Am here to tell you that the i am here to tell you that the forthcoming week, strong at times, certainly and you can expect further spells of travel disruption. This is bbc news. Im lukwesa burak. The headlines at 7 after days of denial, iran admits shooting down a ukrainian passenger plane over tehran on wednesday, killing 176 people, including four britons. In ukraine, questions over why the plane was allowed to take off from tehran, and tonight, the canadian Prime Minister says he expects a full investigation. This is an extremely serious matter. Canada and the world still have many questions, questions that must be answered. The Northern Ireland assembly resumes for the First Time Since the collapse of power sharing three years ago. It is time to renew and rekindle a political environment of
reconciliation and respect and deliver on the promise of a new approach to politics in this decade. Sir keir starmer, the shadow brexit secretary, officially launches his bid to become the next labour leader, saying the country needs radical policies to fight inequality. The moral fight against injustice and poverty and homelessness isjust as big a moralfight now as it was in that general election. And second placed Leicester City lose ground at the top of the premier league with a surprising defeat at home to southampton. Well bring you a full round up of all the sport in sportsday in half an hour. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. Borisjohnson has said that irans admission that it shot down, by mistake, a ukrainian passenger plane over tehran is an important first step. Four britons were among the 176 people killed, in wednesdays crash. A Senior Iranian military official, said the airliner was misidentified as a cruise missile. Irans president rouhani has called the downing of the jet, an unforgiveable mista ke. Our diplomatic correspondent, James Landale has more. Almost from the moment the ukrainian airliner crashed early on wednesday morning, officials in tehran furiously rejected the growing video and intelligence evidence suggesting that it had been hit by an iranian missile. Then today, an abrupt about turn. In a flurry of social media postings, irans president spoke of a disastrous mistake. The foreign minister talked of human error. The ambassador in london apologised for misleading the media with wrong findings. On state tv, a senior revolutionary guard commander explained that irans air defences had been on high alert after the attack on us bases in iraq. The aircraft was misidentified as an american missile and the wrong decision was made. He said he wished he could die. Translation we are sorry. We share the sorrow with victims families. We regret the incident, but this was the price we paid for the tensions and us activities in the region. In tehran, people gathered on the streets notjust to mourn some of the 176 dead, but also to voice their anger at the government, shouting, death to liars. Ukraines National Security secretary told my colleague jonah fisher how iran could simply no longer deny the evidence. Translation this photo shows us the first part of the plane where a rocket hit. It hit the cockpit from underneath. We think this is proof, and it explains why we didnt hear anything from the pilots. They died immediately from the first hit. The question now is whether irans u turn means International Investigators will get full access to data from the black box and the crash site. Borisjohnson said irans admission was an important first step, but he and his canadian and swedish counterparts all demanded a transparent inquiry and full cooperation. James landale, bbc news. In the last hour, the canadian Prime Minister, justin trudeau, has been speaking in ottawa. Irans admission that its own armed forces unintentionally shot down flight 752 is an important step towards providing answers for families, but i noted that many more steps must be taken. A full and complete investigation must be
conducted. We need full clarity on how such a horrific tragedy could have occurred. Families are seeking justice and accountability and they deserve closure. Mr trudeau spoke on the phone earlier to the iranian president rouhani. During the press conference he was asked about the conversation. I ask that we be fully included in the investigation into the cause of the investigation into the cause of the crash, that all the answers be worked on together, and that we are able to have our investigators involved in everything from the black box to support on dna identification and the various processes. Identification and the various processes. I asked to ensure that consular processes. I asked to ensure that c0 nsu la 1 a ccess processes. I asked to ensure that consular access for canadian officials, to support grieving family members, is extremely
important to us. I asked him to commit to working with us and International Partners to continue to de escalate tensions in the region. Despite the fact the iranian government has taken responsibility for this, how can you have any faith in them, given they lied about this for three days . That is a very real question that many people are asking. We are looking at the actual fa cts asking. We are looking at the actual facts of what we say. We are seeing iran grant visas to canadian consular officials who are right now on their way into tehran. We are seeing iran allow canadian investigators to participate in the crash investigation, but we are going to look for tangible examples of real collaboration and real openness every step of the way, so that we are supporting and looking out for and getting what is needed for the canadian victims. One would think the consequences that canada could have replaced when mike is
imposing sanctions. How difficult is that diplomatically given that you need access to iran and they have to granted to you but at the same time, there are canadians that one iran to face consequences . There will be many reflections and conversations on consequences over the coming weeks but right now we are focusing on what the family most need, and thatis on what the family most need, and that is answers and access. Since iran has made the admission they shut down the plane, we have seen a numberof shut down the plane, we have seen a number of protests in tehran and many canadians here have been frustrated about that. What is your message to the protesters and iran . My message to the protesters and iran . My message to canadian families who are grieving is that we should be there for them. My message to people around the world who are outraged that this incident is that they should be demanding answers and they should be demanding answers and they should be demanding accountability and justice as well. This is a tragedy that should not have
happened, and we need to make sure we are supporting families who are going through terrible grief. That was justin going through terrible grief. That wasjustin trudeau, the canadian Prime Minister. Im joined now by us based National Security analyst ari aramesh. Thank you for coming in. A pleasure. What do you make of recent developments . There has been lots of tensions between iran and the us, but the attack to kill Qasem Soleimani, the most infamous iranian general who led the extraterritorial operations for the Islamic Revolutionary guards. He was by far the most potent organiser, trainer, and fighter in the region, who organise pretty much all the anti American Elements around one flight, anti American Elements around one flight, the iranian flying, to fight against us interests. He got credit for helping to defeat isis and so forth, but lets say we took out someone forth, but lets say we took out someone at his prime, the difference
between Osama Bin Laden and Qasem Soleimani was Osama Bin Laden was hiding. He had zero organisational 01 hiding. He had zero organisational or operational abilities. This man was at his prime. The iranians retaliated and they gave us a heads up retaliated and they gave us a heads up because no retaliated and they gave us a heads up because no one retaliated and they gave us a heads up because no one got killed at our bases. It left the hands of president tom pope and do not have to retaliatory severely because had they killed american troops and soldiers and civilians, the us would have had to retaliate. But now with the crash of the ukrainian airliner, 110w the crash of the ukrainian airliner, now it turns out it was the Iranian Revolutionary guard countermeasures that brought down this airliner, lots of civilians have been killed, the euphoria around the diocese of Qasem Soleimanis martyrdom, caught on court, that brought people onto the streets, it has not turned into
protests for incompetence and dishonesty. They cover the top for a couple of days and they celebrated the celebrated attacks on us bases but they have blood on their hands 110w. But they have blood on their hands now. What should we take from us guard the revolution regard have picked up their hands . This is highly unusual. What does it say about the relationship between the government and the revolutionary guards . To put this into context, not long ago you had widespread protests in iran over an increase in gas prices, 3000 . It brought people to the streets, not urban dwellers, not the middle class, lots of them from the so called downtrodden that we re from the so called downtrodden that were supporters of the regime. According to amnesty international, 650 people were killed. Reuters said 1500 people were killed. The regime had to deal with that and then you had to deal with that and then you had the killing of Qasem Soleimani,
iranian countermeasures and then retaliation. Now this. The regime and starve because of sanctions against it. It feels isolated. At the same time it is dealing with some major legitimacy issues on the ground. What is our strategic option, not tactical, we have been thinking about iran too tactically. President obama, president trump. It goes back to president bush and his son. With a resume like that you can either negotiate open doors, try to let them do what they want to do and minimise some of the damage they do, 01 minimise some of the damage they do, or go for it and go after them. Both are or go for it and go after them. Both a re costly or go for it and go after them. Both are costly and extremely painful. On the other hand, this method of light go one day and try to hit them another day, it is not working. What sort of reaction has there been from america with regards to pointing the finger of blame, saying, yes, we shot it down but in part this has been yourfault, shot it down but in part this has been your fault, what sort of
reaction has there been from the Trump Administration . The Trump Administration is not taking these allegations very seriously. The second part is the Trump Administration, unlike the obama administration, unlike the obama administration, does not have that International Legitimacy and support and goodwill. The Islamic Republic of iran is very good id never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Even if donald trump has managed to alienate lots of allies, the iranian government has managed to alienate those allies to come back to our ground. On this issue, especially after shooting down a civilian airliner, deceiving the people for a couple of days and trying to blame the us, we see lots of canadian, european and other allies saying, we wish you and this regime is hard to deal with so that is the problem. Overall, the ball is now in their court. Thank you very much indeed. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 30 and 11 30 this evening in the papers. Our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster lynn faulds wood, and the journalist and commentator anne ashworth. Devolved government is back up and running in Northern Ireland, after three years of political stalemate. The dup leader, arlene foster, has been appointed first minister while sinn feins Michelle Oneill is the deputy first minister. All of the main parties agreed to return to the Stormont Assembly this afternoon after a deal was reached yesterday. So whats in the deal . The new agreement contains wide ranging promises. Firstly to tackle the cirsis in the Health Service and to try and resolve a pay dispute that has seen nurses and Health Workers on strike. Therell be more money for schools after months
of head teachers saying they face an unprecedented shortfall. And Northern Ireland will get about another 800 police to increase numbers to 7,500. Our ireland correspondent chris page has sent us this for more than a thousand days, Northern Ireland has been in the remarkable position of not having an elected government. But all that has changed. This Parliament Building on the outskirts of belfast is a place of power once again. The 90 members of the Stormont Assembly met to formally appoint ministers to the devolved government. It will be headed by the dup leader, arlene foster, and the Vice President of sinn fein, Michelle Oneill. They are respectively the first minister and deputy first minister and in their speeches to the assembly, they spoke of the need to leave behind the years of division and disagreement and build a new future on common ground. Most of the ministries went to those two largest parties but three others were involved as well, the nationalist sdlp, and the ulster unionist party
have a ministry each. And the job ofjustice minister, always a sensitive one here given the legacy of the long conflict, that is going to the leader of the Cross Community alliance party, naomi long. The deal to restore these institutions put a heavy emphasis on reforming Public Services. You could read it, perhaps, as a sign that the aim is to move politics in Northern Ireland to a different place, away from divisive issues of identity and towards matters like health, education, the economy, which tend to dominate politics in most other places. All the parties agree that the measure of the success of the new administration will be how much it delivers in terms of those issues for the people in this part of the uk but the priority, i think, in the coming days, will be simply rebuilding those power sharing relationships after such a long period of toxic stalemate. The headlines on bbc news. Iran admits shooting down the ukranian passenger plane, saying they mistook it for a cruise missile. Borisjohnson calls the admission an important first step.
power sharing is restored in northern irealnd, as key ministers are appointed at the First Assembly meeting for three years. The shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer has launched his campaign for the labour leadership, saying the party needs to put an end to factional disputes. Lets return to our top story the iranian governments admission that it shot down a ukrainian passenger plane over tehran on wednesday. Thereve been protests today in iran. Rana rahimpourfrom the bbc Persian Service is here. Protests in iran. How unprecedented is that . Should we be concerned . Nobody was expecting protests at this point. There were mass protests
in iran in november. 2019. It was violently cracked down, hundreds of people were killed, thousands imprisoned, and at the time, many a nalysts imprisoned, and at the time, many analysts thought it would take years for the opposition to mobilise itself and energise itself to come back on the streets. But the anger that people are feeling over this incident, the tragedy, has turned the opposition against the government yet again. And that is why today, we can confirm that there are at least in eight cities, major cities, ongoing protests against the iranians authorities. This was earlier today and you can see them shouting as there seems to be a police motorcade driving through. For many watching these events, it is highly unusual to see that, is it safe for people to take to the streets . Safe for people to take to the streets . No. Or as after these
videos, we have confirmed reports that Anti Riot Police were deployed and they are now using gas in order to, tear gas, to disperse people. Which creates even more anger among people because they say, ok, you have killed hundred and 76 176 innocent people and we are not able to mourn. That is why we hear many protesters chanting against the leadership, they are calling for the commander in chief, which means the Supreme Commander in chief, which means the supreme lord leader ayatollah to resign. They are chanting death to dictator and they say they had enough. These protests have continued into the night, we understand. It is interesting, isnt it because like so many commenters, particularly on social media have said it does bring into question past errors as well that we have never had excellent nation. Real
questioning of the government, how likely is it though that anything will change . To be honest, what has been going on over the last few days has proved to to me that iranian prods, politics is very electable. Since the beginning of 2020, a lot has happened. If you asked me to back days ago whether iran would ta ke back days ago whether iran would take responsibility, i was oh would have said it is highly unlikely. At this moment, i think i can see that i dont think anything will change but that depends how many people will stay on the street and whether the protests continue not. In terms of cooperation, the husband calls from, a number of calls from governments, saying they want a transparent investigation. The ukraine has said they need at least 40 ukraine has said they need at least a0 investigators on site. International cooperation and iran, took us through that. What is it going to look like . According to justin trudeau, the canadian prime
minister, iran has been very cooperation in issuing visas for investigators, trudeau asked for accountability, transparency and justice for some the iranian government are not famous for any of those but given they have taken responsible for the event, which is very unusual, maybe more co operative . Possibly. Especially because there are now other countries involved, it is no longer an iranians matter, there is the International Community and they wa nt a nswe rs International Community and they want answers so one can only hope they will cooperate. Very much. Labour leadership contenders have only 2 days left to gain the backing they need, to get to the next so far 6 candidates have joined the race. Rebecca long bailey, emily thornberry, clive lewis, lisa nandy, jess phillips, and sir keir starmer. Registered supporters who are not full Party Members will have a8 hours from 1a 16 january to secure a vote by paying £25. The ballot will be open from 21st february to the 2nd of april. With the results announced 2
days later on the ath. Today, it was sir Keir Starmers turn to launch his official campaign to become the next party leader in manchester. Speaking a little earlier, he said that factionalism within labour has to go and that party must unite. He promised to defend the partys radical values. We cannot be a divided party any more. We need to end the factionalism. Being a very, very strong opposition up against borisjohnson and forging that path to victory. What i meant by retaining our radical values is we shouldnt throw away everything in the last four years. We are now the party of anti austerity, we are the party that believes in investing in our Public Services and common ownership. We should retain that. The manifesto i am focused on is the next manifesto, not the last manifesto. The manifesto i am focused on is the next manifesto, not the last manifesto. But we shouldnt throw away what we have achieved in the last four years. Earlier i spoke to our Political Correspondent nick eardley who told me what starmers Campaign Launch means for the race. Keir starmer has, for want of a better word, momentum at the moment in this race, he is the man to beat, far ahead of anybody else when it comes to mps and the polls of labour members suggest he is out in front. He is not the obvious Jeremy Corbyn candidate, because that is rebecca long bailey, at the moment, her campaign is struggling to get off the ground. Momentum who are the pro Jeremy CorbynGrassroots Campaign who helped Jeremy Corbyn win the two leadership elections he won, they have said they will ballot their members on who to back, but quite clearly, they want it to be rebecca long bailey. They are recommending to their members get behind and that will give her a big boost and although keir starmer appears to be out in front at the moment,
i would suggest over the next three months before we get the next labour, leader there is a lot of room for movement in that race. When it gets going, when some of the more radical pro Jeremy Corbyn groups start their weight about, i suspect that will work well for rebecca long bailey but there are other candidates, as well. Lisa nandi, clive lewis, emily thornberry, jess phillips. They will be looking to make up ground over the next few weeks. Five prison officers had to be treated in hospital after an attack at bristol prison. An inmate was being segregated yesterday after threatening staff when he attacked them with a home made weapon, knocking one unconscious. The ministry ofjustice said the incident had been referred to the police. Tracey miller reports. Staff at bristol prison have praised the bravery of their colleagues after an attack by a prisoner that left five officers needing hospital treatment. One was left unconscious, another with a damaged eye. It happened yesterday when they tried to move a prisoner who was allegedly making threats towards them. I have been told by the Prison Officers Association that as staff opened the cell door, the prisoner attacked them with a home made weapon. Prison officers here have put on social media that a request to use protective equipment before approaching the prisoner had not been granted. The Prison Officers Association went to say. But the ministry of justice have said that they are investing billions of pounds to improve presence and increase security. This attack at bristol prison comes after a report lastjune that gave the prison the lowest rating for safety. It was described by inspectors as shocking and unfit for purpose. The injured prison
officers are now out of hospital and recovering at home. The prisoner accused of carrying out the attack is due to be questioned by police. Lets take a look at some of todays other news. A man and a woman have appeared in court charged with the murder of a two year old boy in doncaster. Martin currie, whos 36, and sarah obrien whos 32 are accused of murdering keegan obrien, who died in hospital from head injuries on thursday. Tens of thousands of supporters of Scottish Independence have been marching in glasgow in the first of a series of protests planned for the coming year. A rally that was due to be held afterwards was cancelled because of bad weather. In taiwan, president tsai ing wen has been re elected with a record eight million votes, in what is being seen as a sharp rebuke to chinas growing influence in the region. In her victory speech,
she told china to abandon its threat to take back taiwan by force. Wbr id wbr15660 debenhams has begun closing 19 of its stores as part of plans to try to secure its future. In another blow to the high street, mothercare will stop trading tomorrow with the loss of 2800 jobs. Our business correspondent, emma simpson has the details. From kirkcaldy in fife and wolverhampton to Walton Upon Thames in surrey, debenhams is pulling out. Not much left for bargain hunters, though. 50 stores are to go, the first wave this month, the rest in 2021, a restructuring to save the rest of the business. This is altrincham, one of six to close today. Will you miss it . No. Ill be honest. I dont ever go in, really, no. Everythings online. Once our generation has gone, in another 30 years b
therell be no shops. This town was named englands best high street after its successful wbrid wbr16260 regeneration, but it has now got a big gap to fill. Whilst wed be happy to speak to any retailer who was interested in the site, there are other things you can do as well. Weve done a cinema on the high street. There are restaurants in the high street as well, so its about having the control to say we could do something different. Theres optimism here, but as these big anchor stores disappear, along with the other closures still to come, its clear that many of our high streets and town centres will have to make some big changes to survive. For mothercare, the challenges were too great. Its been closing its remaining 79 stores all week. I just feel sorry for the people who are going to lose theirjobs and have to find new ones. Here are some of them, heading home
for the last time in norwich. Another household name that will disappear after more than half a century on the high street. Emma simpson, bbc news. A 100 year old giant tortoise credited with virtually saving his species from extinction is being released back into the wild. The male tortoise, diego, is believed to have fathered around 800 baby tortoise after he was recruited onto a captive Breeding Programme in the galapagos islands. The park service believes he was taken from the galapagos 80 years ago by a scientific expedition. Diego is currently in quarantine before his return to espanola in march. Now its time for a look at the weather with phil avery. Probably the kindest link she has ever given me. Bless you for a bit
of self esteem for once. One of those days across northern britain. It was both wet and windy, where is it now . It is a slight out of scotla nd it now . It is a slight out of scotland and Northern Ireland but somebody has to got it get it but now it is the turn of north of england and wales and the south west. This feature will continue ever further south and east through the rest of the evening and overnight. Clear skies behind but as temperatures that away, quite a raft of wintry showers into scotland with snow coming down to about 300 metres. A touch of frost across the eastern side of sutton to start the day. It would be the case across england and wales because you have all the cloud and to get rid of first. The shower left behind on an increasingly bright and sunny day. A fresher feel than was the case today. You get the sunshine at the expect of the temperatures. Much fresher feel despite the sunshine for the northern half of britain,
a6. Hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. The headlines iran admits shooting down the ukranian passenger plane, saying they mistook it for a cruise missile. British Prime Minister borisjohnson calls the admission