this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 11:00: the duke and duchess of sussex say they're to step back from their role as senior royals, saying they'll work to become financially independent. it follows weeks of speculation about the couple's future after they took a break from royal duties. iran fires more than 20 missiles at us air bases in iraq in retaliaiton for the assassination of their military commander — there were no casualties says president trump. iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all

parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. mystery after a ukrainian plane crashes shortly after take off in iran killing 176 people — other airlines are now avoiding iranian airspace. and breaking cover in beirut — the fugitive former nissan boss carlos goshn on why — but not how — he skipped bail injapan and at 11:30, we'll be taking a second look at the papers with our reviewers lord jones and henry bonsu. do stay with us for that. the duke and duchess of sussex have issued a personal statement saying they will step back as senior royals and work to become financially independent.

they made the announcement without consulting any members of the royal family — a decision which is said to have left the family feeling hurt. prince harry and meghan say they will continue to fully support the queen but now plan to split their time between the uk and north america. this report from our royal correspondent nicholas witchell contains flash photography. canada house in london yesterday. harry and meghan had just returned from their extended break in canada. laughing. it's now clear that although they had been discussing a new role for themselves with other members of the royal family, they did not tell senior members of the family or their officials that they were about to issue a personal statement setting out their intentions. the bbc understands buckingham palace is

disappointed — that's unusual. in their statements, the sussexes said, after many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role quite what a progressive new role means is unclear, though the statement says they plan to balance their time between the united kingdom and north america. the signs that the couple were unhappy with their royal life have been apparent for some months, notably during and since their tour of southern africa, when both of them gave interviews. harry conceded that he and his brother, william, were not as close as before. inevitably, you know, stuff happens, but we're brothers, we'll always be brothers, and we're certainly on different paths at the moment,

but i will always be there for him, as i know he will always be there for me. underpinning so much of it is what the couple see as the unfair treatment of them by the tabloid media. my british friend said to me, "i'm sure he's great, but you shouldn't do it, "because the british tabloids will destroy your life," and i very naively, i'm american, we don't have that there, "what are you talking about?" just 20 months ago at their wedding in windsor, it had all seem to offer such promise. a young prince and his american bride, harry and megan were a couple who, it was said, and as they demonstrated, could bring something fresh to the british royal family and reach sections of the population which were otherwise largely indifferent to the royals. but, now, some at least of those hopes have been dashed. i think this is the most extraordinary news, but it's also very sad. i mean, harry and meghan are very much loved, and if we are not going to see so much of them, i think that's a real tragedy.

so the sussexs have taken the initiative, without waiting for the approval of the queen or the prince of wales, they have made their own announcement about their new life. there isn'tjust disappointment at the palace, there is hurt — at the most senior levels of the family. nicholas witchell, bbc news. 0ur royal correspondent is nicholas witchell. he is nicholas witchell. has been explaining the significance he has been explaining the significance of the decision. they have been disenchanted, hurry for some months. the clues have been there in the trajectory of their behaviour. the interviews in southern africa, harry's rant against the british media. things have been getting on top of them, in particular. no sooner are they back from canada when they issue this personal statement without consulting any other family or officials. i have never known buckingham palace to allow it has been known there is disappointment and hurt among the royal family

about other members of the royal family stop a terse formal statement from the palace saying these are complicated issues that will take time to work through. well, a progressive new path as they describe it. what does that actually mean? earning their own living or financially independent. what does that mean? has this been fully thought through? i think this remains to be seen. and we'll find out how this story — and others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the former trade minister, lord jones and broadcaster, henry bonsu. president trump says iran appears to be standing down after it launched overnight more than 20 missiles at iraqi bases where us troops are stationed. donald trump urged countries — including the uk — to send a "clear and united message" to iran that its "campaign of terror" will no longer be tolerated. the attack was ordered in response to the assassination of general qassem soleimani by the us. the ballistic missiles were launched from the western kermanshah province.

al—asad airbase in iraq's anbar province was hit 17 times, including by two missiles that failed to detonate. according to the iraqi government, a further five missiles were targeted at a base in irbil. both the uk and american governments have said none of their citizens were killed or injured. 0ur middle east editor, jeremy bowen, is in the iraqi capital, baghdad. there have been some explosions in baghdad in the last hours so not very farfrom here, baghdad in the last hours so not very far from here, some baghdad in the last hours so not very farfrom here, some rockets a p pa re ntly very farfrom here, some rockets apparently fired towards the american embassy. fortresslike structure, no casualties there. far away in washington, president trump seems to believe he has the iranian

is in retreat. that could be wishful thinking. the first phase of their reaction to the association may well now be over but, you know, it's not the end of the story and what's more, the fundamentals of the conflict remain very toxic, very dangerous. the iranians kept their promise and may have bought some time. iran had to calibrate its missile launchers. enough to satisfy angry iranians, not enough to provoke a much more destructive american response. they seem to have guessed right. iraqi soldiers shouted warnings to each other. shouting. they share the huge al—assad base in western iraq with the americans.

afterwards for the leaders came a chance to save face, claim victory and step back for the moment. no americans were harmed in last night's attack by the iranian regime. we suffered no casualties. all of our soldiers are safe. iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. it looks different in iran. a few in tehran even got up early to celebrate revenge. here is a university student. "i have a great feeling", she said. "i hope revenge continues and i hope to see trump fail". and later, the regime's faithful chanted "death to america" as the supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei,

told them he hadn't finished yet. translation: the issue of revenge is something else. what happened last night was just a slap in the face. for him, the assassination promotes unity in a divided country, and now iran has more time for its speciality, unconventional warfare using proxies and allies. here in baghdad, the morning had nothing for iraqis who want iranians and americans to leave them alone. the badr 0rganisation, a political party based on a pro—iranian militia gathered to mourn the assassinations and condemn the us refusal to pull their troops out of iraq. they insist on their presence in iraq. that means they force everybody in iraq, everybody in iraq to go for military resistance against them. do you think now that

the iranians have made this attack, it is the end of this chapter? they do more. they increase, i think. i think this is only a message, not more. a message to the americans, saying...? saying, "we are serious". this is a long—term conflict. the biggest danger of the moment in the most unstable part of the world. without a political dialogue and some kind of deal, the slide towards war will continue. jeremy bowen, bbc news, baghdad. in his address this afternoon donald trump said the us would impose additional sanctions on iran. mr trump has been a fierce critic of the 2015 deal aimed at limiting iran's nuclear ambitions and he'd pulled the us out of it. today he urged europe and the other signatories to the deal to follow his lead. 0ur north amercia correspondent,

nick bryant, reports from washington. from the president of the united states, an almost celestial entrance. his military chief standing at his shoulder, a core belief of the trump doctrine on his teleprompter. as long as i'm president of the united states, iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. good morning. though flanked by his generals, he's decided not to respond militarily to iran's attacks. he's opted for more economic sanctions against tehran, a de—escalation. and there was a call too for america's european allies, including britain, to finally abandon the iranian nuclear deal negotiated by the 0bama administration. they must now break away from the remnants of the iran deal, orjcpoa, and we must all work together toward making a deal with iran that makes the world a safer, and more peaceful place. christmas, 2018.

cheering. a surprise visit from donald trump to the al—assad one of the targets for last night's iranian attack. the pentagon received what one official called multiple hours warning from satellites and communication intercepts, plenty of time for troops to take shelter in bunkers. they're playing down reports of getting a tip—off from the iraqi government, and that iran was deliberately trying to miss. in the oval office, 2a hours ago, the president was threatening strong us military retaliation for any iranian attack. if iran does anything that they shouldn't be doing, they're going to be suffering the consequences and very strongly. but in the white house situation room last night, facing perhaps his biggest test as commander—in—chief, he opted for circumspection, amidst public indications from iranian officials they wanted to call it quits. for now, the trump white house can present this

as a foreign—policy victory. dramatically weakening the iranian regime by assassinating its second most powerfulfigure, without embroiling us forces in another protracted middle east conflict. nick bryant there. the prime minister spoke to president trump about the iranian crisis this afternoon. before that, borisjohnson addressed the crisis at prime minister's questions, warning iran not to repeat the "reckless and dangerous" missile attacks on the air bases. he also said general soleimani had the blood of british troops on his hands but called for urgent de—escalation. this report from our political editor laura kuenssberg contains some flashing images. reporter: why have you not spoken about iran, prime minister? not the first day back at work, but the first glimpse of the prime minister this year. the task, to try and cool tempers

between the middle east and the man in the white house thousands of miles away. the solemn situation a contrast with boris johnson's conquest of the commons. we of course condemn the attack on iraqi military bases hosting coalition forces. iran should not repeat these reckless and dangerous attacks, but must instead pursue urgent de—escalation. but the labour leader — still at the dispatch box with a new one months away — claims that america's original act, killing the iranian general, was against international law. what evidence has the prime minister got to suggest that this attack on him and his death was not an illegal act by the united states? the strict issue of legality is not for the uk to determine, since it was not our operation. but i think that most reasonable people would accept that the united states has a right to protect its bases and its personnel. the prime minister attacked

mr corbyn for not explicitly condemning qasem soleimani for his role in terror attacks. that man had the blood of british troops on his hands. mr speaker, if we stand by international law, as i'm sure the government does, surely killing somebody in a foreign territory is an illegal act. ministers wanted to avoid any further conflict, but also there's a sense the government wanted to avoid getting tangled in the politics of all of this — with a deeply unpredictable friend in the white house and some uncertainty about how the prime minister wants to shape his relationships with the rest of the world. that depends in part on — you guessed it — brexit, and the kind of long—term relationship the prime minister agrees for after we leave with his new visitor today, the eu's top official. borisjohnson must define the uk's links with its neighbours, friends and hostile rivals abroad. laura kuenssberg, bbc

news, westminster. the headlines on bbc news: the duke and duchess of sussex say they're to step back from their role as senior royals, saying they'll work to become financially independent. iran fires more than 20 missiles at us air bases in iraq in retaliaiton for the assassination of their military commander — there were no casualties says president trump. mystery after a ukrainian plane crashes shortly after take off in iran killing 176 people. other airlines are now avoiding iranian airspace. a ukranian passenger plane, carrying 176 people, including 3 britons, crashed shortly after take off in iran this morning, just hours after the iranian missile attacks. there were no survivors. the majority of passengers on the boeing airliner

were from iran and canada. several airlines have now said they will avoid iranian airspace. here's our transport correspondent, tom burridge. devastation, minutes after take—off. later, bodies of those on the ukrainian airlines flight were taken away. there were no survivors. most of those killed were iranians or canadian. british nationals, sam zokaei and mohammed reza kadkhoda zadeh, were on board. so were saeed tahmasebi and his wife, niloofar, who recently got married in tehran. tonight, one report quoted a canadian intelligence official saying initial evidence suggested the plane was not brought down by a missile and may have suffered a technical malfunction. ukrainian airlines said the airliner was only three years old and was serviced two days ago.

at an emotional press conference, the airline's technical director said the plane was one of their best. the plane left the iranian capital tehran early this morning. it was bound for the ukrainian capital kyiv. data published online shows the plane crashed minutes after take—off. the boeing 737 steadily climbed some 11,500 feet. take—off initially appeared normal. then the plane suddenly disappears from radar. that suggests there was a type of catastrophic incident. there was an initial suggestion from a ukrainian official of an engine failure. but if an engine fails, a boeing 737 should be able to keep flying. pilots train regularly for that scenario. crucial to establishing the cause of the crash will be the aircraft's flight data and cockpit voice recorders. the iranians have them. protocol dictates they will lead the investigation.

it's claimed this video shows the plane. if genuine, it seems to be on fire. there's a flash before the impact. if there had been an engine failure, one of the two engines on board the aeroplane, it would still be capable of climbing and therefore capable of returning to the airfield and if necessary abandoning the approach, climbing away again, coming around for a second approach. there should be no reason why the aeroplane fell out of the sky as it did. airlines have re—routed flights away from iranian and iraqi airspace, following iran's missile strikes on us bases. because the plane was made by boeing, the americans should have a role in the investigation. but the animosity between washington and tehran will make that hard. tom burridge, bbc news. the fugitive businessman, carlos ghosn, who skipped bail and fled japan before his trial for financial misconduct, has spoken for the first time since his extraordinary journey to lebanon. the former boss of nissan said the decision to leave was

the most difficult of his life. carlos ghosn was under house arrest in tokyo, when he escaped on 29th december. that afternoon, it's thought he boarded a bullet train to osaka. from the airport in osaka he boarded a privatejet to istanbul. and from there he flew to beirut in lebanon. our world editorjohn simpson's report contains flash photography. it was chaos. everyone wanted a first glimpse of the international motor industry tycoon turned escape artist. i'm going to try, as much as possible, to answer as many questions as possible. this is the chartered jet that whisked carlos ghosn out of kansai airport in japan to istanbul. and these cctv pictures seemed to show him being shunted onto a smallerjet, which then took him onto beirut.

but this, on the right, is apparently the box he was smuggled out in. he is five foot six. i did not escapejustice. ifled injustice and persecution. i was left with no other choice but to protect myself and my family. he endured, he said, 400 days of inhumane treatment, designed to break him. there is a 99% rate of conviction injapanese criminal trials. "it will get worse for you if you don'tjust confess", the prosecutor told me repeatedly. he thinks it was all a conspiracy to prevent his company, nissan, being swallowed up by foreign ownership. how high up in the japanese system does that conspiracy go? does it go up, perhaps, to the very top?

i don't personally think that the top level was involved, if this is your question. if you are talking about abe—san, i don't think abe—san was involved. in other words, not the japanese prime minister, mr abe. someone asked if he shouldn't have seen the trouble coming. his answer — it was like america in 19111. you know what happened in pearl harbor? did you see pearl harbor happen? did you notice what happened in pearl harbor? injapan itself, the response to all this has been furious. carlos ghosn's one—sided criticism of the japanese justice system was completely unacceptable, said the japanese justice minister. but the basic reason carlos ghosn escaped from japan was sitting on the front row — his wife, carol, rarely taking her eyes off him. he had only seen herfor two hours in his nine months of detention.

"i had to be with her", he said. john simpson, bbc news, beirut. the new president of the european commission says it will be impossible to reach a comprehensive post—brexit trade deal with the uk by the end of this year. speaking just before a meeting with the prime minister, ursula von der leyen, said, if the deadline was not extended certain areas of the talks would need to be prioritised. borisjohnson has insisted a comprehensive deal is possible in the timeframe. sir keir starmer has won the backing of the uk's largest trade union to become the next labour leader. unison, said mr starmer was best placed to unite the party and regain public trust. the shadow brexit secretary has also become the first mp to secure enough nominations from mps and meps to get on the ballot paper. the labour mp barry gardiner has confirmed to the bbc that he is considering running

for the labour leadership, and will make a final decision in the next 2a hours. earlier, reports said that the unite union boss len mcluskey urged him to run, mr gardiner has refuted this. in australia temperatures are expected to soar again later this week as the bushfire crisis continues. at least 25 people have died since september and almost 2,000 homes have been destroyed. the eastern and southern sides of the country have been the worst—affected, and many animals have also been killed in the fires. clive myrie sent this from the town of mogo in new south wales. preparations well under way, sadly, again for more intense bushfires because temperatures are likely to rise across the south—east of australia to a0 degrees tomorrow.

some evacuations because of the possibility of high winds ringing together three raging fires into one giant monster and when i say giant, a wall of flames, maybe a0 kilometres wide and squalls of feet high. this wooded area here, which is completely destroyed, the fire was visited on this place about you —— new year's eve and you can still see the smoke from burning embers. if you plan to the ground, you can see everything is black, the earth, the trees, everything. colour has changed and up to the sky, you would normally see a canopy there, and nothing. a cacophony of trees, birdsong is what you would hear. if you look down here, a corridor of

burnt trees, wallabies, koalas, everything that was living in this place was incinerated. the world war i artist never saw anything on this scale. —— artists. this is a tiny fraction of the millions of acres destroyed into this appalling bushfire season. the government is urging the football association to reconsider its decision to indirectly allow a gambling website to broadcast fa cup games. under a six—year deal, the bookmaker bet365 can show some matches. but fans need an account or need to have placed a bet with bet365 on any event 2a hours before the games, measures which bet 365 says enabled fans to watch without betting and prevented under—18s from accessing the service. 0ur sports editor, dan roan reports.

advert: in life, as in football, we all go through highs and lows... the launch of a recent fa campaign, using football to raise awareness of mental health. narrated by the governing body's president, the duke of cambridge, as part of his work on the issue, the film was shown at grounds around the country last weekend. but the fa's now been accused of an own goal, after indirectly selling rights to the competition to several bookmakers, via a third party. since last season, bet365, one of those able to stream matches on its app and website. fans wanting to watch 16 of this weekend's fa cup games that way had to have an account with bet365, or have placed a bet through them on any event in the previous 2a hours. today, the government said it wanted the fa to reconsider the deal. i'm deeply uncomfortable about the rights deal with bet365. i think many people will want to watch the magical fa cup, and will seek ways of doing so. if that means downloading a gambling

app, they will do that. and that, in turn, can lead to some very harmful behaviour in future. meanwhile, the fa said it would review its next media rights sale, due to start in 202a. more than half of all the clubs in the top two divisions of english football have gambling companies as their shirt sponsor. here at stoke city, their ground is even called the bet365 stadium. and this latest controversy will reignite concern about the potential normalisation of betting, especially among younger fans. charles and liz richie's son, jack, took his own life as the result of a gambling addiction. people have to wake up to what's going on, that there is this process of addicting perfectly normal, ordinary, particularly boys, who love their game, love their sport, and they are left with this lifelong addiction, and some of them will die from it. betting has been part of football for decades. but the sport's relationship

with the gambling industry has rarely been under such scrutiny. dan roan, bbc news. what less now it's time for the weather with helen willetts. there will be some drier colder interludes in the next 6—10 days but on the whole, we will be dominated by strong athletic wins. that means more cloud. you can see the cloud gathering, the low pressure system is gathering on wednesday, coming right off the eastern seaboard of the usa because thejet right off the eastern seaboard of the usa because the jet stream across the mid— latitudes are strengthening significantly, what should be at this time of year. pushing those weather systems, low pressure systems and our way. so for thursday, looks as if it's a bit further southwards. so we drawn on a pretty miserable note. we have had that cold air establish itself to the