hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. the british foreign secretary will meet the president of iran on sunday. borisjohnson is expected to bring up the imprisonment of the british iranian woman, nazanin zaghari ratcliffe. mrjohnson has already had discussions with the iranian foreign minister. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports. it could look routine. borisjohnson and his iranian counterpart, mohammad javad zarif, shake hands on the way into talks. but there's 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 iranian prison releases, including of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — a case many accuse him of damaging by loose talk last month. watching anxiously with me in london, nazanin's husband, richard ratcliffe. he has campaigned day in, day out for her freedom since nazanin's arrest in april last year. i'm sure it'll make a difference,

i'm sure him being there, i'm sure him raising her case, raising her case in the context of lots of other stuff can only help improve relations and improved relations can only lead to a better case for us. i think that's right, but 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 call a constructive meeting. they discussed the full range of bilateral issues and they both spoke frankly about the obstacles in the relationship, including the foreign secretary's concerns about the consular cases of british—iranian dual nationals. both emphasised their commitment to continuing to work together to improve the bilateral relationship. one good sign — iran's foreign minister confirmed borisjohnson should be able to meet president rouhani tomorrow. yeah, he's reciprocating your hospitality.

something that is not automatic on a visit like this. the talks went on for two hours. positives and negatives in relations were fully aired. we shouldn't expect immediate consequences but iran is in no doubt about british efforts to get nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe home. singing christmas carols this evening in london, richard ratcliffe and supporters have been gently keeping up the pressure to have the family reunited. he says he was not able to sleep last night and may not find rest tonight either, before the talking in tehran resumes in the morning. james robbins, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. arab foreign ministers meeting in cairo have urged the united states to abandon its decision to recognisejerusalem as israel's capital. in a statement, the arab league said donald trump's announcement would increase violence throughout the region. police in sweden have responded to reports of an apparent attack

on a synagogue in gothenburg. the exact sequence of events is not clear. there are reports that several masked individuals were involved. burning objects were reportedly thrown towards the building. the incident is said to be under investigation. opposition parties in honduras have formally demanded the annulment of last month's presidential election — a poll which triggered street violence, amid allegations of widespread vote—rigging. the electoral authorities are accused of tampering with the results. and there's much more detail on all our top stories — plus news, business and sport, on our website. just go to bbc.com/news. more now on those talks in iran. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins has been speaking to nazanin zaghari ratcliffe's husband, richard. it is obvious, richard, that nazanin is not coming home with the foreign secretary.

but do you think there is any evidence that this meeting, the series of meetings in tehran, could make a difference? i am sure it will make a difference. i am sure him being there, raising her case, raising her case in the context of lots of other stuff, can only help improve relations and improved relations can only lead to a better case for us. i think that is right. i am not expecting that monday morning he comes back with her on the plane. i am looking very closely at who he gets to meet, looking very closely as to what happens tomorrow. then i'm looking forward to hearing on monday or tuesday, when he is back, a debrief as to what went on. i don't expect to hear everything, i know some things stay secret. but we are in a place where we are looking at the tea leaves to see what it means. fingers crossed it can be solved by christmas, which means in the week or so afterwards, nazanin might come home. were you disappointed that you yourself could not go with him? obviously as time went on i began to realise it was less

and less likely. yeah, i had always wanted to go. the reason the foreign office gave to me was that they felt it would not have been helpful to over—politicise the case by having me standing next to him. it could distort other issues in other cases. i still would have wanted to go there, and i still want to go there as soon as possible. but faced with the choice between going with him and her still being in prison, and him going and her coming back sooner, i will take the latter. do you think borisjohnson and the foreign office could have been a bit more forceful with the iranians? i have long criticised the foreign office for not being as robust in public as i would like them to be. that is a battle we have had behind closed doors as well. me saying that they should be tougher, and them saying, look, that is not how things work. and, yeah, i think if he is able, through his charm and his presence, to bring her home, great.

myjob in this campaigning has always been to say this is unacceptable and outrageous and that she should be with her family. she should be with her family for christmas, and please, can that be arranged? the prime minister of iraq has declared that the war against the islamic state group is over. haider al—abadi said the iraqi flag was now flying across the whole country — there'll be a public holiday in the country on sunday in celebration. at the height of its strength, the militant group controlled a third of iraqi territory, and proclaimed a caliphate. translation: i thank all the countries, as well as humanitarian and international organizations that stood with iraq, and its people, during this battle.

i salute every iraqi fighter who took up arms to defend our land. i salute the souls of the martyrs and those injured, and theirfamilies, who preserved iraq and its people. iraq survived united and victorious. parts of north wales, northwest england and the midlands are bracing themselves for heavy snow. the met office has issued an amber weather warning, urging people to be prepared for possible disruption. some eastern areas could also be affected. olivia richwald reports. layers of thick snow a scene of beauty in shropshire, but the first heavy snowfall of the winter 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 minus six tonight in parts of scotland and wales. in oldham, greater manchester, 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 through moorland.

with heavy snow showers forecast overnight in this area, they say they're prepared. we've just had the forecast in so the temperatures are going to drop quite significantly. sub—zero. so what we're doing this afternoon now is we will pre—grit all our primary gritting routes and then overnight then we'll carry on treating and treating throughout the night, getting as much salt on the ground as possible. it's trans—pennine routes like this that can quickly become hazardous if they're not well maintained. oldham council alone expects to use 600 tons of grit this weekend alone — and there's 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. i like to do snowballs and make a snowman and make models and go down with sleds. it's very slippery and i've

been falling down! more scenes like this are forecast tomorrow as heavy snow is expected across central areas. but both the north and south may miss out. olivia richwald, bbc news, oldham. now on bbc news, 100 women: levelling the playing field. julia carneiro is in the brazilian city of rio dejaneiro tackling the issue of sexism in sport. we're challenging teams of women in four cities around the world to tackle everyday problems that blight their lives... in the workplace. we need a working prototype by tomorrow morning. in education. emojis not showing up in the overlay. on public transport. there's only, i don't know, 50 more to do or something. and on the sports field. using bbc outlets, the teams

can appeal for help from around the world. they have just one week to find a modern solution to a long—standing issue. welcome to the bbc‘s 100 women challenge. rio dejaneiro is a city famed for its passion for sport. it was home to the 2016 olympic and paralympic games. and hosted the most recent football world cup in 2014. the beautiful game is adored by millions here but has an ugly past. for almost a0 years, women were banned from playing football in brazil.

though the ban is now lifted, its legacy lives on. it's a real struggle for brazilian women to be taken seriously in football. the 100 women challenge has come to rio to try to tackle sexism in sport. and find solutions to level the playing field, inspiring women here in brazil and around the world. taking up the challenge are five women who have just five days to come up with ideas to help improve the situation for female footballers. time for some introductions. footballer bia vaz from sao paulo has played for the brazilian national women's squad and professionally

in the united states. fernanda is a rower and competed in her home city of rio in the olympic games last year. this woman grew up in one of rio‘s favelas, dreaming of playing football. now she's a coach for other children growing up in poverty. maira from sao paulo is director of the women in sports programme for the campaign group think olga.

and finally, two time olympic beach volleyball silver medallist adriana from rio is now on the brazilian olympic committee, part of her role is to keep women in sport. our experts must reveal their solutions to sexism in sport at a mixed gender football match at the end of the week. it'll be a seven aside game and at least three of the players on each side must be female. the squad playing on behalf of the 100 women is made up of talented young brazilian

footballers who are meeting for the first time today. it's also hoped these young players can offer some inspiration to our challenge team. even atjust 12 and 13 years of age, ana and luiza have already encountered a lot of resistance to their love of the game. with ana and luiza as their inspiration, the women start making plans for the week ahead. leading up to the game on saturday. the team is made up of high achievers, but none of them has ever taken on a challenge of this scale injust a week. by by and players, this is an opportunity to learn from extraordinary role models. maira and bia also take some time to reflect on the first day.

the team is made up of high achievers, but none of them has ever taken on a challenge of this scale injust a week. by and players, this is an opportunity to learn from extraordinary role models. it's going to be an interesting few days. we've had a really early start and just drove an hour and a half to reach the school in the west zone of rio, we're going to see a very unique experience promoting gender equality in sport. korfball. korfball was invented just over 100

years ago in the netherlands so that men and women could play alongside each other on the same team. school pe teacher shayla is a big fan of the sport because the sexes can compete on equal terms. this is a crucial time to teenagers. they are going through lots of changes in their bodies. this is where many of them simply decide to abandon sport. it is crucial for them to feel accepted. whether the game under way, they are watching to see if they can adopt any of the rules of korfball and see if they can use it in football. although watching the korfball is useful, neither of these women are spectators in life, and they are itching

to get stuck in. the coach is a passionate supporter of women's sport but she has experienced how hard it is to be taken seriously. the boys say they are proud to work with the girls and the girls are proud they have their role and can play to their strengths. korfball is popular with the kids. but what about our experts? did they enjoy the game?

school is over for bia and maira, they are now off to university collecting ana and luiza along the way. arriving at rio‘s pontifico catholic university, luiza and ana head off for training, with the university's women's team. meanwhile, they are meeting football coach helena. she was the one who discovered one of the best female footballers in the world, the then 14—year—old marta at the stadium. helena has agreed to become the team super coach, they'll update her on the challenge and solutions they are coming up

with to address sexism in sport. meanwhile, ana and luiza have a new recruit. 13—year—old maria willjoin them for saturday's game and together they are meeting the university team captain, nicole.