afkari replies in the affirmative.ecurity guard. in a broadcast, the iranian state television also showed what appeared to be written confessions by afkari. but in a report circulated on social media, afkari said he was coerced into signing the documents. iran denies those allegations. human rights watch issued a very detailed press release which went into detail of the torture and how this conviction, which was obtained through coerced confession. so, we're satisfied, based on that and based on the work of other groups such as the centre for human rights in iran, that navid is innocent of the charges. afkari, who was just 27, was a national champion in wrestling. he was hanged following his conviction for the killing of a security guard during anti—government protests two years ago. the case sparked an international outcry. there had been many calls to stop the execution. the concept for us that an athlete who is involved in peaceful protest, who is convicted of crimes pursuant to coerced confessions, who has suffered

mr afkari's case attracted worldwide attention.porting bodies had campaigned on his behalf. india has reported a record daily jump in coronavirus infections for a second consecutive day. there were more than 97,000 confirmed cases on saturday. the rate of growth of new covid infections is faster in india than anywhere else in the world. the uk's defence secretary, ben wallace, has dismissed speculation that the british army could mothball all its tanks as part of the current defence review. it was reported last month that modernisation plans could see the army invest in new technologies, with a greater focus on cyber—warfare. here's our defence correspondent jonathan beale. the british army has just over 200 ageing challenger 2 tanks. as the government conducts its integrated defence review, there has speculation they could be mothballed to save money. speaking on a visit to the middle east, the defence secretary said the review would mean letting go of some old equipment to invest in new technologies. but he quashed rumours it wou

recently, president trump tweeted afkari's only crime was, "protesting the country's worsening economicuation," adding, "i would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man's life." the afghan government and taliban met today in doha, qatar, for the start of peace talks, the historic negotiations aimed to form a power-sharing government between the two parties and thereby ending more than 40 years of war. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo was on hand, saying the united states hopes for "sustainable peace and an enduring partnership with afghanistan." this evening, naomi osaka won her third grand slam title at the u.s. open. osaka, down a set, rallied to beat victoria azarenka in three sets, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, defeating the former #1 women's player in the world. it is the second u.s. open title for the 22-year-old osaka. straight ahead on the "cbs weekend news," counting montana. why census taking is so important and yet so dficu in bkyry. plus, college football's gridiron gamble. can players stay safe and save the season? soan providing nourishment with a very large side of human

olympic committee has expressed its shock at the execution in iran of a champion wrestler, navid afkaring his conviction for the killing of a security guard during anti—government protests two years ago. he said he'd been tortured into making a false confession of guilt. siavash ardalan from the bbc‘s persian service explained why the iranian government seemed so determined to carry out the execution. perhaps, one of it was a show of defiance, that we will not cave into foreign pressure, that we will not cave into the opposition pressure from outside. and also, let's not forget, in the past two years, iran has been faced with massive unrest, street protests that have rattled it. so, it serves it well to deter any potential protesters from engaging in these kinds of, let's say, security challenges. well, for those people, for those sectors of the population who believe the government's narrative and who support the death penalty in general, they've obviously supported it. but a large part of the iranian public, especially the repressed civil society, human rights activists, they've conde

olympic committee has expressed its shock at the execution in iran of a champion wrestler, navid afkaris part of a global campaign that had called for his life to be spared. in a statement, they said that it was deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and the action of the ioc in asking for navid afkari to be shown mercy, had been ignored. the headlines on bbc news... history in the making in doha as the afghan government and the taliban complete their first full day of peace talks. the afghan government has called for an urgent ceasefire. police on the greek island of lesbos fire tear gas during a protest by migrants who have been homeless since their camp burned down on wednesday. a leading scientist has warned that the uk is on the edge of losing control of coronavirus as infections rise. professor sir mark walport, a member of the government's sage advisory committee, said people need to limit their socialising to ensure children can remain at school and students at university. it comes as oxford university confirmed its clinical trial of a coronavirus vacc

navid afkari was put to death on saturday after being convicted of murdering a government worker.at is despite an international campaign to spare his life. iran state-run news agency reports the death sentence was carried out after the victim's family refused to forgive him and let him pay restitution. for more on this, let's turn to cnn journalist rahman mostagin. good to see you. >> good to see you, natalie. >> thank you. there is international outrage over this, and as i understand it, he was taking part in a protest when this happened. what can you tell us? >> in december 2018, he was active in the protests and he didn't deny that. but he was deported along two brothers from turkey while he was -- he received information he would be arrested, but unfortunately in turkey he was arrested and deported to tehran and in iran and ended up in a jail and in shiraz. now they seem shocked because despite all the attempts to spare his life, navid afkari's life and because the execution unexpectedly caught him by surprise, and to give you one example how social network users are feeling,

. >>> iranian champion wrestler navid afkari has been executed, despite an international campaign thats life. now he had been sentenced to death in relation to a murder that happened during a 2018 protest. iran's state-run news agency reports that he was executed after the victim's family refused to forgive him. now the executive director of world players association says he doesn't believe that's why afkari, pardon me, was executed. >> the concept for us that an athlete who is involved in peaceful protests who is convicted of crimes because he went to coerced confessions, suffered torture and then subjected to execution is just horrifying. this just goes to show that we have so much work to do. we were hopeful that sport would be more powerful than politics in this, but it seems that that's not been the case. >> cnn journalist joins us from tehran. given what was discussed there, it seems that almost the international campaign might have had the opposite effect. i know his family had said that they were outraged that they weren't even allowed to see him before he was executed. >> yes

enormous amount of international outcry, which is the execution of the 27-year-old wrestler, navid afkariung man who was engaged in protests against the government two years ago in shiraz. he was executed, he was hanged. and as you know, this occasioned protests far and wide, well beyond the usual places. the united states condemned it, the european union did, u.n. human rights did, the international olympic committee, the world players association. many of them saying this was really an extraordinarily brutal act. i want you to respond to the international outcry against this execution. >> well, thank you for asking that question. and moving forward, i think it is important to set the record straight. first of all, as you know, we have an independent judiciary. and the government is not involved in the decision-making of the judiciary. in fact, judges in the judiciary have their own independence from the center of authority of the judiciary. second point is, the issue about capital punishment is a livelily debate in the united states, in iran, elsewhere, whether capital punishment is goo

. >> the world players association is calling for iran's expulsion from international sport if afkari is executed. >>> so still to come here at cnn details on why astrazeneca is pushing the pause button on late stage coronavirus vaccine trials around the world. >>> and british prime minister is expected to announce new limits on social gatherings. details all next in a live report from london. only mask od? secret aluminum free helps eliminate odor instead of just masking it. and is made with three times more odor fighters. with secret, odor is one less thing to worry about. secret. unlike ordinary memory wansupplements...ter? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory... focus... accuracy... learning and concentration. try it today with our money-back guarantee! it's kind of my quiet, alone time. audible is a routine for me. it's like a fun night school for adults. i could easily be seduced into locking myself into a place where i do nothing but listen to books. i never was interested in historical fiction before, but i'm obsessed wi