borisjohnson says he has had frank and constructive talks with his iranian counterpart in tehran over the case of a british—iranian woman being held in prison there. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, is accused of trying to overthrow the government — a charge she strongly denies. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports. it could look routine. borisjohnson and his iranian counterpart, mohammad javad zarif, shake hands on the way into talks. but there's nothing routine about this encounter. the foreign secretary looking uncharacteristically tense, and with good reason. he wants to improve relations but also criticise some of iran's actions while arguing for iranian prison releases, including of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — a case many accuse him of damaging by loose talk last month. watching anxiously with me in london, nazanin‘s husband, richard ratcliffe. he has campaigned day in, day out for her freedom since nazanin‘s arrest in april last year. i'm sure it'll make a difference, i'm sure him being there, i'm sure him raising her case, raising her case in the context of lots of other stuff can only help improve relations and improved relations can only lead to a better case for us. i think that's right, but i'm not expecting that on monday morning he comes back with her on the plane. borisjohnson is saying nothing at all publicly while in iran. instead, the foreign office issued a statement after two hours of what they call a constructive meeting. they discussed the full range of bilateral issues and they both spoke frankly about the obstacles in the relationship, including the foreign secretary's concerns about the consular cases of british—iranian dual nationals. both emphasised their commitment to continuing to work together to improve the bilateral relationship. one good sign — iran's foreign minister confirmed borisjohnson should be able to meet president rouhani tomorrow. yeah, he's reciprocating your hospitality. something that is not automatic on a visit like this. the talks went on for two hours. positives and negatives in relations were fully aired. we shouldn't expect immediate consequences but iran is in no doubt about british efforts to get nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe home. singing christmas carols we'll hear more from nazanin‘s husband richard later in this bulletin. a senior un official has told north korea that there's an urgent need to prevent miscalculations and open channels to reduce the risks of conflict. the un's political affairs chief, jeffrey feltman, visited the country this week and is the highest—level un official to go to north korea since twenty twelve. he said the current situation was the most tense and dangerous peace and security issue today. north korea said the visit had been helpful but blamed the united states for current tensions. the palestinian president mahmoud abbas has pulled out of a meeting with the us vice president mike pence, which was due to happen in cairo later this month. the announcement comes as protests in the middle east and other muslim countries continue over donald trump's decision to formally recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel. there have also been israeli airstrikes on gaza — after rockets were fired from the territory into israel. tom bateman reports. a display of grief and anger. funerals were held in gaza for two people killed in israeli air strikes last night. the islamist group hamas said that the men belonged to their armed wing. weapon stores and a base run by the militant group were targeted, said israel. a new round of hostilities between old enemies. israel said three rockets were fired from gaza last night. one landed in this southern israeli town. there was minor damage but no casualties. further disruption took place in jerusalem as palestinians continued to vent their anger at president trump. police broke up protests before they gained momentum. and for a third day in the occupied west bank, protesters threw stones and burned tyres. israeli troops responded with tear gas in bethlehem and palestinians answered back. the clashes since mr trump's statement onjerusalem has so far not matched the scale of previous escalations in violence this year. but people here remain wary and diplomatic relations between the palestinian leadership and the white house are under severe strain. president trump appealed for calm and moderation. his critics point to what has happened here in the three days since his announcement and say he has stoked precisely the opposite. many israelis continue to praise his move, but it comes at the cost of increased tensions. tom bateman, bbcjerusalem. staying in the middle east, and iraq's prime minister has announced that the war against the armed group islamic state in his country, has been won. haider al—abadi says iraq has been liberated and his army is now in full control of the areas along the border with syria. at the height of its strength, the militant group controlled a third of iraqi territory, and proclaimed a caliphate. but in the last few months, it has lost control of all of the remaining areas it held in iraq. translation: i thank all the countries — as well as humanitarian and international organizations — that stood with iraq and its people during this battle. i salute every iraqi fighter who took up arms to defend our land. i salute the souls of the martyrs and those injured, and their families who preserved iraq and its people. iraq survived united and victorious. donald trump's visit to the southern us state of mississippi has been met with a protest by democratic leaders. mr trump toured a new civil rights museum in the state capital, jackson. he didn't refer to the protests — but had this to say about the event: the civil rights ecm records the oppression, cruelty and injustice inflicted on the african—american community, the fight to end slavery, to break down jim community, the fight to end slavery, to break downjim crow, to end segregation, to gain the right to vote and to achieve the secret birthright of equality. here. applause . that's big stuff, that's big stuff. there is a very big freezes, very big words. —— phrases. the state was about to have firefighting christmas. they have forced 200,000 people from their homes. the new york times has carried out an investigation which suggests that the number of people who've died in puerto rico as a result of hurricane maria is far higher than official figures suggest. the authorities said that sixty—four people were killed by the storm in september, but the paper's investigation says the total number of deaths caused by the hurricane could have risen to more than one thousand. i asked the new york times journalist, frances robles about how they found those figures. this is not a scientific study based on... this is compiled. the deaths in puerto rican shoot up markedly. what happened on the 20th of september? there was almost a category five hurricane. we went back and compared september and october two, 200015, back and compared september and october two, 2000 15, i6 and i7 and it is indisputable that about 36, 37 people at a addition of a dying. what do you put these in accurate government figures down to? the thing that's important to consider is we not looking at people that drowned or got hit by a tree or got caught up in a tornado. we are looking at what happened when the system collapsed in the days and weeks and months after the hurricane. you have to remember, even today, much of what the ricoh don't have electricity and marsh don't have electricity and marsh don't have electricity and marsh don't have self—service. —— puerto rico. people who didn't have electricity to power they respirators, people who could not call 911. if you ever go there didn't have electricity for the respirator machine, eager to the hospital and you die, that is coded asa hospital and you die, that is coded as a natural death. —— you get to the hospital. the government is not looking at the natural deaths and wondering if they were people who had no electricity or they were waiting for ambulances. that is important to learn from what happened in case, heaven forbid, this happens again. one what is the government say now? they started hedging a couple of weeks ago because other news organisations had started other investigations. cnn called every funeral home in puerto rico. what is interesting and at the cnn study is the results match identically. cnn was only able to reach half of the funeral homes in puerto rico and they came up with 500 deaths that the funeral directors thought were hurricane related. we came up with 1000 looking at the totality of statistics. this morning, the day after the story first posted online, they had increased the toll by two. one of them is in fact the person whose respirator machine wasn't working and the other was someone waiting for an andamans. both of these people did die on the day of these people did die on the day of the hurricane. what you make of president trump's intervention on this? on the day he tweeted that the island had to deal with top priorities. he then praised the low official death toll and related it to hurricane katrina, saying that had been a real catastrophe so he is welcoming the relatively low death toll in the area. that is absolutely right. i think that donald trump was working with the information he had been given by the puerto rico government. they were still sticking to the number 16. it was a few hours after the less that the number first doubled and everyone thought, wait a second, the president wasjust doubled and everyone thought, wait a second, the president was just here praising the number 16. when i went back and looked and we went day by day from the 20th of september till october third visit and we saw that 550 people had died above that same time period. was it 16 550? that's the question. tens of thousands of people have filled the streets of paris for the funeral of the singer johnny hallyday — who died on wednesday at the age of 7a. his coffin was driven in a cortege down the champs—elysees, followed by hundreds of leather—clad bikers. from paris, hugh schofield sent this report. for nearly 60 years, johnny hallyday sang his songs to the french and today, in paris, they came to bid him goodbye. tens of thousands of fans, many of them from the older generation, people who grew up to his sounds in the happy, optimistic days of the ‘60s. for france, johnny was le rock'n'roll. he was the first here to open their ears to the thrilling new music coming from the united states. america was his obsession. america and motorbikes. hence the escort of hundreds of bikers for his funeral cortege down the champs—elysees. translation: let him rest in peace and wreak havoc up there. let him sing, let him get it going and let him open his heart up there, surrounded by family and friends. stars of music and screen, political leaders past and present — all there for the funeral service inside the madeleine church. for the french, johnny was their rock hero. the man who, for half a century, was always there with new songs, more performances. with his death, people really do feel that part of the nation's life has gone. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: a new discovery from ancient egypt — archaeologists unveil a mummy and other treasures dating back more than 3,000 years. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building, in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil. and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila. she's facing seven charges of tax evasion. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: britain's foreign secretary, borisjohnson says he's had frank talks with his iranian counterpart in tehran over the case of a british—iranian woman being held in prison there. there have been further protests in the israeli—occupied west bank and the gaza strip, in response to president trump declaring jerusalem to be israel's capital. let's bring you more on our main news this hour — the talks between the uk and iran in tehran. on the agenda for the british foreign secretary borisjohnson was the fate of a british iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who's injail in iran, charged with trying to overthrow the government. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins has been speakng to nazanin‘s husband richard ratcliffe. it is obvious, richard, that nazanin is not coming home with the foreign secretary. but do you think there is any evidence that this meeting, the series of meetings in tehran, could make a difference? i am sure it will make a difference. i am sure him being there, raising her case, raising her case in the context of lots of other stuff, can only help improve relations and improved relations can only lead to a better case for us. i think that is right. i am not expecting that monday morning he comes back with her on the plane. i am looking very closely at who he gets to meet, looking very closely as to what happens tomorrow. then i'm looking forward to hearing on monday or tuesday, when he is back, a debrief as to what went on. i don't expect to hear everything, i know some things stay secret. but we are in a place where we are looking at the tea leaves to see what it means. fingers crossed it can be solved by christmas, which means in the week or so afterwards, nazanin might come home. were you disappointed that you yourself could not go with him? obviously as time went on i began to realise it was less and less likely. yeah, i had always wanted to go. the reason the foreign office gave to me was that they felt it would not have been helpful to over—politicise the case by having me standing next to him. it could distort other issues in other cases. i still would have wanted to go there, and i still want to go there as soon as possible. but faced with the choice between going with him and her still being in prison, and him going and her coming back sooner, i will take the latter. do you think borisjohnson and the foreign office could have been a bit more forceful with the iranians? i have long criticised the foreign office for not being as robust in public as i would like them to be. that is a battle we have had behind closed doors as well. me saying that they should be tougher, and then saying, look, that is not how things work. and, yeah, i think if he is able, through his charm and his presence, to bring her home, great. myjob in this campaigning has always been to say this is unacceptable and outrageous and that she should be with her family. she should be with her family for christmas, and please, can that be arranged? egyptian officials have unveiled a new discovery, dating back to the time of the pharoahs. a mummy and burial artefacts have been discovered in a tomb which it's thought was created more than 3,000 years ago. rahuljoglekar has the story. once a senior egyptian official, now an exciting new find by the country's ministry of antiques. this money was found in one of two tombs discovered in the 1990s, left untouched until now, the tombs are possibly 3000 years old. the ministry said one of the two tombs has a courtyard lined with mud brick and stone walls. translation: has a courtyard lined with mud brick and stone walls. translatiosz this area of the egyptian archaeological mission uncovered three tombs in the past six months. we were able to excavate all of these. we found artefacts and burial furniture. several objects and some skeletal remains were also found. on the wall, art which to pick ‘s ritual offering of flowers, possibly to the man who now lives in the term, it seems centuries after it was first painted and stop —— art which depicts. each of‘s tourism industry relies on relics found on sites like these and authorities hope that new discoveries will help attract more tourists. —— egypt's tourism industry. now, it's notjust footballers who are in training for the world cup. so are some of the animal kingdom. next year's tournament will be in russia and in the host cities the search is on for creatures who can accurately predict the soccer scores. everyone, it seems, wants to emulate paul the german octopus, made famous for his forecasting skills during the 2010 world cup. both our moscow correspondents, sarah rainsford and steve rosenberg, have been finding out more. forget lionel messi or reynaldo. these could be the real stars of the world cup. they are russia's furry fortunetellers, all of them, we are told, experts at predicting football results. sarah and i have visited all of the host cities for next year's tournament, and we have discovered a whole menagerie of soccer soothsayers. first stop, sochi. here's the stadium. meanwhile, down at the aquarium... this is harry the otter. here in sochi he has a reputation for predicting sports results. in fact, at the sochi olympics, he had a 75% success rate. will england win? yes or no? and he is going for... straight for the green! a couple of seconds and he decided, no doubt about it, england will win. now to ekaterinburg, where the excitement is building. not on the pitch, but in the zoo. maggots at the ready. meet suri, the fortune—telling meerkat at ekaterinburg zoo. i am told he has plenty of experience picking winners. let's see where he has gone? england! that is a good sign. in rostov, they're proud of their new stadium, and elyce, the fortune—telling raccoon. but she isn't playing ball today. she is harder to catch than harry kane. so bring on the subs. if the left turtle wins, so will england. coming up from behind... it's england! yeah! england! since paul the german octopus hit the headlines in 2010 with his world cup predictions, the search has been on for a worthy successor. so have they found one in saint petersburg? well, at the world—famous hermitage museum, they believe their animal oracle beats the opposition by a whisker. meet tuzic, the fortune—telling cat, who will be protecting the soccer scores. maria, please. what do you choose? crystal ball on four legs he is not, i suspect. but at least he is cute. i think ithinki i think i will put my money on harry the otter. we're taking you now to the story of a man who over the last 50 years, has discovered more than 20% of the world's coral species. charlie veron was also one of the early scientists to document coral bleaching. here he is at the great barrier reef. i have been diving absolutely beautiful pictures. that is it for me now. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @samanthabbcnews. hello there. more disruptive weather on the cards through the second half of the weekend thanks to ice and snow as well. here are some pictures from saturday's snow. this is mellor in lancashire, and the second picture is thornton in bradford. scenic pictures, but the snow may well cause significant disruption through the day on sunday. first thing in the morning, temperatures as low as —12 across parts of scotland. this rain in the south increasingly turning to snow as it bumps into the cold out. it is really through the central slice of the country that we see disruptive snow. to the north of the ice could well be an issue through the day on sunday. the met office has issued an amber weather warning for the snow, affecting parts of mid and north wales, through the midlands and into parts of northern england. we could well see 5— ten centimetres, or perhaps double that, over the higher ground. we could well see snow out of this area but the central slice is where it will be most disrupt it. some uncertainty about how far the snow will go. on the southern edge, for south wales and the southern counties of england, we could see some sleet and snow, but it is more likely to turn back to rain, especially later in the day. he winds will also be gusting at 60 miles an houror winds will also be gusting at 60 miles an hour or more, through the english channel and the bristol channel. enough to cause some disruption. snow will certainly be the hazard further northward icy conditions across northern england, scotla nd conditions across northern england, scotland and northern ireland. here, a return to wintry sunshine. temperatures will struggle to get above freezing in the north, whereas it will turn milder in the south. heading through sunday night, as the sleet and snow gradually eases, ice once again becomes a problem with a widespread frost into the early hours of monday. during sunday we turn our attention to this low pressure, affecting portugal, spain and france. that could be very disruptive, with strong winds and heavy rain, and just on the northern flank of that system we could well see heavy rain and severe gales towards southern and eastern parts of england. something we are keeping a close eye on. elsewhere across the country it is a quieter day by the time we get to monday. still a few showers, perhaps a wintry element, especially over the hills, and it will not be as cold as it was over the weekend. during tuesday it is a quieter day across all of the country. try, still chilly, some places struggling to get above freezing, especially where we have lying snow. then this band rain works east across the country, followed by heavy downpours and thunderstorms possible in the west. temperatures milder than the weekend. goodbye. this is bbc news, the headlines. britain's foreign secretary, borisjohnson says he's had frank talks with his iranian counterpart in tehran over the case of a british—iranian woman — nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — who's being held in prison there. a senior un official has told north korea there's an "urgent need to prevent miscalculations to reduce the risks of conflict". jeffrey feltman was in north korea this week — the highest—level un official to visit since 2012. there have been further protests in the israeli—occupied west bank and the gaza strip, in response to president trump declaring jerusalem to be israel's capital. a rocket fired from gaza has exploded in southern israel. hundreds of thousands of people have lined the route of the funeral procession in paris for the veteran french rock starjohnny hallyday. president macron was among those to attend the service. now on bbc news dateline london.

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