this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. the headlines. frank talks between borisjohnson and his iranian counterpart over the imprisonment of british mother nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. her husband says he's staying positive. it would be great if she came home on the plane, i think that would be beyond my wildest expectations. but in terms of realistic hopes, yeah, fingers crossed it's still possible she could be home by christmas. an amber weather warning for parts of wales and northern england as more snow is forecast to fall tonight. more violence in israel and the palestinian territories after president trump's decision onjerusalem. the palestinians say they will now meet the us vice—president. also this hour, remembering france's answer to elvis. thousands of people gather in the streets of paris to pay tribute to the rock starjohnny hallyday. he died on wednesday at the age of

74. and in half an hour, 100 women meets the brazilians trying to improve the status of female footballers in their country. good evening. welcome to bbc news. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, says he has had frank and constructive talks with his iranian counterpart in tehran over the case of british iranian nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe who's been injail since 2016. the mother of one is serving a 5—year prison term on charges of spying and trying to overthrow the iranian government, which she denies. the two—hour meeting covered a number ofareas, including mrs zaghari—ratcliffe‘s situation. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports. it could look routine, shaking hands before talks. but there is nothing routine

about this encounter. the foreign secretary looking uncharacteristically tense, and with good reason. he wants to improve relations, but also criticise some of iran's actions, while arguing for prison releases, including of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, a case many accuse him of damaging because of loose talk last month. watching anxiously with me in london, nazanin‘s husband, who has campaigned day in, day out for freedom since she was arrested last year. i'm sure it will make a difference, him being there, raising her case, and in the context of a lot of other stuff, can only help improve relations, can only lead to a better case for us. i think that's right. i'm not expecting that on monday morning he comes back with her on the plane. borisjohnson is saying nothing at all publicly while in iran,

instead the foreign office issued a statement after two hours of what they called a constructive meeting. one good sign is that iran's foreign minister confirmed borisjohnson should be able to meet president rouhani tomorrow. something that is not automatic on a visit like this. talks went on for two hours. it seems that this was a genuine discussion, not a pre—scripted exchange. positives and negatives in relations were aired. we should not expect immediate consequences, but iran is in no doubt how much importance the british side attaches to getting nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe home. as you saw injames‘ report,

he's been speaking to nazanin‘s husband richard ratcliffe. he said he hopes the foreign secretary's visit could help see his wife released from prison before christmas. it's obvious that nazanin is not coming home with the foreign secretary, but do you think there is any evidence this series of meetings could make a difference? i'm sure it will make a difference, him being there, him raising the case in the context of a lot of other stuff can only help improve relations and improve relations can only lead to a better case for us. i think that's right, i'm not expecting that on monday morning she comes back with him on the plane, looking closely at who he gets to meet and what happens tomorrow with her court case. and will we have it, and how will it go? and i'm looking forward to hearing on monday or tuesday, whenever he is back, with the debrief about what went on. i'm sure he won't tell me

everything because some things stay secret, but we are in a place where we're looking at the tea leaves to see what it means, and fingers crossed it can be soldved by christmas, which means in the week or so afterwards there might be a happy outcome. were you disappointed you could not go with him? as time went on i began to realise it was less and less likely. i had always wanted to go, but they felt it would not have been helpful to over politicise the case by me standing next to him, and there is a logic to that, how that could distort other issues and distort other cases. i still would have wanted to go there and still would want to go there as soon as possible. but faced with a choice between going with him and her still being in prison and him going and coming back sooner, take the latter. do you think borisjohnson and the foreign office could've been more forceful with iran? i have long criticised the foreign office for not being as

robust in public as i would have liked them to be, and that is a battle we've had behind closed doors as well, with me saying you should be tougher, and them saying, that is not how things work. and yes, if he is able, through his charm and presence, bring her home, then great. i've always been clear that myjob campaigning is to say that this is unacceptable and outrageous and she should be with her family. but she should be with her family for christmas, and please can that be arranged? and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages this evening. our guests joining me tonight are the political commentator jo phillips and nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror. weather warnings are in place for large parts of the uk as heavy snow and icy conditions continue to affect scotland,

northern ireland, wales, northern england and parts of the midlands. it's thought 20cm of snow could fall in some areas overnight tonight. olivia richwald reports. a scene of beauty in shropshire, but the first heavy snow fall is bringing disruption to parts of the united kingdom. motorists are being told to avoid driving unless absolutely necessary in parts of the north because of the icy conditions as temperatures plummet down to —6 tonight in parts of scotland and wales. in oldham this depot has been working 2a hours a day since thursday. the drivers here grit more than 300 kilometres of road, from busy urban centres to remote routes. with heavy snow showers forecast in this area, they say they are prepared. the temperatures will drop quite significantly, subzero.

this afternoon we will do all our primary routes, and then we will continue treating throughout the night, getting as much salt on the ground as possible. it is trans—pennine routes like this that can quickly become hazardous if they are not well maintained. old ham council alone expects to use 600 tonnes of grit this weekend alone, and still no guarantee these roads will stay open. although power was out at some properties in the midlands and scotland, in belfast it was sledges out instead. more scenes like this forecast tomorrow as heavy snow falls across central areas. but the north and south might miss out. our weather presenter gave us this

update earlier. what we have at the moment is a north—westerly wind, that's importing showers to parts of scotland, northern ireland and it's filtering through to parts of north—west england, wales and down to the midlands too. that's the current situation. we have already up current situation. we have already up to around ten centimetres of snow in places. things are going to change subjectly through the course of tonight. that's where this amber warning comes in that's right. we have a change in wind direction. the snow showers filtering in already have been fairly hit and miss. mile up have been fairly hit and miss. mile up the road has been dry and then some places have had a pasting. what we are seeing with this amber warning is a band of rain initially coming in from the south—west but as it bumps into that cold air the rain is increasingly going to be turning to heavy and persistent snow across a wide region too, through parts of the midlands, into parts of northern england across wales too. that's the

areas most likely. for other parts of the southern half of the uk it's more likely to befalling as rain but there is a fine margin between rain, sleet and snow. it could be that some of that snow could befalling further south. the rest of the week is looking unsettled? that's right. we have this heavy snowfall through the course of sunday. it looks like it will be easing later in the day during tomorrow. stays cold into the early hours of monday. be prepared foran early hours of monday. be prepared for an icy monday morning rush hour. changeable for the rest of the week. it looks like eventually after a cold and wintry weekend things will turn slightly milder through next week. the next forecast is before half past of course. at least two people have been killed in israeli air strikes in gaza. the israeli authorities say they were targeting hamas military positions after rockets were fired from there into southern israel. four people are now known to have died in violence since president trump announced the united states would recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel.

our correspondent tom bateman has sent this report. a display of grief and of anger. funerals were held in gaza for two people killed in israeli air strikes last night. the islamist group hamas said the men belonged to their armed wing. weapons stores and a base run by the militant group were targeted said israel. a new round of whose tights between old enemies. —— hostilities. israel said three rockets were fired from gaza last night. one landed in this southern israeli town. there was minor damage but no casualties. further disruption took place in jerusalem as palestinians continued to vent their anger at president trump. police broke up protests before they gained momentum. and for

a third day in the occupied west bank protesters threw stones and burned tyres. israeli troops responded with tear gas in bethlehem and palestinians answered back. the clashes since mr trump's statement have so far not matched the scale of previous escalations in violence this year but people here remain wa ry this year but people here remain wary and diplomatic relations between the palestinian leadership and the white house are under severe strain. president trump appealed for calm and moderation. his critics point to what's happened here in the three days since his announcement and say he has stoked precisely the opposite. many israelis continue to praise his move but it comes at the cost of increased tensions. a public holiday has been declared in iraq after the country's prime minister formally announced that the war against the group which calls itself islamic state in his country has been won.

british prime minister theresa may congratulated haider al—abadi on successfully forcing islamic state from most of iraq, but warned the extremist group are "not yet defeated". in 2014, the group overran large swathes of northern and western iraq, proclaiming the creation of a "caliphate". one of the cabinet's leading brexiteers has suggested that voters can use the next general election to have their say on a final deal with the eu — and to force a future government to change course if they don't like it. the environment secretary, michael gove, made the comments in the daily telegraph, a day after theresa may's agreement in brussels cleared the way for trade talks. police are investigating the deaths of two teenagers at a nightclub in plymouth in the early hours of this morning. officers believe the deaths were drugs related and are urging people to think twice before taking any unknown substance. andy birkett reports. police were first informed that two men had been found unconscious

inside the prison nightclub around 20 to two this morning. the i9—year—olds were then taken to hospital where the pair both later died. police believe they had taken a drug and are urging anyone else thinking of taking recreational drugs to think twice before taking any unknown substance. the families of both men have been informed although no formal identification has yet taken place. police have an 18—year—old man in custody awaiting questioning on the matter and they stress there is no evidence to suggest the drugs were taken inside this venue. wildfires in southern california show little sign of letting up as hot, dry winds continue to fan the flames. one woman has died and more than 200,000 people have fled their homes, with more preparing to evacuate today. president trump has declared a state of emergency, as sarah corker reports. in the mountains north of los angeles, wildfires continue to roar through the forests of ventura county. powerful winds are fanning the flames, the fires

spreading quickly and cutting dangerously across highways. radio: these guys are scrambling. and the thick plumes of smoke billow for miles. across southern california, tens of thousands of people have already fled. and this is the destruction they are escaping from. i always equate these to my family friends as disaster war zones is what you see, with the homes that are lost, and the tragedy that hits all of these families that live in these areas. that was the living room. some people now returning home see what, if anything, they can salvage from the charred wreckage. it's unbelievable, it's devastating, it is horrific. there is nothing left. not a darn thing. the first fires broke out on monday, reaching the exclusive area of bel—air in los angeles and threatening the mansions of hollywood stars.

at night, it looks like a volcano erupting. across a huge area, from santa barbara to la to san diego, more than 8,000 firefighters are trying to contain these furious fires — among the worst in living memory here. strong winds forecast through the weekend are making for extremely dangerous conditions. sarah corker, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news. frank talks between borisjohnson and his iranian counterpart over the continued imprisonment of british mother nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. weather warnings for parts of wales and northern england, further heavy snow is expected overnight. more violence in israel and the palestinian territories after president trump's decision onjerusalem. the palestinians say they will not now meet the us vice—president. let's catch up with the sports news.

the football action first. chelsea suffering a surprise derby defeat at west ham in the premier league today. a goal in the 6th minute was the difference between the two sides to give david moyes his first win since taking charge. west ham remain in the bottom three. the defending champions could be 14 points off the top by the end of the weekend if manchester city beat neighbours united tomorrow. what a great result for us. we needed to find one of the results, we came close against manchester city for long periods, thought we were going to get it. don't get us wrong, it was tough today. chelsea kept us under pressure. we scored a good goal, played well at times in the first half. if we had been better with the ball a couple of times in the second

half we might have got another goal. they'll be buoyed by that victory. they'll be buoyed by that victory. the day's other results. in the scottish premiership rangers had to come from behind as they beat ross county 2—1 at ibrox. there were 1-0 ross county 2—1 at ibrox. there were i—0 wins for stjohnstone and hearts while kilmarnock thrashed partick thistle 5—1. england's ashes tour of australia has been affected by news of another drinking—related incident. this time ben duckett dropped from england's tour match today for powering a drink over the head ofjames anderson at a bar in perth. he was meant to be opening the batting. instead he has been suspended pending an investigation.”

instead he has been suspended pending an investigation. i think it's fairly trivial. in the climate it's fairly trivial. in the climate it's just not acceptable. everyone's been warned about even small things can be blown out of proportion and the ecb have also been quite strict to the boys with their message. it's simply unacceptable. doesn't matter how trivial it is in this environment and what we have had to go through already with some of the small problems. as i said, it's not right, not acceptable. today's warm—up match was intended to give england's batsmen the chance to give england's batsmen the chance to press their case for inclusion in the remainder of the series. still no one registering that big score which england have missed so far. ronnie o'sullivan is closing in on a 6th uk championship title after a

6-4 6th uk championship title after a 6—4 victory over stephen maguire in the semifinals. the rocky booked his place in tomorrow's final after holding off a late fightback from maguire. he did hold a 4—0 lead. that was cut back to 5—4 before he took a decisive 6th frame in york. he faces the 2008 winner shaun murphy or ryan day who are playing now. in rugby union's european champions cupa in rugby union's european champions cup a toulon try in the closing stages condemned bath to the first defeat of the group stage. the two sides were level at the top of the table at the start of the day. the two sides face each other next week. there were also wins for ospreys, castre and scarlets. bradley wiggins finished in 21st place on his competitive rowing debut at the british indoor championships in london. he retired from cycling last year and was competing in the elite men's 2,000 metres race. he began slowly after

mistakenly believing he had false started. he finished with a time of six minutes 22 seconds. half a minute behind the overall winner adam neil. he called his false start a schoolboy error. the double olympic rowing champion james cracknell says he will learn from the experience, he has been mentoring wiggins. that is all the sport. i will be back with more throughout the evening. tens of thousands of people have filled the streets of paris for the funeral of the singer johnny hallyday — who died on wednesday at the age of 7a. his coffin was driven in a cortege down the champs—elysees, followed by hundreds of leather—clad bikers. from paris, hugh schofield sent this report. for nearly 60 years, johnny hallyday sang his songs to the french, and today they came to bid him goodbye. tens of thousands of fans, many of them from the older generation, people who grew up to his sounds in the happy, optimistic days of the 60s.

for france, johnny was le rock and roll. he was the first to open their ears to the thrilling new music coming from the united states. america was his obsession. america and motorbikes. hence the escort of hundreds of bikers for his funeral cortege down the champs—elysees. translation: let him rest in peace and wreak havoc up there. let him sing, and get it going, and open his heart up there, surrounded by family and friends. stars of music and screen, political leaders past and present, they were all there for the funeral service inside the church. for the french, johnny was their rock hero, the man who, for half a century, was always there with new songs and new performances. with his death people do feel that part of the nation's life has gone. apple is reported to be

close to buying the music recognition app shazam, for about four hundred million dollars. shazam, which is based here in the uk, allows people to use their smartphone or computer to identify music through a snippet of sound, as well as giving the option to buy it. our business correspondent, joe lynam, says any deal is potentially very lucrative for apple. every time you hear a song or piece of music or whatever it is that you might like or recognise you ask, for example, name that song, it not only names it usually quite quickly, it also gives you a link to buy it there and then instantly. what apple is doing is cutting out the middleman. they have to pay a commission to shazam for routing traffic via their app or whatever to their buying service or music service, others are available, including google. so they're cutting

out the middleman. paying potentially 400 million. and they'll be able to use technology shazam is working on. the consumer group which says an urgent review into the availablity of free—to—use atms is needed to make sure customers do not struggle to access cash. there are concerns an overhaul of the link system could result in a significant reduction of free—to—access machines. the consmer advice organisation ‘which‘ is calling on the payment systems regulator to step in and conduct an urgent market review. link's plans could potentially reduce the number of atms in the uk or increase the number of paid—for atms in the uk. we want to make sure that consumers have access to money in the way they want to, particularly in the face of closing bank branches, where people find it more and more difficult to get hold of a bank and get their money the way they want to. the fifa world cup is still six months away but players, managers and fans will already be dreaming about how well their team might do. it turns out they're not the only ones.

following on from the success of paul the german octopus, who became famous for his predictions during the tournament in 2010, a menagerie of creatures are trying to emulate his success in russia. both of our moscow correspondents, sarah rainsford and steve rosenberg, have been to have a look. these are russia's furry fortune tellers, all of them, we are told, experts at predicting football results. as intrepid moscow correspondents, sarah and i have visited all the host cities for the tournament and we have discovered. first stop sochi. here is the stadium. meanwhile, at the local aquarium. this is harry the otter. here he has a good reputation for predicting sports results. at the

olympics he had a 75% success rate. so, iam olympics he had a 75% success rate. so, i am going to ask him about england's chances at the world cup. will england win, yes or no? ready. 0h, will england win, yes or no? ready. oh, he is going... straight forthe green. it took seconds. he has decided. no doubt, england to win. on where the excitement is building, not on the pitch but in the zoo. ok. maggots at the ready. mere the fortune telling meerkat. i am told he has experience picking winners. let's see where he has gone. oh, england. that's a good sign. here they're proud of the new stadium. and of the fortune—telling racoon but she's not playing ball today. she's harder to catch than harry kane. so bring on the subs. if the left turtle wins, so will england. coming up from behind. it's england.

yes! england! ever since paulthe german octupus hit the headlines with his world cup predictions, the search has been on for a worthy successor. so, have they found one in st petersberg? well, at the world famous museum they believe their animal oracle beats the opposition bya animal oracle beats the opposition by a whisker. this is the fortune—telling cat who will be predicting the soccer scores. let's see who he chooses in this combination. maria, please. crystal ball on four legs, he is not, i suspect. but at least he is cute. england did quite well there. a massive colony of bats has forced the closure of a public swimming pool and two parks in australia. residents of the town of charters towers, in queensland, say there are about 200,000 flying fox bats in the town,

describing it as a "plague." some local people say they're angry that more hasn't been done to manage the bat population. let's check on the weather prospects. good evening. the wintry weather is set to continue through the remainder of the weekend, still sleet and snow showers out there. we are likely to see ice developing. by sunday morning as rain works in from the south twist will turn increasingly to snow. temperatures as low as minus 12, perhaps 14 across scotland. an amber warning in force for that snowfall across parts of wales, through the midlands to parts of northern england, we could see five to ten centimetres. disruptive snow, perhaps double that over the hills. here is that band of rain, sleet and snow. it will mainly befalling as snow on the northern edge. further south turning back to

rain through sunday morning. but strong winds gusting to around 60mph through the english channel and the bristol channel too. disruptive weather across the southern half of the country. further north things are looking quieter in the wintry sunshine. temperatures just minus two in glasgow. bye for now. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 8.30pm: ‘frank talks' between borisjohnson and his iranian counterpart over the imprisonment of a british woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. her husband says he's optimistic she can come home. it would be great if she came home

on the plane, i think that would be beyond my wildest expectations. but in terms of realistic hopes, yeah, fingers crossed it's still possible she could be home by christmas. icy conditions prompt highways england to advise motorists against nonessential travel, as the met office issues weather warnings for large parts of the uk. more violence in israel and the palestinian territories, after president trump's decision onjerusalem. the palestinians say they will not now meet the us vice president. and thousands of people gather in the streets of paris to pay tribute to the rock star johnny hallyday, who died on wednesday aged 74. now on bbc news, as part of our 100 women series, we meet the brazilians trying to improve the status of female