iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, has led tributes to the former president, akbar hashemiani, who has died aged 82. the conservative ayatollah described his more moderate long—time friend as a companion of struggle, despite their differences. catrina renton reports. people come to pay their respects to the former president who died on sunday evening. his sons and brother leading the mourners. a television broadcaster broke into programmes to bring the news. ayatollah ali akbar hashemi rafsanjani was a dominant figure in iran's politics, particularly in the 1980s and ‘90s. he was born in 193a in south—eastern iran. he studied theology in the holy city of qom with ayatollah ruhollah khomeini and played a key role in the revolution in 1979. in the last year of the 1980—88 war with iraq, he was appointed acting commander in chief of the armed forces and was seen as the main mover behind iran's acceptance of the un security council resolution that ended the conflict. he had been a close confidant of iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei but his political allegiances late

reliable source of support for all those who worked for ayatolla h for all those who worked for ayatollah ali khameneiuneral of the former president of iran, akbar hashemi rafsanjani as it happens in thai run. —— tehran. in other news: a two—day strike by some of british airway‘s cabin staff begins at london's heathrow airport today. the strike by nearly 3,000 members of the unite trade union, is in pursuit of higher pay. up to 50 flights are expected to be cancelled of the two days of action. the airline says passengers affected will be rebooked a statement to mps later on the political crisis at the stormont assembly. on monday martin mcguinness of sinn fein resigned as deputy first minister, forcing the first minister, arlene foster of the dup, out of her post and raising the prospect of early elections. scientists have found that a drug used to treat alzheimer's disease encourages teeth to re—grow as well as repairing cavities. researchers at king's college london found that the drug tideglusib stimulates the formation of dentine, the material found under tooth enamel. it's thought the discovery m

the supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, will perform the ceremonial prayerfor the dead. e a show of force by iran's reformists and moderates who looked to him for direction in recent years. he died of heart failure aged 82 on sunday. the opposition—dominated venezuelan national assembly has passed a resolution accusing president nicolas maduro of dereliction of duty because of a failure to tackle a deep economic crisis. the symbolic move is aimed at pushing for an early election before mr maduro‘s term ends in 2019. his supporters have dismissed it as absurd. russia has called accusations by us intelligence agencies that it ran the gambian communication minister, sheriff bojang, says he has resigned his post in protest against the president's refusal to accept his defeat in last month's presidential election. yahya jammeh initially accepted the election results — but later reversed his decision. the communication minister says he's urging others to follow his example. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: how to toss away your christmas tree and have fun in the process

the supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, will perform the ceremonial prayerfor the dead. ow of force by iran's reformists and moderates who looked to him for direction in recent years. he died of heart failure aged 82 on sunday. mexico's new foreign secretary says the country will opt for dignified dialogue with the united states despite what he described as the considerable challenge for mexico in us politics. donald trump has promised to build a wall along the two countries‘ border and renegotiate a major trade agreement. he's also threatened heavy tariffs on cars made in mexico. the opposition—dominated venezuelan national assembly has passed a resolution accusing president nicolas maduro of dereliction of duty because of a failure to tackle a deep economic crisis. the symbolic move is aimed at pushing for an early election before mr maduro‘s term ends in 2019. his supporters have dismissed it as absurd. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how to toss away your christmas tree and have fun in the process. the japanese people are in mourning, following the death of e

iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, has led tributes to the former president, akbar hashemi rafsanjani, who has died aged 82. the conservative ayatollah described his long—time more moderate friend as a companion of struggle, despite their differences. blizzards and dangerously low temperatures are continuing to cause problems across much of central and eastern europe, where 23 people have died in recent days. dozens of villages in serbia and bulgaria are without power and water. now on bbc news, dateline london. hello and welcome to dateline london. two stories in today's programme — two stories likely to dominate the year ahead. first, the future of the european union as britain prepares to press the brexit button. and secondly, how far president putin and russia are steering events in the middle east and elsewhere, with donald trump perhaps in the passenger seat. my guests today are: greg katz of associated press. annalisa piras, who is an italian film maker. lyse doucet, who is the bbc‘s chief international correspondent. michael gove of the times, and who is also a cons

iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, has led tributes to the former president, akbar hashemisanjani, who has died aged eighty—two. the conservative ayatollah described his long—time more moderate friend as a companion of struggle, despite their differences. blizzards and dangerously low temperatures are continuing to cause problems across much of central and eastern europe, where 23 people have died in recent days. dozens of villages in serbia and bulgaria are without power and water. snow has even fallen in the greek islands. now on bbc news it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi. the so—called islamic state may be coming under pressure in both syria and iraq, but still, accounts emerge of atrocities carried out by them. the minority yazidi community has been amongst one of the most persecuted groups of people, living mostly in northern iraq. they have been killed, forced to convert to islam, and the women and girls have been held in sexual slavery. my guest is psychologist jan kizilhan, a yazidi kurd living in germany. he's helped bring 1,000 yazidi fema

saddam would give these radio broadcasts where he would just excoriate ayatollah ali khamenei -- khomeinii think saddam allowed him to come into the country and it was also around the time -- khomeini predates saddam because he came in the mid-1960's. khomeini was not really well-liked, he was disliked by the clerical leadership there. they disagreed especially on khomeini's view on islamic government. by the time saddam came into saddamone of the things saw in the clerical leadership in najaf was they could be played against each other. that is one of the trademarks of his role is that he was always willing to find people to fight each other and not fight him. me that once he had signed the agreement with iran and the shaw of iran, he saidnajaf had-- he said the shah wanted him to put khomeini under lock and key, and he told the shah, no, if this man wants to leave, that is his right to leave. that was around the time khomeini went to paris. had askedk the shah saddam to get this guy out of the country, which turned out to be a mistake, and i think saddam agreed to do that, to force them