you re watching bbc newsroom live 7 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 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. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm annita mcveigh. the most powerful military commander in iran has been killed in a us airstrike. the pentagon said general qassem soleimani — who was the head of the iranian revolutionary guards‘ elite quds force — had been planning attacks against americans in iraq. mr soleimani was killed, along with others, in iraq, near baghdad s airport, in an operation the pentagon said was at the direction of the president.

the iranian supreme leader has promised vengeance and the us has told its citizens in iraq to leave immediately. in the last few moments, the foreign secretary dominic raab has said we a lwa ys secretary dominic raab has said we always recognise the aggressive thread polled by the iranian to lead by qasem soleimani. following his death, we urge all parties to de—escalate. and he went on, further conflict is in none of our interests. 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 iran versus the world.

it's a rainy and bad behaviour that has been going on now for nearly a0 yea rs. 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 reaction to the killing, 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 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. " kasra naji is a correspondent for bbc persian, and joins me now. looking at that statement that has just come in from the foreign secretary here, dominic raab, saying we have always recognised the aggressive thread posed by the iranian quds force but we are at all sides to de—escalate but what is the chance of that happening, it certainly doesn't sound like it,

does it? what i understand from bits and pieces of information we are getting from iran is iran is preparing, as we speak, the supreme leader is in a session at the supreme leader is in a session at the supreme national security council, he doesn't take part in that council meeting, this is the first time. this is an emergency meeting, very top layers of iranian leaders and officials to decide how they will respond. as you said, they've been promising revenge, bleak revenge, i don't know what they can do immediately, they have lost the man who would help them to do something. in this attack last night. so they have to reorganise and see how they can respond. i suppose the first

thing that we might see as demonstrations in baghdad in front of the american embassy. by april iranian militia and supporters. they will probably be looking at how they can respond in a limited way for the moment in the persian gulf against saudi arabia, some targets, american targets in the region. but they will wait for a big revenge, noisy, proportionate, revenge soon. as we talk, we are seeing these pictures coming to us from iran, we've already seen friday prayers. and where three days of national mourning have been declared and where we know anti—american protests are planned throughout the country. if you can describe for people who are unfamiliar with if you can describe for people who are unfamiliarwith him, if you can describe for people who are unfamiliar with him, just how

important was qasem soleimani to iran, to its strategy, not only domestically, but perhaps more significantly, in the wider region. he was a military strategist, top military strategist for iran in the region, also the point man in foreign policy in the region. he basically led the foreign policy in the middle east for iran, not the foreign minister. and he organised all the militias in iraq, syria, yemen, to fight saudis, to fight full in support of bashur al—assad in syria. he was instrumental in saving baghdad, by the way, from the attack from isis. if you remember in 2014, when isis was making huge advances, they were at the gates of baghdad and qasem soleimani was the

man who flew to baghdad very quickly, organised militias to around the northern perimeter of baghdad. and they saved baghdad from being run over by isis. in syria, he was the man who went to moscow and convinced president putin to join was the man who went to moscow and convinced president putin tojoin in and become the air force for the iranian militias in syria, in support of bashur al—assad and that turned around the whole dynamics in the syrian civil war. and changed it and helped bashur al—assad forces, she said, to take many of the areas that they had lost. he is instrumental in helping who these in yemen, arming them, giving them strategies of how to fight the saudis and others there. he was a

big man. and his loss is going to be felt in a big way by the hardliners in iran. he was a hardliners man in iraq, don't forget. 0thers in iran. he was a hardliners man in iraq, don't forget. others in iran have different views about him, he is not that popular with the rest of the population, even with the moderates and reformists in iran, he is not that popular. thank you very much for your insight into that. let me bring you some reaction coming in from russia. an iranian ally, of course. this is from the head of the russian state douma foreign relations committee, the lower house foreign relations committee. saying the americans have crossed a red line and this time it can lead to very serious consequences. a

recognition of the very significant escalation that the killing of general qasem soleimani represents, tensions obviously escalating in recent weeks between the us and iran but this is as one correspondent put it earlier, moving things into another gear entirely. the head of the russian state douma foreign relations committee saying the americans have crossed a red line and this time it can lead to very serious consequences. that was one of the subjects touched on. earlier i spoke to our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville. he says the killing of iran's top commander will have an impact across the middle east. this is a surprising action, this is a general 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. 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 who was constantly appearing on battlefields, 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 revenge stretches not just across iraq, notjust across the middle east but to 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 take, both in terms of action from iran and potentially, from allies of iran? let's think back to when iran and its interests were a bit more unchecked in the middle east. we saw hostagetaking, particularly here in lebanon. many dozens of westerners we re lebanon. many dozens of westerners were kidnapped by the iranian—backed hezbollah. we will likely see

attacks on us interests from embassies and beyond so america's decision to tell all americans to leave iraq may not be adequate enough because the reach of iranian—backed interests stretches for 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 called on the hop. what we have seen been called on the hop. what we have seenin been called on the hop. what we have seen in the past few days since then its 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 the threat against it, has as joe neutralising the threat against it, has asjoe biden says, throw a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox and will create conflagrations into the middle east and beyond is the result of this action. quentin somerville talking to me earlier about this incident. let's get some fallout from the business world — particularly the price of oil — our business correspondent sameer hashmi is in dubai. what's been the immediate reaction in the wake of the killing of general qasem soleimani? the immediate reaction has been on the oil prices, remember this attack took place in iraq, the middle east. as soon as the news was obviously confirmed by the united states, we sought the oil price, brent crude, the main benchmark really to measure oil prices, shot up by $4 and even now, it's hovering between three and a half and 4%. the reason why oil prices have gone up, the middle east

is one of the most important regions when it comes to global oil supply. what we have seen in the past is in this tension between the united states and iran, oilfacilities have come under attack. we saw that in september, when the oil company owned by saudi arabia, it affected 50% of the oil output. the us accuses iran for that, iran denies it carried out those attacks but nevertheless, there are fears that iran, if iran decides to retaliate, this could be an option, to attack oil infrastructure in the persian gulf. we've also seen reaction in the stock markets, whether it's the asian stock markets, european stock markets including in britain, or evenif markets including in britain, or even if we look at the us markets, when the news broke because they we re when the news broke because they were still trading, we immediately saw all the markets falling, people started selling because of the uncertainty and fear that any

escalation could lead to more trouble in this region. which, you know, given already that the global economy has been struggling because of the us china trade war, this would be another problem that will add to the global economy. after that initial spike, do you expect oil prices to settle, is generally, the world supply of oil more balanced now, compared to times when it's been when the rest of the world has been very much dependent on oil coming from that region, from the middle east? i was talking to a few a nalysts middle east? i was talking to a few analysts and they said unlike september, even when that time attacks were carried out in saudi arabia, prices shot up but they came down immediately, stabilised in the next few days because saudis could not react, nor did the us but this time, it's a much more serious situation according to them because they don't know what's going to happen in the next few days, how is

iran going to react. if you look at the geopolitical tension in the region, or if you go by the history, it looks like iran might react to this. what does this do to oil prices? if you look at this moderate strip called the straits of hormuz, which was at the centre of all the problems when it comes to oil supplies over the past two years, this is a water body, narrow strip of water at connecting the persian gulf of the world and this strip alone carries nearly 21 billion, million barrels of oil every day which is equal to a third of the oil supply that is carried through the sea. supply that is carried through the sea. and it's mainly the saudis are sending their oilfrom sea. and it's mainly the saudis are sending their oil from here and other regions, other countries in this region that use that passage. what we have seen in the past is that iran has attacked some of the all vessels that have been passing through, including british ones. and it has also threatened in the past

that it would block this passage which means that it will immediately affect oil supply which in turn, would affect oil prices. the reason i explain this is this is the biggest uncertainty at this point in time, we don't know how iran will react, it could be, the middle east being one of the biggest suppliers of oil in the world, clearly there will be uncertainty and prices will remain volatile. thank you very much for that. the headlines on bbc news... iran's most powerful military commander, general qasem soleimani, has been killed by a us air strike in iraq. the authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. 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. also coming up — prince william joins some of football's most famous names, to encourage people to talk openly about their mental health. if underexplored, england are recovering after losing the early wicket of sackett crawley in the test against south africa. 63—2, after winning the toss and choosing to bat. juergen klopp says his side can still improve, a year to the day since i last lost in the premier league and comes after a 2—0 win over sheffield united. aston villa confirmed their goalkeeper and striker will miss the remainder of the season, after both suffering knee ligament damage during the wednesday win at burnley. i'll be back with more later. 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. 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 one—point—five million pounds. phil hewitt, director of the energy consultancy firm, enappsys, says the role of the national grid is also being looked at. there's obviously been a big review process , there's obviously been a big review process, that's been highlighted in the reports, 0fgem highlighted there we re the reports, 0fgem highlighted there were some technical issues at the

power stations, that's why they've made these voluntary contributions and may beat national grid needs to be more proactive in actually coming up be more proactive in actually coming up with more of an idea of exactly how much it needs to procure and needs to take into account something called embedded generation, so we are building a lot of very small generation like solar and small wind and small distribution generation like gas engines all over the network to meet the newly changing energy system. but national grid doesn't quite have a full view on that and the distribution network of operators are focused on connecting people to the network, they may be need to concentrate more on controlling those people and understanding how the networks are operating. boris johnson's key adviser, dominic cummings, has published a series ofjob adverts saying that number 10 wants to hire what he calls an "unusual set of people" to work as special advisers and potentially officials. the post — published on dominic cummings' blog — comes amid reports

that the prime minister is planning changes to the civil service. mr cummings warned that there were "profound problems at the core of how the british state makes decisions" and called on potential candidates to e—mail him their cvs. prince william has joined with some of football's famous faces to encourage people to talk openly about their mental health. all of this weekend's third round fa cup matches will start one minute late as fans are shown a film about the issue — narrated by the duke of cambridge. katy austin has more. prince william: in life, as in football, we all go through highs and lows. morecambe footballer kevin ellison knows exactly what that's like. i couldn't control it. it's a dark cloud. i would be happy and bubbly and then all of a sudden, literally, it was a dark cloud coming over me. i would be a totally different person. i could feel it coming over me but i had no control over it whatsoever. prince william: we all

sometimes feel anxious. he's given his backing to a new film which also features england stars and is narrated by the duke of cambridge. its focus, keeping your mind healthy. prince william: but we can all start to change things. over the next few days, 32 fa cup third round matches will be played at grounds across the country. all of them will start one minute late, while the film is shown, a chance for fans to pause to think about their own well—being. men are less likely than women to take action to do something about it. whether that's for stress or feeling low or difficulty sleeping. so the film asks football fans to take a minute to learn about what they can do to improve their mental health. every mind matters, and heads up will show you the simple steps you can take to look after your mental health. that includes downloading a mind plan which can give guidance on coping with common issues such as feeling anxious or sleeping badly.

prince william is president of the fa and ending the stigma around mental health struggles is a goal he has championed. he discussed it with high profile footballers for a special bbc programme in october. through this campaign he hopes to bring those passions together again and use football to start the largest ever conversation around mental health. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king. hello. rather cloudy started day, while stored across the the south—east of england. while stored across the the south-east of england. as we go through into the afternoon, temperatures dropping away, feeling noticeably colder compared to yesterday. some sunshine, the sunshine becoming more extensive across england and wales as the cloud clears, some showers in north—west england, and northern parts of scotland, there is a wind

with some girls affecting the fat north. elsewhere, we see the gusts about 40—45 miles an hour, the wind not quite as strong as yesterday across england and wales. temperatures as mentioned, dropping away across the south—east, by this afternoon there will be about 6—9 celsius. tonight continuing with showers across scotland, clear spells further south to take us into the weekend. which should be largely fine and dry for many of us but we see some cloud and rain affecting the far north of scotland. goodbye for now.

hello, this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines: iran has vowed to take revenge after its most powerful military leader, qasem soleimani, was killed on the orders of president trump in a us air strike in iraq. the us has accused the general of developing plans to attack americans in iraq, and has told its citizens to leave the country immediately. the authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens of thousands of people to leave the area before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. 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. also coming up — analysis

by the met office reveals that the last decade was officially the second hottest in the past 100 years. sport now...and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's ben croucher. 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. 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. dom sibley 34 before being caught behind. england are currently 63—2. fast bowlerjofra archer is also out

with an elbow injury. marnus labuschagne carried on where he left off in 2019 — plundering runs for fun for australia in the third test against new zealand. before play in syndey, there was a minute's applause for the fighfighters and all those tackling the bushfires across the country. labuschagne, who scored more test runs than anybody last year, made an unbeaten 130 as australia reached 283 for three against a depleted new zealand. australia already lead the three test series 2—0. liverpool managerjurgen klopp says there's still room for improvement after going an 12 months unbeaten in the premier league. their 2—0 win over sheffield united means it's now exactly a year to the day since they last lost a league game. mo salah got the first before setting up sadio mane for their second at anfield. they restored their 13 point lead at the top of the table — and they have a game in hand. 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 that's 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 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. as if aston villa's battle against relegation wasn't hard enough — they've lost two of their key players for the rest of the season. goalkeeper tom heaton suffered knee ligament damage during their win against burnley on wednesday. brazilian striker wesley also suffered a similar injury in the same game. 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 whole game in midfield as derby went on to win 2—1. 0bviously, i've been training now for quite a while. so my fitness has been good. match fitness is different, so i'm not 100%. but i had no problems getting through the 90 minutes. the first golf tournament of 2019 is taking place in the tropical surroundings of hawaii with chile'sjoaquin neimann leading after the first round of the sentry tournament of champions. the european tour's best golfer of 2019jon rahm is three shots off the lead with five birdies and a bogey in maui. the tournament is open to all winners on the pga tour last year, although rory mcilroy, tiger woods and shane lowry have opted not to take part.

that's all the sport for now. let's return to our main story. 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 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. but 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. just a note from our defence correspondentjonathan just a note from our defence correspondent jonathan beale, just a note from our defence correspondentjonathan beale, who says here that the mod is meeting officials today to discuss the latest developments in iraq and iran. the mod says the security of

personnel is constantly kept under review. there are currently 400 british military personnel in iraq providing training and security for those doing the training. there are also two royal navy warships in the gulf and the raf continues to fly operations against so—called islamic state of iraq and syria. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in the afghan capital kabul. lyse, looking at the turn of the reaction coming in from various nations, some of whom are allies of iran, others not, it's interesting to see some calling for de—escalation, as one would expect, but others recognising that this escalation that has been going on in recent weeks between iran and the united states has now moved into a different game entirely. no one,

most of all the people of the wider region, andi most of all the people of the wider region, and i am in afghanistan, which is also potentially going to be drawn into this expecting escalation, nobody wants another war in the middle east. president trump has said that repeatedly or through 2019. that is why we are still hearing voices today, we had a statement from the british foreign secretary calling for de—escalation. everyone knows how much suffering, how much of a price will be paid if there is an all—out confrontation between iran and the united states and even if there is a proxy war carried out either in iraq or here in afghanistan, where there are us forces, or in lebanon, anywhere where there is a network of the proxy militias that qasem soleimani did so much to create, manage and command for years across this region. for iran, this is simply too

big an act, a crossing of a major red line. for now, it is simply an escalation of a war of words, with the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei calling for severe retaliation, the defence minister warning of a crushing response. we also heard from the head of one of the iraqi military units, whose own commander was also killed in this strike, for then preparing for possible revenge against us forces. so there is a slow beginning of a possible retaliation, but i think eve ryo ne possible retaliation, but i think everyone will have to pause for a moment to consider the consequences, which could be enormous. moment to consider the consequences, which could be enormouslj understand which could be enormous.” understand an emergency meeting of senior iranian leaders is going on to consider the response to the death of qasem soleimani, described by one of our colleagues in bbc persian is the point man in foreign policy for iran. perhaps you could describe for our viewers who are not

familiar with him how important a figure he was in the country? he was a very polarising figure. but love him or loathe him, if you were working or living in the middle east, you would know of qasem soleimani, a mercurial figure east, you would know of qasem soleimani, a mercurialfigure and a man of mystery. he rose to prominence during the iran—iraq war of the 1980s with his daring moves in the front lines. he then became head of the powerful elite quds force in the late 1990s, which is the external wing, the special forces of iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps. since then he has been the architect of all of iran's operations in the region, whether or not it is the wall supporting president assad in syria, the continuing conflict in iraq, which has often included attacks against us forces. there is

also hezbollah in iran, yemen. there are so many areas where qasem soleimani was present and there was a lwa ys soleimani was present and there was always an airof soleimani was present and there was always an air of mystery around him. whenever there was a major operation, you would see on social media saying, where is qasem soleimani? and he would suddenly appear taking selfies with chips at the front and he would send barbs on social media, sometimes seeming to almost taunt the united states and even president trump directly as if to say, come and get me. and it wasn't just on the to say, come and get me. and it wasn'tjust on the military battlefield. in iran, he was a significant political force, seen as second only to the all—powerful supreme leader ayatollah khamenei. he was in effect iran's real foreign minister when it came to matters of war or peace across the region. lyse, thank you very much. that was our international correspondent in kabul. we have just our international correspondent in kabul. we havejust had our international correspondent in kabul. we have just had a statement from the labour leaderjeremy corbyn. he says the us assassination

of general qasem soleimani is a serious and dangerous escalation of conflict in the middle east with global significance. he says the uk government should urge restraint on the part of both iran and the united states, which foreign secretary dominic raab has done in a statement earlier. mr corbyn goes onto say the government should stand up to the belligerent actions and rhetoric coming from the us. he concludes, all countries in the region and beyond should seek to ratchet down the tensions to avoid deepening conflict which can only bring further misery to the region 17 yea rs on further misery to the region 17 years on from the disastrous invasion of iraq. that is a statement from the labour leader jeremy corbyn in response to the killing of qasem soleimani. ghanbar naderi is the political editor of kayhan, a conservative newspaper in iran — he says while the strike had surprised many people in the country, it had also been expected. we know israel had already

threatened to assassinate this major general. we know trump also had a tweet where he said, "this is not a warning, this is a threat". before that, even soleimani himself said he expected to be killed any moment. so we were surprised by the timing, but 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 in iraq at the forefront of the war against terrorism and extremism. he even cooperated with american forces to defeat 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 notjust against general soleimani, but against the national security of this country. why do you 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.

the headlines on bbc news... iran has vowed 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 authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. 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. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of two people who were stabbed at a house in derbyshire on new year's day. rhys hancock is accused of murdering his estranged wife helen hancock and her partner martin griffiths in the village of duffield. 0ur correspondent phil mackie is outside the court in derby.

bring us up to date with what is happening. in the last half hour, rhys hancock has appeared before south derbyshire magistrates. it was a brief hearing, as is always the case on these occasions. it lasted barely five minutes, during which he only spoke to confirm his neighbour, a gentle dress. he is accused of the two murders of his estranged wife, helen, a teacher, who was 39 and the mother of their three children, and her partner martin griffiths, a businessman and father of two at her home in the village of duffield in derbyshire in the early hours of new year's day. they suffered multiple sta b year's day. they suffered multiple stab wounds. paramedics arrived at the scene and were unable to revive them, so they were pronounced dead. yesterday after being held in custody for more than 24 hours, mr hancock was charged with their murders. today he has appeared in court. he was remanded in custody untilan court. he was remanded in custody until an appearance next monday at

derby can cut, and we have had a few tributes from both families to the victims in this case. helen hancock's family said they were devastated. they talked about helen was a lovely, beautiful, friendly, bubbly and special person. martin griffiths' family said he was a lovely dad, son, brother and uncle who had her passion for adventure, running and a love of animals. the next stage in this criminal case will be on monday at derby crown court, where rhys hancock, helen hancock's estranged husband, is due to appear again. thank you for the update. the liberal democrat mp layla moran, has come out as pa nsexual after beginning a relationship with a woman. the mp, who announced the news on social media, said coming out in the context of being a politician had been "slightly more difficult" than telling her friends and family and criticised parliament as a "weird, backwards place" for lg btq people. half of apprenticeship courses in england have been accused of being "fake"

by an education think tank. the edsk report says the apprenticeship levy — paid by big employers — is being used on low—skilled jobs or relabelling existing posts, rather than training. back to another of our main stories this hour — and major evacuations are under way in australia due to ongoing wildfires continuing to ravage the country. thousands of people are 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. let's just hear 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. iam i am ex—military, so i have 100% faith that the navy will provide. it is not going to be cruise ship treatment, but you will get to safety. boredom is the only threat ona safety. boredom is the only threat on a boat like that. and that is better than boredom plus smoke haze. i haven't been able to process it yet. we are all down at the foreshore and it is something i want to forget. i held it together well until yesterday, when i heard that it could be coming back. that was when i had my breakdown, and ifelt better afterwards. now we are getting on the boat and we are going home and seeing ourfamilies. it has been amazing. everyone has come together in a very stressful time. but it has been overwhelming. sam cucchiara is a journalist with 9news melbourne, who had been on the boats

with evacuees earlier today. there have been two navy vessels at the moment. the main one that we had about in the story is carrying 1100 people out of mallacoota. it is on its way to melbourne as we speak and then a smaller vessel with better medicalfacilities on then a smaller vessel with better medical facilities on board and the number of doctors, is taking 100 people. we have also seen some evacuations via the air for the elderly and young children, anyone underfive elderly and young children, anyone under five couldn't go on these ships, so they are being taken by air. the reason they didn't do more air. the reason they didn't do more air evacuations is because the smoke here is incredibly thick, so visibility is quite low. and we have to remember of course that people are leaving their properties and belongings. do they know that when they eventually return, those properties will still be standing? is there any firefighting effort left behind? much of this town has

already been significantly ravaged. people have left their cars and ca rava ns people have left their cars and caravans here. because the fires are still burning, the main highway in and out of this holiday town is still shut because of a lot of falling trees and also because of the fires. at the moment, the only way out of here is by sea, which is how we arrived here at mallacoota, or by the air. a lot of people have left loved ones here to fight and defend their properties where they get to safety. tomorrow will be dangerous. authorities have issued a grim warning to people who are staying. and do the people who have left have any idea when they might be able to return? we have heard it may be several weeks or more before the main road is reopened. with the damage at the moment, we expect it will be several months until this holiday town feels normal again.

power is still out here. there are limited food supplies. lots of supplies have been brought in by the navy and other forces from melbourne. lots of drinking water has arrived stop phone reception is not good for some providers, so it is difficult here at the moment. here, 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. met office says last year was provisionally the 11th warmest on record. our 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. 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. dr mark mccarthy is head of the met office's national climate information centre — he began explaining whether warmer tempertatures were evidence of climate change in the uk. we have seen that our climate in the uk has warmed byjust under

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 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. time for a look at the weather.

nothing too extreme today but it is windier because the far north of scotland. we have some gales around the northern islands, but for most parts, it is fine and dry. we lose the last of the cloud and the rain across the south—east of england. this is where temperatures will fall away as the day goes on, colder air filtering and across many areas. a few showers in north—west england and scotland. wintry of the higher ground here, but strong winds, particularly across northern areas in the afternoon. and it will feel more chilly than yesterday. tonight we continue with some showers across scotland. further south, it we continue with some showers across scotland. furthersouth, it is relatively quiet. there will be some clear spells tonight. the weekend will be dry for many of us. but for most of us, it is dry with varying

amounts of sunshine.

you re watching bbc newsroom live ? it's11am 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 — the us tells its citizens to leave the country immediately. the authorities in south eastern australia urge tens of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. an man has appeared in court charged with the murders of his estranged wife, and her partner, whose bodies were discovered on new year's day.

also coming up — analysis by the met office reveals there were four temperature records set in the last year alone — and the last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the most powerful military commander in iran has been killed in a us air strike. the pentagon said general qassem soleimani — who was the head of the iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force — had been planning attacks against americans in iraq. mr soleimani was killed, along with others, in iraq, near baghdad's airport, in an operation the pentagon said

was "at the direction of the president". the iranian supreme leader has promised vengeance and the us has told its citizens in iraq to leave immediately. the british foreign secretary dominic raab has urged all parties to de—escalate, saying that further conflict is in none of our interests. 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 a hugely influential figure in the region. in a statement, the pentagon said: the immediate aftermath of the attack, which happens 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 were simmering tensions between iran and the usa boiled over. the american embassy in baghdad has been under siege as demonstrators tried to breach its walls. they are angry at us air strikes in the region. yesterday the us defence secretary hinted that america might take further action against iran. i think it is important at this time to make sure it is not an united states versus iran issue. it is around this the world. we have been committed to bad behaviour that's going on for 40 yea rs. behaviour that's going on for 40 years. 640 us troops arrived in neighbouring kuwait to provide reinforcements. all eyes will be on iran's response. some fear this could be another war in the middle

east. well, as we have reported, the american action was taken at the direction of president trump. there has been reaction from iran work this took place. a leader who rejects both american and british influence in iraq has told that as followers must be ready to protect the country. donald trump tweeted this image. the university dam the new unit united states active state tweeted saying that people were dancing in the street that general soleimani is no more. donald trump has not

responded directly at but the image of the american flag is at the top of the american flag is at the top of his twitter feed since the attack. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in the afghan capital kabul. let's begin with the thought posed at the end of the last report about whether this will lead to a war. will it be as obvious a response as that will be response, after some time in different ways? it has been all about war between relations between iran and united states for months now. all through 2019 we were because talking about the real risk of escalations in the persian gulf which could leave to confrontation.

we are both leaders in the united states and iran, like president trump, saying they didn't want another war. president trump said he came into office to end what he described as endless wars in the region. the general view was that if you want some sort of confrontation it will take place on a proxy battle field where iran would be the architect of iran's strategy across the region to create these militias that have become very powerful in places like syria, iraq, in lebanon. they now have influence here in afghanistan. this is what we have seen afghanistan. this is what we have seenin afghanistan. this is what we have seen in the last days, growing tensions in iraq between iran backed militias and the united states. the big question now is, iran has vowed it will retaliate. this is too much ofa it will retaliate. this is too much of a massive red line for them that has been crossed. it is tantamount

to an act of war. but how and when they will retaliate is the question though. that will be discussed in situation rooms, there is a meeting in london with security chiefs. people are meeting in washington about who will be moving next, where and how. united states is calling on citizens to leave iraq. there will be some explanation required domestically in the us, water, as to what sort of planning is put in place to deal with potential consequences? this is the big question. there must‘ve been a sharp inta ke question. there must‘ve been a sharp intake of breath across the region. there are us forces in afghanistan and iran, there are ties to the tower and other groups out here. we must all be thinking or wondering

what led to this dramatic decision by president trump? it seems out of character. why did this president, unlike presence before, who considered queueing general soleimani always pulled back because the consequences would be to significant? president trump has no taken this move must be aware of the consequences but it comes at a time when many are concern that during trump boss mike administration, even the military has been hobbled out off the kind of experts whose expert knowledge and assessment and wisdom is desperately needed at the moment ofa is desperately needed at the moment of a major crisis like this. is the most important foreign policy crisis is based president trump city came into office. thank you very much.

let us look at the uk reaction. in the last hour, foreign secretary dominic raab has issued a statement over the killing and has called for calm. in a written statement, he said: "we have always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the iranian quds force led by qasem soleimani. following his death, we urge all parties to de—escalate. further conflict is in none of our interests." with me is fawaz gerges — he's professor of international relations at the london school of economics and the author of making the arab world. dominic raab's statement calls for calm, calls for restraint. given the importance of the rain played by general soleimani in iran and by the

country's strategy further afield, that isn't going to happen, is it? it is very difficult. i think things are going to get much uglier over the next few days and weeks. for your viewers, this is a declaration of war by donald trump against the iranian government. there is much blood on the hands of general soleimani, this is an attack on the top leadership of iran. the most elite force, iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force, was also the second most important leader of the second most important leader of the country, the supreme leader. the americans have been desperately trying to restore the country since the iranians attacked the saudi airport companies because they were shattered as a result of that. the question is, or this escalation by

donald trump bring about a restoration? or will it take on further escalation? i fear that both powers are locked in in a spiralling escalation and miscalculation that could easily lead to war, even though neither side once more. could easily lead to war, even though neither side once morem could easily lead to war, even though neither side once more. if we look at those voices that say that america had to respond to what has been going on in recent weeks in the region, and then we look at the counterarguments, previous us as administrations looked at potentially at acting general soleimani, didn't theyback but decided that was a step too far. but under the trump administration, under the trump administration, under his personal direction, decided to make that attack last night. is this going to lead to a further escalation in the sense that

the hardliners know in iran, those who are absolutely opposed to any kind of suffering of relations with the us, or look at this as the us and the west have done this. why should there be any sort of detente? the iranians, there is a real polarisation, you have hardliners and moderates and basically people who see the world differently. the iranians asa who see the world differently. the iranians as a people are very proud, nationalist people. iran is one of the oldest nation states in the middle east and people rally around the flag. the americans are the only ones that do that. this will be seen by the majority of the iranians on an attack of the prestige and dignity of the nation and in fact, my take on it is that the regime won't lose the catalyst on the people. the economy is bleeding,

tens of thousands of protesters have been scooping out on the streets to find the government, iran has been under pressure by iraq, iran, lebanon allies and the militias. what you will see no in iran and lebanon, iran rallying its own people and allies and, at the end of the day, iraq can not afford not to retaliate. the question is, when and how? my take on it is that the national security council in iran will basically prevail because at the end of the date we do not want to go to war against united states. united states are the most powerful nation in the world at every direct confrontation would destroy the economic and military infrastructure... so, beware at the arrow of the nature of that response, “— arrow of the nature of that response, —— de weren and the how, what form could that take?

response, —— de weren and the how, what form could that take ?m response, —— de weren and the how, what form could that take? if you read the statements by the revolutionary guards, because iran and its allies and the united states and its allies and the united states and its allies and the united states and its allies, my fear is that iran will use particular softer targets. iranian actions are taken on a counter response against united states, because the already know the consequences. to come back to president donald trump, you said earlier, that both president george w bush, a republican, and president barack obama, a democrat, opposed the killing of general soleimani. their adviser said that he was in charge and the architect of the policy in iran and lebanon and syria. this particular president does not really have the strategic world the knowledge, he has surrounded himself with ideologues like him. he has been sending

contradictory messages... he said he didn't want to get engaged in war or battles. yes. a rational point of view, the person or leader that knows very well but he is very much committed to disentangling america from the military advantages in afghanistan —— advances, this person would realise that iran would respond and take its time. another final point is that president trump is now under tremendous pressure at home. his impeachment in the house of the congress, the elections are coming up, and his response was as an american, you have to fly, he is trying to rally also the base of both trump and iranian leadership are under pressure internally. this isa

are under pressure internally. this is a kind of catalyst or trigger for a greater confrontation, u nfortu nately, a greater confrontation, unfortunately, in the region. thank you very much. earlier i spoke to our middle east business correspondent, sameer hashmi. i started by asking what impact the assasination of iran's top commander was already having in the region. the reaction has been on the oil prices because, remember, this is took place in iran, in the middle east, and as soon as the news was confirmed by the united states we saw the oil price for brent crude, which is the main measure, the main benchmark, oil prices shot up by $4 immediately and even though it is ——even now it is hovering between three and a half and 4%. now, the reason that oil prices have gone up is because the middle east is one of the most important regions when it comes to global oil supply. what we have seen in the past

is that in this tension between the united states and iran, oil facilities have come under attack. we saw that in september when the oil company owned by saudi arabia, their facilities came under attack. drone attacks. this really affected 50% of their oil output. the us accuses iran for that, iran has denied that it carried out those attacks. nevertheless, there are fears that iran may decide to retaliate and if they do this could be one of the options for attacks of oil infrastructure in the gulf. we want to see reaction on the stock markets, whether it is the asian stock markets or the european stock markets, or even if we look at the us stock markets when this news broke out, because we immediately saw all the markets following. people started selling because of the uncertainty and fear that any escalation could lead to more trouble in this region. and we will have more on what impact of the death

of iran's most powerful military commander, general qasem soleimani, might have on oil prices and the global economy at 11.45. 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 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 front line, most recently in iraq where he led 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. we can show you these live images coming to us no from tehran. these are friday prayers are now thousands of people are gathered on the streets of tehran to mark the death of general soleimani. three days of national mourning have been declared in the country. anti—us protests are also planned and people are also gathering elsewhere in the country. we have gathered in general

soleimani's birthplace as well. there are warnings from senior leaders that there will be vengeance for his death. more on today s main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. our security correspondent frank gardner is here. hello. talking to a few moments ago to the professor, he was saying that he thinks iran will take its time to consider its response. is that something you would concur?” consider its response. is that something you would concur? i was about to tweak the same thing, yes. do not expect an immediate response. they will do this in a very measured

and calculated way and probably in and calculated way and probably in an unexpected way. if you think of some of the attacks that we have seen some of the attacks that we have seenin some of the attacks that we have seen in the last few months, which have been blamed on iran and denied by iran but certainly most western companies blame them. there was an attack on these curious minds that detonated on tankers. there was an attack of a pipeline in saudi arabia karelia, then the cruise missile attack that came out of nowhere, knocking out saudi arabia's 50% of their oil output in a few minutes. came out of nowhere and no one saw it coming. that was supposed to be a warning. it was by iranian proxies somewhere but denied by iran. it will probably come up with some of the people have not seen but it is certainly a dangerous time right now for us diplomats, possibly even for

expatriates and foreign us military bases throughout the region. us has a huge military footprint in not just a huge military footprint in not just just a huge military footprint in notjust iraq just a huge military footprint in not just iraq but just a huge military footprint in notjust iraq but many gulf arab states. there are plenty of targets that iran could choose to do an attack on, possibly a deniable attack, a mysterious car bomb that no one claimed responsibility for but takes out someone in the us administration in some way. you think the nature of the response may continue to look something like a proxy encounter between the us and iran rather than a more open encounter between them ? iran rather than a more open encounter between them? the iranians have been very careful not to goad president trump or the white house that it provokes an all—out motor response because that would be catastrophic them. use ago i was in

the southern port in iran and iranians were proudly telling me, look at our radar up there, the americans will never be able to attack us. actually, the americans could devastate their defences. iran are getting new technology with the help of russia, but it would be a catastrophic response. the red line for president trump is a us serviceman start getting killed. if they are directly killed by iranians then you will have to respond. he does not want to get drawn into another war, he has actually tried to get out of all that, but as you can see here there are more troops coming into the region. this could be more symbolic... many would argue that taking this action, by ordering this strike that previous industry is -- this strike that previous industry is —— administrations wouldn't take because of the importance of general

soleimani, that he is actually making it more likely that us troops will be killed ? making it more likely that us troops will be killed? that is probably right in the short term. the idea that this could deter attacks, it doesn't work with a run. they don't work like that. they do not fold the same logic. i think it is definitely a more dangerous situation. what about security of british military personnel the region? of a sleepy security of any military personnel in the region is kept under constant review, but in particular, in light of this, what action may be taken? my of this, what action may be taken? my sense is that this has caught the british government largely by surprise. we are seeing a number of reports suggesting there was no indication given to borisjohnson or anyone else that this was coming.” don't think there was. it has

prompted a bit of a recalculation in that sense. britain doesn't have nearly the same footprint in the middle east, they have far fewer troops. we have a couple of warships in the gulf in support of security operations there. we have got bases our use of bases, pretty much all the countries, but it is tiny compared to the americans. i think there is a risk to civilian expatriates. there is an enormous iranian community in dubai, but iran will think very carefully to think whether it will want to make trouble in the united arab emirates because dubai has been a major outlet for it. iran is suffering other huge sanctions. to go back to business about why this is so difficult, general soleimani is the iranian state, so this is very different from the assassination of osama bin laden by us special forces from the assassination of osama bin laden by us specialforces in from the assassination of osama bin laden by us special forces in 2011. in that case, he was a fugitive

terrorist, number one, on the fbi most terrorist, number one, on the fbi m ost wa nted terrorist, number one, on the fbi most wanted list, whereas general soleimani answers directly to the supreme leader. he was the iranian state. this is a completely new paradigms now. we are in a new era where the gloves are off. protection for us diplomats and their families will be stepped up. thank you very much. the time is 1126. you may remember that we brought a story to you about if egan who went to unemployment tribunal who said he was treated unfairly by firms treating them animal testing. he said he was unfairly disciplined and

he said the decision taken to sack him was taken because of his legalism. he says that legalism is our philosophical belief, akin to legalism, —— veganism. thejudge in norwich says that ethical veganism isa norwich says that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and it is therefore protected by law. that ruling has just therefore protected by law. that ruling hasjust come it therefore protected by law. that ruling has just come it was therefore protected by law. that ruling hasjust come it was in therefore protected by law. that ruling has just come it was in the last few minutes. the headline for that, a tribunal judge last few minutes. the headline for that, a tribunaljudge has ruled that, a tribunaljudge has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law. 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 a thousand people have ordered navy ships that have been cut off since fire tore through the area and use you. i have not been able to process it. it is something i want to forget. others have been thrown out —— quite like others have been thrown out by military helicopters but those who have remained and been told they could be more than two weeks at the road reopened. 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 we can, ahead of extreme fire

conditions forecast for saturday.“ you can leave, you must leave. it is the only safe thing to do for you, yourfamily or others the only safe thing to do for you, your family or others who may be called to your assistance. we cannot guarantee your safety. thousands are on the move but not everyone is leaving. some homeowners are determined to stay to defend their properties in a region that has already seen widespread devastation. that is what we are worried about. we are going to stay and defend and put pfizer as best we can. if it gets too much, we will get out. we don't know whether it is the best option to go, it says on reports it is taking to travel on highways in either direction. we do not want to be trapped on the highway in a fire. more than 125 fires continue to burn in new south wales. since september,

blazes have killed 19 people. the authorities say that 28 others were unaccounted for in the state of victoria. this is a nationwide crisis, fires burning in western australia, south australia and tasmania. there is no end in sight. we blazes have been so big and glazed with such intensity that the small case has drifted across to new zealand. it's time now for a look at the weather forecast. some sunshine across many parts of the uk and a sunny day compared to yesterday. but it is chillier compared to yesterday. the south—east of england, temperatures

will drop as the day goes on. this is the scene at the moment in wales. beautiful blue skies here. and they will chase the cloud away. still some shows across scotland. they are wintered over higher ground. strong winds particularly in the far north of scotland. they have been as high as 60 mph in the far north of scotland. temperatures this afternoon about 6 degrees to 9 degrees. turning chillier as of the day goes on. through tonight we will continue with showers across scotland. for many of us we will see some clear skies to take us into the weekend. it will be fine and dry for many of us. the best of the sunshine in central and eastern areas. a bit more cloud in the west and the north. particularly scotland. goodbye for now.

hello, this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines: iran has vowed 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 us has accused the general of developing plans to attack americans in iraq, and has told its citizens to leave the country immediately. the authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens

of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. a man has appeared in court charged with the murders of his estranged wife, and her partner, whose bodies were discovered on new year's day. an employment tribunaljudge sitting in norwich has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law. 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. sport now and let's get a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning into the afternoon session in cape town now where england are looking to build a decent first innings total in the second test against south africa.

the two men to fold the. no rory burns for england after injuring his ankle playing football yesterday. root has confirmed they'll not have a kickabout for warm ups or practice for the foresseable future. today marks a year to the day since liverpool last lost a premier league game. their 2—0 win over sheffield united means they've gone 12 months unbeaten. mo salah got the first before setting up sadio mane for their second at anfield. they restored their 13 point lead at the top of the table and they have a game in hand. iam i am really proud of the boys. i cannot say it often enough. we should not take things like this for granted. it is not allowed to happen because it so difficult. to control

sheffield united like we did tonight is exceptional. we never laid a glove on them really. if there is ever an example of a desire of a foot ball ever an example of a desire of a football team that's going well you can look at liverpool tonight. people will talk about the movement and the quality on the ball but for me the fundamental things they have to do to win a game of football, when first built and second balls, play forward, run back and tackle and defend, be aggressive, they showed all those qualities and it's a great example for our team. aston villa will be missing two of their key players for their fight against relegation for the rest of the season. goalkeeper tom heaton damanged his knee ligaments during their win against burnley on wednesday. brazilian striker wesley also suffered a similar injury in the same game. villa are just one point and one place above the relegation zone. the innaugural atp cup is underway in australia and cameron norrie has got the british team off to a winning start against bulgaria. he beat dimitar kuzmanov

in three sets in sydney. the tournament is a 24—nations event with two singles and a doubles tie — similar to the fed cup. dan evans has got an early couple of breaks against grigor dimitrov. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more this afternoon. let's return to our main story. the most powerful military commander in iran has been killed in a us airstrike in baghdad. the pentagon said general qassem 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. let's take a look at how we got to this point. 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, kataib hezbollah — 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. on 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 teargas 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. kasra naji is a correspondent for the bbc‘s persian

service and joins me now. looking at those events leading up to this, this seems to be a significant escalation, to target someone significant escalation, to target someone of the ilk of general qassem soleimani. such a key figure in the iranian regime. he was part of the iranian regime. he was part of the iranian state. i think this is the culmination of so much tension that we have seen. some of those things you have mentioned, looking back over the past six months or so, iranians have provoked americans in many instances and the americans didn't respond. it looks like there was a miscalculation on the part of the iranians, thinking the americans are not going to respond in the way you would have expected. and they

did more than one of the same. if you remember in the summer injune, they were attacks on oil tankers in they were attacks on oil tankers in the persian gulf. then another two tankers. then the iranians shot down aus tankers. then the iranians shot down a us drone over the persian gulf. then they were attacks on saudi oil installations and then there was an attack on saudi's biggest oil facility, wiping 5% of oil supplies. and as you mentioned in the last few months, the americans were saying in two months there were 11 attacks on american bases in iraq over this period. so it seems that theyjust continued to provoke and at last the americans seem to have responded. i

think the whole thing, as far as iran is concerned, is probably the result of miscalculation over this long period. iran says it doesn't wa nt long period. iran says it doesn't want war but the provocations with their overtime. to come up on that point, if iran says it doesn't want war, yet its senior most military commander has been killed in this way, how will it choose to respond? will it feel that it is honour bound to have revenge or will it take an even bigger view and think about how that might lead to a further escalation and drove the us in even more? iranians have been promising big revenge. the iranian supreme leader has talked about a big

revenge. the revolutionary guard say the us will pay a heavy price and so on. we know that in the last hours iran's supreme national security council has been meeting in the meeting is chaired by the iran's supreme leader. it's the first occasion i have seen that council meeting under the chairmanship of the supreme leader. they are deciding what to do and how to respond. my own guess, if you like, is that iran will take a stand. we are not going to see an immediate response. iran will wait. it will ta ke response. iran will wait. it will take its target and take its time to do that. but it will have to do something big, otherwise it will lose face at home. the hardliners

need that in iran. general qassem soleimani is the figure of the hardliners and they will be itching to do something as big or significant. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of two people who were stabbed at a house in derbyshire on new year's day. rhys hancock is accused of murdering his estranged wife helen hancock and her partner martin griffiths in the village of duffield. our correspondent phil mackie was in court. rhys hancock has appeared in court and it was a brief hearing. it lasted barely five minutes. he only spoke to confirm his name, age and address. he is accused of the two murders of his estranged wife, helen, a teacher who was 39 and the

mother of their three children, and her partner martin griffiths, a businessman and father of two. it happened in the early hours of new year's day. they suffered multiple sta b year's day. they suffered multiple stab wounds. paramedics arrived at the scene and were unable to revive them so they were pronounced dead there. yesterday after being held in custody for more than 24 hours mr hancock was charged with their murders. today he has appeared in court and was remanded in custody untilan court and was remanded in custody until an appearance next monday at derby crown court. we've had a few tributes from both families to the victims in this case. helen hancock's family said they were devastated and talk about helen and said she was a lovely and beautiful and friendly social person. martin griffiths' family said he was a lovely dad, husband, son, brother and uncle with a passion for adventure and a love of animals. so the next stage in this criminal case

is on monday at derby crown court. boris johnson's key adviser, dominic cummings, has published a series ofjob adverts saying that number 10 wants to hire what he calls an "unusual set of people" to work as special advisers and potentially officials. the post, published on dominic cummings' blog, comes amid reports that the prime minister is planning changes to the civil service. mr cummings warned that there were "profound problems at the core of how the british state makes decisions" and called on potential candidates to e—mail him their cvs. 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. met office says last year was provisionally

the 11th warmest on record. our 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. 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. 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 rwe generation, which runs little barford power station, will pay four—point—five million o rstea, which runs hornsea offshore wind farm, will pay four—point—five million pounds. the distribution firm uk power networks has agreed to pay one—point—five million pounds.

phil hewitt, director of the energy consultancy firm, enappsys, says the role of the national grid is also being looked at. there has obviously been a big review process. of gem highlighted they were some technical issues at they were some technical issues at the two power stations which is why they made these voluntary contributions. maybe the national grid me needs to be more proactive in coming up with more of an idea of exactly how much it needs to procure and also needs to take into account something called embedded generation. we are building a lot of those small generations like solar and small wind and small distributed generation like gas engines all over the network to meet the changing energy system, but national grid doesn't quite have a full view on that and the distribution network operators are currently focused primarily on connecting people to the network. they need to maybe concentrate more on controlling

those people and understanding how their networks are operating. the liberal democrat mp layla moran, has come out as pa nsexual after beginning a relationship with a woman. the mp, who announced the news on social media, said coming out in the context of being a politician had been "slightly more difficult" than telling her friends and family and criticised parliament as a "weird, backwards place" for lg btq people. at least 43 people are now known to have died in the jakarta floods, with tens of thousands of people forced from their homes leaving them without shelter. the national disaster agencies says they are in need of boats, medicines blankets and clothes as they try to help some of the near 400 thousand people who have currently been saved in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news: iran has vowed 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 authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. a man has appeared in court charged with the murders of his estranged wife, and her partner, whose bodies were discovered on new year's day. in the business news: oil prices havejumped by more than four per cent after a us air strike in baghdad killed qassem soleimani, a senior iranian military commander. the attack has sparked concerns about an escalation of regional tensions and disruption of crude supplies. brent crude hit $69.22 a barrel, up almost three dollars, its highest since september 17th. high street retailer next has increased its profit forecast after better than expected sales over christmas.

the company's full—price sales rose by 5.2% from 27 october to 28 december, 1.1% ahead of its own expectations. it said that colder weather this november might have helped its performance. next expects sales to grow 3.9% over the current financial year. three energy firms are to pay a total of £10.5m following august's power cut that left over a million people without electricity and caused travel chaos. rwe generation, which runs little ba rford power station, and orstead, which runs hornsea offshore wind farm, will each pay £4.5m to the uk energy watchdog's redress fund. distributor company uk power networks has also agreed to pay £1.5m. let's return to our top business story today andthe price of oil has increased sharply following the killing by the united states of the iranian military leader general qassem soleimani.

the 4 per cent rise reflects concerns that oil supplies from the middle east could be severely disrupted if the conflict were to escalate. amrita sen, chief oil analyst at energy aspects. do you think we will see a further increasing the price of oil whilst we await any of retaliatory outcome from the iranian side? no i think the market will stabilise around here and wait to see the reaction from iran and how the whole incident unfolds because in some ways, from our point of view, iran is going to ta ke our point of view, iran is going to take its time. it is very calculated, it's not going to rush into things. so you won't see an immediate reaction anyway we believe. if the market is expecting that, prices might come off first. i think the market is very concerned about how this can really impact the region, regional security, production and exports from iraq.

that's why prices have risen but i don't think there's going to be further increases in prices just yet. and it's really about... a fifth of global oil supplies passed through there so it of such a concern to investors. it's notjust about the strait of hormuz because we don't think that will be blocked. it hasn't been for the last year. lots of ships have been attacked. the real risk over here is iraq. iraq exports 3.5 million barrels per day of oilfrom iraq exports 3.5 million barrels per day of oil from the south and particularly the type of oil there world needs right now because venezuela and iranian oil and the sanctions are very similar and we don't have that available on the market. if they were to be a flare—up in tensions there and you start to see basra exports affected thatis start to see basra exports affected that is the real risk. we have also though in the past seen oil prices

rise significantly where they have been tensions in the middle east. now us shale production puts a different spin on things doesn't it? for show and i think that's why the market has been so complacent. incorrectly in our view because if you look at the oil price the price has been 60 but if you look at the structure, the time and the shape of the curve, brent is backward dated and what it means is that it's a very tight market at the front. that's what the market is missing. there is a lack of oil available and incidents like this can really push prices up. regarding us shell, shale production is slowing down. it's already have growth last year versus 2018 and it slowing by another 25% at least. the latest numbers have really showed a marked slowdown because investors in the us are forcing companies to pull back on drilling and focus on cash flow. so

this is an interesting one whether shale can respond the weather investors forced them to focus on cash flow generation, in which case there is going to be a real shortage of oil towards the end of this year. lets check in with the latest on oil price now following the us attack which killed the senior iranian commander in iraq, qassem soleimani. here is the latest price of a barrel of brent crude — which is an international benchmark for oil. but we did see a very big spike and quite quickly it came back down. we will have to keep an eye. she didn't think there was going to be that my movement as far as the old price movement as far as the old price movement is concerned until we find out whether there's going to be a

significant retaliatory move by iran. bp share price up as a result of the higher price of oil. the ftse 100 slipped a little as the market ta kes 100 slipped a little as the market takes on a possible geopolitical application. that's all the business news. a community knitting enterprise in new zealand has seen a huge increase in sales after the duke and duchess of sussex posted a picture of baby archie wearing one of their hats. the photo of prince harry cuddling his son was posted on the royal couple's instagram account to mark the new year. claire conza is the founder of make give live, and we can speak to her now. thank you very much for talking to us thank you very much for talking to us today. so the power of a pom—pom ona us today. so the power of a pom—pom on a royal baby, tell us what it's done for sales? thank you for having us on.

done for sales? thank you for having us on. it's quite incredible, beyond our wildest dreams. we never could have dreamt something like this could happen and it was such a surprise to us. as you say, something as simple as two cute little pom— poms something as simple as two cute little pom—poms has caused such a stir. but what we are pleased about is the message behind it coming across and it's just so touching. we are hearing stories. they shared out the values of our organisation and appreciated what went into the creation of that hat. tell us more about what make, give, live is all about. what is your intention? the

purpose of it is improving isolation and mental health and well—being. we do that through the therapies of social connection. so we have groups of people that get together every week in the local community cafe or library for a couple of hours and have a good laugh and chat and a cup of tea and produce this collection of tea and produce this collection of hats that we sell. so for everyone that we sell we give one to a person in need. that also creates a person in need. that also creates a real sense of purpose. so it's quite a beautiful cycle how it all happens. in a really good month, you sell around 45 hats. but since the

photo was posted you've received around 450 orders. that's quite a jump. isaw around 450 orders. that's quite a jump. i saw the photo and thought he's a very cute baby and it's a cute hat. how did your had come to be on the head of baby archie? we knew that during the tour of new zealand somebody had ordered a hat to gift to them but at the time we never knew how far that would go or whether they would actually receive it or even if archie would wear it. in actual fact it was a very small size and megan has since ordered two

more of the same style and colour. i'm really sorry but we are going to have to interrupt you because we are out of time. lovely to hear that story. let's look at out of time. lovely to hear that story. let's look at the out of time. lovely to hear that story. let's look at the weather now. you might need one of those hats today because it's going to feel much chillier compared to yesterday. temperatures dropping across the south—east of england. this morning we started off in double figures but by this afternoon it's down to single figures. but some sunshine which will compensate the chillier feel. still a some sunshine which will compensate the chillierfeel. still a bit some sunshine which will compensate the chillier feel. still a bit of cloud towards the south—east. that is mostly clearing away. a few showers across the north west of england. a strong wind. some of the showers wintry over higher ground. the wind gusts not as high as yesterday in england and wales but strongest winds across the north. temperatures by this afternoon, six to9 temperatures by this afternoon, six to 9 degrees. over the weekend, it's looking fine and dry for most of us.

welcome to bbc newsroom, it is midday. around the's most important general was killed in a us air strike. general soleimani was killed in a straight order by president trump. the us said the general was developing plans to attack american diplomats in iraq and throughout the region. as iran vowed to take the event, it has been called the most significant us action in the middle east since the iraq war in 2003. oil prices have climbed sharply as the conflict between the us and iran escalates.

welcome to bbc news. in a dramatic escalation of tensions in the middle east, us air strike has killed around's most important military commander. general soleimani was the leader of the iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force. they were responsible forforeign guards' elite quds force. they were responsible for foreign radio operations and answer directly to the country's supreme leader. general soleimani who for many was seen as a general soleimani who for many was seen as a charismatic national hero at home was one of several people killed by a us drone strike is a trout in a convoy near baghdad was like international airport. iran has declared three days of national mourning and promised harsh vengeance. the operation was allegedly carried out at the

direction of donald trump. he has not yet directly commented but he has pinned in image of the american flag at the top of his twitter. we begina flag at the top of his twitter. we begin a cupboard with this report. this is all that was left in a convoy of cars carrying around's or senior military commander. his killing by the united states will shake the middle east to the core. general soleimani was head of the iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force and is usually influential figure quds force and is usually influentialfigure in quds force and is usually influential figure in the quds force and is usually influentialfigure in the region. any statement, the pentagon said the air strike had been carried out at the direction of the president and the direction of the president and the us military has taken decisive fifth defence of action to protect us personnel abroad. the immediate aftermath of the attack which happened near baghdad international airport was filled by passers—by. several other people with military ties to iran were also killed. it

comes in a week were simmering tensions between iran and the us are boiled over. the american embassy of baghdad has been under siege as pro—iranian militia and demonstrators tried to breach its walls. they are angry at us air strikes in the region. yesterday, the us defence secretary hinted america might take further action against iran. i think it is important at this point in time not to make it a united states versus iran issue. it is a iran versus the world. it is a rainy and bad behaviour must be going on there for nearly 40 years. last night nearly 650 us troops arrived in neighbouring kuwait to provide reinforcement. all eyes will be on iran's response. some will fear this could mean another war in the middle east. when i joined

could mean another war in the middle east. when ijoined better chief correspondence. it is difficult to really overstate the significant nature of this killing and the potential consequences no. yes, general soleimani was arguably the most important military figure for the islamic republic, responsible for iran's military operations outside the country, but he was also a seniorfigure inside the outside the country, but he was also a senior figure inside the country. he was seen as the most influential personality just below the he was seen as the most influential personalityjust below the powerful supreme leader. what we have seen in the past few hours since the sudden news came out as an escalating war of words coming from tehran, who are no carefully considering, i'm sure, their next step. the president has called on all three nations to

retaliate, to take revenge, for general soleimani's death. they have been tried between notjust an act against iran but iran posed like allies in the region. we have heard from lebanon that they have described this as the responsibility of the resistance worldwide to take revenge, underlining that when iran decides to retaliate, and it will, ata decides to retaliate, and it will, at a place and time of its choosing, it could be through its various proxy militias in the region or even far beyond. previous us presidents have had the opportunity to take out this man who does have the blood of american soldiers on his hands, why did president trump decide to do it no? we hadn't heard directly from the president himself other than that tweet of the american flag. yesterday we got a glimpse of some of the public justifications yesterday we got a glimpse of some of the publicjustifications for why they have done it. that came from

they have done it. that came from the defence secretary seeing that general soleimani was planning other attacks on us personnel in the region, of course there was that attack that killed the contractor about ten days ago, but it is probably not worth avoiding the conclusion that the sort of ransacking of that part of the embassy in baghdad was a huge humiliation for the united states. general soleimani was thought to be behind the direction of the protests andindeed behind the direction of the protests and indeed those other attacks as well. i think that may have played a part. what the americans are also doing is the are insisting that all their nationals leave iraq immediately, so people in the oil industry will be leaving the port city of basra. but it won't just industry will be leaving the port city of basra. but it won'tjust be americans who are on guard to europe because, of course, israelwill americans who are on guard to europe because, of course, israel will be a

target. this could have consequences for other countries other than the united states and its interests. really are proxies throughout the region, internationally, which countries do we think are potentially most vulnerable at this particular point in time?” potentially most vulnerable at this particular point in time? i am sure the united states, now it's particular point in time? i am sure the united states, now its top commanders and intelligent chiefs are pouring all the data. we may see are pouring all the data. we may see a strengthening of security at american missions worldwide. the place was great as will be those with american targets and american forces on the ground. that could be afghanistan, where that are going to be right, it could be other places in the middle east where it would be... iran could find areas to five

in more indirect confrontation rather than a head—on collision. both united states and iran have been trying to avoid this so far. but with the targeted killing of general soleimani, it has to be said that the senior militia, his forces are also rallying for revenge. this isa are also rallying for revenge. this is a much more deadly chapter in the ongoing tensions. in terms of president trump is my political base, this will be a popular move, although he did say before that while he was raised to respond to really regression, he didn't. what about the democrats care at? has been lot of disquiet expressed by the democrats, questioning whether the democrats, questioning whether the presidents at the congressional authority to carry out the strikes.

joe biden, the former vice president, said it was like lobbying a dynamite into it in the box and demanding president trump to explain himself. the intelligence services here, we agreed that the are some big targets in the middle east. there is a huge airbase in saudi arabia, other bases in qatar, but it will also be looking at much softer targets. with 15,000 will also be looking at much softer targets. with15,000 extra us troops in the region since may, this is a huge escalation and you cannot protect everyone, so i think we will be holding their breath to see where the iranians will choose to strike first. 0r indeed where there proxies will choose to strike. the president is not due back until sunday. there is not due back until sunday. there is not due back until sunday. there is no indication at this stage whether he is pined to come back early but obviously everyone is

waiting to hear his first words on this. i've just waiting to hear his first words on this. i'vejust heard waiting to hear his first words on this. i've just heard that president trump tweeted in the last few moments. he retweeted the warning to us citizens to leave iraq immediately. the president is up and tweeting after the initial tweet of the stars and stripes just a few hours ago following confirmation from the pentagon that it was behind the killing of general soleimani. as the killing of general soleimani. as the rhetoric and the fears escalates about what might happen, either any voices of calm internationally trying to de—escalate the matter? how we had from the un or anyone else about restraint? we are hearing that word we heard last year, the escalation. we hang it from dominic raab, we headed from germany this morning, we heard it from officials

in the eu in brussels, all of them calling for restraint at this very dangerous time. we should also bear in mind that iran will not want to see this escalate into it all out dangerous tit—for—tat, it is quite vulnerable no in terms of its economy be at the weakest point with crippling sanctions. it is hard to deal with domestic dissent in recent months. the killing of general soleimani will have a unifying effect in iran, it may temporarily have that, but iran doesn't want to see itself plunged into an all—out war. but we have seen it time and again last year that iran and all the iran postmarked actions, military or otherwise in the region, we re military or otherwise in the region, were carefully calibrated. the attacks on tankers which were blamed on them werejust attacks on tankers which were blamed on them were just at the level of the target which didn't destroy it cause damage. the attack on saudi

oilfacilities, huge attacks, were quite stunning in terms of the precision of where it was able to hit. it knocked them out but that was able to be restored. it will be a very calibrated move but it will send a very strong message. iran awed an element of surprise. perhaps the hope that will shift the pieces to not send the region in terms of an escalation continues to rise? but i think we are in unpredictable territory right now. there has been a tweet from mike pompeo, he is calling for restraint saying that general soleimani was concerned about the iranian regime postmark continued military provocations. there was that from mike pompeo.

when we look at the influence of this man, not only with the uranian proxies the de facto leader and this year present throughout strategically throughout the region, also the power he wielded in the war against —— in the war in syria, many see him as the man who got vladimir putin on board to come to the aid of bashir assad fat. general soleimani was definitely the key architect of the last decade. they have included that he strengthened by sad —— like assad was mark forces. the united

states has accused him of being responsible for countless attacks on american military bases or american service men and women in iraq. general soleimani played a key role in the protests in lebanon, the recent protest in iraq. he gave advice to readers about how to crackdown against internal dissent, which led to the loss of many lives, so which led to the loss of many lives, so there are celebrations in iraq and syria today but there are also warnings of events to come. love him or hate him, general soleimani was certainly a pivotal figure or hate him, general soleimani was certainly a pivotalfigure in or hate him, general soleimani was certainly a pivotal figure in the region which has a huge legacy left in it. iran will not be considering how to carry on without him. thank you. although it was unexpected, the

killing of general soleimani, it comes killing of general soleimani, it co m es after killing of general soleimani, it comes after several stages of escalation in that conflict against the us and iran. let us have a look at how this unfolded in recent weeks. on the 27th of december, more than 30 rockets were fired on the northern city. us was killed. american and iraqi servicemen were wounded. iran denied responsibility. in response, the us launched air strikes against the militia, and 25 fighters were reportedly killed. just a few days ago, a crowd angered by the strikes marched on the us embassy, breaching the reception area and setting the perimeter on fire. it led to us troops to fire tear gas to repel them. the pentagon said that general soleimani proved

—— proved the attacks on the embassy. that brings us to today, we re embassy. that brings us to today, were a drone strike hit the two cars carrying general soleimani and several officials with iranian—backed militias as they were leaving baghdad and going into the national airport. we'll be speaking to our beirut correspondent in a couple of moments but we will take you live to a building in beirut we re you live to a building in beirut were a book of condolences has been opened up to the iranian embassy here in beirut. a steady stream of people walking in there no but on the streets of iran itself, in particular the birthplace of general soleimani, there had been huge demonstrations in anger and protest at his killing. it is a more muted affair here in beirut. flags have

been burned in other parts, in iran itself thousands, perhaps tens of thousands,in itself thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, in general soleimani's hometown have taken to the streaks and mourn the death of their 62—year—old. —— taking to the streets. i will correspond it is with us now. iranian influence is hugein with us now. iranian influence is huge in the city you are in no. this man, general soleimani, was reviewed as if hero there. what has been reaction there? the leader of his brother have issued condolences. if colton a marketer and are calling on the resistance fighters are the region to be ready for retaliation. the movements of his brother is...

movements are being supervised either are being supervised. he is seen as either are being supervised. he is seen as eu leader and as a role model for them and we will see that huge reaction for iranian followers here in these areas in lebanon. the issueis here in these areas in lebanon. the issue is also that general soleimani's death is good to have a huge implication on hez—bollah's more strength in relationship with iran. we will be want to be involved in any reaction or retaliation that iran want. they have always calculated their reactions internally in lebanon, especially with what iran want. this loss today, this killing, is going to have a huge effect on hez—bollah's

reaction but also their political movements inside the country. and continuing our coverage here on the bbc news channel authorised by president trump of general soleimani. he is around postmark top military reaction —— commander. the united states —— general soleimani was allegedly responsible for the death of innocence i was planning more attacks. the israeli leader has been quoted on this. he said that the iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force as reference both the israelis and the americans, saying they had committed a blatant crime at odds with all international regulations and laws and that there would be a tough response to the

killing. that was coming from a spokesman for the iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force. the foreign secretary has issued a statement. the foreign secretary dominic raab has issued a statement over the killing and has called for calm. in a written statement, he said: "we have always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the iranian quds force led by qasem soleimani. following his death, we urge all parties to de—escalate. further conflict is in none of our interests." and in the last hour, the us secretary of state, mike pompeo has spoken to the the foreign secretary, dominic raab. pompeo says he has spoken to dominic raab about the recent decision to take defensive action to eliminate qassem soleimani. he adds "thankful that our allies recognize the continuing aggressive threats posed by the iranian quds force. the us remains committed to de—escalation." tom tugendhat was chair of the foreign affairs commitee

in the last parliament. hejoins us now. the statement from dominic raab treads a careful line with his response, doesn't it? he does not explicitly condemn the killing but he says we have always recognised the threat posed by iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force and urge all parties to de—escalate. is that a careful recognition, if you read between the lines, that the uk do not believe this was the correct course of action? i think this is a recognition that the iranian revolutionary guards' elite quds force have spread death and destruction across the middle east, and of course other parts of the world for much of 20 years past. it is worth remembering that general soleimani was not just is worth remembering that general soleimani was notjust executor of those orders but he was the policy in many ways. the expeditionary

reached chartism that he embodies has been at the heart of the regime for many decades now and his death will certainly be a huge blow to it. nonetheless, do you think that this particular action authorised by president trump may have consequences that the us and other allies may come to regret? it would dou btless allies may come to regret? it would doubtless have consequences. it is already certain to cause questions and say that you really resume, which is facing a huge unrest inside iran. the iranian revolutionary guard corps is notjust a military arm in the way that special forces may be another country postmark, it is actually an entirely separate state. it runs on road building companies that build roads in afghanistan and in central asia, it ru ns afghanistan and in central asia, it runs concrete plants that sells

concrete countries across iran. it pays for and arms its own army, navy and airforce, pays for and arms its own army, navy and air force, separate to the iranian forces. it is in so many ways an entirely separate organisation within the heart of the revolution of the iranian theocracy. this is really the guard of a brutal theocratic dictatorship and this will no doubt because huge concern for many of those at the heart of that regime. and concern in america, in britain and elsewhere in the west, what the consequences might be in terms of the revenge that has been spoken of? what do you think iran might do in response?” been spoken of? what do you think iran might do in response? i am not going to speculate as to what you may or may not do, but i suspect that in the early days this will cause go back because huge questions in the regime and it will also raise

most of your questions into one of the contrast to france because, quite clearly, some militia commander in some part of syria or lebanon or iraq has been feeding intelligence to other people. around postmark supportive friends may not be quite as friendly as they thought. there are some reports that the prime minister was not informed in advance of this. i do not know if you would expect him to have been informed but clue the mod are looking at the security of british personnel in the region. clearly there are not as many as in terms of there are not as many as in terms of the number of americans there that should be bonus to have been told about this? i long believed that the point of having allies is that we can surprise your enemies and not each other. it has been a sad pattern that the us administration of late has not sheared with us and

thatis of late has not sheared with us and that is a matter of concern. i would urge us administration to share much more closely with our eyes, politically those who are fighting alongside them in the region such as ours. this is a tactical point, a strategic point, that the united states has rocked the iranian regime much more than, for example, the death of osama bin laden rocked the jihadist movement. this is a much more significant incident. in a way, it is hard to equate his equal in the worst because nobody has as much power in united states or in the united kingdom or any other country as general soleimani. he controlled as general soleimani. he controlled a business empire, a military empire and he was the foreign policy. in a lot of ways he was a part of the revolutionary aristocracy. it was a cross between lord mountbatten and

george clooney, he was popular in the country. this was a huge incident. thank you for giving at a time to about that story. we will look at that in more detail throughout the day here on bbc news but first let us move away to another story. an employment tribunaljudge has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and to be protected by law in a landmark legal case. jordi casamitjana claims he was sacked by the league against cruel sports for disclosing it invested pension funds in companies that carried out tests on animals. our reporter kim riley is outside the court in norwich. i don't know whether there has been any decision in terms of the question of whether he was wrongfully sacked, but certainly

there has been this ruling about the organism —— a ethical veganism, just tell us to what the judge said. yes, i should make it clear that the actual employment tribunal will fall this and are most certainly will fall this. this was about the whole issue of what ethical veganism is all about. thejudge issue of what ethical veganism is all about. the judge spent rightly the whole of yesterday immersed in reading 1200 pages of written evidence is studying whether ethical veganism, as practised byjordi casamitjana, amounted to a philosophical or religious leaf and would thus be protected in law. the judgment came quite quickly today. thejudge said it judgment came quite quickly today. the judge said it was a belief that affected every aspect of this man postmark lies, not just affected every aspect of this man postmark lies, notjust as diet or how we travelled or how he works all his social life, so much more. it

give me strong objection to all forms of exploitation of animals. it wasn't based on opinion, but a clear and genuinely held belief worthy of support any democratic society. he said he was satisfied that ethical veganism that the test to be protected under the equality act of 2010. i spoke tojordi casamitjana after the ruling. i am extremely happy. after the ruling. i am extremely happy- i after the ruling. i am extremely happy. i also wanted this verdict but didn't expect it so soon. what it does show is the strength of the evidence. there was no questions asked by thejudge. that is evidence. there was no questions asked by the judge. that is always good to show that the uk has such important evidence behind it that you do not need to justify any more. iam you do not need to justify any more. i am really satisfied and i hope that many of those who were

supporting me feel equally happy. we hope they will benefit from that. what might be due doubt you would win today? i always don't in any judgment because at the end is the judge you have to decide. if you do not doubt at all it means you are overly optimistic but i was very confident that i would win in this particular hearing because, definitely, veganism is certainly philosophical. if you look at and in else's life as a ethical veganism, you will see how it affects their life and how respectful it is for the world. this is a positive belief. it is bound to people. that judgment clears away to an industrial tribunal featuring jordi casamitjana and his case against the league for pro sports.

the league against cruel sports has released a statement. an employment lawyer who is acting for the league against cruel sports said although an interesting point of law, this hearing in relation to ethical legalism was preparation for the real crux of the matter. he goes on, in view of its animal welfare value of the league did not contest the issue of whether ethical legalism itself should be protected belief with the league maintaining it is irreleva nt to with the league maintaining it is irrelevant to the core reason for the dismissal of mr casa mirjana. it says the league is now looking ahead to base hearing in the case and to addressing the reason for his dismissal. which was not due to the belief he holds. it's time now for a

look at the weather forecast. after all the grey weather we've had, today gives us a chance to see something brighter. cloud continuing to clear away from eastern england with sunny skies behind. showers blowing in the north and west of the uk. very windy and the far north of scotland. temperatures continuing to fall through the rest of the day. through tonight, where we keep clear skies in the south of england some spots could get down to freezing. more cloud further north and west. rainfall the north and west of scotland. tomorrow the western heart of the uk will be cloudy. some slightly more persistent rain across northern scotland. the best of the brightness tomorrow in eastern parts of england. a bit milder than it is at the moment this afternoon. as we

get into sunday it will be milder and for most of us dry but it will be cloudy across the west of the uk. hello, this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines: iran has vowed 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 us has accused the general of developing plans to attack americans in iraq, and has told its citizens to leave the country immediately. the authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. a man has appeared in court charged with the murders of his estranged wife, and her partner, whose bodies were discovered on new year's day.

an employment tribunaljudge sitting in norwich has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law. 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. 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 a thousand people have boarded

two navy ships. the community has been cut off since fires go through the area on new year's eve.” been cut off since fires go through the area on new year's eve. i have not been able to process it yet. we we re not been able to process it yet. we were down at the foreshore and it's something i want to forget. others have been flown out by military helicopters but those who remain have been told 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.“ you can leave you must leave. that's the only safe thing for you, your family and for others who may be called to your assistance. we cannot guarantee your safety. thousands are on the move. but not everyone is leaving. some homeowners are

determined to stay to defend their properties in a region that has already seen widespread devastation. that's what we are worried about. fires starting around the house. so we will stay and defend and put those at best we can. if it gets too much we will go. trying to work out what the best option is. it's taking three hours to travel a few collimators at the highway in either direction. not wanting to get trapped on the highway in a fire, we have decided to stay. more than 125 fires continue to burn in new south wales. since september they have killed 19 people. the authorities say that 28 others are unaccounted for in the state of victoria. this isa for in the state of victoria. this is a nationwide crisis. fires are also burning in western australia, south australia and tasmania and there is no end in sight. the

blazers have been so big they have raged with such intensity that the smoke has drifted across the tasman sea to new zealand. let's just here a little bit more about that rescue effort, the evacuation from the town of mallacoota, on the south east tip of the country. sam cucchiara is a journalist for nine news in melbourne, and he's been on the boat with those people being evacuated today. they have been two navy vessels, the main one we've heard about which carried around 1100 people out of malla coota carried around 1100 people out of mallacoota and it's on its way to melbourne. then smaller vessels which had medicalfacilities on board and a number of doctors which

has taken board and a number of doctors which has ta ken about board and a number of doctors which has taken about a hundred people. we've also seen some evacuations of fire the four young children. some children could not go on these ships. the reason they didn't do any more of these air evacuations because the smoke is so thick at the moment and visibility is quite low. and we've got to remember that people leaving their properties and belongings, do they know that when they eventually returned that those properties will still be standing? is there any firefighting effort left behind? much of this town has already been significantly ravaged. people have left their cars and ca rava ns people have left their cars and caravans here. the fires are still burning so the main road in and out of this holiday town is still shut because of falling trees. and also because of falling trees. and also because of falling trees. and also because of these fires. at the moment the only way out is by sea

which is how we arrived in mallacoota, or by ear. a lot of people have left loveland certified and defend their properties. tomorrow is going to be very dangerous here as well. the authorities have issued a grim warning to people who have staying here. and the people -- to the people know when they will be able to return? several weeks may be more because —— before the main road is reopened. the damage at around at the moment, it could be several months until this holiday town feels like normal again. the power is still out here. limited food supplies. lots of supplies have been brought in by the navy and other forces from melbourne. lots of drinking water has just arrived. phone reception is not good for some people. it really is quite difficult here at the moment.

a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of two people who were stabbed at a house in derbyshire on new year's day. rhys hancock is accused of murdering his estranged wife helen hancock and her partner martin griffiths in the village of duffield. our correspondent phil mackie was in court. rhys hancock has appeared before south derbyshire magistrate said it was a brief hearing. it lasted barely five minutes, during which he only spoke to confirm his name, age and address. he is accused of the two murders of his estranged wife, helen, a teacher who was 39 and the mother of their three children. and her partner martin griffiths, a businessman and father of two. at her home in the village of duffield and derbyshire. it was in the early hours of new year's day. they suffered multiple stab wounds. paramedics arrived at the scene and we re paramedics arrived at the scene and were unable to revive them so they we re were unable to revive them so they were pronounced dead there. yesterday after being held in custody for more than 24 hours, mr

hancock was charged with their murders. today he has appeared in court and was remanded in custody untilan court and was remanded in custody until an appearance next monday at derby crown court. we've had a few tributes from both families. helen hancock's family said they were devastated. they talked about it and said she was a lovely and beautiful, friendly, bubbly and social person. martin drew his' family said he was a lovely dad, husband, brother and uncle with a passion for adventure, running and a love of animals. the next stage in this criminal case is on monday at derby crown court where rhys hancock is due to appear. time now for the business news. in the business news: oil prices rose by more than four per cent after a us air strike in baghdad killed qassem soleimani,

a senior iranian military commander. the attack has sparked concerns about an escalation of regional tensions and disruption of crude supplies. brent crude hit $69.22 a barrel, up almost three dollars, its highest since september 17th, but its since fallen back slightly high street retailer next has increased its profit forecast after better than expected sales over christmas. the company's full—price sales rose by 5.2% from 27 october to 28 december, 1.1% ahead of its own expectations. it said that colder weather this november might have helped its performance. next expects sales to grow 3.9% over the current financial year. three energy firms are to pay a total of £10.5m following august's power cut that left over a million people without electricity and caused travel chaos. rwe generation, which runs little ba rford power station, and orstead, which runs hornsea offshore wind farm, will each pay £4.5m to the uk energy

watchdog's redress fund. distributor company uk power networks has also agreed to pay £1.5m. next has unveiled a pretty impressive set of figures. a 5.2% increase in the two month period from the end of october. its performance was boosted by an increasing online sales which rose by 15.3%. the firm is expecting an annual profit of £727 million, up by £2 million and an increase of 4.6% from last year. let's get some more analysis of this from the editor of drapers. this shows how well next‘ digital offering has failed. it's really positive news for the high

street after what was a difficult 2019. what has helped next is it strong online offer. it‘s interesting because its share price has slipped today. is it because some looking behind the overall sales and saying high street is still struggling because sales on the high street for next were down. absolutely. retail store sales are struggling for all of the high street and that is a cause for concern. what next has done is manage that quite well by increasing its online sales. it brought in these third high street labels and thatis these third high street labels and that is mask the problem in stores. what we have seen as a lot of people discounting to try and get people into their stores. these figures are full price sales that have arisen. 1.1% more than next had expected. which is a positive thing. but what they mentioned was they had lower

sail through on their markdown sales, the stuff they put into clea ra nce. sales, the stuff they put into clearance. we have seen that there is evidence that shoppers are bay are getting a little bit bored of these ongoing sales and discounts so that again we are seeing that underlying concern about what that means for 2020. you talk about the sale period because traditionally we‘ve seen shoppers out queueing outside next stores on boxing day. do you think the effect of black friday and cyber monday has had this change to the way we have viewed sales. definitely. it's changed the pattern of trading. what we saw last there was a lot of retailers were discounting in october to try and get people into stores ahead of the black friday. then the discounts continued up until christmas so it meant by the time we got around to boxing day sales people were just about fed up of it. so what we will see with these christmas trading updates as we might see some decent

sales figures but actually profits would have been affected by the fact that a lot of the items were sold at a lower price than they should have been. travelex has been forced to take down its website after a cyber attack. the foreign—currency seller has been working on the issue since the software virus attack on new year‘s eve. the company has resorted to carrying out transactions manually, providing foreign—exchange services over the counter in its branches. the united states has announced a countrywide ban on some e—cigarette flavours mainly mint and fruit flavour amid concerns about vaping among teens. south korea, india, brazil are among the dozens of countries that have announced sweeping vaping bans. bohemian rha psody‘s success at the box office in 2018 was replicated in the living room last year. the freddie mercury biopic was the biggest home video of 2019, selling 1.7 million copies in the uk.

lets check in with the latest on oil price now following the us attack which killed the senior iranian commander in iraq, qassem soleimani. energy companies have risen off the back. bp up 1.73%. the ftse 100 energy companies have risen off the back. bp up 1.73%. the ftse100 down marginally. that‘s over worries about the possible geopolitical effect. and next on the board, they are actually down 1% despite those really impressive sales figures over the christmas period. that is all the christmas period. that is all the business news for now. we can update you on the latest tweet from president trump who has treated in the last two minutes. you

can see it on your screens. he has tweeted an image of the stars and stripes which is at the top of his twitter page. but in the last two minutes he says iran never won a war, but never lost the negotiation! perhaps a slightly obscure comment from the president. he is getting congratulations from some in the states but also a lot of criticism

as well about the decision to authorise that strike on that small convoy which was carrying general qassem soleimani, iran‘s top military commander. that is our top story today. the headlines on bbc news: iran has vowed 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 authorities in south eastern australia are urging tens of thousands of people to leave the area, before expected soaring temperatures and strong winds cause further wildfires tomorrow. a man has appeared in court charged with the murders of his estranged wife, and her partner, whose bodies were discovered on new year‘s day.

the most powerful military commander in iran has been killed in baghdad. the pentagon said general qassem soleimani who was the head of the iranian revolutionary guards elite force had been planning attacks against americans in iraq. the iranian supreme leader has promised vengeance and the united states has told its citizens in iraq to leave immediately. in the past few minutes president trump has tweeted this. us secretary of state mike pompeo has been speaking to us media network cnn in the last few minutes. he defended the decision to kill general qasem soleimani. president trump‘s decision to remove general qassem soleimani from the battlefield saved american lives. he was plotting in the region to take actions that would have put dozens or hundreds of american lives at

risk. it was imminent, it was an intelligence based assessment that drove our decision—making process. a short while ago, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu voiced his support for the us drone strike just as israel has the right of self—defence the us has the same right. general qassem soleimani is responsible for the deaths of american citizens and innocent people. he was planning more attacks. president trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively. israel stands with the us in its struggle for peace, security and self defence. our security correspondent, frank gardner says iran will likely take it‘s time to consider what, if any, response it will take. don‘t expect an immediate response. it will be in a more measured and calculate it way and probably in an

unexpected way. if you think of some of the attacks we‘ve seen in the last few months which were blamed on iran, none of these were expected, so iran, none of these were expected, so the attacks on the tanker, in the gulf injune, so the attacks on the tanker, in the gulf in june, then so the attacks on the tanker, in the gulf injune, then there was the attack on a pipeline in saudi arabia and then the mass drone and cruise missile attack that came out of nowhere knocking out saudi arabia‘s oil output in the space of a few minutes. nobody saw that coming. that was supposed to be a warning. officially that was by the who the‘s. it was by iranian proxy somewhere but denied by iran. they will probably come up with something that people hadn‘t seen. but it‘s certainly a dangerous time for us diplomats and possibly for expatriates and for us military

bases throughout the region. the us has huge military footprint notjust in iraq but in all six arab states and many other countries in the wider region. so there is plenty of targets that iran could choose to do an attack. a mysterious car bomb which nobody claimed responsibility for but takes out somebody in the us administration some way. so you think the nature of the response may be continue to look something like a proxy encounter between the us and iran rather than a more open encounter between the two countries. the iranians have been very careful not to so goad president trump in the white house that it provokes an all—out military response because that would be catastrophic for them. years ago i remember going to the southern port in iran and iranians we re southern port in iran and iranians

were proudly telling me look at all our radar, america will never attack us. but actually america could devastate iran‘s a defences. iran is starting to get some new technology and written help and so on but it would be a catastrophic response. 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. met office says last year was provisionally the 11th warmest on record. our 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. 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. a community knitting enterprise in new zealand has seen a huge increase in sales after the duke and duchess of sussex posted a picture of baby archie wearing one of their hats. the photo of prince harry cuddling his son was posted on the royal couple‘s instagram account to mark the new year.

claire conza is the founder of make give live, the knitting enterprise that made the hat. i spoke to her a little earlier and she gave me her reaction to the increase in demand. it's quite incredible, beyond our wildest dreams. we never could have dreamt that something like this would happen. it was such a surprise to us. something as simple as a hat with two cute pom—poms has caused such a stir. what we are pleased about is the message behind it is coming across and it's just so touching. we are hearing stories which provided the inspiration. it

shares the values of our organisation and appreciated what we nt organisation and appreciated what went into the creation of that hat. tell us a bit more about what make, give, liver is all about? what is your intention? the purpose of it is easing isolation and improving mental health and well—being. we do that through the therapies of social connection and knitting with purpose. we have groups of people that get together every week in their local community cafe or library for a couple of hours and have a good laugh and chat and a cup of tea and produce this collection of tea and produce this collection of hats that we sell is by when i get one. so for everyone that we sell we give one to a person in need. that also creates a real sense

of purpose. it's quite a beautiful cycle of how it all happens. in a moment, ben brown will be here with the bbc news at one. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with ben rich. after a ll after all the gloomy weather we‘ve had lately, today has brought something a little bit brighter. you can see cloud on the sadly picture moving eastwards. also a decent amount of sunshine and the air has been turning cold. temperatures have been turning cold. temperatures have been dipping away. the coldest air of all across the far north of scotla nd of all across the far north of scotland where it is also very windy. some showers pushing on across the north west of the uk and for many more places it‘s dry with some spells of sunshine. four wins towards the south would be brisk but for the northern half of scotland we could see gusts of 70 mph. temperature wise, they are

continuing to dip away. single digits for all of usjust continuing to dip away. single digits for all of us just about as we enter the afternoon. tonight there will be some clear spells. particularly in the south and east. further north and west some showers drifting through. some of those showers falling as snow. temperatures through the night will drop away particularly towards the south of england where some spots are likely to get down to freezing. tomorrow, high—pressure sifting down to the south but frontal systems trying to topple in from the atla ntic trying to topple in from the atlantic and they will introduce more cloud across the western side of the uk. that cloud thick enough to produce the odd spot of drizzle. some outbreaks of rain moving across the north of scotland. the best of the north of scotland. the best of the brightness in south—east scotla nd the brightness in south—east scotland and central and eastern parts of england. similar weather on sunday. the best of the brightness in eastern and southern areas. more

cloud further north and west with some rain affecting the north—west of scotland. sunday is a fairly windy day but a slightly milder one with temperatures in newcastle and glasgow getting up to around 10 degrees. as we head into next week this is the jet stream, the wind is very high up in the atmosphere which drive the weather this just comes across the globe and they are powerful next week, spending up areas of low pressure. it means next week will bring gales, towards the north but it will feel very mild. our.

us forces kill a top iranian general in an airstrike, escalating tension between the united states and iran. qasem soleimani was the second most powerful person in iran and the country‘s strategic mastermind. he was killed as his convoy left baghdad airport — iran has vowed to take revenge. president trump — who ordered the attack — has tweeted a picture of the american flag. his secretary of state has defended the killing. president trump‘s decision to remove qasem soleimani from the battlefield saved american lives, there‘s no doubt about that. he was actively plotting in the region, to take actions, a big action as he described it, that would have put dozens if not hundreds of american lives at risk. we‘ll be asking how dangerous a moment this is for the middle east.

also this lunchtime...