my name is omid montazaeri, and i'm a reporterfor bbc persia.story is about a massacre that took place in my home country, iran. in 1988, the iranian government, led by ayatollah khomeini, ordered thousands of political prisoners to be killed. my father was amongst those killed. i was just two years old. now, for the first time in over 30 years, one of the perpetrators of the killings is on trial, a government official called hamid nouri. this is hamid nouri. he is the first member of the islamic republic ever to stand trial outside iran for atrocities committed in iran. protestors chants. less than 15 hours til verdict and everyone is so anxious. iraj mesdaghi was a political prisoner at the time of the 1988 prison massacre. an estimated 5,000 prisoners were killed. iraj survived. ever since, he's vowed to bring those responsible to justice. and, he just found out one of the prison officials, hamid nouri, was planning to come to sweden. iraj contacted lawyers who interviewed witnesses, assembled a case and tipped off the swedish authorities. he

the bbc persia hasjust spoken fire on a very big scale.has just spoken to a lawyer with the prison who is saying what he has heard, that the riot police have entered the prison, also that families, of course, of the prisoners are gathering with great concern over what is happening. there are reports that i've seen appearing talking about prisoners on the roof. it's unclear whether this is a demonstration perhaps by day and... into theirfifth is a demonstration perhaps by day and... into their fifth week, these protests, or something else has happened now, as i say, it is unclear. we don't have anything official from the iranian so far and very little from inside. people inside the prison do have phones. so if there is the possibility of them being able to speak and i think we probably will get a better idea of the situation relatively soon. before we discuss some of the other protests taking place in the country, what more can you tell us? it's described as notorious. yes. country, what more can you tell us? it's described as notorious.- i

i travelled to stockholm to cover the trial for bbc persia. accused of war crimes and murder. in the 1988 massacres, two groups of political prisoners were killed, members of an armed group known as the mujahideen, and the communists. the mujahideen had recently attacked tehran —— iran from neighbouring iraq. ithought attacked tehran —— iran from neighbouring iraq. i thought i was with this, muslim prisoners who refuse to repent... thousands of prisoners were killed, leftist prisoners were also executed. my father who was killed for being a member of a communist group. the defendant _ of a communist group. the defendant was _ of a communist group. the defendant was part - of a communist group. tue: defendant was part of of a communist group. tte: defendant was part of the admonishment of the prison, calling out the names, he was bringing them into the so—called deaf community who were eventually made the decision whether they are prisoner should be executed or not. he was a god and he was also bringing the prisoners to the actual place of wher

intimidation by security forces, the father of mahsa refuses to remain silent and an interview with bbc persia government account is totally false. the islamic republic has strict rules on what women wear in public. the morality police have been enforcing those rules forfour have been enforcing those rules for four decades. have been enforcing those rules forfour decades. their for four decades. their confrontations with forfour decades. their confrontations with younger women on many occasions have led to verbal abuse and physical violence. led to verbal abuse and physicalviolence. (screaming) anger against this strict islamic rules imposed on women was expressed at mahsa's funeral. we saw that in the cemetery women are throwing their scarves and it was as if, for the first time, the entire society was receiving women, showing this act, and it has taken a long time for women to achieve that. they have gone beyond their fear to beyond theirfear to communicate beyond their fear to communicate with the society and i think that was a turning point in the feminist movement in iran. ~ ., ., in iran

our correspondent from bbc persia has more. >> a symbol for the protest movement for not wearing thetory headscarf. she represented her country in south korea when she made what appeared to be a very public show of support for women back home who are fighting against the compulsory his job -- hijab. she then vanished from her hotel. there are reports that her phone was constant -- confiscated. then there was this post she posted on instagram. i apologize for getting everybody worried. due to bad timing and the unanticipated call for me to call the wall -- climb the wall, my head covering inadvertently came off. we understand she was sent home early. one theory is that the authorities wanted to avoid protesters gathering at the airport to welcome her. in 2020, hs umpire refused to cover her hair at an international competition. >> i was asked to apologize publicly on my instagram. >> she later sought asylum in the u.k. the biggest antigovernment protests in 40 years started after the death of a young kurdish woman in morality police custody for allegedly not wearing her headscarf prop

michelle: we are going to have to leave it there, from bbc persia, but thank you for bringing us up toth the latest on those female-led protests in tehran. meantime, billionaire elon musk says he was willing to buy twitter after all. mr. muska sent twitter a letter saying he would buy it at the agreed-upon price. the arrangemen could end a bitter legal dispute and allow the two sides to avoid a messy public trial that was set to begin in a couple of weeks for it for the latest, i am joined by our north america business correspondent samira hussain. is elon musk going to go through with this or not this time? samira: it seems like a giant u-turn. you and i have been covering this for a very long time, back in april of this year, he said he wanted to buy twitter for $44 billion, to when he did that massive u-turn to say no, i want to ctrl+alt+del that deal. and now he is saying, in fact, i do want to buy twitter. so it seems like he has basically made a judgment call in terms of the likelihood of him being able to win in the court of law later this month. remember, the trial was set to b

intimidation by security forces, the father of mahsa refuses to remain silent and in an interview with bbc persiat rules on what women wear in public. the morality police have been enforcing those rules for four decades. their confrontations with younger women on many occasions have led to verbal abuse and physical violence. screaming. anger against strict islamic rules imposed on women was expressed at mahsa's funeral. chanting.

injured, but this conflicts with what some of the prisoners inside evin prison have actually told bbc persiaunshots, there was teargas that was used against inmates, and that does match what we have been seeing in those videos, these large plumes of smoke, as well as gunshots heard in the background. now, in terms of the causes of these fires, there's also some conflicting reports. state media is saying that it was because of a brawl between inmates about riots within the prison. they've also said that it was because of a premeditated plan for prisoners to get out, but again the picture is not clear, and they do keep insisting that it has nothing to do with the protest, because, of course, they don't want to link all of this. now, given that it's evin, no matter what the cause actually was, it would have been a difficult experience for the inmates. this is a high—security prison, and the bbc actually spoke to anoosheh ashoori, a former detainee, and uk—iranian national, who explained how difficult the conditions are there. what i used to call it — the valley of hell. so, you can imagine the

are still getting sent to people like other media organisations include yet to limit including bbc persiae government is not able to quash that global scrutiny as you say. i remember in 2019, the last one and just when the crackdown was getting especially violent there was this deathly silence. nothing was coming out of the country. that is not happening here. these videos are still coming outjust like this prison but right now. absolutely saturday was was to be an internet blackouts and we are still seeing videos online and there is a great deconstruction on exactly the bbc news is going about verify those videos i do recommend anyone to take a look at that. the key very much. the uk's new finance minister, jeremy hunt, has indicated there'll be major changes to liz truss' entire economic strategy. mr hunt said mistakes had been made by the government and warned of what he called �*very difficult decisions' ahead. he suggested taxes could rise to help restore market confidence and also talked about spending cuts. mr hunt was appointed on friday after the prime minister sacked his predece

environment in the prison, but some of the journalists who spent time in the prison confirmed to bbc persiaaction took place, versus where they showed. a revolutionary guard news agency said that there was a prison break and some of the inmates tried to escape from the prison and ended up in a minefield, which is really bizarre. and they rejected that claim, but from the footage that we saw on social media, we see two objects, shot and fly from outside the prison into the prison and if you look at the trajectory, it is not something that can be thrown by hand, something that is probably shot and it is immediately followed by a sound, video of an explosion. renewed flood warnings have been issued for large parts of the australian state of victoria after days of heavy rain. residents have been urged to move to higher ground, while others have been told it is already too late to evacuate safely. the country's prime minister, anthony albanese, has promised help. by the end of today, over 100 adf personnel will be on the ground here in victoria, providing support with evacuations, providing supp

bbc persia's rana rahinpour has the story. laughter and giggling this was nika shakarami.araoke with friends. singing she was killed by iran's security forces a few days before her 17th birthday. singing she was one of thousands of teenagers protesting against the islamic republic of iran. opposition is growing. even schoolchildren have joined the protests, including this 14—year—old girl. translation: a lot of teachers do act with us but they don't dare to say anything. boys have not chanted any slogans yet, but they show their protest in some sort of ways, pupils are burning the pictures chanting and showing their middle finger to the ideology that has oppressed them for years. it all started three weeks ago with the death of this woman, 22—year—old mahsa amini. she died in the custody of the notorious morality police. she was accused of not wearing the hijab properly. with restrictions on reporting on the ground, videos shared online are vital evidence in understanding how things are unfolding. the bbc and independent media are not allowed to report from iran, butjourna

a source on the case toward bbc persia that she was told that her family's land will be confiscated if as a gesture of support for ongoing antigovernment protests in iran. the first wild bison for thousands of years has been born in the uk. three bison were released back injuly as part of a rewilding project in kent — but, unknown to the rangers, one of them had a secret passenger on board. jonah fisher has been to see the new arrival. 0h, she's she's like a ray of sunshine on a dark, cloudy day. it's thousands of years since a bison was born in the wild in britain. so, this is quite a moment in kent's blean woods. europe's largest mammal, once hunted almost to extinction, taking her first steps. she's a little ball of energy. and when she sees... when we get a little bit of rain, she starts sprinting around and it's, "what's this stuff falling out of the sky?" she's fantastic. she's doing so, so well. donovan oversaw the arrival of the first three bison in july. as part of the settling in process he brings them some extra food every morning. it's basically a little treat, but that is

environment in the prison, but some of the journalists who spent time in the prison confirmed to bbc persiactions of where the action took place, versus where they showed. a news agency said that there was a prison break and some of the inmates tried to escape from the prison and ended up in a minefield, which is really bizarre. and they rejected that claim, but from the footage that we saw on social media, we see two objects, shot and fly from outside the prison into the prison and if you look at the trajectory, it is not something that can be thrown by hand, something that is probably shot and it is immediately followed by a sound, video of an explosion. i'm joined now by shiva mahbobi, she's a women's rights activist and former iranian political prisoner. thank you becoming on bbc news. what have you heard about what happened at the prison?— at the prison? your previous guest soke at the prison? your previous guest spoke about _ at the prison? your previous guest spoke about what _ at the prison? your previous guest spoke about what happened, - at the prison? your previous guest spoke ab

environment in the prison, but some of the journalists who spent time in the prison confirmed to bbc persiae different sections of where the action took place, versus where they showed. a news agency said that there was a prison break and some of the inmates tried to escape from the prison and ended up in a minefield. which is really bizarre. and they rejected that claim, but from the footage that we saw on social media, we see two objects, shot and fly from outside the prison into the prison and if you look at the trajectory, it is not something that can be thrown by hand, something that is probably shot and it is immediately followed by a sound, video of an explosion. china's president, xijinping, has said his country will not renounce the right to use force in order to take control of taiwan. china has long claimed the self—governing island as part of its territory. addressing the communist party congress, president xi also made clear there would be no easing of china's zero—covid policy, despite its serious impact on the economy. stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. xi jinping entered

they are continuing in tehran and several other cities from the videos that are colleagues in bbc persiake the crackdown is getting more and more violent but it hasn't deterred protesters yet. he we were speaking a little earlier. the fire broke out in a derelict high—rise in leeds. a number of nearby pubs and restaurants were evacuated and there are no reports of injuries. elon musk says his starlink satellite company will continue to provide internet to ukraine for free, despite threatening to start charging for the service. the government in kyiv has described starlink as vital, saying it helped the country survive critical moments during the russian invasion. for more on this about—turn, here's stephanie prentice three, two, one, zero. ignition. liftoff. elon musk�*s starlink satellites launching in 2019 his bid to provide broadband around the world that a few years later would become critical to the ukrainian war effort. the company's 3000 stations in low earth orbit have been crucial to communications by troops for the past eight months as they monitor russian movements. but on fri

first obtained by bbc persia and verified by cnn, which shows she died from multiple injuries by big dated september 21. her family would not learn of her death for another ten days. meanwhile, both her mother and aunt said credible sources told them for days during that window, she was in state custody. the iranian authorities released this cc-tv footage claiming she died after being thrown from this building later the same night, in an incident unconnected to the protests. they made no claim about who threw her, and cnn cannot verify the person is mika or the day it was milfilmed, her mother said s is not her daughter, and it's hard to square this calm walk with the evidence of her being chased by police and detained a few hours earlier. iranian officials have not responded to cnn's inquiry whether he was ever in custody in the hours leading up to her death. what is certain is that she was a prominent activist that night. >> despite the government's warnings, still unclear whether the protests will indeed resume. >>> all right. this programming note here on cnn. join stanley tucci

nika's mom spoke out in a bbc persia interview. i was in contact with her until 7:00 p.m. to show she had burned her head scarf, and she said to her friend she was running away because security agents were after her. that was the last contact from her. according to her, nika's phone was switched off and her social media accounts deactivated. >> translator: at the morgue, they showed a body. they only allowed her mother and her brother to identify the face. they were not allowed to unzip the cover to see the torso. >> reporter: while the circumstances of her death remain unclear, human rights groups have documented the brutal force used against protesters. iranian security forces have dragged unveiled women by their hair with some also reportedly sexually assaulted, according to amnesty international. iranian state media released this cctv video that investigators say shows nika going into a building, possibly falling from it later. they say they've arrested eight workers who were there. authorities say there's no evidence the teenager was killed by police. prosecutors say

bbc persia's correspondent reports.n apology - international competition. lass asked to write an apology letter on my instagram and to apologise publicly and was given a list of things to do. publicly and was given a list of things to do— things to do. she later sought as lum things to do. she later sought asylum in _ things to do. she later sought asylum in the _ things to do. she later sought asylum in the uk. _ things to do. she later sought asylum in the uk. the - things to do. she later soughtj asylum in the uk. the biggest antigovernment protests in more than 40 antigovernment protests in more than a0 years started after the death of a young kurdish women in morality police custody. for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. human rights groups say at least 200 people have been killed and thousands detained. women continue to protest what ever the risks. the bbc is celebrating its centenary today. the british broadcasting company limited, a private consortium back then, was founded on the 18th of october 19

we can speak now to our bbc persia correspondent, rana rahimpour. thank you forjoining us.tly _ are shifting and changing? good morning, exactly four _ are shifting and changing? (limp. morning, exactly fourweeks are shifting and changing? (limp. morning, exactly four weeks since the death of matter and many, according to human rights activists over 200 people have been killed, thousands have been arrested, so many celebrities have come out to support the protests, and the violent crackdown, and protest have not stopped, i am joining you now from bbc persian service where my colleagues are getting ready to go on air in less than an hour, three hours earlier than usual, which has been the case for the last four weeks because of the intensity of the situation and what many believe is a historic moment in the life of the islamic republic. but to give you a taste of what is going on in iran, i want to show you a billboard that you see here, this is in one of the main squares of the capital, tehran. the poster you see has been erected by an organisation affiliated with the revol