welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the us secretary of state visits iraq, as trump administration officials claim iran may try to attack american forces. venezuela's supreme court orders the criminal prosecution of six leading opposition assembly members — accusing them of treason. as south africa prepares to go to the polls, claims of corruption still dominate the campaign. adding another grandchild to the family, the queen shares her delight at news of the new royal baby.

the us secretary of state has paid a brief visit to baghdad to assure the iraqi leadership of american support. mike pompeo also told the iraqi prime minister his government must ensure it is can protect americans in the country, and suggested baghdad should become less dependent on its neighbour iran. washington is deploying an aircraft carrier and b—52 bombers to the region because of what us officials claim are indications iranian forces may be preparing to attack american troops. iran's foreign minister has dismissed the claims. mr pompeo spoke to reporters on the plane out of iraq: the message we have sent to the iranians, i hope it puts us in a position we can deter the iranians who will think twice about attacking americans interests. a little earlier i spoke to behnam ben taleblu is a senior fellow focusing on iran at the foundation for defence of democracies, a foreign policy think—tank in washington. iraq is currently

contested territory. it is contested in the political sense between washington and tehran. both sides are trying to woo baghdad. washington is trying to make sure that iraq is strong and sovereign and stable, and capable of rejecting iranian influence. hence the surprise visit there, designed to offset iran, designed to pre—empt iran‘s puncturing of iraq state and society and economics. iran is trying to subvert iraq, habits, proxiess run amok, and be part of iran's larger "axis of resistance in the region." there is an argument of course, isn't there, that iraq is iran's backyard, it is kind of more entitled to be there than the united states is. iraq is iran's backyard, but you don't do things in your neighbour's backyard than you would do in your own. there is a boundary there, there is a fence there, and of course there is cultural ties there, there's business ties, but there is also ethnic and strategic enmity. these two countries fought a war with each other and if washington is being invited in by iraq or other powers in the gulf,

then it would be appropriate to act accordingly. there is an argument, of course, that long—term american policy has strengthened iran in the region. iran has exploited many american missteps in the middle east, in particular, the persian gulf. iran has filled vaccuums in iraq after the us withdrawal. and iran is in the business of saying america is not a trustworthy partner, and that is something that iran is likely to step up it's messaging on, should it go to iraq in the future. that's why the secretary's trip to iraq was so important. how do you feel about this policy of what you might call, sabre rattling with iran? hasn't worked too well so far, has it, do you expect it to work better in the future? why would it? tomorrow the administration's maximum pressure campaign against iran enters year two. for the first year, that policy has been defined pretty much by tough economic sanctions, hopefully creative military posturing and diplomacy could lead to something here. the ultimate goal of all the pressure is to drive

iran back to the negotiating table. if it is true, and i do believe it is true, that the iranians were looking to strike american assets in the middle east, perhaps even in iraq, and the deployment of the carrier strike group not only course corrects for the eight months of having zero carriers in the persian gulf, but it also offsets and incentivises iran to back down from some of its more regional activities and terrorist activities in the middle east. and on that point, i know your think tank has the ear of many in the administration behind you. where do you expect american policy to go on this next? well, it does need to make sure that maximum pressure means maximum pressure. ftd has had the good fortune of testifying before congress on a bipartisan basis, and brief the obama, trump, and even the bush administration going back a little over a decade, but with respect to year two of max pressure, that means making sure they throw in the kitchen sink when it comes to sanctions that the gulf states are able to co—ordinate more so to offset the iranian missile and military threats that are rising,

and to make sure that something is being done about rolling back iran's attempt to create this land bridge connecting iran, iraq, syria, lebanon, to project power into the eastern mediterranean, and threaten israel. venezuela's supreme court has ordered the criminal prosecution of 6 leading opposition assembly members, on allegations they took part in last week's attempted military uprising. the plot apparently failed because key maduro loyalists, who'd been expected to back the opposition, stuck with the president. but the us has now lifted sanctions on the head of intelligence, who did turn against president maduro. the bbc‘s barbara plett usher has this update from caracas. it is a week now since the failed uprising and the supreme court has taken action. as a body that is controlled by the supporters of president madero. the court has accused six leading opposition lawmakers of treason, of inciting insurrection, of conspiracy and it said it's opening criminal investigations against them. and that the parliamentary immunity will

not protect them. however, the leader of the opposition, juan guaido, is not on the list even though he's the one who called for the uprising. he was allowed to enter the national assembly to address members of parliament there. outside, a small group of supporters of president madero called the law makers traitors as they entered. he has been putting on shows of strength, visiting military bases throughout the past week. but there are cracks in his inner circle. the head of intelligence broke with him and has since left the country. the us vice president mike pence has given a speech trying to entice others to do the same. in recognition of his recent actions, and support of democracy of the rule of law, i am announcing today that the united states of america is removing all sanctions on the general, effective immediately. as president guaido builds

a brighter future for venezuela, we hope the action that our nation is taking today will encourage others to follow the example of the general. mr pence also anounced that the us will send its navy hospital ship back to the region for five months to provide care for venezuelan refugees. let's get some of the day's other news. an 18—year—old student has died and at least 8 people have been injured in a school shooting in colorado. police have arrested two pupils from the school, which is just about 5 miles from columbine, scene of one of the deadliest american school shootings, 20 years ago. seven prisoners have been killed in a shootout at a jail in guatemala. police and rescue workers are still trying to enter the prison to remove weapons and take control. 20 injured inmates have been taken to hospital. a civil rights group is challenging hungary's plans to repatriate three afghan families

whose asylum applications have been rejected. but despite that, this footage shot by the bbc shows hungarian police pushing one of those families through a border gate into serbia. the other two families are still in hungary, for now. south africa goes to the polls on wednesday for its sixth democratic election since nelson mandela became the first black president in 1994. but the party he led — the african national congress — is under pressure because of corruption. the anc‘s jacob zuma was ousted as president last year — accused of looting state funds and awarding contracts for cash. his successor, cyril ramaphosa, has promised dishonest officials will be jailed. our africa editor, fergal keane, reports from the campaign trail. tropical durban, south africa's tourist playground, is a political battle ground, where the party of mandela is fighting a bitter internal struggle in the midst of a presidential election.

this man, president cyril ramaphosa, is promising to clean out endemic corruption in the anc. they sing. first stop of the president's day, a tourism conference, and the national anthem of a people longing for a moral revolution, ramaphosa humorously reminding them whose legacy he's claiming. coming to durban, i thought i should wear a madiba shirt, the type of shirt that nelson mandela used to wear. and they said, "no, no, no, that wouldn't be appropriate, wear a suit and look presidential". ramaphosa is in a hurry to undo an entire system of official corruption. on durban's streets, workers protest over anc misrule. across south africa, there's fury over what's been stolen.

billions have been lost in bribes paid to top officials, lucrative tenders, profits from state enterprises, handed to cronies of the former president, jacob zuma. all this with unemployment running at 27%, and deepening disillusionment in the slum—like foreman road, where they wait forjobs and proper homes. this woman is a mother of three who runs a roadside stall. how long have you lived in this place? 20 years now. 20 years? yeah. 20 years, you've lived here? yeah. will you ever get out of here? she laughs. mqapheli bonono was a long time anc activist here, but quit in disgust over the growing corruption. the worst thing about corruption is when you see the conditions

people are living in getting worse. we blame the government because the government are the ones who were supposed to be responsible. the anc can still rally the crowds, this near durban, and is expected to win, but has lost support to more radical alternatives. and when president ramaphosa arrived at the rally, i put to him the question i'd heard from numerous south africans. can you save this country from the crooks trying to destroy it? well, the anc‘s going to win this election, and as we win the election, we are going to proceed with a process of renewal. we've got to go now, because the people have been waiting. for renewal, read purge and prosecutions. but look at who's leading the welcoming party to see mr ramaphosa's challenge. durban's mayor, zandile gumede, denies numerous allegations of corruption against her, and this official was recently forced to deny he'd ordered the killing of a party comrade.

cyril ramaphosa is the popular leader of a party that's losing popularity. that's because he has pledged to defeat corruption. but can he do it, given how pervasive the rot is within his own party and almost every level of government? winning the election may be the least of his battles. fergal keane, bbc news, durban. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the smiling, dancing, survivor of war. we'll bring you the story of this brave young afghan boy. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa.

after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterand. but the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now, the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in the future of peace and freedom. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: america's secretary of state visits

iraq, following warnings iran may try to attack us forces in the region. venezuela's supreme court opens a criminal investigation against six leading opposition lawmakers, accusing them of treason. sean smith was io—years—old when he came across a gun in his parents' bedroom in fort lauderdale, florida. his curiosity got the better of him, and tragedy followed — sean accidentally shot and killed his younger sister, erin. that was three decades ago, but unintentional shootings are still all—too—common in the us. it's estimated more than 4.5 million children live in households with access to loaded guns. most of them know where those firearms are kept. here's sean's story. the last image i have is my sister dying on my lap. it is definitely an image i will

ever get out of my head. even 30 yea rs later ever get out of my head. even 30 years later i still remember it like it was yesterday. june five, 1989. the night before the accident, there was a robbery in the area. my dad had got the gun out and loaded it. it was my father—in—law‘s mother—in—law‘s gun. they to my husband to get rid of. the dogs were going crazy. he came back put the gun in hisjaw going crazy. he came back put the gun in his jaw and went to bed. the next day i went home. he was got home five minutes before me. next day i went home. he was got home five minutes before melj next day i went home. he was got home five minutes before me. i look for my videogame and i found my dad ‘s gun. i pulled it out thinking, like any other toy gun, to try to

play. he swung the towards the window. my sister got freaked out. she said she was not getting in trouble. just as the gun went off. perfect shot. by the time i got home police were everywhere. it happened so quickly. accidents happen quickly. i remember wanting to go to school just to get quickly. i remember wanting to go to schooljust to get back quickly. i remember wanting to go to school just to get back to quickly. i remember wanting to go to schooljust to get back to normal in some way. and then it was... more everybody else trying to deal with what i had just dealt with. people we re what i had just dealt with. people were sympathetic at first. there was a spotlight on us special. it was more people wanting to pick a side. i had nobody to be angry. i had a

ten—year—old little boy and it was an accident. some people asked if he did it on purpose. no, no, if you see pictures of them together, they a lwa ys see pictures of them together, they always have their arms around each other. he protected her. that was the hardest, people voicing their opinions about stuff they did not know anything about. once i got into my teen years, it was... it was rough. i had all these guilt. i got very self—destructive, stealing where i could. once drugs got into the picture, i was using way too much. once i found out that i was going to be a father, that definitely opened my eyes that i had to be not only responsible for

myself but for another life now. after i got out of rehab and started my way to recovery, the beach i found was a very serene place. i would go there early enough when there was no people. i had the pleasure of watching so many sunrises and seeing the beautiful sky and it definitely connected me to her. they will always be a curiosity with kids with gun said to have them in the home in the first place, it places at the curiosity button. it happens in a millisecond and it changes your life forever. the uk government has conceded that the deadlock over brexit means the country will have to take part in elections for the european parliament this month. ministers had hoped talks with the labour opposition might have produced a compromise brexit deal by now. talks have resumed but there's still no agreement, so the elections are in a fortnight‘s time.

the duke of cambridge has welcomed his brother prince harry into what he called "the sleep deprivation society that is parenting." 0h, oh, yes! there had been much talk of a home birth for harry and meghan‘s baby, but it's understood that when their son was born on monday it was at the portland hospital in london. a name is still to be announced. this from our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. band plays: congratulations by cliff richard. the message from far and wide — congratulations, relayed at windor castle to the queen, relayed at windsor castle to the queen, accompanied today by the duke of edinburgh at an official lunch. congratulations, another great—grandchild. wieder einmal. .. at a dinner tonight in berlin, the prince of wales, speaking in german, said he was particularly pleased to be there as the grandfather of a new grandson. applause. and from the duke and duchess of cambridge, in greenwich... i'm very pleased and glad to welcome my brother to the sleep—deprivation society that is parenting. no, i wish him all the best and i hope... i hope the next few days,

they can settle down and enjoy having a newborn in the family and all thejoys that come with that. outside windsor castle, the stalwarts who love these events were entertaining the tourists and the media. all that was missing, really, was a sight of the sussexes and their son. that will have to wait. harry and meghan remain determined that this is one event over which they want to have control. and that determination to control the message has yielded several, well, oddities. it now appears that baby sussex was not born at home, as everyone was left to believe, but at this exclusive private hospital in central london. whether that was harry and meghan‘s plan all along is unclear. but a baby's place of birth has to be recorded on its birth certificate. she sings. now what the sussexes may feel they need is a lullaby. this is the kingdom choir, which sang at their wedding, singing now as britain welcomes an anglo—american baby of mixed race

as the latest member of its royal family. nicholas witchell, bbc news. a conference in botswana on the future of southern african elephants is pushing to re—open the trade in ivory. botswana, namibia, south africa and zimbabwe are asking the international regulating body to lift a ban, arguing the sale of ivory can generate a lot of money for conservation. botswa na's president presented furniture made from elephant feet to three african leaders. he said the issue of human—elephant conflict required action. ramzan karmali reports. elephants in botswana roaming freely. a high—level meeting of southern african leaders in the country has called for the ban on the sale of ivory to be lifted. botswana's president, mokgweetsi masisi, gave stools, made from elephant feet, to his counterparts from namibia, zambia and zimbabwe,

to show his support for the trade. up to now, international campaigns to ban all ivory sales, as a way of preventing illegal poaching, have gained huge momentum. but there is disagreement over how to manage these large and often destructive animals who can encroach on farmland. it is difficult. we have already given up 40% of our land, and the land that we are supposed to be working, that is also now being invaded by wild life species and, um, people who do not live with them, they can't appreciate the challenges this brings. in total there are around 450,000 elephants on the continent. around a third of them are in botswana. but it is estimated that around 30,000 are killed every year, across africa. previously, there was a strict elephant conservation policy in botswana,

but in election year there is pressure from rural communities to lift the ban on hunting. this farmer's recent harvest has been hit hard by elephants, who have either eaten or destroyed her crops. an electric fence has helped but she wants further action. translation: hunting might help to control the number of elephants because they have really increased enormously. they are out of control. they might be more under control with hunting. critics say lifting a hunting ban would put off tourists. there has been a huge increase in tourism since hunting was banned in botswana four years ago and is the country's second largest source of foreign income. ramzan karmali, bbc news. for years afghanistan has been a country plagued by war.

the taliban continues to wage a violent campaign against the government in kabul and, more often than not, it's civilians that get caught in the crossfire. but, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports, the spirit of one injured boy remains strong. five years old, happy as can be, ahmad loves to dance. this video got more than half a million views in just one day after it was posted on social media. you see, ahmad is no ordinary little boy, he is a survivor of warand an amputee. he was just eight months old when, along with his sister, he was seriously injured in a firefight between the taliban and the afghan army. he lost his leg just below the knee, but this is a boy who never gives up. "i am so happy for him," said his mother, raisa, "that now he can be independent." according to the un, last year nearly 4000 people

were killed in afghanistan's ongoing civil war — the deadliest year yet. of that number more than 900 of them were children and another 7000 people were injured. which means a medical centre like this one in kabul plays a vital role. translation: we feel proud when we see an amputee child coming in in his mother's arms but leaving on his prosthetic leg. as for ahmad, he keeps on smiling, he keeps on dancing, proof that even in the most desperate of times, there can be hope. tim allman, bbc news. there is much more on all the news any on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. thank you very much for watching.

hello there, good morning. with the benefit of some sunshine yesterday, temperatures reached 17 degrees at heathrow. but for the most part it remains chilly and that's the way it's going to stay through the rest of this week. and there will be some showers or some longer spells of rain. the weather is changing again. you can see how this cloud is sort of curling itself up into a knot. the thickest of the cloud is producing some rain and that is continuing to push its way up from the south—west. still quite chilly though, ahead of that. across some northern parts of scotland there may be a touch of frost. and we've still got some rain elsewhere across scotland, and that's going to be joined by this general wet weather that we've got moving up from the south—west, heading northwards across england and wales. following that, across wales, midlands and southern england, we should actually get some sunshine but the showers developing could be

heavy and thundery as well. the wind is turning to more of a south—westerly, lifting the temperatures, but with an easterly wind and that rain for eastern scotland and the north—east of england, it really is going to be a cold day. temperatures 6—8 degrees i think degrees in many places. not quite so chilly for western scotland because we've got that easterly wind. temperatures may make double figures in northern ireland, but rain is never too far away. a cold day with rain on—and—off across northern england, and perhaps north wales. some heavy, thundery showers heading towards norfolk, through the home counties, and towards the south—west of england. low pressure essentially in charge of our weather. that was that curl in the cloud. the low centre itself is just going to drift slowly eastwards across the uk on thursday. still got a weather front end of the north, producing rain and drizzle but that should be moving away from scotland. sunshine following on behind but still cloudy and damp across northern england. some showers for northern ireland. and some showers across parts of england and wales, especially in the south—east of england this time. those temperatures —

there they are — still disappointing for this time of the year, below average and quite chilly again underneath the cloud and rain in northern england. that low pressure though is going to pull away or take away most of that rain with it as well. we've got low pressure, low pressure, high pressure, high pressure — it's what we call a cull, and when we have that sort of weather pattern you're going to get some showers. there's going to be some sunshine. difficult to say exactly where the showers are going to be. that's where they're looking at moment for friday. and some of those could be on the heavy side once again. but large parts of the uk will still have a dry day. but again, those temperatures are below par — 10—15 degrees fairly typically. however, as we head into the weekend, we've still got some chilly air to begin with, but it is going to be warming up as the weekend goes on and into next week. much more sunshine and temperatures probably getting up to 19 or 20 celsius.

this is bbc news. the headlines: america's secretary of state, mike pompeo, has paid a brief visit to iraq to reassure it of us support. after talks with the prime minister, mr pompeo said he didn't want iraq to be beholden to its neighbour, iran. there's growing tension between washington and teheran. venezuela's supreme court has ordered the prosecution of six leading opposition lawmakers for treason. the court said the prosecutor—general should open criminal cases against the mps. although the group does not include the current president of the country's national assembly, juan guaido. it follows an uprising last week. an 18—year—old student has died and at least eight people have been injured in a school shooting in colorado. police have arrested two pupils from the school, which is just about five miles from columbine — scene of one of america's deadliest school shootings, 20 years ago.