this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump says he called off an attack on iran with minutes to spare, because too many people would have been killed. this is bbc world news. he said they had three targets in their sights. i'm reged ahmad. tehran has warned the us our top stories: against aggression. president trump reveals the us military was set to retaliate russia has ordered a ban against iran from next month on passenger flights to georgia, following clashes but he changed his mind minutes in the capital, tbilisi, before the planned strikes. sparked by a speech in parliament by a russian politician. president putin signed the decree they shut down an unmanned drone, in response to what the kremlin called anti—russian provocations. thousands of protesters have gathered outside plane, whatever you want to call it, the georgian parliament, and here we are sitting with 150 for a second night. dead people. a mass protest outside hong kong's police headquarters has russia bans flights to georgia ended in the past few hours. after clashes in tbilisi — thousands of protesters have gathered outside parliament plans to introduce a contentious for a second night. extradition bill had seen thousands take to the streets after days of demonstrations and sparked the territory's comes the clean up, worst political crisis in decades. protestors in hong kong are dispersed but there are warnings they could be police have now cleared the area. back on the streets. and eltonjohn receives france's highest civilian honour, the legion d'honneur,

from president macron. the foreign office minister, mark field, has been suspended hello, and welcome. president trump has confirmed that he called off a military strike against iran with minutes to spare, after deciding that too many human lives would be lost. mr trump tweeted that the us had been "cocked and loaded" but he's now facing criticism from democrats for revealing details of the plan. the attack was to be a response to the shooting down of an unmanned us drone by iran earlier this week. it happened in a volatile region which is a major supply route for a third of the world's oil. tehran says the drone entered iranian airspace, but the us maintains it was shot down in international airspace over the strait of hormuz. here's our north america editorjon sopel.

in iran they are celebrating taking out of the sky a $130 million us drone — the latest escalation in tensions between washington and tehran. today, on iranian tv, the results of their handiwork were being shown off. america has no shortage of military assets in the region but the anticipated retaliation never came. it turns out military strikes had been ordered. but at the last moment donald trump had a change of mind. he confirmed this on twitter this morning: but now a rather different account from the president.

the planes weren't even in the air, so weapons couldn't have been locked and loaded. were planes in the air? we were about ready to go. no, but they would have been pretty soon, and things would have happened to a point where you wouldn't turn back or couldn't turn back. that wasn't quite the impression he gave yesterday at the white house, when watched by his hawkish national security adviser and secretary of state he seemed to suggest that action was imminent. one of iran's deputy foreign ministers told the bbc they were only acting in self—defence. when you violate iranian territorial space, then we defend. this is defence. and to back up their argument, iran's foreign minister produced a sketch to claim the drone was flying over iranian territorial waters. the us put out a more formal looking map to claim it was in international airspace. regardless, the federal aviation authority has issued orders preventing american airlines from flying over the persian gulf

and the gulf of oman as a result of this incident. british airways is doing the same. at friday prayers today in tehran there were renewed chants of "death to america." last night donald trump pulled back, but this is still a tense and dangerous situation in a highly volatile region. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. thousands of people have again taken to the streets in the georgian capital tbilisi, a day after more than 200 people were injured in protests at the parliament buildings. on thursday, police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, angry over a russian politican making a speech inside parliament. russia has suspended passenger flights from russia to georgia, and advised russian tourists not to travel to georgia. rayhan demytrie reports from tbilisi. thousands came out to protest in central tbilisi for the second consecutive day.

people are frustrated with their government and with russia. that's because on thursday, at the georgian parliament, a russian lawmaker addressed an assembly of orthodox mps while sitting in the chair of the georgian parliament speaker. it was controversial because many georgians consider russia as an enemy state. 11 years ago, the two countries fought a war over south 0ssetia, a georgian breakaway territory which is now under moscow's military control. following the incident with the russian mp, thousands turned out to protest on friday, but it soon turned violent, after demonstrators attempted to storm the parliament building. police used tear gas and rubber bullets in response. 240 people, including 80 policemen,

and over 30 journalists, were injured. on friday, georgia's governing party announced the resignation of pa rliament‘s speaker. but that didn't stop protesters from gathering again. "no to russia" — this phrase has been repeated over and over again by protesters speaking into megaphones outside the georgian parliament. the visit by a russian mp which sparked this protest, it seems, was a catalyst for much deeper frustrations that georgians have with their current administration. the very administration which will now have to deal with russia's reaction to these protests. translation: a large number of russian citizens spend their holidays in georgia. if anti—russian hysteria is fomented there, our people will simply not go there. we will give such recommendations, and then the real problems will appear in georgia's economy.

but georgians say they are not afraid of these threats. they have been through it in the past. now they simply want to be free from russian interference in the future. rayhan demytri, bbc news, tblisi. to hong kong now, where in the past few hours thousands of people have ended their protest outside the police headquarters. plans to introduce a contentious extradition bill had sparked mass demonstrations and the territory's worst political crisis in decades. police have now cleared the area. live now to our correspondent, nick beake. there were thousands yesterday but it looks rather empty now? yes, the final protesters stepped away at about three o'clock in the morning but they had been carrying out their protests from more than 15 hours and, this morning, in the heart of hong kong, you can still see

reminders. they have been trying to get rid of the slogans and graffiti. those two words sum up the anger, withdrawal and release. they want this extradition bill to be com pletely this extradition bill to be completely withdrawn, ta ken this extradition bill to be completely withdrawn, taken off the table, so no suspect will be sent to mainland china to face trial. demonstrators want everyone who has been arrested during this week to be released, not to face any further prosecution. those two words sum up what has been driving this incredible movement. have the protesters given up or could they be back? it is really interesting this. there were no defined leaders in this campaign. this is something driven through social media, people using different apps. look over there, we just using different apps. look over there, wejust had using different apps. look over there, we just had some using different apps. look over there, wejust had some police coming out, covering up some other

slogans written yesterday, but in terms of whether protesters will be coming back to this point, it is ha rd to coming back to this point, it is hard to tell. they are talking about maybe another protest on wednesday to coincide with the g20. 0ne prominent figure in the student movement saying he wants international community to send a strong message to president xi. they do not want this interference from china, they do not like them to influence the judiciary. china, they do not like them to influence thejudiciary. looking beyond that, july one will be an interesting moment because of that in 1997. traditionally people come onto the streets here. they have a public holiday. of course, after what we have seen, it would take on a huge new significance. in terms of today, hard to tell and predict but it seems the protesters have made their point clearfor

it seems the protesters have made their point clear for now but they claim they will be back. thank you so claim they will be back. thank you so much for taking us through that. the parents of a british muslim convert dubbed "jihadi jack" have been found guilty of funding terrorism by a british court. jack letts was 18 when he left for syria in 2014. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville met him last year. we had to wait until his parents' trial was over before we could broadcast this interview. one of the islamic state group's most notorious recruits was former 0xford schoolboy jack letts. he agreed to speak to us in october last year. only now that his parents' trial is over can the interview be broadcast. he said he wasn't speaking under duress and he wanted to come clean about his membership of is. i asked him if he had betrayed his country. what were you? were you a traitor or were you are a collaborator? that's the question i'm asking you. a traitor to britain?

you mean a traitor to britain? it's the first time i've heard that term in a long time. i was definitely an enemy of britain. i have no doubt about this. i haven't tried to make myself innocent. i did what i did, i made a big mistake and that's what happened. i regretted what i did and thought, supposedly the british idea is that even if you do make big mistakes, you can sort of go back. not go back to britain, i mean go back from your mistakes. you can set things right. did they ever ask you to put on a suicide vest? they don't ask you, but they encourage you. in a sort of indirect way. i used to want to at one point, believe it or not. i now think it's actually haram. that's the first time i say this. i might as well tell the truth. i did at one point want to. not a vest, i wanted to do it in a car. so i said, if there's a chance, i'll do it. i didn't request to do it, but at the same time it was obvious that,

i made it obvious to him that if there was a battle i'm ready. the un high commissioner for human rights has urged the venezuelan government to release all political prisoners. michelle bachelet, was speaking at the end of a three—day visit, following talks with president nicolas maduro. he promised to listen to the suggestions made by ms bachelet. translation: are: the authorities to release those detained or deprived of the liberty for exercising in a civil right and in a peaceful manner. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we hear from one of the last surviving passengers of the empire windrush, 70 years after travelling from the caribbean to help rebuild britain.

there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president trump says he called off an overnight attack on iran with just minutes to spare because too many people would have been killed. russia has announced a ban on passenger flights to georgia after what it called anti—russian provocations by protesters in tbilisi. our washington correspondent chris buckler has more on the reaction to president trump's decision. it is mixed. there are some democrats who believed he made the right decision, that he could have provoked a conflict that could be very serious with iran. it is mixed. there are some democrats who believed he made the right decision, that he could have provoked a conflict that could be very serious with iran. but some hardline republicans sensed a bit of a mixed message towards iran when what was needed was a clear warning.

stepping back from the edge of conflict, he did go against some in his administration. it is believed the secretary of state, mike pompeo, and national security advisorjohn bolton, wanted strikes to go ahead, and of course they were called off last minute. it leaves president trump with this real problem of what exactly to do next. he needs to find a new strategy to deal with iran, and he has been speaking with nbc news here. he said, "i am not looking for war, and if there is war it will be obliteration like have never seen before, but i am not looking to do that." those are pretty mixed signals to be sending to tehran at this stage. is there now going to be perhaps a push by congress or a desire to get more involved should

there be any military action in the future against iran? i don't think there is any doubt about that whatsoever. congress have been saying time and time again that they need to be consulted, particularly if this is going to develop into conflict. there is some frustration from some of those inside congress that they weren't consulted about this military strike ahead of it potentially happening a matter of 2a hours ago. there is the issue of keeping congress on board, particularly republicans, because they have been frustrated in the way he has been dealing with some issues, for example, when it comes to saudi arms deals they have pushed back. and his attempt to keep them out of the out of the loop at a time when they need to keep the saudis on board, but at the same time president trump is trying to play down a lot of this talk. even raising the possibility of talks with tehran itself. i have to say, iran has not

been responsive to that. in fact, they responded by suggesting that that is not going to happen, it won't even be considered, as long as us sanctions remain on iran. and those sanctions are going to remain, particularly this very important trading route, the strait of hormuz, where millions of barrels of oil are transported every day, it maintains it is a flashpoint as long as these two nations continue to talk about each other in such strong terms. spain's supreme court has ruled that an attack on a woman was gang rape, rather than an earlier verdict of sexual abuse. the five men, known as the ‘wolf pack,‘ were originally given nine years injail when they were cleared of rape. this has been increased to 15 years.

in the summer of 2016, during the running of the bulls festival in pamplona, five young men led an 18—year—old woman to the lobby of an apartment building in the early hours of the morning, where they had sex with her. she accused them of raping her, but when the case went to trial last year, the court ruled that the five defendants were instead guilty of the lesser crime of sexual abuse. thejudges said that because there had been no violence or intimidation, the rape charge did not apply. the accused, who were known as the "wolf pack" because of the name of a whatsapp group they shared, were given nine—year jail sentences. that verdict drew widespread outrage. but many spaniards believed it had been a clear—cut case of rape, and took to the streets to protest. the backlash against this particular court decision fed into a broader campaign for women's rights in spain. both the defendants and the victim

appealed the verdict. on friday the supreme court heard from lawyers on both sides. translation: all the acts took place in an atmosphere of terror, of absolute subjugation in which the only thing the victim declared to the court was, i closed my eyes and waited for all that to end as soon as possible. this time the court decided there had been intimidation, and that therefore this was a case of rape. the defendants had their original sentences increased from nine years to 15. one of them, antonio manuel guerrero, received an extra two years because he stole the phone of the victim during the attack. all five men, who had been freed on bail, were arrested in seville shortly after the supreme court announced its ruling.

the white house says that us army chief mark asper will be nominated as secretary of defence. previous candidate patrick sha na han as secretary of defence. previous candidate patrick shanahan withdrew after allegations of domestic violence. the artist cardi b has been charged with assault after an attack at a strip club in new york last year. a british minister has been suspended from government after forcibly removing a protester from a formal event in london. the conservative mp mark field, who was also a minister in the foreign office, was filmed pushing a female greenpeace activist. mr field has apologised. just over 70 years ago, hundreds of caribbean migrants sailed to britain on empire windrush to help rebuild post—war britain. many decided to stay and create new lives in the uk. saturday is the first national windrush day, celebrating the contribution made by that generation and their families. one of the last living passengers is 93 year old,

alford gardner. adina campbell has been to meet the former raf serviceman at a family get—together. i was one of lucky ones. that's why i'm still here. there are four generations of alford gardner's family — eight children, 16 grandchildren, and more than 20 great—grandchildren. i lived injamaica a long time ago. i don't know about you lot, but as a little boy, i was bright. i was very bright. and i knew it. laughter. at the time, there was no work, especially in my field. where did you hear about the ship and when did you go? my sister heard about it and sent me the news. so within days after hearing about it, my brother was off to book his ticket.

i didn't have any money, so i had to ask my dad! and he gave me the money. what happened on the ship? we had no problem. we had a bright happy ship. not much to do. just enjoy it. about three days out of england, we were told sleep as best as you can because it's cold. we had a very good time. very good time. but this wasn't his first time in the uk. he joined the raf at the age of 18 and served in the second world war. what was your first meal? lamb chops! and they were right little. my very, very first night, i had a problem. we had dinner, and there were some little bits of bone there,

so i took a bit of the bone and by the time i sat down, they were onto me. i had stolen two young men's ration! are you used to the cold yet, granddad? you never get used to it! how old are you? my brother said i'm three. you're three? iam 93. wow. 90 years more than you! adina campbell reporting there. sir eltonjohn has been awarded france's highest civilian honour, the legion d'honneur, for services to music and the fight against aids. the award was presented by president macron in a private ceremony at the elysee palace. the 72—year—old musician is in paris on the latest stop of his marathon farewell tour, as freya cole reports.

hand—in—hand from french president emmanuel macron and the legendary sir eltonjohn. bonjour! sir elton has been in paris for his farewell yellow brick road world tour, but before he departs the country, he picked up france's highest civilian award, the legion of honour. i have a huge love affair with france. i have a house here, i have always loved coming here. i love the french culture, the way of life and the french people. and as a musician, to receive this award on the day of the festival de musique makes it even more special. the ceremony was held at the elysee palace, the president describing him as a melodic genius, but also paying homage to his lifelong work championing gay rights and raising billions of dollars to ending the plight of hiv/aids.

translation: we have to continue to finance the research, to finance treatments and to continue to allow access to treatments for everyone, and so this commitment to music and the fight against aids has been your entire life, dear elton. the top accolade comes less than a month after the release of rocketman, a deeply personal bio pic revealing his life behind the scenes. people don't pay to see reg dwight, they pay to see eltonjohn! the 72—year—old says this final world tour will be his last, but those who have studied his life aren't entirely convinced. he could never not perform, because i think it is too much in his blood and he loves it too much. and he wouldn't want to be away too much from the fans, i don't think. sir elton is now on his way

to the south of france, continuing his epic career, one which gets a big thumbs up. freya cole, bbc news. hello there. things are warming up this weekend right across the board. it'll certainly be noticeable across southern areas, where the humidity will also gradually increase, and into next week, certainly late on sunday, the threat of thundery showers increases as well. for the weekend, fine for most of us. lots of dry weather around. we start this morning on a cool note outside town. the single digits in one or two places. the pressure chart reveals high pressure. this will be the driving force for the fine weather, certainly for the first half of the weekend, but this low pressure system will come into play later across the south—west. lots of sunshine up and down the country this morning, into the afternoon, cloud will tend to build up in places. could see an isolated shower pretty much anywhere, but northern scotland will see a scattering of showers, i think, through the morning and into the afternoon. temperatures higher than we have seen over the last few days.

high 20s for england and wales. 19 or 20 in the central belt of scotland. into saturday evening and saturday night, most places will stay dry. maybe still a few showers across the far north of scotland. we could see clouds just building up across the very far west of the country. notice the temperatures, they are starting to import warmer and more humid air. double—figure values for all. a warmer start to the day on sunday. plenty of sunshine around and still a few showers across the northern isles. then this weather front starts to push in across wales and the south—west of england later in the day, to bring outbreaks of rain. to the north and east it should stay dry, feeling even warmer, 211—25 across the south—east, high teens further north. this is the pressure chart as we head through sunday night. high pressure still holding on across the north of the country, with this low pressure and its warmer front continuing to move north and east. the rain will pop up across southern and western areas late on sunday. during sunday night and into the early hours of monday, there is the potential of some really heavy and thundery rain moving north. hit and miss, torrential downpours, some areas could see the risk of some surface water flooding. it will turn warm and muggy by the end of the night across southern areas.

monday, heavy and thundery rain spilling its way slowly northwards, attracting much of scotland. the very far north of england as well. further south the sunshine could come out, but that could spark off further thundery showers, we're really importing warmer humid air during monday afternoon and we could see the high 20 celsius in the south. still fairly warm in the north, despite all the rain. as we head through much of next week it stays warm, even hot, in southern areas. high humidity, thundery showers are likely to continue to be a risk. warnings in force for this, so head to the website to check those out. still fairly warm in the north, despite all the rain. as we head through much of next week it stays warm, even hot, in southern areas. high humidity, thundery showers are likely to continue to be a risk. warnings in force for this, so head to the website 00:28:46,386 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 to check those out.