live from london. this is bbc news. more than a hundred people die in iran — in two explosions near the grave of a top revolutionary guards commander. the united nations peacekeeping mission in lebanon says it is deeply concerned about rising tensions — following the killing of a senior hamas figure. and junior doctors in england begin a six—day walk—out over pay — the longest strike in the health service's history. and this history—making teenager is on target for further glory. 16—year—old luke littler could tonight become the youngest player to win the world darts championship. hello, i'm ben thompson, welcome to the programme. more than 100 people have been

killed and scores more injured in two explosions in southeastern iran, near the grave of a top revolutionary guards commander. state television says the blasts occurred in quick succession in the city of kerman, during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the killing of qasem soleimani. he was iran's most powerful military commander and was killed in 2020 by a us air strike in iraq. local officials say two bags containing explosives were detonated by remote control at the entrance to the burial site. caroline hawley reports. the roads leading to the cemetery were packed with people who had gone to qasem soleimani. officials say the bombs had been planted in bags and were apparently set off by remote control. whoever did this was clearly aiming to cause mass casualties. the iranian red crescent said their efforts to evacuate the injured were complicated by the size of the crowds.

and the first bomb was followed swiftly by a second, more deadly explosion. it comes four years to the day since qassem soleimani was killed himself in an american drone attack while on a visit to iraq. general soleimani was a huge figure in iran, commander of the powerful revolutionary guards, responsible for arming its proxy militias in the middle east, including hezbollah in lebanon and forfunding hamas. he had a devoted following among supporters of the iranian regime. his funeral was attended, according to estimates, by more than i million mourners. so who would have wanted to attack the commemoration of his death and why? the most telling thing here is that this attack in kerman does not fit any modus operandi of what the israelis have traditionally done. they are looking for specific individuals, not for large events with lots of people. but there are at least two groups that have two groups that have a history of doing just

this type of thing in iran. there's sunni jihadist groups on whom suspicion but this is likely to fall, although no group has yet claimed to have carried it out. the iran's supreme leader, ayatollah khomeini said there would be a harsh response. it is the deadliest attack in the country in decades and can only increase tensions in a region that is already a tinderbox. caroline hawley, bbc news. hassan nasrallah, the leader of the lebanese armed group, hezbollah has made a public address, in which he offered condolences to the palestinian people following tuesday's attack in beirut�*s south. the blast killed senior hamas leader saleh al—arouri. in his speech, the hezbollah leader said that — "god willing" — israel would not be able to achieve the goals of the war. nasrallah has previously said there would be a severe reaction to any israeli killing on lebanese soil. israel said its forces were in a very high state of readiness for any retaliation following the killing

of saleh al—arouri. it's not admitted or denied the attack, but hamas has accused it of being responsible. a spokesman for the group promised retaliation, and said hamas could not negotiate with israel while they committed — what he called — "crimes". hamas is considered a terror organisation by the uk and us governments. amy mackinnon is the national security and intelligence reporter at foreign policy. she outlined the possible dangers for israel should his brother be drawn into the war. i'm sure his statements will come as some relief to those in israel who would have been closely watching. but i don't think that the danger at the moment of a wider spread of this conflict is off the table just yet, as your correspondent wasjust saying, you know, if hezbollah was to to fully wade into this conflict with israel, they have their military arsenal.

their capacity is much greater than that of hamas. and so the kind of war you would be looking at would be just significantly larger than what we've seen at the moment and could potentially overwhelm israel's air defences if temporarily. yes. and there is quite clearly nervousness, isn't there, because this has the potential to open up this conflict on four different fronts that are already seeing tensions. those, of course, in iran, in lebanon, in yemen and in gaza itself. there will be real concern about how each of those plays out and then if we take a look at the bigger picture, what all of this means for that ongoing war. we know israeli authorities have said they are prepared for this to be a year long war. it will be a long war. but already, given what we've seen in the past two days, it could be changing direction pretty quickly. absolutely. i mean, a lot of questions and even particularly about the end ofjust the war in gaza, if we take that one slice of the situation. you know, we're almost three months now into the israeli operation there. and we've really yet to hear from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu a plan for what israel's scenario is for the day

after, for after, you know, the military operation there is concluded. israeli officials have said they do not want to reoccupy. they do not want to govern the gaza strip. but at the same time, i think it's hard after so much blood and treasure has been expended in this war to see that they would step back from a security role in the strip. so a lot of questions then about who governs the gaza strip. well, people have raised the possibility that the palestinian authority could come in. but again, i mean, palestinian authority, the phrase i hear often from regional experts is, it's not going to want to come in on the back of israeli tanks. the palestinian authority is widely seen as weak, as corrupt. it hasn't held elections in many, many years. so one potential option, but certainly not one which is seen as a terribly likely one. a lot of questions there about what happens with the future of gaza. well, yes. and, amy, those persistent questions aren't there about a potential for a power vacuum in that region, not only in gaza or in the west bank, but also in israel itself?

because we know before this war began, the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, was facing a lot of domestic issues, particularly those around the supreme court and the powers that it had. he was not popular at home. and this war in some respects has boosted his popularity. but there are a lot of complaints, a lot of concerns about what happens when this war ends domestically, politically for benjamin netanyahu. right. i mean, this the october 7th attacks took place at a time of a really deep divisions and concerns about the future of israel's democracy, with this proposal, with these laws before consideration before the supreme court. there was new polling out yesterday that only 15% of israelis would like to see netanyahu remain as prime minister after the war. and i think for the time being, i think many israelis have put their political differences to the sides to focus on the immense national trauma that the country is undergoing right now and the military operation. but with the recent court decision, i think you may begin to see those political divisions start

to come to the fore again. and netanyahu is, of course, a master of of political survival. but whether or not he how long he will continue in power, i think is really starting to come into question. on both of the stories of events in iran today but also that concern over the widening of the israel gaza conflict. we'll get the latest analysis from our security correspondent, frank gardener, in the coming minutes. two events in the uk now. junior doctors working in england's public health services have begun a six—day strike. it's the longest industrial action in the history of britain's health service, and follows a break down in talks with the government over pay. before the strike, nhs england medical director professor sir stephen powis said the health service was facing one of its most difficult starts to a year since 1948.

facing up to the first day of strike action, ben, the lead consultant in the emergency department. good morning, everyone. good morning. how was your night? we were handed a 15... 15 patients waiting. that's a lot more than we normally have. junior doctors who've been on overnight hand over to the consultants who'll take over. and aphra is supporting the strike action. i'm only two years into being a doctor, so knowing the longevity of the career and seeing how many of my friends have already left go to australia, i think on balance it's an issue about retention rather than pay. and the hospital, along with others in north london, is coming under pressure. we're seeing high numbers of attendances in emergency departments, in nearby hospitals. we're having lots of ambulances coming both to ucla and also to the other hospitals. 0k. so we could do with a few more discharges, guys... it's 9.30 and a key planning meeting has to work out how to free up more beds for new patients. not the best position to be in, particularly with the junior doctor

industrial action going on. so we all know what we need to do. we'll try and get you home today. we'll try and get everything sorted. and louisa, who's a matron, is hoping danny can be discharged after an operation. but hopefully third time lucky. because of the doctors' strikes, her ward has to take in some emergency patients, as well as those recovering after surgery. it has been frustrating. i think it's, we want the best for our patients. so it's feeling for the patients and also for the nurses because the nurses want to give that expert care. and when you're looking after patients that aren't your speciality, you're not necessarily doing that. and i think that's always something that they struggle with. hi. i'm calling you because we need to reschedule your— appointment due to strikes. here's a part of a hospital you rarely see — staff who have to call patients with bad news about cancellations on strike days and try to rebook them. they are in pain.

so i understand that they can be |aggressive, although i'm tryingl to calm them down and i'm trying to find a new date. _ i'm trying to make things right. that's what we aim for. every bed you see here has a patient in it. it's the middle of the day and the emergency department is filling up. ben's a consultant helping cover the strike. he'll be working nearly 70 hours over the six days. it's so tiring to do this 24/7 cover. we can't do it for much longer than the six days we're going to attempt to do. but how does six days feel? i enjoy my work, but it's going to be busy and it's going to be hard. and after the sixth day, i'm going to be pretty exhausted. the message today is that the hospital's extremely busy but safe, though they are nervous about the next five days. with more on this we can speak to our health editor hugh pym. i know you have spent the dayton hospital talking to people there

including doctors like ben. we should also be really clear, this is a really busy time of your already without this industrial action, is it not? . v without this industrial action, is it not? . �* , ., ., it not? that's right. the tradition in the nhs _ it not? that's right. the tradition in the nhs goes _ it not? that's right. the tradition in the nhs goes back— it not? that's right. the tradition in the nhs goes back many - it not? that's right. the tradition| in the nhs goes back many years it not? that's right. the tradition i in the nhs goes back many years as long as i have been covering this field is thatjust after the new year holiday, is the time of the most immense pressure. that is partly because people have been mixing more over christmas, meeting up mixing more over christmas, meeting up with friends and family, may be in confined spaces so there are more infections around like flu and covid although not quite as bad as last winter. and people coming back to work after maybe holding back going and reporting medical issues which have then got worse. on top of that, we have now got this junior doctors a strike. 60s at hospitals in england in other parts of the nhs. uncharted territory there and concerns amongst medical leaders, a flavour of it there in the piece,

that this is just one day. doing it for six is concerning. and there are reports of critical incidents being declared in some hospitals in england. that means, when they need help from other parts of the system. that does happen at this time of the year during the winter but certainly withoutjunior year during the winter but certainly without junior doctors year during the winter but certainly withoutjunior doctors or without striking junior doctors it makes it that much harderfor the striking junior doctors it makes it that much harder for the whole system. that much harder for the whole s stem. �* . , that much harder for the whole s stem. �* ., ,, that much harder for the whole s stem. �* system. and as you said there. the nhs already _ system. and as you said there. the nhs already saying _ system. and as you said there. the nhs already saying this _ system. and as you said there. the nhs already saying this one - system. and as you said there. the nhs already saying this one would | system. and as you said there. the l nhs already saying this one would be the most difficult. so what is the solution here because as you say, it appears the two sides are still far apart because minister said they won't negotiate while there is still a threat of strikes and at the same time, the bma said it will and the walk out if there is a credible offer. someone has to blink here, don't they? it offer. someone has to blink here, don't they?— don't they? it looks that way. i think the likelihood _ don't they? it looks that way. i think the likelihood of - don't they? it looks that way. i think the likelihood of any - don't they? it looks that way. i | think the likelihood of any toxic place of the 60s is very, very low because the government has made clear it will not talk to a trade union like the bma or their members are on strike. i think there is the

possibility of some sort of talks next week when the strike is out of the way with the junior doctors committee at the botanical medical association indicating they will indicate to the table the health secretary tory atkins has said she is open to further tax, or door is open. in the meantime whole system has to just get through the 60s which is really going to be extraordinarily difficult. and whether talks actually happen or not we will only have to wait and see. it will need some rudimentary talks first before they actually managed to sit down, possibly next week. fix, to sit down, possibly next week. a busy week for you as well, we will talk to you throughout the we get more details on the impact this is happening. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a 15—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering teenager harry pitman, who was fatally stabbed in north london on new year's eve.

harry, who was 16 and from haringey, was attacked in primrose hill shortly before midnight on sunday. the metropolitan police said an 18—year—old man was also arrested on suspicion of affray. the government says pupils at english schools that have been partially closed because of dangerous concrete will not get extra help in their exams. since september, some students have not been able to access design and technology work rooms, laboratories and other specialist spaces, because of crumbling concrete, known as raac. school leaders have called for special consideration. new research suggests that supermarkets experienced their busiest christmas period since 2019. the research firm kantar said customers made 400 and 88 million trips to the supermarket in the four weeks to christmas eve, with nearly 14 billion pounds passing through the tills. kantar said promotions and offers were behind the boost. you're live with bbc news. in the uk, a driver

was killed when a tree fell on his car during storm henk, which swept across large parts of the country yesterday. high winds caused widespread travel disruption and thousands of homes lost power. about 260 flood warnings are still in place in england, scotland and wales. phil mackie reports. it is not looking good for ian harris. this is the fifth big flood since he moved in in 2016. this level of flooding used to be called a 50—year event. now it is happening annually. it is pretty frequent and it never used to be like this. it is getting worse and worse. the effect affected bacon with tomorrow will get very close to the record set four years ago. sometimes you get a sharp

peak and it drops very quickly and it can go up in a day or so. other times it can really stretch out. this looks like a long stretch. it is not going to go down quick. ian is well prepared. he has lived here for awhile. paul wasn't so lucky. he hasjust moved here and that is his car. we have got flooding and i have just recently moved into newbottle flats over here. it went off on sunday evening. i move the cart, this is where i was advised to move it. as you can see overnight it has got worse. this was all caused by storm henk which has cost one life. a man whose car was hit by a tree in gloucestershire. though there were many lucky escapes and brave rescues, too. three—year—old and her mum. like this one in birmingham. he is going to fall under the bridge! j "get my baby out of the car, she is only "two", i don't know what she was shouting. "i have got kids."

i have got kids. it isjust instinct. i had to do something. there are still hundreds of flood warnings in place and a severe one on the river near tenby in pembrokeshire. an earlier severe warning in the river in northamptonshire has been removed. back in worcester they are dealing with the port flood since october. there are lots of flood defences along the severn but many had to do the work for themselves. this family beat their own fault flood wall and it is working well. this is becoming a familiar scene for people in worcester but too familiar? these sorts of big floods didn't used to happen nearly as often and now they seem to be happening nearly every year. the expected peak here isn't until tomorrow night by which time the river may come close to the record high, four years ago. for those trying to keep water out it would be a worrying 2a hours. phil mackie, bbc news, worcester. a medieval cemetery has been unearthed near an airport runway in cardiff. the 70 graves found have provided a rare glimpse into life in britain 1500 years ago. rebecca morrelle reports.

uncovering a medieval mystery. just outside of cardiff, archaeologists have discovered a graveyard they think is 1,500 years old. the bodies, buried so long ago, are giving an insight into a period we know little about. each one of these is a grave, and the team have excavated 18 so far, but they think there could be more than 70 at this site. now, they're all aligned in the same position, running from east to west. and in some of them the skeletons are flat on their backs with their legs outstretched. but in others, like this one over here, the skeleton is in a really unusual crouching position. why this is isn't clear. were burial practices changing over time? or was there something else marking these people out as different? the skeletons are being carefully excavated and they're already providing clues about who these people were and what they did.

we have some teeth that are very worn in kind of a funny way. that might indicate the use of teeth as tools, maybe for textile work, leatherwork, basketry, and where they're pulling something through their front teeth. that is glass. a shard of fine french glass has just been discovered. probably the rim from a cone beaker, so which would have looked like an ice cream cone. a really nice find. it's just one of an array of artefacts, from fragments of pottery, perhaps from north africa, to a tiny carved peg. this little object is manufactured from animal bone. could be a peg for fora gaming board. it suggests people were coming to the cemetery to meet up — the living and the dead existing together. they are burying their dead, but they're also undertaking other forms of activity and social practice, including eating and drinking and feasting. the items unearthed in the cemetery suggest that the people were of a high status. the next step is to work out

exactly who they were. archaeologists hope their excavation will reveal much more about the medieval way of life that's remained an enigma for so long. rebecca morelle, bbc news, cardiff. fascinating discoveries they are very close to an airport runway in cardiff. let's return to our top stories. those explosions in iran and also the killing yesterday of a senior hamas figure in lebanon. with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. a lot of moving parts right now and not least these four flashpoints that have now opened up in this middle east conflict. talk us through what is potentially the most risky at the moment. it through what is potentially the most risky at the moment.— risky at the moment. if you have been hypothetically _ risky at the moment. if you have been hypothetically a _ risky at the moment. if you have been hypothetically a sleep - risky at the moment. if you have been hypothetically a sleep for l risky at the moment. if you have l been hypothetically a sleep for the last 2a hours and you have woken up and are thinking what on earth is going on because we have had these two explosions today in kerman and iran and yesterday it was a targeted assassination of a hamas leader in

beirut. you have got a simmering, imminent escalation about to happen in the red sea and of course the gaza war. so you're for potential flashpoints around the region which are independently, each of them, capable of metastasizing into something much bigger. so let's deal with these in turn. the iranian — very murky because these were controlled, remotely detonated suitcase bombs that went off at the shrine of somebody who to many persians as a national hero. to others a war criminal. this is the shrine, the tomb of someone called qasem soleimani who led the force there, assassinated four years ago to the day by a us drone under the orders of president donald trump. so the, whoever did this is striking right at the beating spiritual heart of the iranian regime. and iran has

vowed to retaliate, but they have not named perpetrators yet. i do not think it was likely to be israel will stop if it was it would be completely counterproductive. the israelis have enough on their hands without provoking iran. the assassination yesterday in southern beirut, even though israel has not claimed responsibility, it would be extraordinary if it was not them. this was a precise surgical drone strike firing a missile that took out several hamas leaders, but specifically someone called saleh al—arouri who was the key link between various militias in the region, but it is believed to be the only senior hamas leader outside the gaza strip who knew in advance about the october the 7th attacks. therefore, he was close to the top of the hitless of israel. the one clue for all of this is what was said by david, the head of most the israel external intelligence service and although he did not say he did

it, he pointed that after 1972 munich massacre in which 11 israeli athletes were murdered by palestinian gunmen, israel vowed to hunt them all down and it did. it took years, it took them to different capitals in cities and places around the world but they did it. and israel has vowed to do the same thing to all of those that you can identify who carried out the october the 7th massacre. some of them are already dead some of them will be hiding in tunnels in gaza, some will be difficult to get a hold of but it has vowed to do that. then you have given in the red sea. in the last few minutes, there has been a joint statement issued by the us, britain and ten of the countries including japan, new zealand, australia, belgium, canada, italy, in which they have essentially given a final warning to the houthis to stop attacking shipping in the red sea or in their words, bear the consequences. because that is affecting global trade. then of course there is the gaza war which has no sign of letting up.

fascinating how many moving parts are in this and how quickly this has the potential to change. talking as well, what we have heard today from hassan nasrallah, the hezbollah leader making a public address in it he he promised that there would be a retaliation. what significance is that because we know hezbollah has quite an arsenal and if it was to get involved tojoin quite an arsenal and if it was to get involved to join this conflict it could change the outcome of the israel gaza conflict.— israel gaza conflict. historically, when it comes _ israel gaza conflict. historically, when it comes to _ israel gaza conflict. historically, when it comes to these - israel gaza conflict. historically, | when it comes to these features, hezbollah�*s to be worse than bite. they have a very powerful significant arsenal of rockets and missiles which could read the heart of tel aviv or haifa, but if they decide to escalate the cross—border conflicts, which is a simmering, bubbling along, enough to cause the evacuation of 80,000 israeli citizens who can no longer live in safety close to that border. so it is a problem for israel and a problem for lebanon, but that is

relatively low level compared to what could be a 2006, there was a full—scale war which devastated southern lebanon. the lebanese were in no mood, they have no appetite for that to be renewed and we have seen lebanese political leaders who pleading with hezbollah not to retaliate. i don't think hezbollah was necessarily. because if they escalate this, they know the responsibilities will be huge, it can even drag in the us fleet that is anchored, it is more to an sailing around, rather, off the eastern mediterranean which would probablyjoin in the israeli attacks on hezbollah which is considered to be a terrorist organisations vision by some. so there is a lot at state and i think most parties to this will want to ratchet this down, rather than go to a full—scale war. briefly, if you will, as you see fresh down, all of the words over the past 2a hours have been about de—escalating this crisis, the white house as well getting the ball today

saying columns on everyone. will those warnings be heated? —— calm down everyone. the those warnings be heated? -- calm down everyone-— down everyone. the bottom line on all of this is — down everyone. the bottom line on all of this is if— down everyone. the bottom line on all of this is if there _ down everyone. the bottom line on all of this is if there was, _ down everyone. the bottom line on all of this is if there was, if - down everyone. the bottom line on all of this is if there was, if the - all of this is if there was, if the palestinians were actually given a state of their own, then much of the casus belli for all of these militias and rocket attacks would not be there. none of that excuses the atrocities committed in southern israel by hamas and allies on october the 7th, none of this excuses the attacks on shipping that are disrupting global trade, but i'm just pointing out that if there was a proper peace process and it was stuck to and there was a two state solution, where palestinians and israelis get to live side by side we would not be seeing these conflicts to the same extent.— to the same extent. really helpful to the same extent. really helpful to have you _ to the same extent. really helpful to have you talk— to the same extent. really helpful to have you talk us _ to the same extent. really helpful to have you talk us through - to the same extent. really helpful to have you talk us through that. i to have you talk us through that. our security correspondent, frank gardner. headlines coming up for you shortly. stay with us here on bbc

news. hello. after the wind and rain from storm henk on tuesday — wednesday brought more heavy downpours in places. not helping the ongoing flooding situation, check the latest flood warnings on our website or on your bbc local radio station. and there is some more rain to come as we head through tonight. still some showers around, but some clearer spells starting to spread from the south—west as the night wears on. temperatures will drop away down to around three, four or five degrees in quite a few spots. one or two places could get quite close to freezing. so we head in to thursday with low pressure still in charge to the north, that will bring some showers. and then this little weather system here threatening to bring more unwanted rain into southern parts of the uk. so across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, a lot of clouds and bits and pieces of showery rain still very windy in the northern isles. then a slice of sunshine across north wales, parts of northern england,

the north midlands through the afternoon, but to the south of that cloud will be gathering and here comes our next area of rain. now, this is going to deal a glancing blow, really, but it is going to slide along the southern counties of england, perhaps getting into south—east wales and then moving up across the london area and into east anglia through thursday evening. this rain falling on saturated ground so could well cause furtherflooding issues. it may turn quite windy for a time down towards the south as well. that weather system swirling its way off into the near continent on friday. still some showery rain across eastern scotland and eastern england. sunshine and showers out towards the west. temperatures a little bit lower by this stage, 6—9 degrees. and then as we head into the weekend, low pressure will at long last loosen its grip. high pressure will be building across the uk, still possibly one or two showers, but a lot more in the way of dry weather. i'm sure that'll be good news for many. however, we will also start to introduce some colder air. so saturday looks a little bit like this —

still some areas of cloud, a few bits and pieces of showery rain around, but broadly speaking does turn dry up brighter some spells of sunshine once any early morning mist has clear, but those temperatures 6—9 degrees at best. and as we look ahead to sunday, those temperatures may drop back even further. lots of dry weather after any early mist and fog and it stays mostly dry but chilly into next week.