but he added that the roman catholic church couldn t permit same sex marriages. and who ll claim the major prizes at this year s grammy awards? all you need to know about music s biggest night. hello, welcome to bbc news. iran s supreme leader is pardoning a large number of prisoners, including some of those arrested during the past months of protests. the pardon by ayatollah khamenei comes on the eve of the anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979, a date on which he regularly offers an amnesty to some prisoners. but the iranian state media says it excludes those facing charges of spying for foreign agencies, murder and bodily harm, as well as the destruction or arson of state property. taraneh stone from the bbc s persian service says those freed have several conditions attached to their release. the supreme leader has agreed to pardon and commute sentences of tens of thousands of people who are in prison or who are waiting for sentences. the letter from the judiciary
next to the river wyre, nine days ago. and who ll claim the major prizes at this year s grammy awards? all you need to know about music s biggest night. it s 7am in the morning in singapore, and 1am in kyiv where reports say the country s defence minister oleksii reznikov will be dismissed and replaced with the head of military intelligence. it is suspected reznikov, a loyal ally of president zelensky, will be moved to a different ministerial position with ministry ofjustice named as a possible direction. in recent weeks, ukraine s defence ministry has been embroiled in a corruption scandal over an army food contract, with one of deputy ministers fired and named a suspect, and another resigning voluntarily. reznikov became defence minister several months before the invasion. during the war, he fostered relationships with western defence officials and helped oversee the receipt of billions of dollars of military assistance. with us now isjonathan marcus, a defence analyst an
the british prime minister has sacked the chairman of his party, nadhim zahawi, following an investigation into his tax affairs. mr zahawi says he ll continue to support the prime minister from the backbenches, and criticised journalists for the way they reported his tax affairs. here s our political correspondent david wallace lockhart he arrived in the uk as a young refugee before becoming a successful businessman. he served as the vaccines minister, rising to become chancellor, this morning he was chairman of the conservative party but his ministerial career now lies in tatters. he had faced questions for some time about his previous tax affairs and the fact he paid a penalty to hmrc while he was in charge of the treasury. he insisted he acted appropriately throughout. the prime minister had asked his ethics adviser to investigate. sir laurie magnus reported back this morning. his findings were highly critical. in a letter to rishi sunak he said from april 2021 nadhim zaha