welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: huge crowds gather in iran to mourn general soleimani who was killed by us forces — his coffin arrives has arrived in his birthplace of kerman ahead of his funeral. 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. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 8 in the evening 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 editor, jeremy bowen reports from baghdad.

crowd chants "death t0 america" in persian 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. so, as we mentioned at the top of the programme, 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 was never meant to be published. that is according to the defence secretary, mark esper, and also america's top military commander mark milley. 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 would be to give some kind of context, first of all, 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 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 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 mark esper the defence secretary has said, is that at the moment there are no plans to withdraw american troops from iraq. we got many more details on this story about how the us defence secretary deny that us troops are pulling out of iraqi after that letter suggested a withdrawal, you can see many more details, more and

who around's qasem soleimani actually was and early on we heard how donald trump himself came under fire for his threat to uranian cultural sites in us military chiefs we re cultural sites in us military chiefs were backing away from that suggestion as well. —— iranian. 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 a hundred 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. for more on this, i am joined now by my colleague lucy hockings in new south wales. still some really challenging conditions there. i am 's standing

here on the princes highway near the town of wandandian and we came through miles of child forest. some volunteer fireman came to chat with us volunteer fireman came to chat with us and they told us the story of their little local town. on new year's eve, a massive fire came through here, they were fighting on four different fronts and they managed to save a lot of their little town so you are hearing tragic stories in australia but little nuggets whether firefighters have had some success as well which is so good for morale and i have to say the cooler weather is a psychological boost as well, just to give them a respite from the heat in the wind, a sense that they can recharge because you are right, in the coming days, that hot windy weather is set to return to the sense of people being in limbo here is very strong because they know that hot weather, the fires are going to start up again and that is

a massive concern right across this pa rt a massive concern right across this part of australia. we sent our colleague to talk to people who are battling the fires on the front line. this is his report from cobargo. some of these fires are too big. we need to just protect fires as best we can. 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. yeah, i don't know what else to call it, to be quite honest. and there's a guilt... ooh, 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, ‘cause that truck actually got destroyed. the video we watched captures the horror of trying to tame a wild fire. put your blanket up. 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's two good people gone, they've left family and friends behind. it's... and it makes you fear even more, because you know what you're going into. it's like they said —

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. there is simply a dozens of heartbreaking stories we hear all the time in australia about what people are going through and in terms of daily life, lots of australians wearing masks like the ones i have around my neck. and they haveissued ones i have around my neck. and they have issued 100,000 free masks to people in canberra today because the absolution is so bad. the hayes and this in the air is evident. quite a sore throat, runny nose. pollution very bad melbourne as well. i have been speaking to meteorologist diane eadie in melbourne. we have seen drizzle contributing to reduced visibility, not just the drizzle contributing to reduced visibility, notjust the case of a

melbourne that much of south—eastern australia. smoking a bit of drizzle, and cloudy conditions which is reducing visibility and hampering firefighting efforts at the moment. why is that? we've seen a cold front moved through so quite a bit of rainfall across the area over the past 2a hours. about 5— for ten millimetres for our affected areas so millimetres for our affected areas $03 millimetres for our affected areas so a bit ofa millimetres for our affected areas so a bit of a break in terms of those significant fire dangers we did see over the past weekend. that being said, these rainfall totals we have seen, it hasn't been high enough to completely extinguish those fires and as we look towards the end of this week, we will see temperatures increasing again and fire danger spiking once more across the south—east on thursday and friday. last night, iwas in the south—east on thursday and friday. last night, i was in nowra and there was quite a significant heavy rain shower. what is needed? how much rain is needed to make a

real difference to the fires? u nfortu nately real difference to the fires? unfortunately much more of that, 10—15 millimetres. we are looking more and the ranges of 100 plus to com pletely more and the ranges of 100 plus to completely put these fires out. in a seven—day forecast period, we not expecting those of totals. it looks like this event is going to keep going. with the next fire over that area. i'm not sure if you can see through the trees, all of those trucks, maintenance crews. trying to restore some of the power and phone lines and with this cooler weather, thatis lines and with this cooler weather, that is probably happening across the state of new south wales. aside from the obvious human crisis, there is another story emerging. it is january here in australia, the summer january here in australia, the summer holidays, the kids are off school. driving here, you should be seeing loads of holidaymakers,

filling up the cafe ‘s, that is not happening in the lots of people, they rely on this time of year to see them through, this is when they make their money so the fire is having a massive impact on local businesses as well and they are all telling us that they are worried about the image this is presenting of australia, that people will cancel their holidays or think the entire country is on fire and they are worried about that message getting out so they are trying to encourage people to continue seeing this part of australia is somewhere they can come to. very difficult when what we know that in a few days' time, the temperature will gulp again and the fires are going to start up. lots of concerns from people. scott morrison has announced a$2 people. scott morrison has announced a $2 billion recovery fund. that is seen as a a $2 billion recovery fund. that is seen as a priority for the government. there has been a huge amount of criticism for the government that they've announced over the past 2a hours will have to see if that dampens down some of that criticism is a lot still to

watch out for, notjust here in new south wales but neighbouring victoria where there is an ongoing concern victoria where there is an ongoing concern about these two massive fires that are in that state and when the wind and head start, those two buyers could join to form a mega blaze so we will have the latest from here in the coming days. thank you so much. back to lucy later. lots of reaction to the fund scott morrison will put forward. lots of concern morrison will put forward. lots of concern about what will happen in the coming days. 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. also making news today: the hollywood film producer harvey weinstein has been charged

with sexual assault in los angeles on the same day he appeared in court in new york to face separate claims. he denies the allegations. 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 were submerged by floodwaters last week. donalald 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. 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. iam not i am not sure about that! you couldn't make this up. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: scott morrison promises more money to help fight the bushfires. will that silence critics of the australian prime minister? we of the australian prime minister? will be back live wales we will be back live in new south wales in a moment. 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. welcome back. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore.

i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: huge crowds gather in iran to mourn general soleimani who was killed by us forces, his coffin has arrived in his birthplace of kerman ahead of his funeral. officials in australia warn that the bushfire blazes will take off again with huge fires meeting to create a mega blaze. let's stay with that story now. let's 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 full of it. they absolutely are. nice to hear you talking about ice pools earlier because it is heating up here in australia. the flies are a problem as well. let's look at the papers. this is the sydney morning herald and scott morrison's to billion

dollars recovery fund is leading the papers today. bushfire recovery taking priority over the budget surplus, and it was an election promise from scott morrison. cash moments to help families. you can see the financial review also leading on that story. they will be unable to commit to a budget surplus. that is the big story today on how that money will be spent. the daily telegraph, if you are a cricket fan, you will recognise shane worn. he is one of many celebrities promising to help out with bushfire folly —— lack bushfire relief. he is auctioning his cricket. he feels someone can get a lot of joy out cricket. he feels someone can get a lot ofjoy out of it and it will make a significant amount of money. we are seeing tennis stars as well, ashleigh barty, maria sharapova sending emotional tweets. lots of tennis is taking place in australia over the next few weeks. last night at the golden globes, russell crowe

and kylie minogue helping in recovery efforts and firefighters. we are looking for moments ofjoy in amongst this crisis and i think the australian has won here this morning about the weather, we have had a bit of rain over the past few days and the quote that i pulled out was that the quote that i pulled out was that the first time that perhaps this firestorm that has laid siege to the area will one day pass. there has been a few days of respite in australia but everybody knows that the heat and the high temperatures are set to return, and with that, so will the fires. huge concern there, but as always, lucy, thank you so much. lucy hosking ‘s and the team in new south wales. thank you. —— hoskings. 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 has been convicted of a hundred and 59 offences, but police think that 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. we believe there's over 190 victims that have been involved with sinaga, with reynhard sinaga, and 70 of them are 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. a very difficult story. we do have more on our website. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. we will be looking at the new compensation deal reached between boeing and american airlines

to compensate for damage the carrier incurred from the grounding of its 737 max fleet. we willjoin you for that very shortly. thank you for watching. hello. we've got multiple areas of low pressure to deal with across the uk in the coming days. monday's rain has cleared away, but waiting in the wings is our next system pushing in from off the atlantic, this one likely to bring some disruption across parts of scotland and northern england, given the strength of the wind and also some heavy rain. that's only part of the story, though, because we are also pulling up some very mild air. temperatures quite widely in the mid—teens, maybe even higher to the east of higher ground. but it's the strength of the wind that we're concerned about through tuesday. severe gales across scotland and northern england, we have a met office yellow warning in place, some disruption is possible. and with the wind also comes some heavy rain, particularly across scotland, likely to linger through much of the day.

easing from northern ireland through the afternoon, some of that rain getting into northern england, north wales, maybe into south—west england through the afternoon. further south and east things stay mainly dry if cloudy. a few brighter skies through the eastern side of england through the morning. but some very windy conditions through tuesday, particularly across scotland, gusts 60—70 miles an hour, maybe 75 for some northern and western coasts, but very mild particularly to the east of higher ground. strong and gusty winds across northern england and north wales too, 30—a0mph gusts 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 just sliding its way southwards, that rain becoming increasingly patchy. but wintry showers starting to develop across scotland and quite a range in temperature come first thing wednesday morning. very mild across central southern england and wales, but turning much colder further north. there are still some strong winds

across scotland as we go into wednesday, keeping an eye on this system here, pushing some rain into south—west england later in the day on wednesday. but 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 then through wednesday afternoon we start to see cloud and rain starting to nudge into wales and south—west england. still in some fairly mild air 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, most of us will see some spells of rain, still some wintry showers across scotland. that will ease away and briefly on friday, this ridge of high pressure building, bringing quieter, drier days. so for the end of the week, further rain, particularly on thursday, the winds easing, then 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 t0rump. 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. pictures from harbin, china show how thousands of cubic metres of ice, taken from the city's frozen river, were transformed into works of art. artists from around the world gathered for the annual ice sculpting competition. looking good! that's all from me. bye— bye.