This is bbc world news. Im james reynolds. Our top stories Iranian State television says the countrys military did shoot down a ukrainian passengerjet, blaming human error. Polls open in taiwan for the countrys president ial election where relations with Mainland China have taken centre stage. The death has been announced of the sultan of oman, the longest serving ruler in the gulf. And, plants living the high life why vegetation is growing at higher altitudes in the himalayas. In the past hour, iran has admitted it did shoot down the ukrainian passenger plane that
crashed near the iranian capital tehran on wednesday killing all 176 people on board. Irans foreign minister Mohammad Javad zarif wrote on twitter that preliminary investigations by the armed forces concluded it was human error at a time of crisis caused by us adventurism he went on to say our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations. Irans presi
21 passengers on board a cruise ship of california have tested positive for coronavirus. The ship was denied entry to San Francisco and will now sale to a non commercial port were all 3500 passengers and crew are expected to have tests. No warplanes have been reported to have been flying over the syrian province of idlib as a ceasefire appears to be holding for now. On the ground there have been some classes, 15 people are reported to have been killed in fighting between Government Forces and islamist militants. The former brazilian footballer, ronaldinho, has been arrested in paraguay after he attempted to enter the country with a false passport. He and his brother were allegedly given false passports when there plane touched down. Last month was the wettest february ever recorded in the uk with storm after storm sweeping the country. In east yorkshire more than 80 homes in snaith and cowick still cant be reached and the water is taking a long time to recede. Our correspondent danny s
This is bbc news. Im lukwesa burak. The headlines at seven. A british man who was on the diamond princess cruise ship has died from coronavirus. Three new cases have been confirmed in the uk. 20 20 cases. The issue of coronavirus is something that is now the governments top priority. Alarm over coronavirus has sent Global Stock Markets into a steep dive, with the ftse 100 dropping nearly 13 this week fears of a Major International military confrontation, after an attack by Government Forces in syria leaves 33 turkish soldiers dead. The flooding misery continues for some. Residents in parts of east yorkshire are evacuated as water levels rise. And on newswatch, as storms are followed by floods and part of the uk, how is bbc news handling the logistics of covering extreme weather events . Join us tonight at 7 45pm on bbc and news. Bbc news. Good evening. A british man who was quarantined on the diamond princess cruise ship injapan has died from coronavirus. He is one of six people who we
Between police and protesters, who are angry at the governments response to tuesdays massive explosion. International donors have pledged 300 million for rebuilding the capital. Anti government protests have broken out in cities across belarus, after exit polls reported a sweeping victory for the long time, authoritarian president alexander lu kashenko. The police say getting the situation under control. Opposition leaders have accused the president of rigging the election, and denounced the expected result as a joke. British teaching unions have criticised borisjohnson for saying there was a moral duty to get children in england back into school at the start of setember. They urged him to boost coronavirus testing and tracing in order to reopen schools safely. Now on bbc news, its time for hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk, im stephen sackur. The covid 19 pandemic has inflicted huge economic damage, but it has offered the Natural World a little bit of respite room to breathe. But what wil
This is bbc news. The headlines President Trump was escorted from a White House Briefing after Us Secret Service agents shot an armed man. Minutes later, he returned and told reporters a man was taken to hospital after the shooting. The president said he did not think the white house fence had been breached. Anti establishment protests on the streets of beirut are continuing even though the entire lebanese government has now stepped down after last weeks catastrophic explosion. The prime minister, hassan diab, blamed a corrupt political establishment for the countrys many problems during an angry tv interview. In belarus, clashes have continued between police and protesters, angry at sundays disputed president ial poll. Police say a demonstrator has died in the second night of protests after an explosive device went off in his hand,
as he tried to throw it. That is it from us. We are back tomorrow. Now it is time for hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk, im stephen sackur. The covid 19 pandem