live from washington. this is bbc news. girls at schools across iran are taken to hospital after another outbreak of apparent gas poisoning. crowds in israel remember the victims of a spate of attacks on civilians — amid a worsening security situation and political unrest. and coming up — reaction to the uncertainty about access to a widely used abortion pill in the united states after conflicting court rulings. hello, i'm carl nasman. we start in iran — where local media are reporting that dozens more girls have been poisoned in suspected gas

attacks on iranian schools. bbc persian�*s parham ghobadi has the latest. six cities across iran were targeted and in some of the cities, multiple schools were attacked. we started receiving videos from the city of qom, which is the iranian vatican. parents are furious, they're talking to officials, they're shouting at them, there are scenes of chaos and horror. in other cities, we have obtained videos from hospitals where parents are picking up a girl student who has fainted on the floor, other students are crying, gasping for breath on hospital beds, and we have reports in the northwestern town of ardabil and also in the southern kurdish town in western iran, the hospitals are packed with schoolgirls. reports of poisonings are frequent. no girls have died, but dozens have suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue. at the beginning of this month, bbc reality check looked into this, reporting "more than 1,000 iranian students, "mostly schoolgirls have fallen ill over

"the past three months." the first known case was recorded in november, in the city of qom. and it's spread to a number of other provinces, including the capital, tehran. the bbc has analysed dozens of videos posted to social media and has verified many of the school locations filmed. iran's parliament says it's investigating. but the chief of that investigation blamed iranian students. "we call on students to be more careful. "these incidents take place partly because "they are mischevious," he said. some speculate whether the schoolgirls are being poisoned as "payback" for their role in these anti—government protests. but there are no actual answers. here's parham ghobadi again. iranian parents are really furious, because the authorities have not given them any clear explanation. they said they have made some arrests, but they are not being really clear that who are these people that have been arrested and what is their intention. that's why it is raising

suspicion that iranian hardliners, religious hardliners might be behind these attacks, which kind of links it to the iranian protests, because as you remember, iranian girls, especially at the schools who are at the forefront of the protests, calling to an end for mandatory hijab in iran. so they think that iranian hardliners are taking their revenge on the schoolgirls. now in another worrying development in iran, authorities have announced they will be installing smart cameras in public places to identify women who are unveiled, and not observing the country's strict dress code. for more on that, here's azadeh moshiri. the mandatory hijab has been at the centre of protests in iran ever since 22—year—old mahsa amini died in police custody after she was arrested for violating the country's strict dress code. now, it led to protests around the world and across the country. it even led to some women burning their veils during those very same protests.

but it also led to something else — women developed a lax attitude towards the mandatory hijab. it wasn't unusual to go to a big city in iran like tehran, the capital, and see several women walking around the streets unveiled. it also led to law enforcement hesitating in how they would respond, given the protests in the country were growing, but that's changing. iran's law enforcement has now announced that they're installing smart cameras on streets in order to identify women who are violating the mandatory hijab law. they also said that they would send warning messages to the violators of the hijab law and violators of public decency. now, this follows a recent incident in mashhad, where a man poured a tub of yoghurt over the heads of two women who were unveiled. all three were arrested. here's a reminder of that moment that was caught on cctv.

now, the issue of the hijab was never something that the islamic republic was going to take lightly. and that's because the hijab is an important symbol of the islamic revolution. it's when the country physically started to look different. it's when a country where women had choice turned into a country where they don't. the smart cameras signal that not only is the mandatory hijab here to stay, but it will be heavily enforced. let's bring in roya hakakian, she's an iranian—american journalist who came to the us as a refugee. she now writes on iranian affairs. thank you so much forjoining us. there is thank you so much forjoining us. there is a thank you so much forjoining us. there is a lot thank you so much forjoining us. there is a lot of speculation here about what is going on with these poisonings, you might be behind it and why, what do you believe is taking

place right now in iran? figs what do you believe is taking place right now in iran? as you may have _ place right now in iran? as you may have seen _ place right now in iran? as you may have seen i _ place right now in iran? as you may have seen i recently - place right now in iran? as youi may have seen i recently wrote a piece for the atlantic in which i put forth two arguments from two micro sociologists and historians, one based in iran and one in washington, dc. 0ne believes that hardliners within the regime have decided that there needs to be a harder, more serious reaction to the protests that began in iran backin protests that began in iran back in september and as the protests were led by girls and women there has to be punishment for them, and the supreme leader in their view, in the view of the extreme hardliners within the regime haven't done enough, so this is a reaction for a punishment of the part of the hardliners. another theory posits that it could very well be the regime

itself, the ayatollah, supreme leader, who said on and done over the past few years that those who are conscientious and believe in the islamic values that he has inculcated in the country could feel free to fire at will. meaning that they are all conscript in an army, his army, and if they see people who are violating islamic values they should take matters into their own hands and react and therefore it could very well be that these are his own people who are acting and as your two reporters said prior to my coming on, many people had been arrested in reaction to the poisonings but we don't know who they are. there is no

procedure, legal procedure that people are witnessing in order to feel there is a sense of justice that is being served here. �* , ., ., here. as we heard earlier the iranian parliament _ here. as we heard earlier the iranian parliament said - here. as we heard earlier the iranian parliament said it - here. as we heard earlier the iranian parliament said it is i iranian parliament said it is investigating these incidents, of course they say they are blaming the students were being mysterious. do you think enough is being done to get to the bottom of what is going on to investigate this?— investigate this? absolutely not, obviously, _ investigate this? absolutely not, obviously, but - investigate this? absolutely not, obviously, but this - investigate this? absolutely not, obviously, but this is l not, obviously, but this is iran. so in a very quintessential irani in way of managing problems or crises, have the government says one thing and the other half contradicts what first—half says, so we have heard from the minister of education who said that the boilers in schools were problematic and then we had other officials who said that in small numbers they had detected some chemicals within the air of some of the schools,

and then another official came and then another official came and absolutely rejected what the two previous ones have said. and this is notjust accidental. it does speak to a certain amount of chaos within the regime, but it is also the way the irani and regime has managed crises, it has created a good cop bad cop situation where you feel there are those within the regime who are telling the truth and there are those who are hardliners and who are against people and won't tell the truth and so people are always led to keep some sense of hope towards the officials and authorities of of international reaction or pressure would you like to see? should the west we take a hardline given what we are seeing, thousands of people potentially being poisoned in the country. potentially being poisoned in the country-— the country. absolutely. i think if the _ the country. absolutely. i think if the poisonings - the country. absolutely. i | think if the poisonings are the country. absolutely. i i think if the poisonings are in fact taking place and i think

they are, and we are also watching iran ship drones to ukraine, watching china bring saudi arabia and iran together, so all of these things really are signalling to the rest of us that there is a new alliance being forged in the middle east between china, saudi arabia, iran and russia, and so there is in fact a firewall of these evil powers that are cropping each other up and helping each other out, and so i think in a broader sense, the western countries, the united states and europe have to decide what they want to do in order to uphold their values and in order to uphold our democracy here on this side of the world. and i think in that way if we look at it in that global perspective, yes, we as the

global community who wish to uphold democratic values need to do all we can in order to react, notjust to the poisonings but also cultivate help, support the movement inside iran.— inside iran. briefly if you can, i inside iran. briefly if you can. i am _ inside iran. briefly if you can, i am curious - inside iran. briefly if you can, i am curious aboutl inside iran. briefly if you - can, i am curious about what might happen next within the country itself, obviously this is not a comfortable environment right now for women in iran but could we possibly see another round of protests in the country given what we are seeing?— in the country given what we are seeing? nothing has gone awa . are seeing? nothing has gone away- this — are seeing? nothing has gone away- this is _ are seeing? nothing has gone away. this isjust _ are seeing? nothing has gone away. this isjust embers - are seeing? nothing has gone away. this isjust embers in l away. this isjust embers in the fire. it will flare up sooner or later and the regime did nothing to address the demands of the people and it couldn't anyway because people were demanding for the regime to go, so nothing in between, they were not offering possible midway remedies for the regime

to be able to address and i would not, they have had many chances over the past 43 years, so they are sure to come back and it really provides the western society with an opportunity to rethink about how we should treat these movements within the middle east which is beginning in iran, who are demanding democracy and freedom in those regions, especially now that china is entering the fray in order to turn the middle east into another vast tyranny. thank you so much for your time and perspective. and there's been a significant diplomatic development in iran, too — officals from saudi arabia have arrived to discuss the procedures for reopening its embassy and consulate. it comes after month's deal brokered by china to restore their diplomatic ties. the announcement by the saudi foreign ministry comes after a two—month timetable

for reopening diplomatic missions was agreed at their first high level talks in seven years. saudi arabia cut ties with iran in 2016 when its embassy in tehran was stormed. that came after the kingdom executed a prominent shia muslim cleric — revered by many iranians. to israel now, tens of thousands of people protesting against the government's plans to gain more control over the judiciary have held a minute's silence for the victims of a wave of recent attacks on civilians. two british—israeli sisters who were killed in a shooting in the occupied west bank yesterday have been named as maia and rina dee. their mother was injured in the shooting. another attack has left one person dead and seven injured — including three britons — after a car ploughed into them near a beach in tel aviv. all the victims were tourists. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson reports — a warning her piece contains some distressing images.

maia dee was 20 years old and volunteering for national service in a high school. her younger sister rina was 15. theirfather told me they were "beautiful, popular and wonderful". they died yesterday, when their israeli car came under fire as they travelled from their west bank settlement to the sea of galilee for a family holiday. their mother is still unconscious and critically ill in hospital. theirfather — a rabbi, who was travelling separately — heard the news of an attack on the road, before realising his family was involved. i couldn't sleep at all. every time i had a nightmare, i woke up, and then the reality was worse than the nightmare, so i went back to sleep. but the imagery was just recurring in the nightmare. that's how it went. hours after maia and rina died yesterday, another attack in tel aviv. holiday crowds became targets

when a car rammed pedestrians on the busy promenade. this is the moment when police surrounded the attacker, and then shot him dead. you can hear the fear of people filming nearby. the driver was a 45—year—old man from a nearby town. he killed an italian national named as alessandro parini, and injured seven others, three of them british. we heard gunfire. we saw shots and then we saw people sprinting across the street. and then, we heard sirens and we decided it was time to get out of here. today, the car's journey through the grass is marked with flowers and candles, tributes to the tourists who died. this is where the attack happened last night, right on tel aviv�*s promenade. hours afterwards, you've got locals and tourists already gathering here. on a warm weekend evening, this place would have been packed with people. one of the doctors treating the injured said some had broken bones and one

a fractured spine, but an event like this leaves psychological wounds, too. i think that nobody is prepared ever for this type of situation. you know, it's very... it's impossible, i think, to understand the fact that somebody one day decides to take the life of another person. israel's prime minister says attacks will only unify the country. tonight, in tel aviv, another protest against his divisive judicial reforms, stopped for a minute's silence to remember the victims of these latest attacks. politics and religion may divide people here, grief and loss is familiar to all. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. let's turn to taiwan now, which says it's detected nine warships and more than 70 military aircraft — since china announced it would hold three days of live military drills around it. these are the latest pictures

of those drills, released by chinese state media. here's a reminder now of the context for all this. taiwan is a self—ruled island off china — which beijing claims as part of its territory. the drills began just hours after taiwan's president tsai ing—wen returned from the us, where she met the house speaker, kevin mccarthy. china warned against that meeting. despite that, us politicians returned the visit. today in the capital taipei, a delegation is being hosted by president tsai. among them is michael mccaul, chairman of the house foreign affairs committee. here's what he had to say. as the house foreign affairs committee chairman, i sign off on all foreign military sales, including weapons to taiwan. and i promise you, madam president, we will deliver those weapons and we will provide training to your military. not for war, but for peace.

to the us, where the country is grappling with two contradictory abortion access rulings from a texas and washington state court. late last night — president biden said he will fight a new ruling out of texas to halt the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone in seven days. in a statement, joe biden called it "another unprecedented step in taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk." he added, "if it stands, it would prevent women in every state from accessing the medication, regardless of whether abortion is legal in a state." earlier on friday, thejustice department had also announced that it will be appealing the court's decision — and will look into a separate ruling out of washington state. that ruling contradcits the one in texas, but was handed down about the same time. in a partialand preliminary injunction, the washington judge prohibited the fda from immediately pulling the drug off shelves.

let's take a closer look at the medication. the drug, mifepristone, is a medicinal pill which can be taken at home. it's used in more than half of us pregnancy terminations, and was first approved for use more than 20 years ago — in 2000. live now to amy 0'donnell, the director of communications at texas alliance for life — a pro—life organisation based in austin. amy, thank you so much forjoining the programme to discuss what is a very contentious issue in the us. it is great to be able to discuss this with you. first of all i just want to know what was your initial reaction just to the ruling in texas but also to the ruling in texas but also to that ruling in washington state? in to that ruling in washington state? ., ., , , , state? in all honesty minus the reaction was — state? in all honesty minus the reaction was a _ state? in all honesty minus the reaction was a bit _ state? in all honesty minus the reaction was a bit of _ state? in all honesty minus the reaction was a bit of surprise i reaction was a bit of surprise that the timing the news came out, we had been waiting for these rulings to be released for several weeks now, we had heard thejudge in

for several weeks now, we had heard the judge in amarillo might release it fairly quickly but of course it is not always true and so on good friday, a day that many of us are off, we got the news and began to catch up got the news and began to catch up on all the information and from there we do have to say that we applaud the judge in amarillo for protecting women in the united states against fast tracking that the fda did by not fully vetting chemical abortion drives to determine their safety and the complication rates with accurate tracking before releasing them for distribution.- releasing them for distribution. , ., ., ., releasing them for distribution. , .,. distribution. just to add a bit more context _ distribution. just to add a bit more context to _ distribution. just to add a bit more context to that - distribution. just to add a bit i more context to that statement about the safety i want to read your statement from your executive director made yesterday after the texas ruling. he wrote, we applaud the decision to reverse a two decades old decision by the fda to improperly approve a chemical abortion drug that puts women's health and lives at risk, wejust puts women's health and lives at risk, we just want to bring up, there have been several scientific studies showing that

mifepristone itself is safe for use. how do you square those two statements?— two statements? there is no credible data _ two statements? there is no credible data in _ two statements? there is no credible data in the - two statements? there is no credible data in the united . credible data in the united states to ascertain that these drugs are safe for use. however in the country of finland there is a study that shows that chemical abortion drugs have four times higher complication rate to than surgical abortion does and that risk goes up exponentially if a woman is facing any ectopic pregnancy, if she is further along just additionally, that accurate data does show that result and the reality is in the united states the fda has not asked for data to be sent to them, they are not tracking it and they are not tracking it and they are not tracking it and they are using that lack of data to then say the complication rates are low and then we saw those released as well which is a violation of the act determined on the judge in amarillo. the act determined on the 'udge in martini in amarillo. according to the new york — in amarillo. according to the new york times _ in amarillo. according to the new york times which - in amarillo. according to the i new york times which reviewed more than 100 different

scientific studies in different countries and in the us it has been proved as a safe method for terminating pregnancy according to those studies. i want to ask you, are you concerned now if this texas ruling which is the one that would involve an injunction and potentially take away the fda approval of mifepristone, you that women that do want to have an abortion that would seek to enter pregnancy, that they might seek out potentially more dangerous form of doing so? the reali is dangerous form of doing so? the reality is that _ dangerous form of doing so? tue: reality is that the dangerous form of doing so? t'ta: reality is that the facts behind the so back alley abortion complications were misrepresented when they were laid out in roe v wade and the doctors that put those false statistics forward came out and said they were inaccurate, untrue and completely made up and so end texas what we focus on is on letting women no the vast resources that texas

offers women and families. we take care of women with the help texas women programme providing true health care needs for women including contraceptives or other needs are women white have, mammogram, capacity through the programme and screening to the programme and screening to the programme for stds as well as offering resources through the alternatives to abortion programme in our state that help to fund many pregnancy centres across this state who provide a hands—on support for women before and after birth and then medicating... we focus on letting women know that there is support for them that they don't have to walk through an unplanned pregnancy alone and we know that women choose abortion many times because they feel alone and likely have no help. our goal and focus in texas alliance for life is to let them know that is not true. mifepristone is part of a two pill process in terms of medication abortions, often taken ahead of another pill

called misoprostol, would your organisation support a similar lawsuit that would take away the approval for that second abortion pill as well? in texas we already — abortion pill as well? in texas we already have _ abortion pill as well? in texas we already have laws - abortion pill as well? in texas we already have laws in - abortion pill as well? in texas we already have laws in place | we already have laws in place that don't allow any distribution of chemical abortion drugs for the purpose of obtaining an abortion. we were because i do the overturning of roe to make the distribution through any way illegal and now with the human eye protection act and in our state they can be distributed at all and so with light being protected from conception on in texas we are working to keep those gains, not allow our laws to be weakened and educating people on the resources available to them. we have about a minute _ available to them. we have about a minute left - available to them. we have about a minute left and - available to them. we have about a minute left and i i available to them. we have i about a minute left and i want to ask in your opinion how likely you think it is that we see this issue just like with the overturning of roe v wade make its way all the way to the

supreme court? the make its way all the way to the supreme court?— supreme court? the circuit court of — supreme court? the circuit court of appeals _ supreme court? the circuit court of appeals cope - supreme court? the circuit court of appeals cope it... | supreme court? the circuit i court of appeals cope it... we are fairly certain this will be challenged, we already heard the pro—abortion extremist biden administration will challenge it. this is the best for women in our country, there complications were chemical abortion drugs that can cost woman her fertility, abortion drugs that can cost woman herfertility, can cost her health, cause significant damage to her body or even take her life depending on some of the factors behind your pregnancy if she takes those drugs not knowing that she has an ectopic pregnancy or is our hedge negative or further along so this is a pro women decision and pro life but pro—women and we are a pro protecting women. thank you so much.

and later tonight — we'll be speaking to drjamila perritt, the president and ceo of physicians for reproductive health. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. i hope you've been making the most of the easter sunshine because on sunday the weather starts to change with some wetter weather in time for easter monday. at the moment, we're in between high pressure and low pressure. that gives us a southerly wind. it's that weather front coming in from the atlantic that will signal the change. still dry overnight. and these are the temperatures by sunday morning. so not as cold as it has been of late. there may well be more cloud around for easter sunday, but we'll see the sunshine coming through at times. it's in northern ireland, though, that through the afternoon the cloud will tend to thicken. some patchy rain coming in here over the irish sea by the end of the day as well. and ahead of that advancing rain, we'll have a stronger southerly wind. now that's going to bring us a bit of warmth. temperatures could reach 17

degrees around the murray firth, north wales, merseyside, perhaps london and the home counties, but a few degrees cooler than that in northern ireland with the rain arriving here and that band of rain will push its way into western parts of britain during the evening, continue eastwards overnight. heaviest rain over the hills in the west and followed by some bands of showers sweeping across northern ireland into southwest scotland. so with all that cloud and rain around, sunday night should be pretty mild into monday morning. easter monday though we still have that rain to clear away from eastern parts of england. it could linger throughout the morning in east anglia and the south east. following on from that, some sunshine. but these bands of showers could be heavy with some hail and thunder and there'll be some frequent showers across northern and western parts of scotland. we'll have a chilly breeze and temperatures are going to be lower. we're back down to around 10 to 14 degrees in the afternoon. we're into that showery air stream as we head into tuesday. but this developing area of low pressure is going to be heading our way as well. whilst many places could start the day dry with some sunshine, we've got showers in northern scotland. we'll see the cloud increasing, the wind picking up from the south—west and rain moving its way northwards and eastwards through the day.

and tuesday could turn out to be quite chilly, actually. temperatures typically 10 to 13 degrees. a lot of uncertainty overnight and into wednesday. the models are differing with the depth of that area of low pressure and the position. but for a while actually, it could be quite windy across some parts of the country and that signals this change to more unsettled weather over the week ahead. showers or longer spells of rain and temperatures by day on the low side for this time of the year.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. the cost of living has been going through the roof, but can it possibly go up even more? and do prices ever really come down? we're going to be looking at how those prices get set and what goes on behind the scenes between growers, suppliers and the shops themselves. i'm going to be discussing all of that with this crack team. there they are. commodities expert kona lasker haque can tell us