this is bbc world news today. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: anti—government protests in tehran after the government admits accidentally shooting down a ukrainian passenger jet. 57 canadians died in the crash. prime minister trudeau demands a full and complete investigation. canada and the world still have many questions, questions that must be answered. in the wake of harry and meghan‘s decision to step back from their roles in the family, the queen and other senior royals will meet to discuss the situation at sandringham on monday. taiwan's president comfortably wins re—election and calls on china to abandon its threat to take back the island by force.

and coming up: in football, liverpool extend their lead at the top of the english premier league. we'll have all the latest from the bbc sport centre. hello and welcome to world news today. after days of denial, iran has admitted it did shoot down a ukrainian passenger plane that crashed near tehran on wednesday. it follows evidence collected by the ukrainian government and western intelligence agencies. protests have broken out in iran since the announcement. many iranians are angry that the government lied to them for days. one of the protests has been taking place at a university which some of the victims attended. a total of 176 people were killed when the plane was shot down. around a third of those on board were candian citizens.

prime ministerjustin trudeau has spoken in the last couple of hours. he says he expects full cooperation and clarity from the iranian authorities into what happened. earlier this morning, i spoke with president rouhani of iran. i told him that 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. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has more on iran's admission and the international reaction. almost from the moment the ukrainian airliner crashed early on wednesday morning, officials in tehran furiously rejected the growing video and intelligence evidence suggesting 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. rana rahimpourfrom the bbc‘s persian service explains more on what has made the protesters so angry. several things. there have been years of anger, but the turning point, i think, was today when they found out

that they had been lied to by the iranian authorities for days. official after official came out, they denied the suspicion that iran was behind the attack and the downing of the aeroplane. and they are angry for several reasons. one question that they are asking is why was the iranian space open during that period that iran was launching attacks on us forces in iraq? so, essentially, why was that plane allowed to take off at all, to be in the air at all? exactly. at the same time, there are other airlines that were aware of these attacks and they had stopped flying over iran and iraq. why did it take so many days for authorities to finally take responsibility for the attacks? so these are several reasons. also, they are trying to hold gatherings to hold memorial services for those who have died, and they are being cracked down. a number of celebrities have called

on people to gather together tomorrow in certain famous squares in tehran and other cities, but they have come under pressure and they have cancelled the invitation. senior members of the royal family, including the queen, will meet on monday to discuss the future for prince harry and meghan following their declaration last week to step back from their prominent roles in the royal family. the summit at the queen's sandringham residence in norfolk is expected to look at a range of possibilities. with me is our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. nick, what more can you tell us? afamily summit a family summit called by the queen on monday. the queen, the prince of wales, prince william and prince harry, the first time they have all come together face—to—face. they have had telephone conversations but the first time they have met

face—to—face since the successes issued their personal statement on wednesday night, and we also think that the duchess of sussex will be joining the discussion by telephone probably from canada where she is now. officials have been working very ha rd now. officials have been working very hard in these past two hours to better understand what it is that the suffixes want. they have achieved that but do not have a com plete achieved that but do not have a complete understanding of what they are seeking. but they will present a range of possibilities for the family to consider. certainly, there isa family to consider. certainly, there is a consensus that this will take time. it is a complex range of issues they have got to go through. they need to establish how much royal official work they are still prepared to do, and then they need to agree the protocols for the nonroyal work, going out to make their own living, financial independence, what should be the

rules of the game to prevent them from to blatantly trading on the royal status ? from to blatantly trading on the royal status? i imagine it will be businesslike and we are not expecting any conclusions on monday, but i would think there is an underlying sadness. it is clear this is what meghan wants but one has to wonder whether this is really what howard —— harry wants to be upsetting his grandmother in this way and losing respect in the united kingdom. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen, has won a second term in an election dominated by the question of how to deal with an ever more powerful china, which has long threatened to take the self—governing island by force. ms tsai said beijing should recognise the will of taiwan's people and promised jubilant supporters that she would preserve taiwan's sovereignty. our china correspondent, john sudworth, has sent this report from her victory rally in taipei.

not long ago, she was struggling in the polls. now she is being swept to a second presidential term. her strategy — rallying voters to a single cause. to show that we can be against the communists, yeah, so this is really important to us. has china been a factor for you? ithink... yes. it is... my reason to vote, to defend our country. beijing's attempts to pressure president tsai, with renewed threats to take taiwan by force, have badly backfired. do you think you have the chinese president, xijinping, to thank for this victory? translation: the taiwanese people insist on protecting our democracy. i hope china gets the correct message as a result of this election.

there is in fact a great irony to the celebrations. beijing's authoritarian vision of a greater china, wholeheartedly rejected in the one place that actually gets to vote on it. she has promised to stand up to china. the risk is it will only antagonise it further. john sudworth, bbc news, taiwan. bonnie glaser is the director of the china power project at the csis think tank. shejoins me now. taiwan has spoken, completely rejected china, how will china respond? china will not be surprised by this outcome because the polls

show that taiwan is likely to win a landslide victory. but i think that they will not conclude that it is impossible for the dpp to be defeated in the future, that is of course taiwan's party, because they will look at the vote in the legislature which was held at the same time as the presidential vote and they will see that the party vote, 3a votes in the legislative there are these party votes where people vote separately for single—member districts and also for party, they will see that the dpp and the other party won the same percentage and will conclude the support was for taiwan, in other words it shows a bad candidate that did not win the support of the people but, in fact, there is still support for opposition parties. that is interesting. do you then think that china has got to wait this out?

yes, that is exactly what i think. the mayor, his new party also won 1196 the mayor, his new party also won ii% of that party vote, so that is another person that they can work within the future, so i do think that they will wait this out for the next four years. can you play one thing up for next four years. can you play one thing upfor us? next four years. can you play one thing up for us? this threat of force which sounds extraordinary, is that a real potential threat, with china actually use military force against taiwan? i think there are certainly circumstances in which paging would use military force. if they felt that taiwan had the ability to get away, to become independent. i don't think they have that fear, and i believe the slowdown in china's economy, the ongoing hong kong protest, the tensions between china and the us

are more important issues for xi jinping, andi are more important issues for xi jinping, and i do not think he will put unification through military force on the front bursar —— front burner. fascinating stuff, thank you. 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 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. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: in football, liverpool extend their lead at the top of the english premier league. we'll have all the latest on their bid for the title from the bbc sport centre. day one of operation desert storm,

to force the iraqis out of kuwait, has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and never advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing.

this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: after days of denial, iran has admitted shooting down a ukrainian passenger jet. the admission has prompted angry protests on the streets of tehran. and in the wake of harry and meghan‘s decision to step back from their roles, the queen and other senior royals will meet to discuss the situation at sandringham on monday. let's stay with our top story — iran admitting it accidentally shot down a passengerjet flying out of tehran. the trump administration has described it as a terrible tragedy, saying what it called iran's reckless actions had had devastating consequences. i have been speaking to national security analyst ari aramesh about how iran's admission has benefited donald trump.

to put things into context. donald trump authorised the killing of qasem soleimani, the most capable organiser and operator in the region, the man who had managed to operate and organise the most potent anti—american elements in iraq and lebanon and syria, in yemen, you name it, even in afghanistan and so on and so forth. a lot of our allies were not very happy with president trump, notjust because of this, because of his rhetoric, anti—nato, anti—this, from justin trudeau, our neighbour to the north, all the way to the uk, germany, france. after killing soleimani, a lot of our friends and allies were thinking this was not the wise thing to do because this could wreak havoc in the region. well, the islamic republic of iran will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. they launched missiles. thankfully, no one got killed. and then they shot down an airliner that they thought was a cruise missile. and they tried to cover it up and always, the cover—up is always worse in the crime. they tried to cover it up and now they have to admit to the fault. the ball is now in their court.

president trump has taken a back—seat and is trying to see what he can do. at the same time... he hasn't been that successful foreign policy—wise but, right now, again, the pressure on the iranian regime and then this miscalculation and sort of misfeasance and malfeasance has led to a couple of winning factors for the president. so this hugely plays into donald trump's lands? interesting that the white house and donald trump have not so far made big political hay out of this. they have not been on twitter or out talking about it. they have kind of kept to silence. that's obviously a deliberate strategy. it is and the president, he's a very atypical president. on the one hand, he's very unpredictable. to give you an example, a couple of months ago, the iranian government shot down an american drone overfriendly skies. we all expected the president to come down harsh and hard. he didn't. he showed restraint. he bought himself a lot of goodwill. then again, after iranian missile

attacks against the saudi state oil company, everybody thought there was going to be a us reaction — none. before the attack against the us space, which resulted in the killing of qasem soleimani, over the last two or three weeks, there had been 12 missile attacks against american interests and bases without casualties. again, he held his tongue and his trigger. so trump has pursued a policy of maximum pressure, a lot of sanctions, hurt a lot of people, but also put a lot of pressure on the iranian regime. on the other hand, he's been unpredictable. when we least expect it, he pulled the trigger and killed qasem soleimani. we were expecting that would be much more costly for us foreign policy but, again, the iranian reaction and then their miscalculation has led this to become a winning point, to this point, at least, for donald trump. ben has all the sport. hello and thanks forjoining us. if you were looking for a close run

title race this season, i'd suggest looking outside england as liverpool are now 16 points clear in the premier league with a game in hand. they beat tottenham i—0 in north london for their 20th win in 21 games this season. they drew the other one. roberto firmino scored the game's only goal in the first half in an entertaining match. jurgen klopp's side have broken the record for the best start to a league season anywhere in europe. 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 start is nearly perfect. we have to continue and we will continue because our contenders are so strong.

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 grew their advantage because second placed leicester surprisingly lost. they were beaten 2—1 by southampton, a team who, only three months ago, they beat 9—0. despite taking the lead, stuart armstrong and danny ings restored some pride for the saints. brendan rodgers' side could drop to third if manchester city avoid defeat at aston villa on sunday. chelsea, everton and manchester united all won today, too. wolves and newcastle played out a 1—1 draw, as did crystal palace and arsenal. inter milan are on course to extend their lead at the top of serie a. they're currently i—i up against atalanta. zlatan ibrahimovic scored his first goal for ac milan since rejoining the club. he said it made him feel alive as he grabbed the second in a 2—0 win at cagliari. it was milan's first since december. it'll be novak against nadal in the final of the atp cup as djokovic's serbia face rafa's spain. serbia saw off russia whilst nadal won the second singles rubber as they ended

australia's run at their home tournament. serena williams is warming up nicely for the australian open in just over a week too. she's into the final of the auckland international with a 6—1, 6—1 win over amanda anisimova. she'll play unseeded american jessica pegula in a bid to end a long wait for a piece of silverware. meanwhile, us open champion bianca andreescu will miss the aussie open as she recovers from a knee injury. the world no 6 said the tournament came too soon in her rehab. to the nfl playoffs, and the divisional round sees the top seeds enter the post season. with the number one seeds in the american football conference, the baltimore ravens, hosting the team that ended tom brady and the new england patriots title hopes — the tennessee titans. first up, though, the minnesota vikings travel to the number one national football conference team san francesco. i don't think you can look much

further from the number one seed, the san francisco 49ers. they have had the strong season, they have been battle tested, finished with a 13 and been battle tested, finished with a i3 and three record. on the other side, the baltimore ravens are at home tonight. they are the number one seed against the team who built —— beat the new england patriots. it will have to be in the rain so expect both teams to win essentially but that's what the baltimore ravens two, they are one of the two top three teams to carry the ball, run the ball. interestingly enough those three teams featured this weekend. that's all the sport for now. thank you. 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 tortoises

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. before we go, a reminder of our breaking story this hour. the queen and other senior royals are to hold talks at sandringham in eastern england on monday to discuss the future roles of prince harry and the duchess of sussex. prince harry will be there, and so will the prince of wales — prince charles — and the duke of cambridge — that's prince william. the bbc understands that meghan, the duchess of sussex, willjoin by telephone from canada. the sussexes unexpectedly announced this week that they plan to step back as senior members of the royal family.

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. there is no getting away from the fa ct there is no getting away from the fact that the many northern and western parts of the british isles saturday really was one of those days, very windy and at times very wet. that is one of the cheery photographs i could find. not all doom and gloom. at least for a time, it was that bright out towards the east. sta rt of it was that bright out towards the east. start of the day across scotla nd east. start of the day across scotland and northern ireland but as the days progress relatively mild airever the days progress relatively mild air ever further towards the south. but it will take its time before we see the rain, the last of it, and it will be a feature of the weather overnight across england and wales. further north, the skies will have

cleared but still the peppering of showers and because it will get that cold the showers will be wintry and a touch of frost in the eastern side of scotla nd a touch of frost in the eastern side of scotland to start the new day on sunday. that will not be the case across wales, and the south because across wales, and the south because a lot of cloud in rain around. that will quit the scene. one or two showers following on behind on a much reduced wind. still a fresh feel about the day despite all the sunshine across the north. further south, 8—11 will cover it but a glorious afternoon, plenty of sunshine and a fairly chilly evening after that. a cool night across the south because you will not have so much wind to keep the atmosphere turned up as we start monday, from the word go the first signs of very wet and windy weather across the western side of the british isles. don't be fooled into stepping out without a brolly or coat because as we get on through the day on monday

so we get on through the day on monday so this whole band of rain will be heavy and it will work its wayjust that bit further towards the east accompanied by a very strong and gusty wind. 40—60, possibly 70 mph, the met office already have warnings about this weather system. temperature is very academic, 7—11 also, would you want to stand around in itfor also, would you want to stand around in it for long? i doubt it. next week, strong —— restore me at times, spells of heavy rain and disruption to your travel plans, take care. —— restore me.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. iran's admission that it accidentally shot down a ukrainian airliner, killing all on board, has prompted angry protests on the streets of the capital tehran. some demonstrators are calling for the country's supreme leader to step down. 57 canadians died in the crash. prime minister trudeau has demanded a "full and complete" investigation and says many more steps need to be taken. 176 people died in the disaster. the queen is to host crisis talks with prince harry, prince william and prince charles at sandringham on monday. it's in the wake of a decision by harry and meghan to step back from their roles as senior royals. taiwan's president has won a second term in office, in an election dominated by the island's relationship with china. tsai ing—wen says beijing should abandon its threats to take the island by force.