Mongolia protests

We explain why demonstrators in Mongolia have been protesting in temperatures well below freezing for over a week now.

The BBC’s Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg has heard accounts from Russian servicemen and their relatives which suggest some soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine have been locked up in cellars and subjected to violence. Steve talks about their stories and explains what it has been like to report from Moscow during the Ukraine war.

We speak to our BBC Persian colleague about a second execution linked to the anti-government protests in Iran.

With the rise of K-pop music globally, there has also been a growing phenomenon of hyper realistic avatars in girl bands. Our reporter tells us about this new, digital trend, idolising singers who are all presented as perfect, slim, ageless.

(Photo: Police officers stand guard outside the Government Palace as protesters take part in a demonstration against soaring inflation and government corruption on Sukhbaatar Square, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia December 5, 2022. Credit: B. Rentsendorj/Reuters)