you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines. iran has fired missiles at two air bases housing american—led forces in iraq, in response to the us drone strike which killed general qasem soleimani. in response, president trump has tweeted that "all is well" and he'll make a statement later today. the iranian foreign minister said his country will defend itself "against any aggression". officials in ukraine say three british nationals were on board a ukrainian boeing 737 plane which has crashed after taking off from tehran. 170 people were on board — it's thought there are no survivors. and in other news this morning — bbc analysis has found that the number of people murdered across the uk has fallen for the first time in five years.

good morning, and welcome to the bbc news at 9.00. iran has carried out a ballistic missile attack on two us bases in iraq in retaliation for the killing of general qasem soleimani. more than a dozen missiles were launched from iran in the early hours of the morning. they struck air bases housing us forces in al asad, west of baghdad, and irbil in the north. it's unclear if there have been any casualties. president donald trump tweeted that "all is well". he wrote: "assessment of casualties and damages taking place now. so far, so good!".

he is expected to make a statement later today. iran's foreign minister tweeted: "we do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression". our middle east editorjeremy bowen in baghdad says this appears to suggest that iran wishes to draw a line under its retaliation for the assassination of soleimani. the military leader was killed on friday in a missile strike outside baghdad airport on the orders of president trump. the general — who controlled iran's proxy forces across the middle east — was regarded as a terrorist by the us government, which says he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american troops and was plotting "imminent" attacks. iran vowed "severe revenge" for his death. dan johnson reports. the world had wondered how iran

would respond... well, here is how it looks and sounds. missiles hitting iraqi air bases used by america and its allies. local tv says this is footage of them being launched from iran over the border. and all this as iran was still laying to rest the body of its assassinated general, qasem soleimani, killed by a us drone strike. a mate to that millions on the street for his funeral calling for retaliation. but the us says he's a murderer was planning attacks to extend iran's influence over its neighbour. this was the white house response. if iran does anything it shouldn't be doing they will suffer the consequences, and very strongly. with the damage still being

assessed, iran's foreign minister posted on social media, proportional measures of self defence, adding we do not want war... the president was untypically low—key, saying all is well and restating american military might. he will give more reaction today. the us deliver uk ministry of defence says none of the 400 british service personnel who were helping to train iraqi forces were caught up in these attacks. the british government has urged all sides to calm things down, to try to take the tension out of the situation. the early signs are that the impact of these limited strikes has been fairly light. iran cannot say it fought back, but the us may not feel it needs to respond. —— iran can say it needs to respond. —— iran can say it fought back. what that means for the future of iraq is still a complex question. dan johnson, bbc news. 0ur middle east editorjeremy bowen is in iraqi capital baghdad — he's sent this update on the situation. well, attacks on two bases, a dozen or so missiles perhaps. no definitive word on casualties.

the iraqis have said, though, that they didn't lose any people, and they've also said that the wider coalition didn't either. and i think the fact that the americans did not immediately respond suggests that they didn't take heavy casualties, or it may be no casualties at all. because in a sense they probably guessed this was coming and they were already on a higher level, as they call it, of force protection. i think what's going on at the moment is that the signal from the iranian government is they want to root all this in international legality. there was a tweet from the foreign minister, dr zarif, and he said that what they've done follows article 51 of the un charter, which is about the rights of self defence of state and that it is therefore illegal. unlike — iran would say — what the americans did, which they have condemned

as terrorism and an act of war. it may be that his advisers were saying or he was saying to himself let's look at the profit and loss account here. on the plus side, for the usa, is the fact that one of their most formidable enemies, general soleimani, is dead. 0n the minus side, they have sustained some damage at a couple of bases in iraq and maybe trump is thinking, hang on and maybe trump is thinking, hang on a minute, that's pretty good. i've come out on top of this deal, and therefore, once again, i've made an absolutely brilliant decision. from the iranians point of view, though, they have said that this is what the state is going to do. they also, though, have allied militias in different countries, including iran, this one, and the iranians nationality is not full on war effect face—to—face with more powerful countries, it is asymmetric warfare, trying to find a way around

the sides. if there is more action from their side, it may well come from their side, it may well come from one of those malicious. the reason why americans are here in this country is because of operations against the continuing menace of the extremistjihadists of islamic state. while they are caliphate —— the caliphate, the fact that has gone, they are still operational and that is why the troops are here. the iraqis, the parliament have said they have got to go. 0ur correspondent dan johnson is outside the ministry of defence off whitehall. good morning to you, dan. what response has there been from the government, the ministry of defence specifically, if any yet, particularly with regard to the safety of british troops in the region? the first thing to say that is that the ministry of defence did confirm elliott this morning that there was a 400 british troops who

are in iraq as part of a mission to train the iraqi forces are all accounted for, all safe. they have been no casualties involving british troops. that will be a relief to the military commanders here. they haven't said whether the british forces are actually serving at the bases that were hit by these missiles, but they say that everyone is safe. as you heard, the message coming out of iraq out of there as air bases is that the iraqi forces, the coalition forces, including the americans, are all safe, as well. it looks like the impact of these strikes on the ground has actually been fairly limited. certainly there is concern here at the ministry of defence at what appeared to be in the early hours of this morning a serious escalation of events in iran and iraq with these missiles being fired. more than a dozen of them heading over the borderfrom iran to iraq and targeting those us sites.

that is why british forces were already on high alert after the death of general soleimani and we know that the royal navy and military helicopters in the region we re military helicopters in the region were put on extra alert yesterday because of the potential for retaliatory attacks. the message from the british government is still that all sides in the region need to show restraint and take steps to try to calm things down. earlier this morning the brexit secretary stephen barclay spoke to the bbc and gave his thoughts on the situation. we have personnel out there, it is very early. obviously these events, as yourself said, they happened overnight, so we need to assess them, and teams are doing that. the key message is that we need to de—escalate it. it's in no side's interest to see a war or to see these events continue in the middle east. all parties need to de—escalate — that has been a very clear message from the prime minister and foreign secretary, and that is what we urge

again this morning. so what happens next, i guess, is the big question. iran said it would retaliate, it would take some form of revenge for the death of qasem soleimani. it has done that, it has launched attacks, hit us bases, and possibly caused some damage perhaps to military equipment. that is what the us military is still assessing at this stage. the impact does appear to have been fairly limited and that may well allow the us to say that this doesn't warrant any further response, that it doesn't need any further escalation of the response in iraq. the ball very much now in the court of us president donald trump, who said he will give a further statement later today. it is now really his decision whether this is taken as a line being drawn under things, that this is a warning shot and things won't go any further, or whether he does take steps to retaliate even further. as he warned he would do yesterday if iran were to launch any attacks.

thank you. dan johnson iran were to launch any attacks. thank you. danjohnson outside the ministry of defence. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenai said america must leave the region, and had this to say about the attack itself. translation: revenge, that's something else. what happened last night was just a slap in the face. that's something else. our north america correspondent nick bryant is in washington — he told us how the white house may respond to the attack. donald trump is facing the biggest foreign policy test of his presidency so far and the question before him is whether to continue the cycle of escalation with iran or whether to show more circumspection. now, he's been warning on twitter, of course, that he would retaliate very strongly if iran attacked us targets, but after they actually did so, he's been surprisingly low—key on social media.

"all is well", he wrote on twitter, after the iranian attacks. "so far, so good," he said about the damage and fatality assessment. tehran sees this as its proportional response to the killing of general soleimani, that it doesn't want war with america, that it doesn't want further escalation. one us official has described that approach as a "now let's call it quits" approach. there are signs president trump has heeded it. there were talks last night that he would address people from the oval office, as has been done in the past, but he decided not to do that. he will speak to the american people later on today. a sign perhaps that he is showing caution and he wants to lower the temperature. but, with president trump,

of course, you never know. we can take a look at how some us newspapers are covering the attacks. the top line on the front page of the washington post website shows how iran strikes iraq bases housing us troops. meanwhile, the new york times says that according to iran, the attack on two bases is in retaliation for suleimani's killing. our security correspondent frank gardner is here. in terms of reaction, what we have to look at are a couple of tweets. well, more than a couple. key tweets from donald trump and from the iranians foreign minister. we have mentioned donald trump's tweet. javad zarif saying, iran took and concluded proportionate measures. we do not seek escalation work war. what is your analysis of those? javad zarif does not represent the

hardline faction in iran. he is the front of house, as it were, the sort of acceptable international statesman. he is only recently been trying to get into new york to address the un. behind him is the hardliners and if you remember, javad zarif actually resigned some months ago because he said, i can't deal with this. my policies are different from theirs, effectively. the way iran thinks and works on this is very long—term. what we have seen this is very long—term. what we have seen here is probably at the end of the ovate action, the directly attributable to iran ballistic missile attack from one country to another. but iran has got a whole array of options now, of covert actions that it can do either through the voices that soleimani commanded or through the proxies that he was also pulling the strings. —— the forces he commanded.

i doubt it will be done with this. look at the baying for blood we have had over the last three days. all these hashtag soviet revenge. i don't think this counts as —— a severe revenge. i don't think this counts as —— a severe revenge. i don't think this cou nts severe revenge. i don't think this counts as revenge. they want american voices out of the middle east and they will not stop at all. they think they have achieved some strategic advantage —— until they think they will have achieved it. i think they will have achieved it. i think we can expect to see some more attacks, is my guess. as nick was attained, we wait to see how donald trump will respond to this. you think the hardliners will not be satisfied in iran. do you think by sending out this tweet, javad zarif, that he is buying some time, some breathing space, while various options are explored within iran?” think that is probably it. if you look at the language, he says iran

has carried out and concluded its actions. javad zarif is a relative moderate, as i most people in the foreign ministry in iran, i same relative because iran's posture in the middle east is expansionist. he isa the middle east is expansionist. he is a relative moderate. he doesn't speakfor the is a relative moderate. he doesn't speak for the hardliners. for is a relative moderate. he doesn't speakfor the hardliners. for people in the revolutionary guards corps, they will want to do more. they will not want this to be the end. they will continue to harass us forces until they are certainly out of iraq and syria. they would like to see them out of the gulf, as well, but thatis them out of the gulf, as well, but that is a tall order. they all want the us forces to stay there as the guarantor of safety and security against iran. iran says, come on, guys, against iran. iran says, come on, guys, we will look after your security. we will look after it, but thatis security. we will look after it, but that is not the weight the arab gulf states see it. thank you for your analysis on that stop let's go to beirut. our

correspondent is there for us. hello to you. what is interesting and with emphasising is these missiles were fired from within inside iran. so often we speak of proxy attacks, carried out on behalf of iran by militia or other groups but this was very much attributable from iran. yes indeed. we have heard the iranian officials are saying they wa nted iranian officials are saying they wanted to take revenge by themselves, whereas in the past they have used a proxy. this is the first of what they say is there revenge. i second what frank has been saying, but for the hard... and apologies, problems clearly that with the line to beirut. we will try to get back to beirut. we will try to get back to her if we can.

a ukrainian airliner carrying more than 170 passengers and crew has crashed in iran. the president of ukraine has urged people not to speculate about the cause. ukrainian officials say three british nationals were on board the aircraft. the boeing 737 was bound for the ukrainian capital kiev. the ukraine international airlines plane crashed just after take—off from iran's imam khomeini airport in tehran, said the fars state news agency. reports from both iran and ukraine say there are no survivors. ukraine's embassy in tehran said engine failure caused the crash and there was no link to terrorism. iranian state tv has broadcast interviews with local emergency services, who said the aircraft burst into flames after crashing. james waterhouse has the latest. the moment the 737 burst into flames and fell from the sky. it came down close to the tehran airport where it had taken off.

medics say it's impossible that any of the 176 people on board could have survived. it was on its way to the ukrainian capital, kiev. the government there says it's sent a crisis group to investigate. in a statement, the president, volodymyr zelensky, said he sends his sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew. it's unclear whether the crash is linked to the current face—off between iran and the us. the boeing 737—800 belonged to ukrainian airlines. unlike its successor, the 737 max — which has had to be grounded after two crashes — this model's been described as a workhorse of the skies. right now, there are more questions than answers over what happened. the only thing clear is the sheer loss of life. james waterhouse, bbc news.

we can return out to lina sinjab in beirut. we will pick up the thread we we re beirut. we will pick up the thread we were talking about a moment ago injusta we were talking about a moment ago injust a few we were talking about a moment ago in just a few seconds. first of all, on that plane crash, obviously there is speculation, given what is going on in the region at the moment about whether there could be any motive, any terrorist motive behind that crash, but so far it doesn't seem any one is indicating that is the case. yes, that is indeed both the iranian officials and the korean embassy, the ukrainian embassy have said that this has to do with an engine problem rather than any terrorist attacks. that story is com pletely terrorist attacks. that story is completely different from another front that iran is facing now with the us and with the big loss of their top commander, general qasem soleimani, who was buried earlier this morning before the attacks, the missile attack launched from iran on

us bases in iraq, on two basis. to pick up on what you are saying when we lost the line, we were discussing that this was very much an attack that this was very much an attack that can be attributed to iran rather than being carried out by some proxy. that in itself is worth emphasising. yes indeed. iran wants to expose itself as the strong country that will retaliate for its big loss and for crossing a big red line. we have heard earlier the supreme line. we have heard earlier the supreme leader saying that this is just a slap to the face and not the real revenge. they want to take revenge on a big scale, they want the americans out of iraq and probably the whole region. the proxy allies in the region, this year militias, who are working under, they were supervised directly by

soleimani, they also vowed to take revenge and said they want the americans out of the region. many i casting doubt that this could be the end of the escalation and the tit—for—tat retaliation taking place. we certainly heard a message of calming down from the iranian foreign minister, javad zarif, when he said they have retaliated in accordance to international law and they are not looking for escalation and war. but this is not the line of the hardliners. neither in iran nor in the region. very briefly, are any more details are emerging about any casualties or damage at those two airbases? the iranians are claiming that at least 80 people, 80 americans, were killed but this is only information coming from the iranian side and we cannot confirm it. the us have not said anything about any casualties. they said they are reassessing the situation, assessing the situation, and donald

trump appeared very calm in his twitter feed, he trump appeared very calm in his twitterfeed, he basically said trump appeared very calm in his twitter feed, he basically said all well and things are being assessed. thank you very much. lina sinjab in beirut for us. let's return to the plane crash, the ukrainian plane which crashed in iran shortly after take—off from tehran airport. our correspondent jonah fisher is in kiev. festival, what more do we know about the cause of the crash? -- first of all. we had a press conference here in the last hour or so by ukrainian international airlines. they of course were running this route between tehran and kiev and we could classify it as a nuanced pushback against the idea and the statements that have been coming out of iran that have been coming out of iran that this is definitely some sort of technical error. they presented in

their press conference, they said this was a relatively new aircraft, 3.5 years old, that it had been serviced just a couple of days before and it had a very experienced 9—member ukrainian crew on board. while nobody is out right anything nefarious or anything else that took place, i think what we have seen here is a pushback on the idea that this was caused by some sort of technical failure this was caused by some sort of technicalfailure on the this was caused by some sort of technical failure on the aircraft and now it has been replaced i what we're seeing across the board from officials, let the investigators do theirjob and then we will understand what has happened. let's not speculate at this point as to why this plane came down. this was a pretty new aircraft, we understand, for ukraine international airlines. what other lines are emerging as key avenues of this investigation so far with yellow i think it is important

to stress it was 737—800. that is distinct from the 737 max which of course has has well documented safety issues, which led to it being grounded. the 737-800 is a previous generation to that, very much a work horse of the skies in this part of the world. people are not pointing the world. people are not pointing the finger in the same way as if it had been the other aircraft. questions are now being posed as two let's have a proper look at the security record. when we get access to the black box, obviously people wa nt to to the black box, obviously people want to know what took place on board. we have heard the ukrainian president himself come out and say that he wants people not to speculate and to allow the investigation to take place. he has cut short a trip he was making to a man. he is flying back to ukraine to deal with what he has called a tragic situation. —— he is on a trip

to oman. thank you. we have contacted the national bureau of air accident investigation in ukraine, who say that they have prepared an investigation team to participate in the investigation. a fuller statement will be released later today. joining me now is graham braithwaite, professor of safety and air accident investigation at cra nfield university. good morning. just to repeat, i think it is worth reiterating, this is not a 737 max involved, although it isa is not a 737 max involved, although it is a boeing 737. big questions for boeing again. it is also a very large fleet. there are more at 737s flying than any other aircraft type. there is a lot of them and the safety record, this particular aircraft was a generation of that,

it has an excellent safety record. boeing will always want to ask questions themselves as to anything is that they can do or to learn from an investigation like this and this is why it is important it is investigated properly and as a previous correspondence said, it is important we don't rely on speculation or make decisions without evidence. let's look in more detail about how that investigation might unfold. the ukrainians will have investigators but boeing is a us company. the plane crash happened in iran, though, so that presents some obvious difficulties, doesn't it? it does. and international conventions formed through the civil aviation authority, which sets the rules of how investigations will be conducted. these are safety investigations, it is not about apportioning blame or liability. the focus is very much on what the industry can learn and it is led by the state in which the accident

occurs, the national investigation authority of iran will take the lead on this. there is provision for who else participates. these are accredited representatives, so ukraine asa accredited representatives, so ukraine as a state will participate as an accredited representative, or one of the other states that normally participates as a state of manufacture. this will be the united states transportation safety board. they can bring technical advisors into the investigation and that will be boeing. it is done that way to ensure there is independence between manufacturers and so on. in that case it will be very difficult for the ntsb to deploy to iran. in that case there is provision for another state to volunteer its services, so a more neutral state in the circumstances might offer to decode the flight data recorder, for example. a local estate such as the uae, which is offered with 8737 accident a few years ago, they might

be able to build on the batiste —— at 737 accident. lots of states will offer help. there are ways around this. this seems to have been a pretty new aircraft, only in service for a handful of years. from what you have been gleaning so far, what do you think might have happened? because it happened during take off, it isa because it happened during take off, it is a critical stage of a flight and therefore something that crews will train to deal with. if there has indeed been an engine failure, which is a suggested pub stability, then you will look at what cost the technical failure then you will look at what cost the technicalfailure but then you will look at what cost the technical failure but also why did the crew respond the way they did? an aircraft like this with two engines is capable of failing on one. single engine failure should not result in an aircraft being lost this way. the investigation will follow multiple parts. they will also start to look back at what happened prior to the accident. it looks from the flight tracking that

this aircraft has done several flights today and yesterday and yet the press release from the airline said it had routine maintenance a couple of days ago. an early point of enquiry will be, what was that maintenance? what was changed or removed that affect the engines of the aircraft and so on? there will be many strands to start with before any of that evidence of changes or becomes perishable. investigators will look at lots of things and keep an open mind to start with. professor graham braithwaite, thank you very much for your time. let's now return to our main story today. one of our main stories. ryan firing is two missiles at two bases housing american personnel in iraq. our business presenter dominic o'connell is with me now. how have the markets reacted?

initially they reacted sharply. asian markets opened and fell by 2%, both the hang seng index in hong kong and the nikkei injapan, and the oil price shot up $70 a barrel. after the all israel tweet from donald trump the markets recovered most of their losses. and they both closed down about i.5%. so not as sharp as the initial reaction. in london, the ftse 100 has sharp as the initial reaction. in london, the ftse100 has opened down about half a %. after the initial sharp reaction the reaction has been muted. interestingly that gold which shot up when news of the attacks broke out, it went off to $1600 an ounce, it has not fallen back quite sharply. so it indicates the markets are generally quite nervous. the

american stock market has had a good year, up 30%, a good year also for the uk market, but this might change that. considering what happens next, how much would donald trump be tuned into the stock market reaction? he a lwa ys into the stock market reaction? he always is, and he uses his twitter feed to comment on it. there are lots of great correlations between his twitter feed and what happens to markets so he'll be on top of that, and he will be on top of the oil price, he has been tweeting a lot about what it should and shouldn't do. thank you very much, dominic o'connell. now it's time for a look at the weather. carol kirkwood has the details. good morning. it was chilly in the north this morning, not as cold in the

south. that tells us the story today. it will not be as windy for most as it was yesterday. the exception is across the far north of mainland scotland and the north western isles where you will all have gale force winds. we had cloud and drizzle in england, and that is moving back into south—west england and wales later on. northern england, northern ireland and scotla nd england, northern ireland and scotland will see some sunny spells, some showers in scotland which will be wintry on the hills. temperatures, six and seven, around eight in northern england but still in double figures pushing further south and west. this evening and overnight, an area of low pressure comes in from the south—west, bringing all of this rain, pushing into southern scotland and northern ireland, with some hill snow at times. it will be a windy night across england and wales. just how much there is no pressure deepens will define how windy it is going to be but as we move north of that area

it will be a frosty night. tomorrow, the rain and snow will push up into the rain and snow will push up into the north sea leaving a largely dry day but later in the day we will have some more rain sweeping in from the south—west.

hello, good morning, this is bbc news with me annita mcveigh. the headlines: iran has fired missiles at two airbases housing american—led forces in iraq, in response to the us drone strike which killed general qasem soleimani. in response, president trump has tweeted that "all is well" and he'll make a statement later today. the iranian foreign minister said his country will defend itself "against any aggression". officials in ukraine say three british nationals were on board a ukrainian boeing 737 plane which has crashed after taking off from tehran. 170 people were on board. it's thought there are no survivors.

and in other news this morning, bbc analysis has found that the number of people murdered across the uk has fallen for the first time in five years. let's continue with our coverage of the news that iran has fired a number of missiles at two air bases housing american led forces in iraq. our assistant political editor norman smith is at westminster. good morning, norman. any more news from the government, by way of response to this? all we have had is that reassurance that it seems there we re that reassurance that it seems there were no british casualties involved. but we should later today get the first words from the prime minister since this crisis broke because we have heard nothing publicly from borisjohnson at have heard nothing publicly from boris johnson at all. have heard nothing publicly from borisjohnson at all. he did not return immediately after the

assassination of general soleimani on friday. he stayed on holiday and since he has been back there have been no public words from him at all, not even yesterday when we had that statement in the comments by defence secretary ben wallace. today we get prime minister's questions, so we we get prime minister's questions, so we will hear from mrjohnson and i think inevitably he will be asked about the british position. i wouldn't imagine he would have much further to say beyond what we already know, namely there has been already know, namely there has been a bolstering of british defensive positions in the middle east, two royal navy ships being sent to the straits of hormuz, and british forces being pulled back into a defensive posture, but from theresa may or david cameron, invariably, when there were moments of national crisis, certainly when british military lives were at risk they would almost routinely themselves

come to the commons and update mps and makea come to the commons and update mps and make a statement. borisjohnson has chosen not to do that. and those around him say that is part of a different approach in which he will delegate, if you like, ministers with direct responsibilities to account to parliament, and that is why we saw yesterday the defence secretary rather than the prime minister making that statement to mps. it also presumably allows him to maintain shall we say a more neutral position between his relationship with the usa and donald trump and being part of a country thatis trump and being part of a country that is still trying to keep that nuclear deal together, along with other european countries, so the europe —— the uk in the middle geographically straddling all of that. that is absolutely true. boris johnson must perform a delicate balancing act. bearing in mind today he is meeting the new eu president

for the first time, so he has got to add one and the same time to stay on board with president trump because he is going to begin trade negotiations with the us as well and at the same time keep on board with the europeans, whose approach to the whole crisis has been much more wary and much less supportive of the american approach. so it is very difficult balance and it is easier to maintain if you're not in the public glare having to answer questions, maybe say things which could perhaps provide loose ends which could be difficult. it is certainly more politically convenient, but i think we are seeing genuinely a different approach from this prime minister where we are not going to see him at the forefront of politics, in the way that we had previously. they do not feel in downing street the need to dominate the day to day political headlines or to try and set a political narrative, in the way that

previous prime ministers have done, and that is a clear change from what we have seen before. thank you, norman smith and westminster. the iranian president has said that the way to avenge the death of general qasem soleimani was to drive the us out of the middle east. they said that there remains would be to cut america's feed from this region, that would be the real revenge and a final answer of regional nations to america. joining me now from kuwait is professor fawaz gerges, an expert on relations between the middle east and the west. thank you forjoining us. this attack on the airbases was deliberately so from iran, no hint ofa deliberately so from iran, no hint of a proxy carrying out this retaliation on its behalf, but will there be more, because all the hardliners say that this is not

enough to avenge general soleimani's death? i think what i see is that both sides, the us and iran are trying to climb down, because neither side wants all—out military confrontation. the iranians have made it very clear from day one after the assassination of soleimani that it does not want all—out war with the us state, and they have stressed all along the proportional nature of their retaliation. they have never said that they are going to somehow escalate beyond any kind of proportional response. my take on it is that iran, now, what we have seen, by striking directly against american bases from iran, as opposed to buying iranian proxies, iran can go back and say to his people, look,

we have retaliated. we have initiated action. we have basically avenged the blood of soleimani. this does not really mean at all that the iranian proxies will not wage a relentless attacks against the united states even though iran itself might strike further against american forces. make no mistake about it, this is the beginning of a very prolonged confrontation between iran on the one hand and its proxies, and the united states and its allies so, even though there is a sigh of relief in the region so far, that both donald trump and the iranian leadership are climbing down from the tree, the next few days and weeks are going to be extremely dangerous in this ongoing clash between both sides. and we wait

together for a report of exactly how much damage has been done to those bases, whether there are any casualties. what role do you see european nations, who are trying to bridge the gulf between iran and the us, what role do you see them playing, and do you think they can bring some influence to bear, either on iranian actions or on the actions decided by donald trump? this is a very important moment now. it seems to me that we have basically ove rco m e to me that we have basically overcome this particular cycle of escalation so far, so far. it seems to me now you need adults in the room and europe and the european powers, which the foreign ministers will be meeting on friday, to discuss the european unified response to the crisis, i think this is the moment for the european powers, including the uk, germany, france and others, to play a

mediating role between iran and the united states, because, on their own, neither the us nor iran will be able to resolve their differences. we know what needs to be done. what needs to be done is that basically, preserving the nuclear deal, which president trump ruled out unilaterally in 2018, trying to basically, to lift the economic sanctions, the donald trump sanctions, the donald trump sanctions which he has imposed unilaterally against iran, and again for your own viewers, what we must understand about this crisis, this isa understand about this crisis, this is a man—made crisis. it really is donald trump's crisis. he manufactured the crisis, by pulling out unilaterally from a nuclear deal that was signed by his predecessor barack obama and the european powers and russia and china. this is the

moment now for europe to stand up and try to offer iran a way out and also to offer donald trump, who seems to be also locked in the cycle of escalation, a deal. my take on it is that both sides needs to be brought to the table. how? by trying to offer iran some economic relief, the iranian economy is bleeding. it has had major impact on social harmony inside iran, and by trying to negotiate other, wider deal between iran and the great powers, or basically try to revive the previous nuclear deal signed in iran in 2015 between iran and the six great powers. professor fawaz gerges, thank you for your thoughts on all of this today.

sport now...and for a full round up, with sally. ole gunner solskjaer said it was the worst manchester united have played this season. they were totally outplayed by manchester city for large parts of the first leg of their league cup semi—final at old trafford. katie gornall was watching. on the lookout for noisy neighbours. fans arrived to increased security for this derby following concerns that events off the pitch could once again grab unwanted attention. manchester city were entitled to 7,000 tickets here at old trafford, but the last time the two sides met there were a number of incidents, including the alleged racist abuse of united midfielder fred by a city supporter and because of that both clubs got together and decided to dramatically reduce the away allocation. officiallyjust 3,000 city supporters were inside old trafford and before long, they were the ones making all the noise.

according to united's manager, city have raised the bar under pep guardiola, and here they were at their brilliant best. bernardo silva with a derby classic after only 16 minutes. city had no out—and—out striker in their starting xi. turns out they didn't need one as da silva sent riyad mahrez on his way for goal number two. united were anything but, as once more in the first half their defence was overwhelmed by a dizzying swell of blue. for the majority in old trafford, this was difficult to watch, but this city defence will always give you a chance and marcus rashford, captain for the first time, seized his. another goal could change everything, but city held out. they may be getting left behind in the title race, but in this semifinal they have surged ahead and it's only half—time. katie gornall, bbc news, manchester.

leicester play aston villa in the other league cup semifinal tonight. coverage of the first leg on bbc radio 5 live from 7 o'clock tonight. let's have a look at some of this morning's back pages. the mirror says that united were battered by manchester city. and ben stokes battered by manchester city. and ben sto kes ma kes battered by manchester city. and ben stokes makes lots of the back pages. that hand salute in the guardian is because his dad lost part of his finger in his rugby league playing career. england cricket captainjoe root says ben stokes is "born for the big moments". stokes was the star once again as england won the second test against south africa. the match looked to be drifting to a draw, with england needing five wickets in the final session. but they got themselves going, and stokes took the last three wickets in a thrilling spell of bowling in cape town. it's england's first test win at newlands in more than 60 years, and the series is now level. a huge boost for us going forward in the series,

and i think it's just great. test cricket has been a bit of a talking point recently in terms of how many days it should be played for, but today showed why it should be five days. the first two series, the a result is great for the game of cricket and great for the series. he is born for this stage and the big moments in games. he is someone that never backs down from a challenge. you put him in difficult situations and he will never shy away from it. he has been through both sides of it and still very keen to keep trying to deliver for england. he is a great example to a young group of players. stand—by for a mid—match meltdown at the tennis. this is the stefanos tsitsipas — who's absolutely furious with himself at the atp cup in australia. he caught his dad — who's also his coach — as he smashed his racket. and then got a telling—off

from his mum who was in the crowd. he laterjoked that he'll probably now be grounded. great britain play in the quarter— finals of the competition tonight. and a lovely story from the bdo darts last night. this is leighton bennett, making history as the youngest player to take part in the world championship. he's just 14 years old — onlyjust, as well — his birthday was on new year's eve. he's already the youngest ever youth world champion. he didn't win, losing to former champion scott mitchell. but i'm sure he'll be back. most watched on the bbc sport website this morning. let's have a look at some lovely pictures of some footballing greats including the world cup winning brazilian cafu playing in front of the pyramids in egypt, playing for the federation of african football awards. that is all the sport. sally, thank you very

much. two stories dominating the social trends today the most searched term on google trends is the latest news of. it has been searched 50,000 times in the uk, and that would cover the missile strike and the air crash. and trending on twitter today, you can see plenty relating today, you can see plenty relating to these stories in the top trends here in the uk. and looking at what you were reading and watching on the bbc news app, those stories, the missile attacks on the air bases and the plane crash dominating. number one most red, iran targets us air bases and troops with missile strikes, and three british nationals are among the dead in that plane crash. and the aftermath of that

passenger plane crash in iran, the most watched. a very brief morning briefing will today. now, we are going to take a look at some of the stories today. about 9000 nurses across northern ireland have begun a 12 hour strike. the action began at 8am today in a second wave of protest over pay and staffing levels. more than 2000 appointments and procedures have been cancelled. we can talk to director of the royal couege we can talk to director of the royal college of nursing in northern ireland, pat cullen, who is in our belfast studio. thank you for joining us today. just to remind viewers, nurses are looking for parity of pay to be paid the same as nurses elsewhere in the uk. how do you feel about the heads of the health trusts in northern ireland asking you to call the strike off and saying that the strike action

today might tip the system over the edge? nurses have been telling those health chiefs for many years, as a matter of record, that the system was about to tip and that we are in an absolute crisis in the health service in northern ireland. that certainly should not be new information to those health chiefs. what nurses said when those health chiefs came out and said to them on the airwaves, enough is enough, it may tip the health service other, i wish they had listened to us telling them, please do not put in place freezing nursing vacancies and putting on temporary measures to get money out of the system, please put backin money out of the system, please put back in the 2800 nurse of vacant posts in northern ireland and address the nursing crisis. nurses in northern ireland are coming into work every day and every night and having to manage in an absolute crisis situation. beds lined up in corridors, single rooms meant for one patients with two patients

pushed into it now, and it is those nurses who are trying to deal with that day in, day out. they wake up on the morning and go to work with an absolute dread and they wonder how they will get through the day, how they will get through the day, how to provide that care, how to cope and keep patients safe. somebody has to take responsibility and last night what we've seen is nurses saying that this is tantamount to bullying going on by health chiefs and pushing responsibility onto nurses and trying to silence the nursing voice once again, the very voice that is speaking up for patients and nurses in northern ireland, and saying enough is enough. apologies, we are tight for time but what care will patients receive who are already in hospital or who have emergencies? nurses are back in today providing life preserving services. those services have been exempted and nurses are on picket lines, with nurses are on picket lines, with

nurses coming off a night duty, coming in on their leave and day off standing out in the cold and rain, speaking up for patients and speaking up for patients and speaking up for our profession and the health service that they value, but our nurses have clearly stated that they are in providing life saving services for patients today, whilst they are still on strike. thank you very much, pat cullen, director of the royal college of nursing in northern ireland. let's get more on that ukrainian international airlines plane crash in iran. just bring us up to date, tom burridge, our transport correspondent. the investigation is in its earlier stages. this airliner went down just hours ago. there is data from the flight which is openly available online. it shows that the plane took off relatively normally from tehran airport. and it climbed, its climate is normal, to about 8000

feet, and at that point, the data disappears. that is unusual. that suggests some catastrophic incident on board the plane. at this stage we cannot say for certain but what would have caused that incident but it is an unusual scenario. there have been reports about engine failures and mechanical problems. any such claims at this moment are premature. if there was an engine failure, most airliners are designed to keep flying if one engine fails, so at the moment, we have to keep an open mind. thank you for that update, tom burridge. let's take a look at the weather forecast, and simon king has the latest details. the weather has been topsy—turvy over the last couple of days. yesterday was a mild day for early january. look at all that orange across the uk. temperatures way above average. today you can see blue is starting to take over across northern areas of the uk. there will

bea drop northern areas of the uk. there will be a drop in those temperatures, and it will be noticeably more chilly across northern parts, with almost a 10 celsius drop in some parts of northern scotland. the drop not quite as pronounced across central and southern areas, still fairly mild, here, a decent start with this weather watches photo from dorset this morning. some bright skies across southern areas, then cloud will increase, rain will move its way into south—west wales, the south—west of england, but further north, dry with sunny spells, showers wintry of a higher ground, temperatures are around six celsius in northern parts, double figures in the south. that rain will continue to spread north and east tonight, a wet night with some snow across the higher ground of northern england and southern scotland. some frost in the far north—east of scotland with temperatures close to freezing, remaining in double figures in southern areas. on thursday, a complicated situation with areas of

low pressure moving in. some strong winds on thursday morning across southern areas. and with that some rain moving northwards. still that speu rain moving northwards. still that spell of snow across the higher ground of northern england. then some drier weather and a bit of sunshine before the next batch of rain spreads in from the south—west. lastly dry across scotland and northern ireland, temperatures between three and six celsius, but further south, temperatures remaining in double figures. going into friday that area of low pressure m oves into friday that area of low pressure moves out into the near continent. a ridge of high pressure then develops for friday. so it is looking much more settled, quieter, more straightforward weather with some bright, sunny weather across most areas. cloud increasing with some rain into western scotland and the west of northern ireland later in the day. maximum temperatures round about the average for the time of year, between 5—9. into the weekend, rain and strengthening

winds making their way south eastwards a cross winds making their way south eastwards across the uk. sunday, more widespread, dry and bright weather. that is the best day if you're out and about over the weekend with temperatures remaining about the average. that's all from me. goodbye for now.

hello, it's wednesday 8th january, it's 10 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, and we're live from new broadcasting house. ukranian officials say three britons were on board a passenger plane — carrying more than 170 people — which crashed in iran with no survivors. questions are now being posed as to, you know, let's have a proper look at the security record. when we get access to the black box obviously people will want to know what took place on board. we've heard the ukrainian president himself come out and say that he wants people not to speculate and to allow the investigation to take place. meanwhile more than two dozen missiles have been fired by iran on two military air bases housing us soldiers in iraq in retaliation for the us killing of iran's to military leader.