this is bbc news. the headlines at 8: anti—government demonstrations on the streets of tehran tonight, after iran finally admits it shot down a passenger plane by mistake. 176 people died in the crash. tonight, the canadian prime minister says he expects a full investigation. this is an extremely serious matter. canada and the world still have many questions, questions that must be answered. the northern ireland assembly resumes for the first time since the collapse of power—sharing three years ago. we can agree that there was too much suffering and we cannot allow this

to grow. sir keir starmer, the shadow brexit secretary, officially launches his bid to become the next labour leader, saying the country needs radical policies to fight inequality. and in half an hour here on bbc news, brexitcast — this week's inside information from westminster and brussels. borisjohnson has said that iran's admission that it shot down by mistake a ukrainian passenger plane over tehran is an important first step. four britons were among the 176 people killed in wednesday's crash. a senior iranian military official said the airliner was misidentified as a cruise missile.

iran's president rouhani has called the downing of the jet an unforgiveable mistake. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has more. almost from the moment the ukrainian airliner crashed early on wednesday morning, officials in tehran furiously rejected the growing video and intelligence evidence suggesting that it had been hit by an iranian missile. then today, an abrupt about—turn. in a flurry of social media postings, iran's president spoke of a disastrous mistake. the foreign minister talked of human error. the ambassador in london apologised for misleading the media with wrong findings. on state tv, a senior revolutionary guard commander explained that iran's air defences had been on high alert after the attack on us bases in iraq. the aircraft was misidentified as an american missile and the wrong decision was made. he said he wished he could die.

translation: we are sorry. we share the sorrow with victims‘ families. we regret the incident, but this was the price we paid for the tensions and us activities in the region. in tehran, people gathered on the streets notjust to mourn some of the 176 dead, but also to voice their anger at the government, shouting, "death to liars". ukraine's national security secretary told my colleague jonah fisher how iran could simply no longer deny the evidence. translation: this photo shows us the first part of the plane where a rocket hit. it hit the cockpit from underneath. we think this is proof, and it explains why we didn't hear anything from the pilots. they died immediately from the first hit. the question now is whether iran's u—turn means international

investigators will get full access to data from the black box and the crash site. borisjohnson said iran's admission was an important first step, but he and his canadian and swedish counterparts all demanded a transparent inquiry and full cooperation. james landale, bbc news. a little earlier, rana rahimpour from the bbc persian service told me about previous protests in iran and how today's events compare. there were mass protests in iran in november, 2019. it was violently cracked down, hundreds of people were killed, thousands imprisoned, and, at the time, many analysts thought it would take years for the opposition to mobilise itself and energise itself to come back on the streets. but the anger that people are feeling over this incident, the tragedy, has turned the opposition against the government yet again.

and that is why, today, we can confirm that there are at least, in eight cities, major cities, ongoing protests against the iranians authorities. this was earlier today and you can see them shouting as there seems to be a police motorcade driving through. for many watching these events, it's highly unusual to see that, is it safe for people to take to the streets? no. hours after these videos, we have confirmed reports that anti—riot police were deployed, and they are now using gas in order to, tear gas, to disperse people. which creates even more anger among people because they say, ok, you have killed 176 innocent people and we are not able to mourn. that is why we hear many protesters chanting against the leadership,

they are calling for the commander—in—chief, which means the supreme leader ayatollah to resign. they are chanting death to dictator and they say they've had enough. these protests have continued into the night, we understand. it is interesting, isn't it, because like so many commenters, particularly on social media have said it does bring into question past errors as well that we have never had explanation for. real questioning of the government, how likely is it though that anything will change? to be honest, what has been going on over the last few days has proved to me that iranian politics is very electable. since the beginning of 2020, a lot has happened. if you asked me to back days ago whether iran would take responsibility, i would have said it is highly unlikely.

at this moment, i think i can see that i don't think anything will change but that depends how many people will stay on the street and whether the protests continue not. in terms of cooperation, there have been calls from, a number of calls from governments, saying they want a transparent investigation. ukraine has said they need at least a0 investigators on site. international cooperation and iran, talk us through that. what is it going to look like? according tojustin trudeau, the canadian prime minister, iran has been very cooperative in issuing visas for investigators, trudeau asked for accountability, transparency and justice for some the iranian government are not famous for any of those but given they have taken responsibilty for the event, which is very unusual, maybe more co—operative? possibly. especially because there are now other countries involved, it is no longer an iranian matter, there is the international community and they want answers, so one can only hope

they will cooperate. in the last hour, the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has been speaking in ottawa. iran's admission that its own armed forces unintentionally shot down flight 752 is an important step towards providing answers for families, but i noted that many more steps must be taken. a full and complete investigation must be conducted. we need full clarity on how such a horrific tragedy could have occurred. families are seeking justice and accountability, and they deserve closure. well, mr trudeau had spoken earlier on the phone to the iranian president, rouhani. during the press conference, he was asked about the conversation. i ask that we be fully included in the investigation into the cause of the crash, that all the answers be worked on together,

and that we are able to have our investigators involved in everything from the black box to support on dna identification and the various processes. i ask to ensure that consular access for canadian officials, to support grieving family members, is extremely important to us. i asked him to commit to working with us and international partners to continue to de—escalate tensions in the region. despite the fact the iranian government has taken responsibility for this, how can you have any faith in them, given they lied about this for three days? that is a very real question that many people are asking. we are looking at the actual facts of what we say. we are seeing iran grant visas to canadian consular officials who are right now on their way into tehran. we are seeing iran allow canadian investigators to participate

in the crash investigation, but we are going to look for tangible examples of real collaboration and real openness every step of the way so that we are supporting and looking out for and getting what is needed for the canadian victims. one would think the consequences that canada could have replaced for iran is imposing sanctions. how difficult is that diplomatically given that you need access to iran and they have to granted to you but, at the same time, there are canadians that want iran to face consequences? there will be many reflections and conversations on consequences over the coming weeks but right now we are focusing on what the families most need, and that is answers and access. and and that is answers and access. that is where all of are and that is where all of our efforts are focused. since iran has made the admission they shut down the plane, we have seen a number of protests

in tehran and many canadians here have been frustrated about that. what is your message to the protesters in iran? my message to canadian families who are grieving is that we will be there for them. my message to people around the world who are outraged that this incident is that they should be demanding answers and they should be demanding accountability and justice as well. this is a tragedy that should not have happened, and we need to make sure we are supporting families who are going through terrible grief. payman parseyan is from the iranian—canadian community in edmonton in canada, where many relatives of victims live. he joins me from the city now. i would like to get reaction from the families and canadians in general to that admission from the iranian government that they did shoot it down because many iranians

are angry, they have taken to the streets. i think this is the right step in the direction finding closure for these families. however, it brings about new emotions of anger and questions of why this had to happen and the gross incompetence ofa to happen and the gross incompetence of a government taking down a civilian aircraft. mr trudeau has called for a full investigation, a transparent investigation, how confident are the family feeling that they will get that? for the last a0 years, the reigning government has not exactly had a good track record of transparency, and even the people in iran do not trust that regime, so we will have to make sure that iran plays an observing role instead of leading this investigation, especially given

they are the one behind the missile that took down this plane. countries like canada, they have 138 passengers on that flight, so we are the greatest echoed in this investigation and we should be leading this with a team of another nation is all an independent investigator. i know the prime minister has expressed his satisfaction that visas are being granted to go there, but this is a basic minimum. if they were to deny visas, they would be breaking international law. we are seeing some of those protests coming to us from tehran. i know there have been a number of this —— of held across towns and cities in canada itself. how close was the iranian canadian community? very close. we are not the largest population of reigning

canadians, but a third of our community members are on one group on an application we use, so that should show how connected the community is, information that spreads to community has been so incredible to see the support from those outside the iranian community as well. our city, our province has come together to support us, and it has been remarkable. justin trudeau said there are lots of questions that the families, the government wa nt that the families, the government want answered. in your conversation with relatives who are grieving, what are the top questions? at this time, people are still in shock and disbelief that their loved ones are gone. as far as accountability and justice, these are questions that the families and government should directly negotiate with the reigning

government, and all of our thoughts are with the families. our first priority is remembering those we lost in this event. why was not the priority for our community, the what was more important, those who have lost lives. i don't know to what degree you are being kept up to speed with the investigation, but what would bring the family justice and closure? this is a question better asked to the families. i cannot imagine you can ever fill the void that is left by the loved ones they lost. we lost amazing members of our community on that flight. it was at the incompetence of the iranian regime which compounds the disappointment and negativity that continues to evolve around the story. many of the students were

travelling to canada as international students. travelling to canada as internationalstudents. ourfamily is able to talk? there is a question mark over visas, is travel to and from the country possible? at this timei from the country possible? at this time i am aware there are two members of our community that was stuck in european airports because of the lack of flights that are flying to iran. i am not aware of where they are at this time. in general, international students will have an iranian passport so they cannot connect through american flights all land in the us, so they are. toa flights all land in the us, so they are. to a limited number of flights to go to transit back in full to see theirfamily to go to transit back in full to see their family members or like to have their family members or like to have the lovely people from our city going back to iran to get married, so this is part of the reason why this connection was used. thank you very much for that. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm

and 11:30pm in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster lynn faulds wood and the journalist and commentator anne ashworth. the headlines on bbc news: there have been anti—government demonstrations on the streets of tehran after iran finally admits it shot down a passenger plane by mistake. power—sharing is restored in northern irealnd as key ministers are appointed at the first assembly meeting for three years. the shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has launched his campaign for the labour leadership, saying the party needs to put an end to factional disputes. sport and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's ben croucher. good evening.

liverpool continue to streak away at the top of the premier league. their lead is now 16 points — with a game in hand — after a 1—0 win at tottenham. they took the lead through roberto firmino just before half time — his seventh in the league this season. spurs pushed for an equaliser late on and their best opportunity fell to giovani lo celso who somehow managed to skew this effort wide. jurgen klopp's side now have the best start to an english league season for with 20 wins from their first 21 games. what i know about football is if somebody gives you a trophy or something then it is done. until then you have to fight as much as you can, that is what we do. it is the basis for the rest. the starter is nearly perfect. we have to continue and we will continue because our content are so strong. the city... they will not give up.

that is how it is. i know that, it's no problem, i would do the same. but so far, so really good. liverpool's nearest challengers leicester surprisingly slipped up — beaten 2—1 at home by southampton — a team they'd beaten 9—0 earlier in the season. they took the lead but goals from stuart armstrong and danny ings gained some semblance of revenge for october's game. brendan rodgers side could slip down to second if manchester city avoid defeat against aston villa tomorrow. arsenal's revival under mikel arteta was slowed up today by crystal palace. held to a 1—1 draw in which pierre emerick abaumayang both scored and got himself sent off. the top scorer slotted arsenal ahead after they controlled the opening exchanges at selhurst park. his 1ath league goal this season. jordan ayew‘s shot deflected off david luiz to draw palace level as the home side grew in confidence through the second half. arsenal had to hold on in the end

after abaumeyang was sent off for this tackle on max mayer by the video assistant referee. i don't think for one minute that he was determined to make a bad tackle or wanted in was determined to make a bad tackle orwanted in any was determined to make a bad tackle or wanted in any way to injure max maia, but i knew it was a bad challenge. i realised quite what a bad challenge it was and i suppose the only surprise was that took them so long to decide it because the moment i saw it on the video, it is a no—brainerfor a moment i saw it on the video, it is a no—brainer for a red moment i saw it on the video, it is a no—brainerfora red card, u nfortu nately. chelsea, everton and manchester united all won today too. wolves and newcastle played out a 1—1 draw. manchester city are level on points with arsenal at the top of the women's super league german international pauline bremer scored two goals as they beat everton 3—1. city stay second after considing a late goal.

arsenal could re—estabilish their lead at the top of the table when they travel to brighton tomorrow. exeter chiefs have qualified for the quarterfinals of the european champions cup after an incredible game with glasgow with a remarkable finish. it ended 31—31. glasgow started the strongest at scotstoun with scottish internationals tommy seymour and hquones scoring. the premiership leaders capitalised in glasgow's ill discpline to take a 22—17 lead whilst the warriors were short—handed. glasgow twice levelled the match to create a tense finale. exeter almost won it when former glasgow full—back stuart hogg launched a long—range penalty with the clock dead only to see it hit the crossbar. glasgow's qualification prospects look all but over. saracens boosted their chances of reaching the quarterfinals, beating ospreys 22—15 in swansea. they had to do it the hard way too after welsh prop rhys carray was sent off after just five minutes for a high, shoulder—led tackle. with a further man in

the sin bin, dan evans — the victim of that tackle — then scored a try either side of half time as the ospreys made the most of their numerical advantage. alex lewington's try restored sarries' lead and 17 points from 19—year—old manu vunipola, cousin of england forwards billy and mako, moved the defending champions up to second with a game to play. gloucester are still in with a chance of reaching the last eight after a 29—6 thumping of montpellier at kingsholm. four tries and what could be a vital bonus point although there are injury concerns to influential fly—half danny cipriani. it'll be either rafa nada's spain or novak djokovic's serbia who'll win the inaugural atp cup after both won through their semifinals. nadal was pushed hard by australian hotshot alex de minaur. after losing the first set, nadal took the next two to send spain into the final after roberto bautista agut had beaten nick kyrgios earlier.

that's all the sport for now. more after 9. devolved government is back up and running in northern ireland after three years of political stalemate. the dup leader, arlene foster, has been appointed first minister while sinn fein's michelle o'neill is the deputy first minister. all of the main parties agreed to return to the stormont assembly this afternoon after a deal was reached yesterday. so what's in the deal? the new agreement contains wide—ranging promises, firstly to tackle the crisis in the health service and to try and resolve a pay dispute that has seen nurses and health workers on strike. there'll be more money for schools after months of head teachers saying they face an unprecedented shortfall. and northern ireland will get about another 800 police officers to increase numbers to 7,500. our ireland correspondent, chris page, has sent us this

update from stormont. for more than 1,000 days, northern ireland has been in the remarkable position of not having an elected government. but all that has changed. this parliament building on the outskirts of belfast is a place of power once again. the 90 members of the stormont assembly met to formally appoint ministers to the devolved government. it will be headed by the dup leader, arlene foster, and the vice president of sinn fein, michelle o'neill. they are respectively the first minister and deputy first minister and, in their speeches to the assembly, they spoke of the need to leave behind the years of division and disagreement and build a new future on common ground. most of the ministries went to those two largest parties but three others were involved as well — the nationalist sdlp, and the ulster unionist party have a ministry each. and the job ofjustice minister, always a sensitive one here given the legacy of the long conflict, that has gone to the leader of the cross—community alliance party, naomi long. the deal to restore these

institutions put a heavy emphasis on reforming public services. you could read it, perhaps, as a sign that the aim is to move politics in northern ireland to a different place, away from divisive issues of identity and towards matters like health, education, the economy, which tend to dominate politics in most other places. all the parties agree that the measure of the success of the new administration will be how much it delivers in terms of those issues for the people in this part of the uk but the priority, i think, in the coming days, will be simply rebuilding those power—sharing relationships after such a long period of toxic stalemate. labour leadership contenders have only two days left to gain the backing they need to get to the next stage of the contest. so far, six candidates have joined the race: rebecca long—bailey, emily thornberry, clive lewis, lisa nandy, jess phillips and sir keir starmer. registered supporters who are not full party members will have a8 hours from 1a—16th january to secure

a vote by paying £25. the ballot will be open from 21st february to 2nd of april with the results announced two days later on the ath. today, it was sir keir starmer‘s turn to launch his official campaign to become the next party leader in manchester. speaking a little earlier, he said that factionalism within labour has to go and that the party must unite. he also promised to defend the party's radical values. we cannot be a divided party any more. we need to end the factionalism. being a very, very strong opposition up against borisjohnson and forging that path to victory. what i meant by retaining our radical values is we shouldn't throw away everything in the last four years. we are now the party of anti—austerity, we are the party that believes in investing in our public services and common ownership. we should retain that. the manifesto i am focused on is the next manifesto,

not the last manifesto. but we shouldn't throw away what we have achieved in the last four years. earlier, our political correspondent, nick eardley, told rebecca jones what keir starmer‘s campaign launch means for the race. keir starmer has, for want of a better word, momentum at the moment in this race, he is the man to beat, far ahead of anybody else when it comes to mps and the polls of labour members suggest he is out in front. he is not the obvious corbyn candidate, because that is rebecca long—bailey, at the moment, her campaign is struggling to get off the ground. momentum who are the pro—corbyn grassroots campaign who helped jeremy corbyn win the two leadership elections he won, they have said they will ballot their members on who to back, but, quite clearly, they want it to be rebecca long—bailey. they are recommending to their members get behind and that will give her a big boost and, although keir starmer appears

to be out in front at the moment, i would suggest, over the next three months before we get the next labour, leader there is a lot of room for movement in that race. when it gets going, when some of the more radical pro—corbyn groups start their weight about, i suspect that will work well for rebecca long—bailey but there are other candidates as well. lisa nandi, clive lewis, emily thornberry, jess phillips. they will be looking to make up ground over the next few weeks. a 100—year—old giant tortoise, credited with virtually saving his species from extinction, is being released back into the wild. diego is believed to have fathered around 800 baby tortoise after he was recruited onto a captive breeding programme in the galapagos islands. the park service believes he was taken from the galapagos 80 years ago by a scientific expedition. diego is currently in quarantine before his return to espanola in march.

now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. hello. the day hasn't been all doom and gloom by any means at all but if you are anywhere near a weather front chugging its way to scotland and northern ireland and then down into the north of england through wales and into the south—west, well, you will have known it has been very wet and very windy. further to the south and east, you have got the cloud and wind and rain to come during the rest of the evening and indeed overnight. the front really not moving very far, very fast. clearing skies getting into the north of england, to scotland and to northern ireland. some showers getting wintry to about 300 metres, and it will be quite a chilly start, especially on the eastern side of scotland, one of two rural spots, —2 or so, so a touch of frost. that won't be the case while you have the last of the cloud and wind and rain across england and wales. by about lunch time, that should have quit east anglia and then brighter skies following on behind. yes, one or two showers into wales and the south—west and many more showers across the northern

and western parts of scotland and the odd one for northern ireland. but a lot of dry, fine weather, even here. temperatures seeing a range of a—11. hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines. there's been anti—government demonstrations on the streets of tehran, after iran finally admits it shot down a passenger plane by mistake. 176 people died in the crash. tonight, the canadian prime minister says he expects a full investigation. this is an extremely serious matter. canada and the world still have many questions, questions that must be answered. power—sharing is restored in northern irealnd, as key ministers are appointed at the first assembly meeting for three years. we can agree that there was too much suffering and that we cannot allow