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US President Donald Trump is expected to set out a more confrontational strategy towards Iran, accusing it of pursuing “death and destruction”.

It is thought he will focus on its non-nuclear activities, particularly those of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), accused of supporting terrorism.

The new strategy calls for stricter enforcement of the 2015 nuclear deal.

He is expected to refuse to certify to Congress that Iran is complying with the deal.

Official sources have told the Associated Press Mr Trump will say Iran is living up to the letter of the agreement but also that the deal is fatally flawed.

While he may not ask for sanctions to be re-imposed, he may urge Congress to approve tough new requirements for Tehran to continue to benefit from sanctions relief.

Mr Trump is under pressure at home and abroad not to scrap the deal under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the partial lifting of sanctions.

During last year’s election campaign he pledged to throw out the agreement concluded under his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Analysis: Trump tries to ‘fix’ Iran deal

Barbara Plett Usher, BBC News, Washington

President Trump has called the Iran nuclear accord the “worst deal ever negotiated”, and threatened to tear it up.

It looks, though, as if he will first try to “fix” it. He is expected to tell Congress that Iran is not meeting certain conditions set by US law; that the deal’s benefits are too meagre, for example, to justify continued sanctions relief.

Then it would be up to lawmakers to decide whether to re-impose sanctions.

Mr Trump is unlikely to advocate they do so now. Even critics of the deal fear this would isolate the US and weaken its credibility, because Iran is complying with the agreement.

Republicans have suggested they could use decertification as leverage to get the changes they want.

Why is Trump speaking now?

Congress requires the US president to certify every 90 days that Iran is upholding its part of the nuclear agreement.

Mr Trump has already recertified it twice and has a deadline of Sunday to make his latest report back.

Refusal to recertify would give Congress 60 days to decide whether to pull out of the nuclear deal by re-imposing sanctions.

What is Trump likely to announce?

A strategy paper released by the White House highlights calls for neutralising Iran’s “destabilising influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants”.

The US, it says, will work to revitalise traditional alliances and regional partnerships as “bulwarks against Iranian subversion”.

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Efforts will be made to deny funding for the Iranian government and the IRGC’s “malign activities” and counter threats from ballistic missiles “and other asymmetric weapons”.

The IRGC’s “gross violations of human rights” will be highlighted to the rest of the world.

“Most importantly, we will deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon,” the paper says.

What will he say about the nuclear deal?

The final point in the strategy paper accuses the Iranian government of displaying a “disturbing pattern of behaviour, seeking to exploit loopholes and test the international community’s resolve”.

“This behaviour cannot be tolerated,” it says. “The deal must be strictly enforced, and the IAEA [the UN’s nuclear watchdog] must fully utilise its inspection authorities.”

Mr Trump recently called the deal “one of the most incompetently drawn deals” he had ever seen.

What do other key players say?

Foreign leaders, including UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, have urged Mr Trump to keep the deal.

“We also have to tell the Americans that their behaviour on the Iran issue will drive us Europeans into a common position with Russia and China against the USA,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned in a newspaper interview.

The Chinese and Russian foreign ministers said all parties to the deal must try to meet their obligations under it.

The IAEA and Congress currently both agree Iran is complying with the terms of the nuclear agreement.

What is Iran’s position?

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, said on a visit to Russia that a US withdrawal from the deal would signal its end.

He warned that the collapse of the deal could result in global chaos, Russian media report.

What is the nuclear deal?

Formerly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, it is designed to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon.

It lifted some sanctions that stopped Iran from trading on international markets and selling oil.

The lifting of sanctions is dependent on Iran restricting its nuclear programme. It must curb its uranium stockpile, build no more heavy-water reactors for 15 years and allow inspectors into the country.

• Key details of the Iran nuclear deal

Who are the Revolutionary Guards?

Set up shortly after the 1979 Iranian revolution to defend the country’s Islamic system, they provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces.

They are a major military, political and economic force in Iran, with some 125,000 active members, and oversee strategic weapons.

They have been accused of supporting Shia Muslim militants in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

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Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa has apologised for joking about “raping beautiful women”.

The comment was made in 2011 – but has resurfaced after the claims of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein.

Speaking about his love of fantasy and sci-fi roles, he said he enjoyed being able to “rip someone’s tongue out of their throat and get away with it, and rape beautiful women”.

In an Instagram post, he’s apologised for the “truly tasteless” comment.

The actor made the remark while speaking on a panel at Comic Con, when he was playing Kahl Drogo in Game of Thrones.

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After making the rape comment, some of his fellow cast members put their heads in their hands. But there’s also a lot of laughing from the crowd.

Six years on though, some of the reaction on Twitter is very different.

Others have been quick to defend him though, pointing out the hypocrisy of criticising him.

Following the backlash, Jason Momoa put out an apology on Instagram.

The actor says he understands the “insensitivity” of his remarks but knows his “sincerest apology now won’t take away those hurtful words”.

“Rape and sexual harassment can reach anyone and I have seen first hand its painful torment among members of my own family and friends,” he says.

Harvey Weinstein has strongly denied all claims of non-consensual sex made against him.

But the revelations have shone a light on the past behaviour of male stars.

As well as Jason Momoa having to apologise, Ben Affleck has also said sorry for “groping” MTV host Hilarie Burton in 2003.

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The scandal deluging Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has deepened after US actress Rose McGowan publicly accused him of raping her.

In a series of tweets, McGowan also accused Amazon Studio chief Roy Price of having ignored her when she made the allegation earlier.

Amazon has put Price – himself accused on Thursday of sexually harassing a female producer – on leave of absence.

Weinstein denies any sexual assaults. There was no comment from Price.

Police forces in the US and UK police have launched investigations into sexual assault allegations against Weinstein:

• The New York Police Department is looking into an allegation dating from 2004 and reviewing whether there are any additional complaints

• London’s Met Police has received an allegation of sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s

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Addressing Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos on Twitter, McGowan criticised the company for doing business with Weinstein.

“I told the head of your studio that HW raped me,” she wrote. “Over & over I said it. He said it hadn’t been proven. I said I was the proof.”

Price was separately accused by Isa Hackett, a producer on one of Amazon’s shows, of having lewdly propositioned her in a taxi and at a corporate dinner in 2015, the Hollywood Reporter writes.

Hackett reported the incident to Amazon executives immediately, she was quoted as saying, and an outside investigator was brought in.

She was not told the outcome of the investigation but did not see Price again at any events involving her shows, she added.

In a statement, Amazon said: “Roy Price is on leave of absence effective immediately. We are reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co.”

• The horror of Weinstein’s casting couch
• Weinstein: Are the media complicit?

Stream of accusations

Three women earlier accused Weinstein of rape in an investigative article in The New Yorker magazine.

They are Italian actress and director Asia Argento, former aspiring actress Lucia Evans and a third woman who was anonymous.

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The same article says 10 other women told the author that Weinstein had either sexually harassed or assaulted them between the 1990s and 2015.

The New York Times broke the story on 5 October when it detailed decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein.

Weinstein has insisted through a spokeswoman that any sexual contacts he had were consensual.

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone has said he believes that Weinstein should not be judged prematurely.

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“If he broke the law it will come out,” he told reporters on a visit to South Korea for a film festival. “I believe that a man shouldn’t be condemned by a vigilante system.”

In another development, Twitter briefly suspended McGowan for violating its terms and policies after she included a personal phone number in tweets about sexual abuse allegations.

Some prominent US figures, notably from the entertainment world, said they would boycott the platform on Friday in protest.

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Image copyright North Carolina Department of Public Safety

Two prison guards have died after inmates attempted to break out of a North Carolina jail.

Justin Smith, 35, and Veronica Darden, 50, died after prisoners at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution tried to escape on Thursday at 15:00 local time (19:00 GMT).

Three other guards remain in a critical condition in hospital.

According to officials, the inmates set fire to the prison’s specialty sewing plant before attempting the escape.

• Two US prison guards killed during escape

The initial fire was put out, but the prisoners lit a second fire at the plant, where about 30 inmates work.

The fire was finally extinguished by 17:00 local time.

The exact circumstances surrounding the deaths of Ms Darden, the manager responsible for supervising and training at the plant, and Mr Smith, a correctional officer, have not been revealed.

In total, 10 guards were taken to hospital, seven of whom have since been released. Four inmates were also treated for injuries.

All inmates have been accounted for since, North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety said.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper paid tribute to the guards,

“Those who work in our prisons do a difficult and demanding job that is critical to our safety,” he said.

“We’re grateful to these fallen prison employees for their service, and we offer our condolences to their families, friends, co-workers and community on this tragic loss.”

The high security Pasquotank Correctional Institution, in Elizabeth City, has 725 inmates.

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The number of people confirmed dead in wildfires sweeping northern California has climbed to 31, as officials warned that conditions would worsen.

Hundreds of people remain missing as at least 22 fires rampaged across the state’s famous wine country.

More than 8,000 firefighters are now battling the flames.

The wildfires have destroyed more than 3,500 buildings and homes over 170,000 acres (68,800 hectares) and displaced about 25,000 people.

Seventeen people are now confirmed killed in Sonoma County, with another eight in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and two in Napa County, officials said.

The updated casualty figures mean the wildfires are the deadliest in California since 1933, when 29 people died in fires at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Strong winds that have fanned the flames eased in recent days, but forecasters warned they were set to pick up again on Friday night.

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“We are not even close to being out of this emergency,” Mark Ghilarducci, state director of emergency services, told reporters.

State fire chief Ken Pimlott warned of “erratic, shifting winds all weekend”.

Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said recovery teams with cadaver dogs were searching the smouldering ruins of homes.

• Wineries count cost of wildfires disaster
• The prisoners fighting wildfires in California

“We have found bodies that were completely intact, and we have found bodies that were no more than ash and bone,” he said.

It is not yet clear what started the fires on Sunday night, but officials say power lines blown over by strong winds could be the cause.

One of the greatest threats to life is believed to be around the town of Calistoga, Napa County, where the entire population of 5,000 has been ordered to evacuate.

Geyserville, a town of around 800 people, and the community of Boyes Hot Springs, both in Sonoma, were also evacuated.

The huge fires have sent smoke and ash over San Francisco, about 50 miles away, and over some towns and cities even further south.

At least 13 Napa Valley wineries have been destroyed, a vintners’ trade group says.

Cannabis plantations in fire-scorched Mendocino County could lose millions as many are uninsured, according to Nikki Lastreto of the local industry association.

Marijuana farmers cannot insure their businesses since federal law bans the drug.

Though recreational cannabis was legalised in the state in 2016, California’s retail market does not open until next January.

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Canada has suspended the use of a questionnaire that appeared to single out Muslim asylum seekers crossing into the country.

The Mounties used the form to screen refugee claimants entering into Quebec from the US.

Public Safety Canada says the document was “inappropriate and inconsistent with government policy”.

Over 13,000 asylum seekers have crossed illegally into Canada since January, mostly into Quebec.

Canadian immigration and refugee lawyer Clifford McCarten provided the BBC with a copy of the document.

• Canada seeks to dispel asylum myths

Many of the questions are standard, including queries related country of origin, basic health questions, and whether the respondent has friends or family in the US or Canada.

But it also includes questions about the refugee claimant’s opinion on the so-called Islamic State and the Taliban and how they feel about women who do not wear religious head-coverings like the hijab and niqab.

Other questions asked more generally about affiliations with extremist or political groups, whether the respondent practises a religion and how often, and the person’s opinion on religious freedom and equality between men and women.

A spokesman for federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said they were “immediately concerned” after learning of the document and contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

That version of the interview guide was only used in Quebec.

The RCMP did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but told the Toronto Star, which first reported on the guide, that it was designed to speed up processing at the border and to “provide consistency in the RCMP’s preliminary risk assessments”.

Responses were entered in the national police force’s database.

When refugee claimants cross into Canada illegally they are apprehended, identified, searched and screened. If they are eligible to make an asylum claim, they are allowed entry and referred to immigration officials.

Canada saw an influx of refugee claimants crossing illegally into the country over the summer, up to 300 per day. The numbers have since tapered off.

Many that arrived in July and August were of Haitian origin but a number also came from African and Mideast nations.

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