good afternoon.

thousands of people have gathered on the streets of baghdad for the funeral procession of iran's most powerful military leader, who was killed by a us drone strike. president trump said he ordered the attack on general qasem suleimani to stop a war — not start one. the foreign office has warned against all travel to iraq, and all but essential travel to iran. charlotte gallagher reports. a funeral procession for qasem suleimani in baghdad. a man despised by many, but a matter to others. crowds shout, death to america, and america is the enemy of god. others waved flags belonging to militia groups backed by iran. the military commander was killed in a us air strike on thursday in the iraqi capital. suleimani was one of the most powerful men in iran, arguably second only to the supreme leader.

he helped prop up the syrian regime, thought the islamic state group and effectively led militia groups in iraq. the iranian president visit suleimani's family, a sign of the general‘s status in the country. he tells them the americans made a mistake, a strategic mistake. they will see more difficult days are awaiting them. suleimani's body will be taken back to iran for the funeral and days of mourning. officials will want to show the world how much he mattered, it's expected the supreme leader will lead the funeral prayers. he was planning a very major attack and we got him. the man who ordered the air strike president trump was cheered by supporters last night. the us hasn't released any details about what qasem suleimani was allegedly planning. the foreign secretary dominic rob and his predecessor are urging restraint, but haven't

criticised mr trump as mike actions. i don't believe for a moment that he does want to work and i am sure he has calculated what the response is likely to be. but if he is going to be effective there needs to be a more consistent long—term approach. iran has sworn revenge but is yet to act. anything that increases the chance of a direct confrontation between the us and iran is what many fear. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kabul in afghanistan. what has been the reaction in the wider region? suleimani has been very much a mixed reaction, a polarised region where he was revered by some as you saw in that report, but reviled by others. among his fighters which spanned this region in the militias that he set up in so many countries, there is genuine mourning, mixed with

anger and calls for revenge and retaliation stop but in countries where people suffered from the kinds of crackdowns he helped to organise, we have seen scenes of celebration. but i think we have to underline that there was such a sharp intake of breath after this sudden killing of breath after this sudden killing of such a pivotal figure in the region. people everywhere from here in afghanistan to countries across this region and beyond, people are worried, where will the next step ta ke worried, where will the next step take place and will i be made to suffer yet again? thank you very much, lyse doucet live in cobble for us. in australia, nearly 3000 army reserve troops are being called up to help fight the bushfires burning across the country. australian fire chiefs have warned that high winds and soaring temperatures could potentially push fires into heavily populated areas this weekend. since late september, 23 people have died and land more than twice the size of wales has been burnt. shaimaa khalil reports.

the hellish combination of high temperatures, strong winds and dry conditions have made some of these fires too vast to control. a relentless battle for the firefighters. in victoria, as the blazes continue to rage, evacuees from mallacoota were getting ready to board the navy ship taking them to safety. a moment of relief after a harrowing few days stranded in the fire—ravaged town. the prime minister, scott morrison, has said 3000 reserve troops will be deployed to help tackle the raging bushfires across the country. the first time this has happened in australia's history. we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level. temperatures have surpassed a0 celsius in parts of south—east australia, with residents in some areas of new south wales being told it was too late to escape. as the day went on, conditions

worsened and a southerly wind hit. this gusty wind is now picking up very strongly and it is bringing heavy smoke to southern new south wales here on the coast. this is what the firefighters are dreading, because it fans these blazes, making them unstoppable, but it also spreads the embers, making the fire behaviour quite unpredictable. this is really what they're up against, they're fighting against something they can't control. the howling winds and billowing smoke were enough of an alarm for people in this holiday park. some were hosing their cabins, others taking to the beach to seek refuge. ijust got a phone call from a friend whose brother is a police officer, and he said, get the hell out. we've just had the police come up our street and they have said they expect it to impact our houses in the next 20—30 minutes. firefighters will look for a lull in the weather to keep some of the flames contained, but many are warning that the danger is far from over.

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, on the south coast of new south wales. two prominent labour backbenchers have joined the contest to become the party's next leader. the wigan mp, lisa nandy, and jess phillips, who represents birmingham yardley, both said they wanted to restore trust in labour and win back voters in its traditional strongholds. this takes the total contenders to four, with others expected in the next few days. our political correspondent john owen is here. the big question ahead for labour now. that's right. these are two fairly high profile figures to have entered into the contest. in terms of what their respective pitches are likely to be to the labour electorate, jess phillips has been a vocal critic ofjeremy corbyn in the past. she has a reputation as an independent minded mp and a campaignerand independent minded mp and a campaigner and she will present herself as someone who is willing to ta ke herself as someone who is willing to take the fight to the conservative party, particularly in those northern seats. similarly lisa nandy

will want to emphasise the need to appeal to the so—called labour apartments, those parts particularly of the north of england where the labour party performed unexpectedly badly at the last election resulting ina lot badly at the last election resulting in a lot of conservative gains. one slightly odd thing about this contest as it stands is that the two presumed frontrunner is, the shadow brexit secretary keir starmer andy shadow business secretary rebecca long—bailey have yet to formally announce they will be standing in the contest of that we fully expect that the goodwill in the coming days. john owen, thank you. let's take a look at some of today's other news. the met police have launched their first murder investigation of the year after a man was stabbed to death in north london on friday evening. the victim, in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene. no arrests have been made and inquiries continue. the government's being urged to take urgent steps to tackle the rising threat of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. a new report says the number of fentanyl—linked deaths in the uk

rose from eight in 2008 to 135 in 2017. police in florida have charged sir rod stewart with battery, after he was accused of punching a security guard on new year's eve. the rock star is reported to have been trying to get into a private event at a hotel in palm beach when the incident happened. the televison medium derek acorah has died at the age of 69. he was best known for appearing on the show most haunted. his wife gwen said he'd been in intensive care following a brief illness. with all the sport now, here's gavin ra mjaun at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. good afternoon to you as well. thank you for coming us today. england have to hope their bowlers can deliver, in the second test against south africa. they got off to a great start on the second day, following a poor display with the bat, but the home side are fighting back in cape town. south africa are currently 129—3.

add in wild reports. in cape town, one morning, the english night were heating up to.jimmy one morning, the english night were heating up to. jimmy anderson into battle after yesterday because my troubles with the bats, england's opening stand was the last. anderson didn't, not for long anyway. england all out for 269. it may be one of the most picturesque grounds but right then for england things went looking all that great, until stuart broad found the edge of the bat. joe root with the catch. the ball and game now moving at quite someplace. if anyone could get a grip of it for england it would be ben stokes, another brilliant catch from him, to get the latest batsmen to wonder how he does it. while south africa were still working it out, ben stokes got hold of another. anderson with the

wicket, england that cape town morning getting brighter by the moment. a brief stop for lunch didn't appear to cool them. the latest to fall, but wait, replays showed a no ball. south africa with the ruler of reprieve. and they were determined to make the most of it. van douce and and dean elgar taking control. england's morning, but now south africa finding their voice. it's fa cup 3rd round this weekend, 32 ties in total. it's the time of the year when we could see some giantkilling, with smaller clubs up against top sides. peterborough of league one, not faring too well against premier league burnley, though. they're already 3—i down at turf moor. erik pieters with the second there, from long range. they're just coming up to half—time. the other premier league team involved in a lunchtime kick off is newcastle united. miguel almiron has given them

the lead at rochdale, also of league one. almiron has now scored two in his last five games after failing to find the back of the net in his first 23 games for newcastle. so let's take a look at the rest of lunchtime games under way. there's an all championship affair, between birmingham and blackburn. birmingham arei—0 up. bristol, shrewsbury i—0. away at millwall — millwall with the lead there — 1-0. in—form rotherham are up against hull city 1—1. and previews from all of the day's fa cup ties. but from me, bye for now. that's it from me. the next news on bbc one is at 5:10pm. bye for now. they are already facing crippling sanctions.

hello, you're watching the bbc news channel. let's get more on our top story. thousands of people have gathered on the streets of baghdad for the funeral procession of iran's most powerful military leader, who was killed by a us drone strike. president trump said he ordered the attack on general qassem suleimani, to stop a war, not start one. the foreign office has warned against all travel to iraq — and all but essential travel to iran. i've been speaking to dr mahjoob zweiri — he's the director of gulf studies at the university of qatar and an expert on iran. there is no doubt that what happened yesterday is evidence that the two countries, washington and tehran, have a load of mistrust and doubts between both countries.

i think the decision made by trump to assassinate qassem suleimani has increased more tension between two countries. it is likely to see more war of words between both sides, however, i do believe that the iranians' reaction will be calculated. and what sort of response would you expect in that case? there are three measures i think iran will take into consideration as a response. one, they want to make sure that the united states is hurt and i think that will lead, maybe, to have a number of casualties as a result of that consequence and response. the other measure i think they will take into consideration — they want to create chaos within the domestic politics of the united states in the year of elections. they want to create more,

i would say, a scared environment within the region and pushing different players to intervene to deal with the tension. i think those three measurements are likely to be considered by the iranians as a response. but it is not necessarily going to happen today or tomorrow, i think it is likely to happen gradually and maybe it happens in different times and in different locations. and how much of the targeting of the us interests will also try to make the most of political splits within the us, given there is an election? what can they do? when you say create political chaos or play into that, what do you mean? there is already a division within american politics. yesterday it was evidenced when the democrats basically criticised the decision made by trump and accused him of not

respecting the constitution. let's not forget that president trump had promised, you know, when he became president, that he doesn't want to see americans killed abroad again, criticising, in that context, ba rack obama. any action or response from the iranian side, which may lead to killing americans, this will affect the public view in the united states and may actually weaken the president himself. because he did promise that he would not see any americans killed abroad. there are risks, though... it is an important promise by the president. there are surely risks to iran in escalating this, they are already facing crippling sanctions, people are suffering, aren't they? absolutely.

that is why it will be calculated and i would say the consequence of that. basically, they don't want to see a real war with the americans. however, they are facing severe pressure from inside. because killing qassem suleimani, he is the person who is leading their own middle east intervention, all of what is happening in the middle east from the iranian' side is designed and implemented from qassem suleimani and his people. he is the man. who will be filling that vacuum? they need to assure their own people they are strong and united and they can still make this intervention as qassem suleimani used to do. that is the reason why, i believe, they have no choice but to respond.

at the same time, they have to be worried about the consequence. let's not forget, the idea of survival as a regime is dominating their strategical thinking and i think that will also dominate, affect their final decision about the response as well. finally, you said the response could be regional, in the middle east there are many options because they have so many interests in the region actively, what about a global response? is it something we could feel here in the uk, europe? it is unlikely. iran tried to, i would say, reintroduce itself to the muslim ——international community as a good player. if you remember what they had done in the context of war, even qassem suleimani was fighting alongside the americans fighting isil in iraq.

they tried to reintroduce themselves as the good guys and work to see the world more safer. that is why i think they will focus on the region and one or two places — iraq and lebanon. and i do remember, in this context, what happened to the marines in the 1980s when basically, what happened in lebanon was the americans were forced to leave lebanon at the time. this is the scene in the central iraqi city of karbala, where pilgrims are gathering at the the holy shrine of imam hussain. people have been gathering to pay their respects to qassem suleimani and the iraqi militia leader who was also killed in that attack. we are expecting to see mourners paying their respects in iraq and iran

today and for the next few days in iran as the official morning continues there. more now on the bushfires continuing to ravage south eastern australia. fire chiefs have warned that high winds and soaring temperatures could potentially push fires into heavily populated areas this weekend. since late september, 23 people have died and more than 13 million acres of land has been burnt. in south australia, two people have died on kangaroo island, a popular holiday spot not farfrom adelaide. the south australian premier steven marshall said about a quarter of the total area has been destroyed. the island houses an important national park and is home to many unique wildlife species. i've been speaking to sarah legge, professor of wildlife conservation at the australian national university in canberra. kangaroo island's one of australia's largest islands, the third largest

after tasmania. it is a bit of a wildlife paradise. some of the feral animals that plagued mainland australia haven't reached there. the native species there is very high —— ——the density of native species is very high. a quarter of the island is a national park and ——a third of the island is a national park. a lot of native wildlife on kangaroo island will be under a lot of pressure. and there has been emergency warnings given to people, there has been a loss of life. how important an area is this in terms of the natural resources that are now under threat? the impact of these fires on the natural resources and wildlife of kangaroo island is immense and there is a couple

of threatened species that are probably being brought to be bring as a consequence of this. for example, there is a very small marsupial carnivore that lives on kangaroo island and is already very rare and these fires may bring it to the brink. what is happening there is quite symptomatic of what is happening right along the east and south—east coasts and part of south—east australia. it is a massive catastrophe. there is an economic cost to the people living there and have there and have been making their living from tourism. they will be hoping for it to stop. gosh, it is hard to imagine the economic costs and there is so much tourism in australia is based on marketing the natural values and the experiences you can have their and these fires will impact notjust that in the immediate term,

but we expect these events to recur at increasing frequency. and i guess at this stage, it is hard for me to imagine what kind of effect it will have on our economy and natural resources. here, councils are calling for increased powers to fine fly—tippers after figures showed incidents have 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. i think that we need to be able to work with government on the guidelines. councils invest a lot of time and money investigating fly—tipping, which we need to remind people — it is illegal, is bad for our environment and it is also potentially proposing a public health risk. but we have seen that the fines that have been coming out of the courts — and there have only been two

of the maximum £50,000 sentences which have been handed down by courts — and only 5% of those fines over the last six years were above £1000. so, if councils are to tackle this, they do need the powers to ensure that the courts are fining and covering the costs of taking that action. and any information as to why the incidents have increased by so much? i don't think you can pin it down to any one particular thing. councils now offer far more kerb—side collection facilities. it tends to be businesses who are trying to avoid paying the costs of disposal. and we would also like to work with manufacturers to see if things like mattresses, for example, could be returned to the original manufacturer to stop those being dumped. and in terms of the impact

on everyone's streets and their local environment, obviously, it is pretty dreadful, isn't it? it certainly is. the rural areas tend to be the areas particularly badly affected. private landowners or public lands, people will find quiet places to dump. sometimes they are quite large loads. councils are using a number of measures to try to tackle this where there are areas that are being dumped on quite frequently. they might be putting cameras in place to try to detect these people. but it is time—consuming and costly for councils to do that. and do we know how much is being spent at the moment on detection and how much would it need to increase to be effective? it is about getting the right level of fines through the prosecutions from the courts. as i said, there have only been two examples of the maximum £50,000 fine and the vast majority

of fines are very small — only 5% over £1000, and that doesn't cost cover the cost of some of these investigations. so we want to work with government to ensure those guidelines are firmed up and councils can recover their costs. 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. our business correspondent rob young told me the main reason seems to be education. more and more 16 and 17—year—olds are in full—time education and so that is perhaps the main reason that a few of them do some kind of saturday job, delivering newspapers, waiting on tables, whatever else. because the proportion of those 16 and 17 year olds who have some

kind of employment has fallen pretty sharply. about half of that age group did have some sort of paid employment 20 years ago, now it is about one in four. and when you look at later education, those in higher education, the proportion of university students who are earning while they are learning has gone down. and this is a very interesting trend, because it goes against the grain of what we have seen in thejobs market. britain has undergone what some have called thejobs miracle. employment is at a record high in the uk, yet this research from the resolution foundation today says that about 80% of 16 ——8% of 16 to 64—year—olds have never had any kind of paid employment. that amounts to 3.4 million people. but is it a bad thing, necessarily, if people are perhaps staying in education longer and can perhaps afford to not work to supplement those early years? you can look at it in different ways because while you are studying, it may make sense by not being distracted by going off

to some kind ofjob in the evenings and weekends. it may make sense to focus on your studies, especially if you are paying more in tuition fees and want to get value for money. but when it comes to trying to enter the world of work, the risk may well be that if you are up against an applicant who has done some kind of work experience, you are seen therefore as a less attractive candidate because you have missed out on that. but the resolution foundation has also identified a group of people in their late 20s and in their 30s, particularly women with children and men with health problems, who have never worked. the dangerfor them is that the later you leave it to enter the world of work, it could become much more difficult to get some kind of paid employment. the climate change campaigner greta thunberg has changed her name to "sharon" on twitter, in honour of a celebrity game show contestant who appeared to have no idea who she was. the casualty actress amanda henderson was appearing on celebrity mastermind when she was asked to name the famous activist. the 2019 book entitled no—one is too small to make a difference is a collection of speeches made

by a swedish climate change activist, what's her name? sharon? greta thunberg. well this was how the climate change activist responded last night, clearly seeing the funny side of the story. she's since changed her name back for her 3.9 million followers on twitter to the more predictable greta thunberg. a portrait of the queen and her three heirs to the throne has been released to mark the start of the new decade. the photograph, which was taken the week before christmas, shows the prince of wales, the duke of cambridge and prince george standing alongside her majesty at buckingham palace. it is the second official portrait of the four generations of royals together. now, it's time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom to ben rich. it is not too bad at the moment if you like it dry, a lot of dry weather out there, but the sunshine varies. some of us are stuck with cloud today, it is rolling in from

the west. the east of the uk