this is bbc news. the headlines. iran admits unintentionally shooting down the ukranian airlines passenger plane killing all 176 people on board because of human error. the northern ireland assembly will today sit for the first time since the collapse of power sharing three years ago. keir starmer the shadow brexit secretary officially launches his leadership campaign in the race to lead the labour party. today he defended anti austerity policies. there is sometimes a tendency to say that everything we put on a ma nifesto that everything we put on a manifesto and everything we believed in the last four years has got to go. wrong in my view. coming up,

foreign correspondence giving is the latest on developments in iran in dateline. iran has admitted that it unintentionally shot down a ukrainian passenger jet because of human error. he said the plane was misidentified asa he said the plane was misidentified as a cruise missile. 176 people died in the accidentjust hours after iran had fired missiles at american military bases in iraq. flight data was lost with the aircraft shortly after it took off from tehran‘s international airport on wednesday. let's take a closer look at the timeline of events that morning. we know iran fired missiles at two

us bases at 2.30 am local time. less than four hours later, the ukraine international airlines flight took off. within six minutes, communication had been lost with the aircraft. rich preston reports. iran had previously rejected claims it shot down ukraine international airlines flight p5752 on wednesday. western leaders said the plane had been hit by a missile, claims iran repeatedly denied. an aviation authority cannot speculate, we have to be certain of the things we say. because we are not sure object, but that we can say for certain is that the missile did not strike the plane. the fire and the causes we need uncover still. now, iran says it was behind the crash, and blamed human error. iran's foreign minister, javad zarif, posted his message of condolence

to the victims on twitter. the crash came amid high tension with the us and days after the threat of strikes against the reigning targets following the killing in iraq of iran's top commander. posting on twitter he said an investigation i concluded that regrettably missiles were fired and that investigations will continue to identify and prosecute those behind this great tragedy and unforgivable mistake. many of those on board were canadian. any press conference, canada's for the minister vowed to get answers as to what has happened. i know families and canadians have a lot of questions and i can assure you we will not rest until we get to the bottom of this.

this, ladies and gentlemen, is a national tragedy. whilst this admission of responsibility will provide some relief for the victims‘ families, it is unlikely it will ease the political tension between iran and the west. rich preston, bbc news. our correspondent quentin sommerville is in baghdad in neighbouring iraq. he gave us the latest on iran's admission of responsibility. the body of evidence against them was gathering that this was, in fact, an iranian strike, and they had little alternative, so they had to come clean. days and days of denials — this disaster happened on wednesday — were beginning to wear a little thin. first of all, there was video evidence, which was corroborated and appeared to show a missile striking the plane. then we had information from us intelligence and other intelligence authorities, saying that they saw a number of radar pings, which also indicated an iranian strike. so, iran really had come to the end of the road.

so we heard the iranian foreign minister, javad zarif, expressing profound regret over this this morning, apologising to iranians, but also apologising to the families of other countries — four britons killed, almost 60 canadians died in that disaster. but at the same time, the foreign minister putting in a dig at the united states, saying that the turmoil that the united states has caused in this region, the profound crisis, is partly responsible for that. the iranian military has said that it mistook the plane for an enemy target, because it was banking over a republican guard base, near the airport. the iranian military has said that it mistook the plane for an enemy target, because it was banking over a republican guard base, near the airport. all this really is an indication

ofjust how destabilising things have been in the middle east, following the us‘s assassination of qasem soleimani, the leading iranian general. that has upset the balance, notjust here in iraq, where iran and the united states have been vying for power for many years and influence, but throughout the region. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has welcomed iran's admission that it shot down the plane but insisted on what he called "a full admission of guilt". our correspondentjonah fisher has more details about what mr zelensky had to say. for the last three days, ukraine has been keeping an open mind, at least in public, as to what it thinks caused this plane to crash, and although, of course, people here are extremely sad, i think there is a sense of relief, and you can see it in his statement. i willjust read part of it to you... "this morning was not good," he said, "but it brought the truth. but we insist on a full admission of guilt.

we expect from iran assurances of readiness for a full and open investigation, bringing the perpetrators to justice, returning the bodies of the dead, payments of compensation, official apologies through diplomatic channels". so, i think there is a suggestion that although ukraine is very grateful that iran has owned up to this, there will not be a prolonged cover—up, which i think was a fear here, that they now expect iran to really comply with all the legal obligations, that taking responsibility for having caused this crash brings with it. from beirut we can now speak to the bbc‘s diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley... she says this provides them with the chance to cooperate. it is an extraordinary turnaround. for days and days, three days the iranians we re and days, three days the iranians were insisting soup suggestions that a missile brought the plane down we re a missile brought the plane down were lies, it was psychological

warfare. now we have iran completely coming clean, iranian officials in fa ct coming clean, iranian officials in fact are falling over themselves to acknowledge that a terrible mistake was made and to apologise. the latest reaction we have is from iran's supreme leader who said that he has asked the armed forces to rectify a ny he has asked the armed forces to rectify any shortcomings that led to this mistake, to make sure such a thing can never happen again. he is suggesting that it was he who is ordered that the troops should come out about this. i think once iran had decided in some way to cooperate with the outside world, ed had invited ink ukrainian and canadian -- it had invited ink ukrainian and canadian —— it had invited ukrainian and canadian investigators, there was really nowhere to hide. they had to come clean. i think what the world will want its continued cooperation and not just the

will want its continued cooperation and notjust the ukrainians, but the canadians as well are asking for a full and transparent investigation will stop there are calls for the ukrainians cut from the ukrainians for compensation. so the world, as justin trudeau said, is watching. one thingi justin trudeau said, is watching. one thing i think is interesting, this does provide any very difficult and dangerous atmosphere and opportunity for iran to cooperate with the outside world and help to reduce tensions that have been running so dangerously high. that is the hope and that is the one good thing that could possibly come out of this terrible, terrible accident. i want to take you to a press conference by the unitarian international airlines chief. he said he is relieved because this relieves all insinuations that it was the fault of the airline...

i believe understanding the upcoming news, it will still have to cover the questions we have been asked many times now. why our company continued flights two to, why our company hasn't stopped the flights to iran? i would state that you have to iran? i would state that you have to understand how it works —— tehran. for others, the people of the civil aviation, is quite clear that what might fall over us might not be clear for the general population. the flights of these civil aircrafts are compliant to the

permissions of the two countries. the country which is the destination of the flight and the aerospace of this country is regulated by the state authorities, the aviation authorities of the corresponding destination countries. if that country, under the flag of which the flight country, under the flag of which the flight is delivered... at the moment, we had no information on the possible... in the company didn't have them... up until the moment of oui’ have them... up until the moment of ourflight have them... up until the moment of our flight taking off from bacteria, we had no information on any possible threats. —— there is no

corresponding... for example, when there was another conflict taking place between india and pakistan, the pakistan side, the administration of the aviation transport of pakistan has provided an... stopping at the flights in their airspace. one of the airlines of the world has complied, as has to be done. there is the specifically created rules and norms of behaviour if we speak of civil aviation, of how the airlines and companies should behave according to the specific threats. i also would like to use this international audience

we have today so once again on behalf of the ukrainian international airlines and my personal behalf to once again express my deepest convalescence to all the passengers and relatives of the flight. we are already starting to establish contact with most of the relatives. we still want to contact the relatives. we still want to co nta ct a ll the relatives. we still want to contact all of them, so our deepest and sincere convalescence for their loss. —— condolences for their loss. i really want to support my words

and with the support of the order with the action is taken place by oui’ with the action is taken place by our company during the take—off from tehran airport. i would like to ask the vice president of our company to comment upon that, why do we need to do that? we need to do that because currently even in the statement by iran, there was a hint saying that oui’ iran, there was a hint saying that our crew has been doing something independently or doing something not in the way they should have been behaving, and i would like to ask the vice president of the airlines to tell us what was happening in the skies above tehran before they take off, during the take—off of the flight off, during the take—off of the flight and after that. 27 years i

have been working in the us iea and lam have been working in the us iea and i am responsible for flight preparations for more than 20 years. i have been working in the ukrainian international airline since the first day and i'm really happy that out first day and i'm really happy that our company has the great safety records from 1992. we are doing anything with —— we are doing everything in our records to create a team atmosphere that gives good opportunities to work and grow inside of the company. people say that the personnel, they make everything. on the flight they have a completely different importance and especially if you're sitting in the cabin of the flight, so once againi the cabin of the flight, so once again i want to turn it to you, i wa nt again i want to turn it to you, i want to voice out the names of the people have been in the cabin. the

pilot, 11,000 flight hours. another 12,000 in the skies. the second ballot is 7600 hours. the flight attendant has been working for my office for six years. one has dedicated a living and a the ukrainian international airlines. he has been through the competition to be the pilot of the company and he should have started as pilot training in spring. some with one year and two years experience in working on the flights. i have just once again mentioned the numbers and the thousands of hours in the sky just for you to understand that these people have conducted hundreds of ta ke — offs these people have conducted hundreds of ta ke—offs and these people have conducted hundreds of take—offs and boardings throughout their years of work. we

have five flights a week to tehran, so have five flights a week to tehran, so there is nothing new for this fight at this very time. it was not a new task for the personnel and ci’ew a new task for the personnel and crew of ukrainian international airlines, it has been a usual fight oi'i airlines, it has been a usual fight on theirtehran to airlines, it has been a usual fight on their tehran to kyiv route. they had the permission to launch the engines, they have taxi to the airline according to the dispatchers permission, they went to connect it to the dispatcher terror stop —— dispatcher terror. they had been given the permission to take off and they followed according to the dispatcher's permission. it is done to try and hide something out, so if you took the mic take a look at the flight you took the mic take a look at the flight radar you will see the specific place, up to the second

correction, that you want to check out and for all of us, we do not need the voice recorder or flight recorder that we are still waiting to take a look at that, we still have different negotiations with the air traffic control that are, proves out air traffic control that are, proves our crew has done everything. let's discuss this with rana rahimpour from the bbc‘s persian service. on what has come out in the last hour or so from iran that this was thought to be a cruise missile, that is why the plane was shot down and it was someone acting independently... what more do we know about that? it sounds as light, the iranian authorities, the revolutionary guard authorities say they were unhappy highest alert possible, expecting a possible

attack from the united states. they say they were misinformed and dotty cruise missile was shot and was flying towards iran and that is what happened, but it seems they are trying to downplay the responsibility. they say it was an independent decision, which is very difficult to accept, because it is not a decision that one individual would make. it sounds like there are just looking for one individual to place the blame on. we mac because ofjamming, place the blame on. we mac because of jamming, whatever that means. this commander was asked several times why was the iranian airspace not shut down as a result of this? he doesn't give a clear answer and thatis he doesn't give a clear answer and that is a question that many iranians are asking, how come many other countries were warned and many other countries were warned and many other airlines had stopped flying over the iranian airspace at the time but the iranian authorities hadn't stopped this from happening. in the immediate coming days, weeks

and months, we know this region is complex, there has long been talk of accidents leading to escalation and something like this very tragically happening. people are going to want to know, could this happen again?- the moment, i think the tension between a possibility of a military reaction between the us and iran has gone down. i think the iranian airspace is safe at the moment, but whether there will be another accident or other causes of escalation between the two countries is too early to say. it could be a record breaking season for liverpool as they seemingly cruise towards the premier league title. one record could fall today. if they win at tottenham in the pick of the day's games. victory would take take them to 61 points from their opening 21 games, eclipsing manchester city's tally from two seasons ago by two points.

ididn't i didn't think a second about it. i will not start to think about it now. the only thing i can see, if we thought about any kind of record we would not have won the number of games we have won so far. that's it. very different story for tottenham. no harry kane of course. and while many spurs fans aren't holding out much hope they can end liverpool's unbeaten run, jose mourinho clearly believes they can. we know how good they are. we can imagine that in this room probably only two people think we can win. we are may be only two, but we believe. we believe, we have to believe. well, there was one game last night, as sheffield united's brilliant run

this season continued along with the debate over var, used again last night in their 1—0 win. oli mcburnie with what proved the winner after half time in a week manager chris wilder signed a new contract. west ham were convinced they'd found an equaliser through robert snodgrass in injury time only for var to show a handball in the build—up. it was declan rice who was penalised for that handball and he was fuming afterwards agreeing with jamie carragher who'd suggested on twitter that the rule is an absolute joke. "he's headed the ball onto my arm?! where am i supposed to put it if i'm in a running motion? really don't get it, gutted." novak djokovic has taken serbia into the final of the atp cup in australia beating a rival who could challenge him for the first slam of the year. he was taken to three sets by russia's danill medvedev in sydney, but he won it

to remain undefeated in the singles and gave his team an unbeatable 2—0 lead. they won the doubles too for another clean sweep. serbia will play either australia or spain in the final spain are leading that tie 1—0. serena williams needed just 43 minutes to beat her fellow american amanda anisimova and reach the final of the auckland international. she dropped only two games in the process. williams is looking for her first title for three years. she'll play two finals in one day againstjessica pegula in the singles and alongside caroline wozniacki in the doubles. there's worrying news for england, ahead of their first six nations game away to france three weeks' time, with an injury to winger anthony watson. he was floored during bath's defeat by harlequins he's only just recovered

from a knee injury. quins won 25—19 but both sides were already out of the competition. and sale sharks' chances of making the quarter finals are over, after defeat at la rochelle. they were 10 points ahead at one stage but the french side came back to win by side came back to win by 30—23. 16—year—old beau greaves' amazing run in the bdo's women's world darts championship came to end last night. she took reigning champion mikuru suzuki to a deciding set in their semi final, but lost 2—1. suzuki will face the four time winner, england's lisa ashton, in tonight's final. that's it from the bbc sport centre. compared with yesterday, a lot more cloud around today. the ones that are what is a particularly mild ones. they are coming all the way up in the mid—atla ntic. ones. they are coming all the way up in the mid—atlantic. it is in that mild air where the strongest of the

1's art. for the rest of today, england and wales in the peak in the gas this afternoon, around 50 to 60 miles an hour. easing back a little bit in scotland and northern ireland. but it is here that we have the wettest weather at the moment. rain eases off the north and the west in the afternoon, sunshine for many as we finish the day. it will be wetter in the north of england, and the further south, not a huge amount of rain, many places dry, but some rain pushing the breeze. turning letter to the north—west of wales later, some sunshine for the eastern temperature is properly peak around lunchtime. 30—40dc —— eastern temperature is properly peak around lunchtime. 30—40dc "13—14 sources. clear skies in scotland and northern ireland. the cool weather will push into northern england, rain spreading south words and eve ryo ne rain spreading south words and everyone will see outbreaks of rain. the northern half of the country is going to turn colder, a touch of frost and ice around. temperatures holding in double figures the further south you are. a lot of

cloud. rain could linger longest here. lots of sunshine and if few showers across on the northern ireland tomorrow. a much brighter day, less windy too but it will be a bit colder. temperatures in single figures for the vast majority, still hitting around 11—12 the resources to that corner. clear skies means a bright sunny start to monday, this though spell some very windy weather later in the day. whilst many start dry and bright, sunshine lasting longer is an east to the west. west of scotland, wales and western england face torrential rain and potentially damaging winds touching 60-70, potentially damaging winds touching 60—70, maybe even 80 mph. that could cause some problems to finish on monday afternoon and go into the monday afternoon and go into the monday evening. mild conditions coming and which will continue through the week ahead, but more stormy weather forecast for next

week. some further travel disruption possible, stay tuned to the forecast.

hello and welcome to dateline london, the programme that brings together some of the uk's leading columnists with foreign correspondents who file their stories for the folks back home with the dateline london. this week — iran admits what it repeatedly denied that one of its missiles downed a passenger plane, killing the 176 people on board. was it international pressure oi’ anger at home which forced the confession? as harry and meghan, the duke and duchess of sussex, decide they want out of most of the royal role, is a life of good works on the other

side of the atlantic, an escape route or a dead end? with me today — jeffrey kofman, a canadian, in whose homeland the sussex‘s have been on retreat. thomas kielinger came to the uk to write for the german press. his fascination with the monarchy has led to biographies of the two elizabeths who've occupied the throne — the tudor queen and the present one. and the iranian journalist nazenine ansari is managing editor of the persian language weekly kayhan life. isabel hilton was for many years a foreign correspondent for uk newspapers. she laterfounded china dialogue — which aims to achieve just that. time for our dialogue to begin. the united states and iran appeared to have stepped back from armed confrontation over the tit for tat provocations which had peaked with president trump's decision to authorise the killing of the iranian general qasem soleimani. the president's incendiary tweets and the "death to america" chants were less important than the hidden, but intense, diplomatic efforts to prevent crisis turning into war. then, on wednesday, a civilian aircraft en route from tehran to kyiv,

fell from the sky.