this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: iran denies this is the moment a ukraine passengerjet was shot down with 176 people on board. the us, britain and canada say there's evidence it was accidentally targeted. the us house of representatives votes to limit president trump's war powers against iran, without the approval of congress. leave your homes or risk being trapped — authorities warn residents in victoria — as australia braces for more hot weather and strong winds. a day after the duke and duchess of sussex announce they're stepping back from royal life, meghan leaves the uk for canada.

canada's prime minister has said intelligence suggests the ukranian plane that crashed outside tehran this week was brought down by an iranian missile. president trump says the strike may have been a mistake. everyone on board was killed, including dozens of canadians. it was just hours after iran launched missiles at bases hosting american troops in iraq, in retaliation for the trump administration's assassination of iran's most senior general, qassem soleimani. the bbc‘s nick bryant has the story. american media say these images appear to show the moment the ukrainian airliner was hit by an iranian missile shortly after take—off. the plane did not explode immediately and continued flying for several minutes as it tried

to return to tehran airport. this video appears to show the boeing 737, which seems to be on fire, as it went down. just before it crashed, a satellite apparently detected the heat trails of two missiles, followed moments afterwards by an explosion. us officials said it was highly likely the plane, with 176 people on board, was mistakenly shot down by iranian anti—aircraft missiles. 63 canadians were among the dead. the country's prime minister, justin trudeau, shared with his people news that he said would shock. we have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. the evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an iranian surface to air missile. this may well have been unintentional. it was just five hours after iran launched the missile strikes on us forces in iraq that the plane

crashed shortly after take—off. iran's anti—aircraft systems would probably have been active, anticipating american retaliatory strikes that never came. speaking before his canadian counterpart, president trump revealed his own suspicions. it is a tragic thing when i see that, it's a tragic thing. but somebody could have made a mistake on the other side, could have made a mistake. it was flying... it was flying in... not our system, it's nothing to do with us. it was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood and somebody could have made a mistake. there might be crucial evidence that lies within this wreckage. the iranians have been bulldozing the crash site and are not yet sharing information from the black box recorders.

the country's head of civil aviation claimed reports of an iranian missile strike were illogical rumours. at this prayer vigil in canada, the faces of the dead, the anguish of the relatives who now mourn them. i think everyone is just heartbroken, everyone is trying to process it and believe it. relatives in ukraine want answers, too. their loved ones, casualties of a conflict of which they were no part. officials in britain, canada and here in america tonight are all saying this was a mistake. not a reason, then, for now at least, to further escalate tensions with iran. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. well a short time ago i spoke with giancarlo fiorella, who has been investigating the situation with journalism website bellingcat about what we know so far. while the publication on bellingcat deals with the video that allegedly shows the aeroplane being struck in midair, and we were able to locate that

video in a section of the vicinity of the airport, knowing the location of the aeroplane, its last known location, we were able to determine that the video was focusing on an area of the sky where we believe the aeroplane would have been, so in any direction, whether this was definitely a muscle strike or it wasn't, i think we have to wait for more evidence. if the correct procedures were being followed clearly this should have never happened. you would hope so. if this was a missile shootdown event, there are lots of anti—aircraft missile systems all over the world. most of the world's military have equipment deployed all over, and fortunately we don't see events like this happen too often, so again in the coming hours and days it is going to be even more vital to make

sure that we have correct and authenticated information before we can really definitively say what happened. how sure are you at the moment of your conclusions of the images you are using, the calculations you're making, the people doing the calculations, and does any of this throw light on how or why this might have happened? we are very confident in our publications as we are in all of our work. this last article that we worked on which was published just shortly, a short while ago, does talk the reader through all of the steps that we followed for calculating where we believe that this video was taken, and again what it does show is an object hitting another object in the sky, in a section of the sky that we know the aeroplane would have been at. we are confident in those conclusions.

the us house of representatives, dominated by the democrats, has voted to limit president trump's ability to take military action against iran — unless congress gives its approval. the house vote — which went almost exclusively along party lines — comes 4 days after mr trump ordered the drone strike which killed general soleimani. democrats accuse the president of acting recklessly. i got the latest from our correspondent peter bowes. this is a largely symbolic measure. it is a measure that, yes it curbs the president's ability to use the us armed forces to pursue military action against iran without advanced congressional approval. indeed, congress would have to make a declaration of war or there would have to be an imminent threat of an attack against the united states. and in fact, earlier in the day the president referred to this saying that often things are moving very quickly and the president has to make a split—second decision. this measure will not

prevent him from doing that but may well curb his use of the military and future as it applies to iran. certainly members of the house of representatives voted mostly along party lines. three republicans voted with the democrats. eight democrats opposed the motion. there has also been a response from the white house who has said that the president has the right and the duty to protect the nation and citizens from terrorism. that is what he continues to do, says the white house and they say the world is safer for it, also adding that the house resolution, as far as the white house is concerned, undermines the ability of the us armed forces to prevent terrorist activity by iran and its proxies, and attempt to hinder the president's authority to protect america. let's get some of the day's other news

according to the army in niger, a suspected jihadist attack on a military camp near the western border with mali, has killed at least 25 soldiers. the army statement says at least 60 militants also died. it's not yet clear who carried out the attack. there is a worsening islamist insurgency in the sahel region. riot police in france have fired tear gas at demonstrators in paris who were pelting them with objects. it's the latest day of nationwide strikes and protests against the french government's overhaul of the pension system. unions are angry at proposals to standardise the system, and raise the average age people receive a full state pension by two years, to 64. brazil's supreme court has overturned an injunction against netflix that was preventing the company showing a comedy satire depicting jesus as gay. the court's president said freedom of speech was fundamental in a democracy and said the film would not affect the christian faith of brazilians.

the authorities in australia have warned nearly 250,000 to evacuate their homes and businesses or risk being trapped as temperatures andwinds are expected to fan bushfires across the east coast. phil mercer — our correspondent in sydney told me more about the emergency efforts. we are hearing of significant fire activity in four australian states, in western australia, south australia, and particularly in the south—eastern states of victoria and new south wales. the authorities say that in new south wales more than 100 fires continue to burn and more than half of those are uncontained. the danger period for the people of new south wales will come in the next couple of hours. the authorities say hot, gusty conditions will conspire to whip up those fires. in the state of victoria, we are already hearing reports certain communities are having to be evacuated by helicopters, so certainly another

dangerous day for not only residents but of course firefighters on the frontline. and what about the political fallout from all of this, phil? in a sense, climate change, how much it is responsible for all this, what might be done about it, is dividing australia almost as brexit is dividing the uk? it is a very polarising issue, and the prime minister scott morrison wouldn't classify himself as a climate change sceptic but there are some of those in his cabinet and they do have influential voices. the australian prime minister saying that in his opinion, australia's energy and climate policies are both adequate and responsible. we are expecting a couple of climate change rallies here in australia today by critics of the government who accuse the prime minister of not doing enough, of not taking this crisis seriously when it first broke out. remember before christmas, one of the worst weeks of this crisis, a record—breaking heat wave, very serious fire danger and a horrible smoky smog affecting sydney, the prime minister was on holiday. so there are many people in australia very critical of the prime minister's

actions and some of those critics have even called the prime minister a climate criminal. it's been confirmed to the bbc that meghan, the duchess of sussex has left the uk for canada. this just as the queen summoned an urgent family conference to find a way to accommodate prince harry and meghan‘s surprise statement that they wish to go it alone. the queen, prince charles and prince william have instructed their staff to find a solution within days. gareth barlow reports. just a few days ago, harry and meghan together in london. now, the duchess of sussex has flown back to canada, where the couple spent six weeks over christmas.

her husband remaining at home, as the royal family plans for their future. the queen, alongside the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge have instructed senior staff to work with the sussex household and the government to find a solution to harry and meghan‘s wishes. i'm not really one for them trying to follow the rules over there right now because if they want to shy away from them and do what they want to do, then let them live, let them be themselves. ijust saw it on tv. i don't know how they will pull it off but i'm sure they will. the royal family is far from ordinary but the household strives to be organised and orderly. the sense is that the sussex's announcement lacks the latter. meghan‘s departure from the uk sends a clear message, they are determined to follow their own path. it's a shame that she couldn't remain and kind of be the face for the people. he's a prince, isn't he, at the end of the day. obviously has got to do his duty

with the queen, so i don't know. i reckon, do that. from finances to titles, their home to their personal security, there is a long and complex list for the royal family to work through. prince harry will remain as sixth in line to the throne and the couple will keep their house in the grounds of windsor castle. in many respects, that is the easy decisions made. next, it's all about money. a difficult topic for any family, let alone the royal family. gareth barlow, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the bbc speaks to carlos ghosn — the fugitive businessman now banned from leaving the country he fled to. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang

are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the united states, canada and britian say there's evidence that iranian forces brought down a ukrainian airliner in tehran by accident.

and australian authorities warn nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes or risk being trapped, as temperatures and winds are expected to fan bushfires across the east coast. female characters had their biggest—ever representation in box office films last year, according to research. the center for the study of women in television and film said a record 40% of 2019's highest—grossing us movies had women in a lead role — up 9%. but black and minority ethnic women are being left behind, the annual report also suggests. well a little earlier i spoke to jacqueline coley who's editor at film website, rotten tomatoes. i asked her what she made of this year's film success for female actors and directors. it is a mixed bag, as you would say. a lot of great news, saying female directors are contributing to the box office but to hear there were only 11 women from marginalised communities that contributed, and the rest were white

women, is a bit disturbing and that's the story unfortunately of recent years with hollywood. it's the story that women directors and actors make money, and that's the kind of thing hollywood responds to. yes. hollywood is risk averse and in the end it is obviously a business. obviously it is for creators and artists and the art cinema and creating but it is a business — they're asking for ticket sales. so as long as films like recently queen and slim, which outperformed at the box office, directed by melina matsoukas, who directed beyonce's lemonade, and this is her first feature film, written by lena waithe, when those films impact, we can point to those films and say, "ok, let's make more." i also definitely want to take a moment, although she didn't have a film in the box office this year, to shout out ava duvernay, because of the women that contributed to the report that had box office films, more than half of them came through her array of production companies, either directing

episodes of queen sugar or various other projects. she's been a huge driving factor in this increase we have seen of especially marginalised women getting the first directing credit, as we all know, you just need the first opportunity and then hopefully and usually more. what about diversity, jacqueline? again, female nominees but mostly white. no offence, i don't want to rag on you brits, but the baftas the day was amazing to see scarlett johannson and margot robbie double nominees when the work of cynthia erivo, a brit and a memberfrom rada alumni, was effectively snubbed. i think partially this is an american story of harriet, obviously the most famous person from the underground railroad. however, there were tons of other artists, including the ee rising star of awkwafina from the farewell. this is not to mention lupita nyong'o four us and jennifer lopez for hustlers. i mean, this was literally one of the biggest movie stars on the planet and a film that made

over $200 million at the box office. if that's not award—worthy, i don't know what is. yeah, as you say, i think astonishment generally that cynthia erivo wasn't recognised for her performance as harriet tubman. the film maybe didn't have such a great reception but her performance astonishing. also the baftas semmed to ignore greta gerwig's little women. we have heard her story to much. these days we have had three women nominated for best director in 90—plus years. we hope that changes on monday, hopefully with greta, but if it doesn't, that will be a huge story. this is a year where she could be going up against her partner, noah baumbach. that's just one of the amazing stories. alma har‘el for honey boy. you have marielle hellerfor beautiful day in the neighbourhood. again, queen and slim. also, again, lulu wang for the farewell. at this point, if you were a female filmmaker and you're creating these stories, at what point do you say,

"what do you have to do to be recognised by this industry?" but i'm honestly hoping with the diversification efforts the academy has done, starting with cheryl boone isaacs and the work that kicked off with april reign and 0scarssowhite, i'm hoping for a better result but only time will tell. on saturday, taiwan's voters go to the polls for a hotly—contested election in which the self—governing island's relations with china have become a major issue. fuelled by fears over what's happening in hong kong, the president from the democratic progessive party is hitting home with her message about over—reliance on china. but her opponent, argues that alienating china further would be folly. from taiwan, here's our correspondentjohn sudworth. in her bid for re—election, taiwan's president was once struggling. not any more. herfortunes have been given a boost on the back of one message — the fear of china.

is taiwan's democracy really under threat or a you fear—mongering for political gain? no, this is absolutely no political gain here. it's a real threat. china is here everywhere, and its influence is here as well. and why has it been so central to this campaign, though? because of the lesson we have learned from hong kong. what is that lesson? if we don't insist, we'll be losing everything we have now. china's threat to annex self—governing taiwan by force if necessary is nothing new. but there can be little doubt that hong kong, offering a vision of what that future might look like, is having a big effect in president tsai's favour. her opponent, once the frontrunner, is seen as far more pro—china, a man keen to stay on good terms with taiwan's biggest trading partner.

taiwan's vibrant democracy is facing a fundamental question. is it better to stand up to china, or, as these people believe, is it best to tread softly, for fear of provoking the prickly giant next door? after the rally, he can't stop, he says. are you in beijing's pocket? later, too many people now! time's running out to persuade voters that it's the economy, not china, that should be their main concern. john sudworth, bbc news, taiwan. the fugitive businessman, carlos ghosn, has been banned from leaving lebanon, after he fled there from japan last month, to avoid trialfor financial misconduct. the former nissan boss said he was prepared to face justice in lebanon. he has been talking to our world affairs editor, john simpson. hello.

very nice to see you. thank you. even though the lebanese courts have said he can't leave the country, carlos ghosn has lost none of his bounce. i'm free to receive my family, i'm free to see my wife, to live with my wife. these are all things which were forbidden when i was injapan. he's consistently refused to talk about his escape from japan by private jet, hiding in a box for musical equipment. even so, i gave it my best shot. it must have been a pretty unpleasant experience, mustn't it? i don't know, you should ask somebody else. have you ever been in a box? well, you have, tell me about it. that's what you think. come on, come on! if you had been caught, head down in the box, not much air... this is your interpretation but i'm saying i was willing to take the risk. but he's still predictably bitter about nissan, the company he rescued and which he says conspired to have him arrested.

i asked him about nissan's british operation in sunderland. it's suggested that there was a sweetener offered to nissan by the british government in order to persuade you to stay there and not move out because of brexit. is that true? i don't think there was a specific amount of money which was on the table. but the british government said to you, we'll make it ok for you to stay? sure. so, that's a sweetener, isn't it? yeah, but this is a promise. how precarious is the future of the sunderland plant as britain gets closer to brexit? so, if nissan loses competitiveness in europe, well, then the future of sunderland is bleak. carlos ghosn won't retire. he doesn't yet know what he'll do, but whatever it is, he won't be able to leave lebanon. are you a happy man now?

not sure i'm a happy man, but i'm a happier man than what i was one year ago. john simpson, bbc news, beirut. a lot of unhappy news from australia perhaps we can share some good news. these baby birds who have lost their mum in the bushfire, an awful lot of animals have been lost, of course, but they have been recovering in pouches made by volunteers thousands of kilometres away. the fires have caused untold destruction and they are possibly getting worse in the next few days. so many animals injured and killed but at least these little bats are getting help and hopefully they will recover quickly. much more news on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter.

i'm @bbc mike embley. thank you for watching. hello there. it looks dry, with sunshine across much of the country on friday. we have seen some heavier rain for central and eastern england earlier on, but that's continuing to push away, together with that weather front. before this one arrives in from the atlantic, that ridge of high pressure means skies are clearing. it will be chilly start to friday, noticeably colder than we've seen for a while across much of england and wales, with a frost more likely further north. but some sunshine to start the day. one or two early showers in western parts of wales, into western scotland, maybe into east anglia, but those won't last long, and we'll see plenty of sunshine. it will tend to cloud over more in the north—west as the winds pick up through the day, that rain holding off until hopefully after dark. ahead of that 6—9 degrees — cooler than of late in southern england and wales — but a pleasant day in the sunshine.

as we head into the night, we see that weather front making further inroads into scotland and northern ireland, bringing with it some outbreaks of rain. at the same time, the winds will pick up in many areas and we will draw our air all the way from the azores again, so turning milder, i think, for the start of the weekend. windy, strong to maybe gale force winds. still rain in scotland, northern ireland, maybe cumbria. wettest over the hills, drier to the east of high ground. eastern parts of england seeing the best of the sunshine here. strong and gusty winds quite widely, perhaps easing off in the north—west later on as the rain starts to clear and temperatures drop away. ahead of that, we're looking at 11—13 degrees. very mild once again. now, that weather front will eventually take that rain across the whole of the country on saturday night, and then we'll introduce this showery air stream, coming in from the atlantic, and that will bring in with it some cooler air as well. not too cold to start the second half of the weekend because there'll be a fair bit of around. we've still got temperatures perhaps in double figures across the south—east.

colder air in scotland certainly. we've still rain to clear from south—eastern england first thing on sunday, and then a fair bit of and showers coming in, even pushing eastwards across england and wales. that's the morning. in the afternoon, most of those have gone. the showers restricted more towards the north—west of scotland, where it is quite a bit colder. temperatures 5—6 again and potentially double figures in the south—east in the sunshine. as we head into next week, well, we've still got a strong jetstream pushing right away across the atlantic, picking up these areas of low pressure. you can see a lot of isobars on the chart as well. it is going to windy still into next week, which means it's likely to be mild, although there will be rain at times.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

officials in the us, canada and britain have indicated iran mistakenly fired missiles at the ukranian plane that crashed outside tehran on wednesday. president trump says the strike may have been a mistake. iran denies the claims. everyone on board was killed, including dozens of canadians. authorities in australia have warned nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes — or risk being trapped. temperatures are expected to shoot well above a0 degrees celsius and accompanied by strong winds, are expected to fan bushfires across the east coast. it's been confirmed to the bbc that meghan, the duchess of sussex has left the uk for canada. the news came as the queen summoned an urgent family conference to find a way to accommodate prince harry and meghan‘s wish to go it alone. the queen, prince charles and prince william have instructed their staff to find a solution within days.