it is a straight fight between the current vice president, joseph boakai, and world renowned footballerfana reports from the capital, monrovia. voting went peacefully with no reports of incidents. accompanied by his supporters, vice presidentjoseph boakai cast his vote. he sounded confident. asked as to whether he would accept the results he responded with a qualified yes. provided it needs our standard. after that a decision will be made. we are willing to work for whatever the final result is. for supporters of the former football superstar george weah, it looked like a victory dance when he went to vote. the man who won in the first round sounded confident. i'm not associated with losing. i will win. boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again. initial indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. turnout seemed low. it has been quiet here at this high school. election officials are nibbling ar

accompanied by his supporters, vice president joseph boakai cast his vote. he sounded confident.sked as to whether he would accept the results he responded with a qualified yes. after that, a decision will be made. but we are willing to work for whatever the final result is. for supporters of the former football superstar george weah, it looked like a victory dance when he went to vote. the man who won in the first round sounded incandescently confident. i'm not associated with losing. today's victory is set in and i will win. boakai cannot win, and george weah can. it's an exceptional case. what happened cannot happen again. initial indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. but turnout appeared low. it has been quiet here at this convent high school in central monrovia. election officials are nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in t

accompanied by his supporters, vice president joseph boakai cast his ballot. he sounded confident. asked whether he would accept the results if you lost, that if he lost that if he lost, he responded with a qualified yes. vice president boakai: we are willing to work with whatever final result. reporter: for supporters of former football star george weah, it looked like a victory dance when he went to vote. the man who won in the first round sounded incandescently confident. weah: i am going to win. what happens will not happen again. reporter: initial indications are that the runoff was better organized than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no accounts of -- no complaints so far of multiple voting. but turnout appeared low. it has been pretty quiet here at the high school in central monrovia. election officials are middling around without much to do. they say he has been like this almost all the day. in the last half an hour, only one person has come here to cast his ballot. with the result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outco

place between a former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president, joseph boakaio three years in an egyptian prison. laura plummer was found guilty of smuggling drugs. she was arrested in october, carrying 290 tablets of the painkiller, tramadol in her suitcase. daniela relph reports. laura plummer‘s family and friends say she is naive, not a criminal. but today the 33—year—old shop workerfrom hull is beginning a three—year sentence injail in egypt. her mother, roberta, and her egyptian partner, 0mar caboo, have been at court to support her during the hearings this week. laura plummer had been travelling to the red sea resort of hurghada to visit 0mar in october when she was stopped by the authorities. in her suitcase were 290 tramadol tablets, a painkiller which is legal on prescription in britain, but banned in egypt. she said the tablets were for her partner, who suffers from severe back pain, but she was arrested and has been held since then in a communal cell with up to 25 women. herfamily at home in hull have described today's sentence as horrendous. she's j

the second—round run—off pitted joseph boakai, the incumbent vice—president, against george weah, a formerations has said the poll was carried out in an orderly way. in syria, aid workers have started to move critically—ill children from a rebel—held suburb near the capital, damascus. after months of negotiation, four patients were taken out of ghouta on tuesday night. but the un's special envoy to syria has told the bbc he fears the children are being used as bargaining chips. jan egeland said he understood rebels in eastern ghouta had agreed to swap captured government workers in exchange for the children. another 25 are expected to be moved in the coming days, although hundreds more are in urgent need of treatment. around a00,000 people have been under siege by government forces since 2013. dr ahmad tarakji is president of the syria american medical society he joins us now from fresno in california. thank you for your time. it has taken, as you know, months of negotiations to get these few people out. is this just a humanitarian gesture by the asada government aura they effectively barg

between a senator george weah, former world footballer of the year and the incumbent vice president joseph boakaiah topped the first round of voting with boakai coming in second, but neither secured the 50% needed to win outright. and so the election headed to a runoff. weah is a favorite with many young liberians and his supporters think he has is in the bag. >> i'd be happy. i'd be happy. because it would mean the election is fair. it is free and fair and transparent. we all went to the palace yesterday. we saw the whole process. i'm very happy with it. i know my next leader will be george weah. sarah: for more let's go to the capital monrovia, where our correspondent is standing by. evelyn, we as supporters say he is the winner. is it a done deal? >> the commission has not officially announced anyone as the winner, but what is happening is preliminary results are coming up from polling places. the indicate clearly that -- they indicate clearly that weah has taken most of the vote. but the election commission have not announced a winner for now. sarah: the winner, whoever it is, will succeed th

so far, things seem to be going very well with the vice president joseph boakai, whom george weah defeatedefforts are going on, with george weah having held meetings with some visiting diplomats, among them the united nations envoy here, former nigerian president olusegun obasanjo. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: turning turtles‘ fortunes — the mexican mission hoping to safeguard one endangered species. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we will use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france and again it will be the same money. it has just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. you... just good? no, fantastic! that's better. this is bbc news. our top story this hour: thousands of anti—government protestors have ta ken to the streets across iran. i

run—off between the former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president, joseph boakaiere are hopes for the first smooth transfer of power in 73 years. in the uk, the universities minister, jojohnson, has warned academic institutions that they could face fines if they fail to protect free speech. some universities and student groups have banned speakers because of their views or because they promote extremism. mrjohnson said in some of the cases debate is being stifled. a new regulator, the office for students, is to be given powers to uphold free speech. emily unia reports. jo johnson wants universities to open minds, not close them. he has criticised the practice of "no platforming," when student unions and other university groups ban speakers with what are seen as offensive or unacceptable views. it's vital we uphold this principle of legal freedom of speech because it is the real underpinning of how we progress of society, how we deepen our stock of knowledge, how we remain innovative and ultimately how we also resist injustices, how the rights of minorities to stan

footballer george weah has won liberia's election, easily defeating his main rival, vice president joseph boakai. a bomb attack in the afghan capital, kabul, leaves 41 people dead and more than 80 others wounded. the islamic state says it was behind it. the u.n. children's fund has said the scale of attacks on children in the world's conflict zones reached shocking levels in 2017. in a new report, it said children are being targeted and exposed to attacks of brutal violence in their homes, schools, and playgrounds. the deputy executive director of unicef in new york told us why children are often targeted. >> well, children have always been victims of conflict, but what we have at the moment is a huge amount of very complex emergencies from the rohingya to yemen to south sudan, syria, iraq. within these conflicts, we are getting increasing reports from unicef staff on the ground on how children are being specifically targeted. they are becoming human bombs in northern nigeria. i was up in northern nigeria recently, and 130 children have been used as bombs by boko haram. they are used as human sh

still to come, liberia's vice president joseph boakai concedes the presidential runoff election to formerfootballer george weah. we hear from our correspondent in monrovia. >> the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got underway with the introduction of the euro. >> tomorrow in holland we are going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france and use the same money. >> george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his home. a 33-year-old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. >> i think it was good. >> just good? >> no, fantastic. >> that's better. ben: hello, this is "bbc world news" i am ben bland. the latest headlines this hour -- new york fire chief says a toddler playing with a stove started a fire in the bronx which killed 12 people, including five children. widespread antigovernment protests taking place in iran after demonstrators defied warnings by authorities. protesters say leaders are wasting precious resources on war efforts. the white

run—off between the former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president, joseph boakaithere are hopes for the first smooth transfer of power in 73 years. now on bbc news: victoria derbyshire takes a look back at the exclusive interviews and films featured on her programme in 2017. it begins with women talking frankly about intimate health issues. hello and welcome to our programme. over the next half an hour, we'll bring you some of the exclusive interviews and original stories that we have broadcast over the last year. in april, we revealed that 800 women were suing the nhs and the manufacturers of mesh implants, implants which had left them in permanent pain, sometimes unable to have sex or walk. following that story, the organisation that sets the guidelines for doctors in england, nice, have now announced they want to ban mesh treatments in some cases. in april, this programme exposed a painful secret thousands of women were keeping to themselves. every time i walk, it almost feels like something sharp‘s inside me. the tape had come through my vagina, so it was actu

it is a straight fight between the current vice president joseph boakai, and world renowned footballeraru fofana reports from the capital, monrovia. voting went peacefully with no reports of incidents. accompanied by his supporters, vice president joseph weah cast his vote. he sounded confident. asked as to whether he would accept the results he responded with a qualified yes. after that a decision will be made. were willing to work for whatever the final result is. for supporters of the former football superstars george weah it looked like a victory dance when he went to vote. the man who will won in the first round sounded confident. i'm not associated with losing. i will win. boakai associated with losing. i will win. boa kai cannot associated with losing. i will win. boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again. initial indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. turnout seemed low. it has b

run—off between the former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president, joseph boakaiere are hopes for the firthe us has imposed sanctions on two north korean officials it says are "key leaders" in developing north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programme. st smooth transfer of power in 73 years. on friday, the un imposed new sanctions. analysts have told the bbc they are unlikely to be effective and are largely symbolic. pyongyang has described them as an "act of war". in the uk the university ‘s minister has warned academic institutions they could face fines if they fail to protect free speech. some universities and student groups have banned speakers because of their views because they promote extremism. in some cases debate is being stifled. a new regulator is being stifled. a new regulator is being given powers to uphold freedom of speech. jo johnson wants universities to open minds, not close them. he has criticised the practice of "no platforming," when student unions and other university groups ban speakers with what are seen as offensive or unacceptable

run—off between the former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president, joseph boakaiere are hopes for the first smooth transfer of power in 73 years. now on bbc news — hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm steven sackur. in this age of the internet, we've come to expect instant access to knowledge but real deep understanding takes longer to acquire and to share. my guest today is one of the world's most acclaimed novelists, nobel prize winner, orham pamuk. he's lived almost all of his life in istanbul, writing stories about turkey which have, over decades, painted a vivid picture of a country and society pulled between east and west, past and future. what is the key to understanding orham pamuk‘s turkey? orham pamuk, welcome to hardtalk. very pleased to be here. i want to start with the book, the novel that has just been published in english, the red—haired woman, your latest. it is built around relationships between fathers and sons. and ijust wonder why you were so drawn to that theme? in 1988, i was finishing one of my novels, during summer, and in the land next to me

it is a straight fight between the current vice president joseph boakai, and world renowned footballerpital, monrovia.

voters were choosing between the vice—president, joseph boakai, and the former international footballer required 50% of the vote. with all the boxing day sport here's marc edwards at the bbc sport centre. thank you sophie. there were 29 goals in eight premier league games today. match of the day follows the news on bbc one, so if you don't want to know the results, you know what to do. harry kane helped himself to a hattrick, as tottenham hotspur thrashed southampton 5—2 at wembley. kane has broken alan shearer‘s 22—year—old record for the most premier league goals scored in a calendar year. he finishes 2017 with 39 league goals to his name. there was late drama at old trafford asjesse lingard rescued a point with a 90th minute equaliser for manchester united. they drew 2—2 with sean dyche's burnley, despite being 2—0 down at half—time. elsewhere, there was a six—goal thriller at the vitality stadium. bournemouth three times coming from behind to draw with west ham. liverpool thrashed bottom of the table swansea 5—0 while there were also wins for chelsea and watford. league leaders manc

celebrated as presidential election results showed him far ahead of his rival, vice president joseph boakaithe former football star will now succeed ellen johnson sirleaf, who was the first woman elected head of state in africa. this year's election marks the first peaceful transition of power in liberia since 1944. a 16-year-old palestinian girl will face assault charges in an israeli military court, after a video of her slapping an israeli soldier went viral. ahed tamimi slapped the israeli soldier two weeks ago, after israeli troops shot her 14-year-old brother in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet and fired tear gas canisters into her family's home in the israeli occupied west bank. while the video of tamimi slapping the soldier has gone viral, mondoweiss reports that the soldier actually slapped the 16-year-old girl first, causing her to slap back. this is her father, activist bassem tamimi. bassem tamimi: they saw the desire, to slap the opposition, and expressed the experience of the arabic, palestinian, and human streak that decided to erupt against the reality of injustice

slated to announce the results today of the run-off presidential election between vice president joseph boakai and the ex-footballer george weah. liberia's current president, ellen johnson sirleaf, was the first woman elected head of state in africa. she's been president since 2006. this year's election will mark the first peaceful transfer of power in liberia since 1944. in bolivia, protests by health workers are escalating amid a month-long strike in the capital la paz. the strike and protests are part of rising wave of dissent in bolivia over president evo morales' controversial decision to seek a fourth term in 2019, despite the bolivian constitution permitting presidents to serve only two consecutive terms. this is protester julia maceda aliaga. >> it is a dictatorship. gentleman evo, if he is a gentleman, don't provoke us. the people are angry. amy: in france, hundreds of residents of a small french alpine town marched silently in the pouring rain wednesday to demand answers in the case of the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl. maelys de araujo went missing while attending a family w

place between a former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president, joseph boakaithe result is expected to lead to the first smooth transfer of power in 73 years. the brazilian government has announced it's expelling venezuela's top diplomat, days after caracas told envoys from brazil and canada to leave — accusing both countries of meddling in its internal affairs. canada has also responded to the decision by expelling venezuela's ambassador to ottawa and another senior envoy. the universities minister, jojohnson, has warned academic institutions that they could face fines if they fail to protect free speech. some universities and student groups have banned speakers because of their views or because they promote extremism. mrjohnson said in some of the cases debate is being stifled. a new regulator, the office for students, is to be given powers to uphold free speech. emily unia reports. jo johnson wants universities to open minds, not close them. he has criticised the practice of "no platforming," when student unions and other university groups ban speakers with