aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto.een taken place in elsewhere internet —— in canada. all canadians are broken to hear that this flight had crashed. all canadians were shocked and outraged to learn that it had been brought down by an uranian missile. —— iranian pulled up this tragedy struck our community, leaving cities like edmonton reeling but this was truly a canadian tragedy. all canadians are morning your loss. that was justin trudeau, speaking at a memorial in alberta. australia's prime minister says he regrets his handling of the bushfire crisis — which has killed at least 28 people and destroyed thousands of homes — in the wake of the country's hottest and driest year on record. scott morrison has faced mounting criticism over his government's ties to the coal industry and its record of dismissing action on climate change. for many australians, the current crisis is a wake up call that demands action. clive myrie's been to the town of cooma. sadly, this is another sad day because of yes, scott morrison, the pri

aleem maqbool is in toronto and has this report. >> so this is about two weeks ago, when they got to iran. aleem: the family traveled to iran from canada to plan a wedding. they died in the crash. it has left close friends utterly dazed. >> first it was shock and denial, because you cannot -- you doesn't make sense. you never hear of such a story. but then you keep reading and looking at the news. there's this anger, like why did it happen to these people. they were the nicest people. why them, why them? aleem: the u.s., canada, and britain say there is evidence and iranian missile hit the plane. tehran calls those illogical allegations, and say it could take one or two years to complete its investigation. these pictures showt' 's already chosen to clear much of the crash site, essentially burying important leads. even before the data has been analyzed from the flight recorders, officials already say they are short of one thing. >> the aviation authority cannot respeculate. we not sure of the causes yet to what we can say for certain is that a missile to not strike the plane. e causes

aleem maqbool. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in afghanistan.he potential consequences. iran is vowing revenge. what kind of retaliation could there be? well, iran has many ways and many means to strike back. and judging by its past military operations, its response will be carefully calibrated. it will be carefully calibrated. it will want to be seen to reply in equal measure to what it has described as a declaration of war, but it wants to avoid a direct military confrontation with the united states, which it knows could push this region into an ever more unpredictable and deadly escalation. so, its next move could possibly be through some of its many proxies across this region, possibly in iraq, where there are us forces, us targets, where i am now coming in afghanistan, where us forces are also based. but given iran's vast intelligence network, it could also ta ke intelligence network, it could also take place in another corner of the world, farfrom take place in another corner of the world, far from iran's take place in another corner of th

our north america correspondent aleem maqbool reports from toronto.ense of complete disbelief now is palpable. at the shocking revelations about how this disaster may have happened. compounded, of course, by the huge sense of loss here. i have been praying since yesterday, we lost one of the students from the school. it is so sad, so sad. some people say it wasjust engine failure, some people say it was done by missile. really, it's very confusing. iran says it may take one or two years to resolve the confusion, and for its crash investigation to reach any conclusions. but these pictures show it has already chosen to clear much of the crash site, potentially burying important leads. and even before the data has been analysed from the flight recorders, its officials already say they are sure of one thing. translation: the aviation authority cannot speculate, we aren't sure of the causes yet. but what we can say for certain is that a missile did not strike the plane, but the fire and its causes, we still need to work out. but this mobile phone footage d

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in richmond, virginia.twins seems to have failed — because too many turned up. organisers wanted to break a record stretching back more than twenty years — but the size of the crowd meant strict rules on registration couldn't be met. tim allman‘s report does contain some flash photography. if you happen to be visiting the sports stadium, you may have been forgiven you might be seeing double. this was a venue full of twins. lots and lots of twins. thousands of them, in fact. the call had gone out, a record was there to be broken. when i heard the news i thought, yes, this is the moment that we as twins should go and do best and have a responsibility to do that because being a ten is a placid thing that can happen to anybody. but setting a record is easier said than done. the numbers are turned up lead to long queues and that meant registering the twins wasn't straightforward so a new world record was very much in the balance evenif record was very much in the balance even if the organisers sounded fairly con

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto.g underway in taiwan's general election — with control of both the presidency and the parliament up for grabs. relations with china are the main issue with parties standing on closer links or independence platforms. cindy sui has more. it's the biggest export destination, biggest export destination and people rely on the mainland for their livelihood and tourism is also a big factor here. since president tsai ing—wen coming to power, that the relationship between the two sides has largely deteriorated. the amount of tourists coming here has dropped by over one million and tourist earnings have dropped by $1.5 billion so this is affecting a lot of people's livelihoods. they need to determine among themselves whether it is more important to safeguard taiwan's democracy as the president is advocating or find a more moderate solution, perhaps, to have good relationships with beijing and still economic growth in taiwan. let's get some of the day's other news. oman state tv is reporting that

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto. from a volcano in the philippines has led the authorities there to order eight thousand people to leave the area. sped—up footage of the taal volcano, south of the philippine capital, manila, shows the plume of white smoke that's one kilometre high. as tremors shook the area, sped up footage shows a volcanic lightning storm in the column of steam and ash. the authorities have raised the alert level and manila's international airport has put all flights on hold. china has urged the international community to oppose taiwanese independence, after the landslide victory yesterday of president tsai ing—wen. president tsai, who advocates greater autonomy for the island , urged beijing to remember the importance of peace, democracy, and dialogue. but chinese officials said her victory didn't change the fact that taiwan was part of what it calls "one china". australia's prime minister says he regrets his handling of the bushfire crisis, which has killed at least 28 people and destroyed thousan

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto. breaking news that we have been getting, in the last few minutes iran's state television has reported that the ukrainian aircraft that crashed near tehran on wednesday was brought down due to human error, that is what iranian state media is reporting, we will continue to bring your development as the story progresses. voting is now under way in taiwan's general election — with control of both the presidency and the parliament up for grabs. the main divide between the parties is over how to manage relations with china. supporters of the democratic progressive party tend to favour moves towards outright independence, whereas supporters of the kuomintang generally prefer closer relations with beijing. cindy sui is in taipei for us — i asked her how voting was going. the crowd has thinned out a little bit. people are still very eagerly coming into polling stations like this one throughout taiwan, and patiently waiting for their chance to vote. they brought their id cards and are turning i

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto.lim cleric condemned the confrontation between iran and the united states, saying it risked plunging the country and the wider middle east into deeper conflict. grand ayatollah ali al—sistani said attacks by both sides inside iraq in the last week showed a blatant disregard for the country's sovereignty. 0ur middle east editor, jeremy bowen, reports from baghdad. chanting in baghdad, it was a day of protest, to show they don't plan to give up. their main target, politicians and a parliament they say have dragged the country to disaster. "get out," was the chant. "you corrupt people, leave our land." protesters have occupied baghdad's equivalent of piccadilly circus since october. iraq's trip to the brink of a new war this week has reinforced the desire for change. we don't want to be a place for war. we want to be free from all these things. we want to be a country that is separated from iran, from the united states. we want to be friends with everyone, enough of war. 0ther protests ha

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto. way in taiwan's general election — with control of both the presidency and the parliament up for grabs. the main divide between the parties is over how to manage relations with china. supporters of the democratic progressive party tend to favour moves towards outright independence, whereas supporters of the kuomintang generally prefer closer relations with beijing. cindy sui is in taipei for us — i asked her how voting was going. the crowd has thinned out a little bit. people are still very eagerly coming into polling stations like this one throughout taiwan, and patiently waiting for their chance to vote. they brought their id cards and are turning in their mobile phones and going into rooms like this one, classrooms actually in this middle school, to cast their ballot. they have a very, very tough decision to make. they have to decide whether they believe in tsai ing—wen‘s message that china is a threat and taiwan should keep a distance from mainland china, or mayor han kuo—yu's mes

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto.is an aviation industry consultant with leeham news and analysis in the us. he told us why he isn't reassured by the investigation so far. the fact that the iranians are already bulldozing over the site is very, very troubling. we do not know what full cooperation really means. it could mean a number of things, it is very subjective. we don't know if the ukrainians are going to have the authority to look at the black boxes oi’ authority to look at the black boxes or not. and what about the actual site itself? i mean, isuppose or not. and what about the actual site itself? i mean, i suppose you do not have to be an industry expert, but to see the site being cleared and debris being cleared already, but doesn't exactly instill confidence? not at all. there have been accidents in the past were a light filament was a key to unravelling an accident. for the iranians to be bulldozing the site within days is just very, very troubling, and to me, it speaks that they are going to try to literal

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in richmond, virginia.very few dads injapan take maternity leave at all. the bbc‘s respondent explains why. this dad is who everyone injapan has been talking about the past week. because he is about to go on leave to take ca re of he is about to go on leave to take care of his newborn son. as just because he is the first minister and the first male mp to do this, it's also because hardly anyone injapan expects a father to take parental leave. it's nearly always mothers doing it. japan is one of the most generous maternity leaves. hardly anyone ta kes. maternity leaves. hardly anyone takes. only 6% of working dads did in 2018. basically young fathers are scared to go off at the bosses and say, can i take paternity because they fear that may kill their career. there have been claims of fathers being sidelined for taking maternity claims. it does sound familiar. this is a society where men rank as one of the least helpful in the world when it comes to housework. but they have been some political business leade

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. near the philippines capital manila has blasted a column of ash and steam up to 15 kilometres into the sky. authorities are warning it's possible there could be an eruption at the taal volcano within the coming hours or days. taal is one of the world's smallest volcanoes. it has recorded at least 3a eruptions in the past a50 years. ash from the volcano has been landing in the capital. manila's international airport has put all flights on hold and schools in the capital will be closed on monday. 0ur correspondent howard johnson has more from manila. i've just been out on the streets and saw lots of people wearing masks to cover up with this ash is falling down. you can have a look here, if i'd just ‘s my hand across the surface here, you can see the dirt all over the place. there is a sulphurous smell in the air. the authorities are advising people to wear masks to protect themselves. of course this has gone up from a level three alert to a level four alert, that means a catastrophic e

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto.nder way in taiwan's general election with control of both the presidency and the parliament up for grabs. the main divide between the parties is over how to manage relations with china. supporters of the democratic progressive party tend to favour moves towards outright independence whereas supporters of the kuo—min—tang generally prefer closer relations with beijing. however, concerns about the economy have complicated the picture for many voters. for more on this i'm joined from the capital, taipei, by our reporter, cindy sui. that is a very long and very patient line of voters behind you. how are things going? it was actually much longer earlier this morning. about two hours when the polling station opened. the crowd has thinned out a little bit. people are still very eagerly coming into polling stations like this one throughout taiwan and patiently waiting for their chance to vote. they brought their id cards and are turning in their mobile phones and going into rooms like this on

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in richmond, virginia.ed dust cloud which enveloped parts of new south wales. whipped up by strong winds, the cloud stretched for over 180 miles. it consisted mainly of top soil from drought stricken farmland. fortunately, it was followed by a rainstorm. england's cricketers have won the third test against south africa in port elizabeth by an innings and 53 runs. 0lly pope scored his first century for england and took six catches. he was named man of the match. joe wilson reports. unfurl your flags and paint your face fast — south africa weren't going to last long on monday morning. out! there we go! 0ne wicket, three more needed. mark wood bowled as quick as he could — always does. rabada batting and the ball... taken. check the weather — bright and encouraging, which brings us to dom bess. gone. another one, england's 22—year—old spin bowler was just too much for south africa in this match. yeah, but now watch keshav maharaj — big hitting was possible. south africa had been waiting five days for this kind

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in toronto. as a teenage boy to sexually assault girls as young as 14 after grooming them online has been jailed for eight years. gemma watts, who's now 21, pretended to be a 16—year—old boy called jake waton on social media sites, in order to fool young girls in to meeting her. although watts admitted offences against four girls, police believe there could be up to 50 victims. the bbc presenter samira ahmed has won her sex discrimination claim against the bbc. an employment tribunal agreed that she should receive the same pay for presenting newswatch, the viewer feedback programme, asjeremy vine got for presenting points of view, who earned six times her salary. the bbc had insisted the two jobs were not the same. 0ur media editor amol rajan reports. samira ahmed always argued this wasn'tjust about a single individual, but a systemic injustice. now, she has been vindicated. no woman wants to have to take action against her own employer. i love working for the bbc. i'm really glad it's been resol

our north america correspondent aleem maqbool reports from toronto.g.

let's speak to our north america correspondent aleem maqbool — who is outside the white house. some insightinking, but a lot of questions remain. yes, you heard there that he called qassem soleimani the number one terrorist anywhere in the world, and also claimed that he had been a part of terror plots as far as delhi and london, although, he didn't elaborate on those claims. certainly, the state department husband saying all day that qassem soleimani met all the criteria for someone soleimani met all the criteria for someone who needed to be eliminated, that they have been saying that he was planning these attacks around the region, that endangered the lives of hundreds of americans, though, again, they haven't given more details on that intelligence, certainly senior republicans here have really welcome to this news, a lot of them where disappointed in recent months, feeling that the us had been weak in its response to perceived iranian threats, but, democrats on the other hand have been hugely critical. they call this incredibly reckless, the presidential candidate, joe biden coven took

aleem maqbool looks at the key hirings ahead of next week's blockbuster trial. aleem: it is what we have come to expect from donald trump, the hiney revealed members o legal team are made-for-tv. it was ken starr's investigatiot an finding tt bill relationship with an intern that led to the then-president's impeachment. >> fox news cnews contributor, ken, how you doing? aleem: more recently he has been on mr. trump's network of choice. mr.z dershow represented o.j. simpson, mikictyson, and cod sex offender jeffrey epstein. he has also been vocally opposed to the impeachment of president trum both are likely to bring showmanship to the historic events of the coming weeks. nada: for more on the hirings i spoke with a reporter for "the washington post." they are clearly being chosen because of their tv expeence. what does this signal about the white house strategy for this trial? >> that is exactly right. this is a president who cares about the tv lineup that he has from his legal team. these are people we regular appearances on fox news, which is really in the pres

our correspondent aleem maqbool is in toronto. hat does the government there want to happen next? many of the victims were from here and even though the weather conditions have been terrible people have been coming all day to the tribute site in toronto behind me. a short while ago there was a protest here as well with canadian iranians chanting down with the islamic republic. you heard from justin trudeau, he said he was outraged and furious at what happened, but what he said, and this was echoed by borisjohnson as well, was that iran's admission was at least a positive first step towards families here getting some sense ofjustice. we have had a tweet in the last hour from donald trump who has lent his support to those protests in tehran. but a short while ago we went to a memorialfor but a short while ago we went to a memorial for one but a short while ago we went to a memorialfor one couple but a short while ago we went to a memorial for one couple from here who were killed and a lot of people told us that anger had certainly ad

unable, bbc--aleem maqbool, bbc news, toronto. nada: iraq's top shiite muslim cleric condemned the confrontation between iran and the united states, saying it risked plunging country into deeper conflict. grand ayatollah ali sistani say the attacks show open disregard for the sovereignty of the country. jeremy bowen reports from baghdad. n baghdad, it was a da of protest to show they don't plan to givep. their main target, politicians and a parliament that they say have dragged the country to disaster. "get out," was the chant. "you corrupt people, leave our land." protesters have occupied baghdad's equivalent of piccadilly circusince october. irhe's trip to trink of a new war this week hasce reinfor their desire for change. >> we don't want twabe a place fo we want to be free from all of these things. we want to be a count that is separated from iran, from the united states. anweto be friends with everyone. enough of war. jeremy: the protests happen outside baghdad. is is karbala in the south. it is a holy city,nd iraq's senior s

ros: let's bring in aleem maqbool who is covering this in you have been listening to the defense. what is the main tactic in puing back at these allegations? aleem:el they focus today in concluding those arguments the way they have carried out their defense the last couple of days, which is to focus on the process, not necessarily looking haatdonald trump is accused of and trying to say that that was wrong. theyocused at the very end of playing when bill clinton was being impeached. mothose ats saying then how divisive impeachment would be. that is wre they have been focused yesterday. th focused a lot on joe biden and his son hunter biden, on nepotism, on corruption. earlier today they were talking about how the was a lower's complaint -- the whistleblower's complaint should not ht to congress, should not have been made public. really skirting around the main tenet of the impeachment allegation, which is that donald trump withheld military aid to ukraine until kiev started these investigations into joe biden and his son. they skirted around as well the big talking point of the la

house counsel pat cipollone, and donald trump's private attorney jay sekulow. 0ur correspondent aleem maqboolore on the significance of ken starr's appointment. huge figure. he had been an appeals courtjudge, he had been a solicitor general but of course most people know him because he was the independent counsel in that whitewater investigation into bill clinton, and it was his report, the starr report of course, and particularly his finding that bill clinton had lied under oath about the nature of his relationship with monica lewinsky that ultimately led to bill clinton's impeachment. since then he has been something of a darling of the right, he has been a commentator on what we know to be donald trump's news channel of choice, fox news, he has been a panellist and contributor on fox news for a while. the president himself spent the afternoon hosting a reception for college footballers, where he joked about his impending trial. coach, if you like we can take whoever wants to come to the oval office, we will take pictures behind the resolute desk. it has been there a long time, a lot of pre

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in richmond, virginia.hanna konta, has been knocked out of the australian open. she lost her first round match in straight sets. in the men's draw, fellow brit kyle edmund was also beaten. let's speak to the bbc‘s john watson, who's in melbourne. it's not been a good day for britain? or british hopes of resting on konta, the 12th seed, she has had relative success here reaching the semifinals, atop much. it was i was going to be difficult so we got to be honest because she has struggled with an injury at the back end of last year and that has affected things. is only played one tournament coming into this season. she is fairly realistic at her chance this year but we know her pedigree and officer when it comes to british hopes you always pin them on the likes of konta now and the absence of andy murray in the men's signal —— singles. and of course, now with no andy murray as i was saying it would all hinge on dan eva ns, saying it would all hinge on dan evans, the only british player and the second round, t

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in richmond, virginia.longa burst onto the scene with her lead performance in the west end hit miss saigon. since then, she has starred in some of the world's most loved musicals, as well as providing the singing voice for iconic disney characters like mulan and princess jasmine. most recently, she has been in singapore playing the part of the infamous mrs lovett in a stage production of sweeney todd. i went to meet her to find out what it's like to go from disney princess to gruesome villain. i don't know if there's necessarily a shift in focus, because they're all about portraying the human experience, just from different perspectives. ‘cause myjob as an actor is to be — is to have empathy even for the most vile of creatures, when you have to play them. you have also sang the theme song from the animated film mulan, reflections. now there is a live action version. what do you feel that there's no singing parts in the movie? so? that's my reaction. are you looking forward to it? i actually am. i have a cou

previous high—profile clients include oj simpson and jeffrey epstein. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqboolt the key hirings ahead of next week's trial. it is what we've come to expect from donald trump. the newly revealed members of his legal team are made—for—tv heavyweights. in ken starr, he also has a man considered a hero to the right. as independent counsel in the 1990s, it was his investigation and the finding that bill clinton lied under oath about a relationship with an intern that led to the then—president's impeachment. happy new year to you. away we go now... more recently he has been a contributor to mr trump's news network of choice, speaking out against the current impeachment. in alan dershowitz he has got one of the most high—profile lawyers in the country — one who represented mike tyson, oj simpson and convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. he has also been vocally opposed to the impeachment of president trump. both are likely to bring showmanship to the historic events of the coming weeks. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has insisted that iran must pay compe

moment with our political editor laura kuenssberg, but, first, our north america correspondent aleem maqbooleen the anger in iran and iraq in that piece. president trumpto iraq in that piece. president tru m pto pretty iraq in that piece. president trumpto pretty quiet today so far but certainly there is no sign of his backing down. now, still absolutely standing by his decision to order that killing of qasem soleimani, even ratcheting up the rhetoric over the last 2a hours or so, saying that if iran retaliates, the us would hit back, in his words, perhaps disproportionately, even hitting iranian cultural sites, he said, something that would constitute a war crime in the eyes of the un. but there are those there who say the move has already been counter—productive, pointing to the fa ct counter—productive, pointing to the fact that iran says it will no longer abide by any of those restrictions in the nuclear deal, that it has jeopardised relations between the us and iraqi government and security forces and it has put a temporary halt, at least, to operations against the islamic state group a

our north america correspondent, aleem maqbool, is in toronto. 57 canadians killed in this tragedy, whatssion? over the last few days we have been going to vigils and there has been a large iranian diaspora coming together here, but also non—iranians coming here to these rituals, a lot of despair at what happened, and the confusion as to how it all happened —— coming here to these vigils. a sense that this is a step in the right direction now, to help some of those families and the friends of those who died, get some sense of closure, and we have heard from the canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau who said the focus remains that there needs to be a full investigation and there needs to be justice for these families and that hasn‘t changed with this admission. the iranians have a —— admitted that this was a mistake, but there is a wider context that this began with the killing of the general, qassem soleimani, is america being blamed at all for what happened? it is interesting, and amongst those we have spoken to here, relatives and friends of the victims, they did not cast aspersions as

we can talk now to our north america correspondent, aleem maqbool, who's in washington.rump ordered this assassination now? the line from the white house is that americans around the world are safer thanks to donald trump directing the killing of qasem soleimani, a man who had been in the cross hairs are both the george w bush and 0bama administrations but apparently the thinking then was that killing him would just have repercussions that work just to serbia would just have repercussions that workjust to serbia but clearly that thinking has changed. senior republicans here have been vocally very supportive of his assassination and many had thought the us had reacted too weakly to other iranian attacks, in the gulf for example, on oil tankers. but democrats have been very critical of the move when they see as reckless and some have bemoaned the lack of consultation with congress. joe biden, the potential presidential candidate, said the world had been set on edge by an erratic, unstable and dangerously incompetent commander in chief. a lot of people are wondering how thi

south—west of the capital tehran. 63 of the victims were canadian. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqboolis is about two weeks ago when they got to iran... the siddiqi family travelled to iran from canada to plan a wedding. they never came back. alvar and his wife negar, his sister sohand and her five—year—old daughter sufi all died in the crash. it's left close friend utterly dazed. first, it was shock and denial because, you know, you can't fathom it, itjust doesn't make sense, you never hear of such a story but then as you keep reading and looking at the, you know, news and videos and there is this anger, like, why did it happen to these people? they are the nicest people. why them? the us, canada and britain say there is evidence of an iranian missile hit the plane. tehran calls those "illogical allegations" and says it could take one or two years to complete its investigation. but these pictures show it's already chosen to clear much of the crash site, potentially burying important leads. and even before the data has been analysed from the flight recorders, its officials already say

aleem maqbool rounding off our coverage of iran there. next to the uk.oyal family, including the queen, will meet on monday to discuss the future for prince harry and meghan following their decision last week to step back from their prominent roles in the royal family. the summit at the queen's sandringham residence in eastern england is expected to look at a range of possibilities. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, explains more on who will be present at the meeting. the first time they will have met face—to—face since the sussexes issued their personal statement on wednesday night. we think that megan, the duchess of sussex, will be joining megan, the duchess of sussex, will bejoining the megan, the duchess of sussex, will be joining the discussion megan, the duchess of sussex, will bejoining the discussion by telephone, probably from canada, where of course she is now. officials have been clearly working very ha rd officials have been clearly working very hard in the past 72 hours to better understand what it is the sussexes one. they've ach

aleem maqbool is in washington and has been following the impeachment trial for us.ast couple of days which is really to focus on the process of it all. not necessarily looking at what donald trump is accused of and trying to say that was wrong. they focused at the very end on playing clips of democrats back when bill clinton was being impeached. those democrats saying and then how divisive impeachment would be. so, that's where they have sort of been focused on yesterday, they focused a lot onjoe biden and his son hunter biden on nepotism, un—corruption. earlier today there is talking about how the whistle—blower‘s complaint should have gone to congress, should not have gone to congress, should not have been made public. so, really scratching around the main tenant of the impeachment allegation which is that donald trump of course withheld military aid to ukraine and took ef start at these investigations into joe biden and his son facade —— i took ef. they skirted around the big talking point of the last couple days which wasjohn bolton, the most recent national sec

our north america correspondent aleem maqbool is in richmond.say they don't want violence but there are far right militias, white supremacist groups who say they are also going to attend today's rally. the reason this is a much bigger rally than the usual yearly one, which is attended by hundreds who come out on this day every year, martin luther king day, for gun rights — the reason it is much bigger this year is because people are coming from around the state, but even from neighbouring states and even further afield, because the democratic—led legislature... and you can hear people around me shouting northam out! that is the governor's name. ..they are trying to introduce limited gun control measures like limiting people to buying one weapon per month or allowing local councils to ban guns at certain events, that's really angered a lot of gun rights activists and that is why they are hoping that tens of thousands of people will attend this event. but, as i say, the governor here is worried about violence and that is why some measures have bee

limit the number and size of the guns people can buy in the state. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqboolill in spite of the fact that there were thousands of people actually a very peaceful protest. they came, they gathered around here outside the state capitol, you can see a lot of it is cordoned off. there are barriers because nobody was allowed with their weapons on the capitol grounds. but what was unusual about today was to see so many people on the streets of richmond who had their weapons openly on them, whether it was handguns, or whether it was rifles. we have a couple of the people who were attending today who travelled long distances to get here. first bradley who is from louisiana. bradley, you‘re wearing, you are carrying this weapon. that‘s perfectly legal for you to do here. nobody is talking about it not being legal for you to do. so, why did you feel you needed to come today? well, today is a big milestone, a very... i should say... a very important day. this is ground zero as many of the reports have been saying. it‘s like a virus with gun control. if you don‘t stop it

earlier, i spoke to our north america correspondent aleem maqbool, from toronto.st few days, we have been going to vigils. quite a large iranian diaspora here, really coming together, but a lot of non—iranian canadians also coming to vigils and coming to pay tribute to those killed. originally a lot of despair and dismay at what happened, and then all this confusion over the last couple of days as to how it all happened, and some sense, for example from community leaders in edmonton, where a lot of the victims came from, that this is a step in the right direction, to help some of those families and the friends of those who died, get some sense of closure. we have heard from the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, who said the focus remains that there needs to be a full investigation and there needs to be justice for these families and that hasn't changed with this admission. the iranians have admitted that this was a mistake, but there is the wider context that this began with the killing of general soleimani by the united states. how much is america being bl