welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: voting ends in iran's presidential election to choose a successor to hassan rouhani, but how much choice do iranians really have? catholic bishops in the us face clashing withjoe biden after moving to deny holy communion to politicians, like the us president, who support abortion rights. the woman who punched a crocodile on the nose to save her twin sister tells us how she fought off the deadly reptile. one of the most anticipated matches of euro 2020 so far ends in a goalless draw as england face scotland at wembley stadium.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. polls have closed in iran's presidential election after voting was extended to midnight local time. the winner will succeed hassan rouhani, who's not allowed to serve for a third term. but with candidates hand—picked by iran's powerful guardian council, many would—be voters have become disenchanted, especially the young. the vote also comes at a sensitive time for the country with us sanctions still battering the economy and the future of the iran nuclear deal hanging in the balance. our middle east editor jeremy bowen reports. elections in iran are not free or fair, but they're a window into an opaque country with a repressive regime. any resemblance to democracy is coincidental — candidates are vetted in advance.

millions of frustrated iranians have stopped hoping that voting will improve their lives. in the city of shiraz, he was pulling down every election poster he could find. man yells. "well done!" shouts the man in the car. this man posted a plea to boycott the election next to portraits of his son, amir hussain, who was killed with hundreds of others in protests in 2019. "my vote," he says, "is for the downfall of the dictator and the criminals who sold out the country". a hardliner, ebrahim raisi, the head of thejudiciary, seems to have a clear path to the presidency. his strongest rivals were not allowed to stand. get set... gunshot. a viral video compared raisi

to the murderous middle eastern tyrant in the sacha baron cohen film the dictator, partly because of the way that voters were denied a real choice. and it's because of the executions of thousands of regime opponents in the late 1980s. raisi was one of their prosecutors. his past sends a bleak message to iranian reformists who want more freedom. this man, not the president, is at the pinnacle of power in iran. he is ayatollah ali khamenei, the 82—year—old supreme leader who seems determined to deliver a victory for conservative hardliners. the only candidate left who might appeal to reformists is abdolnaser hemmati, the former central bank governor. elections in iran can produce surprises, but he needs a miracle.

iran's nuclear future remains the big issue for any president. ebrahim raisi says he supports reviving the international deal that restricts iran's capabilities. iran's price would be an end to the sanctions that have caused real hardship. this was a queue for a chicken in a country with huge reserves of oil. whoever�*s president, the iranian people need some relief. jeremy bowen, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to barbara slavin, director of the future of iran initiative at the atlantic council. i said even though there aren't any results yet, it seems ebrahim raisi will be the winner. the most likely rivals all

eliminated, but what we're waiting to see is the figure from the turnout.- waiting to see is the figure from the turnout. hello is it, does the _ from the turnout. hello is it, does the regime _ from the turnout. hello is it, does the regime play - from the turnout. hello is it, does the regime play games| from the turnout. hello is it, - does the regime play games with it to make it reach least 50% which i think is the bare minimum we would be seeing to be required to give this individual any sense of legitimacy as iran's next president.— legitimacy as iran's next resident. , ., ., legitimacy as iran's next resident. ~ , ., ., ., president. we should have a note of caution _ president. we should have a note of caution as _ president. we should have a note of caution as and - president. we should have a note of caution as and when | president. we should have a i note of caution as and when we do get any results or turnout figures. say that he is the winner, how does life within iran change then? well, i suppose one positive aspect is that i think this might actually get the negotiations that have been going on in vienna to finally reach conclusion with an agreement on how the united states and iran and both return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. this will mean that iran can sell its oil again and be able to get access to the hard currency earnings from that oil. i don't think it's going to be a day and night change for the iranian people, but it will inject at least

some hard currency into the system, could probably improve the exchange rate, reduce inflation. in terms of personal freedoms and so on, i don't expect much change there, i'm afraid. and why is that? what kind of character is he? well, he is really... how shall i put it? someone who is a creature of the system but has had very little exposure to the west, as far as i know. he is from mashhad, in the far east of iran. he is a cleric, although there are some questions about how scholarly he really is. he was brought into the system very early as a young prosecutor, was involved in the decision to carry out mass executions of prisoners at the end of the iran—iraq war in 1988, and he has moved on and up through the system, he has a very powerful father—in—law who is in charge — who i believe is the main prayer leader in mashhad, and he has been groomed — he is only 60, i think —

so he is being groomed as a possible successor to supreme leader ali khamenei and the presidency is a stepping stone towards that. barbara slavin. let's get some of the day's other news. a court in switzerland has sentenced a former liberian rebel commander to 20 years in prison for numerous war crimes including rape and murder committed during the 1990s. the judges upheld 21 of the 25 charges against alieu kosiah. he's the first liberian to be tried for crimes carried out during the country's civil wars. the palestinian authority has cancelled a deal under which israel was to give it at least a million coronavirus vaccines. the palestinians said the jabs were too close to their expiry date. there's been international criticism of israel's failure to fully extend its world—beating vaccination programme to the occupied territories. dangerously hot temperatures across the us south—west continue to climb this week. an excessive heat warning is now in place for much

of arizona and california, and southern areas of nevada and utah. people are being told to stay in air—conditioned areas and out of the sun. many areas have seen temperatures topped 43 celsius for much of this week. people living in new orleans and along parts of the us gulf coast are preparing for the arrival of a tropical storm. it's the third storm of the 2021 season and is expected to strengthen over the weekend. some oil companies have already evacuated their offshore platforms off the coast of louisiana. the newest version of boeing's 737 max aircraft has made its first test flight over washington state. the max 10 successfully completed a 2.5—hour flight before landing in seattle. the 737 max was grounded worldwide in march 2019 after two fatal crashes in indonesia and ethiopia. it was cleared to start flying again at the end of last year.

roman catholic bishops in the us have voted overwhelmingly to draft a teaching document, addressing whether catholic politicians who support abortion rights, including presidentjoe biden, should be barred from communion. the decision is seen as a direct rebuke to mr biden, and exposes the deep political and cultural divisions within the american church. jamie manson is the president of the advocacy group catholics for choice. she says this was a political action against president biden. i think the timing is very obvious. joe biden is one of the most faithful and religious presidents we have had in a long time. he is a very devout catholic. and the bishops have decided that is the pre—eminent issue and they use it really as a political rallying cry.

but won't they say "it is very important to us, it is what we believe and everyone must believe the same thing?" well, that would be true if they were consistent. and the reality is they had nothing to say to president trump, who supported capital punishment, who treated migrants at the border in a subhuman manner, who daily defiled the earth with his practices and his policies. if they were consistent, sure. but they are not consistent on life issues. ok, let's get into slight technicalities — not too much — but what kind of document are they drawing up and what kind of weight does it have? it's a teaching document, it's not official norms, but it is something that they can draw upon to back up their demands, that politicians who support abortion rights refrain from communion. and just remind people who are not catholic, what is communion and why is it important? absolutely, so this is the central sacrament of the church. you can receive it daily

when you are a catholic. you're supposed to receive it at least once a week. it is the body and blood of christ for catholics. it is the real presence of god in our midst. it truly brings us into communion, into one with each other. and so to see this disunity happening is profoundly painful for the church. so what kind of impact would have if this does go ahead and joe biden is formally, according to this document, not allowed to take part? well, it would notjust be joe biden, it would be house speaker nancy pelosi and early 100 other congresspeople who are catholic and pro—choice. they would be forced to refrain from communion. it is very sad because they are using this to bully the president with something that is profoundly sacred to him, and many of our elected officials. so it would be, i think, a cause of great embarrassment for the church, and a cause of great pain for elected officials. our thanks to jamie manson. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: would you punch

a crocodile in the face? we speak to a woman who did just that, to rescue her twin sister. 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. 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. germany's parliament, i the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government - from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into i the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. 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: polls have closed in iran's presidental election after voting was extended to midnight local time. the winner will succeed hassan rouhani, who's not allowed to serve for a third term. roman catholic bishops in the us have made a first move towards denying holy communion to politicians, like president biden, who support abortion rights. the bishops voted in defiance of the vatican's advice. covid cases are rising in rural nepal as the country struggles to cope with a second wave of coronavirus infections. more than 600,000 cases have been reported — but testing is scarce

and experts believe the actual number is far higher. the government is pleading for international aid, as the delta variant continues to spread and vaccines are in low supply. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vadyanathan has travelled to nepal's remote gorkha district and has this report. the virus has now travelled to every corner of this mountain nation. we journeyed through the rugged foothills of the himalayas to the gorkha region where there's been a steep rise in cases. here, navigating the terrain is as tough as getting access to medical help. the views are spectacular, but the road conditions are difficult. we are in a remote part of nepal now, in the gorkha district. there aren't hospitals

here for hours. just imagine trying to get emergency health care in this kind of situation. we reach barpak, known as the village of the brave. home to many gurkha veterans and theirfamilies. this was the epicentre of nepal's devastating earthquake in 2015. a community rebuilt, now struggling to contain the virus. locals say dozens have died of covid in this recent wave. one of the victims, rambahadur ghali, who served in the queen's gurkha engineers. left behind, his son hari. already penniless, now fatherless. he says he couldn't afford to take his dad to the nearest hospital, a three—hour drive, or a two day walk. translation: we don't have proper medical - facilities in barpak.

we only have a small health clinic. so even if we get a fracture and need an x—ray, we have to travel far. we couldn't get a car to take him to the hospital. the only option would have been by helicopter. we couldn't afford that. the delta variant spread as migrant workers returned to their villages from india. vaccines aren't reaching as fast. only 8% of people have had a first dose. supplies from india were suspended. some are coming from china but it has still left more than a million elderly nepalis waiting for their second shot of the astrazeneca. this gurkha veteran is holding on to his vaccination card and to the hope other nations will help. translation: we served in the british army. - it would be nice if they could give us vaccines. there are many people who need them in nepal, notjust us.

in a country famed for the most challenging of treks, these journeys are the toughest. crying. a village says goodbye to another covid victim who couldn't get oxygen in time. even before the virus came along, they lived a life of isolation. now for so many in rural nepal, it has turned into one of desperation. all adults in england can now book their coronavirus vaccine as part of the uk government's plan to vaccinate as many over—18s as possible ahead of the new target date for the end of restrictions on 19july. it comes as new data from public health england suggests that a single dose of the pfizer or astrazeneca vaccine reduces the risk of needing hospital treatment by three quarters. here's our health correspondent catherine burns.

in normal times, this would be entirely unremarkable — festival—goers braving the british summer weather. i feel a wee bit damp, but it's — this will be the highlight of my year. download festival at donington park at leicestershire is going ahead as part of a government pilot scheme. everyone's had to test for coronavirus before pitching their tents. no tents in sheffield, but the queues for vaccines started early this morning. from today, all over—18s in england can book theirs. my arm doesn't hurt too bad, and i think that's outweighed by the prospect of having normal life back. normal life was pencilled in to start in england next monday, but it's been pushed back a month to get as many people vaccinated as possible. 18—year—old andreas and his mates have just left sixth form and want to celebrate before university.

how does it feel that it's finally your go after seeing all the other ages have theirs? it's just good to feel like you're actually doing something, because for so long, we've just been sitting, doing nothing. yeah, ijust really want to get the vaccine, so that i can sort of go out as much as i can this summer. long—term, it's probably good we all get it but short—term, i i don't think it makes any real difference to your life, - what you can do. flo, unlike the rest of these guys, you are not 18 yet, are you? no, i'm not. and there is a level of vaccine envy. it's kind of a race at this point between the vaccinations and the increase in cases at the moment. figures from the office for national statistics suggest that one in 540 people across the uk would test positive for covid. that is up — not hugely, about 10% on the week before. this vaccine push comes as public health england says 99% of the cases it's checking are now the delta variant. and since february, 806 people with it have needed hospital treatment, but only 84 of them were double vaccinated. and there's good news,

too, about the impact of a single jab. if you've had two doses of either of these vaccines, you're more or less guaranteed not to end up in hospital. your chances of ending up in hospital are reduced by more than 20 times. and even one dose, once you've had a chance to make an immune response to it, will very substantially reduce the risk of ending up in hospital. just lift your sleeve for me, please. with just 31 days now until 19 july, the postponed �*freedom day', everyjab in every arm will give us extra protection. a british woman who was attacked repeatedly by a crocodile in mexico has been discharged from hospital. 28—year—old melissa laurie suffered a perforated intestine and several other injuries when she was attacked by the animal in a lagoon. her twin georgia had to fend off the creature, while trying to pull her sibling to safety. she's been speaking

to will grant. a bandage hiding the teeth marks in her wrist is the only outward sign of georgia laurie's recent encounter with a crocodile. but the horrific attack which almost killed her twin sister melissa has left much deeper, emotionalscars. i actually heard her scream and i saw her being taken underneath by the crocodile. then i realised she was really in trouble when i was calling out her name and there was no response from her. my worst fear became a reality, is that i have probably lost her, that she is dead. their nightmare began here at the manialtepec lagoon. their unlicensed german guide told the tour group they could swim in these waters, despite it being hatching season for crocodiles. i grabbed her body, pulled it towards me and rested her on my chest.

she was blue and i tried to revive her. then the crocodile came along, so i beat it off. and it went away, but then she started going into a fit, flailing her arms and legs. i think she thought it was still attacking her. so i tried to calm her down and then it came back. so i beat it off again, but i was trying to hold her head up at the same time so she didn't take in any more water and beat it off. and then it went away and i dragged her body away to safety and then a boat came along. but unfortunately, they couldn't get close enough with the boat and it took a little while, and then it came back for a third time. that's when i sustained actually the most injuries because it grabbed her on the leg and her behind, and tried to death roll her and drag her away. i was beating it on its snout and it grabbed my wrist and my arm.

so i had to beat it off with my other arm. georgia's quick thinking and bravery, hitting the animal repeatedly on the nose, undoubtedly saved melissa, who is still recovering from a perforated intestine and other injuries. crocodile attacks in this part of mexico are rare, but rarer still is to survive one and tell the story afterwards. the laurie twins are pretty unique in that regard, but the scars of their experience, both emotional and physical, could take a lifetime to fade. she thought that this was the way she was going to go and she wasn't ready. she was thinking of me in herfinal moments. like, what is going to happen to georgia? you know, it's really harrowing that she was feeling that way. i am counting my lucky stars that someone was looking out for us.

0ne one of the most anticipated matches of euro 20 so far, england versus scotland, has endedin england versus scotland, has ended in a scoreless draw. no older rivalry and no greater stage. a quarter of a century had passed since wembley hosted the only previous meeting between these two teams at a major tournament — one of england's most memorable victories, but the visitors have enjoyed success of their own here. a night of history and hope lay ahead. we've got a really good chance here, we've got a good squad, good line—up. anything can happen. and england always underestimate us. we have nothing to lose here. so let's do it. i'm nervous. i can see scotland getting a goal and it's making me nervy, but i think we will come through. we will get what we need. these fixtures almost always have an edge, and with the rain failing to dampen the atmosphere, it was clear this

would be no exception. in a lively opening period, john stones' towering header coming agonisingly close to putting england ahead. so much for predictions — this could be cagey. jordan pickford forced into a great save by stephen 0'donnell. hard to believe a0 places separate these teams in the world rankings. despite an injury time goal mouth scramble, england had been kept at bay in a performance that raises more questions than answers. a goalless draw the final result, but a point scotland will be proud of. we defended well, we had a game plan and we drew 0—0, and we are going to qualify, so thank you. i was expecting a 12—0 victory. here we are going against croatia, _ we should win that one _ this is typical england, really, this is what we do. we are a bit average and then i don't know. we'll still win it.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones, this is bbc news. hello there. friday brought us two very different days of weather depending on where you were across the uk. for some, beautiful sunshine — that was the scene for a weather watcher in 0rkney, compare that with this picture from oxford, where the rain was teeming down. some parts of southern england saw over a month's worth of rain injust 2a hours. you can see that wet weather on the earlier radar picture. but it did begin to clear off to the east through the latter part of the day, the area of low pressure responsible sliding away eastwards and that leaves us between weather systems for saturday. so the contrasts in the weather system will be less dramatic. some places will be a little cloudier than others. some will see some showers, but generally speaking, there's quite a lot of dry weather on the way.

we will see some spells of sunshine developing, some showers breaking out particularly across parts of scotland through the day, some of those could be heavy and some creeping up across the channel islands and into southern counties of england later on. temperatures perhaps at their highest around parts of wales and north—west england getting up to 21 or 22 degrees. as we head through saturday night, we are going to see some of those showers pushing up from the south. some longer spells of rain in places. northern ireland and scotland staying largely dry through the night with some clear spells and temperatures generally between 8 and 1a degrees. so for sunday, it is quite a complicated weather setup. low pressure to the south—west, this frontal system will bring some early rain across some eastern and north—eastern parts and a few showers elsewhere. so, the detailfor sunday probably will change between now and then. but we are going to see quite a lot of cloud spilling up from the south with some showers or longer spells of rain. some sunny spells too across parts of northern ireland, southern scotland, perhaps the north of england. but even here, we could see

some showers breaking out. and temperatures will depend on how much sunshine you get, but generally between 13 and 20 degrees. let's have a look at the start of next week. because as we head into monday, this weather front here is likely to become quite slow moving across southern parts of the uk. so that means there will be some outbreaks of rain here. with the wind coming down from the north, we are going to tap into some rather cool air for the time of year. monday is the summer solstice. it is not going to feel much like summer — cool for all, wet down towards the south. stays unsettled and quite cool into tuesday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: polls have closed in iran's presidental election, to choose a leader to succeed hassan rouhani — who's not allowed to serve for a third term. in a highly controlled contest, almost all those allowed to run were regarded as hardliners. the conservative cleric, ebrahim raisi is expected to win. roman catholic bishops in the us are on a potential collision course withjoe biden after voting overwhelmingly to draft a teaching document addressing whether catholic politicians, who support abortion rights, should be barred from communion. the vatican has already indicated its opposition to the bishops' move. and england and scotland have played to a 0—0 draw at wembley in their eagerly anticipated group game at euro 2020. it was the first contest between football's oldest rivals at a major tournament since euro 96.