this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm annita mcveigh and these are the latest headlines: iran has executed british—iranian dual national alireza akbari on charges of spying for the uk — which he had denied. britain's prime minister calls it a �*callous and cowardly act�* the uk has confirmed it will provide challenger 2 tanks to ukraine during a call with president volodymyr zelensky. it comes as russian forces launched a series of missile attacks across the country including the capital, kyiv. climate activist greta thunberg joins protesters in the german village of lutzerath as police try to clear the area to make way for coal—mining. come here, protect life,

and fight for survival. as long as people are here, lutzerath stays. brazil's supreme court will investigate the role of the former president, jair bolsonaro, in the storming of government buildings by his supporters last weekend. takeaways, restaurants, and cafes in england will have to stop using plastic cutlery, plates, and bowls from october as part of a new government plan to tackle plastic pollution. hello and welcome. iran has executed a british—iranian man on charges of spying for the uk. alireza akbari, who was iran's deputy defence minister, was detained in 2019. he'd denied passing sensitive information to the british government —— and said he was forced to confess

after being tortured. the british prime minsiter rishi sunak says he's appalled by what he described as a callous and cowardly act. this report is from our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. news of the execution came on state—run television early this morning despite repeated last—minute appeals from the uk. alireza akbari is thought to have acquired british citizenship after investing here and to have lived in the country for several years. his brother told bbc persia he had been enticed back to iran by his former boss under whom he once served as deputy defence minister. the prime minister responded swiftly, saying he was appalled by a callous act carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for human rights. on thursday, state—run media in iran aired a lengthy, heavily edited video featuring alireza akbari in which he appears to confess to working for britain. but in an audio recording obtained by bbc persian last week, he speaks of the pressure he was put under and accuses iran of seeking

to take revenge on the uk. they tortured me for 4,500 hours, they broke my will, drove me to madness and forced me to do whatever they wanted to. for the past few months, iran has been convulsed by protests, sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody, mahsa amini. britain has imposed sanctions on the so—called morality police who arrested her for supposedly not wearing her hijab properly. it's also preparing to declare iran's powerful revolutionary guard corps a terrorist organisation. the execution carries a message both to the uk and within iran, where it may also be part of an internal power struggle. the iranian regime is passing a clear message to those who work inside iran and even those who work for the government. it is institutional revenge and a way to intimidate all those who can make a move, who want to change

things inside iran. but no reform is possible inside the islamic republic of iran. whatever the exact motive, his execution is a dramatic new low in an already tense relationship between iran and the uk, which is now weighing its response. caroline hawley, bbc news. with me is parham ghobadi from bbc persian. tell us more about that audio file which we heard alireza akbari speak, a little clip was played there in that report. a little clip was played there in that report-— a little clip was played there in that report. a little clip was played there in that reort. �* �* , ., ., , that report. bbc persian obtain this audio two days _ that report. bbc persian obtain this audio two days ago. _ that report. bbc persian obtain this audio two days ago. it _ that report. bbc persian obtain this audio two days ago. it was - that report. bbc persian obtain this audio two days ago. it was from - that report. bbc persian obtain this audio two days ago. it was from a l audio two days ago. it was from a conversation with his wife. he said he has been tortured for 3500 hours and that he spent almost a year in solitary confinement. he was totally shattered emotionally, he was not stable, he was given a medication and he wasn't sure what that was. he was promised he would be released,

he was asked to dye his hair and given new clothes. then he was taken to a studio and puts a gun to his head and was told, you have to confess to what we tell you too. the forced confessions that were released yesterday, he says he worked for mi6, he has been dealing with the british government and giving them intelligence. but according to the we obtained these were forced confessions under torture. , ., ., torture. tell us more about the uk resonse torture. tell us more about the uk reaponse to _ torture. tell us more about the uk response to this _ torture. tell us more about the uk response to this and _ torture. tell us more about the uk response to this and anything - torture. tell us more about the uk response to this and anything else | torture. tell us more about the uk| response to this and anything else i ran a saying at this stage. figs response to this and anything else i ran a saying at this stage.— ran a saying at this stage. as you said, ran a saying at this stage. as you said. rishi _ ran a saying at this stage. as you said, rishi sunak— ran a saying at this stage. as you said, rishi sunak has _ ran a saying at this stage. as you said, rishi sunak has called - ran a saying at this stage. as you said, rishi sunak has called this | ran a saying at this stage. as you | said, rishi sunak has called this a cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime. james cleverly, the foreign secretary has said that this won't go unchallenged. in response, iranians have summoned the british ambassador and said that the uk has to stop intervention into iranian affairs. the question is, that we know there are at least two other british radiant dual nationals held.

0ne british radiant dual nationals held. one of them also holds an us passport, but we don't know if there are more than that. is this because we know that the british government is considering to put iranians revolutionary guard on its list of terrorism. if this i'm trying to stop that from happening? rishi sunak has confirmed in a call with president zelensky this morning that the uk will send tanks to ukraine. the bbc understands the initail commitment is for around a dozen challenger 2 tanks. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent, david wallace lockhart. i asked him how significant this is. number ten had been making it clear that they wanted to step up support to ukraine and that practically could play a pivotal role in all this. this morning, a call between rishi sunak and volodymyr zelensky and the confirmation came out i understand, as you said,

we are talking about initially around a dozen challenger 2 tanks. let's remember initially in this conflict, the uk's military support was all about defensive support. now, number ten would say they still consider this defensive, it is about ukraine its territory that russia has come into but it is a significant step. that being said, though, we are talking around 12 type, we know ukraine think they need around 300 tanks to make a difference. although the uk is the first nato country to make a commitment, more will have to be done. we know that poland would like to send tanks but they need german approval for re—export which they have not had yet. ukraine will also hope that the usa will see two and make some sort of contribution of its own. so if other countries do follow the uk's example, then perhaps ukraine will start to get somewhere in the numbers it is looking for. the operation to clear a site in germany that's been earmarked for new coal—mining — is in its fourth day. police have clashed with protesters near the village of lutzerath where the site for the coal mine is due to be, in the west

of the country. yesterday, climate capaigner greta thunberg visited the protestors saying, "germany is really embarrassing itself right now". police have said it could take weeks to resolve the standoff over the coal mine expansion, which activists see as a symbol of berlin's failing climate policy amid an energy crisis in europe's biggest economy. earlier we spoke to one of the environmental campaigners, luca scott, before she went out onto the rally. new studies have shown that we don't need the coal under lutzerath to... yeah... to get enough energy supply. we are here fighting for global climate justice as i have already said and i think to face the current crisis and also the one in ukraine, the only answer is to rethink how we are living on the planet. and there can't be unlimited growth within planetary boundaries. and we need to rethink

how we are living here and which people are losing their lives losing their lives right now because of the climate crisis. we do have answers and that is why we are here and i am really sure i here in lutzerath right now, the demonstration starts at 12 and we are thousands of people. german newspaper die zeit�*s economicjournalist, jothungclaussen, expressed caution about taking a hardline against the mine. i think what this really shows the dilemma that the german government is in. don't forget this is a green minister who is in charge of this, ultimately. the economic minister and the minister for climate change. and he has described the cycle too, on the one hand to secure german jobs by making sure there is enough energy for german industry after the war in ukraine because there is an energy shortage in europe. and on the other hand, to continue the climate target so that 2045 remains the end date for germany to go carbon neutral. it's a terrible dilemma.

brazil's supreme court says it will investigate the role of the former president jair bolsonaro in the storming of congress. the violence was carried out by thousands of radical bolsonaro supporters who continue to claim that 0ctober�*s election was rigged. mr bolsonaro briefly posted a video questioning the legitimacy of the vote, which was won by his rival lula da silva. the bbc�*s world service americas editor leonardo rocha has more. this is a major step. what we have here is the prosecutors, they began an investigation on monday, the attack on the presidential palace, congress and the supreme court took place on sunday. on monday — on sunday and monday, they changed the tone, the government's tone changed, and they opened an investigation. many other people are being investigated. businessmen, officials. the question was always — will it get to president bolsonaro? was he involved 7 was there evidence? what happens now? prosecutors earlier today, they asked for president bolsonaro,

the former president, to be included, and they said there was a video that he posted online, and took out straight after, in which he said the elections were rigged. and that, for him, the head of supreme court, who is also the head of the electoral commission, said by saying that the elections were rigged, without proof, he was committing a crime, he was attacking an institution, he was attacking the supreme court, and he was attacking brazilian democracy, which is safeguarded by the constitution. china has admitted that there has been 60,000 covid—related deaths injust over a month, following the government's sudden decision to end strict pandemic controls. it's the first time beijing has acknowledged the much higher scale of fatalities caused by the covid wave sweeping the country. for weeks, officials have been reporting just a handful of deaths each day, figures that appeared inconsistent with the long queues at crematoriums.

more than 500 ufos have reportedly been spotted by us troops. a new de—classified us government document shows that the us national intelligence agency is now aware of 510 reported sightings — nearly half of the new sightings were deemed unremarkable — but more than 100 of them remain unexplained. you are watching bbc news. some single—use plastics will be banned in england from october. takeaways, restaurants, and cafes will have to stop using plastic cutlery, plates, and bowls under plans to tackle plastic pollution. it's part of a long—term plan to eliminate avoidable plastic waste in england. sean dilley reports. quick, convenient and no washing up — but from october, the government says it plans to ban restaurants and cafes in england from using some single—use plastics and polystyrenes. we've got a whole raft of measures on waste, trying to reduce waste in this

country, and this new ban that we're announcing today is just one of a whole raft of measures to really tackle this issue. ministers are planning to ban single—use plastic trays, cutlery, in 2020, single—use plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers were banned for sale and distribution. it's estimated that england uses 2.7 billion items of single—use cutlery each year and the majority are plastic. in 2020, plastic cutlery made it to the top—15 most littered items. england, though, is playing catch—up with other uk nations. wales approved similar measures last month — those come into effect later this year — and scotland introduced a similar ban lastjune. takeaway owners are concerned that new rules could add to their costs when bills are already high. campaigners welcome any move that reduces our carbon footprint and reduces harmful greenhouse gases but, for some, the government's plans don't go far enough. we're second only to the us

in how much plastic waste is produced per person. that means we're the second—biggest producers of plastic waste in the world, so we really need transformative change to happen. we need the government to be showing real ambition and taking the lead. we're actually looking for a 50% reduction in single—use packaging, which would lead to the kind of change we need to see. the proposed ban in england only applies to cafes and restaurants and not to single—use plastic packaging for food and drinks sold in supermarkets. the government says it's working on separate plans for these retailers to cover disposal costs from 202a. sean dilley, bbc news. joining me now is martin kersh who is the executive director at food service packaging an organisation which is a voice for the food service packaging industry. thank you for your time today. talk us through the practicalities of

this transition from plastic containers to a situation where a single—use plastic items and cutlery and so forth, we just won't see it any more. and so forth, we 'ust won't see it any more.— and so forth, we 'ust won't see it an more. . ,, ~ ., �* �* any more. well, you know, the bbc have been wary _ any more. well, you know, the bbc have been wary well-balanced - any more. well, you know, the bbc have been wary well-balanced on . any more. well, you know, the bbc. have been wary well-balanced on this have been wary well—balanced on this subject. talking to the fish and chip shop industry and talking to cafe is. in the course of your coverage, you have discovered one very, very important thing. that the cost involved in switching to alternatives is going to be passed on to the public. it has to be, because our hospitality sector in the uk can simply not absorb the cost. if we take, for instance, fish and chips for a family of four, you can expect that fish and chips for them will go up by at least 50p and thatis them will go up by at least 50p and that is not even taking in account any other things they may buy. it could be as much as £1 and for poorerfamilies of

could be as much as £1 and for poorer families of course, that is very disproportionately expensive. as the replacements though become more common, the replacements are single—use plastic, are we going to see economy scale? if more of them are produced or they become cheaper? not to the same extent. 0ne are produced or they become cheaper? not to the same extent. one of the reasons that plastic is used is because, obviously, because of cost. because it can be produced at much faster rates. alternatives can't be produced at such a fast rate and accordingly price is going to be more expensive. there will be some economy, as it stands at the moment if we were directly to replace the packaging which is being earned with alternatives. —— burned with alternatives, they would not be sufficient to replace it.- alternatives, they would not be sufficient to replace it. what kind of materials _ sufficient to replace it. what kind of materials are _ sufficient to replace it. what kind of materials are we _ sufficient to replace it. what kind of materials are we talking - sufficient to replace it. what kind of materials are we talking about j of materials are we talking about being used in these alternative products? being used in these alternative nroducts? ~ ., products? well, if we look at something — products? well, if we look at something like _

products? well, if we look at something like polystyrene, | products? well, if we look at - something like polystyrene, boxes which are useful fish and chips, kebabs, and which perform absolutely perfectly, they are brilliant. alternatives such as board or a material called bagasse which comes from sugar cane is much more expensive. and of course, it's not the uk looking at this, there is a global demand and inevitably these alternative materials are of course imported as well and that is another factor. this really does come as a cost, notjust to the public but it comes as a cost of the independent traders, the small retailers and to some extent, comes as a cost to the environment as well. because the carbon footprint of many of the alternatives is greater than the items which are being burnt. 0bviously, then a study has to be done to look exactly what the carbon

footprint of those replacements is. do you think as customers, as consumers, we are all going to have to get used to the idea of perhaps bringing our own containers, utensils if we want to go to the fish and chip shop, for example? it might not be the norm, it might not be the practice, but do you think thatis be the practice, but do you think that is the direction we will go in? well, the public do not want it. usually when a food service, take decides to go into you reusable is, they usually find a bit of uptake at they usually find a bit of uptake at the beginning and as the bbc reported this morning, from an excellent cafe in london fields, a trendy area of the young population, one would assume highly committed they found in uptake and then they found that the public using reusable declined quite quickly. the public just don't seem to want to. we may

have to get — just don't seem to want to. we may have to get used _ just don't seem to want to. we may have to get used to _ just don't seem to want to. we may have to get used to it _ just don't seem to want to. we may have to get used to it though. - just don't seem to want to. we may have to get used to it though. but l have to get used to it though. but not if it's a — have to get used to it though. emit not if it's a cost to hygiene, not if it's a cost to safety. the retailer must have the right to be are to inspectors containers and decide whether it is acceptable. you can imagine, if something happened to someone and they had an upset tummy. what issue be, the food on the container that the mumba republic brought in? we are not against reusable is but they have got to be part of a system and those systems don't come free and those systems don't come free and those systems use carbon. lats systems don't come free and those systems use carbon.— systems use carbon. lots of interesting _ systems use carbon. lots of interesting discussion - systems use carbon. lots of| interesting discussion points systems use carbon. lots of- interesting discussion points race interesting discussion points race in our conversation. from the food service packaging. banks are being caught off guard by the emerging and growing threat of mobile phone fraud according to charity the fraud advisory panel. it happens when criminals steal mobiles not for the handsets but to try to gain access

to the banking and financial apps on them. if successful they can then use those apps to steal thousands of pounds or even more. joining me now is drjessica barker, co—ceo of the cyber security company cygenta. i hope i have pronounced that correctly. thank you very much for joining us today doctor. how much is this happening?— this happening? unfortunately, we are hearinn this happening? unfortunately, we are hearing more _ this happening? unfortunately, we are hearing more and _ this happening? unfortunately, we are hearing more and more - this happening? unfortunately, we| are hearing more and more reports this happening? unfortunately, we i are hearing more and more reports of this. of cases where people are having their phone stolen, say on a night out, or maybe they are out having lunch, they are outside using their phone on their phone has been stolen when it's unlocked and then criminals are getting access to the financial apps on there as well. what do the criminals, once they have got their hands on a phone, say the phone is locked and needs a pass code or so on, some otherform of getting into the phone. what are the criminals then doing to get to the

data? .. ~' , criminals then doing to get to the data? ., ~ , ._ , . , data? one of the key ways that they do this is referred _ data? one of the key ways that they do this is referred to _ data? one of the key ways that they do this is referred to shoulder- do this is referred to shoulder surfing. if we are out in public, say public transport, a busy bar or cafe and we are going into iphone, putting in our pin, what we find is criminals looking over our shoulders watching us put on the pain and when they steal the phone they already have the pin that we use for it. what we find is that a lot of people use the same pin that they log into their phone with for the banking app. so when they have that first then, if you are using the same pen for your banking app, criminals will immediately try that. sometimes people also keep a note of their pens on their phone, say in the notes app. this is something that criminals will search for once they have a phone and access to it. so a art have a phone and access to it. so apart from having different passcodes for different functions, different apps within the phone and not keeping your passcodes somewhere in the phone, what else can we as

the public do to stop this happening?— the public do to stop this happening? the public do to stop this ha-neninn? , . .. , happening? they are two very important _ happening? they are two very important points, _ happening? they are two very important points, at - happening? they are two very important points, at the - happening? they are two very - important points, at the minimum make sure you have a different passcodes for your banking app then you have for your phone. people may want to consider using biometrics, face id orfingerprint id is a way of getting into their phone, because obviously a criminal can't use that. but behind biometrics there is still a pen or a pass code, so you will have still per opinion for when your phone doesn't recognise your face, so make sure you are using separate pins for those. be wary of your circumstances, if you are out and about on your phone, unfortunately we are seeing more scams where someone will come up to someone using their phone, they will try and distract them and steal the phone from them when it is unlocked. i would also recommend, if people are going out for a busy night, they know they are going to have a big

banking up on the. maybe you would take your banking app off if you are going to a busy city may be when you don't know very well and just have it on a device that hope and then you could always put the banking app back on when you are back at home in more familiar surroundings. thank ou, from more familiar surroundings. thank you. from the _ more familiar surroundings. thank you, from the cyber _ more familiar surroundings. thank you, from the cyber security - you, from the cyber security company. thank you very much. pressure is mounting on us presidentjoe biden to give further details about the classified documents found at his delaware home and a washington office he once used. an independent lawyer, or special counsel, has been appointed by the justice department to investigate whether these papers were mishandled. mr biden has said he does not know what's in the recovered papers. joining me now is richard painter, law professor at university of minnesota and former chief white house ethics lawyer for president george w bush. professor, thank you very much for your time. and just your broader view on what has happened, first of all. it has happened again, we saw it with donald trump and now it we

had seen it with president biden. the classified documents were clearly mishandled, capped in places where they were not allowed to be kept. with people who did not have security clearance to see them. that includes the setter that they had the former vice president. the fact that they were mishandled doesn't necessarily mean that a crime was committed. in order to commit a crime, one must intentionally remove the documents or intentionally hold onto them knowing one has them, refused to give them back when asked or lie about having them to the government. now, thus far we don't see evidence that that is what happened. instead it looks likejust extreme right —— recklessness by the people packing these documents away.

and recklessness on the part of the president himself at his house, going through the documents he had dared —— dared to make sure he didn't have anything he shouldn't. are the systems in place to prevent this happening, and have those systems changed at all since the time when you are working on the george w bush white house? time when you are working on the george w bush white house? clearly the s stems george w bush white house? clearly the systems are _ george w bush white house? clearly the systems are inadequate - george w bush white house? clearly the systems are inadequate to - the systems are inadequate to prevent the leaking of classified, or the removal of classified documents. they should have a system for keeping track of all of the copies of classified documents. they should have a number on them. and the government should keep track of where each copy is. so, if it is missing they could ask questions and retrieve it. if the boxes are packed up retrieve it. if the boxes are packed up in the vice president's office and shipped off to the university of pennsylvania, they should have figured out in a week or two that

something is missing and go over there and get it back. apparently that never happened. pare there and get it back. apparently that never happened. are essentially trackin: that never happened. are essentially tracking data — that never happened. are essentially tracking data at _ that never happened. are essentially tracking data at all _ that never happened. are essentially tracking data at all time _ that never happened. are essentially tracking data at all time for - that never happened. are essentially tracking data at all time for these - tracking data at all time for these classified documents. how damaging is this politically for president biden? , . . , , , biden? let see what happened. they did the right — biden? let see what happened. they did the right thing _ biden? let see what happened. they did the right thing by _ biden? let see what happened. they did the right thing by appointing - biden? let see what happened. they did the right thing by appointing a i did the right thing by appointing a special counsel to investigate theirs. they also need to protect theirs. they also need to protect the national security by finding out, to the best they can, who has been an out of the building buildings where these documents were stored. the president's home, they had been there for six years and also the biden centre run by the university of pennsylvania, which itself has raised tens of millions dollars for the chinese, not for the biden centre but further operations and had all sorts of things meet coming in and out of the. we need to find out who has been in and out of the biden centre where the office was capped to see if there has been

a serious compromise of national intelligence. a serious compromise of national intelligence-— a serious compromise of national intelligence. professor, thank you ve much intelligence. professor, thank you very much for— intelligence. professor, thank you very much forjoining _ intelligence. professor, thank you very much forjoining us _ intelligence. professor, thank you very much forjoining us today. i very much forjoining us today. thank you. now on bbc news the weather, with matt taylor. hello. compared to the grey conditions most woke up to this morning, a bit more sunshine around almost uk—wide. but we'll still feel the effects of last night's rain, and flood warnings continue to go up in some areas. the bbc weather website has all the latest details. and if you're on the move, bbc sounds to find your bbc local radio station, they'll keep you up to daate. they'll keep you up to date. it's this area of low pressure responsible. the main rain—bearing weather front moving eastwards, but we still have a hang—back of rain through 0rkney this afternoon and showers, and some longer spells of rain and hill snow pushing in to western scotland and northern ireland. in east anglia and south—east of the channel islands, it may take until maybe late afternoon to see any glimpses of sunshine. staying a bit wetter here for longer. but for all, temperatures actually dropping relative to this morning. around 5—11 c through the afternoon. the strong winds in the south

will start to ease a little bit, but they will pick up across some parts of northern ireland and south—west scotland, and we could see gusts of a0 to 50 mph here, if not a bit more, to end the day and to go into the night. and it's here where as winds start to go more northerly, it will bring rain into more sleet and snow territory across parts of northern scotland. and this band of rain — across northern ireland, into northern england and, eventually, north wales — will have some sleet and snow in the hills as well. north of it, the risk of frost and certainly some ice. all of us, a colder night than last night. so, as we go into sunday, a change is afoot. colder weather for all. the real coldest air — the darker blue colours here — waiting in the wings to push their way southwards through sunday night and into monday. it's to the north of this zone of cloud and outbreaks of rain, and also, hill, sleet and snow which arrive through parts of wales, the midlands and east anglia through the day. south of it, sunshine, a few showers, more of a westerly wind to the north of it. a northerly wind making it feel increasingly chilly. lots of sunshine around, but frequent snow showers in the north of scotland and a sub—zero wind

chill to go with it. as you go, then, into sunday night, a bank of rain — as it pushes through the english channel — could turn to sleet and snow in the south—east. but northern england, northern ireland most likely to see a covering of snow as we start monday morning. but across the board, very cold start to monday morning. maybe as low as —8 through parts of scotland. and that risk of frost and ice, which will be with us for a time next week, with that colder air in place. and there will be a chance of snow in places. frost and ice the most widespread risk. temperatures, you can see, in the capital cities staying in the mid, if not lower, single figures. rising, with some rain returning later in the week. this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh and these are the headlines: iranian state media says british—iranian dual national alireza akbari has been executed on charges of spying for the uk — which he had denied. britain's prime minister calls it a �*callous and cowardly act�* the uk has confirmed it

will provide challenger 2 tanks to ukraine during a call with president volodymyr zelensky. it comes as russian forces launched a series of missile attacks across the country including the capital, kyiv. climate activist greta thunberg joins protesters in the german village of lutzerath as police try to clear the area to make way for coal—mining. it's the fourth day of officers trying to forcibly remove demonstrators. they say they don't plan to leave. and takeaways, restaurants, and cafes in england will have to stop using plastic cutlery, plates, and bowls from october as part of a new government plan to tackle plastic pollution. you're watching bbc news. now, global questions comes from sri lanka, as some experts warn that rising costs mean the worst civil unrest is yet to come in more than half the world's countries. welcome to global questions with me, zeinab badawi, from the heart of sri lanka's capital, colombo.