and a brighter end to the day in the west, temperatures in double figures for many but it will be windy. windy still as we go into tuesday after a brief night—time lull. this next weather system is far more potent and will bring gales if not severe gales across many parts for tuesday. chance of some travel disruption particularly across scotland and northern ireland, outbreaks of rain heavy at times here and there will be some gusty winds to the east of high ground. we could see winds widely into gale—force, maybe 50, 60 and to the north of scotland 70 or 80 mile an hour winds but warm winds at that. we could see temperatures up to 16 celsius in the northeast of scotland, 1a and 15 elsewhere, fairly widely, so it turns a grey deal milder through this week. colder towards the end, rain and gales eventually starting to ease. take care.

this is bbc world news today. our top stories: thousands in iraq pay their respects to the top iranian general qassem soleimani killed on friday by a us airstrike in baghdad. this is the scene live in najaf. australia's raging bushfires are now so strong and so hot they are creating their own weather systems, making them even harder to control. and china sacks its official in charge of relations with hong kong six months after the start of the anti—beijing protests. hello and welcome to world news today. the iraqi military has confirmed that several rockets have landed

in baghdad near the us embassy and at the balad airbase north of the capital. the base houses us forces and the baghdad attacks targeted the area around the us embassy in the green zone and the neighbouring district of jadriya. no group has said it carried out the strikes, but iranian—backed militias have mounted similar attacks recently. the news comes as tens of thousands of people have packed the streets of baghdad for the funeral of iran's general, qasem soleimani, and the others killed by a us drone strike. the body of general soleimani will be returned to iran for further funeral ceremonies. iranian officials have promised severe revenge for his death. 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 iranian masters well. its regime has cast him as a proud shia martyr. in death, he's been elevated to the rank of lieutenant general. in iran, there were more anti—western protests. president rouhani visited the 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's 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'm sure he has calculated what the response is likely to be, but i think, if he's 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 dr agnes callamard, who is the un special rapporteur on

extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. what summary or arbitrary executions. is your assessme killing? what is your assessment of this killing? under international human rights law, it is very unlikely that the killing of mr qasem soleimani was lawful, and the people... the killing of the people around him are unlawful, but the key question we need to assess right now is first of all whether the us acted in self defence and second whether we are in the middle of an international conflict between iran and the us. in terms of the notion of self defence, the us so far has argued that it was acting against an imminent

attack. it is difficult to determine whether indeed there was an imminent attack against the us and whether the killing of general qasem soleimani was a proportionate response to this imminent attack, so at this point, me in particular is an expert looking at the issue, as long as we do not have further information we cannot make a proper assessment. the second question though which is extremely important is whether or not at the time of the strike there was an international armed conflict between iran and the united states, oi’ between iran and the united states, or whether the strike by the us triggered an international armed conflict, and that's an important question because if it is indeed the case that there was an international conflict, then the international humanitarian law applies and it

is far less protective of civilians and competent, including general qasem soleimani under human rights law, and it is possible that under international humanitarian law, provided it was indeed an international armed conflict, then the killing of general qasem soleimani could then become... to law. that killing could be explored in greater depth. -- lawfulness. and what would that conflict look like knowing that the us personally sanctioned qasem soleimani in 2011? the pentagon said he had orchestrated attacks and was formulating plans? would that be sufficient grounds? not in and by themselves. there are many

differences of opinion as to what triggers an international armed conflict and what is the beginning ofan conflict and what is the beginning of an international armed conflict. the question i and have is whether the event that preceded the killing of general soleimani including the many attacks between all iranian or american targets, whether those attacks had reached an intensity that lead us to conclude that at this point there was already an international armed conflict. the fa ct international armed conflict. the fact that general soleimani was such a high ranking official within the iranian government does also give some forethought here. this is why it could also be argued that the strike in and by itself of such a high—ranking official could

constitute an intensity requirement under international humanitarian law. —— food for thought.” under international humanitarian law. -- food for thought. ijust wa nt to law. -- food for thought. ijust want to ask you if the us were found to have violated international law, what do you think should happen next? i think it is essential that the question of the lawfulness of the question of the lawfulness of the action by the united states, but also of the actions by iran in the weeks that preceded the killing, all of those should be the object of an international investigation, so for me the first step is for the un secretary general all for the iraq government to demand that an international investigation be put in place to determine the lawfulness of the killing and other actions. we need to have...

we need to base policy developments within a legal framework, we need to reaffirm, reassert the primacy of international law and international governance in the way forward. it is also very important for the un not to make itself irrelevant at the moment. it must play a central role. in my view, the un secretary generals should be far bolder than he seems to have been and should use article 99 of the un charter to trigger some kind of institutional response to the crisis. i am not suggesting that something tangible is delivered, but it is important that we reassert the importance of multilateral and the importance of

international legal mechanisms and institution at this point in time. very fascinating and interesting to talk to you in getting your analysis and thoughts. we can now bring you live shots from where the funeral ceremony has now reached this area. this is of the array neil general soleimani and the iraqi militia commander. we will follow these life pictures and also talk to a journalist in iraq about the wider fallout in the region so stay with us fallout in the region so stay with us for that. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: at least a dozen people have been killed in burkina faso after a bus hit a roadside bomb. according to local media, most of the 12 people who have died in the explosion are children and around nine more people have been injured, four critically. the incident took place near toeni in the north—western sourou province

on the border with mali. more than 100,000 people have held a protest rally in the indian city of hyderabad against a citizenship law. many were chanting slogans against the hindu nationalist prime minister, narendra modi. protesters say the law is anti—muslim and against the values of india's secular constitution. an appeals court in california has ruled that two men who featured in a documentary alleging sexual abuse by the singer michaeljackson can pursue legal claims against two of his companies. lawyers forjackson‘s estate say they are confident the lawsuits by wade robson and james safechuck will be dismissed. 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. stay with us on bbc world news. still

to come: the japanese people are in mourning following the death of the emperor. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul symons starts his tour of south africa tomorrow in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecologically crisis. three weeks ago authorities assured these areas the oilfrom the ago authorities assured these areas the oil from the broken tanker with head out to sea.

it didn't. the word's tallest skyscraper opens today. it is easily overtaken as nearest rivals. — — today. it is easily overtaken as nearest rivals. —— it is easily ove rta ke n nearest rivals. —— it is easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: thousands in iraq attended an elaborate funeral procession for iran's top general killed in baghdad on friday. more now on that story — the assisnation of iran's top general, qasam soleimani, by the us. hiwa 0sman, an iraqi journalist and analyst, joins me live from erbil. we have seen plenty of people out on the streets morning to pay their respects to the general, what is the mood like out there? just a word of correction. the other person who

was killed with the general was the deputy commander of the popular mobilisation force. the mourning ceremony, the procession, was for him and for the general, so this is just a correction. the mood initially after the killing of general qasam soleimani amongst the majority of the people in iraq, people were quite relieved that he is no more because he was implicated oi’ is no more because he was implicated or was is no more because he was implicated oi’ was overseeing is no more because he was implicated or was overseeing the killing of the protesters and the crushing of the uprising from the beginning of 0ctober uprising from the beginning of october last year, and initially the mood was quite euphoric, but then they quickly realised that this could endanger iraq becoming a battle ground for the conflict between the us and iran, and the mood is much more quiet

now. the people who joined the morning ceremony or the funeral were followers of the other general, the iraqi general. he was the other person who was killed in the attack and he was with general qasam soleimani. you alluded there to the unprecedented demonstrations in recent months in the country against iran's influence in iraq. there is a deep political crisis in the country, isn't there? what impact will this killing happened there?m could embolden the pro—iranian proxies in the country. currently, the government is extremely weak. the political decision—making process , the political decision—making process, the security decision was hijacked up until the death of qasam soleimani by pro—reigning elements

and by qasam soleimani himself. now there is a new general in place of qasam soleimani. we have to see how they deal with the iraq as a neighbouring state or as a backyard. 0n the other hand, some of the militias have been issuing warnings to stay 1000 metres or one kilometre away from us targets in iran because they seem to be planning to conduct attacks on them, but again all of this is up in the air at the moment. we have not seen an iranian reaction yet oran iranian we have not seen an iranian reaction yet or an iranian response to the killing of qasam soleimani. we have to see what kind of response that will be and if this response will ta ke will be and if this response will take place on iraqi soil or not. a number of fresh bushfires have taken hold in the australian state of new south wales,

even as older ones continue to spiral out of control. fire services in the state have warned residents in some areas that it is too late to leave — they have been advised to seek shelter instead. this all comes as the nation has experienced another day of extreme heat, with many parts reaching close to 50 degrees celsius. the fires are so large that, in some areas, they're creating their own unpredictable and dangerous weather systems. the australian government has deployed 3,000 military personnel to help evacuate families trapped in remote towns. ben shepherd joins us from the rural fire service headquarters in sydney. bring us an update on the pitch on the ground there. this morning will be an opportunity to take stock of what occurred with a very dramatic change which moved across these grounds late yesterday afternoon.

there is no doubt that we have lost some property and there is also a potential we may have seen further lives lost. today we will do that we stop, also working out where we can pull some of these fires up. more favourable weather at least for the next few days will be at it stays dry but working out where we can start containing these fires because we have a massive effort ahead of us. we have a massive effort ahead of us. we are currently dealing with over 3.3 million hectors on these grounds alone at the moment so there isa grounds alone at the moment so there is a huge body of work that needs to be undertaken over the coming days and weeks. in terms of what lays ahead, do you hope that the worst is behind you now? what we definitely need is rain and lots of it. we need hundreds and hundreds of millimetres of rain to try to correct the deficit and take the sting out of this past season and make the landscape healthy again and the

fact it would not hold fire. but until that time, we will have to keep working on these fires to try to back burn against them and bring them under control. at this stage them under control. at this stage the bureau is not forecasting rain possibly until late february so we have a hell of a lot of work to do across all of these grounds before they are safe and until such time we get that rain we have the risk of these fires flaring, jumping pass containment lines and threatening further homes, so a huge body of work over the coming days and weeks until we see meaningful rain. and how fire service coping with resources but also people like yourself emotionally? this is a job yourself emotionally? this is a job you cannot stop. it is not only taxing on firefighters but taxing on the community. some of these communities have been living with fire round them for months on end. it is incredibly hard but what we do see the worst of times

is those communities coming together, neighbours helping neighbours, firefighters continuing to throw their hands up to go and assist so we are fortunate that we have those 70,000 volunteers that continue to roll out to help their local communities and trying to tell them to ta ke communities and trying to tell them to take a rest while there is that risk to the community is really hard to do. so until that time, we will be on edge. we will continue to see fire spread to this landscape and that such a huge area we are now dealing with. there is a real risk that we are likely to see more homes lost over the coming weeks. we appreciate your time, thank you. china has sacked the official in charge of relations with hong kong six months after la rge—scale anti—beijing protests began in the territory. rumours had been circulating about wang zhimin‘s departure in recent weeks amid reports that china was dissatisfied with his office's handling of the

crisis. journalist isabel hilton says it will interesting to see what happens to mr wang next. i think we cannot claim to know too much about the inner workings of the party, but it seems to me there are two things to watch it. one is where does he go now? if he is demoted or if his career is brought to a premature end, he is only 62 so he has some time to go, you can assume he has disgraced, but if he gets another decentjob or carries he has disgraced, but if he gets another decent job or carries on peacefully until the end of his career, then i think you are looking ata career, then i think you are looking at a situation in which something had to change because clearly we are a bit stuck in no doubt somebody has to be blamed, and he is in the firing line. so i think, depending on what happens to him, and we will know relatively soon what happens to him, we can discern the degree to which he is carrying the can for a

policy which actually came from beijing, and that is the dilemma, really, it is beige and's policy. —— beijing. cheetan patik has all the sport. hello and thanks forjoining us. the holders, manchester city, are through to the fourth round of the fa cup after a brief scare against lower league side port vale. sergio aguero scored in a 4—1win at the etihad. but two english premier league sides are out — brighton were beaten 1—0 at home by sheffield wednesday whilst aston villa lost 2—1 at fulham. leicester beat wigan 2—0 whilst newcastle will need a replay after being held 1—1 by lower league rochdale. tranmere, struggling in english football's third tier, came from 3—0 down to draw 3—3 at premier league watford whilst manchester united will need a replay too after a goalless draw at wolves. well, rochdale, who got that 1—1 draw at newcastle, are in the third tier of english football. they've now got a big money replay at st james' park to look forward to and their goal scorer, aaron wilbraham, was almost ready to play that

match straight after saturday's game was over! it was a great feeling, just happy to come on and be involved. the second half seemed to go so quick, i could have on playing for another hour. i was not ready for it. i enjoyed it and it was great to get that goal. in spain, the champions barcelona are hoping to regain the lead at the top of la liga things weren't going to plan against bottom of the table espanyol who haven't won in their last eight league games. barca were losing by a goal to nil into the second half but luis suarez equalised and arturo vidal has turned the game around. it's abelardo's first match in charge of espanyol. earlier, real madrid went top with a 3—0 win over their neighbours, getafe. valencia beat eibar1—0 whilst third place atletico were 2—1 winners over leva nte. in cricket, england have the edge over south africa after day two of the second test in

cape town. the hosts slipped from 157—3 to 215—8 at the close of play, and it was ben stokes again who was the star of the show with four superb catches. 0ur cricket correspondent, jonathan agnew, was watching. this is what happens when you have fragile batting line—ups up against top—class bowling attacks. both england and south africa, their batting is so unpredictable, eve ryo ne batting is so unpredictable, everyone is crucial, you get these colla pses everyone is crucial, you get these collapses and it is exciting but frustrating if you love your test cricket and you want to see real flowing batting techniques but it makes for exciting cricket. a four—day test matches have been talked about a lot recently. if the batting will be like this, you can see why some people are arguing that four—day test cricket is the way to go. the england today, it was all about the oldies, james anderson, stuart broad taking the first three wickets, tom did a terrificjob, and

then sam curran taking those two wickets before the new ball. what will happen tomorrow? england batting under pressure. who knows what lead they will start of? but they have got to nail down that third innings still and you have seen many a third innings still and you have seen many a test team lose it today. world number one rafael nadal has got his year off to the perfect start. he won spain's opening match of the atp cup, beating nikoloz straight sets as they eased past georgia in perth. nadal winning in straight sets 6—3 7—5. in brisbane, novak djokovic beat kevin anderson in two tie—break sets to give serbia their first victory at the event. they also won their tie 3—0. that's all the sport

for now. hello there. some fairly lively conditions heading our way for next week but even tomorrow we'll see a bit more in the way of a breeze blowing across the country, still feeding in lots of cloud, the odd break here and there, so some of you will see the sunshine but from the thick cloud south and west, one or two showers. through tonight, there will still be a few spots of rain in the west. the wettest weather, hebrides, 0rkney and shetland, a fair breeze blowing here, but milder pushing towards shetland so warmer tonight than it was during the day. elsewhere, with some clear skies and lighter winds east of scotland down to eastern england, there's a chance of touch of frost but a mild enough start to sunday. sunday, a fair bit of cloud. there will be a few showers still in the west, much like we saw today. more persistent rain into the hebrides, northwest highlands, and shetland at times but there will be some breaks in the cloud towards north—eastern scotland and parts of wales,

central southern england, better chance of some sunshine much like this afternoon. temperatures 8—12 celsius for many. into sunday evening and overnight, still some rain to begin with in the north of scotland. that should ease through. a few showers in the west overnight and, after a brief lull in the winds, they will pick up to gale—force in the west to take us into monday. still a chance of frost in parts of eastern england, but most frost—free, a mild start to the week. but look what is waiting in the winds. low pressure systems ganging up on the atlantic, set to push its way in. a potent one in iceland on monday, which will throw these weather fronts our way, so persistent rain in the morning for northern ireland, spreading across scotland during the day and into the afternoon, wales and the western half of england. much of eastern england will stay dry, some hazy sunshine and a brighter end to the day in the west, temperatures in double figures for many but it will be windy. windy still as we go into tuesday after a brief night—time lull. this next weather system is far more potent and will bring gales if not severe gales across many parts for tuesday.

chance of some travel disruption, particularly across scotland and northern ireland, outbreaks of rain heavy at times here and there will be some gusty winds to the east of high ground. we could see winds widely hitting gale—force, maybe 50, 60 and to the north of scotland 70 or 80 mile an hour winds but warm winds at that. we could see temperatures up to 16 celsius in the northeast of scotland, 1a and 15 elsewhere, fairly widely, so it turns a great deal milder through this week. colder towards the end, rain and gales eventually starting to ease. take care.

this is bbc world news, the headlines. 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 queen sends her condolences to the people of australia, as fears grow that high winds and temperatures will push bushfires towards heavily populated areas. the shadow brexit secretary, keir starmer enters the race to become labour leader. he'll launch his campaign in stevenage tomorrow. play more on that including details of who the other contenders are without race expected to get under way next week. plenty more ahead on bbc news. your next news bulletin is at five to ten with martine croxall, but first it's time for our world.