this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: the british government warns of ‘serious consequences‘ after an oil tanker in the gulf is seized by iran. the vessel was tracked moving off course, to the north — no longer in contact with its owners. aid agencies call for a faster international response to the ebola outbreak in the democratic republic of congo. and as a heatwave sweeps across north america meteorolgists warn the vulnerable could be at risk.

hello and welcome. the uk's foreign secretary is warning there will be serious consequences if iran doesn't release a british tanker seized in the gulf with 23 crew on board. the stena impero was heading for the saudia arabian port ofjubail but contact was lost with the ship as it passed through the strait of hormuz. tracking data shows it deviating from its intended route. iranian media is quoting military officials saying it is being taken to the port in bandar abbas for further investigations. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports on the latest escalation of tensions in the region. this is stena impero, built only last year, british flagged, 183 metres long, now in the hands of iran, together with her 23 crew. routine satellite tracking of the tanker shows her under way from the emirates of fujairah, around midday, heading north, staying well inside international

waters of the gulf — until this happened. just after three o'clock, the 30,000 ton tanker diverts seriously off course. her last known movement was around four o'clock, inside iranian waters. the owners, stena bulk and northern marine management, say in a statement: and then news tonight that a second ship had been seized, the mesdar, liberian registered. foreign secretaryjeremy hunt

condemned the seizures as unacceptable, saying he was extremely concerned. and president trump confirmed the news. we don't have very many tankers going in but we have a lot of ships that that are warships and we will talk to the uk. and we have no written agreement, but we have an agreement. they have been a very great ally of ours. so we heard about it. we heard it was one, we heard it was two. and we'll be working with uk. these are pictures released by iran said to be showing pictures of the islamic revolution guard corps circling another vessel, the riah, in recent days. the guard corps appear to use these armed boats and sometimes helicopters to force ships into their waters. their efforts to seize british vessels were intensified after royal marines and gibraltar police boarded and seized a tanker, grace 0ne. it was carrying iranian oil in gibraltar waters, suspected of heading for syria, in defiance of eu sanctions. iran called this piracy, but that's dismissed as nonsense by britain.

that was followed by an incident in the gulf when the british frigate, montrose, moved into protect the tanker british heritage in the gulf. but the threat to british vessels was spelled—out earlier this week by iran's supreme leader. translation: evil britain commits piracy and steals our ship. it's an act of piracy. of course the islamic republic will not leave such evil deeds unanswered. there will be a response at the appropriate time and place. so the iranian guard corps will consider today's seizures a significant victory in a crisis which has been escalating for months. a former head of the royal navy, lord west, says britain simply has too few ships to provide escorts for merchant vessels. my biggest concern, i have to say, is i find it extraordinary that british flagged ships, tankers, particularly, are steaming on their own into this area of danger.

i mean, think we should be trying to de—escalate, but you can't allow thugs and effectively criminal actions by a nation against your nation. with american warships the dominant naval force in the gulf, british cooperation with washington will be key if protection of a vital trade route is to be improved. but for now the immediate focus will be on getting iran to free the stena impero and her crew. and in the last few hours, british ministers have issued new guidance for shipping operators. 0ur correspondent simon jones has the details. the government emergency committee known as cobra met well into the night. they have released a statement after that meeting describing the seizure of the british tanker as "completely unacceptable. " they say it goes completely against international maritime rules. they say they are deeply concerned about tensions in the area

and interestingly, they‘ re suggesting british shipping should stay out of that area for the time being. that is quite a development when obviously there are a large number of tankers passing through, particularly in the international community. there is also in this statement talk again of a robust response and consequences for iran. it doesn't spell out exactly what they mean by that, there are no deadlines, not saying to tehran you have to return the tanker by a particular time, they aren't wishing to escalate things in that way. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes told me what's led up to the latest developments. this seems to have been going on for a number of weeks. especially in relation to the drones that we've been hearing about, and president trump, according to his own words, said "we came within ten minutes," the us came within ten minutes

of launching a military action against iran after shooting down one of america's drones. in the last few days the us saying it destroyed one of iran's drones although iran says it doesn't know anything about it. so, certainly, yes, a tit—for—tat feeling about what is going on. but the events of these last few hours late on friday really seem to have ratcheted up the tensions that exist not only between the us and iran but also the tensions between iran and the united kingdom. what we heard from president trump, how he is standing by the united kingdom referring to that close relationship, and describing the uk as a close ally, talking about the military vessels the us has in the region and by implication offering to help the uk in whatever way the us and the uk might want. although, as again we've been hearing, diplomatic discussions and actions seem to be the preferred course of action, at least for the foreseeable future.

in amongst all of this we've been hearing about a us troop deployment to saudi arabia — can you explain whether it is connected? it seems like it is certainly connected to the overall tensions and problems that we are seeing in the gulf, especially that crucial shipping lane and the dangers that are now posed to vessels in international waters. the us defense department has announced a deployment of troops to saudi arabia where previously for the past few years there haven't been any troops. we understand 500 in number, patriot air defence missile systems, the f—22 stealth fighters will also be deployed to a base in saudi arabia. to, according to the us, protect american interest but also respond to what it describes as "credible threats" in the region. is part of the problem that iran

is essentially playing into donald trump's hands, doing what donald trump may be expected or wanting to do? well, you could almost turn that around and say donald trump may well feel that he has been proven correct in terms of his attitude towards iran and what iran is capable of doing. he's taken a very hard line of course playing out of the nuclear —— pulling out of the nuclear agreement and being really at odds with his european allies and going it alone in terms of the hardline. those increased sanctions against iran. president trump may well feel as if his action has been the correct course of action when dealing with a nation like iran. peter bowes, our north american correspondent there. we correspondent there. will have more on those developments we will have more on those developments between iran, the uk and the us in a few minutes. let's get some of

the day's other news. the prime minister of kosovo has resigned after an eu—backed war crimes court summoned him for questioning as a suspect. ramush haradinaj led the kosovo liberation army during the war for independence from serbia twenty years ago. he's been tried and acquitted twice by a separate, united nations war crimes tribunal at the hague. at least two people have been killed and 18 wounded after an explosion at a gas plant on friday afternoon in china's henan province. mobile phone footage showed billowing smoke rise from the blast site, as well as shattered windows on nearby buildings. an investigation into the cause of the blast is underway. aid agencies are calling on the world to speed up its response to the ebola emergency in the democratic republic of the congo. more than 1,700 people have already died there — and the world health organisation has declared an international public health emergency. vaccination programmes are ongoing in the city of goma where a priest died from ebola this week. 0ur correspondent anne soy is there.

goma, in the east of the drc. a bustling transit city, home to more than 2 million, mostly traders who are constantly on the move. an outbreak of ebola here could be devastating. as they trudged on up north, the city prepared. last weekend, its health systems were put to the test. these brothers say their uncle drove the bus on which an ebola patient travelled. the uncle later paid them a visit. now they have come here to be vaccinated. they told us that this vaccine don't prevent you at 100% from ebola. that's why i am still afraid a little bit. people who have been in contact with patients and those around them are advised to get the jab.

so far in the democratic republic of congo, more than 165,000 people have been vaccinated. this is still an experimental vaccine, but experts believe that it has played a big role in preventing the further spread of the disease. rwanda, just beyond this gate, is on alert. the conditions here showjust how bad things could get if a bigger outbreak hit the city. the livelihoods of all these people depend on cross—border trade. and the world health organization has advised against closing borders because in any case, it doesn't stop the spread of ebola. experts say it could even make an already complex outbreak worse. it would hurt the congolese people who, if they can't move in a formal way over formal border crossings, will find informal ways, which will make detection of contact much harder if they cross. and of course, it will make the movement of goods and healthcare workers and humanitarian aid workers much harder as well.

aid agencies say they need more funds to help keep notjust these people safe from ebola, but also many others around the region. as long as there is an outbreak in the drc, trade and travel means it could spread to neighbouring countries and beyond. extremely hot weather has started to hit most of the united states, with temperatures set to peak over the weekend. the heatwave could affect 200 million people across major cities along the east coast and midwest. ramzan karmali has the details. the race to stay cool in new york city. extreme hot weather is already starting to be felt here. and though it may look like fun at the pool, the city's mayor declared a local emergency. the message i want to keep getting across to all new yorkers is, take this weather seriously, we have not seen temperatures like this in at least seven years.

we haven't seen this many concentrated hot days in a long, long time. take this very seriously. people are being advised to stay indoors as much as possible over the weekend, and avoid exposure to the heat. new york's triathlon was due to take place on sunday but was cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions, athletes would have likely faced. but the heat is on, not just in the big apple. many major cities across the eastern seaboard will see record temperatures. in fact, heat wave's going to affect around two—thirds of the eastern part of the us. temperatures will likely hit 100 degrees fahrenheit in some major cities — that's 38 degrees celsius. but it will actually feel hotter than that due to the humidity. we are going to see dew points which is a way to measure the amount of moisture in the air, well into the 70s, the highest it has ever been in boston, at 78 degree dew point and we're going to approach that here over the next couple of days, so you combine that with a temperature between 95 and 100 degrees, it will feel

between 102 and 110 degrees. it is notjust the us where the heat will be felt. in montreal, the humidity could make it feel like 45 degrees. the world experienced its hottest june on record last month, and we've experienced more frequent heatwaves. this, experts say, it's down to climate change. this latest heatwave is likely to last the whole weekend, but there will be some quick relief as temperatures are set to fall rapidly, early next week. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the washington monument turns into apollo eleven as america marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. mission control: you can see them coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunction of sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc world news.

the top story this hour: the british goverment warns of serious diplomatic consequences following the seizure of a tanker in the strait of hormuz. uk ships have been advised to stay out of the area. we'll stay with that story now. a little earlier i spoke to sara vakhshouri, a security and global oil market analyst, and begun by asking her what she thought the seizure indicated about iran's intentions. iranian government officials in different occasions before may 2019 that the sanctions were implemented, announced that, if iran is not able to sell a drop of oil, then none of the neighbours are going to be able to sell their oil and supply the market. it seems that the market is going through a more tense situation than many of the oil tankers at a passing through the strait of hormuz and also the other waters around this area are facing

a serious threat. what does it mean then for the global oil trade thus far? we've seen some skirmishes, how reliant are we on oil coming from the middle east? well, historically middle east has lots of ups and downs and the supply of oil from these region, this is not the first time of oil from this region, this is not the first time that there is a threat of interruptions but we do not think that iran is going to use this strait of hormuz card to close the strait, as of now it might be the last card to use but it seems that now it started to flex its muscles and use the tensions that have been created as a message to the world that things could get worse if it is not able to easily have its oil tankers and oil pass through the international waters. now the uk as of this evening has warned other british tankers to avoid the area, are there alternative routes other than the strait of hormuz so that british tankers and other tankers

can travel and transport the oil in a safe manner? yes, there are other alternative routes but there is a significant capacity that is passing through the strait of hormuz. it is very hard to imagine bypassing all of this capacity. but it is very normal and followed by british tankers and british ships, there might be many international ships and tankers that might feel the same or get the same warning and it's very important to consider that in the past few weeks, the insurance premium for the tankers and ships that are going and entering the strait of hormuz has been significantly increased which is obviously having an impact on the prices to the end users and this have been even more so for the british tankers since iran has started threatening

the british tankers. politically, where do you see things going now? how much worse can it get? well, i think that things are very tense, the market has kept its calm, the prices have increased, slightly, but it seems that there is a mini—war going on in this region and different parties are trying to take and test each other‘s patients and capabilities and this tit—for—tat operations that are all affecting the flow of oil, and also other goods, through commercial ships and other vessels in these waters, have all been impacted and it seems like things arejust getting more tense.

a strong earthquake has jolted athens, sending worried residents rushing into the streets, and damaging buildings in the historic city. authorities say there were no reports of serious injuries. ben morris reports. these were the scenes as athenians fled their work places on friday afternoon, following a powerful earthquake which shook the city. according to the seismological centre of the aristotle university in thessaloniki, the epicentre of the quake was in the town of magoula, 22 kilometres north—west of the greek capital. translation: we are thoroughly searching the area in case anyone is trapped and so far the results are negative. with tremors continuing to reverberate, people gathered in open spaces, urgently trying to contact loved ones. measuring 5.1 on the richter scale, the quake brought down several buildings and knocked out phone networks in parts of the city.

this hospital in downtown athens was evacuated. whilst in the port city of piraeus, an abandoned structure on the quayside was destroyed. two old buildings reportedly collapsed in two districts of the city but the world—renowned acropolis, a complex of ancient greek buildings, overlooking the capital from a rocky hilltop, survived intact. translation: i was very scared. i have a fear of earthquakes. ijust didn't know how to react at that moment. we waited for the quake to stop and then we went out. to athenians, friday brought back terrifying memories of a similarly powerful earthquake which devastated the city 20 years ago, killing 143 people. this was a lucky escape for one of the most tremor—prone regions in europe. ben morris, bbc news. 50 years ago america was on the eve of apollo 11 touching down

on the moon and us astronauts becoming the first to step foot there. here's nick bryant. in a week that's highlighted the deep divisions in washington and america, a gigantic reminder of a unifying national mission. apollo 11, projected onto the washington monument for this back—to—the—future celebration. and at ground level, a coming together of the american generations. i want to be an astronaut one day. you want to go to the moon? yes. do you think you'll ever get there? i don't know. it's been pretty cool to see it through youtube. so to be here and be alive, it's brand—new to me. to me, it'sjust as exciting as when we did it the first time. it was beyond remarkable. it was almost the type of thing that you didn't think could possibly come to be. mission control: liftoff! we have liftoff. conquering new frontiers has always been an essential part of the american spirit.

but it was conquering the soviet union that made the space race such an urgent national priority. in those cold war years, soviet cosmonauts had outpaced american astronauts. the moon mission was also about a global ideological battle. the space race was all about the cold war. the whole reason for the race to the moon was to beat the soviet union and prove that the western capitalist model of government was better than the soviet model. and that was a serious issue in the early ‘60s. but the united states beats the soviet union to the moon in 1969, tremendously undercuts the legitimacy of the soviet union both internally and externally, and i think contributes to the collapse of the soviet union 30 years later. taking the stars and stripes to the moon was, surprisingly, something of an afterthought. it was purchased from a local hardware shop. as you talk to us from the sea of tranquillity... and though the moon mission was launched byjohn f kennedy, it was his one—time rival richard nixon who was president at the time.

for every american, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. the moon landing came at the end of a tumultuous decade. the ‘60s brought the struggle for black equality, the vietnam war, the assassinations of the kennedy brothers and dr martin luther king. here, finally, was a moment that transcended national strife. there's been a wave of space—age nostalgia, marking a glorious, near—hypnotic moment when "america first" had a very different connotation. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. in football algeria have won the africa cup of nations for the second time, beating senegal 1—0 in cairo. hundreds of algerian fans have flocked to the champs elyse in paris to celebrate. here you can see them gathering at the world famous roundabout, waving flags, lighting flares and letting off fireworks. as far as the match went, a freak early goal secured

the victory for algeria, denying senegal, who have never won the competition. stay won the competition. with us here on bbc news. a coming stay with us here on bbc news. more coming up. hello there. it felt as if summer had taken a break on friday. it will return though as i'll show you later in this forecast. but over the last 2a hours we have seen some really heavy downpours, that picture came from a weather watcher in staffordshire, late on friday afternoon. the radar picture shows the way in which these pulses of very heavy rain flung themselves across the british isles, with some flashes of lightning, some rumbles of thunder, and the last vestiges of this wet weather still with us as we start off saturday morning. some heavy rain still across the far south—east. some patches of rain elsewhere as well. all tied in with this frontal system which is clearing away, so that will allow for things to improve a little through the day ahead, but low pressure still in charge, so while there will be

some spells of sunshine, there will also be some showers, some of which could be heavy and thundery. but it is quite a soggy start across the south—east of england, and that rain should clear away fairly smartly through the morning. rain though hanging back across shetland for a good part of the day. for the majority though, it is that regime of sunny spells and heavy, thundery downpours, although for northern ireland, a much drier day in prospect with patchy cloud and sunny spells, 20 in belfast, 22 in plymouth, 2a in london. those showers should quickly fade away during saturday evening. into the early hours of sunday we will be left with clear, starry skies, maybe the odd mist patch, and it will be a little cooler and fresher with temperatures getting down to between 11—14. sunday then starts off on a fine, dry and, in many places, sunny note. the further south and east you are the better the chances of holding on to that fine weather, but for northern ireland, western scotland, far north—west of england, maybe north—west wales will see outbreaks of rain and strengthening winds

through the day. still some wet weather around the northern half of the uk on monday. that rain tending to retreat northwards, further south some spells of sunshine, and things start to warm up. temperatures could get to 29, possibly 30 degrees, but that is not the end of it because across iberia and france, a significant heat wave will be developing through early part of next week, and some of that heat will waft its way northwards. some places likely to get to around 3a degrees. the north—west of the uk always likely to see some outbreaks of rain at times, but even in edinburgh we are looking at highs of 25—26, some areas of cloud flirting with western coast at times, further south and east that's where we'll have the highest temperatures — 33—34, but the chance of some thunderstorms later in the week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the british foreign secretary has warned there will be "serious consequences" if iran does not release a british—flagged tanker seized in the gulf, and the uk government has advised shipping to stay out of the area too. tehran says the vessel was breaking maritime navigation rules. the stena impero's owners say they have been unable to contact their vessel. aid agencies are calling on international governments to speed up their response to the ebola emergency in the democratic republic of congo. more than 1,600 people have already died there. the world health organization has declared an international public health emergency. extremely hot weather has started to hit north america, with temperatures of around 38 degrees celsius expected at the weekend. meteorologists warn the vulnerable could be at risk. the heatwave could affect about 200 million people in major cities.