we begin with iran, where ebrahim raisi is the country's new president. the first time in years, all branches of power in iran are under the control of ultraconservatives. mr. raisi is close to iran's supreme leader and is seen as a possible successor. he moved up with the support of the supreme leader and wants to preserve the changes broughty the 1970 nine islamic revolution. human rights groups accuse raisi of crimes against humanity. the u.s. urged the new president return to negotiations over the iran nuclear deal. >> raisi ebrahim -- ebrahim raisi voting in the election, in a race that is widely seemed -- seen as desigd to favor him. he spent four decades in the judiciary in prominent roles. raisi was born in 1960 in iran's second-largest city, home to a holy shrine. as a student, he took part in demonstrations against the shah and took part in the 1979 revolution. he joined the judiciary and was trained by ayatollah khomeini, now the supreme leader. he became the deputy prosecutor in tehran at age 25. he served on see current -- secret tribunals tha

ebrahim raisi it is seen as more of a hardliner than the man he replaces.terms of relations with the west? mat from him in terms of relations with the west?— from him in terms of relations with the west? not very much, i'm with the west? not very much, i'm afraid- _ with the west? not very much, i'm afraid. he _ with the west? not very much, i'm afraid. he will— with the west? not very much, i'm afraid. he will continue, . with the west? not very much, i'm afraid. he will continue, i i i'm afraid. he will continue, i believe the diplomatic efforts that were started under rouhani. this is a decision by the government to try to get sanctions lifted but ebrahim raisi is not interested in improving relations with the west or the united states but focused on solidifying iran's relations with china and some of its neighbouring states. he is taking direction from the supreme leader of the country. indeed, he was hand—picked by the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei ali khamenei so i think we can hope perhaps for a return to negotiations and a resumption to the

no—one is expecting very much from ebrahim raisi. he has not managerial or executive experience. office he has been elected to, and indeed, he was selected for it. he had really no opposition. so i think the decision—making really does rest with the supreme leader and with the security forces, with the arabian revolutionary guard corp. what do you think this means for the people of iran? as you say, if he is that inexperienced, not only is he dealing with the talks over the nuclear deal and the sanctions, iran's economy is battered, it is one of the worst hit countries in the region by the pandemic — can he do anything to try and deal with that multitude of problems? getting sanctions relief would certainly help, but that is not the only solution. there is a great deal of corruption and smuggling and ifind it hard to believe, despite his promises, that he is rally going to be able to crack down that he is really going to be able to crack down because they are very powerful people and institutions which are monopolising iran's hard currency. i think people are fed up, i think they

paul: what is ebrahim raisi saying beyond the nuclear deal?to make what he be willing to make any restrictions on the ballistic missile development or the support for proxy militia elsewhere in the region? >> and fortunately not. traditionally the hard right flank denigrates the jcpoa and that is the balance that ebrahim raisi has arisen out of the he expresses support to resurrect a deal because he knows that economic evidence on dividends they could provide that is of flawed nuclear agreement but that ebrahim raisi administration will not be filled with technocrats but hardliners they are more inclined than ever to escalate and then rather resurrect the jcpoa they may try to get more and offer less than what was in the agreement also the chance iran is so comfortable with escalation now thinking it has outlasted the trump administration pressure policy and being unimpressed as my colleague has said the maximum deference policy of the biden administration where sanctions are not being enforced then they think they can outlast us to escalate f

well certainly ebrahim raisi has struck a very - ebrahim raisi has struck a very populist tone in his need to address poverty and corruption. he has made no secret of his view that the previous administration of hassan rouhani that evil did not look after the interest of ordinary iranians. and clearly if you look at the waves of protests that erupted across the country several times in the past couple of years, the latest ones triggered in part by water shortages down in the southwest of the country, there is a great need to be seen to addressing the concerns of ordinary iranians. and thatis concerns of ordinary iranians. and that is going to be his prime motivation. he is going to be a populist, perhaps not in a flamboyant style of one of his predecessors, but certainly in a way that he hopes ordinary iranians will respond to. and he may look elsewhere when it comes to a ron's formulations. he may look to china, to russia as he tries to reach out, not necessarily placing the same kind of emphasis on relations with the west as his predecessor. pauli. the west as his predecessor. paul,

. >>> iran's supreme leader is done firming iranian president-elect ebrahim raisi today.orn in thursday. he was elected in a largely noncompetitive vote after his serious rivals were barred from the race. and the u.s. is promising a collective response to an attack on a commercial tanker. they blame iran for the drone attack on this ship. britain and romanian were killed. iran is denying any involvement and vowing to respond to threats firmly and with seriousness. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken says iran has been acting irresponsibly. >> iran's action is a direct threat to freedom of navigation and commerce. it took the lives of innocent sailors. we're coordinating with our partners and consulting with governments in the region. >> and fred pleitgen is in tehran with the latest. he joins us now. so fred, how might this tanker attack impact u.s./iran relations as the new president prepares to get sbworn in? >> reporter: they certainly aren't going to improve those relations and it is very interesting that as ebrahim raisi is set to take office on thursday, that the

. >>> ebrahim raisi has been sworn in as iran's new president cementing the hard line leadership. nancy reainauguration comes crucial time for the nation. iran is in the middle of the negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal as its economy suffers under u.s. sanctions. raisi called for lifting those sanctions. but as fred pleitgen explains, he also wants to try new approaches. >> reporter: iran's new president ebrahim raisi certainly gave a very confident and bold speech during his inauguration. there were several factors, one was iran's economy where it seems that iran could be embarking in a new direction than the one that we saw from the rouhani administration which will concentrate less on trying to mend ties, and more on trade here in the region. raisi kept talking about trying to establish better ties with countries in the region specifically iran's neighbors but also countries in africa for instance as well. raisi did say that there is going to continue to be a very bold foreign policy on the part of iran and he says he believes that is a good thing for the region. >>

we saw that event today where supreme leader accepted ebrahim raisi as becoming the new president soon says iranians don't want to rely on any sort of negotiations with foreign powers, obviously meaning with the united states. they have said that they want to stay in the negotiations to try to he radio strive the iran nuclear agreement, but as far as foreign policy is concerneds ebrahim raisi has said that iran will be dynamic and very active here in the middle east in places like iraq, syria, in other places as well. and of course that could mean a lot of trouble for the biden administration the next couple years. >> and this deadly drone attack happening on a tanker connected to israel and arabian sea. take a listen to the secretary of state yesterday. >> we've conducted a mthorough review and we're confident iran carried out this attack. it follows a pattern of similar attacks by iran including past incidents with explosive drones. there is no justification for this attack on a peaceful vessel in international waters. >> fred, you have obviously covered iran for years now. how do th

washington has called on tehran to resume nuclear talks after iran's newly—inaugurated president, ebrahim raisiclared his support for diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock. efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, ground to a halt following months of discussions in vienna. wildfires are threatening large parts of greece, as strengthening winds fuel more than 150 blazes. so far dozens of towns and villages have been evacuated. the greek prime minister, has said many people are facing what he called a menacing stage. now on bbc news, click. this week, we are in iceland to fly over a red—hot volcano. and then chill out with some beautiful scenery. also at a gas—powered bitcoin mine in the us. and how safe is your electric car charger from hackers? it is the land of fire and ice. where the earth is literally splitting apart. this is iceland, home to so much amazing scenery created by the superheated rock that lurks just below the surface. as recently as march this year, a new volcano has been erupting and attracting tourists and scientists alike to watch and learn as it rewrites the geography on

washington has called on tehran to resume nuclear talks after iran's newly—inaugurated president, ebrahim raisiclared his support for diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock. efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, ground to a halt following months of discussions in vienna. wildfires are threatening large parts of greece, as strengthening winds fuel more than 150 blazes. so far dozens of towns and villages have been evacuated. the greek prime minister, has said many people are facing what he called a �*menacing' stage. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. those of us lucky enough to live in countries where 70%+ of the adult population have been double vaccinated against covid might be tempted to think we can relax our guard. but the pandemic isn't over and the global vaccine roll—out still faces enormous challenges. my guest is professor sir andrew pollard, a key figure in the development of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. science has offered us tools to beat the virus. are we making the most of them? professor sir andrew pollard, welcome to hardtalk. hello

let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines: iran's new president, ebrahim raisi, has beeno office, following his election victory injune. mr raisi is an ultra—conservative, and is close to iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. in the latest sign that the conflict in the tigray region of ethiopia is spreading, rebels have seized a un world heritage site in the neighbouring state of amhara. there are no reports of fighting in the town of lalibela, but some residents have fled. around two thousand people joined an anti—lockdown protest in melbourne on thursday evening, as the city was moved into its sixth covid lockdown. there have been a handful of new cases there, and it means that around two thirds of australia's 25 million population are now subject to restrictions to try to stop the virus spreading. still to come a bit later in the programme: we'll have all the latest from tokyo as the olympics enters its last few days. but first, the footballer lionel messi is to leave barcelona after the club announced it was unable to offer him a new contract which satisfied

iran's new president, ebrahim raisi, has been sworn into office following his election victory injune is an ultra—conservative and is close to iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. in the uk, the government has defended changes to the traffic light travel system as an airline has scheduled extra flights to return britons from red—listed mexico. the country has just been moved to that part of the list. it means those returning to the uk will have to quarantine in a designated hotel at their own expense. still to come a bit later in the programme, we'll have all the latest from tokyo as the olympics enters its last few days. but first — president biden has announced that hong kong residents who are currently in the united states will be granted a temporary safe haven. they'll be allowed to stay for 18 months and find work. in a statement, the american president said china had continued what he called an "assault" on hong kong's autonomy and had undermined its remaining freedoms. he warned that his administration would not "stand idly by" as china "broke its promises". white hou

. >> another expert told fox news that ebrahim raisi might see being president as a warm-up for his next position. at that of supreme leader himself. a few thoughts. for the poor irani and spirited bret >> bret: of next how your tax dollars could be end up paying lawyers for a illegal. the devastating 911 call from a woman who found her partner and dog stabbed to death. >> please send help. ♪ ♪ that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical horn blows ] i mean just because you look like someone else doesn't mean you eat off the floor, or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ [relaxed summer themed music playing] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ summer is a state of mind, you can visit anytime. savor your summer with lincoln. summer is a state of mind, you can visit anytime. ♪♪ (vo) the rule in business used to be, "location, location, location." now it's, "network, network, network." so you need a network that's built right. verizon business unlimited starts wi

course all of this is as a new administration has taken power here in iran, hardline president ebrahim raisi is that iran will continue to be very active here in this region both diplomatically but of course militarily as well. >> frederik pleitgen, thank you. >>> now to this, just a short time ago the ioc taking action against officials from belarus after a sprinter said that they tried to force her on to a plane home in the middle of the olympic games. blake essig is live in tokyo for us. who are these guys and what is the ioc doing about this? >> reporter: in a tweet earlier today the ioc announced that it has stripped the accreditations of two coaches for their role in the forced removal of krystsina tsimanouskaya. it happened when the sprinter was supposed to be preparing to make her olympic debut the following day. instead the 24-year-old posted a video to social media pleading for help, she said that she was removed from competition given one hour to pack her things in order to fly back to minsk immediately. this is after she criticized coaches a few days earlier on social media for b

but iranians for their part under ebrahim raisi, they say they are in no returning to get things done translator: we will definitely pursue the lifting of tehran sanctions but we'll definitely not allow people's financial ability and the economy to be impacted by it. we will not bow to outsiders' wishes. >> reporter: so they don't want to pander to outsider's wishes. the new inning administration say they don't want to allow on foreign investment, they want to do what they call a resistance economy even though there are experts who believe that that could be very difficult. of course right now those sanctions are in place. at the same time tensions here in the region still extremely high. of course you had the incident with that israeli linked tanker a couple days ago which was attacked by a drone killing two of the sailors on board. the u.s., israel and u kflt is bl blaming the iranians. last night you had another possible incident where all of a sudden four ships in the persian golf started pinging that they were not under their own control which could mean that they were being hija

iran now has a new president, ebrahim raisi, cementing hard- liners' control of the government. raisi was sworn in today before parliament. he called for u.s. sanctions to end, but he insisted tehran will not stop trying to project its power. >> ( translated ): we are the true defenders of human rights. we do not accept silence in the face of tyranny, crime and violation of the innocent and defenseless people's rights. whenever there is crime and oppression, we will stand by the oppressed ones. >> woodruff: in washington, the u.s. state department pressed iran to resume negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. it said the opportunity won't last forever. the u.s. justice department opened a full-scale review today of police practices in phoenix, arizona. the focus is on whether phoenix officers use excessive force and abuse the homeless. the mayor and police department leaders say they welcome the investigation. similar federal probes are already under way in minneapolis and louisville. police who battled pro-trump rioters at the u.s. capitol on january 6th received congre

what does the election of ebrahim raisi mean for the future of the country, and reviving the nuclearhen, giving space to black artists. the young curator with a mandate to shake up the art world. antwaun sargent joins me, plus. - as wsay in mississippi, i found myself looking down a stupid end of too many gun barrels. - [christiane] world-renowned astrophysicist, hakeem oluseyi on his unlikely journey from the street to the stars. and finally, little amal's journey, the giant puppet refugee trekking from turkey to manchester,

the afghan people had "thrown off the shackles of slavery", while iran's new hardline president ebrahim raisi, china, iran and pakistan are all neighbours and all look set to be key taliban allies. here's our security correspondent frank gardner. all these countries that you've named have in some way done ok out of this. it's a volatile situation, and insecurity and instability in afghanistan is not good for anything from about pakistan, of course, is very close to the taliban from about pakistan, of course, is very close to the taliban, particularly the isi, it is very close to the taliban. china has been one of the first major nations who in fact is the first major nation to say that some actually, it could do business at the new taliban government, and will probably be recognising it. russia has had talks already, but encouragingly, russia special�*s envoy to afghanistan has spoken to his opposite number in the us, so thatis his opposite number in the us, so that is encouraging because the only way that is going to be lasting peace in afghanistan is if all the countries in the region can a

hoping to boost a flagging vaccine campaign president ebrahim raisi publicly received his first dosead regular nappies because her skin was so sensitive. even the medicine that was administered to her had to be calculated down to the decimal point. so it really is some sort of miracle here. the doctors here said that it was a covid—19 miracle because she was born in the middle of the pandemic, and that her progress really gave a ray of hope amidst all the darkness that there has been in the last year or so. she is a very healthy weight now, 6.4 kilograms, around 14lbs. now, because she was born so premature, she does have chronic lung disease and she also has pulmonary hypertension, so she will need help of a ventilator when she is back at home. but doctors here in singapore say that she is likely to outgrow a lot of those conditions, that premature babies do outgrow them, and with the progress that she has made, they are really confident that she will improve even at home. she can roll over by herself, she is learning to use a bottle, and, apparently, she is very fond of her dummy.

washington has called on tehran to resume nuclear talks, after iran's newly—inaugurated president, ebrahim raisiclared his support for diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock. efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, ground to a halt following months of discussions in vienna. wildfires are threatening large parts of greece, as strengthening winds fuel more than 150 blazes. so far dozens of towns and villages have been evacuated. the greek prime minister, has said many people are facing what he called a menacing stage. now on bbc news, living with arina, nina is experiencing an independence that had always been out of reach for her in the past. but can she make the transition into assisted living? hello. lots of talk about heavy showers in this forecast, but it is important to point out it won't be raining all the time. there will be some drier, sunnier moments, too, but, yes, some areas on friday will be dealing with heavy, even intense thundery downpours, particularly across northern parts of the uk. whereas further south, there'll still be some heavy showers to contend with, but they'll tend