you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh — the headlines a dramatic escalation in tensions between washington and tehran, after iran's most powerful military commander is killed in a us air strike the attack on qasem soleimani — seen as the second most powerful man in iran — took place in baghdad last night — now the us tells its citizens to leave the country immediately. this is the scene in the iranian capital, tehran — where friday prayers are taking place — three days of national mourning there have been declared. the australian navy has evacuated around 1,000 tourists and residents who were trapped in the fire—ravaged town of mallacoota on the victoria coast.

three companies are to pay a total of ten—and—a—half million pounds after the power cuts in august which left a million customers without power and caused travel chaos. in life, as in football, we all go through highs and lows. also coming up — prince william encourages football fans to look after their mental health, in a short film to be played at fa cup matches this weekend. and in sport — england's cricket opener rory burns is ruled out of the tour of south africa, after damaging his left ankle playing football during practice. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9 the most powerful military commander

in iran has been killed in a us airstrike in baghdad. the pentagon said general qasem soleimani — who was the head of the iranian revolutionary guards‘ elite quds force — had been planning attacks against americans in iraq. the iranian supreme leader has promised vengeance and the us has told its citizens in iraq to leave immediately. this is the scene live in tehran at friday prayers — three days of national mourning have been declared — we'll be speaking to our middle east correspondents lyse doucet and quentin sommerville shortly but first, jon donnison has this report. this is all that was left of a convoy of cars carrying iran's most senior military commander. his killing by the united states will shake the middle east to its core. qasem soleimani was head of the elite quds force

of the iranian revolutionary guard and is a hugely influentialfigure in the region. in a statement, the pentagon said: the immediate aftermath of the attack, which happened near baghdad international airport, was filmed by passers—by. several other people with military ties to iran were also killed. it comes in a week where simmering tensions between iran and the united states has boiled over. the american embassy in baghdad has been under siege as pro—iranian militiamen and demonstrators tried to breach its walls, angry at united states‘ airstrikes in the region. and yesterday, the united states defence secretary hinted america may take further action against iran.

i think it's important at this point in time not to make this united states versus iran issue. it's a rain versus the world. this bad behaviour has been going on for almost a0 years. last night, more than 650 united states troops arrived in neighbouring kuwait to provide reinforcements. all eyes will be on iran's response in a region already riven it with conflict, some will fear this could mean another war in the middle east. jon donnison, bbc news. we heard there from jon that general qasem soleimani was iran's most senior military commander running an elite unit in iran's revolutionary guards. but what more do we know about him? he's led that elite unit, the quds force, since 1998 — starting off as a reclusive leader — directing covert operations abroad. he went from barely being recognised to achieving celebrity—like status in iran. general soleimani was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in iran

behind the supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei. he's been on the military frontline — most recently in iraq where he lead iraqi and shia militias and helped them recapture the city of tikrit from so—called islamic state. in neighbouring syria he's the one who came up with the strategy that helped president bashar al—assad recapture key cities and towns from rebel fighters. the killing is controversial for many reasons including the fact that general soleimani actually supported the us in theirfight against the taliban by handing over military intelligence in 2001. well, as we have reported, the american action was taken at the direction of president trump. he hasn't directly commented yet — but tweeted this image of the american flag, an image which he has pinned to the top of his twitter feed. this morning the us state department have said that due to "heightened tensions in iraq and the region, we urge u.s. citizens to depart

iraq immediately". there has been more reaction, both in iran and in the us. iran's foreign minster mohammad javad zarif has commented. on twitter, he said the killing of mr soleimani was, "an extremely dangerous and foolish escalation." he added that, "the us. bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism". and this morning, a twitter account which publishes regular updates and news about ayatollah seyed ali khamenei, iran's supreme leader, said, "his efforts & path won t be stopped by his martyrdom, by god s power, rather a #severerevenge awaits the criminals who have stained their hands with his & the other martyrs blood last night. " they also add "the loss of our dear general is bitter. the continuing fight & ultimate victory will be more bitter for the murderers & criminals." and there has been more reaction in the us.

former vice—presidentjoe biden has tweeted a statement. in it he says, "president trump just tossed a stick of dynamite in to a tinderbox, and he owes the american people and explanation of strategy and plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests. " and adam schiff, chairman of the house intelligence committee, has reacted saying "soleimani was responsible for unthinkable violence and world is better off without him. but congress didn t authorize and american people don t want a war with iran. all steps must now be taken to protect our forces against the almost inevitable escalation and increased risk." soleimani was in iraq — which neighbours iran — and the strike took place near the international airport in the iraqi capital baghdad 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville is in beirut

hello to you. what more can you tell us hello to you. what more can you tell us about this attack? the attack itself was carried out as you mentioned in baghdad airport late last night. killing qasem soleimani. and some of his lieutenants. this is a surprising action because this is a surprising action because this is a general who is almost viewed as untouchable. he had enormous power, far more than just military power. he was able to reshape the countries around him politically. and when you travel across the middle east, his name or his presence was felt in pretty much every single battlefield. he served iran efficiently and brutally. he leaves behind a bloody legacy in lebanon, syria, iraq and beyond, it's very difficult to overstate the power of

this man. and because of that, he was seen as this man. and because of that, he was seen as untouchable. for many yea rs, was seen as untouchable. for many years, he was referred to as a shadowy figure but he was a shadowy figure constantly appearing on battlefield, having selfies taken with militia men, he was hugely popular with iranians supporting malicious and iranian—backed allies throughout the region. but he was thought to be untouchable because of the catastrophic consequences that would be anticipated if he was assassinated. america and israel would have been able to reach him before but chose not to. and we are already seeing some of the consequences of his assassination, iran says that there will be severe consequences for his killing. and that threat of revenge stretches not just across iraq, notjust across the middle east, but the us, british

and their allies interests across the world. in a little bit more detail, looking at that last point that you're making, what form could those consequences tie, both in terms of action from iran and potentially, from allies of iran? well, let's think back to when iran and its interests were a bit more unchecked in the middle east. we saw hostage taking, particularly here in lebanon. many dozens of westerners we re lebanon. many dozens of westerners were kidnapped. by iranian—backed hezbollah. we will likely see a on us interests from embassies and beyond that. so america ‘s decision to tell all americans to leave iraq may not be adequate enough, because the reach of iranian—backed interests stretches far beyond iran,

iraq, lebanon and the middle east. the other big question is how well has the united states prepared for this? because the other day, when the embassy was surrounded by pro—iranian protesters, the us seemed to have been caught on the hop. what we've seen in the past few days since then is hundreds, thousands many more us troops being committed to the middle east, presumably in anticipation of this action. so there is always the danger here that the middle east becomes a far more dangerous place and america, rather than simply neutralising a threat against it, has, asjoe neutralising a threat against it, has, as joe biden neutralising a threat against it, has, asjoe biden says, thrown a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox and will create conflagration throughout the middle east and beyond as a result of this action. thank you very much. quentin somerville in beirut, art middle east correspondent. you were seeing as we were talking there, images of

friday prayers in the iranian capital tehran, three days of national mourning had been declared for general qasem soleimani and we are hearing reports that anti—us protests are being organised throughout iran to follow on from friday prayers. let's talk to our chief international correspondent lyse doucet in kabul. general qasem soleimani, tell us what you knew of him, how popular he was in iran. and why he was such an important figure. anyone with any knowledge of the middle east knew about qasem soleimani, huge myths swirl around him, this shadowy commander who seemed to appear on the front lines, taking selfies with his troops, seemed to be the hidden hand august trading operations involving a

proxy, a network of proxy militias across the region that he himself helped create both in iraq, lebanon, syria, he used fighters from afghanistan where i am now. and so he was regarded, for iran, the most powerful military figure in the region, cia officials have been quoted as saying he was the most important operative in this region. which is why on more than one occasion, both the united states and israel contemplated a targeted killing against him but then decided that it was simply far too risky. he is not just a that it was simply far too risky. he is notjust a military man, an intelligence man, is also a senior political figure intelligence man, is also a senior politicalfigure inside intelligence man, is also a senior political figure inside iran, intelligence man, is also a senior politicalfigure inside iran, second only to iran ‘s all—powerful supreme leader ayatollah khomeini. president trump in ordering this attack against him must have been told that there would be massive consequences that would be the killing, notjust ofa man that would be the killing, notjust of a man who was the face of evil for the united states, but was for iran and its allies, their most

important man in this region. yet, at the behest of president trump, this administration has taken the step of the previous us administrations felt was a step too far. that the consequences would be too great. and does that mean that that proxy conflict you refer to between the us and iran now become something of a much more open conflict, does this mean war? what can the consequences be in your analysis? i think those who had to contend with the consequences of this attack must have had a sharp inta ke this attack must have had a sharp intake of breath this morning. and then would have to have a long pause to consider what comes next. and as clinton was saying, it comes at a time when there is concern in the united states that the capacity to deal with these kind of crisis has been very much diminished with the hollowing out of the state department, the national security

council, the kind of crisis teams that previous presidents could have marshalled at this time of a major security crisis for the united states. —— security crisis for the united states. -- quentin somerville. in many capitals including london, 0ttawa, in germany, those countries who also have forces in the middle east, they must be asking how much consultation was there, did they think of the steps which could follow this, about the tensions which would escalate? viewers will note that for all of 2019, we were reporting that both iranian and american leaders were adamant they wa nted american leaders were adamant they wanted to avoid another war in the middle east. president trump said at a time and again that he came into office to end these endless wars and now, suddenly, we find that he has taken a decision with this plunge the united states and its allies into a whole different crisis, with unknown consequences, very, very dangerous chapter and i think we wa nt to dangerous chapter and i think we want to hear more details about how

this decision process unfolded. and so this decision process unfolded. and so far, the tensions have unfolded on these proxy battlefields, we've seen on these proxy battlefields, we've seenin on these proxy battlefields, we've seen in recent days how those tensions were escalated with tip for tat attacks in iraq, american targets and forces, as well as iranian forces and iranian—backed militias. 0ther iranian forces and iranian—backed militias. other countries iran, lebanon, that could also serve as pi’oxy lebanon, that could also serve as proxy battlefields but as quentin somerville said, the reach of iranian intelligence services and the revolutionary guard formed specifically to defend the islamic revolution have a very, very long reach and they are willing to use that when they believe they have been attacked and for iran, they've made it clear that the regime that this is tantamount to an act of war. thank you. in the last few moments, there's

been a statement from the iranian revolutionary guard, a brigadier saying that the united states and israel will receive a tough response for killing general qasem soleimani. the quote from him is today the israelis and americans have committed a blatant crime at odds with him —— all international regulations and laws and rest assured they will receive a tough response. the interview with the brigadier general has been described as an emotional live interview with the correspondent of an iranian channel. general sharif added that while irg seat members are currently in morning, the quote is they are they are determined to take revenge on the zionist and criminal america and will be greater. of course we will keep you up—to—date with all

the reaction to the killing of general qasem soleimani and analysis of what the consequences might be. now moving on to one of the day ‘s other main stories. the australian navy has begun evacuating hundreds of people from a town in victoria where they have been stranded on the beach because of wildfires. thousands of people are also fleeing new south wales, where a state of emergency came into force last night. more than 125 fires continue to burn there, and more are expected on saturday, as phil mercer reports. help has finally arrived in the beleaguered town of mallacoota. about 1,000 people have boarded two navy ships in the seaside community, which has been cut off since fires tore through the area on new year's eve. others have been flown out by military helicopters. but those who remain have been told that it could be two weeks before the roads reopen. across the border, the mass exodus from southern parts of new south wales is continuing.

residents and tourists have been urged to get out while they can, ahead of extreme fire conditions forecast for saturday. thousands are on the move, but not everybody is leaving. some homeowners are determined to stay to defend their properties in a region that has already seen widespread devastation. more than 125 fires continue to burn in new south wales. since september, the blazes have killed 19 people. the authorities say about 28 others are unaccounted for in the state of victoria. this is a nationwide crisis. fires are also burning in western australia, south australia and tasmania. and there's no end in sight. the blazes have been so big and have raged with such intensity that the smoke haze has drifted across the tasman sea to new zealand.

well, phil mercerjoins us now from the town of nowra in new south wales. absolute scene of devastation behind you showing the ferocity of these fires. talk is through what's been happening. this house was destroyed on new year's eve and what happened according to the owner, the flames tore up this ridgeline that lies just beyond the property. as you can see, the trees here are charge, the ground is that ghostly shade of grey and there is this unmistakable stench of ash and smoke in the air. the children ‘s trampoline clearly no match for the flames that taught through here and overpowered this particular home. the homeowner, he's

given us his permission to be here, he says that he is already planning to rebuild his family home, six young children had been living here but if you look inside, no evidence of family life and if you can just see the steel girders that were supporting this property. due to the intensity and the sheer heat of these claims, you can see how they have been buckled and twisted and it's a similar depressing story for the rest of the building, the roof isa the rest of the building, the roof is a mangled mess as well. this heartbreaking scene of devastation is being repeated time and time again here in australia and there is again here in australia and there is a grim expectation that conditions tomorrow, saturday, could inflict more damage. throughout the months of this crisis now, some of the most striking images have been of the firefighters, many of them volunteers, of course, as other people have been fleeing the flames

they are going towards them, going through them. i know there's been some really dramatic images that have come out from one of the region is hit by the bushfires. 0f have come out from one of the region is hit by the bushfires. of a fire truck actually going through flames, maybe you could tell us a little more about that? remarkable footage taken from inside the cab of a fire engine as the crew were driving through a monstrous firestorm. they we re through a monstrous firestorm. they were being bombarded with millions of red—hot embers being forced to put protective blankets up against the windows to protect themselves stop and these acts of courage are being repeated time and time again and here in new south wales, the emergency effort relies on a very thin line of volunteers, that line is being stretched increasingly thin because in new south wales today, there are more than 125 fires and there are more than 125 fires and there is an expectation that in the

next 2a hours, conditions will become warmer, very warm, next 2a hours, conditions will become warmer, very warm, dry wind will sweep in from central australia and just to the of here, there is a very large fire that is burning and there is a fear that those conditions in the next 12—24 hours could intensify that fire, to cause more damage and chaos in this particular region. so what we've seen over particular region. so what we've seen over the last couple of days, here, south of sydney, is that thousands of people have been moving out of evacuation zones because the authorities say it's not safe for them to stay. 0k, thank you very much and take care. phil mercer in new south wales. that was phil mercer and let'sjust here a little bit more about that rescue effort, the evacuation from the town of mallacoota, on the south east tip of the country. dozens have now left on the way to western port, near melbourne — and that is a journey that could take 17 hours — though many residents — and tourists leaving the town — said they were simply

relieved to be getting help. imex military, i got 100% faith in what the military will provide, it's not going to be cruise ship treatment, but we are going to get to safety. boredom is the only threat on a boat like that and that's kind of, slightly better than boredom plus smoky eyes. that's kind of, slightly better than boredom plus smoky eyeslj that's kind of, slightly better than boredom plus smoky eyes. i haven't been able to process it, no, not yet. down at the foreshore, it's something i want to forget. i held it together pretty well until yesterday when i heard it could be coming back and that's when, yeah, i had my breakdown and i feel better after it and we are here, we are getting on the boat and we are going home and we are seeing our family. it has been amazing, the services, eve ryo ne it has been amazing, the services, everyone has come together and it's a very stressful time for everyone. but it's just been overwhelming.

joining us now from mallacoota is sam cucchiara he's a journalisy for nine news in melbourne, and he's been on the boat with those people being evacuated today. hello to you, just to be absolutely clear that the viewers, has not been the only way out of mallacoota at the only way out of mallacoota at the moment, to get on the australian navy vessel? yes, there's been two vessels at the moment, the main one we heard about which carried 1100 people, out of mallacoota on its way to melbourne as we speak, a smaller vessel which had some better medical facilities on board and a number of doctors which has taken about 100 people. we've seen some evacuations via the air, for the elderly, the young children, anyone underfive yea rs old young children, anyone underfive years old couldn't go on the ship so they've been evacuated by the air but the reason they didn't do more air evacuations was because the smoke are so incredibly thick at the moment, visibility is quite low. we've got to remember people living

their properties, their belongings, do they know that when they eventually return, that those properties will still be standing, is there any firefighting effort left behind there? absolutely, much of this town has already been quite significantly ravaged, people have left their cars and caravans here. because these fires are still burning, the main road, the main highway in and out of this holiday town still shut because of a lot of falling trees and also because of the fires at the moment. at the moment, the only way out of here is by the seat which is how we arrived here in mallacoota, or via the air. a lot of people i've spoken to today have left loved ones here to find and defend their properties while they get to safety but we know tomorrow it's going to be very dangerous here as well, the authorities have issued quite a grim warning to people who are staying here. the people who have left, do they have any idea when they might be able to return? at this stage,

we've heard it may be several weeks, possibly more before the main road is reopened. 0bviously, with the damage that surround at the moment, we are expecting it will be several months until this holiday town feels like normal again. the power is still out here. limited food supplies, we've had lots of supplies being brought in by the navy and other forces from melbourne, being brought in by the navy and otherforces from melbourne, lots being brought in by the navy and other forces from melbourne, lots of drinking water has just arrived here as well. phone reception is not good for some people, some providers, so it's really quite difficult here at the moment. sam, thank you very much for taking us through the latest from there. three energy firms are to pay a total of 10 and a half million pounds for their role in a power cut in august that left a million people without electricity in england and wales. thousands of homes lost power, people were stranded on trains, traffic lights stopped working

and one hospital lost power when its back—up generator failed to work. the energy regulator 0fgem has been investigating and concluded the power cuts should not have happened. rwe generation, which runs little barford power station, will pay four—point—five million pounds to the watchdog's redress fund. 0 rstea, which runs hornsea offshore wind farm, will pay four—point—five million pounds. the distribution firm uk power networks has agreed to pay £1.5 million. let's discuss this with phil hewitt, director of the energy consultancy firm, enappsys. he joins us from stockton on tees. thank you very much for your time this morning. let's go back to last august. that situation come up with all those people without power, the travel chaos etc. there'd been a lightning strike, happened there? and i think, according to the regulator, the main problem was that

there wasn't just one fold regulator, the main problem was that there wasn'tjust one fold in the system, they say and usually there are two false at the same time but why did that cause such chaos? the reason why it was the size of the fault and also national grid in its security and quality of supply standard only has to secure against a loss of one power station, not two, so when one went down, 800 megawatts followed, and generation went down and this meant there wasn't enough generation to meet demand and there had to be disconnection to prevent a com pletely disconnection to prevent a completely national power cuts are some people lost supply to make sure everybody else didn't have to. theoretically we are still in the same situation, that could happen again, couldn't it? potentially, if you lose a lot of power stations you get into that situation so it's an economic argument about do you want to procure enough reserve to meet a very, very rare event? 0r to procure enough reserve to meet a very, very rare event? or do you wa nt to very, very rare event? or do you want to procure enough to meet a more common event? so, in this case,

there wasn't enough reserve occurred to me that event but it was a very unlikely event in the last time we had a power cut on the scale was 2008. as the uk system of power supply is reviewed, what do you think those looking at it will decide, based on what happened last august? well, i think there will be more reserved procured because the issue we have at the moment as we have a lot more generation coming on which is non—synchronous, you don't get free frequency response, we have a lot more when forms and interconnections coming on from different countries so we will procure more reserved to meet that requirement so if we lose a large amount of generation or a large amount of generation or a large amount of generation or a large amount of incoming supply from the continent we will be able to ride it so continent we will be able to ride it soi continent we will be able to ride it so i would expect these rules to be revised to increase the amount of

reserved procured but that will have a cost to consumers. when you say it will have a cost to consumers, how much? currently on the average electricity bill, it's probably £2 per customer per year. on a domestic level. so it's not an awful lot of money to protect against that. so currently, national grid is spending £132 million a year on procuring those services, so if they spend more money they can buy more volume. what are the lessons that you think will have been learned by this in terms of how to ensure that the uk has a sustainable supply, it has the resilience to deal with unexpected events, whether they are common or less common? i think, what will happen, there will be a big review process , happen, there will be a big review process, that's been highlighted stop in the report, 0fgem

highlighted there were technical issues at the power stations, that's why they made these voluntary contributions. but also, they identified that the sq ss needs to be reviewed and maybe national grid needs to be more proactive in coming up needs to be more proactive in coming up with more of an idea of exactly what it needs to procure and also needs to take into account something called embedded generation, we are building a lot of very small generation, solar, small wind and a small distributed gas agents across the network to make the newly changing energy system. but national grid doesn't quite have a full view on that and the distribution network of operators currently focuses primarily on connecting people to the network, they need to maybe concentrate more on actually controlling those people and understanding how the networks are operating. so it's a big programme of work that needs to be carried out in the next three years but this is pa rt

in the next three years but this is part of the energy transition we are going through to meet net zero. phil hewitt, thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. a lot more sunshine around today compared with the last few days and it will feel a bit colder. but we stuck with milder wet weather across parts of east anglia and the south—east. still some heavy rain around here at the moment. it is starting to clear away eastwards, with rain in dorset on the heavy side at the same time. that will ease during the morning and afternoon, most places becoming dry. there will be a few showers in the west and quite a blow each day, but for the majority of the afternoon will be dry. plenty of blue sky overhead, but breezy. in shetland, we could see gayle ‘s touch 70 miles an hour later. that will add to the chills. elsewhere, temperatures

dropping through the day. frost tonight to take us into tomorrow morning and eastern areas. for the weekend, there will be rain at times in scotland. the best of the sunshine is the further south and east you are. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: iran's most powerful military commander, general qasem soleimani, has been killed by a us air strike in iraq. the attack on qasem soleimani took place in baghdad last night — the us has told its citizens to leave the country immediately. two australian navy ships evacuate hundreds of people trapped by encircling wildfires in the state of victoria as high temperatures and strong winds are forecast for the weekend. three companies are to pay a total of £10.5 million after the power cuts in august which left a million customers without power

and caused travel chaos. before we go to the spot, let's look at these live images from iran.|j beg your pardon, these images are from iraq after friday prayers. the iraqi main shi'ite cleric over there is going to speak shortly about the killing of general soleimani. you will be aware that in iran, friday prayers have been said. three days of mourning have been declared and there are plans for anti—us protests around the country in the wake of the killing of general soleimani. we

will bring you more on that developing story throughout the morning. sport now...and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. good morning. england captainjoe root has confirmed that football won t be played during practice or warm—up ahead of matches for the foreseeable future. the announcement comes in the wake of opener rory burns being ruled out of the rest of the tour of south africa after damaging his left ankle playing football. well, day one of second test is under way — and england have lost an early wicket in cape town. zak crawley has gone forjust four on his return to the side following the withdrawal of burns. england are currently a0 for one. fast bowlerjofra archer is also out with an elbow injury. the third test between australia and new zealand is under way in sydney. before the action got under way there was a minute's applause to recognise the efforts of firefighters tackling bush fires across the country. marnus labuschagne has put australia into a commanding position with his fourth century in his last 5 tests. the hosts closed on 283 for three.

liverpool are a step closer to the premier league title, after a routine 2—0 win against sheffield united. mo salah struck with just three and a half minutes on the clock at anfield. sadio mane added the second midway through the second half. their lead at the top of the table is back to 13 points and they've gone a year unbeaten in the league. iam i am really proud of the boys. i cannot say it often enough. we should not take things like this for granted. that is not allowed to happen, because it is so difficult. to control sheffield united like we did tonight is exceptional. we never laid a glove on them, really. if there was ever an example

of the desire of a football team thatis of the desire of a football team that is going well, you can look at liverpool tonight and hope people will talk about the movement and quality on the ball. for me, the fundamental things they have to do to wina fundamental things they have to do to win a game of football, run forward , to win a game of football, run forward, play forward, run back, tackle, defend, be aggressive, they showed those qualities. it's a great example for our team. aston villa's relegation battle has been dealt a major blow with the news that striker wesley and goalkeeper tom heaton will miss the remainder of the season with knee ligament injuries. club record signing wesley has scored six goals in 22 appearances this season and earned a call—up to the brazil squad. heaton has missed only one premier league game, making 20 appearances in total. the pair picked up the injuries during the second half of wednesday s 2—1win during the second half villa are just one point above the relegation zone. wayne rooney made his return to english football last night in the championship — and he was captain on his debut for derby county

against barnsley. england's record goal—scorer couldn't find the net himself, but he did set upjack marriott to give derby the lead just before half—time. rooney played the full 90 minutes as derby went on to win 2—1. 0bviously, obviously, i have been training now for quite a while. so my fitness has been good. match fitness is different, so i am not 100%. but i had no problems getting through the 90 minutes. nick kyrgios will donate £100 to the bush fire relief fund for every ace he hits this month. fellow australian players are also making similar gestures whilst australia 0pen organisers have confirmed that a special exhibition match will also take place to raise funds for relief and recovery efforts. that's all the sport for now. let's return to our breaking news

story this morning, the most powerful military commander in iran has been killed in a us air strike in baghdad. the pentagon said general qasem soleimani, who was the head of the iranian revolutionary guard's elite quds force, had been planning attacks against americans in iraq. the iranian supreme leader has promised vengeance and the us has promised vengeance and the us has told its citizens in iraq to leave immediately. iran's state tv channel has reported the death of general soleimani. this was how the item was shown on a us bulletin —— ona item was shown on a us bulletin —— on a news bulletin, with the present confirming the death and then with a montage of images of the heads of the quds forces. iran's foreign minister has also commented on twitter. he said the killing of general soleimani was an extreme dangerous and foolish escalation. he added that the us bears responsibility for all the consequences of what he called its

rogue adventurism. so how did we get to this point? let's take a look at the timeline of events. on 27th december, more than 30 rockets were fired at an iraqi military base in the northern city of kirkuk. a us contractor was killed and four american and two iraqi servicemen wounded. us officials blamed an iranian—backed militia, although they denied responsibility. in response, the us launched airstrikes in iraq and syria, targeting the bases of the iranian—backed militia. 25 fighters were reported killed. 0n 31st december, a crowd angered by the strikes marched on the us embassy, breaching the reception area and setting the perimeter on fire — leading us troops to fire tear gas to repel them. the pentagon said general soleimani

approved the attacks on the embassy, which brings us to today, when a drone strike hit the two cars carrying mr suleimani and several officials with iranian—backed militias as they were leaving the baghdad international airport. let's talk to ghanbar naderi, he's the political editor of kayhan a conservative newspaper in iran, and joins us on the phone from tehran. how much of a surprise is this attack? there has been an escalation in tensions between the united states and iran in recent weeks. there had been a series of actions and retaliation is, but this attack on general soleimani, how much of a surprise is it? well, it was a big surprise is it? well, it was a big surprise for many people here, but it was expected because we know israel had already threatened to assassinate a general. we know trump had a tweet where he said this is

not a one, this is a threat. before that, soleimani himself said he expected to be killed any moment. so we we re expected to be killed any moment. so we were surprised by the time, but not surprised that it happened. give us not surprised that it happened. give usa not surprised that it happened. give us a sense not surprised that it happened. give us a sense of how well known general soleimani was in iran. he was a very respected man. he sacrificed a lot. when the whole world looked the other way, he was at the forefront of the war against terrorism and extremism. he even cooperated with american forces against daesh, isis or al-qaeda in iraq and syria, and look what happened in the end. he didn't deserve this kind of death that happened last night. i think america needs to come to its senses. it is going to escalate the already dangerous situation throughout the middle east. this is uncharted territory. many people loved this

man for what he did for this country, for our allies in the region. many people i have spoken to, i have talked to more than 100 ordinary iranians and they are all talking about retaliation. they say he didn't deserve to die and america has to be held responsible for this attack not against general soleimani, but against the national security of this country. why do you think the trump administration chose to ta ke think the trump administration chose to take this action where other administrations may have thought about it but didn't carry anything out? i don't think iran is an angel and didn't make mistakes. iran has made mistakes because we are not living in a perfect world. we make mistakes. the iranian government has made mistakes in dealing with the united states. but at the same time, we should keep in mind that

president trump and his administration is under immense pressure right now. they did this because they wanted to escape the consequences of the current impeachment trial by the democrats in the united states. so they tried to score political points to distract the attention of the general public in the us from what is going on inside the us. i think the same thing is happening here, because the government is under immense pressure because of us sanctions. the establishment is also paying a heavy price because of the ongoing protests across the country. so it is a win—win situation not just for iran, but also for the united states government. they love to see this kind of escalation. they love to see another conflict in the middle east, because it will distract attention from their own domestic problems. when the iranian leadership talks about consequences for this killing, what do you think

they could mean by that, the latest statement from the islamic revolutionary guard corps saying the us and israel will receive a tough response for killing general soleimani? iran has a wide reach across the region. we know america is going to pressurise afghanistan. there will also be pressure on the allied forces in iraq. we know they will put similar pressure on us forces in syria. the same thing will happen in yemen. iran is not going to sit on its hands and watch the united states assassinate top military commanders. the hardliners

feed on this kind of escalation. they want to prove to their own people and the international community that talking to the united states is not the way forward, america cannot be trusted and is not a reliable partner. it doesn't meet its end of the bargain in any deal. so this will give big ammunition to the hardliners and the conservatives here to continue their rhetoric in the middle east and beyond the region. it will be a huge victory for hardliners here. by the way, the last nail in the coffin here is that they have nothing else to talk about. the so—called nuclear deal is now down the drain and iran is com pletely now down the drain and iran is completely sanctioned by the united states and its allies. nobody is going to help iran's economy

benefit, so they are going to lose big time when they have the presidential and parliamentary elections over the next year. it is a huge win for the hardliners here and the military class. the same thing is happening in the united states. trump has succeeded in distracting attention from his own problems in america with the impeachment and so on. so they have been successful in escalating an already dangerous conflict in iran and across the region. ghanbar naderi, thank you for your time. that was the political editor of a newspaper with reaction from iran to the news of the killing of general soleimani. the last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years in the uk with eight new high—temperature records set. the met office said on friday that the 10 years from 2010 to 2019 had been the second warmest

and second wettest decade — slightly behind 2000 to 2009. the met office says last year was provisionally the 11th warmest on record. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has more. the last decade holds seven, and should december‘s figures be confirmed, eight all—time high uk temperature records, compared with only one low temperature record. the last decade holds seven, and should december‘s according to the met office, the fact that so many of the high temperature records have been set in the most recent decade is likely to be a consequence of our climate warming. in 2019, these included: and subject to confirmation: although average temperatures are increasing, cold extremes still occur.

for example, the so—called beast from the east in 2018 resulted in the coldest march day on record. but in the past decade, there have been far more high temperature records than cold ones. let's speak now to dr mark mccarthy, head of the met office's national climate information centre. there were a lot of statistics in that introduction to pallab ghosh‘s report, so let's try and break it down. essentially if you look at last year, we saw the highest uk temperatures for february, july and provisionally for december at the end of a record—breaking decade. further evidence that the uk climate is warming? as you say, there are lots of numbers and statistics

within that and we monitor myriad aspects of our weather in the uk. this is part of a wider picture of a changing climate. we have seen that our climate in the uk has warmed by just over a degree since the mid—20th century. and with the extremes as quoted in 2019 and the last decade, that is consistent with the broad picture. climate change is tipping the balance. so when those rare weather conditions occur that lead to extreme temperatures in the uk, we are tipping the balance in favour of more high temperature records and fewer low temperature records. that is what we are seeing in the observations we are taking. although there was that one record low in 2018, the beast from the east, a memorable name. it doesn't mean each decade is going to be

warmer than the preceding one, does it, or that there will not be a level of variability that we associate with the british climate? that's right. we have a warming climate and the uk is warming at a similar rate to the global mean temperature, which has also increased by about the same amount. but in the uk, because of opposition between the atlantic ocean and the european continent —— because of our position, our climate and weather are highly variable. so that variability is superimposed on our changing climate, if you like. so we do still experience cold extremes like the beast from the east, and low temperature extremes. and we will still experience high temperature extremes, but climate change is pushing the balance. so we are seeing fewer low temperature extremes. what is going to be done

with this sort of information at a policy level by government, the environment agency and other interested parties? we produce these monitoring reports routinely and they have been collected since the inception of the met office 150 yea rs inception of the met office 150 years ago. this information feeds into what we report to government, but it is also published publicly for the public and businesses and anyone to use. part of it is to allow the uk to understand our climate, the past variability, what is unusual and what is not, but also looking at how our climate is now an feeding that into projections for future change and what are the risks that we need to manage at a national and regional scale in the uk that we might be exposed to through the

changing climate. so that is feeding international adaptation planning and other government responses.- mark mccarthy, head of the met office's national climate information centre, thank you very much. football fans at fa cup games this weekend will be shown a video before kick—off, narrated by the duke of cambridge, encouraging them to look after their mental health. (tx the short film also features some of football's biggest names. prince william has joined forces with the sport's governing bodies and public health england to get men talking about their mental health. joining me now is professorjohn newton from public health england. essentially, the big idea here is to get people talking about their mental health in the same way they might have a chat about football? indeed. the charities have done a good job of raising the profile of mental health. many of us now

realise we can look after our mental health just as we need to look after our physical health. but people don't know what to do, so we developed an online resource which gives people advice on how to deal with stress, boost their mood and get more sleep. these small changes make a real difference. amen still less likely to be having this conversation than women —— is it men who are less likely to be having this conversation than women? this initiative is aimed at men, isn't it? we are using the power of football to reach a large audience, which is mainly men but does include women. we are addressing the whole population. men are less likely to ta ke population. men are less likely to take action to improve their mental health than women, so it is targeted at men. what evidence is there that this campaign, spearheaded by the royals, and there have been many initiatives in the last couple of yea rs initiatives in the last couple of years to initiatives in the last couple of yea rs to encourage initiatives in the last couple of years to encourage people to think

about their mental health, evidence is that this campaign is making an impact? well, it is early days but we have been running the campaign for three months and we have already had a million people who have downloaded their own personalised mine plan. that is on the every mind matters website if you want to look at that. just search for every mind matters and you can get your own mind plan. the individual components are approved and signed off by the nhs, so we are confident that if people follow these simple steps which they can incorporate into everyday life, it will help them manage their mental health better. what is that mine plan? there is a simple quiz on the website because there is a range of problems that people might be having, whether it is stress or feeling low or having difficulty sleeping. so you get a guide to which of the various interventions and resources on the web might be helpfulfor you, things

like boosting your physical activity, helping you to connect with people around you better and thinking about sleep. having the sort of platform of fa cup games and involving such well—known names from the spot, what impact is that going to have? it is an incredible platform to get a message across. there is massive coverage and this isa there is massive coverage and this is a unique approach. the fa have never done this before, to allow a health message to go out to so many fans. there are 15 million football fa ns fans. there are 15 million football fans in the uk and we think this will reach a large proportion of them, whether it is people at the match or through broadcast media or online. many people will see the film and we hope lots of people will do something about their mental health as a result. thank you for coming to talk to us about that, professorjohn newton from public health england.

much more coming up on the main stories of the day including the killing of general soleimani in baghdad. now it's time for a look at the weather. we have a bit of clout this morning and rain across the south—east of england, but that will clear away. and as it clears, we will see sunny spells developing. already a bit of sunshine breaking through the cloud in worcestershire, plus the cloud clears away, temperatures will fall away. double figure temperatures at the moment in the south—east of england. by this afternoon, they will drop. one or two showers in north—west england into the midlands. frequent across scotland and strong wind across scotland. gusts of 60 hour in the far north. despite the sunshine, it will feel more chilly than yesterday. this evening, we continue with showers

and cloud across northern areas. clearer spells the further south you are. over the weekend, clearer spells the further south you are. overthe weekend, it clearer spells the further south you are. over the weekend, it will be quy- are. over the weekend, it will be guy. there will be a bit of sunshine at times. the further north you are, more cloud and outbreaks of rain across scotland.

you re watching bbc newsroom live ? it's 10 am and these are the main stories this morning: iran vows to take revenge after its most powerful military leader, qassem soleimani, was killed on the orders of president trump in a us airstrike in iraq. the attack on qassem soleimani — seen as the second most powerful man in iran — took place in baghdad last night — now the us tells its citizens to leave the country immediately. the australian navy has evacuated around 1,000 tourists and residents who were trapped in the fire—ravaged town of mallacoota on the victoria coast. three companies are to pay a total of ten—and—a—half million pounds after the power cuts in august which left a million