good afternoon. president trump says the united states has a list of 52 iranian sites which will be hit "very hard and very fast" if there is retaliation for the killing of qasem soleimani. iran's most senior military commander was assassinated on thursday in a us air strike in the iraqi capital, baghdad. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins. tens of thousands of iranians are moaning general soleimani and

a p pa re ntly moaning general soleimani and apparently getting behind the leaders in promising revenge. the chance are familiar, including death to america, but the circumstances are radically changed. the waterboards is intensifying. president trump has said, this threat of massive retaliation if iran strikes any americans or american assets, we have targeted 52 iranians sites. some at a very high level and important to iran and the iranians culture. those targets and iranians culture. those targets and iran itself will be hit very fast and very hard. the usa wants no more threats. under enormous american pressure, britain is adjusting its political stance. the foreign secretary is now sounding increasingly synthetic to the united states, but still stops short of outright support. we understand the action they took, but we also need to be very clearly focused on what happens next. we want to de—escalate the tensions. we want to see a route

through this crisis. we do not want to see a major war in the middle east. the only group of players that would benefit from that would—be terrorists. labour's shadow foreign secretary said she shed no tears for general soleimani and he had the blood of many people on his hands. however, to taken out at this stage, when there has been excavating pensions, seems to me to not be the world safer, actually we are taking a major lurch towards war. in tehran, iran's parliament has taken up tehran, iran's parliament has taken up the chant of death to america. it's been a familiar for many years, but it's now being shouted in very changed circumstances. as american reinforcements are sent to the region and both countries exchange threats of more violence to come. james robbins, bbc news. australia's prime minister has warned that the bush fires emergency

could last for months. scott morrison announced the creation of a recovery agency to help those who've lost homes and businesses. there are fires around the country, but amongst the worst are concentrated in its most populous state, new south wales. some rain has brought a little relief, but not enough to extinguish the flames. phil mercer reports. the damage inflicted by australia's bushfires is immense. lives have been lost, while a growing number of homes and businesses have been ruined. trapped by the fires under ominous orange skies, people in eden in new south wales have sought to escape by sea. there is stress, fatigue, and fear. cooler conditions and some rain are helping the firefighting effort, but the danger is far from over. many blazes continue to burn and the land still smoulders. this long bushfire crisis is inflicting deep scars on australia, and there's no end in sight.

lives have been turned upside down. in kangaroo valley, ken stewart lost his home to the fires that raced through this part of new south wales. he is lucky to be alive. next minute, i looked up. i didn't see any flame. i saw this great white ball of fire. that's all i can describe is just white hot ball of fire. i had to drive up that driveway, and by the time i got up to our bottom gate, the entire driveway was lit up with fire on both sides. parts of sydney have also been threatened. the fires are an unpredictable enemy. no one knows for sure when, where or if they will strike. australia is fighting back, but it's impossible to tell when the battle will be over. phil mercer, bbc news, kangaroo valley.

sir keir starmer says the country needs a radical labour government after announcing his intention to run for the labour leadership. the shadow brexit secretary said the party had lost the public‘s trust as a force for good and change. this report from tony bonsignore contains flashing images. into the spotlight, the latest contenderfor into the spotlight, the latest contender for the into the spotlight, the latest contenderfor the labour into the spotlight, the latest contender for the labour leadership. sir keir starmer is promising to restore voter's faith and labour, whilst keeping some of its radical ma nifesto whilst keeping some of its radical manifesto policies. but has a staunch remainer, who campaigned for a second referendum, he faces questions after the party's election defeat. the argument has to move on, and the argument now is can we insist on that close relationship with the eu— close economic relationship and collaboration in other areas, and also what is the framework now for future trade

relations? it's becoming a crowded field. jess phillips, a long—standing critic of jeremy corbyn, says she can communicate with voters who have abandoned the party. this has got to be about whether the labour party can speak and connect and be trusted by the public. none of it matters about this fight with this person in the labour party unless we can win an election and labour values is what matters. and another backbencher launched her campaign, promising to reconnect with voters in the midlands and the north.|j reconnect with voters in the midlands and the north. i think there is definitely a disconnect between the hierarchy of the labour party and the country. what we have not understood is that take back control resonated like no other slugging in my lifetime. why did it resonate? because slugging in my lifetime. why did it resonate ? because people slugging in my lifetime. why did it resonate? because people like the means to effect change in their own lives. with emily thornberry and clive lewis already declared, there are now five confirmed contenders.

the shadow business secretary, rebecca long—bailey is also expected tojoin the rebecca long—bailey is also expected to join the contest. labour's ruling body needs tomorrow to decide the rules for the election, an election which may decide the future direction of the party for a generation to come. the 77th annual golden globes ceremony will take place this evening in los angeles, as the hollywood awards season gets underway. the nominations received some criticism due to the lack of any women, again, in the best director category. comedian ricky gervais will be making a comeback as host. our los angeles correspondent sophie long reports. it's that time of year again when stars align and sparkle on red carpets, and young british actors get a taste of tinseltown. they don't come much younger than roman griffin davis. why so happy? things are changing. he's been nominated for best actor

in a musical or comedy for his part in the heartbreakingly funnyjojo rabbit. not bad for someone who's only 12. oh, the world will end? he's facing some stiff competition — up against fellow brit taron egerton for his portrayal of eltonjohn in rocket man, but also daniel craig and eddie murphy. i've been watching those guys since i was a kid, you know. i'm sure they probably wouldn't want to hear that, but to be nominated alongside them is really, really lovely. it looks like it'll be a good year for the streaming giant netflix. it's behind three of the five films nominated for best motion picture drama. also nominated is 1917, the first world war epic that follows the incredible journey of two young soldiers. for the actors that played them, this awards season marks the end of their own relentless journey. we rehearsed for six months before we started

shooting. the takes could last up to eight, nine minutes long and there's no turnaround, there's no setups, there's no lighting setups. we were using natural light. so it's literally go, go, go. you finish a take, you do another one, and there's no stop. listen to me. i just... i have... he has a little speech. i have a little speech that's building here. when it comes to the smaller screen, there could be more honours for the adored, boundary—breaking flea bag. i cannot believe we're here. i mean, a year ago we were previewing at the bfi and now we're stood at the golden globes. yeah, i'm blown away. with no clear frontrunner set to sweep the board, it's likely there'll be a few memorable moments ahead. the golden globes are notoriously difficult to predict. the only real certainty that the champagne will flow and probably a few tears too. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at five past six — bye for now.

hello. you're watching the bbc news channel with shaun ley. it'si.iopm. let's more reaction now to the death of the iranian general qasem soleimani. professor mohammad marandi is an iranian—american academic and political analyst at tehran university. he accused america of "arrogantly using its power" and said it will pay a heavy price for taking out general soleimani. if a foreign country was to assassinate a high—ranking british military official, what would the response in britain be? so what the americans have done is unheard of in contemporary history and this is the arrogance of power and i think there is no way that anyone in the world can justify this sort of action. if from now on the americans can be judge,

jury and executioner, the iranians can say someone is going to carry out an attack and bomb them. that's the law of the jungle. if that's what western countries want, that's what they're going to get. let me put to you something said to me at the beginning of last week by a former undersecretary at the us state department in the obama administration, not the trump administration, the obama administration, who said this was at the time of the air strikes that were in retaliation for the killing of that american civilian, but they were also in retaliation for a series of incidents. there have been 11 attacks reported on bases in iraq. i see you smiling so you might dispute those figures but they have been reported as attacks. there were the iranian attacks on the saudi oil facilities carried out by drone so they have been a series of incidents in which iran was testing how far america would go and, at some point, america

had to hit back. arguably, iran overplayed its hand and the consequence is it has lost one of its most important military figures. the americans are going to pay a heavy price, no doubt about that, but basically what you're saying is that we have trust what the americans say, what they say is the bible, what they say is the koran, they arejudge, jury and the sovereignty of the iraqi government makes no sense. i understand because that's how western mentality works, that's how iraq was invaded in the first place. they lied into iraq, there were weapons of mass destruction and al-qaeda and they destroyed the country, so no one trusts the west when it

comes to intelligence. mike pompeo said in the cia, "we had courses to teach us how to lie and cheat and steal," and he laughed in front of an audience and the audience laughed with him. this is how the united states conducts itself. if they have evidence, they have to provide to the iraqi government. who is the united states government to just carry out attacks in iraq? this is the arrogance of the united states and us allies, which condone its attacks. the defence editor of the evening standard robert fox, told me that intelligence in the last few years has revealed a strenghtening of iranian—back militia in the middle east. what you have to see is what's going on on the ground. the israelis are very good at putting out briefs, they are loquacious and better than they are loquacious and better than the americans at it on the whole and

they have been pointing out there has been a qualitative and quantitative improvement in these militias from hezbollah which the iranians converted into an army, people don't realise, through the syrian army, hezbollah is a political militia and they have been supplying not only training but it's a new range of equipment as well and this is what the israelis are pointing out, it's now precision weapons. it's gps like in your car. this is what is worrying and it's worrying about where the british but above all the americans are in their training bases across iraq, they are spread too thin and i think that the people, not only the troops of qasem soleimani, but the leader who was also killed in the attack, hezbollah

and of the popular mobilisation forces will be thinking, what is so striking to me, as did they think of the strategic sequences and consequences? yes, we take this guy out, then what? what are the recognisable unintended consequences and what are the unintended consequences? the intellectual harvesting of the latter, it has barely begun. wait mounted you think iran will be —— barely begun. wait mounted you think iran will be -- do you think the united states will distinguish between itself? the united arab emirates is so close to iran and britain and britain has a direct interest in the way that america doesn't. gas from qatar, for

example, so it's not only a military presence. it's a few thousand military marines and a few ships, but we are in this game because we are serious, we need the gas from qatar and we need to support both qatar and we need to support both qatar and we need to support both qatar and united emirates where there is a direct interest and i think that is where they will be the kind of thing we've heard from dominic raab, we support our oldest allies but it's going to be like harold wilson, are we going to put troops in to bash out all over the place 52 targets type operation with these beautiful weapons of donald trump? the answer i think is very clearly no! the number of people known to have been killed by the bushfires burning in australia has risen to 24.

efforts are under way to help those who have had to leave their homes. australia's prime minister scott morrison is deploying military resources to help tackle the flames. as well as the loss of human life, it's being estimated that as many as half a billion animals may have died in the fires. christopher dickman is an ecologist from the university of sydney who carried out that research. we used average densities that have been calculated from various studies on mammals, birds and reptiles in parts of new south wales and once you knew the average density of these groups in different habitats, you can then look at the area that has been burned in the recent fires to estimate the number of animals that have been affected. can you give me an idea of the numbers you are talking about? some ten days ago, the number you just quoted, 500,000, was probably correct. that was when 3 million hectares of new south wales

alone had burned. now that figure is nearer to 5 million hectares and that means the number of animals, mammals, birds and reptiles likely to have been affected is closer to 800 million and that's just new south wales. if you extend and make the assumption that average densities of various species are similar in other states, you're looking at even bigger numbers still, perhaps as many asi billion. what are the implications, then, for the ecosystem in those parts of australia that have been most severely affected by bushfires? it's quite likely that many of them will recover in the long term rather than shorter term because the fires have been particularly severe and extensive in the coverage, but it may be that for some of the species that have smaller populations and smaller ranges that have been mostly

wholly burnt by the fires, unless there have been refuge populations that managed to survive, we might be looking at species that actually go extinct in these current fires. that's a sobering thought. quite rightly and understandably, the immediate effort is focused on protecting human life and protecting property as far as possible. mostly properties are allowed to burn, to human lives are priority, but is there anything i could still be done given that there are areas where fires are burning but haven't entered new land to try and protect some of the animals? i think the fire service are doing everything possible to stem the extent of the fires and there are lots of people who are picking up sick or injured animals that have been burned or singed the fires and taking them to recovery areas. the major thing that we'll be looking to do will be to get in after the fires have gone through and to look for whatever remnant populations of different

species are still there and to make sure that their security is maintained. ben shephard is from the new south wales rural fire servcie and spoke to me earlier. 0ver 2a hours we have seen respite from the extraordinary temperatures and winds we have had. we had temperatures of 48.9 degrees and we saw a dramatic change in the windsor late yesterday evening from the south and that pushed the fires in a whole new direction. we saw a further spread of the fires and it's likely at this point that we saw 60 additional homes burnt yesterday but more favourable conditions today and thatis more favourable conditions today and that is looking to continue over the coming days towards the weekend where we are likely to see temperatures are starting to push up into the high 30s again, coupled with some strong westerly winds that really co m e with some strong westerly winds that really come out of the centre of the

nation and cause the driving of these fire conditions we have seen over the previous weeks and months. we are dealing with hectares that have been burnt by these fires and the total is 4.2 million. in the high season we might see under 300,000 hectares but this has been a fire season unlike no other. it's basically now been going for more than 130, 140 days so it has been an incredibly long campaign, it has been incredibly tiring notjust for firefighters but often the communities as well that have been dealing with fires around their homes and properties, many for months on end. the issue is there really is no rainfall in the

forecast at this stage. the bureau of meteorology is saying we could see some relief in february or even march. what about maintaining your colleagues' health and fitness? you worry about their safety but in terms of the gruelling continuance of this, day in, day out with no sign of relief, may be into march. we have more than 70,000 volunteers who help their local communities. the hard thing for us is to get them to ta ke the hard thing for us is to get them to take a day off to try and take a stand down because they know that well these fires are affecting their community, they want to be out there and they want to help, but firefighting in this state is a shared responsibility and the response by the community this year has been overwhelming to the point

that they now actually are comparing their homes and getting ready for firefighting and that makes ourjob that much easier but the important thing is as well, in many of these areas, if there is no fire truck, it gives it —— seeing the response from the community has been great this year. it's been an extraordinary response by the community and it continues at this stage. whilst we are having a bit of respite this week, we are likely to see a response of dangerous fire conditions by the end of the week. the deputy chairman of the panel reviewing the hs2 high—speed rail project says he's found "overwhelming evidence" that its costs are "out of control". lord berkeley suggests it will take £108 billion to complete the network — double the initial estimate. hs2 limited says it's determined

to deliver value for money. i believe that hs2 knew a long time ago and ministers knew probably five years ago that the cost and the budget was much higher than they had said and much higher than parliament had approved as part of the phase one legislation, but they have chosen to cover it up by multiple ndas and denials and everything until the new chairman of hs2 produced what he called a stock—take report which put the cost up to 88 billion, which is halfway between the figures you've quoted. i think it's 107 now and it probably will go even higher than that. you don't need to go 400km an hour or even 360 in a country as small as ours. nobody else in the world does it. maybe china, but nobody else. that's a very big country by contrast.

it's a very big country and, quite honestly, the higher the speed, it makes a big difference ion the cost. difference in the cost. obviously you have to have a straight line, you have to go in a straight line because trains don't like going around corners fast, but it's also the construction, the type of construction, whether it is balanced, and things like that. it does make a great difference to the cost, which i don't think was taken into account. somebody should have said, "you don't need to go this speed, cut it down to the normal tgv speed or even lower." 0ther railways are much more important to be improved, in particular in the north between manchester, leeds, sheffield and places beyond, and around birmingham, nottingham, around there. that's where the really bad—quality railways are and it stops people commuting. it's not express, but it needs to be reasonably fast trains, not 400km, but they also have to have slower trains for stopping trains

and freight, and all that needs to be done and it can be done at a cost, probably half the cost of hs2. and this afternoon, we'll be hearing from the northern powerhouse partnership, who argue the need to continue with the hs2 project. breaking news, this is a statement from the european union in response to the developing story of the killing of commander qasem soleimani, the iranian general who was killed as a result of the us air strike in iran on thursday. the eu's high representative for foreign affairs spoke this weekend with the foreign minister of iran about recent developments and the need to de—tensions. he expressed his deep concern at the latest increases of violent confrontations in iraq,

including the killing of qasem soleimani. he urged iran to exercise restraint and carefully consider any reaction to avoid further escalation which may harm people. he is the former spanish foreign minister and he has spoke about protecting the joint comprehensive plan of action, the basis for the iran nuclear deal, the basis for the iran nuclear deal, the one from which the united states pulled out. it still exists but is much more fragile without us involvement and no commitment that the iranians are going to maintain their presence. that could be one of their presence. that could be one of the ways in which they retaliate for the ways in which they retaliate for the killing of qasem soleimani. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. england's cricketers are hoping to build a big lead, against south africa as they look the level the series in cape town. on day three of the second test.

they're currently 109—2. they took a 46—run lead into their second innings, afterjames anderson got them off to flyer, with two early wickets, one with the first ball of the day. england have lost zak crawley and joe denly in the afternoon session. they are 1—0 down in the four—match series. it's fa cup third round weekend. there are 11 ties today including a liverpool derby, and a chance for afc fylde of the national league to giantkill sheffield united, which gets underway in around half an hour. the non—league side have never made it this far in competition before and are the lowest ranked team left. they earned their place in round three with victory over kingstonian, and they freely admit this is the biggest match in their history. i think in this case it's going to be something special for our team—mates, afc fylde. we've not been to the third round before. when you get a chance to play a premier league game it's notjust a normal match

on a normal weekend. we are really looking forward to it and hopefully there will be a good atmosphere as well. the merseyside derby takes place at anfield, kick off just after four o'clock. at goodison park they've seen a renewed sense of confidence since the arrival of new manager carlo ancelotti, and one man in particular seems to have benifitted more than others. striker dominic calvert—lewin has scored three times, since the italian's arrival. for me, as a young player, you can't really ask for anyone better to be in charge. you know, he's worked at some of the biggest clubs in the world and worked with some of the best players and best strikers in the world. so for me, it's an unbelievable learning experience at this stage in my career and to have the backing of him, like i have done so far, it fills me with a lot of confidence going onto the pitch and, as you can see in my current form, i've been hitting the back of the net. so i'd like to think that's helped. chelsea have new star signing sam kerr in action today — they're currently playing reading, as the wsl returns from it's winter break. the score there 1—1 — not the best of starts for chelsea

as sam kerr was taken out by the reading keeper and a fara williams goal. grace maloney was then sent off. but the new up—front partnership began as sam kerr flicked it back to beth england who equalised before half time. australia captain kerr is making her debut after signing in november. she's the all time top scorer in us top flight football. let's take a look the rest of today's women's super league games. ebony salmon gave bristol the lead against man united. at 2pm, leaders arsenal play birmingham. and man city are at tottenham. west ham v everton has been postponed after a flu outbreak in the hammers camp. britain have won their deciding rubber against belgium in the group stage of the atp cup, jamie murray and joe salisbury taking their doubles match two sets to one on a tie break.