this is bbc news. the headlines... urgent talks between the queen and prince harry and meghan will be held tomorrow over the royal couple's future. ira nia ns protests after the military finally admits to shooting down a passengerjet, as the foreign office objects to the arrest of the uk's ambassador in tehran. after weeks of criticism, australia's prime minister, scott morrison, proposes an inquiry to look into the bushfire emergency. recognising and remembering the contribution of lgbt personnel to the armed forces. liverpool make the best start to an english league season. victory over tottenham makes it 20 wins in 21 matches in what's becoming a record—breaking season.

and our sunday morning edition of the papers is at 9.35am. this morning's reviewers are rosamund urwin and james rampton. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the queen has summoned senior members of the royal family to sandringham to discuss future roles for the duke and duchess of sussex, who want to step back from their duties and spend more time in north america. the prince of wales, the duke of cambridge and prince harry will attend the meeting tomorrow, while meghan is expected join by phone from canada. here's our royal correspondent, nick witchell. it's been described as the "sandringham summit". on the queen's estate in norfolk tomorrow, the queen will come face—to—face

with prince harry for the first time since he and his wife issued their personal statement about their future last wednesday. also there will be the prince of wales and prince william, and harry's wife, meghan, the duchess of sussex, is expected to phone in to join the discussion from canada. officials have worked hard in recent days to understand what the sussexes want. there will, we understand, be a range of possibilities to review. it is hoped next steps will be agreed at the meeting. however, officials are stressing that any decision about the sussexes‘ future status will take time to be implemented. the trickiest area will be to agree the financial position of the sussexes as they seek financial independence. there are likely to be tax implications of any decision to base themselves outside of the united kingdom for any length of time. and buckingham palace will want tight protocols to prevent them cashing in too blatantly on their royal status. and underpinning it all is the human side, a rift most poignantly between two brothers. according to the sunday times,

william has spoken to friends of his sadness at the bond which has now been broken. "i've put my arm around my brother all our lives," he is quoted as saying. "i can't do that any more." nicholas witchell, bbc news. our correspondent, leigh milner, is in sandringham now. a huge amount of interest, a huge amount of speculation, i wonder how much detail will get. that is right. he huge amount of interest, as you can see behind me, from the photographers here since seven o'clock this morning, trying to catch a glimpse of her majesty as she attends the service today at st mary magdalene church just through the gates. what we are expecting is for her to arrive at about 11 o'clock, she will be driven down the driveway towards the gate where she is hopefully met by a few members of the royal family. just to let you

know, this is the church the royals use while at sandringham in the winter period. it seems as though the queen herself wants to carry on as if nothing has really happened, business as usual. it has only been a couple of days since meghan and harry announced they are to withdraw from being senior royals. a move which apparently has really hurt the royal family. instead, they which apparently has really hurt the royalfamily. instead, they want which apparently has really hurt the royal family. instead, they want to work to become financially independent, there are many rumours flying around how they will do that, one includes a book deal, another includes public speaking, and for meghan, she has her acting career. as you can imagine, quite a huge reaction to this by the public, particularly on social media. some are angry, some are happy for the couple. the biggest question of all is what is going to happen next. this is where the royal summit, a big family meeting, rather important

family meeting, will happen here at sandringham tomorrow. we have been told by the palace the queen along with the prince of wales, duke of cambridge, duke of sussex, they will meet in sunderland tomorrow to discuss the future of prince harry and his wife, meghan. however, it is looking unlikely the prince of wales will make it as he is currently in amman for will make it as he is currently in ammanfora will make it as he is currently in amman for a visit. not clear as well what is going to happen over the next couple of days, how long the discussions will take, all we have been told by the palaces they have pretty complicated issues to work through. for the moment, thank you. david mcclure is a royal expert and author of royal legacy about the wealth of the royal family. david, very good to have you here this morning. we will come onto money in a moment. we keep talking about how this is unprecedented, an emergency summit. are we overwriting it? we are going into totally new

territory. —— over egging it. it was tried ten years ago when prince edward tried to set up his own tv company, his wife had her pr company. they did not work, there we re company. they did not work, there were conflicts of interest. it is a problem having working and paid employment. the two don't seem to mix. we are told they want to want to come to a quick resolution in a matter of days not weeks. what sort of hybrid role do you think will be possible? i don't think anything is possible? i don't think anything is possible quickly. there is no way on monday they will get everything sorted at sandringham. it is a very complicated issue, issues of what does that mean being a part—time oil? how many public duties will you do? what sort of private work is allowa ble ? lots do? what sort of private work is allowable? lots of issues of security and even taxation. if they are going to spend time in america, canada, there are tax issues. a lot

to be done in a very short period of time. they have said they want to become financially independent which for a couple in their late 30s is probably rather visible to a lot of people listening and watching —— rather risible. why do they stand as independently wealthy people already? they are not short of a bob or two. we know definitely how he inherited about £7 million from his mother, from diana's state, and various family trust funds, he gets money from prince charles. together, they might well be worth £10 million, £15 million. but in the long term, if they will not be getting so much public money, they will have to be looking for other independent sources of revenue. if they do that, they will all come potentially sensitive political issues, if they write books, go on lecture tours, the monarchy are supposed to be politically neutral. there are potential minefields ahead

of them. but give up your title, access to that kind of funding, from the duchy of cornwall, that gives you the duchy of cornwall, that gives you more the duchy of cornwall, that gives you more freedom, surely? good question. ultimately, the hybrid royal role probably won't work. if you are going to step back, unless you are going to step back, unless you can find a totally new system, you can find a totally new system, you might have to step down. finally, if they decide this isn't full then, how easy would it be for them to come back and assume the roles they have been in? —— for them. it will look embarrassing, saying, i want my independence and a bit bored and you want the royal stardust on your shoulders again, it will be embarrassing. i think... probably no coming back from this. you make a statement like that saying you want to be semi—independent from the royal family, it will be very difficult to get back to where you were. good to talk to you, thank you very much.

you are welcome. borisjohnson has travelled to oman following the death of sultan qaboos — the longest—serving modern arab ruler. sultan qaboos died on friday at the age of 79 after a long struggle with illness. mrjohnson will attend a condolence ceremony today as part of three days of offical mourning. as we've been hearing, he will be joined by prince charles. the defence secretary ben wallace and the chief of the defence staff will also be there. the british ambassador to iran has denied taking part in protests in tehran following his arrest last night. in a tweet, rob macaire said he detained for half an hour after attending a vigil to pay his respects to the four british nationals who were killed in the ukrainian passenger plane that was shoot down by the iranian military on wednesday. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has said iran was in breach of international law and has called on tehran to descalate tensions in the region. simonjones reports.

protests in tehran against the government. for three days, iran had denied it shot down a ukrainian passenger plane. then, in an extraordinary turnaround, the military finally admitted it had made a disastrous mistake. britain's ambassador to tehran had joined what started as a vigil to the dead in the iranian capital. he left when it turned into a demonstration. but rob macaire was arrested as he stopped at a barbershop for a haircut. he was accused of helping to organise the protests. under the vienna convention, diplomats cannot be detained. this morning on twitter the ambassador said, thanks for the goodwill messages, i can confirm i was not taking part in demonstrations, went to one event advertised as a vigil for victims. normal to pay respects. some of the victims were british. i left after five minutes when some started chanting. here at the foreign office in london, the foreign secretary dominic raab has described the ambassador's arrest

as a flagrant violation of international law. he said the iranian government was at a crossroads moment. it could continue the march towards pariah status with all the political and economic isolation that involves, or it could take steps to de—escalate tensions and engage in diplomacy. britain is also demanding the investigation in the crash should be comprehensive, transparent and independent. a senior military commander in iran said the plane had been wrongly identified as an american missile. tensions were high in the region following the us‘s assassination of a senior iranian general. 57 of the 176 people who lost their lives were from canada. canada will not rest until we get the accountability, justice and closure that the families deserve. as the morning continues, so does the angen simon jones, bbc news. our world affairs correspondent,

caroline hawley, is in beirut. how much of a problem as this detention of the british ambassador to tehran? look, we havejust got detention of the british ambassador to tehran? look, we have just got a report on a news agency, hardline news agency in iran, and it says that the british ambassador, rob macaire, was arrested as an unidentified foreigner, they did not know who he was, and they said he was released as identified as an ambassador by the security forces and after the foreign ministry intervened. you heard there dominic raab has said it is a crossroads moment for iran. it is under pressure at home and abroad. we wait to see no how iran response. i think far more significant is the wider picture and the context in which the plane crash happened. —— we wait to

see how iran responds. there have been protests and calls for the supreme been protests and calls for the supreme leader himself to resign. one thing to note is in the iranian press, there has been coverage of these protests which is pretty unusual and we wait to see whether the protests gather momentum or whether they preach about and how the iranians respond. they were firing tear gas at the protesters last night. how much of an indication of how the iranian authorities will respond to the protests, the fact president rohani has said that bringing down of this plane was unforgivable? has said that bringing down of this plane was unforgivable ?|j has said that bringing down of this plane was unforgivable? i think it is really interesting. we had three days when the iranians were absolutely and adamantly denying they had been involved and then this extraordinary turnabout, where they said, no, it was us, they came

clea n, said, no, it was us, they came clean, put their hands up. they realised it is a very sensitive moment, they need to cooperate with the international community, they invited investigators in. clearly, there is enormous pressure on the regime and it knows it needs to handle things very carefully, if it is not going to get into more hot water. it is a ready being squeezed economically by sanctions. they were tightened and donald trump tighten them again in the last few days —— it is already. for an authoritarian regime to come out and say it has made a mistake is a very significant moment and it is hard to see at the moment and it is hard to see at the moment how it will play out. it is an incredibly interesting time in iran and of course a pretty dangerous moment still in the middle east, across the middle east, even though tensions have been ratcheted down quite a lot since there were fears last week of an all—out

confrontation between the us and iran. caroline hawley, in beirut, thank you. president trump has tweeted his support for the protesters in iran, saying, "to the brave, long—suffering people of iran, i've stood with you since the beginning of my presidency, and my administration will continue to stand with you. we are following your protests closely and are inspired by your courage." and to help get his message of solidarity across, he has also been tweeting in farsi. there are just over 20 hours left for the six candidates in the labour leadership to gain the backing they need to get to the next stage of the contest. sir keir starmer, rebecca long—bailey and lisa nandy have the required number of nominations — leaving emily thornberry and clive lewis lobbying to get the backing of at least 22 of their fellow labourmps and meps. registered supporters — who are not full party members —

will have 48 hours from 14th to 16th january to secure a vote by paying £25. the ballot will be open from 21st february to second april with the results announced two days later on 11th april. how likely are the other two to make the cut? it will be difficult. they need 22 mps or meps to nominate them. as it currently stands, emily thornberry has ten, clive lewis has four and one of those is himself. less tha n four and one of those is himself. less than a day to go now. you feel like it is going to be very difficult to make the cut. they are doing the broadcast rounds today, they feel they can get a last—minute surge to try and get over the line, but as it currently stands, probably four getting over the line, sir keir starmer, rebecca long—bailey, jess

phillips, lisa nandy. just looking at mps and meps nominations, at the moment, it looks like sir keir starmer is the frontrunner. but of course, it is not only mps and meps who choose, it is the members in the contest starting at the end of the month. what are the various candidates and hopeful saying to set themselves apart from each other? sir keir starmer launched formally yesterday, his message is about the party coming together, the end of factionalism, and also about keeping some of the radical policies. today rebecca long—bailey began talking, at the moment, she has had a difficult start to her campaign. the problems she has, the challenge, she has been described as a continuity candidate and given what happened in the election, that isn't particularly help. she has been speaking in the last hour to sky news and she was asked about that,

this key question, what went wrong in the election? this is what she had to say. the platform upon which many of those policies were developed was positive and, as i said, it did deal with the reinvestment and reinvigoration of our economy and the shift of wealth and power away from those few minorities that have it to everybody in every single community, but we didn't get that message through, unfortunately. we need to recognise that. very interesting from rebecca long—bailey, not particularly apologetic about much in the run—up to the election and it is a challenge for her because she is the favoured candidate of momentum, this grouping of the left within labour, but of course, she was instrumental in the manifesto. she needs to stop being the continuity candidate and not disassociate herself with the work she has done. for the moment, thank you. the headlines

urgent talks between the queen and prince harry and meghan ira nia ns protests after the military finally admits to shooting down a passengerjet, as the arrested british ambassador denies being a part of any demonstrations in tehran. after weeks of criticism australia's prime minister scott morrison proposes an inquiry to look into the bushfire emergency. after weeks of criticism over the handling of australia's bushfire emergency, the country's prime minister has admitted he could have done things differently. scott morrison says he'll propose a powerful inquiry — a royal comission to look into the official response. he also announced a fund of 76 million australian dollars to help some of those most—affected. he's been speaking to our partner network in australia, abc. there are things that i could have handled on the ground much better.

these are very raw, emotional environments. i've got to say that 95% or thereabouts of the responses i have had in these cases have been very positive and very appreciative. but, david, these are sensitive environments. they are very emotional environments. prime ministers are flesh and blood too in how they engage with people. our correspondent, katy watson, gave me this update on the fires from victoria. people here in victoria, especially where i am, which is right on the border where the bushfires are, are just doing theirjob or taking advantage of the slower days, if you like, where the fires are not creeping and growing as quickly. it is slightly cooler, slightly less wind. so, what they are doing is, they are trying to contain these fires. every few minutes, we see helicopters landing, refuelling, going off to try and put water on the bushfires to stop their spread. so, really, that on the ground is what people are focusing on. i mean, certainly, there has been a lot of criticism of scott morrison and how he has handled these fires,

as he called them, unprecedented, but certainly, there has been little sympathy for the politicians, and it is really about the community here pulling together. these last few days have been seen as a bit of a respite, being able to build containment lines, so that these bushfires don't spread, so that when the temperatures kick up again, perhaps they can contain the fires and handle them better. but at the same time, this community has also learned of another firefighter who has died about 60km from here — bill slade, who was a firefighter in parks victoria — and he was hit by a tree. and i think that's the difficulty here. people are on the ground working overtime, working as much as they can. they're bringing in firefighters from the us, who i met a couple of hours ago. you know, boots on the ground, just trying to contain these fires and, at the same time, you know, dealing with the news of yet another firefighter who has sadly died. police in australia have increased

a reward for information about the abduction and suspected murder of a british toddler who vanished 50 years ago. the body of cheryl grimmer, who was three when she went missing in 1970, has never been found. 1 million australian dollars, which is more than £500,000, is now on offer. the government is urging more people to visit local pharmacies to ease pressure on gps and hospitals. figures this week show a&e departments in england have experienced their worst month since waiting targets were introduced. patients who call the nhs111 hotline are being directed to pharmacists for urgent medication for things like asthma and diabetes, as well as those with mild conditions, such as sore throats and earache. i want our a&e services to be treating people who really need that full— blown service and want people going to their gp and able to get good access to their gp when they need the gp service, but if you have a minor illness that can be treated by a pharmacy, then why notjust pop

round the corner to the pharmacy instead? it takes pressure off the nhs and it is more convenient for patients. the health secretary, matt hancock. 20 years after the end of the ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual people serving in the armed forces, the royal british legion is calling on lgbtq+ veterans and those currently serving to join its lgbtq+ and allies branch. the aim is to recognise and remember the contribution of lgbtq+ personnel to the armed forces, as well as raising awareness of legion services available to them. for more on this, i'm joined now by trevor skingle, who served in the army from 197471979. ultimately frustrated with the tension between his sexuality and the continued pretence at being straight, he felt he had to leave. what was life like for you living this pretence? it was a bit like

living a dual life, except half of me was gone. i felt like living a dual life, except half of me was gone. ifelt like half living a dual life, except half of me was gone. i felt like half a person. it wasn't always like that. when i firstjoined the services, the initial basic training phase and training phase, iwas the initial basic training phase and training phase, i was so busy, i couldn't think about anything else. but in the working unit, i suddenly started to realise i really could have done with having a relationship with somebody and my preference would have been with another guy. but obviously, at the time, the ban was still in place. that was a no—no. it was almost like having a split personality, having to hide myself from everybody. hide my real self because of the same i was that i could have gone to prison... i could have been interrogated. i could have been interrogated. i could have been given a dishonourable discharge. you knew that i imagine before you signed up.

yeah. but the reality much harder to bear. i came from a military family so my aspiration was to join the services almost from the word go. i joined in spite of the fact i knew that i was gay at the time ijoined. the royal british legion is celebrating the first anniversary of this particular branch for the lg btq + this particular branch for the lgbtq+ community. why was it so important for you to join that?” had been in touch with friends, now vetera ns, had been in touch with friends, now veterans, former colleagues, but about a year ago, i kept my ear to the ground about what was going on in the military, particularly as i initially started a group called rank outsiders with other veterans and together we were trying to kick offa and together we were trying to kick off a lobbying process in 1991. i kept my ear to the ground to see what was going on. the ban was lifted in 2000. i still kept my ear

to the ground and because i was still occasionally getting homophobic comments on social media, not i might add from serving personnel, usually, i have to say, might seem controversial, older vetera ns might seem controversial, older veterans really stuck in their viewpoints about lesbians and gay men, but then, about a year ago, i suddenly saw this advert for the royal british legion lgbtq+ group, soi royal british legion lgbtq+ group, so ijoined. what impact has it had on your life? it has been incredibly cathartic. last year, at pride, i marched under a banner and albeit that was the royal british legion under veteran, i can feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing at now, i felt so on the back of my neck standing at now, ifelt so proud. this particular we can, 20th anniversary, commemoration of lifting the ban, ——

this particular weekend. it has been a pivotal moment in my life. particularly with the apology made byjohnny mercer in behalf of the government. that was a pivotal moment in the house of commons when he said that. although i held it together at the time, the following morning when i saw the first news item on my news feed, i burst into tea rs. item on my news feed, i burst into tears. briefly, how much does it alleviate those sad, difficult and probably traumatic memories when you are serving? it has alleviated it immensely. this morning, i woke up andi immensely. this morning, i woke up and i thought about what has been going on this week and what has happened and i woke up instead with a smile on my face. we are so grateful to you coming in and telling us your story, thank you. taking a look at the papers.

our review is... rosamund urwin, who's a senior reporter at the sunday times, and feature writer for the independent james rampton. i was hoping we would go to the weather. not quite ready. what else cani weather. not quite ready. what else can i tell you about? much more throughout the morning, the discussions to be had tomorrow with the queen and prince charles over the queen and prince charles over the future role of prince harry and meghan. much more on that story and all the rest on the bbc news website. have we got the weather? we have. much more sunshine around this afternoon after outbreaks of rain again this morning, some have been heavyin again this morning, some have been heavy in wales, northern england and the midlands. the wet weather will be off into the north sea. still showers dotted around the west and south and showers in the northern half of scotland turning to snow on

higher ground, quite a chilly day here. even further south, temperatures dropping relative to the morning. chilly conditions tonight, brief spell of showers temporarily lifting the temperatures, up and down in the night. in the cold spots, touch of frost. northern areas, ice on monday morning. starting sunny on monday, do not be fooled, turning windy and wet from the west, afternoon bringing torrential rain, widespread gales, lifting temperatures up a little bit after the chilly start, fairly academic, with winds touching 50,60, fairly academic, with winds touching 50, 60, maybe 70 miles an hour fairly academic, with winds touching 50,60, maybe 70 miles an hour in western areas in the evening rush hour, may be topping 85 mph in the evening in western scotland, and transferring eastwards too. goodbye for now.

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with martine croxall.