this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm philippa thomas. the queen stresses the importance of duty in her commonwealth day message hours before the broadcast of the much anticipated interview with meghan, duchess of sussex. pope francis prepares to leave iraq at the end of his historic trip, declaring the country will remain in his heart. equitorial guinea appeals for international help, after a munitions dump blows up, killing at least 15 people and injuring hundreds more. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranian woman jailed in iran on spying charges, ends her sentence — but she's now facing a new court case. and fc barcelona, one of the world's biggest footballs clubs, elects juan laporta as its new club

president a week after his predecessor was arrested in a corruption probe. hello, and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. the duke and duchess of sussex's highly—anticipated tv interview with oprah winfrey is set to air in the us in the next hour. harry and meghan are expected to discuss their new life in the us and their experiences as senior members of the royal family. earlier, the queen spoke of the importance of maintaining a sense of closeness with friends and family. she was among senior royals appearing in a special programme to mark commonwealth day. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. they sing

an image of common unity and purpose. yet this is about two different broadcasts and sharply diverging agendas. first, in celebration of the commonwealth. it embraces nearly a third of the world's population and it's been one of the abiding commitments of the queen over the many decades of her reign. tonight, a pre—recorded broadcast in which the queen spoke about the testing times for the commonwealth of the covid pandemic. stirring examples of courage, commitment and selfless dedication to duty have been demonstrated in every commonwealth nation and territory, notably by those working on the front line. the queen spoke of testing times and have the need to use technology, as she put it, to stay in touch with friends and family. it was all quiet and unflashy. the duke and duchess of cambridge were seen expressing their thanks to health care workers. it's fantastic,

what you're doing. a huge congratulations from catherine and i in terms of what you're managing and dealing with. were you silent or were you silenced? but now the focus shifts to broadcast number two, the interview the duke and duchess of sussex have given in california to oprah winfrey. it'll be transmitted in america in the next few hours. their comments potentially will deepen the rift between harry and meghan and the remainder of harry's family. we're on the other side of a lot of... a lot of life experience that's happened. so who has better caught the mood of the moment, the couple in california who've chosen a path away from royal duty, or the monarch, who spoke in her broadcast about selfless dedication to duty and who has epitomised precisely that for so many decades? nicholas witchell, bbc news. our north america correspondent

peter bowesjoins me now. soi so i suppose we are being promised unprecedented access to the views, the experience of meghan markle?_ to the views, the experience of meghan markle? yes, and all of that life experience _ meghan markle? yes, and all of that life experience that - meghan markle? yes, and all of that life experience that she - that life experience that she talks about. i think what we're looking in this interview clearly, and it's been an interview where nothing is off—limits, we've had teasers all week about the broad subject areas that meghan will be talking about, and harry as well when hejoins be talking about, and harry as well when he joins the interview later on, as well when hejoins the interview later on, as i understand. but what we are looking for is some detail and, in terms of the issues and differences that she has with the royalfamily, the firm differences that she has with the royal family, the firm as she's described them, that was one of the clips released earlier in the week. so we are looking for detail, and clearly there's an in norma's amount of interest. this will be broadcast in the middle of sunday evening, which is typically one of the highest rated times in america for

people to gather around the television —— enormous interest. television -- enormous interest-— television -- enormous interest. ., . ., , interest. how much commentary is there, focusing _ interest. how much commentary is there, focusing perhaps - interest. how much commentary is there, focusing perhaps on - is there, focusing perhaps on race and the duchess's experiences of racism? well, it's certainly _ experiences of racism? well, it's certainly one _ experiences of racism? well, it's certainly one of _ experiences of racism? well, it's certainly one of the - it's certainly one of the issues people will be watching this interview to hear what she has to say on that subject, and clearly a lot of speculation because it is an issue. but i think also, injust because it is an issue. but i think also, in just watching some of the commentary over the last few days, a lot of americans are watching this because of the soap opera style interest in the activities of the british royal family. people watch the crown and here, as we know which is based on a fictitious interpretation of real life events. and that's the fish bone by which many people see the royal family. what they're looking for in this interview is some real life and real life stories — and whether racism comes into that, it seems very unlikely

that, it seems very unlikely that oprah will not address the issue head on, but we are looking for the detail. it’s looking for the detail. it's perhaps _ looking for the detail. it's perhaps a _ looking for the detail. it's perhaps a bit _ looking for the detail. it's perhaps a bit of— looking for the detail. it's perhaps a bit of a - looking for the detail. it's perhaps a bit of a risk in that there's a lot of public sympathy for meghan markle, for meghan and harry, and the way they come across. that will also be perhaps viewed critically.— also be perhaps viewed criticall. , ~ , critically. yes, i think people will be watching _ critically. yes, i think people will be watching for - critically. yes, i think people will be watching for the - critically. yes, i think people will be watching for the wayl will be watching for the way they come across, their body language, exactly what they have to say. but yes, especially in the city of los angeles, where she was born and brought up, and this is where she started to work in the entertainment industry as an actress — there's a lot of affection towards her in the city, and perhaps across the board and across the country, you might find different views of these two as a couple. as you might recognise in the uk, public opinion especially of meghan, since she's returned it to the united states.— to the united states. peter, thanks so — to the united states. peter,

thanks so much. _ the historic papal visit to iraq is drawing to a close, after pope francis visited parts of the country once held by islamic state militants. on the third day of his trip, he celebrated mass with an audience of thousands at a football stadium in irbil, the capital of iraq's kurdistan region — and left saying that iraq will always be in his heart. our correspondent mark lowen is travelling with pope francis. from the rubble of war, a messenger of peace. face—to—face with the brutality of islamic state terror in mosul, pope francis came to appealfor unity to rise from its ashes. beside a church destroyed in the fighting, a powerful moment of reflection. rarely has the hand of healing been needed more than this. he called for persecuted christians to return here and gave a prayer for the victims. translation: today, .

we reaffirm our conviction that fraternity is more durable than fratricide. that hope is more powerful than death. that peace, more powerful than war. then another risk in the trips finale — a large public mass in irbil in the midst of the pandemic. it's what some had warned against — spreading the virus, notjust the word of god. but the papal fans were undeterred. i hope that this visit will bring a lot of peace to this country and to all religions and nationalities — to live together in peaceful life. the short—term impact of these crowds could well be a spike in infection, but from the warmth of his reception to the potency of his message, this is a trip that could have a long—lasting legacy, too, beyond simply the symbolism. that he came at all was,

for many iraqis, a miracle. but a defiant pope has made history here, hoping to have given a balm to this injured land. mark lowen, bbc news, irbil. one of the stops of the pope's tour of iraq was the city of ur, the birthplace of abraham, but while both christians and muslims were well represented on this trip, the iraquewish community was not. i've been speaking to edwin shuker, vice president of the board of deputies of british dues, who grew up in iraq but was forced to flee the country by saddam hussein's regime. i began by asking him if there had been a plan to include the iraqi jewish community. i believe there was. i think, even when you hear the pope's message, he also mentioned judaism. and last tuesday, in the press conference at the vatican, they were asked whether there would be a jewish presence, and the vatican spokesman

assured them that this would be the case and that they looked forward to interfaith dialogue with them. so why do you think this didn't happen? i think that the iraqi government failed and wasted a golden opportunity, an historic opportunity to make amends with thejewish community that actually lived in that part of the world for 2,600 years, and was unceremoniously displaced and kicked out — the majority in 1950, and myself with the final batch — we escaped in 1971, as you mentioned. and i think that they relied on possibly the localjewish community, but the localjewish community is less than six people, probably five at the most, and they are still terrorised and traumatised without proper protection. therefore there was no chance

of them coming to the fore and sitting on the platform with the pope. if you had been invited back, would you have gone to see this moment? oh, absolutely. as the pope left today, and he said that iraq is in his heart, iraq will always remain in the hearts of the jewish community that lived there for so long and for so many decades, who were instrumental in every part and everything, from music to art, to culture to trade — we were very much part and parcel of the diverse iraqi society. and it will never leave us. and actually, i would've loved to take with me and iraqi rabbi, a leader who came with me in 2019, we visited baghdad, and we would've gone there and told the iraqi people that we are part of your family. we might�*ve left physically, but our hearts are with you, and we hope one day will be back with you and actually

participate in rebuilding iraq. officials in the west african country of equatorial guinea have appealed for international help following a series of explosions. the president said the blasts were due to negligence in the storing of dynamite at a munitions depot inside a military base. he's said that 15 people have been killed and more than 500 injured. state tv showed video footage of traumatised people staggering to safety and attempts to rescue those trapped under the rubble. the health ministry said three hospitals receiving the injured had been overwhelmed — it urged people to donate blood and asked off duty doctors to help. our africa editorfor the bbc world service will ross has more. clearly the emergency services were completely overwhelmed with at least three hospitals very full very fast. and health officials were appealing for people

to go and donate blood and to off—duty medical staff to go and help out. but the scene, the footage that we have seen from the area is extremely distressing, seeing so many people clearly traumatised and somewhat dazed by what has gone on, trying to get to safety, coming out of clouds of smoke, these where we understand four separate explosions that took place and really destroyed many buildings over a large area and as you mentioned there, there is footage on the state television of desperate attempts to try and rescue people amongst the buildings that were completely were completely flattened, people going through with their hands lifting up the bricks and blocks to try and reach people there and at the hospitals, we know there are quite a lot of children amongst the people who were injured. certainly an extraordinary

event that has caused a great deal of shock in equatorial guinea. still to come: switzerland votes narrowly to approve a ban on the public wearing of face coverings — such as the burqa. the numbers of dead and wounded defy belief. it is the worst terrorist atrocity on modern soil in modern times is popular in less than 2a hours, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years hisjunior. irate with a dynamic figure 20 years hisjunior-_ hisjunior. we heard these gunshots. _ hisjunior. we heard these gunshots, then _ hisjunior. we heard these gunshots, then they - hisjunior. we heard these gunshots, then they came j hisjunior. we heard these - gunshots, then they came out firing — gunshots, then they came out firing. god, we were all petrified.— firing. god, we were all etrified. , ., , ., firing. god, we were all etrified. , ., ., petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, is sentenced _ petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, is sentenced to _ petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, is sentenced to 99 -

petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, is sentenced to 99 years. . 41, is sentenced to 99 years. he travelled _ 41, is sentenced to 99 years. he travelled from _ 41, is sentenced to 99 years. he travelled from memphis i 41, is sentenced to 99 years. l he travelled from memphisjail to nashville _ he travelled from memphisjail to nashville state _ he travelled from memphisjail to nashville state prison - he travelled from memphisjail to nashville state prison in - he travelled from memphisjail to nashville state prison in anl to nashville state prison in an eight — to nashville state prison in an eight car— to nashville state prison in an eight car convoy. _ to nashville state prison in an eight car convoy.— eight car convoy. paul, what's it feel like _ eight car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to _ eight car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be _ eight car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married - eight car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at i it feel like to be married at last? it it feel like to be married at last? , ., ~ , ., last? it feels fine, thank you. do ou last? it feels fine, thank you. do you think _ last? it feels fine, thank you. do you think you'll _ last? it feels fine, thank you. do you think you'll change . last? it feels fine, thank you. i do you think you'll change your life much, you think? i do you think you'll change your life much, you think?— life much, you think? i don't know, life much, you think? i don't know. we — life much, you think? i don't know, i've never _ life much, you think? i don't know, i've never married - know, i've never married before. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... the queen stresses the importance of duty, in her commonwealth day message hours before the broadcast of the much anticipated interview with meghan, duchess of sussex. pope francis prepares to leave iraq at the end of his historic trip. he tells an outdoor mass, "the country will remain in my heart." violence has escalated again in myanmar, with at least 18 people killed on sunday alone in clashes between anti—coup demonstrators and police forces.

huge protests broke out after an official of aung san suu kyi's party died in police custody. security forces near the ancient city of bagan fired rubber bullets on people, and in yangon, they carried out several raids, firing at apartment buildings and arresting activists. danai howard reports. instead of the now—usual sounds of gunfire and tear gas, a moment of silence filled the streets of yangon on saturday in memory of protesters killed by security forces. —— on sunday. this man is one of the latest — an official from aung san suu kyi's overthrown government. he died in police custody after being arrested on saturday evening by security forces in yangon. witnesses say he was violently beaten and kicked before being taken from his home. his parents were told he died after fainting. huge crowds of demonstrators took to the streets in response to his death.

in some areas, police responded with gunfire, adding to the death toll. the un has condemned it as a gruesome day. when you look at what's going on on the streets of myanmar right now, you see exactly why it is so compelling for countries to take action. we simply can't afford in any sense of the word to sit back and turn our backs on the people of myanmar. some governments have started to take action. australia has suspended defence cooperation with the military and says its development programme will now be directed to the immediate humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable people. and china, whose cooperation is needed in the un to impose sanctions on myanmar, announced on sunday that it is willing to engage with all parties to ease the crisis. beijing's top diplomat says the situation in myanmar is absolutely not what china wants to see. translation: on the basis of respect for myanmar's i sovereignty and the will of its people, china stands ready to engage and communicate with the relevant parties and play a constructive role

in easing the situation. as the week begins with international women's day, the protests will take on a new dimension. human rights activists say women in myanmar have long endured inequality and repression under past military regimes. many women activists have paid with their lives in their fight for democracy. women's traditional skirts have become another symbol of the protests. strung across streets like this, it's considered bad luck to walk under them. demonstrators say they're them up to deter advancing soldiers and give the people time to run away. danai howard, bbc news. saudi arabia has condemned a missile and drone attack on oil installations launched by yemen's houthi rebels as an assault on global energy security. the saudi government said 12 armed drones and two missiles had been intercepted. meanwhile, a saudi—led military coalition carried out several air strikes on the yemeni capital saana, which is now in houthi hands. these attacks appear to signal a new escalation in the six—year conflict over

yemen. a british—iranian woman imprisoned in iran since 2016, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has been freed after her sentence came to an end — and almost immediately told she'll have to appear in court again on a separate charge. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested after travelling from the uk with her baby daughter to visit her parents. she was accused of spying, which she has always denied. the bbc�*s caroline hawley is following the story. a rare glimpse into what's keeping this family together when they're forced to be thousands of miles apart. it's still quite a messy house. for six—year—old gabriela, an image on a mobile phone can't replace the touch of her mother. she's been counting down the days till the end of her mum's sentence. this morning, nazanin's ankle tag was taken off. nazanin said she was ecstatic and went to visit her elderly

grandmother, but in a week she faces a different court case on another secret charge. by the time i was speaking to nazanin, everyone was going mad, "is she out?" and yes, she is. technically, the first court case is finished. at the same time, the second court case simultaneously has been evoked. so the foreign office are pleased that they've got the ankle tag off and there's been progress. and they clearly issued a formal note this morning saying, "you have to release her". so the iranians have done that. but they've kept it as leverage going forwards. and i find that my emotional reaction has been quite guarded about what this means and we're still in the middle, we're in the middle of this game of chess. she was at tehran airport, preparing to fly home from a holiday visiting her parents, when she was arrested in 2016. since then, she's suffered months of solitary confinement, blindfolded interrogations, and several false

promises of release. nazanin has been told by iranian officials that she's being held as collateral for a debt owed by britain dating back to the 1970s. calls are now growing for the government here to take a stronger stand against iran's hostage diplomacy. it's clearly another trumped up charge, because hardliners in the regime are saying, "we've paid the diplomatic price for holding nazanin, now let's not lose the leverage of keeping her". and it is totally and utterly inhumane, because at the centre of this is an innocent woman, her husband and her daughter, and they're just forgetting that in all these grand power games, there are ordinary people who are paying a most terrible price. what's the first thing you're going to do with mummy when she comes back? first thing you're going to do together? go to a toy shop. but now their hopes have been dashed yet again. their mp has called

it "mental torture". for how much longer will they have to go through this agony of separation? only when she's safely on a flight back to the uk will they know their ordeal is finally over. i love you, baby. love you! let's look at some of the day's other stories now... israel has reopened its borders and parts of its economy. with more than 50% of its population now fully vaccinated, flights into the country are resuming and students can go back to schools and universities. restaurants, cafes, attractions, and hotels also reopened again today. up to 20 people are now allowed to gather indoors, and 50 outdoors. in most places, people will need to show certificates proving they've been immunised. new zealand's biggest city, auckland, has reopened after a seven—day lockdown, which had been prompted by one new coronavirus infection. the country hasn't recorded any more cases since and has been largely covid—free for several months. some restrictions,

including limits on public gatherings and mask—wearing, remain in place. the opening races of the americas cup sailing competition, postponed from this weekend, will now begin on wednesday. people in switzerland have narrowly voted in favour of a ban on face coverings in public, including the burqa or niqab worn by muslim women. the rightwing swiss people's party put forward the proposal in a referendum, using slogans such as "stop radical islam", and the move was widely described as the burqa ban by campaigners, local politicians and media. a leading swiss islamic group said it was "a dark day" for muslims. earlier we spoke to our correspondent imogen folkes, who's in the swiss capital, bern. she told us what the ban will mean in practice. well, what will happen now is that this ban will be written into the swiss constitution — that's what today's nationwide vote was about. and so, it will go in there alongside the constitutional

amendments over gender equality, overfreedom of religious expression. now this was a very divisive vote in many ways, and amongst some rather unusual fault lines. we had, for example, parts of switzerland's muslim community saying "yes" to this — they said that nobody here or very few women wearface coverings — an estimated 30, actually, among the 400,000 muslims here. and some in the swiss muslim community said, "look, we don't need this. let's have a ban, it'll show that we are committed to women's equality." others, however, and particularly because of the way the yes campaign was waged by sections of the right—wing swiss people's party, with posters and very threatening imagery of women wearing niqabs and burqas —

they found this made them uneasy, and others said, "look, this looks very against our religion, islamaphobic — and that's not what we want." as we saw a very, very narrow "yes". so that's it. in practice, things may not change that much because, as i said, not that many women, a handful, wear these face coverings. barcelona has elected juan laporta as its new club president, a week after his predecessorjosep maria bartomeau was arrested following an investigation into the clubs financial issues. the club is suffering a financial and managerial crisis. successful periods, between 2003—10, when the team won titles with players including ronaldinho and messi. but the club has been badly affected by the drop in income since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

its debt has doubled since then. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @philippabbc. lots more on the bbc website. hello there. high pressure has brought largely fine and settled conditions to the uk during the weekend. it looks like this settled weather is going to last through monday and tuesday, but then it's all change. midweek, it's going to turn very windy with the possibility of severe gales developing through wednesday night into thursday. we'll also have some heavy rain as well, so some big changes to the weather as we move deeper on into this week. in the short term, though, we still have higher pressure to south of the uk, some weather fronts to the north of the uk. so monday is a north—south divide, it's a cold, frosty start across the midlands, wales, southern england, with some sunshine. clouds may tend to increase at times, and further north, we will see some showery bursts of rain, some of thatjust pushing into eastern england as well into the afternoon. but there will be some sunshine as well across central and northern scotland, and i think temperatures

will be a degree or so higher than what we've had in recent days, 8—10 celsius. now, through monday night, many central and eastern areas will turn dry with clear spells, but we will have this weak front pushing into the western parts of the uk, so that will produce some showery rain. a bit more of a breeze here as well, so temperatures holding up around 4—6 celsius, some chilly spots, though, further east under those clear skies. by tuesday, we start to lose this area of high pressure. it declines and starts to allow this first area of low pressure to hurtle in off the atlantic, which will affect northwestern parts of the uk later on tuesday. for tuesday itself, it's a chilly start, central eastern areas, that weather front will fizzle out. in fact, for much of scotland, england and wales, it should be dry with some sunshine, but clouds will tend to build up further west later in the day with a few showers, and the breeze will pick up as well. we could see temperatures reaching 11—12 celsius in the sunshine further east. now, the jet stream is really powering up across the north atlantic by the middle part of the week, and that will spin off some deep areas of low pressure. that's tuesday's low, this is

wednesday and thursday's low, which could be even deeper. so for wednesday, we could see a spell of wet and windy weather spread across the country, and then it will be mixed with some brighter, sunnier, showery weather before the centre of this low arrives across western areas later on wednesday to bring even stronger winds and some heavy rain. there will still be some fairly mild air in the mix, but it might not feel like that because of the strength of the winds. and then through wednesday night into thursday, this is where we could see the strongest of the winds, potentially severe gale force, which could lead to some disruption. so do stay tuned to the forecast.

this is bbc news, the headlines...

the queen has stressed the importance of staying in touch with friends and family in a message to mark commonwealth day. the remarks came hours before the duke and duchess of sussex's interview with oprah winfrey — in which they are expected to discuss their experiences as senior members of the royal family. pope francis has said iraq will stay in his heart — after attending the final public event of his historic visit to the country. he celebrated mass in northern kurdistan — home to most of iraq's dwindling christian population. thousands of people attended the service in the city of erbil. officials in the west african country of equatorial guinea have appealed for international help after a series of explosions at a munitions depot left at least fifteen people dead and five hundred injured. the blasts in the economic capital baa—tuh completely destroyed many homes. now on bbc news it's hardtalk.