this is bbc news. i'm geeta guru—murthy. the headlines at 103m. the foreign office warns against all non—essential travel to iran as president trump says he ordered the attack on iran's top military commander to stop a war, not start one. he 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. and this is the scene in baghdad ahead of qasem soleimani's funeral, which will be held later today. fears that the bushfires in australia could reach the outskirts of sydney with high winds forecast and temperatures set to soar again. thousands of reserve troops are deployed. labour backbenchers lisa nandy

and jess phillips join the contest to become the party's next leader. it isa it is a collection of speeches made bya it is a collection of speeches made by a swedish climate change activist? what is her name? sharon. greta thunberg. when greta became sharon! the climate—change campaigner gets in on thejoke and changes her twitter name. and in half an hour, the travel show looks at how tokyo is preparing to welcome disabled tourists for the 2020 paralympics. the foreign office has warned against all travel to iraq, and all but essential travel to iran, after tensions continue to escalate in the region. it comes as washington sought to justify the killing of iran's top military commander, qasem soleimani, by saying he was plotting attacks

against us targets — and was caught in the act. general soleimani was killed in an american air strike at baghdad airport on thursday night. in a televised address, mr trump said he had taken action to stop a war, not start one, and was not seeking regime change in iran. david willis reports. american officials say the air strike that killed qasem soleimani was carried out in self defence. they say the man who's been blamed for the deaths of hundreds of americans in the middle east over the years was plotting a major attack on us diplomats and military personnel. at a rally last night in florida, president trump said that threat had now been lifted. qasem soleimani has been killed and his bloody rampage is now forever gone. he was plotting attacks against americans, but now we've

ensured that his atrocities have been stopped for good. they are stopped for good. iran has vowed revenge. and amid heightened tensions the us is sending reinforcements to the region, 3,750 troops so far, and warning its citizens stationed in iraq to get out as soon as they can. qasem soleimani was one of america's deadliest enemies. but the us has yet to release intelligence information supporting its claim that he was planning a major attack. administration officials insist, however, that hundreds of americans could have died. neither the us nor iran favours outright war, but the trump administration's claim that taking out one of iran's most powerful officials will prevent further bloodshed may soon be put to the test.

speaking this morning, the former foreign secretaryjeremy hunt said he believes "the world is safer" when the us involves itself in matters outside its borders — but he was expecting retaliation from iran. it is clear they will have to react and that will have been calculated by the united states. and, you know, this is a very difficult situation for allies of the united states like ourselves, because i happen to be someone who believes that the world is safer when america is involved in what is happening beyond its shores, and the uk cannot afford to be neutral if we want to be a serious global player, but this is a very, very risky situation, and i think the job that we have to do is one of the us's closest allies, is to use our influence to argue for more consistent us policy because sometimes the us seems torn between a desire

to appear strong and decisive and influential across every region of the world, and the other desire, which is to get its troops home to reduce the risk to american lives on the ground, and concentrate on the big power competition with china, and it is those two conflicting forces that are tugging at the president, and that makes people miscalculate because i am sure soleimani thought that the us might not react to some of the things that he had been plotting and planning, and that was of course a big miscalculation, and it is those miscalculations that are dangerous. the shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry says the us needs to exercise caution. i have a long memory, i remember back 17 years to the iraq war, and the pivotal role that the united nations played at that point. i don't understand why britain is not calling for an emergency meeting at the security council.

i think we are in very grave circumstances, i think there is a tremendous risk that we could end up in another war, and i think we have to do everything we can to pull donald trump back from this. i think that what he has done is a deliberate and reckless escalation of the conflict with iran, and we are moving from tit—for—tat, we are moving into a completely different scenario now, and i'm very concerned that we could get dragged into this. the chief spokesman for iran's armed forces has said his country has every right to retaliate for the killing of general soleimani but insisted that its response would "not be emotional". let's speak to an academic specialising in iran's foreign relations. hejoins me from tehran.

what do you make of the statement saying that their response would not be emotional? as a matter of fact, iran has proved time and again that it isa iran has proved time and again that it is a very wise player. and the united states discarded the nuclear deal, iran waited for quite a long time, fora deal, iran waited for quite a long time, for a year, for the europeans to make up for the lost merits the promise to give to iran. even now, nearly two years after this deal was discarded, iran is still in compliance with a major portion of its undertakings, and i would like to apologise if you're hearing loud voices, these are the people in the streets, they are earning for qasem soleimani, and i am sorry if there is some kind of disturbance. anyway, the point here is that iran for sure has decided to give a response, but

this response would not be one single strike, apparently it will be ina single strike, apparently it will be in a package that will include phased operations, military operations, with the strategic goal of pushing the us outside the region, as well as things in other areas, such as the next step... qasem soleimani's assassination will leave an impact on the decision on how to scale down undertakings. in terms of what might happen across the region, you spoke about the phased response and the spokes man's statement today says if war breaks out, america would be the main perpetrator, and if there are any crazy m oves perpetrator, and if there are any crazy moves from the americans, i response would be even stronger.

this is -- response would be even stronger. this is —— so people are going to as, regarding the response mechanisms, what is the implication of moving troops out of iran? first and foremost i need to say these are very secret affairs, but what is for sure, the top military brass in tehran have been speaking about the need for the us to pull out of the region, and since yesterday they have been talking about the issue seriously. iran has options, it has a robust military power, robust missile power, very strong and powerful allies, all across the middle east, it also has the capability to shut off two strategic

streets that could wreak havoc on consumers and the world economy, but iran has proved to be very logical. still this does not mean it would not take action, it would definitely. because if it doesn't, this action, the act of war, the assassination of qasem soleimani, was a declaration of war by any definition, by any terms on iran, and if iran let it go unpunished, thenit and if iran let it go unpunished, then it would be repeated again and again, so iran needs very much that it needs to show a response as a deterrent and to stop the united states warmongering throughout the region, where they have over 36 military bases, and they have been posing threats to iran everyday,

especially since donald trump rose to office. sorry to interrupt, very briefly, if the us is forced to come out of iraq, that obviously has implications for iraq and maybe syria, and what about is, because thatis syria, and what about is, because that is a battle that has been fought. a good question, there are a number of points to be raised here. firstly, qasem soleimani was the general of the main army and the coalition of iran, syria, iraq, that defeated isil. it was finished in military terms but not security terms. they have been rejoicing his death and martyrdom since yesterday,

and the task that was carried out by qasem soleimani produced and gave merits to everyone, everyone was the beneficiary of the struggles in this war on terrorism. isil was killing innocent people all across the globe in london, nice, amsterdam, everywhere, and if it hadn't been for the struggles made by this man, they would not have been defeated, they would not have been defeated, they would not have been defeated, they would have been killing people in europe, they would have been defeating nations in the middle east, causing millions of more refugees leaving their lands for europe, wreaking havoc on europe with so many socio— economic problems they would have for europe, so problems they would have for europe, so qasem soleimani is the guy who has gifted everyone's security because of his fight against terrorism. doctor, sorry to

interrupt, we are out of time on this, many thanks for your time this morning. thousands of people have gathered in baghdad to take part in a funeral procession for general soleimani. lina sinjab is our middle east correspondent — shejoins us now from beirut. what is your sense of the wider impact in the region today? what is your sense of the wider impact in the region today7m what is your sense of the wider impact in the region today? it is really worrying at the moment, the whole region is watching and waiting, what is going to happen next, and what type of reaction iran is going to take, the leadership of promise they are going to take revenge, and that may take different shapes and in different areas. they are going to be targeting american interest in the region, american target in the region, but also american allies, so everything is expected from them, and certainly the region and countries in the region are expecting more turbulence

in turmoil because of this. world leaders have also cold for self restraint, and sent messages to de—escalate, but that is not going to be the response from iranians as they killing of qasem soleimani hit them hard, getting to the second most important person in the country, who shaped their policy, shaped their foreign policy and military involvement in the region. we have seen some pictures today of mourners in baghdad today, but the funeral ceremony is due to start in the next two or three hours. this is the next two or three hours. this is the official ceremony of funeral processions taking place for qasem soleimani and the iraqi leader of

the mobilisation movement, and the funerals will start on sunday, the body of qasem soleimani will arrive in iran tomorrow, and there will be three days, one of the days the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini is leading the prayers before he is buried in his home town in iran. many thanks indeed for that. the australian prime minister, scott morrison, has announced he's deploying 3,000 army reserves to tackle the bushfires burning out of control in several states. two more people have died in the fires on kangaroo island, a popular holiday resort off the coast of south australia. strong winds and very hot temperatures are expected to intensify the fire danger this weekend. 0ur correspondent phil mercer joins us now from nowra in new south wales. just give us an update on the

ground. well, eastern australia has just been buffeted by these very strong volatile winds, we are in the town of makro three, and an hour ago —— nowra, and we were hit by dust and wind that has hit the region. this volatile strong wind will mean more danger in the hours to come. this is what they were most worried about, that the strong winds would fund dozens of fires that continue to rage here in new south wales. the authorities believe homes have been lost, and some of these outbreaks, some of the blazes here in eastern australia are threatening lives as well. so it is this wind making a dangerous situation even more perilous. is it thought that people who need to get out of the area are

responding to all the warnings and advice? not everyone did, many people have. we are hearing reports that in the state of victoria, army helicopters have had to go in to rescue and air lift people who have no way of escape. so, for days the authorities have been urging people in parts of victoria and southern parts of new south wales to leave because the expectation was today would be a very dangerous day for parts of eastern australia, for residents and holiday—makers it would be too unsafe for them to remain. in the last few days we have seen a mass exodus from parts of new south wales, 100,000 people were urged to leave parts of victoria. not everyone did, but the authorities are worried that if people stay they are in harm's way, and the authorities are trying to stretch the emergency line due to

the winds becoming unstoppable, to do what they can to protect life i'm joined now via webcam by a former bbcjournalist julian lorkin, who lives in kellyville in the hills district of sydney. just tell us what it is like there. how close are the fires to you? they are only around 12 miles away, you may be able to see a distant glow over my shoulder, that is where the fires are burning, up in the blue mountains. all day you see a dense column of smoke in the forests surrounding this region. this is a suburb that has been built over after previous bushfires. above me we have this wonderful ring of mountains which was pristine until now, but these fires started burning

in september, there is a lot of smoke here, but also making it worse are the temperatures. it got up to 44 degrees in the centre of sydney, and in some areas it is 50 degrees. even though it is heading on to late evening, the temperature has only come down to 38 degrees, and we are starting to feel the wind phil mercer was talking about, and we are waiting for the really strong winds to hit along with smoke and ash. waiting for the really strong winds to hit along with smoke and ashm terms of people heeding advice to leave, any of these danger of areas when needed, why are people not a lwa ys when needed, why are people not always heeding the warnings? there have been leaflets going through letter boxes explaining what to do, and it comes in two sides, on one side if there is a fire approaching you may need to leave, and on the other side it says if it is your choice to defend your house, you can

do, and that is what many people decided to do. this was a very rural region, and those who live in the rural areas have lived there for many of years, and to see the fires advancing and to know that the fire crews a re advancing and to know that the fire crews are so stretched they may not be able to protect themselves, but people are taking the decision to defend their homes. all they have as a few buckets of water and a garden hose. thank you very much. new research suggests the number of people who've never had a job has risen by more than 50 % over the past 20 years, despite overall

employment rising to record levels over the same period. the resolution foundation, a think—tank focusing on people on lower incomes, says the increase is partly because far fewer teenagers are working saturdayjobs. we will bring you more on that later in the programme. the backbench labour mp lisa nandy has become the latest person to join the party's leadership contest. her announcement came just hours afterjess phillips launched her campaign. with me now is our political correspondentjohn 0wen. john, we are expecting more names over the weekend. but two prominent backbenchers here. yes, two high—profile figures who, as expected, have confirmed they intend to stand to replacejeremy corbyn. theyjoin the shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry and clive

lewis as the four candidates who have confirmed they will be standing for leadership. in terms of pitches we are likely to hear from the two candidates, i thinkjess phillips has a reputation of a critic of the current leadership, so she will i think be appealing to those in the labour membership looking for a clea n b rea k labour membership looking for a clean break from the current leadership, she will attempt to position herself as an independently minded backbencher, who will be able to be the fresh blood labour need after the disastrous general election. lisa nandy will be focusing on the labour heartlands in northern england, where labour did not perform as well as expected. i think she will want to emphasise as

someone who is particularly well placed to reposition labour and pitch them to that sector of the electorate. she said the next labour leader will have to bring the party together and heal the divisions it suffered. the last few years have been riven by division and it has been riven by division and it has beena very been riven by division and it has been a very difficult few years for every single activist, member, councillor and member of parliament and the party. but i am somebody who comes traditionally... i worked with child refugees before coming into the party, iworked child refugees before coming into the party, i worked as a housing caseworker, but i see the strength in all of our traditions across the party. now one person has the monopoly of wisdom —— on wisdom. party. now one person has the monopoly of wisdom -- on wisdom. the slightly odd thing about this contest so far, is that the two people widely considered to be the frontrunners have not formally declared they will be standing, so the shadow brexit secretary kier

starmer and shadow business secretary rebecca long merely are expected to announce their intention to stand in the next couple of days. —— long—bailey. to stand in the next couple of days. -- long-bailey. now, the sport. england have it all to prove in the cricket. south africa currently on 55 — three. you can follow the action on the bbc sport website. it is a big weekend for football romantics and dreamers. the fa cup third round gets under way today, a chance for the smaller teams to shine against the smaller teams to shine against the big boys, and they don't get much bigger than the holders manchester city, where league 2 side

port vale are heading this evening. they enjoyed a comfortable wind over cheltenham in the last round, but they will not recognise the etihad stadium because the last time they met was more than 20 years ago. a year later, port vale's biggest fan had a winning album sing when you're winning, but he is not expecting to this time. they will be able to go up there have a great night, a great day ahead. miracles do happen, but maybe this is expecting a miracle a bit too far. who knows, you know? pep might put out hisjunior squad. please, pep. that is all the sport for now, you can get all from the fa cup games on the bbc sport website, including all the bbc sport website, including all the preview material. the first six matches kick off before 12:30pm.

wind councils are calling for increased powers to fine fly—tippers after figures showed incidents increased by 50 % in england over the last six years. more than a million cases of illegal dumping were recorded last year, which cost councils £58 million to clean up. the local government association, which represents councils in england and wales, says tougher sentences are needed to tackle the offence. let's speak now to councillor david renard, who's the environment spokesman for the local government association. what do you think needs to be done? i think we need to be able to work with government on the sentencing guidelines, councils invest a lot of time and money investigating fly—tipping, which we need to remind people is illegal, and it is potentially a public health risk. we have seen the vines coming out of the courts, there have only been two

of the maximum £50,000 sentences handed down by the courts, and only 596 handed down by the courts, and only 5% of those fines over the last six yea rs we re a bove 5% of those fines over the last six years were above £1000. so if councils want to tackle this, they need the powers to ensure the courts are fining and covering the costs and taking action. any information as to why the incidents have increased by so much?|j as to why the incidents have increased by so much? i don't think you can pin it down to any one particular thing, but councils are now offering far more kerb—side collection facilities, it tends to be businesses trying to avoid paying the cost of disposal, and we would also like to work with manufacturers to see if things like mattresses can be returned to manufacturers to stop this. in terms of impact on streets, and the local environment, it is

pretty dreadful. it certainly is. rural areas tend to be the areas particularly badly affected, but any landowners, they can find places to dump large lows. councils are doing things to target areas affected, such as putting cameras in place, but it is time consuming and costly for councils to do that. do we know how much is being spent on detection, and how much would it need to to to be effective? it is about getting the right level of fines through the prosecution from the courts. we have only had two exa m ples of the courts. we have only had two examples of the maximum £50,000 fine, and the vast majority of fines are very small, and that does not

cover the cost of the investigations, so we want to work with the government to ensure the guidelines are followed up and councils can recover the costs. councillor david renard, thank you. new research suggests the number of people who've never had a job has risen by more than 50% over the past 20 years, despite overall employment rising to record levels over the same period. the resolution foundation, a think—tank focusing on people on lower incomes, says the increase is partly because far fewer teenagers are working saturdayjobs. i'm joined by rob young. why are there fewer saturday jobs? the proportion of 16 and 17—year—olds that have some kind of employment

has fallen pretty sharply, about half of those age group had paid unemployment 20 years ago, now it is one in four. when you look at later education, those in higher education, those in higher education, the proportion of university students earning while they learn has gone down as well. it is an interesting trend because it goes against the grain of what we have seen. employment is at a record high in the uk, what is cold a jobs medical, but the research today says 8% of 16 to 16 for —— 2a—year—olds have never had employment. 8% of 16 to 16 for —— 2a—year—olds have never had employmentm 8% of 16 to 16 for —— 2a—year—olds have never had employment. is it a bad thing necessarily if people are perhaps staying in education longer and perhaps can afford to not have to work to supplement those early yea rs ? to work to supplement those early years? you can look at it in different ways because while you're studying it may make sense not to be distracted by having to go off to some kind ofjob in the evenings or

weekend, it may make sense to