this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. i anita mcveigh. the 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. 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. our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley, reports. 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. no one is safe. 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. 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. here's our political correspondent, david wallace lockhart, on how significant this is: number ten had been making it clear that they wanted to step up support to ukraine and that tanks could play a pivotal role in all this. this morning, a call between rishi sunak and volodymyr zelensky and the confirmation came out of that. 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 defending its territory that russia has come into but it is a significant step up. that being said, though, we are talking around 12 tanks, 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 this 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 in the west of the country where the site for the coal mine is due to be. climate capaigner greta thunberg has visited the protestors saying, "germany is really embarrassing itself right now". police have said it could take weeks to resolve the standoff over here's one of the environmental campaigners in lutzerath, luca scott, 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 and which people are 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 economic journalist, 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. you are watching bbc news. police in brazil have also arrested the former head of public security, anderson torres, over accusations that he colluded in the storming of government buildings in brasilia last sunday. brazil's supreme court also says it investigate the role of the former president jair bolsonaro the riot. 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. 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. 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 as part of a new plan by the government to tackle plastic pollution. sean dilley reports. quick, convenient and no washing up — but from october, if 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 andrew crook who is the president of the national federation of fish friers — who represent take aways as well as other businesses, andrew also has his own fish and chips shop so has personal experience of moving away

from single—use plastic. andrew, really good to have you with us. so what do you use for your packaging? we us. so what do you use for your packaging?— us. so what do you use for your nuuackain?~ , ., us. so what do you use for your wackain? ~ , ., ., packaging? we use packaging made out of su . ar cane packaging? we use packaging made out of sugar cane called _ packaging? we use packaging made out of sugar cane called bagasse, _ packaging? we use packaging made out of sugar cane called bagasse, the - of sugar cane called bagasse, the downside of that as it does have to be transported from china. as you can see, they look very similar. this is polystyrene, that cost you around two or 3p, this is around 15% d p around two or 3p, this is around 15% d p —— 15 p. so you can see there is an extra cost. for those of already moved this is fine, but for some businesses the extra cost will make a difference. 50 businesses the extra cost will make a difference-— a difference. so as all of the cost assed a difference. so as all of the cost passed on _ a difference. so as all of the cost passed on to _ a difference. so as all of the cost passed on to the _ a difference. so as all of the cost passed on to the customer - a difference. so as all of the cost passed on to the customer or- a difference. so as all of the cost passed on to the customer or do | a difference. so as all of the cost - passed on to the customer or do you absorb some of that cost? {iii passed on to the customer or do you absorb some of that cost?— absorb some of that cost? of course we do absorb _ absorb some of that cost? of course we do absorb some _ absorb some of that cost? of course we do absorb some of— absorb some of that cost? of course we do absorb some of the _ absorb some of that cost? of course we do absorb some of the cost - absorb some of that cost? of course we do absorb some of the cost but l we do absorb some of the cost but with all of the cost going up in the

cost of living crisis, this could be a step too far by some businesses. these do have to be paid for by somebody and that is usually the consumer. ~ somebody and that is usually the consumer-— somebody and that is usually the consumer. ~ . ., , , consumer. with increased costs, the cost of energy— consumer. with increased costs, the cost of energy and _ consumer. with increased costs, the cost of energy and lots _ consumer. with increased costs, the cost of energy and lots of _ consumer. with increased costs, the cost of energy and lots of factors - cost of energy and lots of factors that make up the cost of the fish and chips you sell, is that making a difference to the amount of custom you have? difference to the amount of custom ou have? ~ ., difference to the amount of custom ou have? ~ . , , ., , you have? well, trade seems to be holdin: you have? well, trade seems to be holding op. — you have? well, trade seems to be holding up. i _ you have? well, trade seems to be holding no. i do — you have? well, trade seems to be holding up, i do think— you have? well, trade seems to be holding up, i do think that - you have? well, trade seems to be holding up, i do think that we - you have? well, trade seems to be holding up, i do think that we were j holding up, i do think that we were quite reasonably well in the market, fish and chips has a special place with consumers as well, traditionally it is the oldest takeaway. so we are generally 0k traditionally it is the oldest takeaway. so we are generally ok but there's not a lot of profit. in all of these things do squeeze the profit margins. it makes it very difficult for an independent business to survive and get through this. ., , ., business to survive and get through this. ., y., ., business to survive and get through this. ., ,, ., ., _, u, this. how you going to communicate this. how you going to communicate this and how — this. how you going to communicate this and how have _ this. how you going to communicate this and how have you _ this. how you going to communicate this and how have you been - this and how have you been communicating this to your customers and what do you think other businesses you haven't already moved on to different types of packaging, what do you think they will have to do to try and sell this, if you like, to their customers? i do to try and sell this, if you like, to their customers? i think we have always — like, to their customers? i think we have always been _ like, to their customers? i think we

have always been known _ like, to their customers? i think we have always been known as - like, to their customers? i think we have always been known as leading j have always been known as leading the way in sustainability, obviously sourcing fish and things like that, i made the move a few years ago. but for some businesses, i think consumers don't know the difference. that is one of the worries because i think that these packages that look very similar will end up in the same place and will end up in the same general way is to be incinerated. i do think there is a bit of work to be done by government to educate people and by councils to tell people and by councils to tell people where they need to dispose the waist. i am supposed to be an expert and when i have pizza box at home i don't know where to put it. there is a lot of work to be done. when we do support things that lower the impact on the environment hopefully people will embrace it and i think that consumers would understand that this is something we have got to put into place and they will have to absorb it, unfortunately.- will have to absorb it, unfortunatel . ., ., . unfortunately. you mentioned earlier that this material, _ unfortunately. you mentioned earlier that this material, this _ unfortunately. you mentioned earlier that this material, this by-product i that this material, this by—product of the sugar cane industry, this is

currently coming from china, i think you said. so obviously questions around the relative carbon footprints?— around the relative carbon footrints? , ., footprints? yes, there are some few miles without. _ footprints? yes, there are some few miles without, that _ footprints? yes, there are some few miles without, that is _ footprints? yes, there are some few miles without, that is a _ footprints? yes, there are some few miles without, that is a factor. - footprints? yes, there are some few miles without, that is a factor. but l miles without, that is a factor. but shipping things isn't as damaging to the environment is safe, flying them over. i don't think it is too big an impact on the environment but it is a factor. they are good products, it does keep the food in good condition as well which is why a lot of shops use it. but it is just something that we seem to be moving on to. i do think that lettering and how to of waste the government needs to take up with consumers and businesses and we are quite happy to get the information out to consumers as well, i would love to provide my members with information.- as well, i would love to provide my members with information. thank you ve much members with information. thank you very much for— members with information. thank you very much for that. _ 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. drjessica barker, from the cyber security company cygenta has been telling me more. one of the key ways that they do this is referred to as 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 in the pin 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 pin, if you are using the same pen for your banking app, criminals will immediately try that. sometimes people also keep a note of their pins 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 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? you have a different passcode for your banking app then you have for your phone. people may want to consider using biometrics, face id or fingerprint id as 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 night out or a city break. consider whether you actually want your banking app on there. 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. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's 0lly foster. manchester city have slipped up and lost the derby. thanks to a contentious equaliser, marcus rashford was involved in that before he continued his great goal. 0ne city, two hearts, more thanjust red and blue, more than united versus man city, a clash of come cultures

and identities. hat—trick in the reverse figure, the premier league's top scorer, his early rebuttal rebuffed. marcus rashford is manchester united's ace. frustrations were boiling over for everyone in red. which made what followed in the second half even harder to wash. 0n the field for just three minutes, instant impact. for an hour, this was a derby without bite, without controversy. step forward marcus rashford, and of side but in leaving the ball and allowing bruno fernandes to score, was he active? the assistant said yes, bemusement followed. the referee said, no. bedlam followed. now we had a derby. complete with its comeback. nine goals at home in nine games now for rushford, equalling oh united record, nine

wins the united themselves. it is the result that changes their narrative in manchester that might just change the result of their season and maybe even the title. two teams, one city and very much still divided. that win moves manchester united up to third, a point behind man city, arsenal will look to capitalise tomorrow. if they beat spurs they will move eight points clear at the top. there are no goals as yet. brighton looking to move up if they win that one. could be a lot of movement around the bottom of the table but not yet because there are no goals. but looking at that everton and southampton game, both are in the bottom three and everton's board of directors have stayed away from that match today at goodison park because of what the club has described as a real and credible threat to their safety and security. they said malicious and

threatening correspondence has been received by the club and also, they have highlighted the increasing incidents of anti—social behaviour. including targeted physical aggression at recent home matches. after an impressive build up to the australian open, britain's cameron norrie hasjust missed out on a fifth tour title — losing narrowly to richard gasquet in the final in auckland. the world number 12 had won the opening six matches of his season but lost in three sets. he's now got a tight turnaround before his first match in melbourne on monday, taking on the french teenager luca van assche. it's the semi—finals at the masters snooker today, judd trump takes on stuart bingham this evening. these are the live pictures of the first semi. jack lisowski facing mark williams . you keep up to date

with those matches across the bbc this afternoon. you can follow us on the bbc website or bbc one, i believe. that's all the sport for now. new research suggests hormone replacement therapy, which helps control menopause symptoms, could reduce the risk of alzheimer's in women. the study found hrt was linked to improved memory and cognitive function in the 25% of women who carry a particular gene linked to alzheimers. the charity alzheimer's research uk says more studies are needed on a larger scale. simonjones reports. hrt, taken to help control symptoms of the menopause. but could the therapy also have another benefit? that's what researchers at the university of east anglia are suggesting. they looked at the results of cognitive tests and brain volumes recorded by mri scans and concluded that the use of hrt is associated with better memory and larger brain volumes among women carrying the apoe4 gene. about a quarter of women in the uk

are thought to have the gene, which is considered a risk factor for developing alzheimer's. these were associations, and they were done in an observational setting in around 1,200 people, so a relatively small sample size. but they give us great confidence now to say that this is a real effect and to go on and do the confirmatory randomised control trial which we're planning at the moment. this was an observational study, rather than a clinical trial, and it didn't look at dementia cases but cognitive performance. the researchers say it is too early to say for sure that hrt reduces the dementia risk in women, and one charity told me caution is needed. what do you make of this research? the results of the study are extremely encouraging but are the first step for further research. indeed, the study is quite limited in number, and we need bigger and larger studies with a higher number of women enrolled in the study, a proper clinical randomised trial that is looking at the effect of hrt

on a wider population. and more research seems inevitable, given the clamour for treatment for dementia. simon jones, bbc news. let's turn now to a new second world war memorial in the uk, focusing on some of the lesser known stories from the war, those of the thousands of caribbean service personnel who came to britain as volunteers. families of those who served at raf hunmanby in east yorkshire, hope to change this by creating a memorial to recognise their contribution. the bbc�*s leanne brown has been finding out more. the sacrifices made by british servicemen and women during world war ii are well documented and recognised. but thousands of volunteers who came over from other places like the west indies seem to have been forgotten. edwin samuels and gil marlaska were among thousands who made the journey from the caribbean

to england, serving at raf hunmanby, on the east yorkshire coast. family members have been campaigning for a plaque to be placed inside the war memorial gardens in filey, but the council we want this plaque really to serve as a reminder to all people of the contribution made to the war effort by people of colour. there are many young people today who simply don't know that their forebears came to this country long before windrush and helped in the war effort. alfred gardner was an raf mechanic who came over from jamaica and, after the war, he stayed here. when we went to filey, it was the first time... 90% of people had seen black people. so many lads. so many of us passed through filey. it is very, very important that people remember and, you know, there were beautiful days and there were rough days. the design of the plaque in memory

of those who served is ready, but it had no home until a local resident stepped in to help. i'm glad to say we've had a fantastic response from people all over the country, but particularly from people from filey, may of whom didn't know about this history and certainly didn't know about our campaign. 0ne lady in particular has come forward, and she owns property in filey and she has kindly allowed us to put the plaque on her property. and i can say it's going to have a fantastic location, just on the cliff path. the plaque will be unveiled in april, finally honouring those who crossed oceans to help britain. leanne brown, bbc news. now on bbc news the weather with susan powell. hello. through the past week our focus has very much been on the wet weather across the uk. 0n into the new week we will switch our focus away from the rain

to colder air flooding in from the arctic. chillier air has already started to slide its way south across the uk even through saturday daytime. but the properly cold arctic air still sits further north of this darker blue shade that will sink its way south late sunday in to monday, and our temperatures will plummet for a time. we still have the legacy of all of that rain to contend with. currently, though, numerous flood warnings in place, updates to that are available on our website. but some of the heavier and more persistent rain will shift away as we look at the second half of the weekend. low pressure still close by to the northeast is going to keep things windy through the evening and overnight. there's some more rain to come for scotland. and increasingly as the cold air digs in, we'll see that turning to snow, perhaps some snow across the lake district into the pennines by the end of the night. and there will be a risk of frost and ice, too, across parts of scotland. further south, thanks to the strength of the wind i think will hold the frost at bay. but gales for the south west of scotland and to the north of northern ireland, as i said, a frost for many parts of scotland. elsewhere we slide down the lower

end of the single figure scale. but remember that arctic air that still sitting away to the far north of the uk. so it will be showers of rain that sink across england and wales through sunday morning. many fizzling out. the winds generally lighter through sunday, but some showers still being carried in on the northerly wind to the far north of scotland. 0ur temperatures down on saturday. we're looking at highs of seven and eight to the south of the uk, just three or four across northern scotland. sunday night into monday, though, things start to get rather more interesting. the showers to the north become more frequent and then some weather systems pumping in from the south potentially meeting the colder air could set us up for some problems early on on monday, very cold across scotland, perhaps minus ten in the odd spot in the shelter, and then a couple of systems set to run their way to the south of the uk, into the colder air through monday and tuesday. look like they could be quite big

forecasting headaches for us during that early part of the new week as there is the potential for some snow and notjust on the higher ground to the south of wales and across southern england, we are certain of that is colder as we go into the new week.

this is bbc news. 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.