00:00:28,764 --> 306783293:05:41,669 it 306783293:05:41,669 --> 613566586:10:54,573 stays 613566586:10:54,573 --> 920349879:16:07,478 mild 920349879:16:07,478 --> 1227133172:21:20,383 for 1227133172:21:20,383 --> 1533916465:26:33,287 the 1533916465:26:33,287 --> 1840699758:31:46,191 most 1840699758:31:46,191 --> 2147483051:36:59,096 part, 2147483051:36:59,097 --> 2576979661:56:17,164 a 2576979661:56:17,164 --> 3006476272:15:35,230 little 3006476272:15:35,230 --> 3435972882:34:53,297 drier 3435972882:34:53,297 --> 3865469492:54:11,363 later 3865469492:54:11,363 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 on. this is bbc news. the headlines: huge crowds join funeral processions in iraq, for iran's top military commander, killed by a us drone strike. iranian president rouhani visited the dead general‘s family — promising that americans will feel the impact of their actions for years ahead. fears that high winds and temperatures will push australia's bushfires towards heavily populated areas — thousands of reserve troops are deployed. ijust got a i just got a phone ijust got a phone call from a friend brother as a police officer and the get out. labour backbenchers lisa nandy and jess phillips

join the contest to become the party's next leader. police appeal for information, after a food delivery driver was stabbed to death in north london last night. tranmere pull off the shock of the fa cup so far — coming from three goals down to draw at watford. sportsday will have all the results at half past. good evening. tens of thousands of people have marched through the iraqi capital, baghdad, in a funeral procession for iran's most powerful military commander. general qassem soleimani was killed in a us drone strike as he left the city's main airport on thursday. iran has promised "severe revenge" for the killing — which president trump says was necessary to stop imminent attacks on americans in the region.

our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville reports. they came in their thousands to honour qassem soleimani and they called him a hero. to many more in iraq and beyond, he was the region's principal villain. familiar chants rang out, death to america, death to israel. he served his iranians masters well. its regime has cast him as a proud shia martyr. in death, he has been elevated to the rank of lieutenant general. in iran, there were more anti—western protests. president rouhani visited his family and again warned of harsh revenge for the assassination of the general. he said, the americans are not aware

of the big mistake they made. they will face the consequences of their crime, not only today, but also in the coming years. president donald trump gave the assassination order. he is facing re—election. he was planning a very major attack and we got him. but already doubts are being cast over the reason for the strike and there are fears that the us will cast the middle east into another war. i don't believe for a moment that he does want a war and i am sure he has calculated what the response is likely to be, but i think if he is going to be effective, there needs to be a more consistent long—term approach. thousands of american soldiers are pouring into the region. other americans have been told to leave. britain and france is advising against travel to most of iraq. the funeral continued. after iraq, qassem soleimani's body will be flown to tehran and then

to his hometown for burial. he did more thanjust serve iran overseas, he was iran overseas. and in a rare honour, the country's supreme leader will preside over final prayers, mourning the death of his most influential general. quentin somerville, bbc news, beirut. i'm joined now by professor sadegh ziba kalam, professor of political science at the university of tehran. widely regarded as reformer, and one of the most well known professors in iran. thank you forjoining us this evening. what is the reaction of being in iran to this assassination of the general? obviously, during the past nearly 48 hours, my

observation is that the assassination has played a very much into the hands of the hardliners, because about two months ago, there was protests in iran, hundreds of people were killed, but many iranians were angry against the islamic regime, but somehow president trump has helped the islamic regime to actually capture the heart of the iranians, even those iranians, many of whom are critical of the performance of the islamic regime, have now rallied behind the islamic government. it appears, momentarily at least, that they have forgotten what happened in iran two months

ago, and it is a huge boost for the government of iran. are you just said that the hardliners really are rallying behind. they must be happy, or are they happy, with what president rohani has been saying this evening? pledging to qasem suleimani's family that the americans will feel the impact for years to come. it's just what iranians want to hear? it is not only mr rohani, the president, every other iranian leader, revolutionary guard leader, other iranian leaders, members of the vineyard magistrate, the iranian parliament, they are all shouting and threatening language against the united states. they are saying that the united states will pay a heavy price for the

crime that they committed against general suleimani and his allies in iraq. just looking through iran's options in terms of retaliation, what are those options? are we talking military or political? and if you are talking military, is going be done directly through iran, tehran, orvia military, is going be done directly through iran, tehran, or via a run‘s proxies? i would have thought that they most likely alternative that they most likely alternative that the islamic regime has is using their proxies in iraq, and syria, in lebanon. most likely, it would be in iraq and in lebanon, against his brother are against the iraqi militia which is allied to

yvonne against the us a target in iran. i am pretty certain that iran would be very careful not to engage in it the total military confrontation with united states. we have just had reports of an attack iraq, within the green zone, at an airbase that house us forces and forces and contractors, and also some iraqi hardware, in terms of theirjets. this is likely to be the type of retaliation we are going to see? precisely. this is the kind of operation against the us targets, which at the same time, what the islamic regime is saying is that we are beginning to retaliate against united suit. but at the same time, we know that militarily, it doesn't

mean much, really. ok, professor, thank you very much indeed. thank you. in baghdad tonight, there have been rocket attacks near the us embassy in the green zone and balad airbase, which houses us forces. hiwa osman is an iraq—based journalist and analyst — currently in erbil. the type of reaction to the assassination. looking at the reaction so far, we don't have much details about the attack on the green zone, but i doubt that this is a kind of reaction that corresponds to the rhetoric that rohani, the president, the supreme leader have been talking about. they were

talking about a much stronger reaction, but we still have to wait and see. iranians usually are very cautious, very careful. the iranian government is very cautious and careful not to anger, not to provoke strong attacks. president trump approved that he can do anything, and in the way he attacked qasem suleimani surprised everybody. so, with this in mind, i am not sure how strong it will be in terms of loss for the iranian attack, but i think it will have a strong media impact. we will have to wait and see. how do iraqis feel that this attacked was carried out, there is a death was sanctioned on their soil? because effectively, they are now being drawn into this proxy war. what is a feeling like there? initially, iraqis were quite happy that qasem

suleimani is no more. because it specifically he was involved in the killing, or in orchestrating the killing, or in orchestrating the killing of the demonstrators from october the ist until recently. and his absence from the scene came as a relief in the first hours, when the news broke out. but afterwards, iraqis are quickly realised that this could mean that their country could become a battle ground for the united states and iran, and this will only bring destruction and more instability to iraq, and empower and embolden the pro—iranian malicious who are rejected, hit with these scripted demonstrations are against them are precisely. -- the pro—iranian malicious. just looking at these scenes, it looks as if

there was a lot of outputting and support. are you saying that the feeling is very different within the country? first of all, there are certain shots, video shots, of the funeral that short large numbers of people. it was highly organised, highly orchestrated, and it did not seem a spontaneous. highly orchestrated, and it did not seem a spontaneous. the general feeling. just look at the social media of iraqis in general, you see the ratio of support versus against, the ratio of support versus against, the general, is less than one to ten. for every supporter, you find ten. for every supporter, you find ten people who who are quite satisfied with not seeing the general. ijust want satisfied with not seeing the general. i just want to go satisfied with not seeing the general. ijust want to go on to the next point. the iraqi parliament is meeting tomorrow. we are already here and talk about request that us troops pull out of their trips

from the country. what will this mean for iraq? what the country. what will this mean for iraq ? what role the country. what will this mean for iraq? what role has the us been playing there? is this really what iraq wants? first of all, the parliament meeting, we are not sure if it is going to be held. it is being pushed by the pro—iranian elements within the political process. the presence of the troops in iraq was done by virtue of an agreement between the iraqi government and the us government. evenif government and the us government. even if parliament says its votes for the departure of the foreign trips, we need to have a fully fledged government. currently, we have a caretaker government that is not authorised to sign or come out of such a deal. on the bottom line is these kinds of agreements need to be done in the negotiation of both parties. you cannot unilaterally opt out of such an agreement. so, really, it is more of the media, or apr really, it is more of the media, or a pr stunt, rather

than being an actual wealth well for the us troops to leave the country. thank you very much whelan said. in australia, nearly 3,000 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 in australia, nearly 3,000 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. shaimaa khalil reports. it promised to be 88 of danger, and his bushfires have lapped up to everyone. the conditions have made some of these places too vast to control. in a kangaroo island, a fee might scare famous holiday

destination, a couple died trying to escape the inferno. they were found near the car. in victoria, as bruises continue to rage in it is, if iqs were getting ready to board the navy ship taking them to safety. in moments of relief after a harrowing few days are stranded in at the fire ravaged town. our only option was to go down to the foreshore and sit it out. and at one stage, we had 25 a harrowing few days stranded in the fire ravaged town. our only option was to go down town. our only option was to go down to the foreshore and sit it out. and at one stage, we had 25 fire trucks with us. sorry. the prime minister has said it 3000 reserve trips will be deployed to help tackle the routing bushfires. the first time this has happened in australia's history. this gusty wind is not picking up very strongly, and it is fitting and heavy smoke to southern new south wales on the coast. this is what the firefighters are dreading, because it funds these are places, making them unstoppable, but

it also spreads those embers, making the fire behaviour quite unpredictable. the howling winds and billowing smoke were enough of an alarm for people in this holiday park in the coastal town. some are causing their cabins. others took to the beach to seek refuge. this woman did not take any chances. she gathered her family, her did not take any chances. she gathered herfamily, her purse and her son's wilshere and headed straight to the shore. her son's wilshere and headed straight to the shorelj her son's wilshere and headed straight to the shore. ijust got her son's wilshere and headed straight to the shore. i just got a phone call from a friend whose brother is a police officer, and he said, get out. we had the police, upper street and said that he expected it to impact our houses in the next 20 to 30 minutes. the authorities have warned the situation is still volatile and could get worse. if a boating and now familiar message to the people of australia. —— a foreboding and now familiar message. the headlines on bbc news... huge crowds join funeral processions in iraq, for iran's top military commander,

killed by a us drone strike. fears that high winds and temperatures will push australia's bushfires towards heavily populated areas — thousands of reserve troops are deployed. labour backbenchers lisa nandy and jess phillips join the contest to become the party's next leader. police have begun a murder investigation after a man was stabbed to death in north london. the man in his 30s was attacked in finsbury park yesterday evening. friends at the scene said he worked as a food delivery moped rider. no one has been arrested. sir rod stewart has been charged by police in florida, after he allegedly punched a security guard at a hotel. a police report says the altercation occurred after the singer and his son sean failed to gain access to a private

event on new year's eve. he'll appear in court next month charged with simple battery. china has sacked the head of its hong kong liaison office, wang zhimin, after almost seven months of violent clashes between police and pro—democracy demonstrators. the liaison office has been criticised in mainland china, for misjudging the political situation in the territory. the replacement will be a former party secretary from shanxi province in the north. 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 jonathan blake is with me now. we were expecting these names, but what are the likely pitch is going to be? they will be relatively similar. they are surviving backbench mps from the heartlands in the midlands and the north west of england. jess phillips, the somewhat outspoken mp for birmingham yardley, a former campaigner, has made a lot of our working—class upbringing, and what she has described as the need for honesty, and the need to regain voters' trust. she has been talking about how she will be able to take on borisjohnson about how she will be able to take on boris johnson directly, about how she will be able to take on borisjohnson directly, with a passion as well as a prize. and she said that the party needs to change direction and stop trying to please everyone, and end up pleasing no one. jess phillips, as you say, one of the two to announce that they will be standing in the contest in the last 24 hours or so. the other,

lisa nandy, of a similar age, the last 24 hours or so. the other, lisa nandy, ofa similarage, and mp for wigan. she has been talking about the need for labour to change direction, and particularly in terms of the leadership, and to move away, it seems, from thejeremy corbyn yea rs. it seems, from thejeremy corbyn years. she has used the phrase that labour needs to look for someone who has a skin in the game and understands and can relate to the working class communities and the heartlands in the north west of england and the north of england and elsewhere. that's so many labour seats fall to the conservatives are to the last election. and lisa nandy setting out her pets a little earlier on, making it very clear that the party needs to look for a very different leader now. what i do think has to change, and pop you have to do differently that we haven't done for the very, very long time, as actually have a leader who is capable of going out into the country and showing communities like mine, and in hastings, and

in wrexham, and in italy, that we have skin in the game, that we get it, that we are rooted in those communities, and we know and understand and have respect for people's life, and we trust them to make a difference. and that is why i say the next leader of the liberal party has to be very different, they have to look very different, they have to look very different, they have to look very different, they have to come from a different party of the world for people understand that rigour, that we respect them, that rigour, that we respect them, that we understand them, and that they will give us a hearing. -- that we care. art and jess phillips to can you confirm to candidates in this race, which hasn't officially started, to four, and we expect rebecca long—bailey, who is quite close to jeremy corbyn, rebecca long—bailey, who is quite close tojeremy corbyn, and sir keir starmer, the shadow brexit secretary to announce her candidacy is very shortly. you said the race hasn't started yet, so point does the gun go off? there will be a meeting on monday of the ruling national executive committee, they will set the timetable and finalising the

roles of the contest, which we don't expect to take around five weeks. the party will probably want to have a new leader in place before the local elections in the early spring, so local elections in the early spring, so we're probably looking at around much. thank you. 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 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. earlier i spoke to jamie coleman. he's professor of clinical pharmacology and medical education at the university of birmingham, and also chair of the government's opioid expert working group. the report suggests that actually fentanyl is getting in and being used illicitly mainly i think through the illicit channels and being cut with heroin and because of its potency is that potentially opioid abusers might

be subject to heroin that is being cut with fentanyl. and because of its potency, therefore, the risk of overdose through respiratory depression and eventually coma is much greater than with heroin alone. but that is i think getting in through the illicit market rather than prescription drug diversion. what do you mean by illicit market? as heroin would get in, there are some convoluted online supplies but also where heroin is coming into the country through illicit channels is that actually fentonil is there as well. although it can be made and certainly in north america where the problem is much greater, there is a problem where there are people making synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in illicit factories to sort of sell onto the black market.

because it is 50 times stronger, if it is made illicitly, it is very difficult to control. how do we stop this? there has been a great awareness about opioid use over the last few years. we know certainly in north america and the usa there is this opioid crisis, and we want to try and prevent the uk getting into that same situation. the committee that i am chairing has been looking mainly at the regulatory framework within prescription opioid use, to try and make sure that is as tightly controlled as it can be. for example, trying to make sure health care professionals are very well educated in the use of opioids, and fentanyl is a particular example where we need to educate because often health care practitioners are not aware about how potent this drug is. is there help there for people who are using fentanyl,

who have become addicted to it? are there resources there in the nhs? we have noticed at a national level is that sometimes one of the reasons people do go from prescription drug use to misuse is because perhaps there isn't that support mechanism there or they don't know where to go. it is about making sure the resources that are available to patients are much better advertised, that health care practitioners and maybe carers and patients' families are aware about the signs of potential opioid abuse and that we try to put people into the channels, to try and get people off drugs because actually of course one of the reasons that people take drugs is because they are very dependent and the people get withdrawal very quickly. that needs to be managed. i'm sure there is more that can be done on the nhs but there is a lot there already and we need to make

people much more aware of that. we are going to bring an update on some news that broke earlier. we understand as a result of the two lorries are being involved in a dot cross, the attitude lorry drivers have died in that serious collision that closed the mi south point for several hours. i can, and amount of debt that has been confirmed by bedfordshire police. the road was shut between fitting and milton keynes after the incident, just before 7am this morning. so, to lorry drivers killed in that crash on the mi. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich hello there. we have had a lot of dry weather today, but sunshine amounts have varied. the best of it has been across eastern areas, this is how it looked from a weather watcher. by further west, that was the scene.

grey and gloomy conditions. you can see on the earlier satellite image, a lot of cloud across the west. some breaks for north—east wales, the west midlands, certainly some breaks across eastern scotland and eastern england. as we go through tonight, we will hold onto some breaks in the cloud for these eastern areas. that will allow it to get a little milder, but generally we have this feed of cloud from the atlantic, that cloud producing the odd spot of light rain and drizzle. some slightly heavier rain across the far north of scotland. turning increasingly breezy through the night, temperatures typically between four and 9 degrees. where we do see those clear breaks further east, we could get quite close to freezing. so, into tomorrow, again a lot of cloud around. but i'm hopeful the cloud will break up a little bit through eastern and southern parts of england. north—west england may be seeing the old spot of drizzle, particularly parts of cumbria. similar story for northern ireland and western scotland. some rain across the north—west, but eastern scotland not doing too badly for some sunshine. a windier day tomorrow, a milder one, as well. particularly across the northern

half of the uk, ten to 12 degrees. now, the high pressure will retreat into monday, to allow this frontal system in the atlantic. that'll bring some outbreaks of heavy rain, moving eastwards through the day. the rain unlikely to get into east anglia or the south—east until after dark. behind that rain band, western scotland and northern ireland seeing something a little drier later in the day. highs of nine to 11 degrees. quite a windy day on monday, windier still on tuesday. this area of low pressure passes to the north—west of the british isles. a lot of white lines squeezing together on this chart, a lot of isobars. we are likely to see severe gales across northern areas. outbreaks of heavy rain here, as well. these are the wind gusts we are expecting. particularly windy across parts of scotland, 60 to 70 mile an hour gusts or more. also some very gusty winds likely to the eastern side of the pennines. that could cause one or two transport problems. look how mild it is going to be — 12 to 15 degrees. exceptional for this point in january. for the week ahead, more rain

ahead in the forecast. it stays mild for the most part,

a little drier later on. hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines. huge crowds join funeral processions in iraq, for iran's top military commander, killed by a us drone strike. iranian president rouhani visited the dead general‘s family — promising that americans will feel the impact of their actions for years ahead. fears that high winds and temperatures will push australia's bushfires towards heavily populated areas — thousands of reserve troops are deployed. labour backbenchers,