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. katy austin, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. after what has been a gloomy start to 2020, today most of us get to see something a little brighter. this is how it looked in belfast earlier, sunny skies overhead and cloud rolling away east on the satellite picture. some speckled shower clouds following from the north—west but a decent amount of sunshine. we have been bringing in cold air and temperatures have been dropping away as the day has gone on. the coldest air across the far north of

scotland. for many this afternoon it stays dry with sunshine, a few showers for north west england, parts of northern ireland and scotland, some showers in scotland wintry of a high ground, and very wintry of a high ground, and very wintry in the far north, across the northern isles, gusts of 70 miles an hour. temperatures falling through the rest of the day. single digits even further south. it will be fairly chilly as we go through this evening. towards the south and east, we hold on to clear spells. that is where we will have the coldest weather overnight. further north and west, more clout and outbreaks of patchy rain, most persistent across the north and west of scotland. snow on high ground and even to low levels in shetland for a time. temperatures through the night, lowest in the south—west, some spots getting down to freezing. tomorrow, high pressure setting to the south, but you can see these frontal systems toppling in around the top of the hive. that will introduce more clout, particularly across western areas. for northern ireland,

western areas. for northern ireland, western scotland, north—west england, wales and the south—west, cloudy with some rain, persistent rain and continuing across northern scotland. in the south and east of england, a better chance of seeing sunshine. not as windy as it has been today across the north of the uk and a little milder as well. sunday's weather looks similar, right across north—west scotland, a fairamount of right across north—west scotland, a fair amount of cloud in the west, brighter skies further east, but with wins coming from the south—west, a slightly milder day again. newcastle and glasgow get up to around 10 celsius. next week, it looks quite turbulent. i will show you that the —— i will show you the jet stream, which drives weather systems around the world. it is showing signs of becoming strong through next week, spinning up areas of low pressure and bringing them oui’ of low pressure and bringing them our way. what does that mean for the weather? we will see gales, particularly across the north, very windy at times, rain at times as

well, but with that, it will feel unseasonably mild. at least it is bright out there at the moment. thank you very much indeed. a reminder of our top story... us forces kill a top iranian general in an air strike, escalating tension between the united states and iran. president trump's secretary of state has defended the killing. president trump's secretary of state has defended the killingm president trump's secretary of state has defended the killing. it saved american lives, no doubt about it. he was plotting across the region to ta ke he was plotting across the region to take actions, big actions as he described it, that would have put dozens described it, that would have put d oze ns if described it, that would have put dozens if not hundreds of american lives at risk. that's all from the bbc news at one, good afternoon, it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news.

it's day one of the second test between england and south africa in cape town. 0pening batsman rory burns has been ruled out of the series after injuring himself playing football and his replacement zak crawley could only make four. joe denly and dominic sibley managed to put some runs on the board. but then sibley and captain joe root both fell and then denley was bowled out for 38. england are 149 for 4 at tea and are i—nil down in the four match series. marnus labushane scored a century to put australia into a strong position against new zealand on the opening day of the third test in sydney. 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 3 against a depleted new zealand. australia already lead the three test series 2—nil.

australia's nick kyrgios will donate nearly £75 to the bushfire relief fund for every ace he hits this month. he's one of a number of australian athletes who have pledged their support to the cause as the fires continue to rage across the country. australian tennis player sam stosur announced on instagram that she would follow him in donating the same amount for ever ace she scores and it's notjust tennis players getting involved, jockey tommy berry said he would donate money for every winner he rides. kygios says its a tough situation for everyone in the country. i don't really care about the praise too much. my hometown is canberra. it's tough. the first atp cup is underway in australia and cameron norrie got the british team off to a winning start against bulgaria. he beat dimitar kuz—marnov in three sets in sydney. the tournament is a 2a—nations event

with two singles and a doubles tie. similar format to the fed cup, but in the last few minutes bulgaria have levelled the tie. dan evans beaten in three sets by grigor dimitroff. the manchester united pair of anthony martial and jesse lingard have been sent home from training with illness as 0le gunnar solsjkaer tried to protect his squad ahead of their fa cup tie at wolves tomorrow. meanwhile solskjaer has insisted that the club fully support paul pogba having ankle surgery. the manchester united boss said after their new year's day defeat to arsenal that pogba's "people" wanted him to have the operation. solskajer has told the press today though that all parties agreed with the decision. paul came back after a long spell out, after two games he had a reaction and felt his ankle was sore and needed a scan. it's not the same injury, it's a different injury. of

course when you get that scan you speak to him and you always consult your owfi speak to him and you always consult your own medical people as well. i did whenl your own medical people as well. i did when i did my operation. the advice was to have it done. it's not advice was to have it done. it's not a major one. it's probably about three or four weeks. scrum half, rhys webb will be eligible to play for wales in this year's six nations. he's leaving the french side toulon for the welsh side, 0spreys. webb hasn't played for wales since 2017 after the welsh rugby union introduced a selection policy that prevented any players that played abroad from representing their country. but following his return to wales, he will be available for their opening six nations game on february ist against italy. that's all the sport. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. including text commentary from day one of the second test between england and south africa in cape town. bye for now.

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. 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 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. 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. he was speaking to annita mcveigh. we know that the us had threatened to assassinate this general. trump also issued a treat saying it was

not a warning. the general said he expected to be killed at any moment. we we re expected to be killed at any moment. we were surprised by the timing but we we re we were surprised by the timing but we were not surprised it happened. give us a sense of how the general was in iraq —— iran? give us a sense of how the general was in iraq -- iran? he was a very respected man. he sacrificed a lot. he was at the forefront of the war against terror. he didn't deserve this kind of death that happened last night. america needs to come to its senses. it's going to escalate an already dangerous situation. this is

uncharted territory. many people loved this man for what he did to this country and for our allies in the region. people are talking about retaliation. america has to be held fully responsible for this latest attack. why do you think this us 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 has made mistakes. iranian officials have made mistakes in dealing with the united states. they

are under immense pressure right now because we wanted to escape from an impeachment trial in america so they try to score political points in order to distract the attention of the general public in the us about what is going on inside the united states. i think the same thing is happening here because the government is under pressure because of us sanctions. the establishment is paying a heavy price because of the ongoing process across the country. the us government loved to see this kind of escalation because it is going to distract the attention.

let's return to the fires in australia and hear about the navy rescue effort and the evacuation from the town of mallacoota, on the south east tip of the country. sam cucchiara (pron koo—chee—ah—ra, 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 carried 1100 people and it's on its way to melbourne as we speak. then a smaller vessel which had medicalfacilities speak. then a smaller vessel which had medical facilities and the number of doctors which has taken around 100 people. we've also seen some evacuations via the air. the elderly and children. anyone under five years old could not go on these ships so that they have been taken by you. the reason they didn't do any more in evacuations is because the smoke is incredibly thick. and

we have to remember the people leaving their properties and belongings, do they know when they eventually return that those properties will still be standing? much of this town has already been quite significantly ravaged. people have left their cars and caravans here because these fires are still burning. the main highway in and out of this holiday town is still shut because of falling trees and because of these fires. at the moment the only way out of here is spicy which is how we arrived, or by a. a lot of people i spoke to today have left loved ones here to fight or defend their properties. we know tomorrow it's going to be very dangerous here as well and authorities have issued as well and authorities have issued a grim warning to people who are staying here. and the people who have left, don't have any idea when

they might be to return? not at this stage. we feared it might be several weeks or possibly more before the main road is reopened. 0bviously with the damage around at the moment we are expecting it to be several months until this holiday town is normal again. power is still out here. unlimited food supplies. a lot of food supplies have been brought in by the navy under the forces from melbourne. lots of drinking water has just arrived. phone melbourne. lots of drinking water hasjust arrived. phone reception is not good for some people. so it really is quite difficult here at the moment. 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. let's return to the news 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 let's return to the news an employment tribunaljudge has in companies that carried out tests on animals. jordi casamitjana has been speaking outside the court today, here is some of what he had to say. lam happy. i am happy. i lam happy. i did not i am happy. i did not expect this verdict so soon. i was not even

asked the question because there we re asked the question because there were no questions in the mind of the judge. there is always good to show that the uk has such important evidence behind it that you don't need tojustify it evidence behind it that you don't need to justify it any more. so evidence behind it that you don't need tojustify it any more. sol evidence behind it that you don't need tojustify it any more. so i am really satisfied and i hope all the vegans out there who have supported me feel their little donation has been properly used. did you doubt whether you are going to win today? i always doubt anyjudgment because it's the judge has to decide. if you don't doubt that all it means you are over optimistic. but i was very confident because reaganism is a philosophical belief and when you look at my life or anybody else's life you will see it. you don't have to dig too deep. you see how it affects peoples lives and how

important and how respectful it is for the world. it is a positive belief, not a negative belief. the league against cruel sports has also released a statement, rhys wyborn, employment partner at law firm, shakespeare martineau, who acted for the league, said: although an interesting point of law, this hearing was preparation for the real crux of the matter: why jordi casamitjana was dismissed. in view of its animal welfare value, the league did not contest the issue of whether ethical veganism itself should be a protected belief, with the league maintaining that its irrelevant to the core reason for the dismissal. the league is now looking ahead to the substantive hearing in this case and to addressing the reason for mr casamitjana s dismissal, which it maintains was due to his misconduct and not the belief he holds.

the headlines on bbc news: iran has vowed to take revenge after its most powerful military leader, qassem soleimani, was killed in a us airstrike in iraq. relief for around a thousand residents and tourists rescued by the australian navy from the country's bush fires a judge rules that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief — and therefore protected by law. let's get more on the news that the last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years in the uk, with eight new high—temperature records set. mark mccarthy is head of the met office's national climate information centre and spoke to annita mcveigh. he began explaining whether warmer tempertatures were evidence

of climate change in the uk. we have seen that our climate in the uk is warming and its warmed byjust undera uk is warming and its warmed byjust under a degree since the mid—20th century. what seeing with the extremes as quoted in 2019 and over the last decade are consistent with that broad picture. so climate change is tipping the balance. so when those array weather conditions occur, that leads 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 data that we are taking. there was that one record low in 2018 which eve ryo ne one record low in 2018 which everyone will remember, the beast from the east. it doesn't mean that each ticket is going to be warmer

than the preceding one does it? 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 the same amount. but here in the uk because of our position between the atlantic ocean and the european continent our climate and weather is highly variable. so that weather variability is playing out superimposed on our changing climate if you like. so we will and 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 of these low temperature extremes. what is going to be done

with this sort of information at a policy level by government? we produce these monitoring statistics routinely and they have been collected pretty much since the inception of the met office 150 years ago. this information feeds into what we report a government but it's also published publicly so for business for anyone to use and part of it is to allow the uk to understand our climate, the past variability, what extreme and unusual, but also looking at how our climate is now an feeding that into our projections for future change and what are the risks that we need to be aware of and that we need to manage at a national and regional scale here in the uk.

the liberal democrat mp layla moran, has come out as pansexual 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. 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. she spoke to annita mcveigh a little earlier and she gave her reaction to the increase in demand. it's quite incredible, beyond our

wildest dreams. we never could have dreamt something like this would happen. 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 is coming across and it's so touching hearing stories that are an inspiration for megan and harry sharing that. they share the values of our organisation and appreciated what went into the creation of that hat. tell us a bit more about what make, give, live is all about? what was your intention in setting up this social enterprise? the purpose

of it is giving —— improving mental health and well— being. of it is giving —— improving mental health and well—being. we do that through therapies of social connection and knitting with purpose. 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 hats that we sell as by one give one. 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 for the makers. which also contributes to their well—being. it's makers. which also contributes to their well— being. it's quite makers. which also contributes to their well—being. it's quite a beautiful cycle of how it happens. let's see what the weekend weather is going to be like.

after a ll after all the gloomy weather we've had lately, today has brought us something brighter. you can see cloud moving way eastwards. a decent amount of sunshine but with that the ar has been turning colder temperatures have been dipping. the colder state of all to be found across the final for scotland. it's also very windy day this afternoon. some showers in the north—west of the uk. more places are dry with sunshine but the winds in the northern half of scotland could see gusts of 60 to 70 mph. temperature wise, they are continuing to dip away. single digits forjust about all of us as we end the afternoon. through this evening they will be some clear spells around. further north and west a fair amount of cloud and some showers drifting through. some of those towers could fall as snow. temperatures tonight will drop away, particularly towards

the south of england where some spots are likely to get down to freezing. for tomorrow, high—pressure sitting in the south but frontal systems trying to topple in from the atlantic and those fronts will generally introduce more cloud across the western side of the uk. that club thick enough to produce an odd spot of drizzle in wales and north—west england and northern ireland. some outbreaks of rain moving across the north of scotland. the best of the brightness across south—east scotland a decent pa rt across south—east scotland a decent part of england. similar weather on sunday. the best of the rightness and southern areas. more cloud the north and west. sunday is a fairly windy day but a slightly milder one with temperatures for the likes of newcastle and glasgow getting up to around 10 degrees. as we head into next week, this is the jet stream and the winds are very high up in the atmosphere and they drive for

weather systems across the globe and they will be powerful next week spinning up deep areas of low pressure and bringing them in our direction. it means next week will bring gales particularly in the north. rain at times but it will feel very mild.

hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm carrie gracie. today at two: tensions escalate between the united states and iran after us forces kill iran's top general qasem soleimani. he died in a drone attack as his convoy left baghdad airport. iran has vowed to take revenge. the foreign secretary has urged restraint. relief for around 1,000 residents and tourists rescued by the australian navy from the country's bush fires. a judge rules that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief — and therefore protected by law. coming up on afternoon live: all the sport with ben croucher.

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