tonight at ten, millions go to the polls in zimbabwe in historic elections, the first after nearly a0 years of robert mugabe. turnout is estimated at 75%, the highest since independence. i'm very hopeful for a new zimbabwe. i'm very happy that i'm able to make a change. i would like people to go to school. more schools, more clinics, more jobs. we'll be live in zimbabwe, where international observers say the vote has been peaceful. also tonight. if families and doctors agree, life support can be withdrawn from some patients without a court ruling. for all the families in this situation, they don't want to have to go to court and say they want someone to die. they want them back but if they can't have them back, they don't want them in a nursing home for years and years and years, unable to do something. northern rail reinstates parts of the timetable it scrapped, but travellers still face enormous problems. a special report on the hunt for is fighters still on the run, after the fall of

so—called islamic state. we talk to women who want a change in the law, allowing abortion pills to be taken at home. and tour de france winner geraint thomas is back in the uk, but how will wales, mark his achievement. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news. andy murray starts the long climb back to the top from 832 in the world. he's on court in washington later. good evening. counting is under way in historic elections in zimbabwe, the first since independence from british rule, without robert mugabe running for high office.

voters have relished the opportunity for new leadership, with turnout said to be as high as 75%. many voters have known no other leader but mr mugabe, and now emmerson manangagwa of the ruling zanu—pf party is up against nelson chamisa of the opposition movement for democratic change, in the battle for the presidency. our africa editor fergal keane in is the capital harare. it was a day defined by two momentous absences, no robert mugabe on the ballot paper and no election day violence. the two are connected. hundreds of foreign and local observers were deployed to ensure there would not be violence under there would not be violence under the most part, that seems to have been the case. a remarkable turnout, the highest since independence, up 16% on the last election. and for those of us who covered past violence in this country, it seemed a different zimbabwe. just a year ago, they believed democracy was a sham.

a rigged exercise designed to keep an ageing tyrant in power. but today felt like something very different. african laughter and the high hopes of long—suffering people. i would like everybody to be employed. i would like some clinics to have medicine. i would like people to go to school. more schools, more clinics, morejobs for everyone. this day, i am very hopeful for a new zimbabwe. i am very happy that i am able to make a change, my decision is being considered for a better zimbabwe, so i am happy and hopeful. it was peaceful across zimbabwe, in the rural areas of matabeleland, and in midlands province, where the man who overthrew the old regime cast his vote. once an enforcer for robert mugabe, he is gambling voters will thank him

for bringing change. i'm happy that both the process for campaigning was peaceful and voting today is peaceful. i have no doubt that the end process of the entire electoral process will remain peaceful. in the capital harare, stronghold of the opposition movement for democratic change, its young leader nelson chamisa arrived at a local school to vote. he has campaigned energetically for months. how is it going? is it going well? "very good," he said. nelson chamisa just after voting. it is chaotic, but it is democracy as zimbabwe has never known it before. a few moments later, i caught up with him again. will you accept the result, even if you lose? i have told you that we are not

losing in this election, we are winning this election. so i am not interested in impossibilities. so you are confident? we will win this election, to the extent that it is a free and fair election, particularly in the rural areas. it is a done deal. it has been a hard road to this place. the mess that zimbabwe became is rooted in the bitter struggle against white minority rule. thousands were killed before independence brought hope. but the heroes of liberation became despots. zimbabwe might have become an enduring success story but, over time, ordinary lives became hostage to the terror of robert mugabe's one—party rule. millions fled, like this man, who spent 15 years in exile in britain. now he has come back as an election observer. i think this is what it should have been. this is what everyone has always advocated for. what we are getting now,

obviously it is not perfect, but i think it is quite commendable. i mean, we cannot take away the fact that this has been very peaceful. with voting over, they were preparing to count tonight. this was the scene in one harare polling station. this day passed in peace, but the days to come, when a victor is declared, will prove the ultimate test of zimba bwe‘s democracy. fergal keane, bbc news, harare. our zimbabwe correspondent shingai nyoka joins us now. just sum up for us how important a day this is for ordinary zimbabweans. the majority of zimbabweans. the majority of zimbabweans had only ever known one leader robert mugabe, and those who had voted before had come to believe

that whether mr mugabe lost all won, that whether mr mugabe lost all won, that he would always be there, forcing his way back to power, from marching them to his rallies, forcing them to close their businesses so they would support him. but the young people i suppose do today were very hopeful. —— i spoke to today. they believe the ballots they cast today will count, that their voices will be heard and this is a different election, an election like no other. but of course it depends on what lies in the next few days, when the results are announced and whether the political parties will accept the results and concede defeat. shingai nyoka live in harare. permission from the courts will no longer be needed to withdraw life support from people in a permanent vegetative state, or those who are minimally conscious. the supreme court has ruled that if family members and doctors agree, then food and liquid can be stopped, allowing patients to die. many thousands of individuals with little or no hope of recovery could be affected.

here's sophie hutchinson. cathy renson—brink‘s brother matty was severely brain—damaged in a hit and run accident when he was just 16 years old. he then spent eight years in a vegetative state. she says the family had to go through the painful process of asking the court to allow food and water to be withdrawn so that he could die. and that's one of the difficult things about going to court. i had to swear an affidavit saying that i wanted my brother to die. i didn't want my brother to die. i wanted him to get better but i wanted him not to have been knocked over in the first place but i couldn't have any of those things. and that's the thing for all the families in this situation, they don't want to have to go to court to say that they want someone to die. they want them back and if they can't have them back they don't want them in a nursing home for years and years and years. today's landmark ruling by the supreme court means that when families and doctors agree, they will no longer need to seek permission from judges. that means they can decide whether life—sustaining nutrition should be withdrawn from a loved one in a persistent vegetative

or minimally conscious state. today's ruling is hugely significant for what are potentially thousands of families who find themselves in some of the most tragic situations, those who agree with doctors that their loved ones should be allowed to die. they can now make that decision in the quiet of their home, in hospital or elsewhere, without the strain of having to go to court. it's estimated there are tens of thousands of people living in a vegetative or minimally conscious state in the uk. patients with almost no prospect of recovery who are kept alive with artificially—administered food and water, some for decades. those who represent families have welcomed the new ruling. it's a really good decision for a sensible and compassionate society, to allow doctors and families to get on and make decisions on behalf of their patient in their best interests. the hillsborough victim tony bland was the first patient in england

who the courts allowed to die by having food and water withdrawn. since then, there have been 100 such cases, and some are concerned that removing the safeguard of asking the courts‘ permission could be dangerous. these decisions are very difficult. they need to be made by specialists. diagnoses are often wrong. the court of protection have overturned decisions before, and this is why we feel that this severely compromises the lives of these vulnerable patients. but where there is disagreement between families and doctors, the courts will still have the final say. cathy is adamant, though, that if court can be avoided, it's a kindness. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. president trump says he's willing to meet iranian leaders without "preconditions" to discuss how to improve relations between the two countries. strains have deepened since may, when mr trump pulled out of the iran nuclear deal,

and now the white house is preparing to reimpose sanctions. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. how much of a surprise is this from mrtrump? how much of a surprise is this from mr trump? i think it would be easy to think of it as a throwaway remark but then few people thought that donald trump would be meeting vladimir putin and we saw what happened in helsinki and fewer people thought he would meet the north korean leader, kimjong—un, and we saw what happened in singapore. there is something of the north korea playbook in this, donald trump threatening, weapons being locked and loaded, fire and fury, eight days ago, he tweeted, "never, ever threaten the united states again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few who throughout history have ever suffered before. we are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words or violence and death". eight days later, today, donald trump says they can have

talks any time with no preconditions. possibly they might have them as soon as this september at the united nations general assembly. what we don't have yet is the reaction of israel or saudi arabia, in packable foes to iran. thank you. jon sopel at the white house. the funeral has taken place of dawn sturgess, who was poisoned by the nerve agent novichok in wiltshire three weeks ago. among those attending was her partner, charlie rowley, who was hospitalised in the same poisoning. ms sturgess died after coming into contact with novichok, which may have been discarded during the attack on the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter in march. jon kay reports. her coffin dressed in summer flowers, dawn stu rg ess was remembered as an innocent novichok victim and as a fun loving mum of three. her private funeral included james blunt‘s song beautiful dawn and was attended by senior police officers. it is a very emotional experience. the vicar who conducted the service told me dawn's 11—year—old daughter

was among those to speak. she just said how much she loved her mum and how much her mum had loved her, which resulted in a round of applause from everybody in the crematorium, just to say how marvellously she had done that and how courageous she had been. the vicar said the coffin was carried into the crematorium by pallbearers as normal, despite earlier advice about possible contamination risks. charlie rowley, who was poisoned with novichok at the same time as his partner, sat at the front as tributes were paid to the ali—year—old. i would like people to think of dawn, not in a sad, sort of like, she's passed, but in a happy sense, that she was a lovely person and very helpful to anyone who was in need of help. tonight, work continues to establish where the couple unwittingly came across the deadly poison.

at her funeral, prayers were said for dawn stu rgess' family and friends and for this entire community, where so many are still in shock. jon kay, bbc news, salisbury. some rail services in the north of england, that were scrapped back in may due to a shake—up of the timetable, are back. up to 75% of the trains are up and running again — but angry commuters still faced cancellations and delays in many areas, as danny savage reports. just after seven this morning and lorna fitzpatrick is waiting in burnley for her daily northern service to leeds. it arrives on time, but lorna says the new timetable means more stops and more passengers. i have this dread every single morning, because i know that the train is probably going to be late and i'm probably not going to get to work on time, as usual. train announcement: on behalf of northern, i'd just like to apologise for the... every single aspect of my life revolves around this train and i'm just absolutely sick of it. i'm at the end of my tether. it's had such a massive impact

on my life — my professional and my personal life. and i can't be the only one in this situation. northern says a more gradual reintroduction of its timetable will ensure a more stable and reliable service. but again, today, there were delays and cancellations. the mayor of greater manchester says enough is enough. today, i have called on the prime minister to intervene, because passengers in the north can't keep running the daily lottery of turning up at the train station hoping they will be able to get to work on time. they deserve much better than this. and that was reflected at this company in manchester, who are having to build their working day around the delays of staff commuting on northern. there's usually lots of calls at 8:30am with people saying they're going to be delayed, they are going to be late. there is a bit of chaos rearranging meetings, say if we've got a pitch where we are going to be trying to win new work. it is having a huge impact on us being actually able to win new business and grow.

northern blamed a shortage of drivers for the chaos back in may. they say training has now happened. the unions disagree. your operating services on overtime, that says to me and to our members, and i suspect to passengers, that you haven't got enough staff in the first place. there were certainly fewer complaints on social media about the trains today, but the commuters we met believe the real test will be in september. that is because the other 25% of trains axed in june that is because the other 25% of trains axed injune will not be reintroduced until the beginning of september, when many commuters will return from the summer holidays, so the system will be tested at capacity and talking to passengers today on northern routes they do not feel they can turn up for a service and karen —— guarantee the train will be there. this will have to one weeks before their faith is restored

in the system and they can put this behind them. thank you, danny savage. as many as 50,000 foreign fighters from across the world poured into syria, tojoin militant groups including islamic state. now, after the fall of is, there's increasing concern about those who haven't been captured. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has been following the trail of the extremists from syria to europe, who are still on the run. syria is a country of checkpoints and of escape routes. these free syrian army rebels are on the lookout for the so—called islamic state. is are flooding out of the former caliphate, trying to leave the country. this bus, that is is full of civilians, gets the all clear. but it's a haphazard hunt. translation: after we take their pictures and record their voices, we message locals who know if they are is members or not. if not, then we let them go. foreigners arouse suspicion here.

he may be only 13 years old, but this boy is a long way from home. "i'm from saudi arabia," he tells the men. his knees are shaking. he says he was not in is, but is taken away for further questioning. this may not look like much, it might seem very far away. but this checkpoint is one of the last defences against is making it to europe. here, in the past four months, they have stopped more than 1000 is fighters, some of them small fry, some of them big commanders. many more are still on the run. and they aren't just stopping here in syria. we've been following the escape of is fighters from syria for months. many were set free in separate deals across the country. thousands have escaped the battlefield. and some are already in turkey. it is iam on the streets of istanbul and the counterterror police are on the search for is hideouts. this neighbourhood is full

of syrians and other foreigners. turkey, which has been blamed for letting so many fighters into syria, says the flow has now reversed. the swat team is taking no chances. they worry that the suspect may be armed or have a suicide vest. there are women and children inside. police are ready to break down the door. there is stand—off, but eventually they are let in. turkey has a list of 50,000 names of foreign fighters who went to syria. they are now searching the apartment for evidence to link the suspect to any terror activities. but that's almost immaterial, because he will be deported in any case. he won't be returning to this apartment. they get their man, an uzbek.

he is accused of having fought for is in syria. this is one off nearly a dozen raids tonight across istanbul. in about a fifth of all of these raids, and there have been hundreds, the suspect has already fled. these are civilians. this is the last leg of their escape route from war. but it's also being used by the islamic state. it is just before dawn on turkey's aegean coast. they are just half an hour away from lesbos. there are no fighters here today but, says the people—smuggler in charge, they use this route regularly. translation: yes, the number of is members fleeing to turkey has definitely increased during the last four orfive months. we learned some people made it to germany. this is new footage of chechen

and syrian fighters crossing into turkeyjust last month. britain and others don't want the foreign fighters back, but syria's darkness won't be contained. plenty of islamic state fighters are determined to return to europe regardless. quentin somerville, bbc news, istanbul. a teacher cleared of a rape charge has lost his appeal, to remove references to the case from his enhanced criminal records check. the man, who can't be named, was found not guilty seven years ago. the supreme court ruled that fully informing prospective employers was proportionate, as the man had applied for a job as a lecturer. but his lawyers are considering an appeal to the european court of human rights, saying the judgement undermines the presumption of innocence, until guilt is proved. the authorities in california have begun allowing people to return to their homes, after wildfires forced more than 50,000 people to flee.

around 12,000 firefighters from across the us have been battling blazes, which have so far claimed the lives of eight people. james cook reports from lakeport in northern california. the fire season is no more. california is now ablaze all year round. in the past six years, not one month has passed without a major wildfire here. just now, 17 are burning up and down the state, causing problems for battalion chief paul fleckenstein and his team. the fire that's coming up behind us is a little enthusiastic right now. it's reacting to the wind and the fuels. it's coming up from the bottom below us. mostly the thermal column is carrying it up, it's catching the brush, you can hear it cook off the moisture, that's the crackling part. then it's picking up the embers and throwing them kind of where we're not looking for them to go right now. across north america, tens of thousands of firefighters are battling to save life and protect property,

setting controlled burns like this one and hacking away at the undergrowth to try to deprive the wildfires of fuel. it is relentless and often dangerous work. quite how dangerous was underlined again with the death of brian hughes, the 33—year—old captain of the arrowhead hotshots. he was fighting this blaze near yosemite national park when he was struck by a falling tree, the fourth firefighter to die in california's current wildfires. this is the latest threat, fire advancing on the town of lakeport, adding to the evacuations. 50,000 people in the state have now fled their homes. but staying can be deadly. in the mountains of shasta county, where this village was reduced to ashes, police say they found the body of someone who had refused to leave. these pictures of the fires sweeping in were filmed by a helicopter pilot.

they show it jumping the sacramento river, leaving two young children and their great—grandmother among the dead, and the fear here is that this is what the future looks like. james cook, bbc news, in northern california. senior doctors and politicians are urging the health secretary to change the law, regarding the rules for women taking abortion pills. in england, they must be administered in a hospital or clinic, before a woman is allowed to travel home, to wait for the abortion to take place. but bbc news has been told that some women are illegally taking pills they ve bought online, to avoid visiting clinics. jean mackenzie has more. it was so traumatic and so unexpected. 20 minutes into herjourney home from the clinic, zoe felt the effects of the abortion pill kicked in. the pain and the nausea was so extreme, i had

to get off the tube. i lay down on a bench and basically just decided that i wasn't going to move any further. the abortion pill is used to terminate an early pregnancy. it requires women to take two sets of tablets over two days. now, the current law in england states that women have to take both sets of tablets within a hospital or clinic. they have then got to make the journey home back from the clinic while they wait for the abortion process to begin. but once you've taken that second tablet, it can start to happen really quickly. how did you feel, knowing that you were starting to pass your pregnancy and you were in this hugely public place? i felt scared and... exposed. and itjust felt really unfair. to prevent this from happening, both scotland and wales now allow women to take the second pill at home. it is only women in england who can't. senior doctors and politicians are

urging the health secretary to act. this is not diy abortion care. it is just saying that we are trusting them to take this in a place where they can be more comfortable and have more privacy and dignity. it is not changing the regulation on abortion in this country. we have been told that the current system is causing some women to break the law by buying their own pills to take at home. kate guthrie has worked in abortion care for 30 years but now helps women who want to buy pills over the internet. having a health care system which does not look after women is a risky system and it is just not acceptable. over the past three years, drug enforcement officers have seized almost 10,000 sets of pills heading to addresses in britain. maybe i was very unlucky to be in that small percentage of people that it happens within 30 minutes, but if it happens, then it does. the department of health

and social care have told us that they are reviewing the evidence around this and monitoring proceedings in scotland. jean mackenzie, bbc news. you can watch the full version of that report on tomorrow s victoria derbyshire programme, on bbc two and the bbc news channel, from 9am. more than four million people in the indian state of assam, could lose their citizenship after being left off a draft register. most of those affected are bengali—speaking muslims. india says the exercise will root out illegal migrants but fears have been sparked of a witch hunt against assam's ethnic minorities. our correspondentjoe miller has sent this report. they have always called india home. but these villagers now expect to lose their citizenship, their land, their voting rights and, perhaps, even their freedom. schoolteacher hasitun feels her family has been targeted. "it is a witchhunt,"

she says, "against the bengali muslim community." translation: this is our country. i grew up here, i studied here. i got married here. how come we are not indians? authorities claim settlers from nearby bangladesh are enmeshed in assam's bengali population, hiding in plain sight, often with forged papers. to help pinpoint them, all 32 million inhabitants have been forced to produce documents proving their assamese roots go back to before 1971. but record—keeping in remote areas is patchy, and human rights groups are crying foul. the government says assam is in danger of being overrun with illegal bangladeshi migrants. but, strangely, no one can tell us where they are, how many of them there are, or what fate awaits them. all they say is they come here to exploit this vast, fertile landscape.

muslim activists claim the numbers are being deliberately exaggerated to justify a sinister hindu nationalist agenda. translation: they are openly threatening to get rid of muslims. what happened to the rohingyas in myanmar could happen to us here. such fears have been exacerbated by prime minister narendra modi, who pledged to deport bangladeshi intruders unless they were hindus. in assam, a fellow party member is clear about his intentions. everybody will be given a right to prove their citizenship. but, if they fail to do so, the legal system will take its own course. you are saying these people will be expelled? yes, yes. for now, bengali muslims are staying put, clinging to the hope that after next year's national elections, such pledges

will simply fade away. joe miller, bbc news, assam. fresh from his tour de france victory, the welsh cyclist geraint thomas has arrived back in the uk. discussions are under way in cardiff about how to mark his achievement, as sian lloyd reports. the city waiting for geraint thomas to come home. flags have gone up at cardiff castle. behind the scenes, plans are being made to give him a hero's welcome. i think it's amazing that geraint thomas has won the tour de france and, you know, it inspires little kids to get onto their bikes. i was watching the tour de france and i want to know when is he coming back to cardiff, geraint thomas? we don't know yet, but when we do, we'll let you know.