this is bbc news, the headlines: huge crowds have joined funeral processions in iraq, for iran's top military commander, killed by a us drone strike. crowds chanted "death to america" as qasem soleimani's coffin travelled through iraqi cities on its way to iran. there are calls for the un to investigate the attack. the premier of new south wales

warns that australia is in what she called, "unchartered territory" after the worst night of bushfires since they started two months ago. temperatures have nudged 50 degrees celsius in some parts with winds spreading the fires and making their paths even more unpredictable. sir keir starmer has confirmed he is standing in the contest to replacejeremy corbyn as labour leader. the shadow brexit secretary, seen as a frontrunner in the contest, has written in the sunday mirror that labour needs to "rebuild fast" to restore trust. he's among five labour mps vying for the job. i'll be back at the top of the hour but now on bbc news, the travel show. i'm paul carter, i'm a journalist and i have come here to tokyo to experience its culture, its sights and smells. like a lego cityscape, it doesn't look real.

it's much bigger than i was expecting. a lot more, for want of a better word, gold. i have come as any other western tourist could come and do, but i have also come here as a disabled person, to experience all of those things through the eyes of someone who might have some difficulties getting over some of those problems, getting around. ifeel like i'm... ifeel like i'm done for the day already and i haven't even got anywhere yet. tokyo is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. and next year, it will play host to the olympics and paralympics. japan expects a record a0 million visitors in 2020, including many disabled travellers.

so i want to find out how prepared its capital is to welcome an influx of foreign visitors, especially people like me. i was born without any lower arms or legs, as you can probably see i use short prosthetics to get around. so i'm just off to try and find something to eat. obviously it does pose some challenges, particularly with my height, and in terms of fatigue i can't walk very long distances. there is quite a big bar culture here in tokyo so it means that anywhere with high stools like this is actually out of bounds to me, as it would be to wheelchair users for example. i do have to be a little bit more picky. sometimes people see me and have a perception of who i am, and what i might be able to do

and what my limitations are. and i don't always think that their perceptions necessarily meet my reality. can i have this one? 0h! 0k. is that 0k? success. we have a table. arigato. cutlery—wise, there is a selection of chopsticks, which for obvious reasons aren't much use to me, and some spoons. no forks, so i planned ahead and i have the japanese word forfork on my phone... so when my food comes i will see if they have any. otherwise it will be a job of improvising. ah, thank you, arigato. success! i have a fork. looks good!

there are around 6 million people with disabilities in japan, and my goal over the next few days is to see what it is like for us to visit this city. we're off to the skytree. not really sure what to expect, looking forward to the view. it's a reasonably clear day so hopefully we'll be able to see something at least. i guess we'll find out when we get to the top. it is already looking busy inside. there are quite a few escalators to get up but that's not too bad. i'm quite lucky that i can use escalators all right, there are lifts here as well. the skytree is the world's tallest tower, and one of the country's most popular attractions.

this is the mostjapanese thing i've seen since i've been here. hello kitty over here, people dressed up in all kinds of slightly weird outfits. hi, thank you very much. thank you. which way... this way. thank you. built in 2012, this modern icon stands at a whopping 634 metres high. announcer: the tokyo skytree temple deck, floor 350. oh, my earsjust popped. i am told it can withstand earthquakes up to 7.0 magnitude as well as handle some 10,000 visitors a day. whoa! that's amazing! looks like a

lego cityscape, it doesn't look real. i think when you get up here it is just a sense of not only scale, of how massive this place is, but how densely populated it is, how everything is so tightly packed together. i think usually on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see mount fuji in the distance, but i think the weather gods haven't smiled on us today. man and woman speaking injapanese this is actually like heaven for me, i have this game at home. i have seen all these original sketches, i was not expecting to see something like this here. oh my god, there's merchandise as well. take me away, before i spend all my money. me and tall things don't usually go together, to be honest with you, but it's actually nice to feel

like i'm looking down on something for once. you can't come to the skytree tower and not have your photo taken. oh my god! laughs i've just realised there is a glass floor. 0h... that makes me feel a little bit sick. 0h... laughs i really don't like it! i love it! got my best side. sayonara! that was so cool. but you know, if you can cope with the crowds it is fairly easy to get around. could have done without the glass floor, to be honest with you, not the biggest fan of heights, didn't realise that was there, but no, absolutely cracking fun,

really good place to come. but to be honest, i only had high expectations of tokyo, one of the most high—tech and futuristic capitals in the world. and uniquely, this city has been down this road before. newsreel: the world's biggest city, more than ten million population and still growing, tokyo prepares for the first olympic games to be held in the orient. a massive facelifting is but one part of the feverish activity in the japanese capital. back in i964japan‘s capital became the first asian city to host the games, and the first city outside of europe to hold the paralympics. newsreel: speaks japanese. 378 paralympians representing 2! countries were greeted with an enthusiastic and heartfelt welcome to tokyo.

helped by the star power of japan's then crown prince and princess, who were committed to raising awareness of disability in sport, the 1964 paralympics were hugely popular. some 5,000 spectators turned up to cheer on the athletes over the five—day competition. the 1964 championships and subsequent paralympic games put disabled people in the spotlight. but what is it like for people living here from day—to—day? i'm in the lively harajuku area, to meet an award—winning disability vlogger who has been documenting her journeys around japan. ah, yuriko, hi! i'm paul, nice to meet you! hi, nice to meet you! how are you? hi, i'm good! this is pretty busy. yes, so crowded. what is this place?

i could tell. so you've made videos and provide information for disabled people, how did you start doing that, and why? 200? wow! yuriko thinks the momentum of the paralympics here will change how japanese people interact with disabled people. what is it about the culture here around disability that makes things a bit difficult?

why do you think that is, that people are shy to help? is it a culture thing? part of the success of the paralympics will hinge on people's experience of tokyo. with that in mind, the city has spent billions preparing for the event, which includes updating the infrastructure with lifts and escalators. i'm trying to find the entrance to shibuya station, which i'm told should be just up ahead.

i'm told that the metro system is about 90% accessible. but... is this the entrance? is there a way to get in with an elevator? no elevator? there's no signs to say where the accessible route is. so i'm just going to have to brave the stairs, because i don't know where the elevator is. exit, toilets, information... let's see if with the power of translation apps, i can find a lift. downstairs? ok, thank you. so, there isn't an elevator on this floor. so it's stairs again. shibuya station underwent a huge makeover in 2013.

now sprawling over three levels, it's a bit of a struggle to navigate, especially with so many steps. there are lifts and escalators here but it takes me more than 20 minutes to actually find them. ok, this looks more like it. right, the first challenge is... the button which says international languages is too high for me to reach. could i buy a ticket? he's going to help me. at least, i think so. 0k. thank you!

by the time i reached the platform on the lowest level, i was pretty tired. i have no idea if i'm actually in the right place but we'll soon find out. and it seems i'm not the only one. even locals are confused by the signage. how do you find it access—wise, the subway? but eventually, i reach my destination.

ifeel like i'm done for the day already and i haven't even got anywhere yet. we made it. to a side street. oh well, we sort of got there. it's just over 500 days in the countdown to the paralympics. but post—games, japan wants to show the world a society that is inclusive for all. i was curious to find out how tokyo's historic monuments measure up for accessibility. sensoji is tokyo's oldest and most famous temple, originally built in the 7th century. hey, josh. hello.

good to meet you. good to meet you too. so this is sensoji temple? it is, yeah. want to show me the sights? let's go. canadian—born josh has lived here for a decade and runs a website offering advice to disabled visitors. i don't know where to look first. sights everywhere. yeah, there is. the building's not original. i was going to say, it doesn't look 1,400 years old. i think one of the things that's most impressive about this place is that they've done it a lot to make it wheelchair accessible, but they have done it in a way that doesn't affect the feeling of the place. that is the lift, the elevator? yeah, it's well hidden, a lot of people didn't know where it was. they had to put a sign on it. as we enter the main pagoda, i begin to absorb some of the ancient traditions of japanese buddhist culture. so, what's happening over here? they‘ re making prayers. the first thing that strikes me about this is the scale of it.

it's much bigger than i was expecting and it's a lot more, for want of a better word, gold. yes, it is! everyone here seems very deferential. there is quite a sense of reverence here. yeah, it is very important to people in japan. in the past 10 years, 11 years, since you have been here, have you seen things change? yeah, for sure. for example, along with the infrastructure improvements, i think people's attitudes have begun to change a lot more. before, there would be barely anybody else out in a wheelchair. you did get strange looks and stuff like that. people are able to go out more often so they're going out more often, and because about people around them are getting more used to, you know, different colours of society. and with the olympics coming up soon, i think it's getting even better. tokyo 2020 will be the first games where sponsors are mandated to acquire rights for both the olympics and paralympics.

advertisers have been asked to feature paralympic athletes just as prominently as olympians in their advertising campaigns. i meet one of the paralympics' organising committee, who has been taking part in the drive to raise awareness, including talks and demonstrations at hundreds of schools and businesses.

and organisation of the paralympics has highlighted another important reason why it is vital that the games provide a long—lasting legacy. around 5% of the population of japan is registered disabled, and this figure is set to rise. yet i've not seen or noticed as many people with disabilities here as i have another major

cities around the world. i'm off to an event when nondisabled people actually get to experience a bit of what life is like for people like us. so, tell me a little bit about what's going on here? we have our para—sports awareness event, we have a lot of different para—sports. you can try out anything you want. it's hoped that events like this will not only educate the public on how to behave around people with disabilities, but actually change society. i have a physical impairment, but i'm not a special person. para—sports as a whole, they can change society. the pa ralympics has the power to change society. it has been changing little by little, and in the next three years, we are going

to change our society very fast. it all looks very great. i can see the wheelchair basketball happening over there. would you like to try some? go on, then. let's give it a crack. this is the worst thing i've ever done in my life. take it easy on me. are you ready? 0k! i don't think so, but ok. be nice to me, please. nice! thank you. that was genuinely terrifying. how was it? you're sweating a lot. that was really scary! look at it, it's quite refreshing

to see so many people engaging with the events, with the trials. i was a little bit cynical about this, coming into it, people doing para—sports, sometimes it's a bit naff. actually, you know what? people were really engaging with it. and if that is what it takes to expose people to this kind of sport and engage with people with disability i guess it's only a good thing. i think coming here and surviving for as long as i have in finding my way around has been an achievement for me. disability—wise i've found that maybe people were perhaps a little bit reticent to offer assistance, but perhaps it was a shyness in offering to want to help, i think is the issue. everyone connected with disability is really super—aware of the fact that they still can improve

and want to get better, and they are really trying to get better, and with the paralympics coming here it has almost given them a catalyst to sort of make that change sooner, and greater than perhaps they would have done otherwise. good morning. they will be

a cloudy day bringing a fleeting shower in the west. breeze picking up, signs of something windier into next week. with light winds into the morning, clearest of skies across eastern areas and this is where they could bea areas and this is where they could be a touch of frost around. further west, cloudy thick and the win coming in from the south—west and i'll start here. fleeting light showers through the day. spreading into the highlands and orkney introducing milder weather here compared with yesterday. the breeze will be picking up elsewhere. the best of the brakes, east of wales, the midlands and same to the mainland scotland. across the board, temperature is around eight to 12 degrees. we finished the day with heavy rain in the north of scotland. that clears away and other than a few showers in the west most will have a dry and mild night into monday. a return to work for many of you after the christmas break, but look what is waiting in the wings. the weather is set to turn to very lively as we go into next week.

active jet blowing across the atla ntic active jet blowing across the atlantic and each little dip in the jet stream will see subsequent areas of low pressure develop. the first one spread northwards across iceland as we go through into monday. spreading its weather fronts southwards and eastwards into the uk and ireland and with it, strong to gale force winds. the wettest weather to begin with will be across ireland on monday morning, spreading into much of scotland during the day come into wales, western part of england during the afternoon. east england during the afternoon. east england will stay dry in the afternoon and there could be spells of hazy sunshine and brighter to finish in northern ireland. temperatures roughly around nine to 11 degrees. as we head into monday night, heading for more potent area of low pressure arriving from the north. this one is larger so the extent of the stronger winds will be greater and a very windy day across the board. the best of any dry weather to the south and east. a few showers here and there but heavy rain across the north and west of

scotla nd rain across the north and west of scotland and at times in northern ireland. it is here we will see the strongest of the winds, and that could be up to 80 miles an hour in north—west scotland but it could cause travel disruption and it will be bringing in exceptionally mild air, it could peak around 16 celsius around the moray firth. even though we have the mild air, it may not feel like it in the winds and those winds to stop that we could be pretty disruptive. stay tuned to the forecast.

welcome to bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: rockets van near the us embassy in the iraqi capital just rockets van near the us embassy in the iraqi capitaljust hours after thousands joined funeral processions for the remaining general qasem suleimani. australia suffers one of the worst bushfire days of the season as temperatures nudge 50 celsius hello and welcome to bbc news. president trump has warned iran that the us has 52 potential iranian targets lined up — should tehran attack