hello. the comedian russell brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse over a seven year period at the height of his fame.the details are contained in a joint report by the sunday times, the times and the channel a programme dispatches. mr brand denies all of the allegations. our correspondent lizo mzimba has the details — and his report contains details some viewers may find upsetting. over the course of the evening, some of my accoutrements could make their way onto your body. laughter in the late 2000s and early 2010s, russell brand was one of britain's best—known faces... announcer: russell brand! famous as a comedian and presenter on both sides of

the atlantic... i am famous in the united kingdom! ..even appearing in hollywood movies. 1 july 2012 was when my rape happened. it was in los angeles that he met a woman the investigation by the sunday times, the times and channel 4's dispatches are calling nadia. she says they had a brief sexual relationship but that, on a later occasion, he raped her. the women speaking out have had their identities disguised. he pushed me up against the wall. i'm like, "what are you doing?" and he's like, "i have a friend here and i... "i want you to come into the bedroom." i'm like, "no, that's not happening. "we're not doing that." and i tried to get away from him. and at this point, he's grabbing at my... ..my underwear, pulling it to the side. i'm telling him to get off me and he won't get off. and he has that glazed look in his eye again. i was very distraught, trying to get out of the house.

the following year, brand met a woman the investigation is calling phoebe. again she says that they did have a sexual relationship but that it had ended when she found herself alone with him in his house. and he grabbed me and got me on the bed. i was fully clothed and he was naked at this point and he held me down. i was screaming, and i was like, "what are you doing?", like, "stop. "you're my friend." "i love you, please don't do this, i don't want to do this." a third woman says she met and had a brief relationship with brand when he was in his 30s and she was 16 and still at school. she says he later sexually assaulted her. i was pushing him away and pushing him away and he wasn't... ..he wasn't backing off at all. and so i ended up having to punch him really hard in the stomach to get him off. and then he like, finally then he, like...

..moved, fell backwards and i was crying and he said, "oh, i only want to see your mascara run anyway." the allegations have been denied by russell brand in a video message. these allegations pertain to the time when i was working in the mainstream, when i was in the newspapers all the time, when i was in the movies. and as i've written about extensively in my books, i was very, very promiscuous. now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships i had were absolutely always consensual. what i seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations. the comedian, who achieved fame with his risque humour and who was once married to katy perry, is now facing the most serious of accusations. lizo mzimba, bbc news. russell brand went ahead with a scheduled performance in london on saturday evening. these are pictures of him on stage at the troubador theatre in wembley park during his sold—out performance, which lasted about an hour, after being delayed. the bbc�*s chi chi izundu

was at the performance. he thanked the audience. it was about a 2,000—seat—capacity theatre and he kept thanking them and saying that he appreciated them turning up. he did not refer to the allegations. the only, if you like, reference that he made was when he said, i want to do the best show that i can for you and i've got a lot of things to talk to you about, but there are certain things that i absolutely cannot talk about was the only thing that you could infer that he was referencing, which, as we know, he denies those allegations. he went on to do his gig for one hour. it was supposed to be a two—hour show, but it only lasted one hour. and then he ended the show and he got a standing ovation for a number of minutes. the crowd were clapping and jeering. they laughed throughout the show and then he left the stage. now, russell brand, this is not his only gig in the uk — he's got several coming up over the next couple of months as he tries out new material and tries to get back onto the standup circuit. and whether he appears

in those in the coming weeks is another question. the united nations says the number of people known to have been killed in last week's floods in north—eastern libya has reached around 11,300. it says another 10,100 people are still missing in the city of derna alone. meanwhile, survivors in the city have accused local leaders of failing them. and on a visit to the region, the head of the unrecognised administration in eastern libya blamed nature for the failure of two dams. 0ur correspondent, anna foster, is in derna. a landscape changed beyond recognition. a bustling city, now a wasteland. the destructive power of water has ripped the heart from derna. its survivors left wracked

with grief and anger. translation: we were told to stay inside our home. - why? they should have told us there was a storm, told us the dam was old and crumbling. some of these destroyed buildings were 100 years old. this man lost five members of his family in the raging current. one was his ten—month—old daughter. he shows me their pictures. first, alive, and then their bodies. this was what brought him here, a convoy of ministers from the eastern government, a convoy of ministers from the eastern government, one of libya's two opposing authorities. translation: fighting has decimated - fighting has decimated the country's infrastructure. he says it has proved fatal. i spoke to the eastern prime minister, osama hammad. how could this happen when the dams were supposed to keep people safe? "it was a very strong cyclone," he told me.

"too strong for the dams." here in the centre of derna, the destruction is total, and when you look down this valley, at an area that used to be filled with apartment buildings, homes, cars, thousands of people, with lives that have all been picked up and swept out to sea, you wonder how a city like this can ever recover. down at the port, derna's dead are still returning to the city. recovery teams watch the waves and wait for them. this morning, three more bodies were pulled from the debris but thousands of others, swept far from here, will never come home. anna foster, bbc news, derna. bbc arabic�*s mohamed taha joins me. let's focus on the pictures we just saw there of derna and the state of people trying to —

what? leave, stay, rebuild their lives, not rebuild their lives, trying to recover there right now? what's the latest? good morning. so, the city, as anna described in her report, became more or less uninhabitable. so, the situation of the clean water is not good. there is no clean water. the un is warning the people of drinking even the water from people of drinking even the waterfrom under the people of drinking even the water from under the ground, because it might be contaminated with bodies. also, the situation of the city, as we can see in the picture — infrastructure is destroyed. there is no electricity. there are lots of calls of relocating all the people who survived from this tragedy to somewhere else. the local authority is emphasising that they can

rebuild, but the international calls is preferring for the people to be relocated somewhere else. interesting. what do you _ somewhere else. interesting. what do you make _ somewhere else. interesting. what do you make of - somewhere else. interesting. what do you make of the - somewhere else. interesting. | what do you make of the calls there from some people that we heard that they should have had more warning? that they should have had more warnings about the dams? £31 have had more warnings about the dams?— have had more warnings about the dams? .., , ., the dams? of course - the local authority says — the dams? of course - the local authority says that _ the dams? of course - the local authority says that they - the dams? of course - the local authority says that they gave . authority says that they gave early warning to local people and they didn't take these warnings seriously enough. but the government in terubuli says there were lots of allocations to rebuild the dams and maintain the dams, and they are questioning where this money went. that's why we see that amount of devastation that happened when the dams were collapsed. happened when the dams were colla sed. , g , collapsed. interesting. just briefl , collapsed. interesting. just briefly. on _ collapsed. interesting. just briefly, on the _ collapsed. interesting. just briefly, on the aid - - collapsed. interesting. just briefly, on the aid - where | collapsed. interesting. just. briefly, on the aid - where are briefly, on the aid — where are we on getting that in to the people that need it? the world health organization _ people that need it? the world

health organization said - people that need it? the world health organization said that l health organization said that they sent 29 tonnes of aid supplies to benghazi, the capital of the east. but the problem is how to trans —— how to transfer these supplies to the devastated city. if i may say, the disparity between the number of deaths between 10,000 — the number of deaths between 10,000 - the un number of deaths between 10,000 — the un estimation — and the 18,000 or 20,000 the local authority are estimating lies on the people who were in cars, and the water took them to the sea. so, we understand that there are hundreds of cars of people who tried to flee floods that are under the water. aha, that are under the water. a haunting image. thank you. anti—government protests have been held in iran and across the world to mark the anniversary of the death

of mahsa amini. this is washington — where hundreds chanted slogans denouncing the iranian government and called on president biden to increase sanctions there. meanwhile in france — demonstrations began at place de la bastille. mahsa amini was arrested for allegedly violating iran's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab or headscarf. an un human rights expert said the evidence established that she died "as a result of beatings" by the morality police. the iran's state coroner said her death was a result of pre—existing medical conditions. amini's death sparked mass protests across the country — with women ripping off their headscarves and cutting their hair in solidarity. here's iranian—american author and women's rights campaigner masih alinejad talking about the demonstrations. i have to say that the flame

of the revolution is still burning in iran. right now that i'm talking to you, people, especially the youth, took back to the street because they believe that more than 700 people got killed, 20,000 of them got arrested and many of them got executed, so there is nothing to lose for the young generation in iran, especially women saying that the revolution itself happened inside our heart and we're not going to take a step back, we will end this regime. they want to have a normal life, they want to have dignity, they want to have freedom and the islamic republic actually cracked down on the protesters right now in the streets. over 500 protesters lost their lives during the mass protests in iran last year. incidents were captured on camera showing both police and militias loyal to the supreme leader firing at the demonstrators. omid moradi, a former officer in the iranian special police forces, has defected and sought refuge in germany. in an interview with bbc�*s jiyar gol, moradi sheds light on the pervasive culture of corruption within the force

and how commanders actively promote a brutal approach towards handling protesters. in response to protests that swept iran last year, iranian security forces did not hesitate to shoot. thousands arrested, injured and killed. many escaped the country. in the past few months hundreds of iranian protesters have escaped iran and to illegal roots found refuge in neighbouring countries, some of them managed to go to europe. i am on my way to meet a man who has defected iranian security forces and found refuge here in germany. near frankfurt i met to iranian silencing. one, a former member of iranian antiwhite police and another, an injured protester. crossing pats along

smuggling routes to germany. translation: out of- the operation room, i travelled on foot for days through many countries to reach here. it has been difficult to travel with the injuries. i told him not to worry. i will help you. eight years ago, omid moradi joined the iranian police force. he was trained as a special forces and deployed to tehran. in the police academy, we had religious and military lessons and we learned how to use brutal force against opponents. in september last year, this father of two and a construction workerjoined the protests near tehran.

ijoined the protests because the country's record —— fort worth was stolen by the regime's leaders. women and men are not equal. police local to the supreme leader use pellets on the crowd. tiny metal balls that lodge deep into the flesh. he was hit. a laser beam singled out my face. in a couple of seconds, i was shot. seven pallets hit me. unfortunately, two of them ripped through my eyes. when i entered the hospital, i saw many protesters with eye injuries. among them, the protesters as young as 13 and old as 70 or 80 years. police brutality goes unpunished.

when the police chief endorses the brutal actions of his commanders, it effectively grants them license to cause harm or even kill with impunity. omid frequently refused to carry out his commander's order to attack protesters. four years afterjoining the force, he was fired. when the protest erupted in iran last year, he switched sides. he joined the protests. but last october, he was arrested in tehran. while in custody, we endured both physical and psychological torture. the police went so far as to contact my mother, falsely telling her i was on the brink of execution. they recorded her anguished cries and played them back

to me in my prison cell. at that moment, the world seemed to collapse over my head. he said many members of the iranian police force grapple with moral and ethical dilemmas. turning to the war in ukraine now. two civilian cargo ships have become the first to safely navigate a maritime corridor to reach one of the country's black sea ports. the two ships have docked in chornomorsk and are expected to load almost 20,000 tonnes of wheat destined for africa and asia. the united nations and other groups have warned that the russian blockade could drive up global grain prices, putting millions of the world's poorest at risk. ukrainian naval ships have been defending the corridor since august after russia said it would treat all ships sailing to the country as potential military targets.

in other developments, russia's defence ministry has said it has destroyed several ukrainian drones off the coasts of crimea. in ukraine, the head of the region of kharkiv says the city has again come under russian shelling. speaking about the conflict ahead of the un general assembly, antonio guterres, said peace in ukraine was his top priority. the central objective is peace. but peace must be just and peace must be in line with international law. and to be honest, i do not think it is the general assembly, the conditions are met to have a serious dialogue on peace. i think the parties are far from that possibility at the present moment but we will never, never stopped our efforts to make sure that peace comes to

ukraine — a just peace, in line with the charter and in line with the charter and in line with the charter and in line with the national law. —— international law. the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, is expected to visit the italian island of lampedusa later. her visit comes after the italian prime minister called on brussels to take action over a surge in migrant numbers. earlier, dozens of islanders staged protests at recent arrivals. nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in italy so far this year — almost double the figure by the same date in 2022. wales has become the first uk nation to drop the speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 20. the new legislation applies to thousands of roads in built—up and residential areas, but not everyone agrees with the change. tomos morgan reports. from today, driving slower will be the norm in built—up areas across wales. but not everyone is happy. jane is a carer in

barry and drives about four or five hours a day and is concerned with the impact it will have on her. i’m concerned with the impact it will have on her.— will have on her. i'm afraid m self will have on her. i'm afraid myself and _ will have on her. i'm afraid myself and my _ will have on her. i'm afraid myself and my staff - will have on her. i'm afraid myself and my staff are . will have on her. i'm afraid i myself and my staff are going to bed thinking gosh, if we just take our concentration of that speedometer for two seconds, whether we have got a colleague in the car, whether the in car phone goes, are we just going to go up to 25 by mistake?— just going to go up to 25 by mistake? �* , ., ., ., ., mistake? are you aware of the national changes _ mistake? are you aware of the national changes coming - mistake? are you aware of the national changes coming in - mistake? are you aware of the national changes coming in in l national changes coming in in september? if national changes coming in in september?— september? if you are pulled over above — september? if you are pulled over above 20 _ september? if you are pulled over above 20 you _ september? if you are pulled over above 20 you could - september? if you are pulled over above 20 you could be l over above 20 you could be fined but the response from officers will be proportionate and reasonable. for the first 12 months they will be more focus on education with police officers allowed a level of discretion. however, when it comes to fixed speed cameras, they will operate using the current threshold of 10% above the speed limit plus two mph. although most roads in urban areas across wales will now have a reduced speed limit, every council across the

country have picked out exemptions — roads that will remain at 30 miles an hour. roads like this one that are busier with vehicles and have fewer pedestrians and fewer cyclists. over one third of roads he will now be 20 mph and these changes have been made according to the welsh government to reduce collisions.— government to reduce collisions. , ., collisions. every day, five eo - le collisions. every day, five people die _ collisions. every day, five people die on _ collisions. every day, five people die on roads - collisions. every day, five people die on roads right| people die on roads right across the uk and we know that speed is a factor in every single crash and also, we know that one in four fatal crashes involve somebody driving too fast so speed matters on every journey and the faster we drive, the greater our risk of crashing. g drive, the greater our risk of crashing-— drive, the greater our risk of crashinu. �* . , ., crashing. a last-minute dig to scrap the _ crashing. a last-minute dig to scrap the proposals _ crashing. a last-minute dig to scrap the proposals by - crashing. a last-minute dig to scrap the proposals by the - scrap the proposals by the conservatives was voted down in the senate on wednesday but the welsh government did say they would constantly review the impact of the change. mcreight one. the prime minister said it wasn't something he was considering but some trials are being changed in england. slower speeds will become the

norm in wales and a few years so for now, wales becomes the first uk nation to adopt 20 mph as the rule and not the exception. tomos morgan, bbc news. record temperatures for this time of year could be set in australia this weekend. a fortnight after the official end of winter, they have climbed around ten degrees celsius above average in central and southern parts of the country. australia is the latest country to report abnormal weather in what scientists say is likely to be the hottest year ever recorded. let's get more on this with phil mercer, who is in sydney. hello, phil. more records set default? �* , . . hello, phil. more records set default? , ., ., , hello, phil. more records set default? , . ., , ., default? australia is the land well use to — default? australia is the land well use to nature's - default? australia is the land| well use to nature's extremes but this unusual burst of scorching temperatures in the southeast of the country is really alarming so many people. in sydney, for example, five

consecutive days of temperatures of 30 celsius or above a forecast, 30 celsius is 86 fahrenheit, and in some parts of southeastern australia, the average temperature in the next day or so could be 16 degrees above the average and those concerns among the authorities are well—founded, given that heatwaves are australia's deadliest natural hazard. they kill more people than bushfires, floods and storms combined. bushfires, floods and storms combined-— bushfires, floods and storms combined. �* ., ., combined. and what about the olitics combined. and what about the politics of _ combined. and what about the politics of all _ combined. and what about the politics of all of _ combined. and what about the politics of all of this? - combined. and what about the politics of all of this? when i politics of all of this? when these kinds of records are set, but inevitably sparks conversations about policy and what to do?— conversations about policy and what to do? ., �* , what to do? you'll remember the black summer — what to do? you'll remember the black summer bushfires - what to do? you'll remember the black summer bushfires of - black summer bushfires of 2019-20 black summer bushfires of 2019—20 here in australia and an official enquiry into that disaster said that climate change had made conditions

worse. the enquiry also said that australia potentially was facing compounding natural disasters — that was natural disasters — that was natural disasters of, say, floods, storms and bushfires happening all at the same time or one closely after another. there was an election here in may 2022. that was called the climate change election. the new centre—left government of the prime minister anthony albanese promising swift action on climate change. so with what is happening here in australia and what has happened here in the recent past, and of course what is happening in other parts of the world, there is increased pressure on australia's left—leaning labour government to keep those climate promises, especially given that we are having an unseasonably hot spring and many australians are wondering what the summer will bring. indeed. thank you very much for that. let's stick with the issue of the climate.

the sea ice surrounding antarctica is below any previous recorded winter level — according to satellite data. the ice cover in the antarctic ocean is about 1.5 million square kilometers less than the september average. that's an area about five times the size of the british isles. polar experts warn that an unstable antarctica could have far reaching consequences for temperatures that's it. i'm lewis vaughan jones. this is bbc news. goodbye. hello. the weather story for the first half of the weekend was one of big temperature contrasts. it felt like summer's last gasp in the south east of england, 28 celsius there in london. compare that with a much more autumnal 1a or 15 in belfast and edinburgh. the second half of the weekend, i think, will be less about temperature contrasts and more about heavy downpours.

you can see all of this cloud swarming to the south of us on our earlier satellite image. those showers and thunderstorms will make their move during the day on sunday. in the north of scotland, the day getting off to a cold start under clear skies. further south, significantly milder. generally, a lot of cloud around away from northern scotland. some bits and pieces of rain for northern ireland, for western parts of scotland but then, we turn our eyes down to the south because this is the heavy, thundery rain that will be drifting across southern counties of england into wales and the midlands. we could see some really intense downpours. with a lot of rain in a short space of time, some hail, some squally, gusty winds could potentially cause a little bit of disruption. temperatures north to south between 15 and 23 degrees in most places. now, during sunday night, the showers and thunderstorms will drift erratically northwards across parts of england and wales into southern scotland, possibly northern ireland. here, a separate band of rain pushing its way in from the west.

so, plenty of wet weather around to take us through the night into the first part of monday. a mild start to monday — 11 to 16 degrees. so, through monday, we'll see this band of rain pushing its way eastwards, essentially scooping up all the thunderstorms and taking them all away with something brighter following on behind. still, though, with a scattering of hefty showers — temperatures 13 to 22 degrees. but that band of rain sweeping through is associated with a weather front, and that is a bit like opening the door to autumn because behind that, we see a run of westerly winds from the atlantic, various areas of low pressure moving through. so, on tuesday, expect some outbreaks of rain, some quite brisk winds, actually — particularly, i think, on the southern side of this weather system. temperatures of 1a to 19 degrees. and through the middle and the end of the week, we will see further bouts of wet and potentially rather windy weather, so it certainly is going to feel like autumn through the week ahead.

he was trained as a special forces and deployed to tehran.

this is bbc news. the headlines: british actor and comedian russell brand is accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse. the details are contained in a joint report by the sunday times, the times and the channel a programme dispatches. he denies the claims. anger grows among survivors in libya's flood—ravaged city of derna —

as authorities in the east of the country blame nature for the disaster. the united nations says the number of people known to have died has reached around 11,300. wales becomes the first uk nation to drop the speed limit — from 30mph to 20mph. the government says it'll save lives, but opponents have called it a war on motorists. and: record temperatures could be set in australia as hot weather sweep across the country — a fortnight after the official end of winter. now on bbc news, click.