president trump orders the assassination of one of the most powerful men in the middle east, iran's top military commander. general qasem soleimani was killed in a us airstrike in iraq as he arrived at baghdad airport in the early hours of this morning. iran said the air strike was america's biggest mistake in the region and threatened severe revenge but the white house said general soleimani had been plotting to kill hundreds of americans. we don't seek war with iran but, at the same time, we are not going to stand by and watch the iranians escalate and continue to put american lives at risk without responding in a way that disrupts, defends, deters and creates an opportunity to de—escalate the situation. the us has said tonight it is

sending 3500 more troops to the middle east in response to the threat and we will be asking what this could lead to. safe at last — relief as the australian navy rescues a thousand people who'd been trapped on the coast by bush fires. tens of thousands more people are being urged to move to safety as the fires burn down on coastal resorts in south—eastern australia. a vegan victory as a judge rules that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and should receive similar legal protections to religion. and another dissappointing day for england as the wickets tumble in the second test against south africa. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news... all third round fa cup matches this weekend will start a minute late as fa ns weekend will start a minute late as fans are shown a film to encourage people to talk openly about their mental health.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. one of the most powerful men in the middle east, iran's military commander, general qasem soleimani, has been killed by a us air strike in iraq. he was assasinated outside baghdad airport morning in an attack ordered by president trump. donald trump said the 62—year—old general had been plotting to kill americans in the region and was directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions of people. iran has threatened severe revenge. tens of thousands of people are holding rallies in cities across the iran, denouncing what they call us crimes. here's our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. this was the moment that the us assassinated qasem soleimani and pushed the middle east into a new year and new decade of uncertainty and more danger. the pictures came

from a tv station controlled by iran. the attack, from a missile fired from a drone, hit his motorcade as he was being driven out of baghdad airport. the us and iran we re of baghdad airport. the us and iran were already fighting a war in the shadows. neither side wants uncontrolled escalation but the chances of miscalculation and a lurch into a big war have increased. qasem soleimani was no ordinary foe put it for a generation, he was probably america's at most capable enemy. his death delivers a blow to the heart of the iranian regime. for many years, soleimani up iran's power outside its borders and made it and himself a major player in iraq, syria and lebanon. he was a talisman for iranian hardliners who have been rocked to their core. they will want to get even, perhaps more than that. last sunday, american air

strikes killed 25 members of an iraqi militia armed and trained by soleimani's quds organisation, after an american contractor was killed in an american contractor was killed in a militia attacked pulled the midshipman undoubtedly on silin money's others marched on the us embassy in baghdad and attacked its perimeter. the militias he created we re perimeter. the militias he created were a vital part of the fight against thejihadists of were a vital part of the fight against the jihadists of islamic state but they are also one way that iran projects power abroad. the huge american compound is a fortress and it was not breached but the attacks goaded and threatened the trump administration. the americans rushed in reinforcements to the embassy. it is not clear when the decision to assassinate soleimani was taken but when it happened, president trump tweeted in triumph.

the americans argue their motives are defensive. we don't seek war with iran but at the same time, we are not going to stand by and watch the iranians continue to escalate and put american lives at risk without responding in a way that disrupts and defends and deters and creates an opportunity to de—escalate the situation. creates an opportunity to de-escalate the situation. in baghdad, some iraqis celebrated the killing put it for weeks, anti—government demonstrators had been demanding an end to iranian influence in iraq in tehran, ayatolla h influence in iraq in tehran, ayatollah ali khamenei, the iranian supreme leader, visited qasem soleimani's widow he said to revenge awaits the criminals. iranian hardliners are rocked to their core. the spokesman for soleimani's republican guard corpus was highly

emotional in a tv interview. so were regime supporters on the streets. qasem soleimani was their hero. at a time when they see themselves surrounded by enemies. iran was already under severe pressure from us sanctions. resident trump might be gambling that he has so weakened iran that it will rage but not hurt the us badly —— president trump put up the us badly —— president trump put up that assumption could be dangerous and wrong. jeremy bowen, bbc news. we can talk now to our north america correspondent, aleem maqbool, who's in washington. white has president trump ordered this assassination now? the line from the white house is that americans around the world are safer thanks to donald trump directing the killing of qasem soleimani, a man who had been in the cross hairs are both the george w bush and 0bama administrations but apparently the thinking then was that killing him

would just have repercussions that work just to serbia would just have repercussions that workjust to serbia but clearly that thinking has changed. senior republicans here have been vocally very supportive of his assassination and many had thought the us had reacted too weakly to other iranian attacks, in the gulf for example, on oil tankers. but democrats have been very critical of the move when they see as reckless and some have bemoaned the lack of consultation with congress. joe biden, the potential presidential candidate, said the world had been set on edge by an erratic, unstable and dangerously incompetent commander in chief. a lot of people are wondering how this all fits in with donald trump's stated aim to disengage militarily with the middle east when we now hear that another 3500 us troops are about to be deployed there. thank you. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kabul. iran is threatening soviet revenge

but what kind of retaliation could that be? —— severe revenge but it has many means and many weight and it could retaliate butjudging by its past military operations, we expect it will try to carefully calibrate its response. it will be a retaliation in equal measure to what it has described as the us‘s declaration of war but not so spectacular that it draws a run into a direct military confrontation with the united states which could set this entire region on a dangerous and unpredictable cycle of escalation. its next move could be carried out by proxy militias in a country like iraq where there are us forces and other us targets. it could take place in somewhere like afghanistan where i am now, next door to iran where there are thousands of us and other nato forces based. it could also, given the vast reach of iran's intelligent

networks, take place farfrom iranian borders in another part of the world. iran will certainly want to carry out an operation which will shock and surprise, but stop short ofan shock and surprise, but stop short of an all—out war. shock and surprise, but stop short of an all-out war. thank you. around a thousand people trapped by bushfires on the south—eastern coast of australia have been rescued by the australian navy. tens of thousands of others are being urged to move to safety amid fears the fires could worsen in parts of victoria, new south wales and south australia. the death toll for this week has risen to eight and a50 homes have been lost on the south coast. this map shows the spread of the fires since the begining of the week. as you can see, they are concentrated in the eastern coastal areas. 0ur correspondent shamaa khalil reports now from sussex inlet, just over a hundred miles south of sydney. for the first time in days, nearly a thousand tourists and residents can breathe a little more easily as they are

finally moved to safety. the navy has stepped in to rescue those who were stranded on the beach in mallacoota when they were encircled by an uncontrollable fire on monday. a state of disaster has been declared in eastern victoria ahead of tomorrow's extreme conditions. up to 100,000 residents are being told to evacuate. if you can leave, you must leave. that is the only safe thing for you, your family, and, indeed, for others who may be called to your assistance. we cannot guarantee your safety. in new south wales, the message is the same. fire authorities have said that saturday's blazes could be as bad as, if not worse, than those of new year's eve. in the coastal town of batemans bay, firefighters are racing to protect those who have decided to stay. despite the warnings, jeff and pamela zorbas decided they are not leaving their small town of sussex inlet.

hopefully it is not going to be as bad as they are predicting but we have got the hoses ready and we just hose the house down if the embers come. and if the fires do hit hard, we've got a boat here. we're going tojump in the boat and we are going to get out to see. i'lljust take the family and the dogs and away we go. jay martin is also staying put to defend his house and help friends and neighbours. he tells me the anticipation of disaster is what worries him. waiting. that's the hardest part. we've been at it for two weeks and it's just waiting. and there's people who've got it a lot tougher than me. i've just been waiting and helping out, just getting through tomorrow and hope it all passes and we get a bit of rain on monday. a blaze has just started on the bush in this area, just beyond that tree line. firefighters are watching closely here. their concern is that, with the wind picking up, this could travel very fast and get here so they are patrolling the area and making sure that properties are protected. that is really the main aim. politically, this has been a rough

ride for the prime minister, who has been regularly criticised for how he has handled the bushfire crisis. and it is notjust the residents who have made their feelings clear. scott morrison said he understood the anger but was focusing on the task in hand. 0ur concerns are obviously are now looking out over the next sort of 2a, 48—hour period. this is a ferocious fire that is still out there and the climatic conditions are going to be very difficult to contain that in the next 2a to 48 hours. that is why the evacuation messages are so incredibly important. there is a real sense of dread here about what will happen in these coming hours. at a time when many had planned family holidays, australians now wait for yet another firestorm to blaze through. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, on the southern coast of new south wales. an employment tribunaljudge has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and should

therefore receive similar legal protections to religion. the decision is part of a case brought by a vegan man who says he was sacked by the league against cruel sports for his beliefs. they argue he was dismissed was for gross misconduct. our legal correspondent clive coleman is here. explain what this means. extraordinary case. jordi casamitjana alleges that when he told his bosses at the league against cruel sports that some of that pension funds were invested in companies involved in la animal testing they did nothing, he told his colleagues and he claims he was sacked as a result of his pagan belief. today is the first time that an employment tribunal has ruled that ethical legalism is a philosophical belief, a kin to a religion, and so protected under equality law. i say it is ethical legalism and not dietary beginners and. mr casamitjana does not get on buses, for instance, forfear and. mr casamitjana does not get on buses, for instance, for fear they might accidentally collide with a

bird or insect. to qualify for a philosophical belief, it has to be genuinely held and serious and cover a substantial aspect of human life and be worthy of respect in democratic society and not interfere with the rights of others. that is what the law says and that is what was recognised in court. big implications, employers will have to make sure they do not discriminate against people holding those beliefs. for example, somebody working on a supermarket checkout might be protected if they refused to put a meat product through the till. the ruling will apply notjust to employment but to other areas like education, the supply of goods and services and of course, this might be the incentive that people with other topical beliefs want in order to try and get the same protection for their beliefs in law. clive coleman, thank you. the time is 14 minutes past six. our top story this evening... iran's most powerful military commander has been killed by a us air strike.

president trump ordered the assassination of general qasem soleimani as he arrived at baghdad airport in the early hours of the morning. iran has threatened serbia revenge. coming up, warmerand warmer, we look at the uk's record—breaking temperatures last year —— severe revenge. and another dissappointing day for england as the wickets tumble in the second test against south africa. 400 people who desperately needed an organ transplant died last year in the uk. thousands more are on a transplant waiting list hoping that a suitable organ will become available — and it is an agonising wait. this spring england will follow wales and change the law so that when you die it'll be assumed that you consent to donating your organs — unless you have specifically opted out of the scheme. our health correspondent, dominic hughes, has followed the story of one woman, emma watson, who desperately needed

a new kidney and pancreas. and just to point out, his report does contain close—up scenes from an operation. so, you're attending today to have a transplant, is that correct? pancreas and kidney. yeah. i thought i would come in the first time and i would get it, and you get a phone call, you are so excited and think, yeah, this will be it, my life's going to change. this is life on the transplant list. just breathe normally. it's spring 2018. emma watson is waiting for an organ donation that will transform her life. it's the eighth time she's been called into the unit at manchester's royal infirmary. it is soul destroying to keep coming back and back and back, but you have to come, because anything could happen, and it could be you. emma's kidneys are failing, ravaged by the type one diabetes she's had since the age of ten. a new pancreas will effectively cure her diabetes. in the meantime, every night, a dialysis machine does the work of her damaged organs.

it's on. i've got to attach the machine to me, but i have this little pipe. there is a little hole in my stomach. the fluid goes into my body. you feel your stomach just getting bigger and bigger. after an hour, it will then drain out, then it will start again. you'll have that feeling all night, basically. i can't remember the last time i did have a decent night's sleep. this is a life entirely dominated by managing her condition. everything i do is the dialysis and medical. i don't do anything else. i don't enjoy life, i don't have a hobby. nothing. ithink i'mjust existing, not living. if haemorrhage happened, that could be life threatening. december 2018, and another potential donorfor emma has been found. there are two forms, one for the pancreas and one for the kidney. yeah. after more than a year on the list, emma is still hoping this time it could happen,

but it's hard going. i was a lot more optimistic the first time you saw me, and i think after a year—and—a—half, half, the more excited you get, the more of a fall you're going to have. the higher you go, the lower you fall. that's it, isn't it? i think you get to the point in your life, realistically, how long can you do it for and i wasn't like that before. you've got to do it for your kids, otherwise they are not going to have a parent, so you've got to go and do it, haven't you ? every year, around 400 people die while waiting for a transplant, and any number of reasons can derail the procedure — organs that are unsuitable or in poor condition, even a minor illness like a cold. this time, the organs are a better match for another patient. once more, emma is sent home. put you over onto that bed, do the last few checks, and then we'll get started. ten days later, and after 13 false alarms, a donor has been found. you can actually hold the vein itself. the kidney and pancreas are painstakingly checked and prepared.

finally... scissors, please. this transplant is going ahead. it's a long and risky operation. let's go back to the pancreas now. within minutes of getting the new organs... her blood sugar's fallen to 15... the theatre team are seeing an improvement. the patient is not requiring the insulin. so, this is the pancreas. after the blood flows through it, we would like it to be like salmon pink, which you can see it is. this operation has saved emma's life and means an end to the dialysis that dominated her existence. four months later and emma is about to return to work. it's been a long recovery. i'm starting to feel like a new person, or at least the old old person. when we talk to before, you could see up to the transplant, maybe, but you felt like you couldn't really see beyond that. what about now? i've got plans. i'd like to go on holiday and everything like that, and just

live my life, really. so, now, there is nothing to stop me doing anything that i want to do now. emma watson there, speaking to our correspondent dominic hughes. you can follow the highs transplant wait in more detail with our long read feature at bbc.co.uk/news or on the bbc news app. an estranged husband has appeared in court charged with murdering his wife and her new partner after they were both found fatally stabbed at a house in derbyshire on new year's day. the bodies of helen hancock and martin griffiths were found in the village of duffield in the early hours of the morning. rhys hancock, who's 39, has been remanded in custody. french police say they have shot dead a man who killed one person and attacked a number of others outside attacked a number of others outside a pub in paris. they say the man attacked several people around lunchtime. a man who was walking in the park with his wife died and two

others were seriously hurt. counterterrorism officers are investigating. three energy companies have agreed to pay more than 10 million pounds after a major electricity blackout last summer. a lightning strike last august caused two large generators to go down. more than a million customers were left without power, and there was severe travel disruption. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. remember this? the biggest blackout in a decade. this is bbc 5live with steven nolan. the major power cuts which affected hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses, hospitals and transport networks today... michael wilson was one of thousands of passengers caught up in the chaos on the railways. he told me how he was stuck on a train for an extra eight hours with his daughter, travelling from newcastle to london. when you've been on the train for that long, there were babies crying, there were people getting quite upset. there was one point where there was a member of staff who quite clearly was in tears over the tannoy because people were getting quite agitated. so, who's to blame?

two power stations hundreds of miles apart — hornsey offshore wind farm and the rwe—owned little barford gas—fired gas—fired power station. they are supposed to cope with lightning strikes, but didn't last august. 0fgem says their equipment failed, triggering the wider shutdown. both the owners have agreed to pay £4.5 million forfailing to stay on the grid. a third company, uk power networks, who run the power lines in the east and south—east of england, is also paying £1.5 million for reconnecting customers too early, a technical breach of the rules. national grid keeps the lights on in the uk, balancing our electricity supply and demand. 0fgem says it is not responsible for what happened but it is not com pletely what happened but it is not completely off the hook.

what we're saying today is, we want to look closely at how that part of national grid is governed and run, to make sure it stays fit for purpose as our energy system changes. ultimately, they could be stripped of their role. we are just starting the work, and i don't want to pre—empt any conclusions, but all options are on the table. lessons, then, to be learned. the government said today it will implement an action plan to help prevent future power disruptions. emma simpson, bbc news. high street retailer next has increased its profit forecast after enjoying better than expected sales over christmas. it is the first of the big uk retailers to report its christmas figures. sales were boosted by an increase in online sales, which rose by 15% over the three—month period. england 5 cricketers began the new year with another frustrating day in south africa. having been defeated in the first test, and losing several players to illness and injury, they lost nine wickets on the first day of the second test match. play ended in cape town a short time ago with england 262 for 9 in theirfirst innings. here sjoe wilson. cape town's newlands

ground is appreciated fully from a distance. might be the best view in world cricket. zach crawley, 21 years young, was just trying to watch the ball and stay cool. he opened england's batting — not easy. edged and gone. crawley played because rory burns had hurt himself playing football. south africa don't need extra help. and england's training session football games are now banned. their batting here was stop—stop, or start—stop. dom sibley gone for 34. captain joe root deflected the ball with his glove to the wicketkeeper. he made 35. these are frustrating numbers. joe denly again did so much hard work and then... bowled him! 38 for him. still, step forward, ben stokes. good, firm hit. these were the moments when you realise so many of cape town's spectators were england fans. well, it is a very dry january in that sun. watch what stokes did

next, or perhaps don't. he saw it but still couldn't believe it. caught and gone for 47. england's intermittent innings threatened to fully stop. that was curran gone. they got to 262—9, thanks mainly to 0lly pope, just turned 22. his innings wasn't quite table mountain, but it was high enough to give england some hope. 56 not out. joe wilson, bbc news. darren bett is here with the weather and it has been revealed today that a number of temperature records were broken last year. the last decade in the uk was the second hottest in the last 100 yea rs, second hottest in the last 100 years, and 2019 in the uk was the 11th warmest on record, but it was a year where we broke a lot of temperature records. it all started in february, in the winter, when the temperatures reached an all—time

winter high of 21.2 celsius. then on top of that, we broke the all—time temperature record in the uk in cambridge. it is another example of oui’ cambridge. it is another example of our changing climate, but it's possible that in the next decade even those records could be broken. not tonight, though, and not over the weekend. we have seen clearer, colder air moving across the uk today, bringing sunshine, but we keep showers that will merge into longer spells of rain across scotland, and we'll see the clouds thickening across northern ireland and over the irish sea to bring a few pockets of rain and drizzle here. further east, dry and clear and possibly cold enough for a touch of frost into rural parts in the south—east. in shetland, it has been very windy, but those will be easing and there will be sunshine tomorrow. across other parts of scotland, cloud and outbreaks of rain. the best of the sunshine for eastern parts of england, but healthy

temperatures everywhere apart from shetland. 9—10dc. saturday into sunday, it doesn't change a lot. high pressure to the south of the uk, weather fronts running high pressure to the south of the uk, weatherfronts running round the top of that into western scotland. stronger winds possibly arriving on sunday. a south to south—westerly wind bringing more cloud into northern ireland in western scotland, rain for the highlands and islands, so some sunshine for the east of scotland and sunshine more widely across england and wales. a very mild day, 11 or 12 celsius in one 01’ very mild day, 11 or 12 celsius in one or two places. next week, the jet stream winds, high up in the atmosphere, are heading straight to the uk, picking up deepening areas of low pressure. the could be stormy conditions in the north—west. gail is quite widely, rain, mostly in the north—west, but for all of us, it should be very mild once again.

sophie. a reminder of our top story... iran's most powerful military commander has been killed by a us air strike. president trump ordered the assignation of general soleimani as he arrived at baghdad airport this morning. iran has threatened severe revenge and the us is sending 3000 more troops to the middle east in response. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.

hello and welcome along. it's time for sportsday. england disappoint, as they end the first day of the 2nd test against south africa on 262—9. taking emanates a mental health,

find out why the fa cup fixtures this month kicked off late. down and out, how the festive fixtures are filling the physio rooms. they also coming up in the programme... we hear from coming up in the programme... we hearfrom 0lympic coming up in the programme... we hear from 0lympic hockey gold medallist alex danson on her return from 18 months out with concussion. hello and welcome to sportsday. thank you forjoining us. we'll start with the cricket, as it was another dismal display from england against south africa on day one of the second test as they closed on 262—9. they were 221—5 at one stage before losing four wickets for 13 runs. 0nly 0llie pope helped

avoid a really low score.