this is bbc world news today. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories: iran releases footage of the moment its troops seized a british—flagged oil tanker in the gulf. london says it's working to defuse the crisis. british airways says it is suspending all flights to cairo for seven days for security reasons. the vatican opens two burial chambers in the search for a teenage girl who went missing 36 years ago. the eagle had landed. roger. countdown to the exact moment, 50 years ago, when the eagle module touched down on the surface of the moon.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. the british foreign secretary jeremy hunt says britain will do what it takes to keep international shipping safe after a uk registered oil tanker was seized by iran in the gulf. mr hunt said tehran had assured him last week that it wanted to de—escalate tensions in the region but was now doing the opposite. iran has released footage of the moment its troops seized the vessel. this is the moment iranian revolutionary guards took over the stena impero, descending from a helicopter onto the deck of the tanker, as fast boats circled nearby. iran says the ship had broken international regulations following an accident involving a fishing boat. the ships owners have not confirmed this and say it was obeying the law. it is now being held at the port of bandar abbas. we are calling on iran to reverse this illegal act. we are looking for ways to de—escalate the situation, but we are also very clear

that we will do what it takes to ensure the safety and security of british and international shipping. the tanker was making its way through the busy strait of hormuz, in omani waters, when it was intercepted. it made a sharp turn north towards iran, a clear sign that something was wrong. the british warship hms montrose was alerted and raced to intervene, as it did successfully with another british—flagged tanker just over a week ago. but this time it was too far away. the tanker was already in iranian waters. to allow a ship to go out when we knew the iranians wanted to actually take a hostage is extraordinary, and it's hardly surprising. they said they would do it, several times they said they would do it and, lo and behold, they've done it, and now we've got in this very difficult situation. tensions started to rise last year when donald trump pulled the us out of the 2015 nuclear deal with iran and imposed crippling sanctions. iran grew increasingly frustrated. in may and june, it was blamed

for a series of attacks on international tankers. then, in a dramatic escalation, iran shot down an american surveillance drone. donald trump briefly contemplated a military response. and, earlier this month, off gibraltar, the royal marines intercepted a tanker full of iranian oil britain says was bound for syria. iran threatened to retaliate. today, iran's foreign minister accused britain of piracy. "it is iran", he tweeted, "that guarantees "the security of the gulf and the strait of hormuz. "the uk must cease being an accessory to the economic "terrorism of the united states." the stena impero and its multinational crew, which does not include any britons, are now prisoners of iran's revolutionary guard, hostages in a deepening geopolitical row.

iranian political analyst, seyed mohammad marandi, told the bbc how he felt about the british foreign secretary's comments condeming iran's seizure of the tanker. most people in iran would be saying in response that he should have felt this way when the british navy took an iranian supertanker at the behest of the us government, and most probably, john bolton. this is what the spanish foreign minister said at the time, the iranians think that was an act of piracy, completely unnecessary, and the iranians believe that the british government, because of their problems with brexit and hope to have some sort of economic deal with the us on favourable terms, that they are abiding by us requests in such a manner. but at the end of the day, the british cannot hope to have a positive role to play in our part of the world, and at the same time

abide by the demands made by donald trump ormike pompeo abide by the demands made by donald trump or mike pompeo orjohn bolton or whoever else is in charge in the white house. the iranians expect the europeans to behave differently from the united states and to stop this escalation. the us threatens iran with obliteration, the us send drones over the iranians airspace, the us is engaged in economic warfare , the us is engaged in economic warfare, it has surrounded the country with military bases. i think it is quite clear which side is carrying out the intimidation. british airways has suspended all flights to cairo for seven days. in a statement, the airline said it was taking the measure as a precaution to allow for an assessment of security there. it added that it constantly reviewed security arrangements at all airports around the world. it did not give any further

reason for the move. a source at cairo international airport has told the bbc they haven't yet been notified of the decision by ba. the bbc‘s sally nabil has more from cairo. we are trying to contact the head of british airways in cairo, we are yet to know what is going on and some passengers have been expressing deep concern on social media, saying, that if a british airline has some information regarding security, why isn't it sharing, why isn't it sharing this information with the customers. they are concerned and very unhappy about the inconvenience

resulting from the cancellations. this is causing even more confusion, it is not known why the advice was changed, they have been warning of potential terrorist threats, they asked even for extra security measures for flights flying from egypt to the uk. some measures have been taken, some decisions have been made, no one knows what is the concrete piece of information all the potential threats that led to these decisions. that is why a numberof these decisions. that is why a number of passengers are pretty unhappy about this kind of ambiguity. there also seems to be ambiguity. there also seems to be ambiguity about whether it is affecting flights from cairo to the uk orjust affecting flights from cairo to the uk or just the affecting flights from cairo to the uk orjust the uk to cairo. we also do not know if other airlines may follow suit. they may, but so far,

all other airlines are updating regularly, i have been talking to some passengers who were regularly, i have been talking to some passengers who were flying to cairo and flights have been disrupted and they said british airways are offering them transit flight airways are offering them transit flight by a third country. some unhappy because of the length of the flight, unhappy because of the length of the flight, they will have to wait for hours and hours in other airports, some of them, even thought about rescheduling their entire trips. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. more than 20,000 people have taken to the streets of the russian capital moscow to protest against the exclusion of opposition candidates from registering for local elections. 0fficials barred around thirty candidates from running, claiming they failed to qualify. those excluded say they're being punished for challenging the control of putin loyalists. in london, pro—european opponents of brexit have

held a "no to boris, yes to europe" march. it featured this inflatable cartoon of boris johnson, the man expected to become the next british prime minister. he — or his only rival, jeremy hunt — will take over in number ten downing street next week. both have promised to see brexit through but only mrjohnson had his own balloon caricature. the triumphant algerian mens football tea m have recieved a hero's welcome on the streets of algiers after their victory in the african cup of nations. algeria beat senegal i—0 during last nights final in cairo, taking home the trophy for the second time in its history. forensic experts have extracted bones from a burial chamber at the vatican in an attempt to solve the disappearance of a 15—year—old girl in 1983. emanuela 0rlandi's family received an anonymous tip—off earlier this month that she might be buried in the tomb. rhodri davies has more. 36 years missing and still they are searching. these experts are looking

through two chambers at the vatican, in the case of a missing 15—year—old girl, following the opening of two tombs in the vatican cemetery after the family lawyer of emanuela 0rlandi's family received an anonymous tip—off pointing to the graves, the teams turned out to be empty and the chambers revealed only centuries old bones of two german princesses. the emanuela 0rlandi family of had urged the vatican to open an internal investigation into the disappearance, which it did this year. she was the 15—year—old daughter of a vatican employee. she vanished in rome in 1983, after her flute lesson. it is a disappearance that has kept italians captivated. probably the most enduring mystery in italy, everyone has a favourite theory, mafia, paedophile ring inside the vatican, some say it could have been islamic terrorist or the stasi, and so there is enormous

sympathy for the family and for the investigation. yet the family has regularly appealed to the vatican to provide more information. some say the holy see knows more than it is telling. 0rlandi's father died still wanting answers, her brother has now made resolving the case his lifework but with the latest attempts lacking a breakthrough, he will continue to search for her. still to come: 50 years ago almost to the minute, the world held its breath as the eagle module touched down on the moon's surface.

this is bbc world news today.

the latest headlines: iran has released footage of the moment its troops seized a british flagged oil tank in the gulf as diplomatic pressure is pushed up to secure release. british airways will suspend all flights to cairo for seven days for security reasons. fifty years ago today, neil armstrong took that first, small step onto the moon's surface — a pioneering moment watched by an estimated 600 million people back on earth. while originally fueled by cold war rivalry, it's become a source of inspiration across the globe, with events taking place worldwide to mark the anniversary. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh reports. the saturn 5 rocket shimmers on launchpad 39a at the cape canaveral space center. three astronauts get ready for a mission that will propel them

and the rest of humanity into a new era. commander neil armstrong leads edwin "buzz" aldrin and mike collins into apollo 11. three, two, one... we have liftoff. neil armstrong reporting the roll and pitch programme which puts apollo 11 on a proper heading. they arrive at the moon four days later. as the lunar lander descends, neil armstrong notices that they are off—course. instead of the preplanned smooth landing site, there are dangerous boulders. with fuel running low, commander armstrong takes manual control. the eagle has landed. roger, tranquillity. armstrong then descends onto the lunar surface. it's one small step for man... 0ne giant leap for mankind. on tv all across the world, 600 million people were watching. it has a stark beauty all its own.

it's like much of the high desert of the united states. it's different, but it's very pretty out here. at the time, all things seemed possible, yet three years later the apollo programme ended and humans haven't been back since. it was america's flag planted, but this moment was an achievement for all humanity. pallab ghosh, bbc news. our correspondent nada tawfik is at washington's air and space museum, which is hosting a special the eagle has landed celebration event to mark the occasion. just a few minutes' time, we will mark when neil armstrong famously radioed back, "the eagle has landed", when he touched down on the

surface of the moon. six hours, a0 minutes later when he actually stepped foot, that first small step, and here at the space museum, they will be doing a new year's eve style celebration, we will have an astronaut boot come down behind me, and the last ten seconds, to mark that moment. when he became the first man to land on the moon. this is part of a week of celebrations from around the nation, there has been so much excitement and we have seen really that the anniversary is uniting and inspiring people now, just as it did 50 years ago. this is what the director of the airand ago. this is what the director of the air and space museum had to say about that. i think the first girl to walk on mars is going to be some girl coming through the national air and space museum right now and we are going to inspire those kids by showing them, letting them do things like reliving the apollo missions through virtual reality, we will get

them the stories they need, the options for careers they need, through reaching them digitally. we can'tjust reach through reaching them digitally. we can't just reach the through reaching them digitally. we can'tjust reach the kids right around us, it must be kids all around us, it must be kids all around the globe and the only way to do that is with a digital strategy. its really interesting because we ta ke its really interesting because we take it for granted now that man went to the moon, but for so many who are here, the young kids, they are not reliving the moment, they are not reliving the moment, they are experiencing it for the first time, for the first time learning about how after presidentjohn f kennedy announced that within a decade we would be on the moon, how nasa was not prepared and built up this amazing programme, and was able to accomplish it, just with that determination. again, showing really when humankind, mankind unites around a goal, inspiring to see how it can be accomplished. this as we saw in the report, just three years after the moon landings, the apollo missions ended.

man or woman has not been back to the moon since then. is there a sense that the missions, the private attem pts sense that the missions, the private atte m pts to sense that the missions, the private attempts to further space exploration have almost reignited a passion for getting back to the moon? yes, you know, it's really interesting because even buzz aldrin, who has been speaking out about that, his famous mission, he has said that he has been disappointed with the space programme since then. many people thought they would achieve much more. certainly now there is talk about going back to the moon, trying to really get that going, so that man can eventually go to mars. there are the likes of spacex and elon musk and jeff bezos of amazon, in the private sector, they are pouring lots of money into space exploration, and so many people are saying, as you mention, this is

reigniting that excitement for a new generation and hoping that the next 50 yea rs of generation and hoping that the next 50 years of space exploration will bring, finally, a lot more advancement than the last 50 jonathan mcdowell is an astronomer at the harvard—smithsonian —— a lot more than the last 50 yea rs. the moon preserves the events that happened billions of years ago, the geology on the earth, the atmosphere on the earth are wiped clean. we

really learned a lot about how the role of asteroids bashing into one another and how the earth and the other planets, form scientifically, still working through, still papers being published from the apollo data. but, also, culturally, as a scientist, the idea of humans being on another world. the beginning of, if you like, the settlement of outer space, a star trek future in which we live on all kinds of different worlds, if that comes true, hundreds of years from now, people will look back on my generation, able to see that, and experience that first step into other worlds. and that for me is the legacy. is our correspondent was saying, buzz aldrin has expressed his disappointment in how the space programme has panned out over the last few decades, what is

your opinion, has the future of space lived up to do all the expectations, the hopes and dreams sparked by the first landing 50 yea rs sparked by the first landing 50 years ago? i think in some ways it has, perhaps not in the public consciousness but space is ubiquitous in our lives, gps, if that stops working, none of you will be able to get to work tomorrow. communications, television, all this stuff relies on the infrastructure we have in space. scientifically, we have the hubble telescope, probes that go past pluto and rovers on mars, incredibly exciting stuff. what has not happened is a human exploration of other worlds. no humans on mars, i was promised that would come in 1980, when the moon landing happen! well, no. and so, you know, we have learned a lot about how to operate humans in space on the space station, much more sophisticated in how we operate

astronauts. but not spectacular for the public. lots more to come, i'm sure, in the coming years and decades, thank you very much for your analysis. let start with what ireland weight shane lowry has described as one of the most incredible days of his life, shooting eight under par at the open to take a four shot lead into the final round, closest rival is englishman, tommy fleetwood. jb holmes is third, this from northern ireland. the sell—out crowd here at royal portrush, has been treated to an absolute master class in links golf from the irishman, shane lowry. he went round in a new course record, eight under par, only one shot behind the all time open

record. it was a quite extraordinary performance, cheered all the way by a lively vociferous crowd, packed out to the greens, the tees, the fairways, all the way around. it was an extraordinary atmosphere, and he has delivered everything they had hoped for in this, the first open championship in northern ireland for nearly 70 years. behind him, tommy fleetwood, englishmen, on 12 under par, before the american parent of jb holmes and brooks koepka. one of the rounds of the day belonged to danny willett, he went round six under par, the former major winner, 65. all the talk tonight is of shane lowry, i can tell you, they have brought the start times forward for the final day, they are expecting some very bad weather indeed tomorrow, the players will go out

around about 7:30am, the leaders will go out at 1:45pm, to try to avoid the worst of the weather. with that on the way, there could be more twists and turns in this open championship yet. it should be some day on sunday. defending champion geraint thomas lost more time to tour de france leader julian alaphilippe on stage 1a on saturday. the briton cracked with just over half a mile to go to the summit finish on the iconic tourmalet mountain. t was france's thibaut pinot who won the stage but compatriot alaphilippe was next to finish, more than thirty seconds ahead of thomas extending his lead to two minutes with seven stages left. there are only two riders within three minutes of him. britain's adam yates has dropped out of the top ten to eighteenth. and the rugby championship has kicked off. it's being seen as a good warmup for the upcoming world cup

for the southern hemisphere's top four nations. south africa, who bagged a bonus point, won 35—17 in their opening encounter at ellis park injohannesburg. the day's other match was played in buenos aires, where argentina have lost 20—16 to new zealand. that's all the sport for now. that is all from me for now, you can keep up—to—date with all the stories we are covering, and we will have plenty more on the top story, of course, the seizure of a british oil tanker by the iranian authorities. so, do get in touch with us on that, you can reach me on twitter. just a reminder of the top story, before we 90, reminder of the top story, before we go, britain's foreign secretary jeremy hunt has said the seizing of auk jeremy hunt has said the seizing of a ukflight jeremy hunt has said the seizing of a uk flight tanker by iran raises serious questions about the security of british and international

shipping in the strait of hormuz. goodbye for now. it has been a day of real contrast out there with the weather today, for many of us, beautiful blue warm weather, this was the picture earlier on, but we have also had some big shower cloud, big heavy downpours and some thunderstorms, this picture was taken in lincolnshire early on, lying surface water, big old thunderstorms. no showers across eastern england and scotland easing away, for the rest of the evening and tonight, looking dry across all of the uk. long clear spells, winds are full in than they have been, temperature still pretty warm, ten to 1a degrees for most of us. mild, fairly humid start. and i, not

looking like a bad day at all, dry weather, some sunshine, from the north—west, frontal system approaching. that will bring rain to northern ireland through middle parts of the morning, by lunchtime, pushing across western half of scotland. quite heavy at times accompanied by a strengthening south—westerly wind. eastern scotla nd south—westerly wind. eastern scotland and the bulk of england and wales, dry all day and will feel pretty warm. temperatures between 18 and 2a degrees. as we look ahead, sunday night, this is where the rainfall gets particularly heavy especially across parts of northern ireland and western scotland, rainfall totals mounting up, could see some localised flooding issues as we head into the early hours. through monday, rain sitting in the north—west, for the rest of the uk, dry, sunny picture, feeling white summary, temperatures on the rise, humidity rising with the south or south—westerly breeze. temperatures, by the time we get to monday afternoon, 28, 20 9 degrees, down towards the south—east, even further

north, scotland and northern ireland, 2a, 20 five celsius. that will be the theme as we head through the week. middle of the week, high temperatures across parts of france, germany, and with high pressure to the east, those winds are drawing up to the uk. could see the all—time temperature record beaten in paris, a1 celsius forecast for the middle of the week. all that warmth drifting our way too. some showers in the north and north—west, dry towards the south and south—east, temperatures reaching about 32, possibly 3a degrees. goodbye.

this is bbc world news, the headlines: iran has released footag. it says shows the moment its troops seized a british—flagged oil tanker in the gulf, with speedboats surrounding the vessel and revolutionary guards descending to the deck from a helicopter. british airways has cancelled all flights to cairo for a week because of unspecified security concerns. the airline said the move was a precaution to allow for further assessment of security. forensic experts have extracted bones from a burial chamber at the vatican in an attempt to solve the disappearance of a 15—yearold girl emanuela 0rlandi in 1983. and events are being held around the world to mark the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 moon landing. at this hour, in 1969, the eagle module first touched down