Hello and welcome. The uks foreign secretary is warning there will be serious consequences if iran doesnt release a british tanker seized in the gulf with 23 crew on board. The stena impero was heading for the saudia arabian port ofjubail but contact was lost with the ship as it passed through the strait of hormuz. Tracking data shows it deviating from its intended route. Iranian media is quoting military officials saying it is being taken to the port in bandar abbas for further investigations. Our Diplomatic CorrespondentJames Robbins reports on the latest escalation of tensions in the region. This is stena impero, built only last year, british flagged, 183 metres long, now in the hands of iran, together with her 23 crew. Routine satellite tracking of the tanker shows her under way from the emirates of fujairah, around midday, heading north, staying well inside International Waters of the gulf until this happened. Just after three oclock, the 30,000 ton tanker diverts seriously off course. Her last known movement was around four oclock, inside iranian waters. The owners, stena bulk and Northern Marine management, say in a statement and then news tonight that a second ship had been seized, the mesdar, liberian registered. Foreign secretaryjeremy hunt condemned the seizures as unacceptable, saying he was extremely concerned. And President Trump confirmed the news. We dont have very many tankers going in but we have a lot of ships that that are warships and we will talk to the uk. And we have no written agreement, but we have an agreement. They have been a very great ally of ours. So we heard about it. We heard it was one, we heard it was two. And well be working with uk. These are pictures released by iran said to be showing pictures of the Islamic Revolution guard corps circling another vessel, the riah, in recent days. The guard corps appear to use these armed boats and sometimes helicopters to force ships into their waters. Their efforts to seize british vessels were intensified after Royal Marines and Gibraltar Police boarded and seized a tanker, grace 0ne. It was carrying iranian oil in gibraltar waters, suspected of heading for syria, in defiance of eu sanctions. Iran called this piracy, but thats dismissed as nonsense by britain. That was followed by an incident in the gulf when the british frigate, montrose, moved into protect the tanker British Heritage in the gulf. But the threat to british vessels was spelled out earlier this week by irans supreme leader. Translation evil britain commits piracy and steals our ship. Its an act of piracy. Of course the Islamic Republic will not leave such evil deeds unanswered. There will be a response at the appropriate time and place. So the iranian guard corps will consider todays seizures a significant victory in a crisis which has been escalating for months. A former head of the royal navy, lord west, says britain simply has too few ships to provide escorts for merchant vessels. My biggest concern, i have to say, is i find it extraordinary that british flagged ships, tankers, particularly, are steaming on their own into this area of danger. I mean, think we should be trying to de escalate, but you cant allow thugs and effectively criminal actions by a nation against your nation. With American Warships the dominant naval force in the gulf, british cooperation with washington will be key if protection of a vital trade route is to be improved. But for now the immediate focus will be on getting iran to free the stena impero and her crew. And in the last few hours, british ministers have issued new guidance for shipping operators. 0ur correspondent simon jones has the details. The Government Emergency Committee known as cobra met well into the night. They have released a statement after that meeting describing the seizure of the british tanker as completely unacceptable. They say it goes completely against International Maritime rules. They say they are deeply concerned about tensions in the area and interestingly, they re suggesting british shipping should stay out of that area for the time being. That is quite a development when obviously there are a large number of tankers passing through, particularly in the international community. There is also in this statement talk again of a robust response and consequences for iran. It doesnt spell out exactly what they mean by that, there are no deadlines, not saying to tehran you have to return the tanker by a particular time, they arent wishing to escalate things in that way. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes told me whats led up to the latest developments. This seems to have been going on for a number of weeks. Especially in relation to the drones that weve been hearing about, and President Trump, according to his own words, said we came within ten minutes, the us came within ten minutes of launching a military action against iran after shooting down one of americas drones. In the last few days the us saying it destroyed one of irans drones although iran says it doesnt know anything about it. So, certainly, yes, a tit for tat feeling about what is going on. But the events of these last few hours late on friday really seem to have ratcheted up the tensions that exist not only between the us and iran but also the tensions between iran and the United Kingdom. What we heard from President Trump, how he is standing by the United Kingdom referring to that close relationship, and describing the uk as a close ally, talking about the military vessels the us has in the region and by implication offering to help the uk in whatever way the us and the uk might want. Although, as again weve been hearing, diplomatic discussions and actions seem to be the preferred course of action, at least for the foreseeable future. In amongst all of this weve been hearing about a us Troop Deployment to saudi arabia can you explain whether it is connected . It seems like it is certainly connected to the overall tensions and problems that we are seeing in the gulf, especially that crucial shipping lane and the dangers that are now posed to vessels in International Waters. The Us Defense Department has announced a deployment of troops to saudi arabia where previously for the past few years there havent been any troops. We understand 500 in number, patriot air Defence Missile systems, the f 22 stealth fighters will also be deployed to a base in saudi arabia. To, according to the us, protect American Interest but also respond to what it describes as Credible Threats in the region. Is part of the problem that iran is essentially playing into Donald Trumps hands, doing what donald trump may be expected or wanting to do . Well, you could almost turn that around and say donald trump may well feel that he has been proven correct in terms of his attitude towards iran and what iran is capable of doing. Hes taken a very hard line of course playing out of the nuclear pulling out of the Nuclear Agreement and being really at odds with his european allies and going it alone in terms of the hardline. Those increased sanctions against iran. President trump may well feel as if his action has been the correct course of action when dealing with a nation like iran. Peter bowes, our north american correspondent there. We correspondent there. Will have more on those developments we will have more on those developments between iran, the uk and the us in a few minutes. Lets get some of the days other news. The Prime Minister of kosovo has resigned after an eu backed War Crimes Court summoned him for questioning as a suspect. Ramush haradinaj led the Kosovo Liberation Army during the war for independence from serbia twenty years ago. Hes been tried and acquitted twice by a separate, United Nations war crimes tribunal at the hague. At least two people have been killed and 18 wounded after an explosion at a gas plant on friday afternoon in chinas henan province. Mobile phone footage showed billowing smoke rise from the blast site, as well as shattered windows on nearby buildings. An investigation into the cause of the blast is underway. Aid agencies are calling on the world to speed up its response to the ebola emergency in the democratic republic of the congo. More than 1,700 people have already died there and the World Health Organisation has declared an International Public health emergency. Vaccination programmes are ongoing in the city of goma where a priest died from ebola this week. 0ur correspondent anne soy is there. Goma, in the east of the drc. A bustling transit city, home to more than 2 million, mostly traders who are constantly on the move. An outbreak of ebola here could be devastating. As they trudged on up north, the city prepared. Last weekend, its Health Systems were put to the test. These brothers say their uncle drove the bus on which an ebola patient travelled. The uncle later paid them a visit. Now they have come here to be vaccinated. They told us that this vaccine dont prevent you at 100 from ebola. Thats why i am still afraid a little bit. People who have been in contact with patients and those around them are advised to get the jab. So far in the democratic republic of congo, more than 165,000 people have been vaccinated. This is still an experimental vaccine, but experts believe that it has played a big role in preventing the further spread of the disease. Rwanda, just beyond this gate, is on alert. The conditions here showjust how bad things could get if a bigger outbreak hit the city. The livelihoods of all these people depend on cross border trade. And the World Health Organization has advised against closing borders because in any case, it doesnt stop the spread of ebola. Experts say it could even make an already complex outbreak worse. It would hurt the congolese people who, if they cant move in a formal way over formal border crossings, will find informal ways, which will make detection of contact much harder if they cross. And of course, it will make the movement of goods and healthcare workers and humanitarian aid workers much harder as well. Aid agencies say they need more funds to help keep notjust these people safe from ebola, but also many others around the region. As long as there is an outbreak in the drc, trade and travel means it could spread to neighbouring countries and beyond. Extremely hot weather has started to hit most of the United States, with temperatures set to peak over the weekend. The heatwave could affect 200 Million People across major cities along the east coast and midwest. Ramzan karmali has the details. The race to stay cool in new york city. Extreme hot weather is already starting to be felt here. And though it may look like fun at the pool, the citys mayor declared a local emergency. The message i want to keep getting across to all new yorkers is, take this weather seriously, we have not seen temperatures like this in at least seven years. We havent seen this many concentrated hot days in a long, long time. Take this very seriously. People are being advised to stay indoors as much as possible over the weekend, and avoid exposure to the heat. New yorks triathlon was due to take place on sunday but was cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions, athletes would have likely faced. But the heat is on, not just in the big apple. Many major cities across the eastern seaboard will see record temperatures. In fact, heat waves going to affect around two thirds of the eastern part of the us. Temperatures will likely hit 100 degrees fahrenheit in some major cities thats 38 degrees celsius. But it will actually feel hotter than that due to the humidity. We are going to see dew points which is a way to measure the amount of moisture in the air, well into the 70s, the highest it has ever been in boston, at 78 degree dew point and were going to approach that here over the next couple of days, so you combine that with a temperature between 95 and 100 degrees, it will feel between 102 and 110 degrees. It is notjust the us where the heat will be felt. In montreal, the humidity could make it feel like 45 degrees. The world experienced its hottest june on record last month, and weve experienced more frequent heatwaves. This, experts say, its down to climate change. This latest heatwave is likely to last the whole weekend, but there will be some quick relief as temperatures are set to fall rapidly, early next week. Stay with us on bbc world news, still to come the Washington Monument turns into apollo eleven as america marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Mission control you can see them coming down the ladder now. Its one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. A catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the worlds only supersonic airliner. It was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. But now, a decade later, its been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. Theres been a 50 decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunction of sperm unable to swim properly. Thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. This is bbc world news. The top story this hour the british goverment warns of serious diplomatic consequences following the seizure of a tanker in the strait of hormuz. Uk ships have been advised to stay out of the area. Well stay with that story now. A little earlier i spoke to sara vakhshouri, a security and Global Oil Market analyst, and begun by asking her what she thought the seizure indicated about irans intentions. Iranian government officials in different occasions before may 2019 that the sanctions were implemented, announced that, if iran is not able to sell a drop of oil, then none of the neighbours are going to be able to sell their oil and supply the market. It seems that the market is going through a more tense situation than many of the oil tankers at a passing through the strait of hormuz and also the other waters around this area are facing a serious threat. What does it mean then for the Global Oil Trade thus far . Weve seen some skirmishes, how reliant are we on oil coming from the middle east . Well, historically middle east has lots of ups and downs and the supply of oil from these region, this is not the first time of oil from this region, this is not the first time that there is a threat of interruptions but we do not think that iran is going to use this strait of hormuz card to close the strait, as of now it might be the last card to use but it seems that now it started to flex its muscles and use the tensions that have been created as a message to the world that things could get worse if it is not able to easily have its oil tankers and oil pass through the International Waters. Now the uk as of this evening has warned other british tankers to avoid the area, are there alternative routes other than the strait of hormuz so that british tankers and other tankers can travel and transport the oil in a safe manner . Yes, there are other alternative routes but there is a significant capacity that is passing through the strait of hormuz. It is very hard to imagine bypassing all of this capacity. But it is very normal and followed by british tankers and british ships, there might be Many International ships and tankers that might feel the same or get the same warning and its very important to consider that in the past few weeks, the Insurance Premium for the tankers and ships that are going and entering the strait of hormuz has been significantly increased which is obviously having an impact on the prices to the end users and this have been even more so for the british tankers since iran has started threatening the british tankers. Politically, where do you see things going now . How much worse can it get . Well, i think that things are very tense, the market has kept its calm, the prices have increased, slightly, but it seems that there is a mini war going on in this region and different parties are trying to take and test each others patients and capabilities and this tit for tat operations that are all affecting the flow of oil, and also other goods, through commercial ships and other vessels in these waters, have all been impacted and it seems like things arejust getting more tense. A strong earthquake has jolted athens, sending worried residents rushing into the streets, and damaging buildings in the historic city. Authorities say there were no reports of serious injuries. Ben morris reports. These were the scenes as athenians fled their work places on friday afternoon, following a powerful earthquake which shook the city. According to the Seismological Centre of the Aristotle University in thessaloniki, the epicentre of the quake was in the town of magoula, 22 kilometres north west of the greek capital. Translation we are thoroughly searching the area in case anyone is trapped and so far the results are negative. With tremors continuing to reverberate, people gathered in open spaces, urgently trying to contact loved ones. Measuring 5. 1 on the richter scale, the quake brought down several buildings and knocked out phone networks in parts of the city. This hospital in downtown athens was evacuated. Whilst in the port city of piraeus, an aban