this is bbc world news today. i'm geeta guru—murthy. our top stories: the world health organisation's choice of robert mugabe as goodwill ambassador prompted a global outcry. now, in an abrupt u—turn, it's revoked the appointment of zimba bwe‘s president. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe declares victory in his country's snap election. us secretary of state says all foreign fighters should leave and all the iraqi people to rebuild their lives. also in the programme — hair styling with a twist. we meet an artist who is getting quite a following on social media hello and welcome to world news today. the world health organisation has announced a u—turn over its decision to appoint robert mugabe as a goodwill ambassador. the who director—general said he'd

changed his mind after listening to those expressing concerns over the past few days. mr mugabe's appointment triggered a storm of criticism from human rights groups, and widespread dismay from member states, including britain, canada and the us. the bbc‘s andrew harding has this report. he has been in powerfor 37 years, but zimbabwe's president robert mugabe held onto his newjob for less than a week. a humiliating blow for the 93—year—old. mr mugabe was selected as a global ambassador for the world health organisation by its first african boss, who hoped the elder statesman might rally other leaders in the fight against diseases like cancer. but today the who quickly backed down after a fierce international backlash. under president mugabe's long rule, zimbabwe's economy and health

system have crumbled. britain and other western governments have accused him of widespread human rights violations and targeted him with sanctions. there was delight today from a broad range of organisations which had condemned mr mugabe's united nations role as a sickjoke. there was outrage that mugabe could be appointed a goodwill ambassador, especially given the state of public health services and access to basic public health facilities. even painkillers in public hospitals. this comes as a relief that the who has seen the light. but mr mugabe is not without support, both inside zimbabwe and around the continent. today his supporters describe the who's u—turn as yet another sign of western meddling in africa. president mugabe has yet to react in person, but few zimbabweans can be surprised about this decision.

their leader may be proud of his achievements but tellingly he travels abroad for his own health care. i wasjoined earlier by georgina godwin — an independent broadcast journalist from zimbabwe. she gave me her thoughts on the who's u—turn. i'm, like everybody, completely and utterly amazed that it could've been allowed to happen in the first place. i think it raises serious questions about the world health organisation. this is presumably not a decision that was made lightly. it must have gone through several phases. it must have been discussed over several weeks. that they could think that this was even tenable in the first place is quite, quite extraordinary. even if you put aside mugabe's history, 20,000, a conservative estimate, of people murder during some massacres and if you put aside the typhoid and cholera caused indirectly by land resettlement and the collapse of the

health system there. tobacco is a major export in zimbabwe. if you shut that down and presumably as a goodwill ambassador and the non—communicable diseases you would have to take a hit on the tobacco advertising, you would lose one—third of the economy, something that zimbabwe can ill—afford to do. and we have heard that dr mugabe is seen by some in a positive light. he gave black africans their voice in zimbabwe, and their roots to power. perhaps that deserves some recognition absolutely, 30 years ago. 30 years on, i think people would much rather be able to see a doctor, have an aspirin. there isn't even that. not having to pay for medical treatment, people are dying aes a medical treatment, people are dying aesaa medical treatment, people are dying aes a a result of this man who doesn't get medical treatment in his own country. my mother was a doctor in zimbabwe for50 own country. my mother was a doctor in zimbabwe for 50 years, sheep

doesn't have a pension. she is a lucky one because she can live here with me. her colleagues in zimbabwe work incredibly hard, in very, very trying circumstances, for sometimes no money. quite often they are not paid at all. these people are heroes on the front line, to think the man that brought that health system to the absolute depth it is at now, no running water knots no, drugs, very few staff, being honoured in this way by the who is be a shrewdly ludicrous. again, some people might say — this is white countries meddling in african affairs, regardless of that viewpoint, that actually you have an african leader in the who, wouldn't it be a good be sign to bring in african voices?” think it is outrageous to turn this into a racial thing, you are talking about people, black and white who have no access to medical care because of one man's foolish, very, very foolish rule. this is not about race, this is about people dying. japan's prime minister shinzo abe has declared victory

in sunday's general election. his liberal democratic party is heading for more than 300 seats injapan's lower house of parliament. mr abe is now on course to become japan's longest serving post war prime minister. his victory may also open the way for mr abe to fulfil his life long dream of scrapping japan's pacifist constitution, amid ongoing tensions with north korea. from tokyo rupert wingfield hayes reports. his report contains some flash photography. shinzo abe took a gamble and it has paid off. this summer the japanese prime minister's approval rating plunged to less than 30%. now he has won a big victory and four more yea rs won a big victory and four more years in power. this victory makes mrabe years in power. this victory makes mr abe japan's most successful post—war politician. he was assisted to his win by typhoon lan, that

helped keep nearly half of japanese voters at home. but by far the biggest help was division and confidence in japan's opposition parties. last month this woman, the popular governor of tokyo, vowed to ta ke popular governor of tokyo, vowed to take on mrabe popular governor of tokyo, vowed to take on mr abe at the polls. but come election day, she was at a conference in paris. mr abe claims he called the election because of the threat from north korea, who said he needed a mandate from the japanese people to get tough on pyongyang and its missile programme. translation: i believe this election was fistly about not the korean threat. you could say the north korean threat was the biggest ever but the biggest issue close to his heart is changing the population. japan has a modern military. but for

over 70 years it has not fired a single shot in anger. article 9 of the constitution states japan will forever renounce war and the use of force to settle international disputes. mr abe and his supporters considered those words a humiliation, forced on japan considered those words a humiliation, forced onjapan by the american viblingtors, he now has the best chance he will ever get to remove them. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: thousands of people have taken to the streets of the maltese capital valetta, demanding justice over the murder of anti—corru ption journalist daphne ca ruana galizia. she was killed by a car—bomb near her home on monday. the maltese government has offered a reward of around 1.2 million dollars for information leading to the arrest of those responsible. several thousand people have been demonstrating in central berlin, against the far—right ‘alternative for germany‘ party, which is due to sit in parliament for the first time this tuesday.

the party, with anti—immigrant and anti—muslim views, came third in last month's elections. protesters say the parliament must not be used as a stage for racism. us—backed forces say they've captured syria's largest oil field as they continue the fight against the islamic state group. forces say they took the al—omar oil field in the east of the country in the early hours of sunday morning, without much damage. al—omar was a precious source of revenue for the islamist militants. the us secretary of state is demanding that iranian militias leave iraq. rex tillerson was speaking in the saudi capital riyadh, as part of his tour of gulf countries. he praised an agreement between saudi arabia and iraq to coordinate their fight against so—called islamic state and help rebuild iraqi territory seized back from the group. and he said it was time for iran's fighters to leave its neighbour's territory. iranian militias in iraq, now that

the fight against daesh and isis is coming toa the fight against daesh and isis is coming to a close. those militias need to go home. any foreign fighters in iraq need to go home and allow the iraqi people to regain control of areas that have been overta ken control of areas that have been ove rta ke n by control of areas that have been overtaken by isis and daesh that have now been liberated, allow the iraqi people to rebuild their lives with the help of their neighbours. i think this agreement that has been put in place between the kingdom of saudi arabia and iraq is a crucial element to assisting the iraqi people to do that. let's cross live now to doha and the bbc‘s barbara plett usher. rex tillerson is now there, he left saudito rex tillerson is now there, he left saudi to go to qatar to. pick up on that first clip we heard from the us secretary of state, is it wishful thinking to say that iran must pull out of iraq now? ? well, it might be a little bit really. i mean the americans are concerned that the

gains iran has made during the fight against islamic state groups, gains it made in syria and also in iraq and it'll extend these and consolidate them. hence you have this call for the iranian—backed militias to go home but the us doesn't have much leverage and this is' why mr tillerson or one of the reasons why he is supportive of the talks between iraq and saudi arabia which is a powerful sunni state. well you are in qatar where the secretary of state is, and he talked here in the last couple of hours or so about this feud we've seen between former apparent allies, saudi and qatar, urging calm again, what likelihood? it is a real problem for the americans. their main allies in their region are at each other‘s throats really. this

block of arab states led by saudi arabia has accused qatar of hating islamist extremists and supporting elements of their governments and mr tillerson was trying to make another sta b tillerson was trying to make another stab at getting them to resolve this issue but he hassed a muted that the saudis were not ready to come to the table yet. there's not a strong indication the parties are r ready to talk yet. and so, we cannot force talks upon people who are not ready to talk. so there has been no invitation to the white house because it's not clear that parties are ready to engage and we're going to continue to work towards that dialogue and towards that engagement but as i said, in response to an earlier question, we cannot and will not impose a solution on anyone. well, there has been knowledge that the sunni arab states will be

fighting amongst them and iran could exploit that situation but he also pushed forward the need for a policy with iran that was announced recent lane in terms of the new sanctions levied on iran's revolutionary guards, he has warned that there would be risks if they continued to do guys with the revolutionly gaurds or people associated with them, so still pushing forward with assertive new iran policy. although the americans don't have that much leverage when it comes to regional conflict here, it seems. 0k, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc world news: and the latest from the circuit of the americas, could lewis hamilton clinch the title at the us grand prix? concorde bows out in style after almost three decades in service an

aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for long, taxis home one last time. the latest headlines: in a sudden u—turn, the world health organisation has reversed its decision to appoint zimbabwe's president robert mugabe as a goodwill ambassador. and japan's prime minister shinzo abe has declared victory, following the country's snap election. more now on our top story: the reversal by the world health organisation of its decision to appoint robert mugabe as a goodwill ambassador. here's andrew harding injohannesburg. well now from the point of view of the first african leader to head the

who, he comes from ethiopia and presumably doesn't see mr mugabe as the monster as many in the west sees him as. instead an elder states man, mr mugabe who enjoys going around the contint, speaking at summits on the contint, speaking at summits on theissues the contint, speaking at summits on the issues and presumably somebody whose reputation might allow him to talk to and influence other leaders in this continent in focussing attention on to these very important issues like diabetes, cancer and so on. having said that, of course, there's no question that the who would have known that there would be a huge backlash and so, i suspect that on one level this was a political move, a political appointment, a way of saying — actually, we in africa will look after our health issues in our own way and appoint who we like. perhaps the new boss of the organisation

miscalculated the scale of the backlash and has ended up having humiliatingly having to do a u—turn and of course, leaving president mugabe himself humiliated. how damaging is it to the who? well, it isa damaging is it to the who? well, it is a big organisation that already has a lot of battles within t like most un agencies. it is made up of governments frarned the world who have very different ideas about what constitutes good governance, democracy and development. so, personally, for dr tedross perhaps it is difficult for him to overcome but it is par for the course with un agencies with fierce internal battles. let's catch up with the sport. the grand prix is nearing conclusion in texas. lewis hamilton is in the

lead. sebastian vettle is in fourth. if hamilton won and vettle was to finish lower than fourth, hamilton would he win the title but as it is finishing at the moment it would mean hamilton would have to win the next one in members koe. you can head to the website for more. football news and liverpool have just won one in their last six. spurs' next match will be

away at manchester united on saturday. well, we cre aid the chances and we scored. yes, it is a lwa ys chances and we scored. yes, it is always as important, not only to play well, if not to get in front of the goal and today both teams in the first half, we showed a great, great performance. we put it on a plate, again and of course we don't do it. it is not about confidence. it's just about being 100% spot—on. you cannot get anything in game like this against tottenham if you are not like this at your best. earlier arsenal climbed up to fifth after thrashing everton 5—2 at goodison park. the defeat increases the pressure on under fire toffee's manager, ronald koeman. everton were

also reduced to ten men in the second half. it's a really tough time. the team is not performing well. the position on the table is not the position that everton should be on. i mean everybody knows that but even after today, i see a lot of positives. how difficult it is because it is a negative situation for the team and everything is negative but i'm not like. a tennis and the wimbledon champion continues herrera bid to win the wta titles and the number one crown. professionally crowned wta player of the year she won 6—3, 6—4 in 85 mines mugururza playing in the group as one of seven players who could finish the year on top of the

rankings by winning this event. it was third seed ply, iskova against venus williams. the czech took the fist set and she beat the american rather comfortably. to cricket, new zealand have beaten india by six wickets. leighton and taylor put on a partnership of 200 as the black caps chased down the target. the second match will be on wednesday. just enough time to let you know, lewis hamilton still leads in texas with nine laps remaining. lovely, thank you. a pro—unity demonstration has been taking place in barcelona today as the crisis between catalonia and the government in madrid continues. the spanish foreign minister said catalans should disregard any instructions from their regional officials as their authority to govern is taken away by madrid.

the measures follow catalonia's disputed independence referendum earlier this month. our correspondent bethany bell reports. another protest in barcelona. this one is pro—spanish. it is small. these people are demonstrating in support of the spanish army and the police. it comes a day after the spanish prime minister said he would take steps to impose direct rule on catalonia from madrid. the catalonian government are not following the laws. they do what they want. they say they represent the catalan people but they are not, they represent a small percentage, not all of us. this is why the government has to do what it has to do. the spanish foreign minister says the regional government will soon lose authority. they will not have any legal authority, it will be a group of rebels trying to impose their own

arbitrariness onto the whole people of catalonia. the plan by the spanish government is unprecedented. it is the first time that madrid has moved to strip a region of its autonomy and it dramatically escalates this political crisis. yesterday almost half a million pro—independence supporters took to the streets of barcelona. with them was the catalan leader. the separatists are defiant. the catalan government stretched out its hand and mr rajoy spat on it. that is not very proper or nice. we think that now the catalan government is legitimised to push ahead, if it considers it appropriate and lift that suspension of the declaration of independence. the pro—independence leaders are now considering their next steps. the regional parliament could decide to

vote on an unilateral declaration of independence. catalonia is in a state of uncertainty. bethany bell, bbc news, barcelona. it's said that your hair is your crown, and the artist — laetitia ky — from the ivory coast art is getting quite a following on social media with her unique way of styling hers. the bbc went to meet her they are amazing, aren't they, let me know what you think: don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm at geeta guru—murthy st thank you for watching. goodbye. good evening. this weekend we've really ta ke n good evening. this weekend we've really ta ken a good evening. this weekend we've really taken a battering courtesy of brian. these are scenes from the cornish coast yesterday, big waves being whipped up by the strong winds. brian now, a fairly innocent

looking area of low pressure in the north sea. a little ridge of high pressure for us overnight. this area of low pressure in the atlantic will keep us busy in the week ahead but it isa keep us busy in the week ahead but it is a weather front sweeping across the british isles. a breather for the next few hours, showers clearing and clear skies chilly for a time to the east of the british isles but coming into the west, are first signs of that weather front. by first signs of that weather front. by the time we get into monday morning, a wet start for many. temperatures rising again as the cloud and rain pile n mild enough first thing on monday but a soggy, miserable looking start on the whole. northern ireland should brighten nicely by the morning and we will see brighter weather pushing in from the west as the day goes on. some eastern coasts, and particularly down towards the channel, struggling with thicker cloud. the biggest change is it'll feel milderfor monday. cloud. the biggest change is it'll feel milder for monday. temperatures in the mid—teens. monday into tuesday, this low swirling towards the west, whipping weather fronts across us. the west, whipping weather fronts

across us. it looks like mixed fair on tuesday. england and wales cloudy for a on tuesday. england and wales cloudy fora time, on tuesday. england and wales cloudy for a time, northern ireland and scotla nd for a time, northern ireland and scotland brighter and breezy, heavier showers from time to time. look at the mild air getting sucked up look at the mild air getting sucked up to the south of the front. 18 in london. and that mild air to the south of the front, keeping trying to nudge its way further north through the middle part of this week this. front continuing to snake its way across the british isles. a bit ofa way across the british isles. a bit of a sea saw so uncertainty as to where it is going to sit. on wednesday the cloudy wet weather across england and wales, the warmer airto the across england and wales, the warmer air to the south. further north a fresher feel across northern england northern ireland and scotland. breezy as well but the best of the sunshine heemplt the gloomy conditions but the milder air pushing further north on thursday again, some uncertainty about this exact position but northern scotland looks brightest, southern england looks brightest, southern england looks warmest. as for the end of the week, a similar story but come the

next weekend, we could be mrunging into cooler air next weekend, we could be mrunging into coolerairagain, make next weekend, we could be mrunging into cooler air again, make the most of the warmer conditions on offer, in the week ahead. the world health organisation says it is not now going to appoint zimbabwe's president, robert mugabe, as the goodwill ambassador, the director—general says the changes mind after a storm of international criticism. japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, says he will deal firmly with north korea after exit polls showed him winning a resounding general election victory. he wants to changechange japan's general election victory. he wants to changechangejapan's post—war pacifist constitution. all iranians back militia boro fighting islamic state in iraq should now go home, now that the battle against is is drawing to a close. —— us secretary of state says all iranian—backed militias fighting the islamic state group in iraq should go home, now that the battle is drawing to a close. rex tillerson was speaking in