| | | | | | | Hello. Today, the BBC is reporting from Iran for the first time since 2019, owing to a rare permission to work in the country. Carrie Davies has been speaking to voters in Tehran as they head to the polls for the first time since major protests that started in 2022. We have more on Alexei Navalny’s funeral in Moscow, where thousands mourners chanted “no to war”. More stories are coming from Vietnam, Sweden, and India’s social calendar. Sofia and I both achieved an honest 5/7 in this week’s news quiz. Can you beat us? |
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| | | | | AT THE SCENE |  Tehran, Iran | | Low turnout expected in Iran election |  | | The BBC had not been allowed to report from Iran since 2019. Credit: BBC | | People in Iran are voting in elections for a new parliament today - the first test of opinion there since a series of protests against the hardline Islamic regime. But turnout is expected to be low, with several blocks of reformist politicians boycotting the election altogether. The BBC received rare permission to report from a polling station opened to local and international media. |  | | Caroline Davies, BBC News |
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| Mr Rohani, a professor, has come to the polling station with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandchild, who is still a toddler in a pram. "It is people's own choice if they want to vote or not, but the people that don't vote are cutting themselves off from their own fate," he tells me. "They are saying, we don't want to decide the future of our country. In my personal opinion that is not the right choice, we believe that we need to be decisive for our country's future, that is why we vote."
Others view it differently - not voting has been seen in Iran as a way of showing dissatisfaction with Iran's authorities when voters do not feel their views are reflected by the candidates standing. Many are therefore choosing not to vote following the mass protests of 2022, which were triggered by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. But Vice President Manzoor said the country had gone "back to normal" after the protests. |
| | | | • | Into the night: Voting was due to run until 18:00 local time (1430 GMT) but has been extended and could continue past midnight. Read more on the poll. | | • | Catch up: What were the last two years’ protests about? Read our simple guide on the movement sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody, on 16 september 2022. |
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| Questions Answered | | Vietnam's fears of 'hostile forces' laid bare |  | | US President Joe Biden visited Hanoi in September last year. Credit: Reuters |
| | Vietnam is one of only five Communist, one-party states left in the world. No political opposition is permitted. It is also courted by many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who both visited last year. But in a leaked internal document from the country's highest decision-making body, the government also appears anxious about foreign influence. | | | | What's this document? | | The document, known as Directive 24, was obtained by Project88, a human rights organisation focused on Vietnam. It was issued by the Politburo last July, and contains dire warnings about the threat posed to national security from "hostile and reactionary forces" brought to Vietnam through its growing international ties. The document urges party officials at all levels to be rigorous in countering these influences. | | What can we make of it? | | Ben Swanton, co-director of Project88, says the document heralds the start of an even harsher campaign against human rights activists and civil society groups. He cites orders to party officials to police social media to counter "false propaganda", and be alert for people taking advantage of the increased contact with international institutions to stir up "colour revolutions" and "street revolutions". But not everyone sees it this way. It is "business as usual, that is, the continuing repression of these activists," according to Vietnam scholar Prof Carlyle Thayer. | | What does this mean for foreign partnerships? | | Some of the free trade deals Vietnam has agreed to, like the big one with the EU finalised in 2020, come with human and labour rights clauses attached to them. Vietnam has also ratified some of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) conventions, though notably not the one requiring freedom of assembly. But Directive 24 suggests it is reluctant to honour these clauses. | | | | | | |
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| | Your weekend listening | | | | Child soldiers and blood feuds in Sweden’s streets | | Sweden is struggling to contain the gang wars spilling onto its streets. With innocent people getting caught in the crossfire, the government has even recruited the army to help stop the violence. But is it too late? | | Listen now > |
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| | The big picture | | Counting the ‘Bitcoin whales’ |  | | The way Bitcoin works means there will only ever be 21 million units of the cryptocurrency. Credit: Reuters |
| | The price of Bitcoin is close to its all-time high, thanks in large part to US investment banks pouring billions of dollars into buying the volatile digital asset. But how is the digital currency distributed? And how much of it is lost in untouched wallets, or in hard drives buried in landfill? Our cyber correspondent Joe Tidy does some stocktaking. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Reframing the black experience | | The Time is Always Now is an exhibition exploring black figurative art. | | |
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| | And finally... in India | | Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, whose company Reliance Industries just signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Disney, is throwing a lavish pre-wedding celebration for his son. Anant Ambani, 28, is set to marry Radhika Merchant in July, and the gala in Jamnagar city is already a billionaire-studded affair, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, singer and entrepreneur Rihanna and philanthropist Bill Gates set to be in attendance. |
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| | | | | | | | US Election Unspun newsletter | | Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. | | |
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– Jules |
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