nonetheless, his most likely ally is haider al-abadi's faction, although whether haider al-abadi remains the candidate,l you coread this as a no-confidence vote for him. whether he can remain as prime ministert s not clear. do have an election, a successful one, and haider al-abadi has accepted he has lost this election. the peaceful transfer of power is the big story really. laura: what do you think this ection tells us about th future direction of iraq 15 years after the u.s.-led invasion? douglas: ts is more or less status quo. the really interesting story is haider al-abadi's success in sunni areas. he did not do well in the shia eats inbut he got 12 nineveh province. in mosul, a purely sunni heartland, defeating the aditional nineveh-based party. we are seeing some breaking down of snow-sectarianism in iraq. laura: what was the view of muqtada al-sadr when you were in government douglas: i think it is safe to say a decade ago no one saw muqtada al-sadr being in this e, anti-iranian, mildly pro-saudi nationalist anticorruption candidate. that is not where anyone pictured him a decade

nicurrent prime er haider al-abadi failed to do as well as expected. the directorsef the national rity council during the bush and obama administrations joins ed me a short time ago. what is driving the support for muqtada al-sadr's alliance? >> in part this is driven by low turnout. muqtada al-sadr has a political machine that turns out his voters, and in a low-turnout election, that magnifies his vote share. but not that much. this is not that different from what was expected. sadr's victory is a 16.5% of the seats. someone will have to put together the votes to get a coalition, as european watchers know much better than amer tend to. putting together these coalitions is very hard. drthe fact that as 16% when many watchers were thinking anda hopingprime minister abadi would get 1 14% really doesn't change the math all that much. laura: but what was muqtada al-sadr's message that was so appealing? he is both anti-u.s. and anti-iran. douglas: and mildly pro-saudi. he is talking corruption. he is the one driving the demonstrations in the major cities ev

prime minister haider al—abadi won praise for his fight against the islamist militants.ranslation: today, iraq is powerful and unified

in his place came haider al-abadi. step aside. in his place came haider al—abadi.h of the two men is a separate coalition. it is now split first time. after the invasion, the world's most of fish —— influential shia authority based here in najaf vended off the attack, threatening the south. but force took shape. known as the popular mobilisation units, or pmus, it was formed of shia factions and large number of volunteers who are influenced by the call of arms. call to arms. it falls came to be and is 110w to arms. it falls came to be and is now one of the main alliances contesting the elections. the religious authorities in najaf however maintain their distance from all coalitions contracting —— contesting the elections, including the ones born on the pmus. just as isis was losing its grip and recapturing territory —— iraqi troops were recapturing territory, the vast majority of voters backed independence but there euphoria quickly turned sour. iraqi forces and the kurdish pesch murdo, clashed with each other. the kurdish forces — — forces with each other. the kur

abadi held a 71% approval rating, an astounding number. it's not just the prime minister.14, the new america report notes. you see abadi has done something maliki never did, peace and inclusion to the sunnis and the kurds. but he's also capable of carrying a big stick. last fall the kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence in a long-awaited referendum. baghdad's punishment rained down swiftly. it retook installations and blocked flights to kurdish airports. but then abadi's government commenced months of fevered negotiations with the kurds, finally agrowing to pay half of kurdish officials' salaries effectively ending the standoff, "the new york times" reported. now even some kurdish politicians sound positively conciliatory. i don't mean to overstate where iraq is. it still suffers from widespread corruption, and it is in desperate need of economic reforms. and if the forces committed to dividing a fractiously stitched together country this relative calm could be lost easily. but the way iraq is remains quite extraordinary when you think about how far it has come. what

prime minister haider al—abadi needs all the votes he can get.politicians. the iraqi leader won praise for his fight against the islamist extremists, but whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country‘s shattered cities and gain the trust of sunni muslims, whose marginalisation in the first place led to the rise of is. he is facing unexpectedly tight competition from other shia politicians. whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country‘s shattered cities and gained the trust of a sunni muslims. the results will be closely watched beyond the region as they could tip the balance of power in the middle east. this is a critical moment for iraq. security has vastly improved here, and there‘s an opportunity to rebuild the country. but iraq‘s unity is fragile. sectarian divisions could once again tear this country apart. and, with growing tensions between america and iran, many iraqis fear their country could be a casualty of any struggle. a court in italy has overturned a ban which stopped the former prime minister silvio ber

prime minister haider al—abadi needs all the votes he can get.rom other shia politicians. the iraqi leader won praise for his fight against the islamist extremists, but whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country's shattered cities and gain the trust of sunni muslims, whose marginalisation in the first place led to the rise of is. this is a critical moment for iraq. security has vastly improved here, and there's an opportunity to rebuild the country. but iraq's unity is fragile. sectarian divisions could once again tear this country apart. and, with growing tensions between america and iran, many iraqis fear their country could be a casualty of any struggle. my colleague yalda hakim is also in baghdad. security has been tight across the country, airports and borders have been closed. and the movement of vehicles from one province to the other has been limited, and in baghdad there has been a curfew since last night. people have been trying to come and cast their vote. however flawed the county might be, this is one of the few demo

and prime minister haider al—abadi, they say, can no longer afford to ignore them.an on play dominoes and charts. they have no jobs to get up for in the morning. they tell me people in power alleging drugs ruined their city. —— are letting. in the upcoming elections, the baghdad government must finally listened to the people in basra, locals warn, or risk them turning closer towards iran for their future. you can watch yalda hakim's documentary in full, iraq's war on meth, on bbc world news at various times. for viewers in the uk, you can watch it on the bbc iplayer and bbc news channel. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: all the sports news, including more on liverpool's progress to the final of the champions league, where they'll face real madrid in kiev. nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians

and prime minister abadi, they say, no can longer afford to ignore them.ve no jobs to get up for in the morning. they tell me people in power are letting drugs ruin their city. in the upcoming elections, the baghdad government must finally listen to the people in basra, locals warn, or risk them turning further towards iran for their future. yalda hakim, bbc news, basra. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour, but first the headlines on bbc news. thousands of women have called helplines worried about whether they've been affected by an nhs computer error in england which meant they weren't invited for breast screening. there are fresh questions for president trump about what he know over a $130,000 payment to the porn star stormy daniels. nearly 100 people have died and scores more injured in fierce dust storms in northern india. in the business news... tesla has posted a record quarterly loss of almost £523 million for the three months to march — more than double the same period last year. the carmarker says it will be profitable in the seco

-backed current prime minister haider al-abadi. in a national address, al-abadi called on iraqis to respect the results:ed >> ( transl ): we are ready to work and cooperate on forming the strongest government for iraq, free of corruption, hateful confessionalism and un subjected to a foreign agenda, a government which is capable of preventing a return of terrorism and keeping the country away from sliding into marginal conflis. >> reporter: for four years, iraq's been fighting isis, butas the voteemarkably peaceful, and defined by bread and butter issues.ir i unemployment is soaring. the country needs $80-billion of reconstruction two-million, mostly sunnis, are displaced.wa but turnoulow, and skepticism is high. some baghdad residts are skeptical this political upset can upset a corrupt system. >> ( translated ): nothing will be changed. the same misery to rhe country. orter: if his bloc is the confirmed winner, sadr won't become prime minster.t bu15 years after the u.s. invasion, e man once described as the u.s.' top enemy in ira

prime minister haider al—abadi needs all the votes he can get.competition from other shia politicians. the iraqi leader won praise for his fight against the islamist extremists, but whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country's shattered cities and gain the trust of sunni muslims, whose marginalisation in the first place led to the rise of is. this is a critical moment for iraq. security has vastly improved here, and there's an opportunity to rebuild the country. but iraq's unity is fragile. sectarian divisions could once again tear this country apart. and, with growing tensions between america and iran, many iraqis fear their country could be a casualty of any struggle. returning to the attack in paris. the president of france emmanuel macron has been paying tribute to those caught up in this incident on twitter. all my thoughts are with those affected by the attack in paris night. i salute the courage of the police officers who stopped the terrorists. interestingly, he has used the word terrorists because there was a request for

for a body because our bodies and the moves on what we hear till now the most voted for it because abadie defeated i as in mosul so you might have some support from especially from mosul and mosul might still play a turning point in the whole elections concerning iraq ok we know later today maybe tomorrow how long it's going to looks like within hours it's supposed to be like forty eight hours after saturday's so maybe today afternoon late afternoon but i guess to morrow morning might be like the hundred person because they're still counting we'll be talking about it again just short of the whole karim thanks so much for coming in for that you're welcome. well rand's foreign minister has started a world tour to try and save iran's nuclear pact after u.s. president donald trump's withdrawal left it on the brink of collapse mohan missouri has been in moscow where he's met with his russian counterpart sergey lavrov so it has reassured has received assurances that lavrov will in fact be backing the deal and moscow will stay in it says his aim is to prevent washington further destabilizing the

>> we were hoping for abadi victory. he's still solamani's guy.tions does the united states have? >> we have seen an iraqi member of abadi's treasury sanctioned for laundering money. legal legal sanctions are sanctions. when did they get the message, you either play by our rules or there's a problem? >> once we start putting them back in targeting list and start making them targets like israel is targeting them in syria, iraqi militias, israel is tarting in syria. we do not have the authorization to target -- leland: president trump can give the authorization. >> he's basically said it. he has warned iran not to attack americans in iraq and not to attack americans in syria, aumf does not allow to attack, secretary mattis is against it because they thought they would walk away from the iran deal. the iran deal is no longer a measure and this could force ma malicias. they have killed americans in the past, those two guys, should go back in joint targeting list. leland: by joint targeting list, targeted to be killed, drone strikes, et cetera? >> they

the current prime minister abadi is lagging behind in third place.ere are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. iran's foreign minister zarif hasn't met his russian counterpart sergey lavrov as part of a diplomatic tour aimed at saving the country's nuclear pact. lavrov said it russia will respect to detect. zarif is scheduled to meet with foreign ministers from germany, france, and u.k. in brussels. they had of the antiestablishment five-star movement said that they needed a few more things to clinch a coalition deal with the league, another populist party. residents near hawaii's volcano are being warned that more fishers could open near their homes as it continues to spew lava. a total of 19 fishers have appeared in the earth around the volcano. the summit of the volcano may be about to explode. a new suicide attack by a family has indonesia's second-largest city reeling once again. the bombers rode motorbikes to a police station and then blew themselves up. it comes a day after another family staged coordinated suicide atta

prime minister haider al—abadi won praise for his fight against the islamist militants.iraq is powerful and unified, after defeating terrorism, and this is a huge achievement for all iraqis. these elections will determine the immediate future for iraq, and it's the citizens themselves who'll decide that future, through this election. he needs all the votes he can get. he is facing unexpectedly tough competition from other shia politicians. but whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country's shattered cities and gain the trust of sunni muslims, whose marginalisation in the first place led to the rise of is. the results will also be closely watched across the region and beyond, as they could tip the balance of power in the middle east. this is a critical moment for iraq. security has vastly improved here, and there is now an opportunity to rebuild the country. but iraq's unity is fragile. sectarian divisions could once again tear this country apart. and, with growing tensions between america and iran, many iraqis fear their country could be a casualty of any

party with the most number of seats in parliament, al-sadr joined current prime minister haider al-abadi and others today to begin forming a new government. the populist al-sadr opposes u.s. or iranian intervention in iraqi politics. palestinian prident mahmoud abbas was hospitalized today in the west bank, the third timeco this week ing to officials. reports varied about the 83-ll year-old'sss, but abbas did have an ear operation this past tuesday, and he has anns exe history of health issues. palestinians have not held presidential elections since 2005 when abbas was elected to what was supposed to be a four year ter >> stewart: finally tonight, residents of haws big island have a new worry as the kilauea. it's called "laze," a combination of hyocoric acid, steam, and fine glass particles that are sthpewing ino air now that lava has flowed into the pacific ocean.al the volcan caused its first injury this weekend when molten lava struck a man outsido hi, shattering his leg. tomorrow on the newshour, more coverage of the school shooting in texas from ourolitics monday team. that's all fo

alliance backed by tehran into second place in the election of the outgoing prime minister haider al—abadigroup. muqtada al—sadr must now be in negotiations to a governing coalition with —— which seeks to avoid the influence of washington and tehran. warren bull reporting there. the human rights commissioner says israel used completely disproportionate force against palestinians protesting against the opening of the new us embassy in jerusalem. he was addressing a special session of the united nations human rights council which had been requested by arab states in response to the shootings. another story which you have to watch, i love this story. nasa's admitted a failed mission of sorts on the international space station. one of the crew ran into difficulties on a spacewalk, telling houston "we have a problem." andy beatt reports. a view to remember 400km above planet earth. definitely one for the scrapbook. and after some routine maintenance on the international space station, time for this astronaut to reach for his camera. but plans to record the spacewalk for posterity hit a snag. he

prime minister haider al—abadi appeared to be running third. turnout in sunday's vote was just 45%.officially announced later on monday. virunga national park, in the democratic republic of congo, is suspending visits by tourists after an ambush on friday in which a park ranger was shot dead. two british nationals and their congolese driver were released by gunmen after they were taken hostage. the head of virunga park said it would remain closed until it was safe for visitors to return. it has emerged that a knife—wielding attacker who stabbed a man to death in paris on saturday had been on an anti—terror watch list. he has been named by french media as khamzat azimov, a french national born in chechnya. the 21—year—old was killed by police at the scene. a friend of the attacker has been arrested in the city of strasbourg. janey mitchell reports. it should have been a pleasant weekend night out in a popular part of paris. instead, a victim lies stabbed in the street. eyewitnesses reported scenes of panic as the attacker lashed out with a blade. police flooded the area near the oper

. >> sreenivasan: iraq held a national election today, the rst since prime minister haider al-abadi declared victory over the islamic states n july. resue expected within the next two days, but it will likely be monthsmiefore a prime ster is chosen and a new government is formed. i'm joined via skype from baghdad by "nework times" bureau chief margaret coker. thanks for joining us. the good news is we haven't seen any widespread violence or attacks, something the country was concerned about fo today. >> right. 's pretty amazing, actually. in 2014, the a third of the nation had brun oveby islamic state. people were talking about the end of iraq, and now we've had a national election, almost no violence, a few irregularities, but people were fpretee to come and vote as they chose. >> sreenivasan: what did you or your reporters see at the polling stationed today? >> i was in baghdad. i went to different polling stations in different parts of the city, an turnout was very low. you know, there is a general mood here of just utter exhaustion. there was enormous amount of battle, a lot sacrifice, a

in his place came haider al—abadi, a little known politician from the same party, the islamic dawa partye party that's held the position of prime minister since 2005 is split for the first time. after the invasion, the world's most influential shia authority based here in najaf in southern iraq called on iraqis to volunteer to fend off the isis attack, which was threatening baghdad and even the south. a new paramilitary force took shape, known as the popular mobilisation units, or pmus. it was formed partly of pre—existing shia factions as well as large number of volunteers who were influenced by the call of arms. form the pa ramilitaries, a new political force came to be and is now one of the main alliances contesting the elections. the religious authorities in najaf, however, maintain their distance from all coalitions contesting the elections, including the one borne of the pmus. just as isis was losing its grip and iraq recapturing its territory, the country's autonomous kurdish region held an independence referendum. the vast majority of voters backed independence but their euphoria

prime minister haider al—abadi needs all the votes he can get.ition from other shia politicians. the iraqi leader won praise for his fight against the islamist extremists, but whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country's shattered cities and gain the trust of sunni muslims, whose marginalisation in the first place led to the rise of is. this is a critical moment for iraq. security has vastly improved here, and there's an opportunity to rebuild the country. but iraq's unity is fragile. sectarian divisions could once again tear this country apart. and, with growing tensions between america and iran, many iraqis fear their country could be a casualty of any struggle. yalda hakim is also in baghdad and has been following developments in today's election. security has been tight across the country, airports and borders have been closed. and the movement of vehicles from one province to the other has been limited, and in baghdad there has been a curfew since last night. people have been trying to come and cast their vote. however flawe

prime minister haider al—abadi has based his entire campaign on the defeat of the islamic state.ely trying to bring the sunni minority groups back into the political process. the divisions that have ravaged iraq for the past 15 years are showing signs of easing. iraqis are tired of the fighting and now want to bring change through the ballot box. the hope is this election will bring a new era of stability. yalda hakim, bbc news, baghdad. north korea has announced when it will dismantle its nuclear test site. the state news agency says it will take the site apart between may 23rd and may 25th, and that international media will be allowed to watch. it comes after the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, said his country would provide help for north korea's weak economy if it gives up its nuclear weapons. the foreign office say they're supporting the families of two british nationals who were kidnapped in a national park in the democratic republic of congo. the tourists were abducted yesterday in the virunga national park — which runs along the border with uganda and rwanda. a ranger

the current prime minister, haider al—abadi, is in third place. to become prime minister and lengthy negotiations are expected before a coalition government is formed. the island of guernsey could become the first place in the british isles to introduce assisted dying. guernsey is a self governing british crown dependency and not part of the uk. guernsey‘s parliament will vote on the issue in a few days. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. for 800 years, this picturesque island has been self—governing. nearer france than england, guernsey may pass legislation that‘s been roundly rejected by mps at westminster. the island‘s deputies are being asked to approve in principle whether to allow assisted dying. joyce is 92 and has lived on guernsey since the ‘705. she‘s in good health, but wants the option of an assisted death. she‘s even set aside money to go to dignitas in switzerland. personally, for me, if i can‘t look after my own hygiene, and i can‘t move a lot, that is a horrifying thought, as far as i‘m concerned, and i do not want to

current leader haider al—abadi is seen as more open to washington.have all but disappeared. 15 years after the us invaded iraq i think most americans would be surprised today atjust how little influence the us has in the country. all the american forces are isolated on their bases, their embassy is in the green zone cut off from the rest of the city. there is no visible signs of american culture or influence on the streets. unlike iran whose influence and tentacles can be seen everywhere in iraq. but there is a growing bloc opposed to iranian influence. this woman is a liberal, a campaigner for women's rights and leads one of iraq's centrist, secular parties. campaigning is in full swing. she thinks younger voters are beginning to resist the siren calls of sectarianism. their ambition is not to fight each other but to be able to be educated and get a job, start a family. have somewhere to live, etc. and this is the main concerns of the younger generation. iraq's weakness post 2003 has made tehrans‘s dominance possible. but there is also a growing sen

the current prime minister haider al abadi is facing a raft of problems as he tries to win another termas become a breeding ground for drugs and criminals. yalda hakim sent this report. it's night—time in basra, the time of day when a new war, a fight against criminal drugs and gangs, takes over the streets. this is the elite force that goes out every night on raids to try and crack down on organised crime in this city.

prime minister al abadi is seeking re-election.ow the country's shiite bloc has split into several major coalitions here which makes it difficult to predict who will come out on top. we'll continue to watch that. >>> it looks as though everyone wants to know what's going on in the trump white house, including iran's supreme leader possibly. look at him here spotted at a book fair. checking out a farsi edition of micha michael woolf's booing "fire and fury." he shared the picture on instagram. >> maybe he should be reading "the art of the deal." how the president has been played it this week. know when to walk away from the table. cnn international correspondent fred pleitgen is live from tehran. hello to you. is the ayatollah trolling the president? how are we to read the photograph tweeted out? >> reporter: it's interesting because there was a bit of an exchange. you heard the ayatollah criticizing the president this week. that picture was taken at a book fair in tehran that ayatollah ali khamenei went to, as well. he was pictured

the preliminary results are seen as a setback for the current iraqi prime minister haider al-abadi. in indonesia, at least seven people were killed in a string of suicide bombings sunday targeting churches in surabaya, the second-largest city in indonesia. isisis has claimed responsibiliy for the attacks, which police say werere carried out by one familyly -- a couple and theheir four childreren. this is pope francis speaking after the bombings. >> i am particularly close to the deer indonesian people, especially to the christian communities of the city which have been severely hit by a serious attack on places of worship. i raise my prayer for the victims and the relatives. to gather we invoke -- together we invoke the god of peace so he may stop these violent actions and so that the hearts of all could be fililled not by feelins of hatred and violenence, but of reconciliation and fraternity. amy: a newly unearthed cia memo from 1974 details how brazil's former dictator ernesto geisel personally approved execution of his political opponents, who were labeled "subversives." the docu

. >> iraqi prime minister haider al abadi cast his vote a short time ago and hopes to win back his position must go to a shiite. but the country's shia bloc has fractured into several major coalitions. that makes it hard to predict who will come out on top. >>> immigration officials in malaysia say the former prime minister and his wife are banned now from leaving the country. najib razak is accused of corruption involving state funds. >> rumors spread he was planning to leave the country after losing his re-election bid earlier this week, but he has tweeted that he will respect the order and that he and his family will remain in malaysia. >>> political tension between the u.s. and north korea appears to be calming down, but that's not stopping the u.s. military from doing its job. >> we have a job to do that's measured in minutes and seconds. and for us to try and account for that, the political rhetoric, it doesn't fit in. we're worried about pieces of me metal flying through space coming to north america. >> we get a look inside the u.s. military command center that keeps a 24/7 watch fo

in third is the incumbent prime minister, haidar al—abadi.ch as the front runner. he is not running for the prime ministers ship or any other post, but he is backing this ticket thatis post, but he is backing this ticket that is made up of different groups. so, the commonest party as part of this ticket, as well as secular groups. —— communist party. they have come together to rally on an anti—corruption have come together to rally on an anti—corru ption ticket. have come together to rally on an anti-corruption ticket. there is more on the bbc website if you would like it. to west africa now, where a new bbc documentary is looking at a centuries—old practice called "trokosi". it's now defunct, but in the past, young girls were forced to live and work in religious shrines for their whole life, to "pay" for the sins of family members. brigitte sossou perenyi was one of those girls, until she was adopted and moved to the us. twenty years after she was freed, brigitte has been back to try and understand more about the practice. here's her report

iran—backed shia militia chief hadi al—amiri's coalition is second, while prime minister haider al—abadi'suence. put simply, he believes iraqis should run iraqi affairs, not washington, not tehran and not their proxies. so where does this election leave iraq ? i spoke to hadya al—alawi from bbc arabic. this was probably an unexpected result from many iraqis, although he is a very popular shia cleric in iraq, he is also, he was not really expected to win this election. probably the bids were going to the current prime minister, especially after all the conflict that he actually managed to get iraq out of with isis, so this is quite a change on the same, but it shows that iraqis are quite fed up with the system and the way it is working right now. the government, the corruption, and having all these problems not solved 15 years on, after the war started in 2003. he was quite a name in headlines, a decade or so ago, just tell us about him. what does he stand for? as i mentioned, he is a very popular shia cleric and he has always been against the us, what he calls the us occupation of iraq. he

it's possible he'll cut a deal that would keep prime minister abadi, the american-supported current prime minister of iraq, in power. that looks to some analysts like the most likely outcome. but it's a sign that i think in some ways, has some positive elements, iraq is saying we're angry, we want this country of ours to work better. we want people to stop stealing and he's the guy that's the symbol of that. >>> president trump slams the media and members of his own government in the same tweet. >>> how the president plans to target leakers for spilling secrets to the press. >>> plus the vice president is pushing his boss's agenda. new reports suggest mike pence is getting under the president's skin for being a little too front and center. >>> kind of like we've had that problem for some time. >> bill karins? got a feeling he's running for something. >> i think we have to have the talk. >> you look and he's going oh, i'm out for "morning joe." >> sit in the background, blend in a little bit. >> how many times can you go to the mall in schenectady and claim you're doing it for me. you're d