this is bbc news. the headlines: two mortar rounds [and near the us embassy in baghdad as 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. the shadow brexit secretary, keir starmer, enters the race to become labour leader. he'll launch his campaign in stevenage tomorrow. fears that high winds and temperatures will push australia's bushfires towards heavily populated areas — thousands of reserve troops are deployed. just got a phone call from a friend ijust got a phone call from a friend his brother as a police officer, and he said it get the hell out. we have had to police, our

street and said that they expected to impact our houses in the next 20 to impact our houses in the next 20 to 30 minutes. police appeal for information, after a food delivery driver was stabbed to death in north london last night. coming up at half past, sportsday has all the fa cup action — including tranmere‘s three—goal come back to pull off a draw at watford. we start with breaking news — in the last few minutes, the shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmerjoined the race to succeed jeremy corbyn as leader of the labour party. sir keir, who's a prominent remain supporter, will launch his leadership bid in stevenage tomorrow, calling on the party to listen to voters in order to regain their trust. he's the fifth mp to throw

their hat into the ring — after backbenchers lisa nandy and jess phillipsjoined clive lewis and emily thornberry in the contest. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake is with me now. it is widely expected, but what does this do in terms of the dynamics of the race? no surprise that sir keir starmer has confirmed as candidate. but it is interesting to hear what he has had to say for this piece that he has written for the sunday mirror. he says that labour can unite, retain our values, mirror. he says that labour can unite, retain ourvalues, and mirror. he says that labour can unite, retain our values, and to win at what he says is the dawn of a new decade. but he is clear to see that labour voters and supporters will be hotting up to what he described as a devastating election defeat. we can't bury our heads in the sun, labour must rebuild, and fast. you have to restore trust in a party as a force for change and a force for good. that language is interesting, because you're talking about rebuilding and restoring labour. no

talk of a big change in direction. he has been very careful, i think, here, to appeal to jeremy he has been very careful, i think, here, to appeal tojeremy corbyn‘s significant support base within the liberal party, and indicate that he is not going to take it off in an entirely direction. talking about the values of poverty, inequality and injustice being as important as ever, and that labour mustn't lose sight of those, a retreat from the radicalism of the last few years. he is talking about being proud of labour's movement of more than half a million members, but saying that it is important to use that strength and be visible in every community. perhaps trying to tread a thin line between keeping jeremy corbyn‘s support base and the party on board, and then translating that into perhaps a different set of policies, which could take labour to electoral success which could take labour to electoral success in the future. it interesting, because his role as shadow practice secretary has given him a lot of public profile. as a result of that, he is a

very clear remain voice, but that could prove a slightly thorny when it comes to uniting the whole of the labour party around him. yes, the fact that he was such a prominent campaigner for remain, and also such a staunch proponent of a second referendum, arguing and making the case for that within the party and the shadow cabinet, in fact, will appeal to some, but will also be something of perhaps a barrier to support from other members of the liberal party, who see that is out of step, not only with the referendum result, but with the recent perhaps foreign labour‘s crushing election defeat. that is something that he will have to ove rco m e that is something that he will have to overcome and make arguments against it. we have also had lisa nandyjoining the against it. we have also had lisa nandy joining the race. against it. we have also had lisa nandyjoining the race. it is interesting, because park pitch is very different. she is an outside london mp, and the way she is pitching it is not actually for labour to get back into power, they need a leader who is

in touch with the ball beyond the m25. yes, others and the race, which hasn't officially started, but other people are making a very different argument. as you mention, lisa nandy been very clear that labour needs to elect a different kind of leader, somebody who is much more in touch with the former heartlands in the north of england and elsewhere, in the midlands, and that can make the case more effectively, that labour is on the site of those people who voted for them in the past and saw them self voting conservative in the last election. jess phillips also on the centre—left of the party, and has criticised jeremy corbyn and the past, setting herself apart as someone past, setting herself apart as someone who past, setting herself apart as someone who comes past, setting herself apart as someone who comes from a very different place, and it looks and sounds very different, and can perhaps regain that support from labour's heartlands. the other two and the wrist, emily thornberry and clive lewis, perhaps a bit more aligned with jeremy clive lewis, perhaps a bit more aligned withjeremy corbyn and more familiarfaces from aligned withjeremy corbyn and more familiar faces from the shadow cabinet. but the sir keir starmer know the first to enter the race,

the timetable for points will be set ata the timetable for points will be set at a meeting of the national executive committee on monday. thank you very much. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight arejohn rentoul, chief political commentator at the independent, and benedicte paviot, uk correspondent for france 24. two mortar rounds have landed near the us embassy in baghdad and rockets have hit a base housing american troops, following the assassination of an iranian military commander. general qasem soleimani was hit by a us drone attack outside baghdad airport on thursday. thousands of people have taken part in his funeral procession in the iraqi capital. tehran has vowed to seek "revenge" on the us for his death. president trump said it was necessary to stop imminent attacks on americans in the region. 0ur 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. let's speak to ghanbar naderi. he's a correspondent for the iranian state—run television station press tv, and political editor for the newspaper kayhan, which supports the iranian regime. hejoins me now from tehran. just give us a sense of what your contacts, your political contacts are telling you that iran may do by way of retaliation, when it talks of revenge. there are many options on the table for the time being. that's not forget the fact that iran and the united states are both active in iraq, so it is a question of who gets to the state. that is submitted to the ascending right now. i'm afraid that millions of iranians travel to iraq for

programmers, and definitely, they have a sense of belonging to that culture and community. so, what is going to happen next? there is going to be immense pressure on the us government and its forces in iraq to kick them out of that country. that is precisely what is going to mean when the sea retaliation, retaliation, to but let's not forget that iran is going to speed up their commitments, and who knows, maybe they will block up if they don't see they will block up if they don't see the economic benefits of the deal. and if they are not willing to help iran, that is another kind of retaliation. iran is definitely thinking about it right now. of course, there are also many chances that iran are creating a rating across the region. definitely, they have america on their side. whether it is going to heart them the most, especially in lebanon and syria and

yemen. so, the options are on the table. the stakes are extremely high, but i'm tell you with 100% confidence, but first of all the questions about who is going to stay in iraq. and that has implications, a knock—on effect, for the balance of power within the wider region. i just explain for us what the outcome could be. the outcome is not going to be in favour of the united states and its allies. iran is going to be pa rt and its allies. iran is going to be part of iraq, and iraq is going to be part of iran. let me give you a very clear future. iran be part of iran. let me give you a very clearfuture. iran is not iran, it is iraq. how can i put it in words — you iraq is iran, yvonne is a rack. they have been like this for thousands of years, and the only mistake the president trump that was speed up the process of reunification of these two

territories, and that is precisely what is going to happen, because both countries have shi'ite majority is, and the more than willing to... america has only two options, you that they can fight and make a loud noise, or they can just pack up and leave quietly. it is not totally up to the trump administration and the war party in washington. but that is the end of it. iran is not going to let america get away with it. speaking of top commanders, i think the biggest mistake that this government made, and the westerman government made, and the westerman government is making, they think that the freedom of this country depends onjust one that the freedom of this country depends on just one general. that is not the case. iran has lost many channels and the past. especially in the 1980s. channels and the past. especially in the 19805. it channels and the past. especially in the 1980s. it is not a matter of individualism here. this is a very united country. many people are taking part in the decisions, and the other ones that are going to

choose the fate of iran, and the unification with iraq. but it is not simple iran's interest in iraq versus the us, is a one against another. there are other powers in the region who would strongly object to what you are describing, and would not allow a situation where yvonne's and fan's in iraq and strengthen. i am thinking saudi arabia, as you, for example. absolutely, you are right. i am telling you the sentiment here at the moment. but if you ask me, i think the united states and iran need to come to the negotiating ta bles need to come to the negotiating tables and act like two adults, because they might have stakes in interest, there is no doubt about it, but there are also other stakeholders that have many interests and stakes in the region, especially little stakes the persian gulf. they need to

come to this realisation that they have no choice but to respect the interests of the national community, and the interests of those countries is peace and security, and of course order in this entire region. so, yes, iran might try to retake iraq and make it part of its own territory, but i can are going to have an international backlash, and it is not going to be in the interests of both iran and the united states, so they need to stop being big headed and listen to the voice of reason. 0k, good to get your thoughts. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. some breaking news... regarding the bushfires and stronger. they have been raging for months. the queen has given a message, has issued a message of condolence to the

governor general of australia, and state governors as well. and its says, i have been deeply saddened to hear of the continued bushfires and their devastating impact across many parts of australia. my thanks go out to the emergency services and those who put their own lives in danger to help communities in need. bill scott prince philip and i send our thoughts and prayers to all australians out of this time. that statement from buckingham palace just release in the last few minutes. 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 a day of danger and these bushfires have lived up to every emergency warning. the hellish combination

of high temperatures, strong winds and dry conditions have made some of these places too vast to control. in kangaroo island, a famous holiday destination, a couple died trying to escape the inferno. they were found near their car. in victoria, as places continued to rage in the east, evacuees 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. our only option was to get in and sit it out and at one stage we had 25 fire trucks with us. sorry. the prime minister scott morrison has said 3000 reserve troops will be deployed to help tackle the raging bush fires. this is the first time this has happened in australia's history. this gusty wind is now picking up

very strongly and it is bringing heavy smoke to new south wales on the coast and this is what the firefighters dread. it fans these blezes, making them unstoppable but it also spreads those embers making the fire behaviour quite a number —— unpredictable. the howling winds and billowing smoke were enough of an for people in this holiday park. some were hosing their cabins while others took to the beach to seek refuge. this woman did not take any chances, she gathered her family, her pets and her son's wheel chair and headed straight to the shore. i got a phone call from a friend whose brother is a police officer and he said to get out. we have had the police come up the street and say it would impact our houses in the next 30 minutes. the authorities have warned that the situation is still volatile and could get worse. a foreboding and now a familiar message to the people in australia.

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, on the southern coast of new south wales. the headlines on bbc news: two mortar rounds land near the us embassy in baghdad — as huge crowds join funeral processions in iraq, for iran's top military commander, killed by a us drone strike. the shadow brexit secretary, keir starmer enters the race to become labour leader. he'll launch his campaign in stevenage tomorrow. the queen sends her condolences to the people of australia, as fears grow that high winds and temperatures will push bushfires towards heavily populated areas. 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. two lorry drivers have died in a collision that closed the mi southbound for several hours,

bedfordshire police have the road was shut between flitwick and milton keynes after the incident just before 7am this morning. 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 row happened after the singer and his son sean were not allowed in to a private event on new year's eve. he'll appear in court next month charged with simple battery. there are calls for a review of surrogacy laws — to allow a child's intended parents to be recognised as such — at the time of their birth. currently, parents have to apply to the courts for a child to be legally recognised as their own, which often doesn't happen. bbc scotland's carole erskin reports. really cute. for laura and stephen, penelope is their miracle baby. ten years ago, laura was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia. she manages her illness with daily

chemotherapy tablets, but knew she always wanted a family. in 2016, she began trying for her own child. when i was first diagnosed and i went to hospital, i had a list of questions i wanted to ask. you know, am i going to die? am i going to lose my hair, will i be able to have children? and the cancer increased and increased quite rapidly and when i went to hospital, a nurse she said to me, "if you did get pregnant, and the cancer continued to increase, it could get to five or six months into the pregnancy and we would have to decide whether we save your life or save the baby's." and that was the most devastating blow. i felt really, really useless, and that cancer had not only taken a kind of chunk of my life, because obviously it plays on your mind that what is my life expectancy going to be? but that it had played with my chance of having a family. and, yeah, thankfully there was someone there to help with that.

that someone was her sister—in—law, jayne. i am blessed to have a family, and i know what the feeling is like to have your child, and i wanted that for my brother and sister—in—law and we would do anything, as we have done, to make it happen for them. i don't see her as my child. i think if i had had issues and had the baby blues or post—natal depression then, as we talked with the counsellor, then maybe surrogacy may not have been a good option for me, but i have had no problems before. penelope's special book of herjourney. i think we always felt it was important to do so that we could write down everything we were feeling and all of the steps we had gone through so that when she is old enough, maybe five years old or so, we would be able to tell her how she came into the world. baby penelope jayne tessa was born on november 23 after being conceived by ivf on the nhs. penelope is biologically ours

so i had to go through ivf and have my eggs removed. jayne had to have injections herself as well, so there were two of us going through that, and for me, to watch jayne having to go through that and know it is for us as well was really tough to take. we had a lot of ups and downs. it is not easy at all. it did not work the first time, there was a lot of upset and actually, at the point whenjayne came to tell us that she was actually pregnant, i think i had given up hope. i really thought it was not going to happen. jayne arrived at our door with a positive pregnancy test and it was just the most incredible moment of my life. in the eyes of the law, jayne is penelope's mum and laura and stephen can apply to change this when she is six weeks old and officially become recognised as a parents. for them all, the long journey to get to here has been worth it, and it means laura has more reasons than ever to stay positive about her own health.

it gives me something to live for, more than ever now, so i am determined to just carry on and stay as healthy as i can for her. it has honestly been the most wonderful, wonderful thing, so i am eternally grateful forjayne, sorry... but we all love her, so... you know... she is special. yeah. let's get more reaction to the death of the iranian military commander qasem soleimani — killed in a us air strike at baghdad airport. the us maintains the attack was legitimate because of an imminent security threat. but some have speculated over president trump's motives. larry beinhart is the author of american hero, which was adapted into the political—parody film wag the dog. the phrase is used to indicate a way of diverting attention. mr beinhartjoins me now

from upstate new york do you think they were political motives behind this decision? short of responding to an invasion, almost all modern war is about the domestic political considerations. america has and the last half century, certainly, a huge history of it. we have richard nixon subverting the piece plans that landonjohnson was trying to reach in vietnam. we have lyndonjohnson afraid to get out of vietnam, because he didn't want to be the president who lost in vietnam. we have the invasion of grenada. who invades granada, for gods? and you have the second gulf war, all about domestic political matters. they have nothing

to do with any actual security issues. and also, what we get with donald trump here, dubbed us we are dealing with donald trump here, so any attempt to understand donald trump through conventional political framework is doomed to failure. anything that has advisers and spokespeople to argue that they are trying to impose rationality on this decision, they're making rationality on this decision, they‘ re making it rationality on this decision, they're making it up. they are trying to find a way to make the sound legitimate. i'm not saying that donald trump is irrational, but he doesn't deal with standard political framework. he doesn't deal with standard politicalframework. some he doesn't deal with standard political framework. some of the commentary has been that he felt that when he backed off shooting at iranians before, i didn't look good for him, and he doesn't like that.|j suppose, for him, and he doesn't like that.” suppose, it has to be

said, presidents of all political colours that will take steps to deflect attention from uncomfortable moments attention from uncomfortable moments at home. the resort with president clinton taking action to retaliate against attacks on us embassies when he had the impeachment situation at home. the funny thing about that one is that he is actually trying to get a sum of an adam —— 0sama bin laden. and his opponents ascribed to domestic political motives are. and that particular case, that's an odd one, 0k, that particular case, that's an odd one, ok, because he actually seems to have moderated because of domestic political concerns. but what is interesting here is what trump has done, i think, is created mirror image and

that iran now must respond to their own domestic issues. you can't be a moderate and iran now. you have to be a hard political person. if you are a moderate, you are going to look like an appeaser. ijust wonder moderate, you are going to look like an appeaser. i just wonder what effect all of this has in the minds of voters across the united states, because as you see, a lot will depend on what happens next. and suppose that iran does retaliate, and that potentially results in some loss of american lives. that's a very high risk strategy for a president to take heading towards an election, isn't it? i think it is very interesting, if you think about what just happened, it very interesting, if you think about whatjust happened, it makes you think about things we talked about before, which is that donald trump has, as he so often does, broken a

convention. the convention here is that you can kill as many ground troops as you want, you can kill as many troops as you want, you can kill as ma ny stateless troops as you want, you can kill as many stateless people as you want, you can put american soldiers in position to be killed. but what you can't do is kill any of the higher—ups. and look back through recent history. american high officials, the secretary of state, senators, congressmen, vice president, are always flying into combat zones, afghanistan, iraq, everywhere. nobody ever attacks him. now, you might say, oh, they have great security. but nobody even tries. so there is an invisible deal going on here, certainly from the appearance of the people's conduct, is that you don't go trying to shoot, to murder a visiting

american senator or vice president, or secretary of state stop now, if i put myself in the mind of an iranian, andi put myself in the mind of an iranian, and i am looking for a theatrical way to retaliate that is going to make me look good to my own domestic audience, then i'm going to look to something that is the equivalent of killing my favourite in general. 0k. an interesting point. larry, thank you very much indeed. now it's time for a look at the weather. a lovely evening across the message was birkenhead earlier on. some had sunshine to finish the day, but a fairly crowded year for many. a lot more cloud around in the skies above the uk tomorrow too. if you get some time, you are lucky. tomorrow,

things will turn the breezy, and it will turn when you are still into next week. a bit of a breeze blowing tonight across the north of scotland, bringing rain at times in the far north, but mother earth towards shetland. warm up there tonight and it has been appointed day today. chilly through eastern parts of the uk, have clearer skies. in the west, plenty cloud, so much there was a brand, which takes us into tomorrow morning. the best of the sunshine, the western parts of men in scotland. for most, it will be fairly cloudy. a few showers around, like we saw today. more persistent rain in the hebrides and north west highlands, but temperature starting to rise a little bit somewhere between eight and i2 celsius. tomorrow evening, there will be some rain across northern scotland that will ease away during the night. a breezy night for the rest of us. 0verall, away during the night. a breezy night for the rest of us. overall, i feel it mall start to monday away

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