this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories... iranian state television says the country's supreme leader has pardoned thousands of prisoners, including many who'd taken part in recent anti—government demonstrations. new cctv pictures of missing lancashire woman nicola bulley have been shared by one of her friends. the images show the 45—year—old in the hours before she went missing next to the river wyre, nine days ago. union leaders in the uk urge the prime minister to intervene in a dispute over health care pay. the biggest week of strikes in the history of the national health service is due to start tomorrow. the us continues to search for the wreckage of a chinese balloon —

suspected of spying — which was brought down by an american fighter jet yesterday. the former president of pakistan, general pervez musharraf, has died at the age of 79 — following a long illness. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei is pardoning a large number of prisoners, including some of those arrested during the past months of protests. the pardon by ayatollah khamenei comes on the eve of the anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979 — a date on which he regularly offers an amnesty to some prisoners. but the iranian state media says it excludes those facing charges of spying for foreign agencies, murder and bodily harm,

as well as the destruction or arson of state property. taraneh stone, from the bbc�*s persian service, told us a little more on what's happening in iran the supreme leader has agreed to pardon and commute sentences of tens of people who are imprisoned or who are waiting for sentences. the letter from the judiciary said that a considerable number of people who were arrested and imprisoned in relation to the recent protests are among these people. but, there is a long list of conditions for these people to be pardoned. one of those conditions is that they should not be linked to any spying activities, they should not be linked to any charges of corruption or waging war against god. as you can see, these are quite ambiguous charges as well, and people have been charged with these accusations for setting

fire on bins on the street, or merely processing. these are quite ambiguous charges. they are also, one of the conditions, these people have to show remorse, and they have to provide a written promise that they will not participate in the protests or take similar action again. that is what has raised some concerns among social media users and people listening to the news today who have said that this can potentially be problematic, and can potentially be a long process. it may even be impossible for some to be pardoned or released. here in the uk new pictures of nicola bulley, who went missing while walking next to a river in lancashire, have been released showing her on the morning of her disappearance.

police have said their assumption is that she fell into the river — and today many members of the local communityjoin the search to find her. a key witness, who was pushing a pram near where ms bulley disappeared nine days ago has come forward. here's danny savage. this is nicola bulley leaving home in the day she vanished. setting up on the school run putting her spaniel in the boot. herfamily today released these pictures to show exactly what she was wearing. for days, police have been searching for any trace of the mother of two young girls. today was no different. what did seem very obvious was the large number of other people out to. this is the bench where nikki's and mobile phone was found last friday. todayit mobile phone was found last friday. today it is dry and sending them in the number of people out along here is extraordinary, there are dozens and dozens of people along this stretch, along the other stretches as well, all walking the riverside paths to try and assist in the

search stop growing up she went missing in the same way, i would want... i would missing in the same way, i would want... iwould be missing in the same way, i would want... i would be expecting people to go looking. you know what i understand —— you know, do you understand —— you know, do you understand what i mean? i would want there to be a search party. if understand what i mean? i would want there to be a search party. iii it there to be a search party. if it was myself. — there to be a search party. if it was myself. my _ there to be a search party. if it was myself, my eldest, we both take the dogs _ was myself, my eldest, we both take the dogs out on our own, if it was one of— the dogs out on our own, if it was one of us— the dogs out on our own, if it was one of us in— the dogs out on our own, if it was one of us in that situation, i would hope _ one of us in that situation, i would hope the community would do the same thin- hope the community would do the same thing for— hope the community would do the same thing for us _ hope the community would do the same thing for us as well. and ijust feel— thing for us as well. and ijust feel everybody should be doing their part. feel everybody should be doing their part she_ feel everybody should be doing their art. ,, ,, ., ., feel everybody should be doing their part. she disappeared without trace. police believe _ part. she disappeared without trace. police believe he _ part. she disappeared without trace. police believe he accidentally - part. she disappeared without trace. police believe he accidentally fell - police believe he accidentally fell in the river, but it is the not knowing for sure which is keeping people looking. danny savage, bbc news, st michael's. the uk government and the health unions remain far apart on the eve of the biggest health workers strike so far in england. both sides remain deadlocked as nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists are among those set to walk out this week. our political correspondent helen catt has more nurses, physiotherapists

and ambulance staff have already held a series of strikes. the coming days will see more staff on picket lines in england as the nhs faces its biggest strike so far. a resolution still looks remote. one union which represents ambulance staff said talks about pay simply weren't happening. i can categorically say to you, we are in no talks at any level whatsoever with the government about pay in the nhs. what do we want? fair pay. unite members who work in the ambulance service in wales will also walk out tomorrow. four other health unions in wales have postponed their planned action after the labour—run welsh government offered them an extra 3%. a source in the uk government said unite had been represented at a meeting of several health unions with the health secretary earlier this year but acknowledged it had not met the union since, although it had met others. the government insists the door remains open. the business secretary said he didn't think the action was necessary. i don't think we need to be having these strikes at all. the reality is, as i've said,

overi million nhs workers got a pay rise last year when there wasn't one on offer. there's a pay rise on the table this year. the government has urged the unions to call off this week's strike action and get back round the table, but pressure has been growing over the weekend on ministers to be the ones to unblock talks. it is the government's responsibility. they can sort this. you know, the unions have said, even before this started at christmas, if you meet us to discuss pay, we'll call this off. 0k. we have seen, when proper negotiations take place, about pay, not everything else, they can stop it. as it stands, though, things remain at an impasse. helen catt, bbc news. the former uk prime minister, liz truss, has blamed what she's called a "powerful economic establishment" — and a lack of support from the conservative party — for her downfall in number ten. ms truss was forced to quit after her package of tax cuts caused panic in the markets and the pound dropped to a record low.

earlier, david gauke, former conservative mp and cabinet member gave us his view. i think it is a pretty unconvincing case, to be honest. the fact is that the government pursued a fiscal strategy, a tax and spend policy that did not have credibility. the markets took fright, interest rates rose accordingly. the pound fell, and the uk faced a real problem, a market crisis. that was a consequence of a reckless approach to the public finances. i don't think there is really an indication from liz truss that she properly recognises that, or recognises the errors that she made, and her chancellor made, in pursuing a policy that undermined market confidence. and there have been, since she left, and today they have come back, jokes about the idea of a left—wing blob, or whatever, in the various

economic bodies around the uk blocking this. is there something actually more nuanced and subtle here? would liz truss have any argument in saying that the thing she wanted to change and move, she just couldn't? there may have been some aspects of what she wanted to do, some planning that could have been economically beneficial over time but what we saw in the mini budget was a set of tax cuts that put the uk's public finances on an unsustainable path. it wasn't, if you like, left—wing economists or politicians, it was essentially the markets, essentially the people who were deciding who to lend to concluding, that the uk's position was unsustainable.

if you're going to borrow tens of billions of pounds from people, the people that you are borrowing from will want to be reassured that they are lending to a country that can be trusted, and that has sustainable public finances, so that ultimately they are paid back. that was the problem, it was a loss of market confidence that did for liz truss, and she should have been much more sensitive to that. there was no shortage of warnings for her, and rishi sunak, to be fair to him, throughout the leadership campaign in the summer, was making that point. if you go ahead with all of these tax cuts and you do not have a plan for how you are going to sort out the public finances, you risk a crisis of confidence, and that is exactly what happened. i don't think there is any sign yet from liz that she fully recognises it. do you think this is a useful intervention from liz truss for the conservative party? i think it is very unhelpful. it is unhelpful for two reasons, because growth is poor,

and we can discuss why that is, but because growth is poor, there will be conservatives who will say we should have followed the strategy, and for those who are less convinced by that, it sends an unreassuring signal that there are elements of the conservative party who still believe in a high—risk fiscal strategy. if rishi sunak is going to win the next general election, it'll be because he will have reassured the public that the conservatives are the only party to be trusted with the economy. more noises like this make that task much harder, so i'm sure he thinks it is an unhelpful intervention. i should just mention as well that those words united states' navy and coastguard vessels are working to recover the wreckage of a chinese observation balloon that was shot down off the coast of south carolina on saturday. the debris came down in shallow water and is said to be spread over a wide area. a pentagon official said the recovery would enable us analysts to examine sensitive

chinese equipment. china continues to insist it was a stray civilian weather observation airship. our correspondent in beijing— barbara plett—usher told me what the reaction has been there. we have seen reaction building to this crisis over the past couple of days, and now that the americans have shut down the balloon, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry protested quite strongly. they said it was an excessive reaction and that they reserve the right to respond in some way. having said that, we do know that the chinese were very much behind this visit that had been planned by the secretary of state, this was an attempt to try to stabilise the relationship to ease tensions, and now that is no longer happening because that trip has been postponed. so you did see some indications in the statement, especially from the foreign ministry

that the chinese may not want to drink this dispute out too long. for example, they said this was a violation of international practice or norms. they didn't say it was a violation of international law, which would have bound them some way, in their view, which would have bound them some way, in theirview, i which would have bound them some way, in their view, i think. which would have bound them some way, in their view, ithink. they also said that they were going to protect the rights and interests of the enterprise involved. remember, they have been saying this is a civilian aircraft focused on monitoring weather patterns, so that way they will probably continue to say that this was not a direct involvement of the government, which may also help them to try to ease off the tensions in some way, but definitely relations have worsened over this incident, especially now at a time when they were supposed to be improving with that visit that had been planned.— be improving with that visit that had been lanned. 1, ., had been planned. barbara, the same auestion had been planned. barbara, the same question keeps _ had been planned. barbara, the same question keeps coming _ had been planned. barbara, the same question keeps coming appear, - had been planned. barbara, the same question keeps coming appear, which | question keeps coming appear, which is why this has happened, why, but the motivation would be for china to do this if this was a deliberate spying attempt. we have been speaking to lots of analysts over the last couple of days, real

satisfactory answers get that question. satisfactory answers get that cuestion. , �* ., ., question. yes, i'm afraid i can't cive ou question. yes, i'm afraid i can't give you a _ question. yes, i'm afraid i can't give you a satisfactory - question. yes, i'm afraid i can't give you a satisfactory answer. give you a satisfactory answer either because it's an important question. we very much believe that the chinese wanted this visit to happen. the chinese government, if you look at the way the president has been working towards easing tensions with international community in recent months, especially with that high—level visit he had in november with presidentjoe biden which seemed to have gone quite well and these attempts to get anthony brink and to continue to build on that to sort out what they call guardrails, how they will deal with this relationship, even if they couldn't solve the fundamentals. there was a lot at stake and i think it was important for the chinese as well as for the americans especially for the chinese because they are facing tightening restrictions on advanced technology to match as the us but other countries as well. i think they went to at least establish better relations so they can deal with that in some way. so given all

of that, what would have been the value of intelligence they could've gotten from this balloon? it's not clear that there was a great deal of value from it. so the analysts here speculate, basically, that this may have been a mistake to me that there was some sort of mistake made at some level that this happened at this time. thank you to barbara for that. pakistan's former president, general pervez musharraf, has died following a long illness. he was 79 years old. president musharraf seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 — serving in office for 7 years from 2001. at the time of his death he had been living in exile in dubai, receiving medical treatment. 1999 and when troops stormed the national television headquarters to put him in power, the people of pakistan heard her a familiar refrain. ., ., ., ., refrain. the nation needed another leader in uniform _ refrain. the nation needed another leader in uniform to _ refrain. the nation needed another leader in uniform to save - refrain. the nation needed another leader in uniform to save it - refrain. the nation needed another

leader in uniform to save it from i leader in uniform to save it from self—serving politicians. in leader in uniform to save it from self-serving politicians.- self-serving politicians. in the ast, self-serving politicians. in the past. and _ self-serving politicians. in the past. and our _ self-serving politicians. in the past, and our governments i self-serving politicians. in the i past, and our governments have self-serving politicians. in the - past, and our governments have ruled the people. it is time now for the governments to serve the people. pakistan had already been under army rule for more than half the time it had been independent. the general portrayed himself as a modern moderniser to read pakistan of islamic extremism. the attacks in the us in september 2001 seville east tested his resolve. controversially, within pakistan, he decided to support the american lead military campaign to oust the taliban regime in neighbouring afghanistan. the taliban regime in neighbouring afghanistan-— taliban regime in neighbouring afuhanistan. , , ., afghanistan. the best way to fight this common _ afghanistan. the best way to fight this common enemy _ afghanistan. the best way to fight this common enemy is _ afghanistan. the best way to fight this common enemy is to - afghanistan. the best way to fight this common enemy is to join - afghanistan. the best way to fight i this common enemy is to join hands. he faced protests that he sold out to the americans. but later he narrowly escaped attempt on his life. challenges to his authority were put down with military force.

he later handed over control of the army, but the killing of the former prime minister in 2007 soon after her return from exile undermined president musharraf's claimed that the nation was safe in his hands. then his party was trounced at the polls and the coalition that came in decided to impeach him for his alleged misrule as president. musharraf moved first and resigned. he went into self—imposed exile. but to return to pakistan in six years later intending to stand in the forthcoming general election. but he was placed under arrest, a move musharraf described as politically motivated. allowed to seek medical treatment abroad, he was convicted in his absence of treason and accused of involvement in the assassination of bhutto. musharraf once said pakistan would help to shape the future for both islam in

the west and the relations between them. on that, they are would probably be little disagreement, but there are undoubtedly will be a fair musharraf's own contribution. pope francis' historic visit to south sudan has come to an end. he urged people to reject the "venom of hatred" and pleaded with leaders to find peace. bbc africa correspondent merchuma has more. 0n on his last day before departing, he was just appreciative of the people of south sudan being welcoming to him sending o——f south sudan for being welcoming to him, for coming out in large for coming out in large numbers to seek audience with him. there were about 100,000 people who came to thejohn garang mausoleum, where he is. 0n the last day, he made an appeal to the individual south sudanese people. while the previous day, he has been speaking to political and religious leaders, today he talked to the people and told them of the importance of each one of them making individual small steps, in whatever way they can, to help their country be better,

telling them as much as their political leadership is doing something else, each one of them has to be like salt, which he likened to the way it flavours food, telling them to just be the ones that flavour or bring peace in their own individual ways. maybe the people who will remember the visit the most will be those parents of the small babies that the pope picked out from the crowd, and blessed, the young children who were in his audience. i would say it has been a beautiful day for the people ofjuba. a british family are to travel to grenada later this month to apologise publicly for their ancestors' ownership of more than 1000 african slaves. the trevelyans owned six sugar plantations on the caribbean island in the nineteenth century. one member of the trevelyan family is my colleague laura trevelyan. she is a bbc presenter, and she spoke to our news reporter azaday moshiri in a personal capacity how do you make up for centuries of oppression? that is a question countries

like britain and the united states are still trying to answer. bbc presenter laura trevelyan is confronting her ancestors' own role in the slave trade. across the caribbean, there are calls for reparations. after she learned her family was listed on a database of slave owners, ms trevelyan visited grenada to face her ancestors' painful legacy. when i went to grenada and i saw for myself the plantations where slaves were punished, when i saw the instruments of torture that were used to restrain them, when i looked at the neck braces, at the manacles, at this system of dehumanisation that my family had profited from as absentee slave owners of the sugar plantations, i felt ashamed. the trevelyan family has decided to apologise. in a public letter, they write...

they go on... five times great—grandfather... ms trevelyan explained the impact her family's actions still have today. poverty is rife. there's a lot of obesity, of hypertension, of ill—health, which is linked to slavery, health experts, feel, because of decades of poor diet, stress. and so some people could see what you are doing and argue, you know what, this is a drop in the bucket. yes, i completely understand that this can seem like a very inadequate gesture, that our family

received the equivalent of about £3 million in compensation when slavery was abolished. we got that money in 183a. so for me to be giving £100,000, almost 200 years later, for a fund that is going to look at economic development in grenade and the eastern caribbean, may be that seems like it is really inadequate, but i hope that we are setting an example by apologising for what our ancestors did. herfamily is her family is doing the right thing, and they— her family is doing the right thing, and they are doing in the right way because not only are they apologising, being willing to make a reparations gesture, but they are doing _ reparations gesture, but they are doing it _ reparations gesture, but they are doing it in — reparations gesture, but they are doing it in collaboration with the reparations commission. also, very important. — reparations commission. also, very important, they are calling on both the british— important, they are calling on both the british government and the british— the british government and the british royal family to do likewise.

later this month, the trevelyans will return to grenada, and they will attend a public forum organised by its national reparations commission. that is where the island will continue to reflect on what it has lost after centuries of colonisation and enslavement. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. just before i go, astray from here in the uk. —— a story from here in the uk. it's official — peggy — a pug cross — has been named "britain's ugliest dog". her prize was a pampering session and professional photo shoot at a salon in beverley, east yorkshire. simon spark has the details. # ugly.# this is just part of an amazing transformation for peggy. from a dog that was once sneered at in the street to now being photographed for yet more celebrity status media attention. here we go. but she's here to receive her prize

after being crowned the ugliest dog in britain. good girl! peggy's here in beverley, east yorkshire, to have her photoshoot and makeover. she's getting a blueberry facial i right now, which is really relaxing and cleans her face really well and is supposed to— reduce tear staining. what do you think of her? i think she's really . cute in her own way. and for owner holly, a chance to reflect on a mad few weeks. it's been a bit of a whirlwind. it's been really crazy. a lot has happened really quickly. we'll see what sort of difference it makes, if any. i'm sure, she's great anyway, either way. but she'll love all the pampering. she'll love all this. shampoo and cleansing complete, time tojoin chester to have her blow dry. so we'rejust trimming round her feet there. and then the next stage after that would be a clipping of nails. and then we've treated her to nose and paw balm as well. i mean, it's probably not somewhere that she often particularly... no, not at all. but yeah, we're so happy to have her. yeah. and then it was time to try

on prizewinning garments, new jumpers and jackets. she feels a lot softer. she smells a lot better, hair's a lot more fluffy. not a lot we can do with the rest. # let me see beneath your beautiful...# so here she is, transformed and ready to face her public. simon spark, bbc news. hundreds of boats have taken part in a parade along the waterways at the start of the annual carnival in venice. the two—week event attracts tourists from all over the globe, with dancers, costumes and music lighting up the city. it was scaled down during the pandemic, but has returned to normal this year.

iam louis i am louis vonjones. goodbye. hello again. well, for most of us, it's been a glorious afternoon. plenty of sunshine around, and quite a contrast to yesterday's blanket of cloud that was across the whole of the uk. contrast that with today's satellite picture, you can see the extent of the day's sunshine, just really the far north of scotland that's had some thicker cloud to deal with through recent hours. and this is what the sunshine has been looking like in northumberland. bit of high cloud here, making the sunshine hazy, but a fine afternoon nevertheless. however, it has been quite a bit cooler. temperatures yesterday in northern scotland reached 12 degrees celsius in kinloss. today, well, around about four degrees celsius lower. but i think for most of us we'd take that change, given that there's been a lot

more sunshine around. 0vernight tonight, high pressure stays across england and wales, and so that will keep the skies clear. for scotland and northern ireland, some thicker cloud working in here will prevent a frost for many. just a few patches of frost in rural areas for east scotland, but the frost will be extensive across england and wales, i think in the countryside temperatures could get down to as low as minus five or so. so a cold start to the day tomorrow. but again, plenty of sunshine in the forecast across england and wales. scotland and northern ireland do have some thicker cloud and there might be an odd bit of drizzle first thing in the morning, but essentially a lot of dry weather and it will probably try to brighten up. some of the day's highest temperatures tomorrow will be across the north, ten in both belfast and glasgow. fortuesday, again, it's the largely dry day, but i think there's a much greater chance of seeing some extensive and dense patches of mist and fog, some of that lingering into the afternoon across southern parts of england and wales where the weather could be really quite chilly. away from that, though, some brighter weather pushing into western scotland, perhaps a few spots of drizzle crossing northern ireland and moving into northern england for a time.

now, wednesday, the winds start to pick up again. and so that should mean the mist and fog is less extensive and probably will be quicker to clear. there'll be a few bright or sunny spells breaking through, particularly to the east of high ground. temperatures, well, around about average for england, wales, but still mild for scotland and for northern ireland. however, towards the end of the week we get this cold front moving its way southwards. that's going to bring a change to sunnier weather. but with showers across northern areas and those showers in lerwick will fall wintry for a time. we are expecting a bit of snow across some of the higher scottish mountains. that's it for now. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines iranian state television says the country's supreme leader has pardoned thousands of prisoners, including many who took part in recent anti—government demonstrations. some human rights groups believe twenty thousand people have been detained over the protests since mid—september. new cctv pictures of missing lancashire woman nicola bulley have been shared by one of her friends. the images show the 45—year—old in the hours before she went missing whilst walking next to the river wyre, nine days ago. the united states is trying to find the wreckage of a chinese surveillance balloon, which it shot down over the atlantic on saturday. beijing has accused the us of an over—reaction. the former president of pakistan, pervez musharraf,

has died in hospital at the age of seventy nine.