screaming. more than 100 people die in iran in two explosions near the grave of a top revolutionary guards commander. the united nations peacekeeping mission in lebanon says it is deeply concerned about rising tensions, following the killing of a senior hamas figure. and junior doctors in england begin the longest strike in the health service's history, in a six—day walk—out over pay. and this history—making teenager is on target for further glory. 16—year—old luke littler could tonight become the youngest player to win the world darts championship. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. and checking out

more than 100 people have been killed and scores of others injured in two explosions in south—eastern iran, near the grave of a top revolutionary guards commander. state television says the blasts occurred in quick succession in the city of kerman, during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the killing of qasem soleimani. he was iran's most powerful military commander and was killed in 2020 by a us air strike in iraq. local officials say two bags containing explosives were detonated by remote control at the entrance to the burial site. bbc persian�*s parham gobadi earlier told me further details of the blast. as you mentioned, this is one of the deadliest attacks in iran in the past a0 years. it has been unprecedented, the number of the death toll is rising every every few minutes, so far. they say that some of those who were injured are in critical conditions and we know at least one medic was among the casualties who was killed, two others, at least, are in critical conditions. they say that after

the first explosion took place, the second, when medics and people rushed to the scene, the second explosion took place after ten minutes. what we don't know is that if all these people were killed because of the, as a result of the explosion or some of them were killed because of the stampede. and the reason i am saying that is because four years ago... this happened during a ceremony commemorating, marking the fourth anniversary of qasem soleimani's death. he was killed in a us drone strike in iraq in 2020. during his burialfour years ago, 56 people were killed in a stampede, so what we don't know at this stage is those who were killed today, some of them were killed in a stampede, again, because of the chaos and panic at the scene? 0r no, all of them were killed as a result of the two explosions that took place there? what reaction have

we had to this so far? so, iran has considered this as a terrorist act against iran and they said that they would definitely retaliate to whoever is responsible for this. no group has claimed responsibility for this. iranian media has also rejected the claims by israeli media that a top, iran's revolutionary guard commander was killed. they say no commander was killed during these attacks. the un peacekeeping force in lebanon says it is deeply concerned about a potential escalation of violence, following the killing in beirut of a top hamas leader. a spokesperson for unifil, kandice ardiel, said a wider conflict would have devastating consequences for both israel and lebanon, and urged all parties to show restraint. israel said its forces were in a very high state of readiness for any retaliation following the killing of saleh al—arouri.

it's not admitted or denied the attack, but hamas has accused it of being responsible. a spokesman for the group promised retaliation, and said hamas could not negotiate with israel while they committed — with israel while they committed what he called "crimes". hezbollah, an iranian—backed politically influential islamist group which controls the most powerful armed force in lebanon, has been exchanging fire with israel along the israel—lebanon border since the war in gaza began in october. hassan nasrallah, the leader of the group, is due to give a news conference in the next hour. he has previously said there would be a severe reaction to any israeli killing on lebanese soil. the head of the international chamber of shipping has told the bbc that consumers were likely to see a rise in the price of goods within weeks because of the cost of re—routing vessels away from the red sea, due to ongoing tensions in the middle east. guy platten said about 20% of the container fleet was being diverted around southern africa to avoid the risk of attack by houthi rebels in yemen. he said the longerjourney added up

to 14 extra days to a ship's voyage and that shipping costs had already increased as a result. earlier i spoke to the bbc�*s security correspondent, frank gardner. i began by asking him what he made of the latest attacks in south—eastern iran. the biggest question here is who did it and why? the first name that is going to come up in a lot of people's minds is israel because israel has been accused, with some justification, in the past of the targeted assassination of iranian nuclear scientists, people who were working on what israel suspects to be a nuclear weapon, which iran has always denied. so far there is no claim or counterclaim — or blame — being assigned on this one. you have got to look at both the tactics and the timing of this. it isn't israel's style and it is certainly not in israel's interests to do this right now. it has got its hands full in gaza, in the west bank and its race for retaliation after the targeted assassination of saleh

al—arouri in beirut, which even though israel hasn't taken responsibility for that, it is widely assumed that it was them. but this would make no sense, for israel to have done this, and an awful lot of bystanders, civilians, this was not a military target, so there are a number of people who are opposed to the regime in tehran, there are regional, like the balochi separatists, for example, but so far we don't know who has done it. but it is unlikely to have been israel. 0k, just staying with that, we've been talking about what is happening on the memorial of the killing of qasem soleimani. 0k, just staying with that, we've been talking about this happening at a memorial of the killing of qasem soleimani. for our audience, explain that significance as well. sure, well, qasem soleimani was a huge figure in iran. he ran the quds force, which is the external military operations, covert, black ops wing of the iranian revolutionary guard, so he was in charge of intelligence, arming, funding,

training, all of iran's proxy militias around the region, so hezbollah, all the groups in syria, iraq, quite possibly in lebanon as well. ——possibly yemen as well. and on president trump's orders, he was assassinated when he visited baghdad. they hit him with a drone strike as he visited baghdad airport because he was also, as far as the americans were concerned, he was involved in the targeting of american troops in iraq. and this was a huge blow to iran, he has been martyred, in their words, and his shrine is a big pull for iranian tourists down in kerman in the south. 0k, we will move onto yesterday's events and the fallout from that. we were talking to carine there in beirut about the situation in lebanon. a top hamas leader killed, as you say, no responsibility claimed by israel, but it is widely thought — is that the correct terminology? — that they were behind it. what more do we know about that and what do you fear

the implications are now? right, saleh al—arouri, whose arabic nickname was abu muhammad, he was the number two in hamas after ismail haniyeh, but he also had a military role. in fact, there are pictures of him at his desk in full combat fatigues with an assault rifle in front of him, smiling on the phone. he was somebody who was believed by the israelis to be possibly he is somebody who is believed by the israelis to be possibly the only senior hamas political leader outside the gaza strip who had advanced knowledge of the october 7th attacks. this is significant for israel because david barnea, the head of mossad, israel's intelligence agency, while not saying, "yes, we did it," has reminded people that, rather like after the munich 0lympics attack back in 1972 when 11 israeli athletes were murdered and one by one mossad went after all the perpetrators...

it took them years, they hunted them down in european capitals. they have said they are going to do the same thing to the people who carried out the october 7th massacre in southern israel and so, it would fit with that, that he would have been high on their hit list. there is no confirmation, but it is quite likely that they would have wanted this guy dead. now, it may well be counter—productive because he was an instrumental part of the negotiations to get the hostages released, to try to lower the temperature of the gaza war and eventually find a way to end it, but as far as israel is concerned, he was a top terrorist with blood on his hands and they would have been very likely to have considered him to be a legitimate target. the question a lot of our viewers will now want to know is, what is your assessment of what the potential fallout could be, following that killing? well, the big question, as i think carine referred to there, is what is hezbollah going to do? because hezbollah is the most powerful military force in the lebanon. it's much more powerful

than the lebanese army, which is pretty weak. they have around 150,000 missiles, drones and rockets all aimed at israel and that is enough, should they choose to go in, to declare a full—scale war, to at least temporarily overwhelm israel's air defences. they could deluge tel aviv and haifa with rockets, and there would be a lot of deaths. israel would retaliate to that and quite possibly so would the us navy, who are stationed just off shore in the eastern mediterranean, and there would be a devastating response on south lebanon, so it is probably not in the lebanese interests to do that and i think hezbollah up until now has quite carefully calibrated its response to the attacks by israel on gaza. there are limited attacks across the border. of course, it doesn't feel like limited if you are an israeli citizen, one of the 80,000 who has been evacuated from northern israel — they cannot live there in northern israel because they are being rocketed every day. but in military terms, these

are relatively limited attacks. it is not a full—scale war. and whatever hezbollah does, it will be in full consultation with iran, with the supreme leadership and the supreme security council there. and we are supposed to be hearing from hassan nasrallah in the next hour or so... the head of hezbollah. we will be listening for that and bring that to our viewers. another question, where are talks at the moment? you mentioned hostages. we talk about calls from all quarters now for a temporary ceasefire of some sort. i was reading that now, given the events of yesterday, egypt may be less likely to engage in those talks. what more do we know about that? whenever you have a dramatic, violent events such violent event such as the assassination of saleh al—arouri, tempers and tensions inevitably go sky high and the immediate reaction of everybody on any side is, "that's it, talks are off," which is what has happened. there was supposed to be

an israeli delegation going to cairo to sit down, so, the egyptian intelligence have been very closely involved with gaza, they have a vested interest in keeping that border and that area calm because they have got their own border with them, they do not want to see the whole gaza war spilling over. they have already got problems with isis in the northern sinai. the last thing they want is to see that spill over. so they have been trying to engineer these talks to try to settle this, get some of the hostages out, get a ceasefire in place, leading to an eventual deal that stops the gaza—hamas—israel war. that is now on pause. it will almost certainly be resumed at some stage because it is in everybody�*s interest to stop this. indeed, and of course it is notjust about getting those hostages released, but also getting more aid into gaza, isn't it? you havejust come back from the region yourself? yes, but i wasn't in gaza, which is pretty difficult for any journalist, but no, i was injerusalem. yes, this is the tragedy

of all of this, is that the people who suffer are the ordinary civilians. you know, the peaceful citizens of israel who were slaughtered in southern israel on october 7th, the thousands of palestinians — men, women, children — who are nothing to do with hamas who have paid with their lives for this war. and those who survive are in dire conditions. un and other aid agencies are daily calling out for more aid to get in and for a ceasefire because it is one thing to get the aid in, that is only half the problem. if you have air strikes and drone strikes happening every single day on parts, in some cases, of gaza which they have been told are safe and are clearly not because there will be explosions in buildings, you are getting more getting more and more casualties and the hospitals, especially, are in a really dire state. analysis there from our security correspondent, frank gardner.

live now tojerome drevon, senior analyst injihad and modern conflict with the international crisis group. thanks very much forjoining us here on bbc news. let's draw on your expertise and knowledge of hamas. let me start by asking you, how much of a blow to the organisation's capabilities do you believe the killing of saleh al—arouri is? 50. killing of saleh al-arouri is? so, the killing _ killing of saleh al-arouri is? so, the killing of _ killing of saleh al—arouri is? srr, the killing of saleh killing of saleh al—arouri is? s57, the killing of saleh al—arouri killing of saleh al—arouri is? s513, the killing of saleh al—arouri will not directly affect the war in gaza. the war in gaza is directly led by its commanders, mostly for noir and mohammed deif, the leaders of the military, so it is not going to affect directly their operations, but it still matters because saleh al—arouri was number two of the group and arguably one of the strongest figures, especially as he was connecting the group to hezbollah into iran, but also played the role in the funding of the military wing and the military thinking, generally speaking. find military wing and the military thinking, generally speaking. and we have heard hamas— thinking, generally speaking. and we have heard hamas has _ thinking, generally speaking. and we have heard hamas has reportedly -

thinking, generally speaking. and we l have heard hamas has reportedly told egyptian and qatari mediator is that it is suspending any talks on hostage negotiations. let me start by asking you about that. where does this leave any possible talks that may have been in the pipeline? that is something — may have been in the pipeline? twat is something quite expected. they have to do something, they cannot just continue to negotiate just one day after their number two was killed by the israelis, arguably, in beirut. at the same time, the discussions are quite difficult, independently from this killing. they are difficult because it is... it is difficult for them to both, hamas to find some agreement, whatever deal they can have on the opening stages and hostages, the weapons fire, the conditions, what will happen to the gaza strip later on? so it is not directly because of that that the discussions are ending and becoming increasingly disfigured.— and becoming increasingly disfiuured. ., ~ ., ., ., disfigured. what kind of reaction or retaliation could _ disfigured. what kind of reaction or retaliation could be _ disfigured. what kind of reaction or retaliation could be expected, - disfigured. what kind of reaction or retaliation could be expected, in i retaliation could be expected, in light of what happened? t

retaliation could be expected, in light of what happened?- light of what happened? i don't exect a light of what happened? i don't expect a retaliation _ light of what happened? i don't expect a retaliation directly, i expect a retaliation directly, outside of lebanon and the gaza strip. what could happen would be one reaction within lebanon, on the front line with israel. but that could only occur in coordination with hezbollah, which so much controls the self of the country. but i am not sure that hamas would directly retaliate. i think hamas would mostly focus on its fight in the gaza strip itself. and would mostly focus on its fight in the gaza strip itself.— the gaza strip itself. and where does this leave _ the gaza strip itself. and where does this leave israel's - the gaza strip itself. and where does this leave israel's next - the gaza strip itself. and where i does this leave israel's next steps as well? ., , ., ., , ., as well? for israel, that is somehow as well? for israel, that is somehow a s mbolic as well? for israel, that is somehow a symbolic victory — as well? for israel, that is somehow a symbolic victory because _ as well? for israel, that is somehow a symbolic victory because he - as well? for israel, that is somehow a symbolic victory because he was i as well? for israel, that is somehow a symbolic victory because he was a | a symbolic victory because he was a powerful figure within hamas. a symbolic victory because he was a powerfulfigure within hamas. and israel cannot entirely destroy hamas as a movement. they probably realise that. so israel is looking for some type of symbolic victory. and a symbolic victory for israel occurs through the killing of some particularfigures, and so hamas figures in qatar are political leaders that are known to not be as

relevant, so individuals like these, killing them are a victory for israel and israel can possibly continue to do so in the gaza strip itself by killing the top two or three hamas leaders, if it manages to. �* ,, , three hamas leaders, if it manages to. �* ., ., three hamas leaders, if it manages to. ., ., , three hamas leaders, if it manages to. ., ., to. and as someone who watches and researches hamas, _ to. and as someone who watches and researches hamas, do _ to. and as someone who watches and researches hamas, do we _ to. and as someone who watches and researches hamas, do we know - to. and as someone who watches and researches hamas, do we know much more about how many of their key leaders, i mean, this was the second in command in terms of political movements and operations, mr saleh al—arouri, but do we know about other key figures who have been killed during this war? emil? other key figures who have been killed during this war? only limited numbers were _ killed during this war? only limited numbers were killed _ killed during this war? only limited numbers were killed in _ killed during this war? only limited numbers were killed in the - killed during this war? only limited numbers were killed in the gaza i numbers were killed in the gaza strip. the number three of the military was killed, and otherwise some heads of prominent brigades were killed as well, but the top leaders are still there, the military regime is still there, they are still managing to coordinate most of their military actions and so we have seen that hamas has an organised movement is still able to organised movement is still able to

organise militarily within the gaza strip. organise militarily within the gaza stri -. g ., , ., organise militarily within the gaza stri. , ., , ., ., ~ ,, strip. ok, jerome drevon, thank you ve much strip. ok, jerome drevon, thank you very much for— strip. ok, jerome drevon, thank you very much for sharing _ strip. ok, jerome drevon, thank you very much for sharing your— strip. ok, jerome drevon, thank you | very much for sharing your knowledge of the story. very much for sharing your knowledge of the story-— around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a 15—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering teenager harry pitman, who was fatally stabbed in north london on new year's eve. harry, who was 16 and from haringey, was attacked in primrose hill shortly before midnight on sunday. the metropolitan police said an 18—year—old man was also arrested on suspicion of affray. the government says pupils at english schools that have been partially closed because of dangerous concrete will not get extra help in their exams. since september, some students have not been able to access design and technology work rooms, laboratories and other specialist spaces because of crumbling concrete, known as raac. school leaders have called for special consideration. new research suggests that supermarkets experienced their busiest christmas period since 2019.

the research firm kantar said customers made 488 million trips to the supermarket in the four weeks to christmas eve, with nearly £14 billion passing through the tills. kantar said promotions and offers were behind the boost. you're live with bbc news. junior doctors working in england's public health services have begun a six—day strike. it's the longest industrial action in the history of britain's health service, and follows a break down in talks with the government over pay. before the strike, nhs england medical director professor sir stephen powis said the health service was facing one of its most difficult starts to a year since 19118. 0ur reporter, meghan 0wen, has more on why this latest strike is so significant. this isn't the first time thatjunior doctors in england have walked out. in fact, they first went on strike in march 2023. since then, the nhs has had to cancel over 1.2 million appointments. let's just take a look

at what a junior doctor actually is. now, they are qualified doctors who are going through clinical training, which can take around eight years or more. they make up around 50% of nhs staff, so actually, over the next six days of industrial action, the nhs could be losing half of its workforce, and that's at a time when the nhs is already facing pressure from the winter season. now, here's nhs england's medical director. we just had a really busy christmas and new year period, our nhs staff have coped magnificently with the pressures over that period, but we are now facing six days of industrial action byjunior doctors. that's the longest period of industrial action in nhs history. of course, it's at a time when the nhs is always very busy with winter pressures, viruses such as covid and flu, so there's no doubt it's going to be challenging. first of all, let's just take a look at how muchjunior doctors are paid. well, for the basic foundation pay in first year, it's just over £32,000,

and that's without extras such as night pay. this can climb to over £63,000 for specialty registrars, which is after a few years of training. now, the government have offered a 3% average pay rise from january, and this is on top of an existing 9% average pay rise, which was already received back in april, but the british medical association is saying that this is not enough, and that's because junior doctors are asking for a 35% pay rise. that's because they've received below inflation pay rises since 2008. now, in terms of the government response, they say, we urge the bma junior doctors' committee to call off their strokes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution and so we can all get back to focusing on patients and their care.

meghan 0wen reporting there. luke littler�*s sensational run in the darts pdc world championship has continued. �*luke the nuke', as he's known, has become the youngest player to reach the final. the 16—year—old beat the former champion, rob cross, in the semi—final last night at london's alexandra palace. he'll play the world number one, luke humphries, in the final tonight. 0ur correspondent matt graveling is at alexandra palace, where the final will be held this evening. imean, i mean, this has really driven up interest in darts, luke littler�*s success story. first, tell us a bit more about look for those watching you haven't been following him. —— tell us a bit more about luke littler. ht tell us a bit more about luke littler. , ., ., �* tell us a bit more about luke littler. ., �* ~ ., tell us a bit more about luke littler. , ., ., �* 4' ., ., tell us a bit more about luke littler. ., �* 4' ., ., “ littler. if you don't know who luke littler. if you don't know who luke littler is, where _ littler. if you don't know who luke littler is, where have _ littler. if you don't know who luke littler is, where have you - littler. if you don't know who luke littler is, where have you been i littler. if you don't know who luke littler is, where have you been forj littler is, where have you been for the last three weeks? because he will be back here later today in the final, 16 years old, from warrington. there isn't anyone here right now, we are allowed in because this is, which is great, because this is, which is great, because

this is, which is great, because this is the hottest ticket in town. let's get a preview, you can see the board behind me and alexandra palace, we have the spy cam which gives people that great view across the crowd, there will be many people here later and luke littler will make his debut here at the tournament and make his walkjust down that area to my right hand side, pass the picture is a former champions on the left, you have raymond, his old hero, john parker, adrian lewis and also fill there, to name a few, and of course luke littler from warrington will be hoping to add his name to the list. who can really bet against him? this is a seventh game at the tournament, the final, he was already the youngest player at the tournament to ever win a match here and he could now become the youngest player ever to win the championship, at 16, doesn't turn 17 for a couple of weeks, the last youngest person was 24 weeks, the last youngest person was 2a years old, so this shows how remarkable the student is. ht is 24 years old, so this shows how remarkable the student is. it is the battler of the _ remarkable the student is. it is the battler of the brits _

remarkable the student is. it is the battler of the brits tonight, - remarkable the student is. it is the battler of the brits tonight, do i remarkable the student is. it is the battler of the brits tonight, do -- i battler of the brits tonight, do —— but it is the looks tonight, do you think you can win it because it is the battle of the luke blue, luke humphreys being the opponent and he is 28 years old from newbury, it is an interesting dilemma we have here for luke humphreys because, having played such an incredible game yesterday, he had a three dot average of 108, the top ten best dot averages the tournament has ever seen and yet everybody is talking about luke littler, which is brilliant because it is putting new eyes of the sport, but i think if both players turn up today, following luke's 6— to win yesterday in which he beat a former world champion and then you have luke humphreys win, 6—0 to get to the final, and if both players bring their best game we are in for a heck of a final here in north london. we are indeed, my mum was watching the dance last night, everyone i know he is an unusual darts and has become

one. we talk about luke littler, let's watch the video of luke when he was smaller because this has been doing the rounds virally. here we 90, doing the rounds virally. here we go, he is a toddler, playing darts. gratuitous video there, match, and just tell us about how this country has been swept up in this darts obsession. we are broadcasting around the world and there will be some people going, what is all this about? t some people going, what is all this about? , ., ., . some people going, what is all this about? , ., ., , _, about? i tell you what. when i come down here. — about? i tell you what. when i come down here, there _ about? i tell you what. when i come down here, there are _ about? i tell you what. when i come down here, there are three - about? i tell you what. when i come down here, there are three nations i down here, there are three nations that are embracing this more than any other nation. you have the brits here cheering for luke littler, you have such a big german contingent, but you also have the dutch here as well, they are cheering for the likes of barney and also van gogh, three—time world championships, but really the story has now gone crazy and made it to the final, this has gone great for everybody, so i think evenif gone great for everybody, so i think even if you don't like darts, you can love a sports story and night will be brilliant as a result. matt gravelin: will be brilliant as a result. matt graveling at _ will be brilliant as a result. matt graveling at alexandra - will be brilliant as a result. matt graveling at alexandra palace waiting and watching for that darts championship tonight. thank you very

much, do stay with us here on bbc news. good afternoon. today has brought somewhat brighter weather for many of us, but in the wake of storm henk, there's still a lot of water out there. the ground is saturated, numerous flood warnings in force, and there is some more rain to come. through the rest of the day, that rain mostly in the form of some quite hefty showers, it stays windy across southern counties of england and the channel islands, large amounts of cloud across scotland in particular with some showery rain, windy up towards the northern isles, and cold across shetland, ending the day with temperatures barely above freezing here, and generally speaking, temperatures around 6—9 degrees as we head into the early part of the evening. 0vernight, we keep fairly large amounts of cloud, still some showers here and there, clearer skies, though, a slice of clear sky spreading from the south—west. temperatures dropping to around three, four or five degrees, some places just a little colder than that. into tomorrow, low pressure to the north of the uk, still generating some showery rain. this frontal system bringing some

rain into the south, in between this slice of sunshine, tending to drift a little bit further northwards through the day. the far north of england, parts of northern ireland and scotland staying cloudy, showery, windy in the far north, and then this rain starts to edge into southern counties of england. we will have to keep an eye on this, there's still a bit of uncertainty about this weather system, it may edge just a little bit further northwards, it will bring heavy rain in places where we really do not need it, moving into south—east england and east anglia through the evening, and on the southern flank it may be that we see another swathe of quite strong winds, but by friday that weather system is clearing out into continental europe. friday is a bit of a transition day, there will still be some showers around, but things will be slowly drying out and calming down. a lot of cloud, some sunshine, temperatures down on where they have been, and that drying out process continues into the weekend, with low pressure relinquishing its grip,

and high pressure building more strongly across the uk. there will be some showers around, some of those could even be wintry, because the air will be turning colder. with that colder air and high pressure, lighter winds, we will see some mist and fog patches by night, a touch of frost for some, as well, generally the days colder than they have been, but a lot of dry weather around with some spells of sunshine.

this is bbc news, the headlines: more than 100 people die in iran in two explosions near the grave of a top revolutionary guards commander. the united nations peacekeeping mission in lebanon says it is deeply concerned about rising tensions, following the killing of a senior hamas figure. 0n verified today, we have been investigating one hospital under attack in gaza in a series of health facilities which have been affected by the war. and aftershocks and heavy rain complicate earthquake rescue efforts injapan — at least 64 people are now confirmed dead. time for a look at the business news now.

thank you very much.