this is bbc world news today. i'm karin giannone. our top stories... the blame game over a deadly attack in iran — washington tells tehran to look in the mirror after the regime accuses it of supporting terrorism. the opposition candidate in the maldives‘ hotly—contested presidential election claims victory, as counting draws to a close. a final farewell on the shores of lake victoria, for some of the more than 200 victims of the tanzanian ferry disaster. and from fictional character to real scotland yard. is the bbc thriller the bodyguard the reason for a surge in interest in counter—terrorism jobs in recent weeks? hello and welcome to world news today. the us ambassador to the united nations has urged iran to "look in the mirror" for the causes of an attack on a military parade that

killed 25 on saturday. nikki haley said iranian president hassan rouhani had "oppressed his people for a long time". she was responding to mr rouhani's fierce criticism of the us, in which he blamed washington for enabling the attack. the victims of saturday's violence included 12 members of the revolutionary guards. it was one of the worst attacks ever against the elite force. president rouhani remarks came as he left tehran for new york to attend the un general assembly. translation: the victims fell as innocent martyrs. undoubtedly the islamic republic of iran does not overlook this crime. it's clear to us which group the attackers belonged to and to where they are linked. the small puppet countries we see in the region are backed by america and the us is provoking them and giving them the necessary capabilities to commit these crimes. let's talk more about that un leaders gathering

in new york this week with our us correspondent chris buckler. tellers about the reaction of the trump administration to what iran is saying about the attack. washington points out president rouhani hasn't offered any proof and they are pointing the finger at iran. as you mentioned, nikki haley has said clearly that they condemn all sorts of terrorism all attacks that take place, but also that president rouhani should be looking at the policies of his own government, that oppressing the people may well lead to these kind of attacks. it's that kind of rhetoric that gives you a sense of really the tensions between iran and the us, and certainly they have been building since washington decided to remove itself from the iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions, which is really having a damaging effect on iran's already troubled economy. as a result we are looking out towards a meeting of the un general assembly, which will be

attended by both president trump and president rouhani. you have to say, what are you look at the conversations that have been had doubt there is a danger of relationships worsening during that assembly meeting. how much is that issue of iran and the nuclear deal which the us has now abandoned, expected to dominate the un general assembly? so many leaders descending on new york this week. beyond that there are so many things to talk about, north korea, syria, plenty of things internationally, but you get the sense the trump administration does want to push the issue of iran. president trump himself is going to chaira president trump himself is going to chair a meeting of the un security council and it's about trying to remove nuclear weapons to try to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, but at the same time president trump has already made clear as far as he is concerned it is about iran. he wants to have the discussion focused on tehran and thatis discussion focused on tehran and that is something they will be concerned about. indeed, the us ambassador to the un, nikki haley,

has also made very clear that as far as she is concerned they have to look at whether or not more pressure is put on by america's allies. they have a decision to make. our decision was hundreds of billions of dollars was going into iran and in return they were having ballistic missile testing, they were selling arms to terrorist fighters, they we re arms to terrorist fighters, they were basically continuing to support terrorism. what we said was we didn't give you money to continue to do those bad things. the europeans have a decision to make out that decision is already being made. if you look, they are dropping business from iran left and right. iran's economy is plummeting and it's because they can't continue to sustain this. there's going to be a huge focus coming up at the un general assembly meeting taking place in new york. indeed, nikki haley herself, with a rather clumpy and claims suggested with mr trump in charge it might well turn out to be the most viewed un security council meeting in history —— a

rather trump like claim. thank you, chris barker in washington. —— chris buckler. a mass burial has taken place for passengers who died when a ferry capsized on thursday, on lake victoria in tanzania. 224 people are now known to have lost their lives in the tragedy, and that number is expected to rise. aboubakar famau has this report. hundreds of mourners gathered near the shores of lake victoria at the island, to pay their last respects to the victims who were given a mass burial. the event was presided over by the prime minister, as well as other government officials. the government will create an investigative commission, which will involve experts and security organs, in order to investigate and establish the cause of the accident. proper measures will be taken against those responsible for the

incident. out of the nine buried today, five we re out of the nine buried today, five were disfigured beyond recognition but officials say their dna details will be kept to allow future identification. translation: some people were recovered after three days which means it was difficult to identify them. their relatives didn't recognise them. the dna details will help us. survivors of the ferry tragedy gave testimonies. of how a ferry with a capacity of 101 passengers carried more than 260 passengers. translation: i was in the ferry and it was fine at first, but when we we re it was fine at first, but when we were coming back is when the trouble began. it was overloaded with passengers and goods. there were hundreds of sacks of maize. i saw water coming in and the person behind me started wailing, then i felt myself in deep water and god

helped me to come to the surface. the death toll from the disaster, one of the worst in recent years. now it stands at 224, although other reports indicate that the number could be over 250. this area is now going to be a symbol of sad memories for residents of the island and tanzania is generally. 0n the other hand the government says it's planning to build a monument with all names of victims on it. that's aboubakar famau reporting. in the maldives presidential election, the opposition candidate, ibrahim mohamed solih, has claimed a surprise victory. speaking in the capital male, mr solih, said it was a moment of happiness and hope. he called on his rival, president abdulla yameen, to accept the will of the people. joining me now in the studio to tell us more about this, is bbc reporter 0livia lang, who is also the former editor of a maldives based news website. what is the latest we are hearing?

we've had the provisional results coming out in favour of the opposition candidate, ibrahim mohamed solih also be held a press conference saying, as you said, claiming victory and asking for mr yameen, the president, to concede and allow for a peaceful transition. no word from mr yameen yet and as yet no official results. this would bea yet no official results. this would be a victory by a pretty wide margin, wouldn't it? 16 percentage points according to these provisional real results reported by local media so yes, it is quite tense according to the people i've been speaking to. hundreds of supporters of the opposition are out on the streets calling for yameen to concede. how remarkable is this, if you think what sort of repression and crackdown there has been in the maldives politically over recent yea rs, maldives politically over recent years, and particularly the months

in the run—up to the election?” think the question is for many of us who have lived in the maldives and observed the maldives, it's quite a surprise to see such a credible process today, to see a free and fair election that has come out in favour of the opposition and the question is, is yameen going to concede? the last few years he's been increasingly repressive, rolling back laws aren't trying essentially to cling onto power. in february this year we saw the supreme court ordering him release political prisoners. first of all he said he respected the court, then he suddenly declared a state of emergency and arrested judges, and many political figures are still in jail including his own half brother. this is a tiny nation made up of many islands associated by many as a place of beautiful holidays and beaches, but it is of real interest to regional powers like china and india, and also the eu are watching

closely. yeah, the maldives is a very small kind of speckling the indian ocean but it's of great importance as say, especially in the kind of geopolitical battle between india and china, so the maldives is traditionally almost in the back ya rd of traditionally almost in the back yard of delhi and india. in recent yea rs, yard of delhi and india. in recent years, under yameen it's been closer and closer to china, and this has alarmed delhi, who are concerned that china is trying to get another foothold in the indian ocean. what sort of position as the opposition in to take power, given the repression there has been recently? at the moment it's too difficult to say what might happen. 0bviously at the moment it's too difficult to say what might happen. obviously we haven't had official results, we haven't had official results, we haven't had official results, we haven't had any work from yameen, so eve ryo ne haven't had any work from yameen, so everyone at the moment is waiting for the next steps. it's a

surprising turn of events for everyone. let's see first of all what yameen says and if he's willing to concede power. thank you very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... a wildfire has spread over thousands of acres north of los angeles in california. the blaze spread quickly over a wide area, fanned by high winds. fire crews, helicopters and planes are fighting the flames. the cause of the fire is being investigated. pope francis has been holding the first open air mass of his tour of the baltic states. tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in the city of kaunas in lithuania to hear him lead the congregation. it's the first trip by a pope to the region for 25 years. a new zealand supermarket chain has withdrawn a brand of australian strawberries from sale after finding needles embedded in some of the fruit. the countdown supermarket says they were found in a punnet of strawberries sourced from western australia — bought in one of its stores in auckland. police in australia say they are investigating more than 100 cases of fruit with embedded needles, all reported in the past month.

stay with us on bbc world news. still to come... the high—speed rail link which promises to cut the journey time from hong kong to beijing from 24 hours to nine. so why are some not happy? benjohnson, the ben johnson, the fastest man benjohnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all athletes should be clea n disgrace. all athletes should be clean going into the games and i'm happy justice is clean going into the games and i'm happyjustice is served. it's a simple fact this morning these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burned down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have

been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which can preserve its own secrets against the world, and so the british government has no option but to continue this action, and even after any adverse judgment in australia. concorde has crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. iran's president, hassan rouhani, has accused us—backed gulf states of supporting the groups behind a deadly attack on a military parade. the opposition presidential candidate in the maldives is claiming victory — with the vote count showing a large lead over the incumbent. india? has rolled out an ambitious health care policy to provide health

insurance?cover?for almost half? of? its population. ?the billion dollar scheme, popularly? known as?modicare, after india's prime minister narendra modi, is considered to be the?world's largest health care project and comes just ahead of the country's general elections next year. ?the bbc‘s devina gupta reports. nearly 1.6 million people die every year because of lack of access to affordable health care in india. the ayushman bharat national health protection mission is meant to plug this gap with an annual health insurance of $7,100, but unlike most of the global public health schemes that cover all the citizens, india's policy will only cover advanced medical treatment costs like surgery and cancer care for 500 million of the country's poorest. while the government claims the scheme will make 265,000 beds available, for poor in government and private hospitals in the country, the question is if that is enough.

what it's doing is carefully setting up infrastructure that will allow us to work towards, which is the aspiration of the scheme, to get to universal health care, which is our ambition and which is something that we need to do. in india, on average, only one doctor is present for 11,000 patients. that's 11 times more than the ratio recommended by the world health organization. for now, india has allocated $1.5 billion for the roll—out. experts feel more investment is needed as millions rush to grab health care that has been out of their reach so far. voters in switzerland appear to have rejected proposals which campaigners hoped would promote ethical and sustainable food. projections, after two nationwide polls, suggest more than 60% of people voted against proposals that would have boosted government support for local food production and required foreign food producers to adopt swiss standards on sustainability

and animal welfare. 0pponents argued the plan would have been unenforceable, and led to higherfood prices and less consumer choice. a new high—speed rail link has been launched in hong kong. it will give people in the city access to dozens of cities in mainland china, and will cut the time in takes to get there in some cases by more than half. but some are saying it poses a threat to hong kong's self—governance. rylee carlson explains. applause all of this fanfare before sunrise in hong kong is for the opening of a new high—speed rail service electing the territory with the rest of mainland china will stop it was three years behind schedule and over budget by nearly $3 billion. but there was a lot of excitement for those who managed to get a ticket for the first trains. i want to go

back home to celebrate the mid—autumn festival with my family, so i'm excited. i woke up at 4:40am this morning. translation: i've worked in hong kong for years, i go back home a few times each year. by taking the high—speed train i can go to my hometown and come back within the same day. but not everyone feels the same. critics say this area, a joint checkpoint, violate hong kong's readings and its midi constitution. for the first time mainland chinese authorities will be able to operate at the station and on the trains, allowing them to win force beijing's law. —— 24th beijing's law. the protest was staged outside the station by those who say the rail link isa station by those who say the rail link is a threat to the city's self—governance. link is a threat to the city's self-governance. we believe factors will undermine the basic human rights of hong kong people. that is why we are very worried and we

believe that would be a loophole and a very bad resident to be gradually and slowly undermined hong kong's basic human rights —— a bad precedent. ageing says that's not the case and proponents argue it streamlines the immigration process. the rail link the next hong kong with 44 places in southern china. to get to grandeur it will take 40 minutes, less than half the time than older trains. a trip to beijing is cut from 24 hours, to just under nine. now the sport. thank you. chelsea have failed to match liverpool's perfect start to the premier league season. they could only draw 0—0 at west ham. sarri had to grab his coat and go

home disappointed. failing to break through the hammers‘ defence. west ham had the best chance of the game. andriy yarmolenko sending a free header wide of the mark. a good point for them, chelsea stay third. nurburgring we moved the ball slowly. the second half especially in the last 30 minutes very well, i think, but we can do better. this is not our best performance. there was not our best performance. there was no stopping unai emery —— unai emery‘s arsenal at the moment, a 2—0 win over everton made it four league wins ina win over everton made it four league wins in a row. lacazette scoring a spectacular opener before aubameyang doubled the lead less than three minutes later. arsenal are up to six. we're happy, we want to date to

win for six. we're happy, we want to date to winfor our six. we're happy, we want to date to win for our supporters and continue improving and the three points for us improving and the three points for us is very important. in the 90th minute i think in the first half, we didn‘t control the much like we wa nted didn‘t control the much like we wanted and our keeper continuing with good, apart from that we finished the match smiling in our face. the scottish champions lost 2—1 in injury time at kilmarnock. ten points from six matches, rangers jumped above them after they thrashed stjohnstone to go second below hearts. tiger woods has teed off in atlanta. he started the day with i3 shot lead and he is currently like this, with a five shot lead over billy horschel at the

moment and justin rose. the 14 time major winner is chasing his first tournament in five years. and what would be the 80th pga tour title of his career. after successfully defending his world titles against alexander povetkin at wembley on saturday night, anthonyjoshua says his number one target is deontay wilder will stop the american holds the only title joshua doesn‘t wilder will stop the american holds the only titlejoshua doesn‘t have but can the promoters negotiate what would be one of the biggest fights of all time? the undisputed world heavyweight champion title would be a huge one, boxing journalists think it will be tough. the i can assure you know one knows how it‘s going to be. i know who everybody wants it to be, that‘s aj and his promoter eddie hearn. they want it to be deontay wilder, the six unbeaten american, who holds one of the championship belts. they will deontay wilder, the

american, to sign a contract now, this week, tomorrow if possible, for that fight on a bomber 13th. the problem is deontay wilder has an appointment, has a fight with tyson fury on december the 1st. they still wa nt fury on december the 1st. they still want wilder to commit himself, when only for the fight in april. it will not be tyson fury if he beats deontay wilder and the reason for thatis deontay wilder and the reason for that is simple. if tyson fury were to be deontay wilder there would be a rematch. that means he would not fightjoshua on april 13. last night several people mentioned dillian whyte. 0f several people mentioned dillian whyte. of course, he‘s had a hard, rough fight in the past with anthony joshua, so that could be the fight. if you are asking me to gamble 5p for charity, i‘m gambling 5p for charity, it‘s dillian whyte on april 13. that is all your sport for now. now millions of viewers here in the uk are watching

the final instalment of the hit bbc drama "the bodyguard". the programme — based around a close protection officer‘s relationship with a fictional home secretary — has prompted a big increase in people interested in similar work. the metropolitan police‘s website has seen a spike in visitor numbers with more than 1000 hits a week. danny shaw reports. he‘s talked down a suicide bomber, been shot at in a car, and duffed up a government advisor. argh! all in day‘s work for a close protection officer? here‘s one man who should know. i have protected theresa may when she was home secretary, you‘re right, and it is nothing and was nothing like what david budd did. argh! the way we operate is not quite like david budd, who seems to be operating independently! so independently, he even has an affair with the home secretary. that‘s not realistic at all! anybody who crosses that line would not last very long within the department and might not last very long within

the police service. but the met police wants to capitalise on the popularity of bodyguard. there‘s been a surge of interest injoining the force. it needs to recruit detectives and technology experts. it's about encouraging people to have an ambition, dream big, and, actually, some day you could be protecting her majesty the queen, or protecting the home secretary. but you're not going to get that instantaneously. one feature of the programme is the large number of senior female officers and detectives from black and minority ethnic groups. it takes some doing... the reality is rather different. they‘re in a minority, as this asian counterterrorism detective told me. she doesn‘t want to be identified because of the sensitive nature of her role. women and bme officers are in every rank and every specialism in the police service. so it‘s not a rare thing. we do have senior female officers, we also have senior bme officers. but we still do need more diversity, without a shadow of a doubt. the character of david budd makes

great telly and may inspire some potential recruits, but he‘s no substitute for a real close protection officer. it‘s not about making waves — they have to stay in the shadows. danny shaw, bbc news. ajournalist in saudi arabia has made history by becoming the country‘s first female news anchor. weam al—dakheel presented the main news bulletin for al saudiya, a state—run tv channel. the journalist received praise on social media, with viewers complimenting her work and pointing out that her appearance marked a milestone in the deeply conservative kingdom. thanks very much for watching bbc world news today. from me and the rest of the team, goodbye for now. good evening, things cleared up this

afternoon in the southern parts of the uk where it was so wet earlier in the day but the north and west, it was a day of sunshine and showers but whichever way you slice it it‘s been pretty girl settled over the last few days with plenty of cloud feeding in across the atlantic. however, we‘ve had a clear gap, high pressure building its way in from the south—west as we start off the new working week and that means we are going to see plenty of dry weather over the next few days. the nights will be decidedly chilly and there‘s still the potential for some wind and rain across parts of the north. here is the rain we had across the south earlier today, clearing away on the radar picture. most clearing away on the radar picture. m ost pla ces clearing away on the radar picture. most places ended the day of dry note. just a few showers which have been fading away and will continue to do so overnight. some continuing to do so overnight. some continuing to blowing across the north of scotland, maybe some western fringes, but otherwise it stays dry with clear starry skies overhead and

you can see the extent of the pale green colours here on our chart. even in towns and cities it‘s going to feel decidedly chilly, 4—5d. 0ut in the countryside some places will get a freezing, some places might get a freezing, some places might get a freezing, some places might get a bit below freezing so a touch of frost and the mist patch tomorrow morning. as we go through the day looks like a lovely day for most. some goods spells of sunshine, maybe the odd showerfor some goods spells of sunshine, maybe the odd shower for irish sea coasts of england and wales and north—west scotla nd of england and wales and north—west scotland but most places dry, temperatures may be a nudge higher than today, 14—16. high—pressure tries to hold firm we get into tuesday, but we see a change to the north—west frontal systems approach in bringing more in way of cloud and outbreaks of rain. another chilly start for most of us will stop for eastern scotland, england and wales, we hold onto spells of sunshine through the day. for northern ireland and western scotland, thickening cloud, outbreaks of rain, a strengthening wind and as far as temperatures go we are drawing the

airing from the south—west at this stage, or at least we are starting to come as temperatures start to nudge upwards. a bit of a split during tuesday night. it will be southern areas that have the coldest of the weather. further north with stronger winds, more cloud and outbreaks of rain, it will be relatively mild, may be double digit temperatures but northern areas will see cloudy, breezy conditions with rain at times for the middle of the week. further south it turns warmer. the headlines on bbc news — washington has told tehran eight should look in the mirror after its the opposition candidate in the maldives has claimed a surprise victory in the provisional results. more of us gathered on the shores of

la ke more of us gathered on the shores of lake victoria to celebrate the lives of those who died when a ferry boat sank last week. and hong kong is now linked with dozens of cities in