i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: huge crowds gather in iran to mourn the general killed by us forces, as tensions rise in neighbouring iraq. i'm lucy hockings, live in wandandian in new south wales, where firefighters are in a race against time with hot, windy weather forecast for later in the week. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: an indonesian man, declared the worst serial rapist in british criminal history has been jailed for a minimum of 30 years. disgraced movie producer harvey weinstein faces charges

of rape and sexual assault, and notjust in new york. good morning. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington, where the trump administration has been forced to deny it plans to pull us troops out of iraq, as demanded by the baghdad parliament. it follows the emergence of a leaked letter that the us defence secretary has called "misleading." all this, prompted by the us killing of an iranian general in iraq. the funeral of qasem soleimani in tehran has attracted huge crowds, thought to be in the millions. our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports from baghdad.

tehran‘s broad avenues were jammed with mourners, estimated in millions. not all iranians are this distressed about the death of the leadership‘s hardest man. general qasem soleimani was a dominant force in a regime that shot dead hundreds of protesters on iran's streets at the end of 2019. his supporters were happy that he spent vast amounts of the islamic republic's money building up alliances and militias in lebanon, yemen, iran and syria. other iranians thought it a high price to pay, as us sanctions bit into their lives. but iran's hardline elite is badly rattled by the assassination. ayatollah khamenei, iran's supreme leader,

wept as he prayed for his right—hand man. soleimani was the keystone of his regime's security. the dead general‘s daughter, zeinab, delivered a fiery oration, demanding revenge for the father she called a martyr. translation: the families of american soldiers in the middle east who have witnessed america's cruel wars in syria, iraq, lebanon, afghanistan, yemen and palestine will spend their days waiting for the death of their children. here in baghdad, soleimani, in death, stood like a brother with the iraqi militia leader abu mahdi al—muhandis, killed with him by the americans. behind them, iranian missiles

speed to unknown targets. this memorial was organised by the so—called popular mobilisation forces, militias mostly trained and armed by soleimani's operation, now integrated into the iraqi army. president trump was there in image — they've tried going toe—to—toe with his threats. this pro—iranian mp, uday awad, said it would be good if trump sent more troops, so they could send more coffins back to america. iraq's top shia politicians, close allies of iran, paid their respects, including nouri al—maliki, once america's choice for prime minister. the older men sat and dreamt of revenge. there's a lot of quiet anger

here and a strong desire to get even, to get revenge. there's a lot of quiet anger here and a strong desire to get even, to get revenge. the question is what these iraqis and also, of course, the leaders of iran, do next, and two countries‘ names are mentioned most here and their flags are down there on the street — the united states and israel. at the mosque, the desire for revenge was everywhere, in faces, chants and conversation. this evening, back in iran, in the holy city of qom, the qasem soleimani's coffin was paraded again. amongst the guardians of his memory are the most powerful men in iran and iraq. their anger, and that of their supporters, will not dissipate easily. jeremy bowen, bbc news, baghdad. australia's embattled prime minister, scott morrison, has promised us$i.4 billion in aid to help his country recover from the continuing bushfire crisis.

over 100 fires are burning in new south wales and victoria, ravaging an area equivalent to that of ireland. hotter weather is again forecast which is likely to make the fires worse. the bbc‘s lucy hockings joins us from wandandian in new south wales. very challenging conditions. there are indeed. when we drove here to this turnoff, for those who know australia, you know this is one of the main roads, one of the busiest roads in australia. we passed mile upon mile of burned—out bush. but when there was quite staggering to see. and for it could also see is that many of the side roads are actually closed to traffic still and we saw lots of maintenance workers out and about trying to repair power and phone lines which have been cut

by the fires. because it is slightly cooler here, we saw rain overnight, and that is providing respite, but only for the meat inspectors but you can imagine for the firefighters too. they have been out trying to do some backburning as well. some controlling of those containment lines in the cooler weather, but the crisis is still very real. and it feels like people are in a bit of a state of limbo. there is not that fear and panic here today because the weather is cooler and there has been the rain but everyone here knows that in a few days time, those incredibly hot temperatures and the wind is set to return. so that means that we could see more dangerous via conditions in a few days time. my colleague clive murray has talked to people who are battling the fires on the front line. some of these fires are too big. we can do keep predicting —— protecting homes the best we can, keep predicting life as best we can, keep predicting life as best we can with others in iran. ——

without losing our own. i've been keeping my gear here with me... tristan lees has been a volunteer firefighter for more than two decades. so, yeah, these are it, jacket, pants. this has seen a lot of service this bushfire season? this has. self—sacrifice runs in the family. his late father, as well as mother and brother, also served. the current crisis, the sternest test. terrible. in 21 years i've been in, i've never seen it this bad. it'sjust phenomenal. i don't know what else to call it, to be quite honest. and there's a guilt. there it goes. for not always being able to help when needed. he has a dayjob that pays the bills. what are you going to do? lose your own home, lose your family, because you can't pay for anything? you can't pay your bills? or go to work and then sit at work feeling guilty because you're not out helping the rest of your firefighters? it tears you apart, because you want to be in two places, but you can't. ah, yes. you remember seeing that one? yes, i do remember seeing that one. yes, because that truck actually got destroyed. the video we watched captures the horror of trying

to tame a wild fire. the men are trapped in their cab. all survived. but this hot season, volunteer firemen have died and the fires still burn. it's gut—wrenching. it rips you apart knowing there is good people gone, they've left family and friends behind. it's... and it makes you fear even more, because you know what you are going into. it's like they say people, they call us crazy, it's true. everyone runs away from it, we're the ones who run into it. and we don't do it for the love of it, we do it because no—one else will. aside from the flies here in australia, another big problem is

abolition. lots of people wearing masks like this one, in fact 100,000 of these have been given to people in canberra today in the capital city because the pollution there is so city because the pollution there is so bad. in fact canberra is one of the most polluted cities in the world right now. there has been the brain asi world right now. there has been the brain as i mentioned but it hasn't been nearly enough to contain the fires. it's also adding to some of the smoke and haze here in australia. i spoke to a meteorologist who was in melbourne andi meteorologist who was in melbourne and i asked her what the forecast was for the coming days. it's a hazy day in melbourne, perhaps in drizzle around as well which is contributing to reduced visibility and thus notjust which is contributing to reduced visibility and thus not just the case for melbourne. but indeed much of south—east australia at the moment. smoke and drizzle around, cutting conditions and that is reducing visibility which is hampering those firefighting efforts at the moment. and why is that? we have seen a cold front moved through so have seen a cold front moved through so quite a bit of rainfall across the area of the past 2a hours, within about five 15 millimetres for fire affected areas so a little bit

ofa fire affected areas so a little bit of a break in terms of those significant fire danger is that we did see over the past weekend. that being said these rainfall totals up we see, it hasn't been high enough to completely extinguish those fires and as we look towards the end of this week, but will start to seem temperatures increasing again and fired and spiking once again across the south—east on thursday and friday. diana, i was in the south—east on thursday and friday. diana, iwas in nowra the south—east on thursday and friday. diana, i was in nowra last night and there was a significant heavy rain shadow. what is needed though, how much rain is needed to make a real difference to the fires? u nfortu nately make a real difference to the fires? unfortunately much more than that can happen 50 millimetres up we have seen widespread across the area. we are looking more sort of in the ranges of 100 plus two really com pletely ranges of 100 plus two really completely but these fires out u nfortu nately completely but these fires out unfortunately at these and 70 forecast. when not expecting those kind of totals. so it looks at this event is going to keep going that next bike and fire dangers on friday

for that area. diana can ask about climate change? it's very much but of the composition here in australia at the moment, how much it is better that we are seeing part of global climate change? we know that temperatures have been warming and of course having that extra heat, the extra ingredient, doesn't of course increase of identity and we have seen a prolonged fire season this year, we're not even really into the season for fire danger in the south—eastern said. it has been exacerbating the concern in terms of the fire dangers and we have seen that an experienced —— and experience that the season. they definitely expecting it to warm up in the next few days. some of the other focuses is on the $2 billion recovery fu nd other focuses is on the $2 billion recovery fund that the prime minister has announced, i'll be back shortly with the papers, that's on the front page of many of them. we'll catch up with lucy in a short time. she will bring us up—to—date

with the papers and the reaction there to those fires and of course to the government's efforts to tackle that. stay with us. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. tokyo says it might request the extradition of the former nissan boss carlos ghosn after he skipped bail injapan. mr ghosn fled to his childhood home of lebanon to escape what he called a rigged justice system. the 65—year—old is awaiting trial over financial misconduct charges. the request may be made even though lebanon does not normally extradite its nationals. also making news today: forces loyal to libyan warlord, general khalifa haftar, say they've taken control of the city of sirte, which had been held by the un—backed government. they're trying to capture the capital tripoli and oust the internationally recognised government. turkey's parliament has voted to send troops to libya to help support the government. those forces started deploying on sunday.

people in indonesia are being warned to prepare for more heavy downpours, after record rains triggered flooding and landslides. reports say 67 people have died in and around jakarta. whole neighbourhoods in the capital, which is home to around 30 million people, were submerged by floodwaters last week, forcing tens of thousands into temporary shelters. donald trump's former national security adviser, john bolton, says he's willing to testify at the president's impeachment trial in the senate. he had previously complied with the white house directive not to co—operate with the democratic—led inquiry. mr bolton would be the most senior former trump adviser to testify. now take a look at these stunning pictures from harbin in china, where 170,000 cubic metres of ice taken from the city's frozen river has been transformed into works of art.

artists from around the world have gathered for the annual ice sculpting competition, where the —7 celsius temperatures not only make the perfect conditions for ice carving, but for the very brave, a spot of ice swimming. the water is so cold that a pool had to be specially carved from the frozen river. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: confusion over a letter signalling the withdrawal of us troops from iraq, the pentagon says it's been released in error. also on the programme: scott morrison promises more money to help fight the bushfires, will that silence critics of the australian prime minister?

the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. 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 simon 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 ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily

overtaken its nearest rivals. this is newsday on the bbc. thank you so much for staying with us. our top stories: huge crowds gather in iraq to mourn the iranian general killed by us forces as tensions rise in neighbouring iraq. his coffin has arrived in his birthplace and head of his funeral. officials in australia warn that the bushfire blazes will take off again with huge fires meeting to create a mega—blaze. more now on our top story. earlier, a letter emerged from the us military, appearing to signal an imminent us withdrawalfrom iraq. our correspondent in washington, jane o'brien, has more detail now

on the statement from the defense secretary that the letter was in fact a draft and never meant to be published. that is according to the defence secretary, and also america's top military commander. they both say that there are absolutely no plans to withdraw american troops from iraq, and whatever this letter was, it was released by mistake. i think it was released by mistake. i think it would be to give some kind of context. festival, iraqi's resolution at the weekend to ask american troops to withdraw is non—binding, so at the moment, there is no official request ratified by parliament to do that, and secondly, america hasjust put parliament to do that, and secondly, america has just put in troops, they have deployed several thousand more troops to the region, and the only thing that we have been able to confirm is that the pentagon has

said it has paused its operations against islamic state in order to better protect its bases and its soldiers in iraq. so clearly there isa soldiers in iraq. so clearly there is a lot of uncertainty right now, and there are presumably a lot of talks about what happens next, but what we do know, the only thing we can confirm right now is what the defence secretary has said is that at the moment there are no plans to withdraw american troops from iraq. he also spoke about the iranian cultural sites after a lot of concern following donald trump's threat on these particular sites. what more on that? donald trump is the master of distraction and the master of causing a stir via twitter. again, the fact of the matter is that targeting cultural site is a war crime, and america is well aware of that. the secretary of state mike pompeo was on television five times yesterday emphasising

that america will act lawfully, whatever it does, it will act legally. there are no plans to target sites of cultural interest. and again, the defence secretary was pressed on this today and he has reiterated the same thing. donald trump is saying something completely different, but certainly those around him, and don't forget this isn't anything new. he often tweets and you see his senior cabinet officers trying to walk back what he has said in a tweet. they are saying that america will act within the bounds of the law if any forcible response is taken. let's have some more on the australian bushfires 110w. and go back to lucy hockings who is in wandandian in new south wales and has been taking a look at what the papers are saying about the bushfires. presumably, they are dominated by it

. absolutely, and because we have got a bit of cooler weather the focus is very much on the government and their commitments, and if they can show you the financial review, every single paper is leading on the $2 billion downpayment that scott morrison is committing. this is the recovery plan to rebuild the communities that have been ravaged by these bushfires and he has said that the return to budget surplus is not a priority for this government. the priority is providing support to the victims. that is in the financial review, it is also in the syd ney financial review, it is also in the sydney morning herald, talking about those cash payment that are promised. if they can take you through to the daily telegraph, you will recognise this man if you are a cricket man, it is shane wawn, promising to sell his treasured green cricket cap. he isjust

promising to sell his treasured green cricket cap. he is just one of many celebrities promising money to communities ravaged by the bushfires 01’ communities ravaged by the bushfires or to help the firefighters as well. he said, i thought someone might get i°y he said, i thought someone might get joy out of it and it means a significant amount of money can go to those in need of help. we have seen to those in need of help. we have seen lots of the tennis stars here in australia right now, everyone from maria sharapova to ash barty promising some of their winnings to help with recovery efforts as well and those celebrities in hollywood like nicole kidman as well, offering to give money and kylie minogue as well donating money. finally, as a mention, it has been raining and in the australian, after the horror, raindrops of hope. everyone knows that the heater is set to return but this is perhaps the first sign that the firestorm that has laid siege to this area will one day pass, so they arejust this area will one day pass, so they are just referring to the psychological boost that the cooler weather and the bit of rain has

offered. absolutely, lucy, as always thank you so much. the team will be backin thank you so much. the team will be back in the next edition of newsday. the most prolific rapist in british criminal history has been sentenced to life in prison. reynhard sinaga, a 36 year old indonesian phd student, used a rape drug to render dozens of male victims unconscious and filmed his attacks. he's been convicted of 159 offences, but police think he carried out even more. judith moritz reports. this is reynhard sinaga, as he wanted the world to see him. his social media account's full of grinning photos of a student having fun. but sinaga has many faces, and behind the mask lies the truth — a depraved monster, said by prosecutors to be one of the most prolific rapists in the world. as far as thejudicial process, probably anywhere in the world is concerned, he's probably the most prolific rapist that's come through the courts.

night after night, sinaga would leave his manchester flat to go and find victims. he took advantage of living in the city centre, amongst the nightclubs and bars, and he made the streets outside them his hunting ground. sinaga would often wait for drunk men to come stumbling out of this nightclub, and then entice them around the corner to his flat which is just next door. he'd offer them somewhere to have a drink or phone a taxi. on one occasion, it took him just 60 seconds to pick up a victim. nearly 200 mostly heterosexual men made thisjourney, disappearing inside sinaga's apartment block. then they'd be offered drinks spiked with a drug like ghb, and that was the last they'd remember. unconscious, the men were raped on this grubby mattress on the floor. when they woke up, they had no memory of what had happened. sinaga would text his friends boasting of sexual conquests. they thought he was joking when he quoted song lyrics

about using a secret potion, of which "one drop should be enough". but in fact the drug wore off early on one man who woke up whilst being raped. he fought back. and when the police were called they seized sinaga's phone. they couldn't believe what they saw on it. the rapist had filmed each of his attacks. they found hundreds of hours of video. this is an absolutely unprecedented case. looking at that amount of evidence is challenging in itself. that's equivalent to 1,500 dvd films. we believe there's over 190 victims that have been involved with sinaga, with reynhard sinaga, and 70 of them have still to be identified, approximately. reynhard sinaga has shown no remorse. the judge remarked that he seemed to be enjoying being sentenced in court. he came to the uk from indonesia on a student visa, and is said to have applied for permanent residency. but his victims have said they hope he never leaves prison and rots in hell.

that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. we have multiple areas of low pressure to deal with across the uk this week. that is only part of the story though, temperature quite widely in the mid—teens, maybe even quite hire to the east of higher ground but it is the strength of the wind that we are concerned about through tuesday. severe gales through scotland and northern england, we have a met office yellow warning in place, some disruption as possible. and with the wind also comes some heavy rain

particularly across scotland, likely to linger through much of the day. easing through northern ireland and some of that getting into northern england, further south and east things stay dry if cloudy. a few brightness goes to the eastern side of england through the morning stopping some very windy conditions through tuesday particularly across scotland, 60—70 mild an hour, maybe 75 for some northern and western coast but very mild particularly to the east of higher ground. strong gusty winds across northern england and wales, 30—110 mile an hour gust across much of central southern england and into wales, the strongest winds are really across northern england and scotland but likely to bring some disruption. as we go through tuesday evening we keep those strong winds across scotland, starting to ease further south, we have got a band of cloud and rain flooding its way southwards, that rain becoming increasingly patchy. quite a range interpreter come first thing wednesday morning, very mild across central southern england and wales,

turning colder further north stopping there are still some strong winds across scotland as we go into wednesday, keep an eye on this system here, most of us will see some sunshine around on wednesday. legacy of cloud clearing from southern england through wednesday morning, wintry showers piling into scotland, and through wednesday afternoon we start to see cloud and rain starting to nudge into wales and south—west england. still in some fairly mild and across central southern england and into wales, double figures here, but much colder further north again with those wintry showers across scotland. thursday is a very messy day, some of us will cease all the rain, that will ease away briefly on friday, this ridge of building, bringing quieter, drier days. so forthe this ridge of building, bringing quieter, drier days. so for the end of the week, further rain, particularly on thursday, and drier and colder on friday.

i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story: huge crowds packed the streets in iran in honour of the military commander qasem soleimani whose assassination was ordered by president trump. the procession has reached its final stage, as his body is taken to his hometown of kerman in south—eastern iran, where he will be buried in the coming hours. officials in australia have warned that blazes will "take off" again after a brief respite. they also said huge fires could meet to create a larger "mega blaze". and pictures from harbin in china are doing well on our website. they show how thousands of cubic metres of ice, taken from the city's frozen river, was transformed into works of art. artists from around the world gathered for the annual ice sculpting competition. that's all. stay with bbc world news.