that's at 11.30pm. taking a look at what is making the front pages tomorrow. do join us for that. this is bbc news. i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at 11:00: tensions escalate between washington and tehran after us troops kill iran's most powerful military commander. president trump says he is prepared to take whatever action is needed to protect americans. qasem soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilise the middle east for the last 20 years. what the united states did last 20 years. what the united states d id yesterday last 20 years. what the united states did yesterday should have been done long ago. lisa nandy and jess phillips becomes the latest labour mps to enter the race to become the party's next leader. relief for around a thousand people as australian naval ships rescue them from the country's bushfires. a judge rules that ethical veganism

is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law. and at 11:30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers jason beattie from the daily mirror and olivia utley from the sun. good evening. president trump has defended his order to assassinate iran's top military commander, saying the action was taken to stop a war, and that it should have been done long ago. general qasem soleimani, one of the most powerful men in the middle east, was killed in iraq, outside baghdad airport, by a us air strike. iran has vowed "severe revenge" for the killing.

its foreign minister described it as an act of international terrorism. the attack marks a major escalation in tensions between washington and tehran — and the us is sending 3,000 additional troops to the region as a precaution. here's our middle east editorjeremy 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 were already fighting a war in the shadows. neither side wants uncontrolled escalation, but the chances of miscalculation and a lurch into a bigger war have increased. qasem soleimani was no ordinary foe.

for a generation, he was probably america's most capable enemy. his death delivers a blow to the heart of the iranian regime. for many years, soleimani built 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 kata'ib hezbollah, an iraqi militia armed and trained by soleimani's quds organisation, after an american contractor was killed in a militia attack. the militiamen, undoubtedly on soleimani's orders, marched on the us embassy in baghdad and attacked its perimeter. the militias he created were a vital part of the fight against thejihadists

of islamic state but they are also one way that iran projects power abroad. the huge american compound is a fortress and it wasn't breached but the attacks goaded and threatened the trump administration. the americans are rushing in reinforcements to the middle east — 3,750 so far. us civilians, told by their government to get out as soon as they can. but trump wanted to press home an american advantage. his reign of terror is over. soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilise the middle east for the last 20 years. what the united states did yesterday should have been done long ago. we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war.

in baghdad, some iraqis celebrated the killing. for weeks, anti—government demonstrators have been demanding an end to iranian influence in iraq. in tehran, ayatollah ali khamenei, iran's supreme leader, visited qasem soleimani's widow. he said severe revenge awaits the criminals. iranian hardliners are devastated. the spokesman for soleimani's republican guard corps 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. president trump might be gambling that he has so weakened iran that it will rage but not hurt the us badly. that assumption could be dangerous and wrong. jeremy bowen, bbc news.

let's speak to our north america correspondent david willis who is in los angeles. david, talk of a gamble by president trump, but judging by david, talk of a gamble by president trump, butjudging by the press conference he gave he doesn't see it that way. no, i don't think he does. a short while ago at an evangelical rally in florida the president repeated his view that this american operation that killed qasem soleimani was a flawless right, as he put it, and to cheers from the crowd he said that qasem soleimani had been planning what he called a very major attack on us diplomats and military personnel in the region, adding "we got him". he said earlier in the day that this attack on qasem soleimani was intended to stop a war, not start a war. but the

united states has yet to provide any of the intelligence pointing to the fa ct of the intelligence pointing to the fact that qasem soleimani was indeed planning an attack, a major attack, against us personnel or facilities in the middle east. but despite calls from some members of congress who, in many cases, have also argued that this was an attack that was undertaken without any word to them from the white house. yes, and certainly concern among some parties that in the states that this does not play into a particularly, hence a vision for a strategy in the middle east. and there's a point which i think is felled widely by democrats, not least the former vice presidentjoe biden, who called this attack that killed qasem soleimani, as the equivalent of tossing a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox. joe biden also called for some sort of articulation of the trump administration's foreign policy in

regards to iran, in particular where the united states will go from here. and there is concern about that, not just in the middle east where the united states, for example, still has more than 5000 troops in iraq, but also in the homeland. and today we heard that police chiefs in new york and los angeles, for example, other major cities, were reviewing security in certain major areas that. 0k, good to speak to you, david. david willis there in la. earlier, i spoke to the iranian—american writer and journalist azadeh moaveni. she's a senior gender analyst for the international crisis group and has covered the middle east for the past two decades. she described the action by washington as reckless. much of what has come out of this administration has been disingenuous. what we see is a declared war against iran in all but name, iran is economically blockaded, cannot sell its oil. a

country of 80 million people is essentially being stal. john bolton, now deposed, has spoken quite directly about regime change. so think that's really the aim here, but with no actual idea of what war with iran would entail and perhaps not even really an appetite for it, which is why it is so reckless. do you agree then when iran says it is the biggest us strategic blunder in the biggest us strategic blunder in the asia strategic region? the biggest us strategic blunder in the asia strategic region7m certainly is massively reckless and not least because there seems to be little understanding in washington oi’ little understanding in washington or within this administration about how qasem soleimani is perceived in iran. however he may be portrayed by this administration and the west, even, to most ordinary iranians he isa even, to most ordinary iranians he is a revered, charismatic war hero that steered iran through the eight yea rs of that steered iran through the eight years of war with iraq, through the instability that followed. afghanistan, he was at the front

lines. again leading the fight against isis. they don't believe anyone believe that isis would have been it was encroaching upon baghdad and the cities of northern iraq without the intervention of qasem soleimani. so think tune ordinary iranians is really a national hero who has kept the country safe —— so i think you. so to have him assassinated like this, outside qasem soleimani's orders, will be enshrined in qasem soleimani's memory for time to come. —— iran's borders. what do you think will be the response from iran?|j borders. what do you think will be the response from iran? i think it will be deliberate, it may not be immediate. it may well be asymmetrical. i think isjeremy bowen said in his introduction, iran has developed in part as its own isolation in the region a network of allies and militias that are loyal to it, that working co—ordination with it. it could respond in syria, it could respond in iraq, it could also pull out of the nuclear deal, which i think would be the most tragic thing able —— of all, because that was something that up until a

few days ago there was a negotiated way out of. that's perhaps the most tragic thing of all that this international agreement that was on its final knees, i think no—one can see a way to salvage it now. and just briefly, a final thought, given the fact that general qasem soleimani was such a powerful figure in iran, how much of an impact do you think his death will make any short—term? you think his death will make any short-term? i think it will be politically shocking, but at the same timei politically shocking, but at the same time i think that the system and the revolution regards have worked assiduously to cultivate, you know, a whole generation of military commanders like him. i think it was sort of anticipated that he wouldn't really live as long as he did. so there are others like him. but i think that amongst ordinary iranians it's almost hard to overstate how shocking it is. it comes at a time when there are rampant shortages of medicines, the country feels kind of

lopped off from the rest of the world. it is a difficult time for iranians and so i think it will be deeply upsetting. azadeh moaveni there. lisa nandy, the mp for wigan, and jess phillips, the mp for birmingham yardley, have both announced this evening that they will join the race to replacejeremy corbyn as labour leader. theyjoins shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry and shadow treasury minister clive lewis in confirming their candidacy. earlier i spoke to nick eardley about the most recent candidate launch. the wigan mp was another one of those people who had said over the christmas period that she was considering whether or not to stand and tonight she is confirmed, in a letter to her local paper, the wigan post, that she is indeed throwing her hat in the ring to be the next labour leader. her argument is that labour leader. her argument is that labour needs to focus on winning back its heartlands, areas that had voted labour for decades and stopped

doing so back in december. let me just read you one paragraph on what she says. she says "i'm standing because they know too many people in places like we can no longer feel they have a voice in our national story. " they have a voice in our national story." basically, she is saying that there are many parts of the country they feel disaffected with westminster politics and the best solution to that is to get someone like her, who has represented one of those areas, in to sort out that issue. eye must say, jess phillips, who announced she was standing a couple of hours ago, has quite a similar argument stop she says that people have lost trust in the labour party, that's why it did so catastrophically at the election backin catastrophically at the election back in december, and she believes because she has that reputation for being a straight talking politician that she can fix that. she can persuade people of labour's meretz and win back some of those voters who have deserted the party, although she does admit that that won't be easy. it means we have four

candidates now, rachel, lisa nandy, jess phillips, we also have already had emily thornberry and clive lewis. and now that westminster is starting to creep back into action after the christmas break i think we will see some more, so keir starmer and rebecca long—bailey likely to lodge in the next few days. niggardly there. —— nick eardley. the australian navy has rescued around a thousand people who were trapped by bushfires on the south—eastern coast. tens of thousands of others are now being urged to move to safety, amid fears the fires could move "frighteningly quickly" and that conditions could be "dire." eight people have died this week and a50 homes have been lost on the south coast. this map shows the spread of the fires since the beginning of the week. as you can see, they are concentrated in the coastal areas in the east. 0ur correspondent shamai 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, yourfamily, 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, geoff and pamela zorbas decided they are not leaving their small

town of sussex inlet. hopefully it's not going to be as bad as they're predicting but we've 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're going to get out to sea. 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 doing 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.

they've been patrolling the area and making sure that properties are protected. that's really the main aim. politically, this has been a rough ride for the prime minister, who's been regularly criticised for how he has handled the bushfire crisis. and it's notjust the residents who have made their feelings clear. i don't really want to shake your hand. scott morrison said he understood the anger but was focusing on the task in hand. 0ur concerns are obviously 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. the headlines on bbc news: tensions escalate between washington and tehran after us troops kill iran's most powerful military commander. president trump says he is prepared to take whatever action is needed to protect americans. lisa nandy and jess phillips becomes the latest labour mps to enter the race to become the party's next leader. relief for around 1,000 people as australian naval ships rescue them from the country's bushfires. police in london have launched their first murder investigation of the year after a man was found stabbed to death in north london. a man in his 30s in finsbury parkjust before 7:00 this evening and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterwards. no arrests have been made and police

inquiries are on going. an employment tribunal has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law. the landmark case was brought by vegan jordi casamitjana who claims he was unfairly sacked by the league against cruel sports after disclosing it invested pension funds in firms involved in animal testing. i spoke to him earlier and he told me that the verdict was a welcome surprise. i couldn't hold in my emotions. i didn't expect the judgement today, i expected the judge would go and think about it and i would receive thejudgement another think about it and i would receive the judgement another time. it seems the judgement another time. it seems the evidence was so compelling, it was more than 3000 pages of evidence, that seems to be sufficient. so i was really, really happy. and presumably not everybody you who is a would have this sort of protection. it depends how you hold those beliefs? the term ethical legalism, we added this term to add

a distinction between those who follow the full definition of the society, from those who only choose to apply the definition on their diet alone. and this might be called diet alone. and this might be called diet aryans, or many of them, they call themselves plant —based people. —— dietarians. it doesn't really matter the term they use, but to make sure nobody gets confused we used the term ethical legalism to refer to the vegans who follow the original definition of the vegan society. three energy companies have agreed to pay a total of £10.5 million for their roles in a serious power cut last august. there was severe travel disruption and more than a million customers were left without electricity when a lightning strike caused two large generators to fail. the energy regulator, 0fgem, says the money will be paid into its consumer redress fund.

a short film narrated by the duke of cambridge will be played at fa cup matches this weekend, encouraging football fans to look after their mental health. it features some of the game's biggest names and will be shown just before kick—off at every third round match. it's the start of a campaign by prince william to use football to get men talking about mental health. katy austin reports. 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. i describe my little bit as, it was a dark cloud. i'd be happy and bubbly, then all of a sudden, literally, bang, it's like a dark cloud come over me and i'd be a totally different person. i could feel that coming on me, but i had no control over it whatsoever. prince william: we can all sometimes feel anxious. he's given his backing to a new film that also features england stars and is narrated by the duke of cambridge. its focus, keeping your mind healthy. 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 millions of 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 stress or for 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. the husband of british iranian national... misses as a gary ratcliffe has been held in iran since 2016 when she was arrested and accused of spying. 0ur correspondent has been speaking to her husband richard, who gave his reaction to the death of the general in this morning's us our strike stop shock would be my most honest reaction. what is happening to her is not clear. it probably means an escalation of foreboding for everybody in the region and we are all watching a different ways. there is also a concern on a selfish level to what this means for her case.

tension is increasing is always bad for a solution. there is always the worry that things can get worse. because at times it seems that you we re because at times it seems that you were making progress and that nazanin would be released quite $0011. nazanin would be released quite soon. and then you go backwards. it must be really hard for you personally. we have lots of near misses and also missed opportunities. the longer this has gone on the more worried you are that things can escalate in a bad way. so we're not hopeful at the moment, just before christmas, nazanin had parole refused. so we we re nazanin had parole refused. so we were feeling like they had been no good news for a while and i was getting ready to push the prime minister and the government to do more and to be a lot more assertive. in some ways that still feels like the right thing to do, but it absolutely the wrong time. and how is nazanin doing in prison at the moment? so, i spoke to her on christmas day and i spoke to her on new year's day and she was, as you would expect, feeling very low on both occasions, partly because it is afamily both occasions, partly because it is a family occasion when she is still

stuck in prison, and in some ways this year was different for us. life was moving on for me and for gabrielle and we were celebrating in a way that was not true last year, and ina a way that was not true last year, and in a way that adds its complexities if you are sitting in a prison cell, weather does not happen. the added thing this year is that she was on hunger strike in those days in solidarity with ms gilbert. so there were some tough conversations. she is fairly glum. i don't know how she is reacting to this latest event. but it is hard in prison not to feel despairing at that sort of thing. do you think it gives a hope that when things like this happen today, lots of people we re this happen today, lots of people were saying, how is this going to affect nazanin? she is still very fresh in people's minds, even though it has been eight years since she was put in prison. i think that is absolutely right, the fact that people care, the fact that people follow her and remember our story and think about her at tough times, it is only good to keep her safe, but also good for morale and knowing people. we would not have got this

far without the kindness and care of people. a new portrait of her majesty the queen and their royal highnesses the prince of wales, the duke of cambridge and prince george has been released to mark the start of the ‘20s. this is only the second time a portrait has been issued of the four members of the royal family together. the first was released in april 2016 to celebrate her majesty's 90th birthday. this new portrait was taken just before christmas in the throne room at buckingham palace. hello there. if you are making any travel plans over the next week to ten days, it might be worth keeping an eye on the weather forecast, because at times it is likely to be quite turbulent. but barely quite as we start off the weekend. high pressure to the south, frontal systems rolling around the top of that area of high pressure, introducing some rain, particularly across the north of scotland. watts

of cloud across northern ireland, south—west scotland, western england and wales. the odd spot of light drizzle from that figure cloud. further east, central and eastern parts of england in particular, we should see spells of sunshine into the afternoon, and those temperatures ranging from 8—11. as we go through saturday night we will continue to feed large amounts of cloud in through the south—west, also outbreaks of rain splashing across the north of scotland. that leads us into the second half of the weekend and a similar way to set up with high—pressure to the south, frontal systems to the north—west. notice these white lines on the charts. lots of isobars squatting together at this stage. the wind is picking up again, especially across northern ireland and scotland. 0utbreaks northern ireland and scotland. outbreaks of rain into the far north—west. further south and east you are, the better chance of staying dry. those temperatures sayings —— showing signs of nudging upwards, maybe around 11 in belfast and stornoway. the big story next week will be the jet stream, wednesday up in the atmosphere becoming very strong, very powerful, driving deep areas of low pressure in our direction. that means it is

going to be unsettled to say the least. severe gales likely across northern areas at times, with outbreaks of heavy rain. with that, it will generally feel very mild. monday's forecast brings a band of rain south and east, this is the frontal system that will be moving its way through the rain, perhaps not getting into east anglia or the southeast until after dark. behind it, things drying up a bit, but still with one or two showers. highs of 9-11. still with one or two showers. highs of 9—11. but frontal system clears out on monday night but on tuesday here is the weather maker. a deep area of low pressure. it is being spun up by thejet area of low pressure. it is being spun up by the jet stream and that in our direction. lots of isobars on the chart. a very windy day, especially in the north. a very wet day for some as well. the best chance of dry weather towards the south and east. these are the wind gusts we are expecting. easily seen wind gusts in excess of 60 miles an hour across scotland, could get to 70 or more in exposed spots. with

those winds coming from the south—west, a mild day indeed, with highs of 12 or 13. low pressure still in charge up to the north as we move out of tuesday and into wednesday. this stage, we start to get into some slightly cooler hour. in fact, there is cold enough across northern parts of scotland to bring wintry showers. wednesday is not a bad day on the face of some spells of sunshine, it may well be that we say —— see cloud weakening ahead of another weather system in the south—west later on. a slightly cooler day across northern england, northern ireland and scotland. towards the end of next week and into the following weekend the jet strea m into the following weekend the jet stream remains quite strong, quite powerful, spinning weather systems in our direction. there is the likelihood is that it will bend its way towards the west and north of the uk, at least for a time. that will allow high—pressure to develop to the south—east. that would mean drier weather across southern and eastern areas. it would also keep things relatively mild. that is what we can expect as we head through the latter pa rt we can expect as we head through the latter part of next week and into the weekend. dry for a time in the

south and east, generally mild, but they will still be wind and rain towards the north—west.