncovered when the fbi raided former president trump's florida home last year. president biden condemned trump's actions then as "totally irresponsible". not once, but now we're finding in two different locations, classified information just out there in the open. anotherfaux pas by the biden administration, but treating the law differently based upon your political beliefs. america's top lawyer, the us attorney general, has to be seen to apply the law equally. he has already appointed one special counsel to investigate mr trump's actions.

today, he appointed another, to look at mr biden�*s retention of documents. the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter. this appointment underscores for the public the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. the white house insists that the case of the biden documents is nowhere near as serious as the trump document saga, but parallels keep emerging. classified material being stored at home and now a special counsel being appointed to investigate. that means this story will now drag on for months, and could well overshadow any plans president biden had to announce soon that he was running for president again in 202a. the white house says it's confident a thorough review will show the documents were inadvertently misplaced, and were handed over as soon as they were discovered. sarah smith, bbc news, washington.

we can now speak to aruuna viswanatha, a senior reporter in the wall streetjournal�*s washington bureau. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. first of all, what do think that this could all mean for president biden. how damaging is this legally and politically? in terms of legally, we don't yet know. what we know is only what has unfolded this week. we understand that his aides found a set of classified documents at his think tank and then again a little bit later in his garage, but that is not what is supposed to happen once you leave office, even if you are the vice president, you are supposed to leave all of the classified documents within a secure facility and not take them with you to your office or to your garage. but they did turn these things over pretty quickly, alerted thejustice department who is now investigating, and so the

justice department will have to determine, and this new special counsel will have to determine, did anyone commit crimes in sort of taking these documents out and keeping them outside of a secure facilities. politically, though, that is clearly a bigger deal right now, after months of former president drum being under investigation for a similar mishandling of classified information and president biden criticising him for that, he has somewhat of a similar scenario here.— scenario here. and you mentioned _ scenario here. and you mentioned donald - scenario here. and you i mentioned donald trump scenario here. and you - mentioned donald trump there scenario here. and you _ mentioned donald trump there so inevitably president biden is going to be compared to donald trump for keeping classified documents after leaving office so if you could just give a brief explanation on how the two situations actually compare. two situations actually compare-— two situations actually comare. ,, , two situations actually comare. ,, ., compare. sure. they compare at a very high — compare. sure. they compare at a very high level _ compare. sure. they compare at a very high level in _ compare. sure. they compare at a very high level in the _ compare. sure. they compare at a very high level in the sense - a very high level in the sense that they both had potentially classified materials at their homes after they left office. where they differ is in the

quantity when the fbi went to search former president drum's property and in florida they found dozens of boxes with hundreds of classified and other government documents that had supposed to have been turned over. former president trump's had even told the justice department they had turned all of these over so there was questions there about whether they were misleading authorities and why they had hung onto them after they had said they had turned them over. with president biden, at least what we know so far is that he has cooperated and that means a lots when you are talking about potential criminal liability. and just in terms of the investigation, do you know how long it will take and what we can expect from take weeks or? it will definitely take months, it will definitely take months, i wouldn't say weeks. once your point is special counsel he has to go through the motions of even hiring his own prosecutors, getting up to speed, talking to all the

people they want to, reviewing all the evidence and then making recommendations. so we are talking about much of the rest of this year will likely be, you know, two special counsel is under way.- be, you know, two special counsel is under way. 0k, thank ou ve counsel is under way. 0k, thank you very much — counsel is under way. 0k, thank you very much for _ counsel is under way. 0k, thank you very much for your- counsel is under way. 0k, thank you very much for your time - you very much for your time here on bbc news copy in brazil, president lula has accused the security forces of opening the doors of the presidential palace for thousands of opposition protestors who vandalised the building on sunday. in a news conference he said there was no evidence of forced entry. supporters of the former presidentjair bolsonaro also stormed the congress building and the supreme court headquarters, calling for a military coup. president lula described the attacks as a huge warning. authorities in iran have released a video showing what appear to be forced confessions by alireza akbari. a british—iranian man sentenced to death for alleged spying.

but bbc persian has obtained a recorded message from mr akbari in which he says he was tortured, and forced to confess on camera to crimes he says he did not commit. the uk continues to call for his release. rana rahimpourfrom bbc persia reports. this is british iranian alireza akbari, former deputy defence minister of iran. in this heavily edited video published by iranian state media, he appears to confess to working for mi6. but in an audio file obtained by bbc persian, he denies this. translation: they tortured me for 3,500 hours. - they broke my will, drove me to madness and forced to me to do whatever they wanted. although he was arrested before the recent protests in iran, the decision to carry out his death

sentence seems to be related to the uprising. the foreign office says they continue to support his family and call for his immediate release. iran has arrested several foreign and dual nationals since the beginning of the protests in september, including this belgian aid worker who has been sentenced to a0 years in prison. nearly four months of protests have left the iranian government more vulnerable and, as a result, more hostile. as usual iran's supreme leader blames the west. without access to iran, it's very difficult to get an accurate picture of what exactly is going on there. relatives of those who have been killed are under pressure to remain silent, but bbc persian is in contact with many of them. they sent us videos and death certificates of their loved ones. according to the oslo—based iran human rights organisation, at least 481 protesters have been killed.

the number of those who have been arrested is estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000 people. according to the state media, at least four protesters have been executed. despite the violent crackdown of the protests, demand for change is louder than ever. the people have simply rejected the notion of living under a multiplicity of crisis — social crisis, economic crisis, climate crisis, political crisis, complete isolation from the world. they just want to live an ordinary life and in their opinion, this ordinary life cannot be obtained for as long as the islamic republic are in power. the protests started with the death of 22—year—old mahsa amini in the custody of so—called morality police. protests continue both

inside and outside the country. some are calling for more support from the west. last sunday in london, they shouted, "iranians made their choice. hey, uk, hear their voice." rana rahimpour, bbc news. well, our news reporter azadeh moshiri joins us now to discuss this further. what more do we know about the british iranian you will national who has been sentenced to death? he national who has been sentenced to death? . , national who has been sentenced to death? ., , to death? he was arrested in 2019 and _ to death? he was arrested in 2019 and convicted _ to death? he was arrested in 2019 and convicted of- to death? he was arrested in 2019 and convicted of spying| 2019 and convicted of spying for the united kingdom, something that he completely denies. has family has told bbc persian that this week, they were told they could have their final visit with him and that he was being moved to solitary confinement. those are typical signs that thejudiciary confinement. those are typical signs that the judiciary is about to execute someone and we can say that because according to rights groups like amnesty international who track these

things, iran executes more people annually than any other country other than china. it's worth reading up what the uk foreign secretary has said, james cleverly. he said this is a politically motivated act by a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life. the foreign office has urged iran to release him and they've also tried to gain consular access. but the problem is each time that the judiciary arrests a dual national, they say they don't recognise dual nationalities in iran, and of course this is happening during an historic uprising when the government is trying to instill fear not only at home but also abroad. in that report there, our colleagues at bbc persian obtain that material so what are some of the challenges they

face when it comes to reporting that story and all things iran. it is challenging. they face abuse as they try to report accurately on a story where a lot of information is coming at them accurately and is difficult to verify but it also takes a serious emotional toll on them as well because, remember, this is their country which is witnessing daily horrors. they have family members, many of them in iran that they cannot see and go back to and it is worth seeing that difficulty from them rather than me sitting here, that the bbc is releasing a documentary called reporting on iran and they want to show you a part of an interview that was interrupted by technical

difficulties.— interrupted by technical difficulties. that was the toughest _ difficulties. that was the toughest interview - difficulties. that was the toughest interview of. difficulties. that was the | toughest interview of my difficulties. that was the - toughest interview of my entire careeh — toughest interview of my entire career. we did not know that we were _ career. we did not know that we were going — career. we did not know that we were going to get him. i had no idea _ were going to get him. i had no idea that — were going to get him. i had no idea that we might just literally five seconds before _ just literally five seconds before the interview the producer shouted in my ear saying _ producer shouted in my ear saying we have his father on the line _ saying we have his father on the line i_ saying we have his father on the line. ijust don't know what _ the line. ijust don't know what to— the line. ijust don't know what to tell him. what do you tell someone who has spent all his life. — tell someone who has spent all his life, raising his daughter to the — his life, raising his daughter to the age of 22, and is gone? over? — to the age of 22, and is gone? over? just— to the age of 22, and is gone? over? just for nothing?- over? just for nothing? thank ou for over? just for nothing? thank you for your — over? just for nothing? thank you for your time _ over? just for nothing? thank you for your time here. - and you can watch the documentary reporting iran: inside bbc persian on iplayer or on bbc world news over the weekend,

starting at 8:30 gmt on saturday. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: could this arctic town in sweden become europe's most important source of critical raw materials? day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. l huge parts of kobe - were simply demolished, as buildings crashed into one another. i this woman said she had been given no help and no advice i by the authorities. she stood outside - the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play,

the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news. our main headline at this hour. the singer—songwriter, lisa marie presley, has died in hospital in california. media reports had suggested that the 55—year—old daughter of rock—and—roll legend elvis had suffered a cardiac arrest. a russian mersenary group fighting in ukraine claims to have found the body of one of two uk aid workers who have been reported missing. the bbc hasn't been able to verify the claim. 28—year—old chris parry, seen here on the left, and andrew bagshaw, who is a8, were last seen on friday,

reportedly heading to the town of soledar in the east of the country. soledar is currently the scene of fierce fighting, along with the neighbouring town of bakhmut. the bbc�*s james waterhouse, who's in kyiv, gave us his assessment of the situation. the town of soledar and nearby bakhmut, a city, have become the focal points on the eastern front of ukraine. it is an area where contract soldiers, a private army called the wagner group, is doing the bulk of russia's fighting, and they are throwing everything at the town of soledar and bakhmut to try and achieve some immediate gain. we're in a phase of this conflict where they are throwing everything at it, at a huge human cost. and i wouldn't be surprised to see ukraine make some kind of tactical retreat to wait for russian forces to exhaust themselves, if you like. for now, kyiv is adamant the defensive lines are holding and they say the wagner group

are putting some of their best soldiers into soledar to try and make more immediate gains. the russians are claiming that it has control, but there are, as ever, conflicting reports in terms of the military significance. i wouldn't place too much on soledar. this is about a propaganda trophy for vladimir putin to present to critics back inside russia. the direction of the war i don't think will be influenced greatly by what we are seeing in the east. but the fighting is fierce and the human cost is great. that and the human cost is great. was james waterhous reporting that was james waterhouse reporting there. a swedish mining company says it's found europe's largest deposit of rare earth elements in northern lapland. it contains at least1 million tonnes of the minerals, which are needed in various high—tech products. europe is mostly dependent on china for these rare elements. tim allman reports. close to the arctic circle, in the far north of sweden, it lies the city of kiruna. they have been mining in all here

for more than a century, but now they found something else. this computer—generated map shows the existing mine. very nearby and named after a famous swedish scientist is the deposit, previously undiscovered. tons and tons of rare earth elements, or rees. what we can see today is by far the largest deposit of rees in europe. vitalfor our europe. vital for our transformation from europe. vitalfor our transformation from combustion engines to electric engines. there are more than a dozen so—called rare earth elements which have proven to be incredibly useful to the modern world. they have been vital to the development of wind turbines, smart phones and electric cars. but the problem facing europe is until now the main source of rees has been in china. this discovery could

change all that.— change all that. there is really a _ change all that. there is really a great _ change all that. there is really a great potential. change all that. there is l really a great potential for europe to now take the lead in the green transition. we can reduce carbon footprint and strengthen our competitiveness at the same time.— at the same time. none of this will be quick. _ at the same time. none of this will be quick. it _ at the same time. none of this will be quick. it could - at the same time. none of this will be quick. it could take - will be quick. it could take ten or 15 years to stop producing minerals for industrial use. but the hope is this discovery will eventually transform the global economy and help protect the environment. tim orban, bbc news. nominations for one of the music industry's biggest annual events, the brit awards, have been announced, with the former one direction star harry styles and indie rock duo wet leg emerging as front—runners, but close observers have noted the absence of women in the prestigious artist of the year category. here's our music correspondent mark savage. # holdin�* me back # gravity�*s holdin�* me back # i want you to hold out the palm of your hand...# gravity can't hold him back. harry styles had the biggest selling single and album of last year, and now he is up forfour brit awards, including

song of the year... # as it was...# ...for as it was. # hey, you, overthere # on a chaise lounge in yourunderwear...# also picking up four nominations are wet leg, the isle of wight band who burst onto the scene 18 months ago with the hit single chaise longue. we started the band and we just thought we would get to go to a few festivals, so to go to the brits and to be nominated, it'sjust... it's a bit more than we bargained for. # if i was an astronaut, - i'd be floating in midair...# sam ryder makes history. he's the only eurovision act ever to be nominated for best newcomer. that's bonkers. i truly had no idea about that. sometimes, like, the stats and facts and figures pass me by but i didn't know that one. that's bonkers. that's amazing! # ijust can't explain...#

but a year after the brits got rid of gendered prize categories, women are entirely missing from the best artist prize, with acts like stormzy and george ezra taking all the slots. organisers say female artists and female fronted bands do account for 42% of the overall nominations, with acts like cat burns up for multiple awards. the winners will be announced at a star—studded ceremony on saturday, 11 february. mark savage, bbc news. a reminder of our top story: the singer—songwriter and only daughter of elvis presley, lisa marie presley, has died. she was 5a. it's understood that her mother priscilla presley was at her bedside. she was last seen in public,

that was on tuesday, when she attended the golden globes awards with her mother. and that has been confirmed that the singer songwriter lisa marie presley has died. you are watching bbc news. hello there. week two of january 2023 has been another wet one, and in fact we are starting to see the signs of that. out to the west, there's been some localised flooding. this was carmarthenshire thursday afternoon. and through north—west england and parts of wales, some areas have already exceeded their monthly average rainfall totals and we're not even halfway through the month yet. now, thursday's low pressure continues to pull away. this little ridge of high pressure builds and quietens things down for friday until the end of the day — more wet weather waiting in the wings. so we'll start off with a northerly wind, driving in some showers on exposed coasts here. a narrow band of showery rain into northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england. but elsewhere we will still see blustery winds, but some sunny spells coming through and pleasant enough, mostly dry,

with temperatures peaking between 6—11 celsius. but as we move out of friday, into the early hours of saturday morning, we'll start to see more wet weather. and unfortunately, the heaviest of the rain is likely to push across those areas that have already exceeded the monthly rainfall totals, so that mightjust exacerbate any potential flooding. so that frontal system is going to move away and then a trail of showers tucks in behind. so it's a wet start for england, wales, for northern ireland, southern scotland. the rain pushes off to the north sea, a trail of showers packs in along north and west—facing coasts, but there will be some sunny spells into the afternoon. still mild in the south—east, with 12 celsius, but somewhat cooler conditions starting to kick in now across the far north. and that is going to be the tone into the third week of january. so, from sunday onwards, noticeably colder. we will start to see some frost and we haven't seen those so far this year. and, yes, any precipitation may well turn wintry because we're going to see that northerly flow.

and with any little weather fronts moving into that cold air, some of those showers could turn wintry even at lower levels, so you need to keep abreast of the forecast over the next few days. on sunday, we'll see some showers, rain, sleet and snow along north and west—facing coasts. a noticeably colder afternoon — just a couple of degrees above freezing in scotland, highs of 7 celsius further south. cooler with further wintry showers to come, monday into tuesday. take care. fear not only at home but also abroad.

this is bbc news, the headlines: lisa marie presley, the musician and only daughter of elvis presley, has died after being taken to hospital in los angeles suffering cardiac arrest. she was 5a. lisa marie presley was last seen in public attending the golden globe awards on tuesday to celebrate the biopic about her father. the usjustice department has appointed a special counsel to investigatejoe biden�*s handling of classified documents. earlier, mr biden told reporters that a second batch of papers had been found in his garage at his delaware home. mr biden said he would fully cooperate with the counsel's investigation. ukraine's military says heavy

fighting is continuing