This is the BBC News. Hello, I'm Eileen McCue. The first man mission run by a private company to the International Space Station has safely returned to earth. The SpaceX crew Dragon capsule, scorched by its fiery descent from orbit, splashed down off the coast of Florida, carrying two astronauts. NASA's administrator Jim Bridenstine said it was a momentous occasion. What an amazing day. Today we really made history. We are entering a new era of human space flight, where NASA is no longer the purchaser owner and operator of all the hardware. We are going to be a customer, one customer of many customers, in a very robust commercial marketplace for human space flight to low earth orbit. NASA says it will save billions of dollars by handing over such missions to commercial firms, allowing it to concentrate on sending astronauts deeper into space.
An investigation by the BBC's Persian service has found that the number of people who have died with COVID-19 in Iran is nearly three times higher than the government has admitted. The authorities say just over 14000 people have died. But official records handed over by a whistleblower put the figure at more than 40000. Niran Tochdeen reports. The two extraordinary files seen by BBC Persian, list all hospital patients in Iran who tested positive for COVID-19 or showed symptoms and all those who died with coronavirus symptoms. They highlight what many people have suspected, that the number of dead in the coronavirus pandemic in Iran is much higher than the government figures claim. And that the first death happened almost a month before officials admitted.
The Philippines is bringing back strict quarantine measures in the capital Manila to tackle a leaping coronavirus cases，a decision by President Rodrigo Duterte follows warnings from doctors and nurses that the country was losing the fight against the disease and risking the collapse of its health system. The measures will last two weeks.
The governor of Borno state in northeast Nigeria has suggested that efforts to defeat the Jihadist group, Boko Haram, are being undermined by sections of the country's security apparatus. Babagana Zulum said sabotage within the system was prolonging the conflict. Will Ross reports. Babagana Zulum was speaking bluntly days after his heavily armed convoy had suddenly had to flee a town near Lake Chad, because of sustained gunfire. The army blamed Boko Haram. The governor suggested soldiers were behind it and once again used the word sabotage. Babagana Zulum also questioned why the Nigerian army was stopping thousands of displaced people from returning home to their fields while soldiers were instead cultivating the land. He's not the first person to essentially suggest that corruption within the military is prolonging the people suffering in northeast Nigeria. BBC news.
