Iran reported that it has captured a British Oil Tanker in the strait of hormuz. The stena impero was bound for saudi arabia when the owners say they lost contact with the vessel. There are 23 personnel on board but no british citizens are among them. It comes after an iranian vessel was captured earlier this month. James robbins reports. 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 you s tonight that a second ship had been seized, iberian registered. It has been released. Jeremy hunt condemned it as unacceptable, saying he was concerned. Donald 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 protective 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 on 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 effective criminal actions with American Warships the dominant 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. James robbins, bbc news. The uks foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has condemned the seizure of the british tanker. Speaking in the last hour, he said britain is pursuing diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation. I have spoken to secretary of state pompeo in the United States earlier this evening about the situation. They have tried to talk to the foreign minister of iran, but understand he is on a plane. Why will speak to him as soon as they can pullup will speak to him as soon as they can pull up this is completely unacceptable. Freedom of navigation must be maintained. We will respond ina way must be maintained. We will respond in a way that is considered but robust and we are absolutely clear that if this situation is not resolved quickly there will be serious consequences. I spoke just a short while ago with the ceo of the uk chamber of shipping, who is calling on the uk government to do whatever is necessary to secure the return of the 23 crewmen of the stena impero. We are extremely concerned that the latest developments, which represents a serious escalation of the situation, i think what is needed at the moment is cool heads to de escalate the situation. And while that is taking place, i would urge the authorities to do what is necessary , urge the authorities to do what is necessary, through diplomatic channels, for the swift and safe release of this ship and the vessel. Lord west, a navy man like yourself, has said it is ridiculous the level of protection for either uk flags or uk owned vessels, do you agree with him . Well, the Royal Navy Ships in the area truly cant be in more than one place at one time. I see there is very much as an international concern, because the shipping Company Trading that has taken place in the region is international by nature. So what is needed is an International Effort to try to bring the situation back down under control and allow for the freedom of navigation for and seafarers to continue playing the waters of the region. We have us warships there, i think we have one uk warship, should there be more . Well, we would like to see the situation de escalate. But we would also like to see the security of our ships and seafarers guaranteed and confidence return so they can carry on trading as they used to. If what is needed to guarantee that safety is more ships than we would be supporting that move. We also dont know quite who you are fighting here or who you are dealing with here, should say, these kind of actions might be by iranian government agencies, they might be by Iranian Armed forces. It is a complex set of circumstances you are having to deal with. It is very complex indeed. Which is why the top irt has to be de escalation and resolution top priority. In the meantime, the swift return of the sailors and the shipping question. In that case, would you suggest the gibraltor authorities released the other vessel which is thought to be may be the catalyst for these kind of tit for tat exchanges. That is very much a political decision, which they wont comment on. But i wouldnt draw too many parallels between the legitimate arrest of a vessel and the diversion and arrest oi vessel and the diversion and arrest or hijack of a vessel going about its legitimate business in the International Waters of the strait of hormuz. Lets get some of the days other news. A strong earthquake has shaken the greek capital, athens, knocking out the power in parts of the city. Phone networks were also affected. The epicentre of the 5. 1 magnitude quake was 22 kilometres north west of athens. There were no reports of serious injuries, but the fire service had to rescue a number of people the Dutch Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that the netherlands was partly to blame for the deaths of 350 of the 8,000 muslim men killed in the massacre at srebrenica in the bosnian war. Dutch troops at a United Nations safe zone handed the unarmed men and boys over to bosnian serb forces, who then murdered them. A french court has rejected compensation claims from the victims of the 1994 estonia ferry disaster the deadliest accident involving a european ship since the titanic. 852 of the 989 passengers and crew on board died when the ship sank in the baltic sea. Victims and theirfamilies had been pursuing damages from the french safety Certification Agency and german shipbuilder. Major cities in the eastern us are bracing for extreme temperatures as a dangerous heatwave rolls in. It has been declared a heat emergency by washington, dcs mayor. Temperatures pushing a0 degrees celsius, thats 100 degrees fahrenheit, are expected to smash records. The intense heat dome, caused by tropical air blowing north, is forecast to last several days. With more than 130 million americans at risk of heat related illnesses, experts are calling on people to check on those most vulnerable. Heres cbss Laura Podesta from new york. Its its all hands on deck in chicago, as the city prepares to take care of its youngest and oldest residents. The most vulnerable to de stroke. Its youngest and oldest residents. The most vulnerable to destroke. We have co ordinated, elaborative, and a carranza response. Chicagos temperatures have been hovering in the upper 90s all week and could climb to near triple digits on saturday. The best thing to do during a heatwave is to stay out of the sun when possible, stay hydrated, stay in goal areas. Is talking about the majority of the us population, more than 200 Million People are under heat alerts from the central us to the north east. The new york city triathlon, scheduled for this sunday, was cancelled for the very first time in the events three. 0rganisers say it was due to the forecasted oppressive heat and humidity. Some athletes say they are relieved. Part of me was hoping it would be cancelled, but i wasnt sure they would actually do it. Its notjust people who are seeking relief. Animals from these cows seeking relief. Animals from these cows in wisconsin to this painting the red panda in virginia are hoping this heatwave breaks and soon. Painting. By the weekend, cities and at least 14 states are expected to break the High Temperature records. Laura podesta, cbs news, for bbc news, new york. 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 1600 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 and sent this report. Goma, in the east of the drc. A bustling transit city, home to more than two 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 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 Organisation 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 Health Care 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. Anne soy, bbc news, goma. Stay with us on bbc world news, still to come the french army is recruiting Science Fiction writers to think up the Defence Systems of the future. 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 news. The latest headlines the British Foreign secretary has sharply criticised irans seizure of a british tanker in the strait of hormuz. A second british flagged vessel has been released after it was briefly detained. Lets stay with that story. Fawaz gerges is a middle east expert from the London School of economics. I asked him whether he was suprised by the iranian reaction. Am not surprised at all, th iranian i am not surprised at all, the iranian leaders made a very clear that the seizure of the iranian supertanker would not go unpunished. This is a direct retaliation for the seizure of the iranian supertanker on the fourth ofjuly, it is a clear message by iran, a clear message that iran has the will and the means to retaliate. My take is that the iranian leadership will likely use the seizure of the british flagged vessel in order to free their own supertanker that is still under arrest for the next 30 days. The Gibraltar Authorities have said they will hold onto that the time being, they also maintained that it was doing something terribly wrong. It was trying to take oil to syria. Demonstrably wrong. That is what the British Government and the gibraltar officials have said. The iranians view it differently, the iranians believe the seizure of the supertanker was not an isolated act, it was an integral part of the economic war waged on them by donald trump, so they dont, and this is where it gets complicated, my question is, how wise was the decision by the United Kingdom to seize the supertanker. Was it really a misguided decision based on an american request, because there are many reports that it was the americans who requested British Forces seized the supertanker, 3 Million Barrels of oil, this is a massive, massive supertanker that was seized by British Forces on the fourth ofjuly. The iranian view remains that the british were merely doing americas heading, they were doing americas heading, they were doing donald trump is back work for him in taking, arresting the ship off the coast of gibraltar . Absolutely, even though the british we re absolutely, even though the british were not doing americas deeds, they we re were not doing americas deeds, they were not doing americas deeds, they were not doing americas deeds, they were not doing Donald Trumps deeds, but that is how it is viewed by the iranians. The british say that the iranians. The british say that the iranian supertanker was very heading towards syria and the European Union has sanctioned syria, in the past few years. The reality is the crisis in the gulf is getting complicated and more dangerous by the day. There is a real danger that escalation could really trigger, you know, further escalation, and here you have a bloody war between iran on the one hand and the western powers on the other hand. It was 50 years ago tonight that america was on the eve of apollo 11 touching down on the moon and us astronauts becoming the first to step foot there. All week there have been events to mark the anniversary and look back at the space race which led to this new fronteir. In washington today crowds have turned our to see a massive celebratory display. The bbcs nick bryant reports. In a week thats highlighted the deep divisions in washington and america, a gigantic reminder of a unifying national mission. Apollo 11, projected onto the Washington Monument for this back to the future celebration. And at ground level, a coming together of the american generations. I want to be an astronaut one day. You want to go to the moon . Yes. Do you think youll ever get there . I dont know. Its been pretty cool to see it through youtube. So to be here and be alive, its brand new to me. To me, itsjust as exciting as when we did it the first time. It was beyond remarkable. It was almost the type of thing that you didnt think could possibly come to be. Liftoff we have liftoff. Conquering new frontiers has always been an essential part of the american spirit. But it was conquering the soviet union that made the space race such an Urgent National priority. In those cold war years, soviet cosmonauts had outpaced american astronauts. The moon mission was also about a global ideological battle. The space race was all about the cold war. The whole reason for the race to the moon was to beat the soviet union and prove that the western capitalist model of government was better than the soviet model. And that was a serious issue in the early 60s. But the United States beats the soviet union to the moon in 1969, tremendously undercuts the legitimacy of the soviet union both internally and externally, and i think contributes to the collapse of the soviet union 30 years later. Taking the stars and stripes to the moon was, surprisingly, something of an afterthought. It was purchased from a local hardware shop. As you talk to us from the sea of tranquillity. And though the moon mission was launched byjohn f kennedy, it was his one time rival Richard Nixon who was president at the time. For every american, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. The moon landing came at the end of a tumultuous decade. The 60s brought the struggle for black equality, the vietnam war, the assassinations of the kennedy brothers and dr Martin Luther king. Here, finally, was a moment that transcended national strife. Theres been a wave of space age nostalgia, marking a glorious, near hypnotic moment when America First had a very different connotation. The french army says it is creating a new team in a bid to help innovate its approaches to defence made up of Science Fiction writers. A new report by the Defence Innovation Agency says the team of visionaries will propose scenarios of disruption that military strategists may not think of. The agency is also promising the creation of a space force and better Cyber Defence capabilities. Brian David Johnson is a futurist and professor at Arizona State university. Hes been telling me more about why he thinks the french are onto something that could prove useful. I think it is a good idea to use Science Fiction authors, and people who are using their imagination, thatis who are using their imagination, that is the number one most underutilised tool in business and security is the imagination, that is what Science Fiction allows you to do stop it allows you to dream the impossible dream i suppose, and how you might go about solving things, but ina you might go about solving things, but in a military sense there has to be, you would think, a lot of expertise pre existing, why go to authors and fa ntasists . Expertise pre existing, why go to authors and fantasists . When i do this type of work as a futurist it is notjust this type of work as a futurist it is not just replacing this type of work as a futurist it is notjust replacing the work this type of work as a futurist it is not just replacing the work that is not just replacing the work that is going on with military strategist, it is adding to it. What Science Fiction allows you to do is to imagine a broader range of possible and potential threats, because it is the imagination, but also what Science Fiction allows you to do is start to understand the human impact, the cultural impact, the legal and ethical impact. What is the track record of Science Fiction writing, have they got much right over the years, do you think, in predicting what might come to pass . They have done really well, but that is a bit of a hedge because really, there is a lot of Science Fiction out there, there is a lot of stories and movies, so as the great Science Fiction author isaac asimov said, if you want to make a great prediction, it is like throwing a lot of darts and he will eventually get a bulls eye. There has been a lot of it, but what this type of work is about, it is not about predicting the future but mapping it out and charting it and saying, here is something that could go wrong, what can we do about it. There is a lot of, a long history of Cautionary Tales in Science Fiction writing, that has been around for a long time, an example would be 1984 by george orwell, we say that that isa by george orwell, we say that that is a big brother thing, by george orwell, we say that that is a big brotherthing, we by george orwell, we say that that is a big brother thing, we used as shorthand, and that is where Science Fiction can be helpful. Personaljet packs, i can remember them form stories as a youngster, and yet they are coming true, we have been showing some footage here at the bbc of these devices attached to an individual, it could be a soldier or a fighting person, they are now a reality. And that is one of the really powerful parts of Science Fiction, Science Fiction gives us a language to talk about the future, to say, this is where we wa nt the future, to say, this is where we want to go, nothing great was ever built by humans that was not imagined first. It is really good to begin both on the Positive Side and the negative side, with Science Fiction, and then bring in the scientist and engineers and policymakers to think about how can we shape that future. And to borrow from the language of star trek, will we have photon torpedoes and phases except as done, anytime soon . There isa except as done, anytime soon . There is a lot of physics there that needs to be done, but i would not rule it out. An update on our top story, right now the British Governments top ministers are taking part in what is known as a cobra meeting where the government plans its responses to national emergencies. The meat the meeting is being chaired by the foreign secretary jeremy the meeting is being chaired by the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt who walked into the downing street famous number ten door, just a few hours ago. We have not had any read of exactly how those conversations are going, but of course we will be back reporting from ten downing st or other aspects of what the government is doing in britain, if there are any significant developments. That is the way the world look so far today, thank you for watching. It felt as if someone had taken a break on friday, it will return though, as i will show you later in this forecast, but over the last 24 hours we have seen some heavy downpours, at peak picture came from a weather watcher in staffordshi re from a weather watcher in staffordshire on friday afternoon. Radar shows the way in which these pulses of heavy flung themselves across the british isles, with some lightning, run the rumbles of thunder and the last vestiges of this wet weather still with us as we move away from saturday morning, some heavy rain across the far south east, patches of rain elsewhere as well. Still tied in with this frontal system which is clearing away, which will allow things to improve a little through the day ahead, but low pressure still in charge, so why there will be some spells of sunshine they will also be some showers, some of which could heavy and thundery. It is quite a soggy start across the south east of england, that rain should clear away fairly smartly through the morning, rain hanging back across shetland for a good part of the day. The majority it is that regime of sunny spells and heavy, thundery downpours, although the northern ireland, a much drier day in prospect with patchy cloud and sunny spells, 20 in south belfast, 20 in plymouth, 24 in london. Those showers should weakly fade away during saturday evening, into the early hours of sunday we will be left with a clear, starry skies, maybe the odd mist patch and it will be a little cooler and fresher with temperatures getting down to 11 14. Sunday starts off on afine, dry down to 11 14. Sunday starts off on a fine, dry and in many places sunny note, the further south and east you are the better the chances of holding on to that fine weather, but the northern ireland, western scotland, far north west of england, maybe north North West Wales we will see outbreaks of rain and strengthening them through the day. Some wet weather around the northern half of the uk on monday, that rain tending to retreat northwards, further south some spells of sunshine, and things start to warm up. Temperatures could get to 29, possibly 30, but that is not the end of it, because across liberia and france, iberia and france, a significant heat wave will be developing across next week and some of that heat will waft its way northwards, some is likely to get around 34 degrees. The north west of the uk, likely disease outbreaks of rain at times but even in edinburgh we are looking at 25 26, some cloud floating with western coast at times, further south and east is where we will have the highest temperatures, 33 34, with the chance of them thunderstorms later in the week. Some thunderstorms. This is bbc news. The headlines the British Foreign secretary has warned there will be serious consequences if iran does not release a british flagged tanker seized in the gulf. Tehran says the vessel was flouting maritime rules. The stena imperos owners say they have been unable to contact their vessel. A second british operated ship has been released after it was briefly detained. Extremely hot weather has started to hit the United States, with temperatures of around 100 degrees fahrenheit expected at the weekend. The heatwave could affect about 200 Million People in major cities like new york, washington, and boston. 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 1600 people have already died there. The who has declared an International Public health emergency