Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20200110

Was jailed for planning to behead a british soldier. Northern irelands main Political Parties consider a draft deal to restore power sharing at stormont. New evacuation orders are issued to nearly a quarter of a million australians, as hot, windy weather threatens to fan new bushfires. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Iran has accused western leaders of lying about the cause of the ukrainian plane crash which took place near tehran on wednesday. Both canada and the uk say intelligence suggests an Iranian Missile brought down the passenger plane, killing everyone on board. In the last hour, iranian Officials Say the black box flight recorders from the aircraft will be examined today. France has confirmed it will be involved in the investigation into the plane crash. The United States, canada and ukraine have also been invited to travel to iran to help investigate. However, the chief of Irans Civil Aviation Organisation insists they can say with certainty that a missile was not the cause of the crash. The Foreign Office is now advising against all travel to iran. In a statement, the foreign secretary dominic raab said. Nada tawfik has this report. Us media say these images appear to show the moment the ukrainian airliner was hit by an Iranian Missile, minutes after take off. A small explosion occurs and thejet, now in flames, tries to turn back towards tehrans airport. But within minutes, the planes signal is lost and it crashes with 176 people on board. 63 canadians were among the dead. Prime Ministerjustin Trudeau says the governments preliminary conclusions showed irans anti Missile System accidentally shot down the plane. We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an iranian surface to air missile. This may well have been unintentional. Also in canada, foreign secretary dominic raab addressed the tragedy after borisjohnson confirmed the death toll now includes four british citizens. The Iranian Regime must open up to the international community, including access to the crash site, so we can get the truth as quickly as possible to give the families of the victims an understanding of what happened to their loved ones. The answers and evidence lie here at the crash site. Iranian officials have ruled out a missile strike, calling the allegations illogical rumours and psychological warfare. Across canada, more vigils are being held. People here are continuing to bring flowers and candles for the victims. The focus is very much on mourning their lost love ones. They do want to know what caused this horrific tragedy, but they are happy to wait for an investigation that is full and thorough. Finding the answers they are looking for could take months and even years as the investigation unfolds. Nada tawfik, bbc news, toronto. Lets go to the lebanese capital beirut and talk to our correspondent there, caroline hawley. Given what canada, the us, the uk are saying about the cause of the plane crash, are you surprised that the iranian Civil Aviation authority said this morning adamantly that msl was not because, they do not seem to be leaving any room for doubt as far as they are concerned . It is sticking to its narrative that this was a technical problem. If iran had accidentally shot down a plane carrying many, many iranian nationals, as well as more than 60 canadians and fourare nationals, as well as more than 60 canadians and four are british people, that would be highly embarrassing. So, even before the investigation has got off the ground, the head of iran plus mike Civil Aviation authority said he was certain that no missile had been fired by iran. They are going to, the iranian say, going to start looking at black boxes today, but that aviation official said it would ta ke that aviation official said it would take between one and two years to carry out this investigation, one to two months to fully get the data off of those black boxes. He made clear that iran wanted to do thatjob itself but would ask for help if needed. The question is, how far will iran cooperate, because it really needs to be seen to be cooperating with the outside world in the face of really escalating tensions that we have seen over the past week, between iran and the us. It needs to be seen to cooperate if it doesnt want tensions to escalate further and to meet a very dangerous consequence for iran. And at the same time, we are hearing, and this comes from cbs news who has had a correspondence at the sight of the crash, that the site has not been cordoned off, there are no signs of any investigators there, that pieces of the plane had been removed by scavengers, and the cbs news is corresponded spoke to witnesses who told her that there had been a truck at the site and heavy equipment and most of the wreckage was taken away yesterday. The iranian officials have also said that the remains of the dead have also been taken away from the site and have been taken to the Coroners Office for identification. So, ithink the Coroners Office for identification. So, i think the big question is how thorough, how transparent well this investigation be . Yes, that is going to be a huge concern to the countries who want to be party to this investigation, as you have said, as to whether it can bea you have said, as to whether it can be a full and transparent investigation. The preservation of the site and so forth. What are the iranian saying about access to that site and what are they seeing also about those flight data recorders that are due to be opened today . Well, they are not being specific about the site of the plane crash itself. What they are saying is that anyone who has nationals on board, anyone who has nationals on board, any country with nationals on board will be allowed to be part of the investigation. We have had france saying it wants to take part. There are 45 investigators and officials from ukraine in tehran at the moment. As far as we know they have not been given access to the site, and we are hearing from iranian sources that are ten canadian officials and investigators are heading there, too. So it is being closely watched around the world, how iran proceeds with this investigation. 0k, caroline hawley, thank you very much, speaking from beirut. Ukraines president has asked western intelligence to provide evidence to support their claims. 0ur correspondentjonah fisher is in the ukrainian capital kyiv. What is the official position of ukraine on this at the moment, with two very different narratives emerging from iran and a number of western countries . Ifi emerging from iran and a number of western countries . If i can emerging from iran and a number of western countries . Ifi can update you, yes, the ukrainian president appealed for this intelligence and information that the us, canada and United Kingdom have sharing amongst themselves since last night, and it appears that that data has now been passed over to the ukrainians. Perhaps a bit of a surprise that it has taken so long and a public request for it to happen. But in the last few minutes the Ukrainian Foreign minister has tweeted that the ukrainian president has met with Embassy Officials here in kyiv this morning and that data has been handed over. One would assume that thatis handed over. One would assume that that is the same intelligence which suggest that the surface to air missile was behind the downing of the plane. Ukraine well of course have to digest and a look at that information for itself, but as you said, this morning the line was very much a shoots down by a surface to air missile was one of the options that ukraine was looking at, but they did not regard it at that point as having been confirmed as the way in which the plane had come down. Jonah, what is the status of the ukrainian investigators trying to get access to the crash site itself . A very good question, and we dont have a very good answer to that at the moment. We know there have been at least 45 officials and experts in tehran since wednesday night. They were dispatched almost immediately by ukraines president. Some have experience of dealing with the crash of mhi7 in Eastern Ukraine backin the crash of mhi7 in Eastern Ukraine back in 2014. It the crash of mh17 in Eastern Ukraine back in 2014. It has not been clear what sort of access they have had. We know they have held meetings with the ukrainian authorities, but at this point in time, there is something of a media blackout surrounding their activities. It is not clear whether they will be allowed to go out to the site and what ukrainians are allowing them into. Jonah, thank you very much. Jonah fisher into. Jonah, thank you very much. Jonah fisher in the ukrainian capital. The Prime Minister borisjohnson has confirmed four britons died in the plane crash, up from earlier reports of three. The three known british victims included engineer sam zokaei, a bp employee from surrey, saeed tahmabessi, an engineer from west london, and Mohammad Reza kadkhoda zadeh, from near brighton. It has also emerged a british teenager, named in reports as 17 year old arad zarei, who lived in canada was also among the victims. The husband of Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, who has been detained in iran since 2016, has been speaking to the Foreign Office this morning. Richard ratcliffe has already publicly criticsed President Trump, saying his actions could lead to both british and americans to both british and americans detained in iran being used as collateral. Hejoins me now from central london. Richard, thank you very much for speaking to us today. You want the Prime Minister, i understand, to explain to you how the uk is going to protect dual National Citizens like your wife, Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, in light of what is happening in the region. What we re is happening in the region. What were you told in that discussion this morning . That is exactly right, it is obviously a very volatile time at the moment, it is a really tough time for people in iran and the wider region with the plane crash and Everything Else that is going on. I met with the Foreign Office to press what they are planning on doing and what will happen next, and to press on, please listen, i think we should meet with the Prime Minister as soon as possible to find out how he is laying things out. It looks like in the coming ten days, two weeks, there should be a meeting with the Prime Minister, so that will be a chance to hear from with the Prime Minister, so that will be a chance to hearfrom him first hand what his plans are. He spoke yesterday to the iranian president to mention Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe by name and clearly he is looking for progress on her case. I want him also to be racing with President Trump and the American Administration that, you know, my sense honestly is that things are calmer today than they we re things are calmer today than they were a few days back, but this is a very volatile time and will be for a while to come. It is really important that the uk is really clear with us allies that they must act responsibly and anyway that make sure that american hostages, british hostages and all the other foreign hostages and all the other foreign hostages that are held are kept safe. Ten days, two weeks, that sounds like, i guess from your perspective, a very long time for a meeting, to wait for a meeting, for you and your wife, nazanin. Everyday she is in prison is too many. I think getting the meeting, i will be glad to get in front of him to find out what he has to say. What we look to him for is leadership and to be visible and prominent and making it clear that he is protecting nazanin and the others. And i am glad that he phoned the iranian president yesterday. The more he can do to be clear publicly about his priorities and the more those priorities are saving british lives, the betterfor all of us. You have spoken a little bit about how nazanin felt when she heard about the killing of general soleimani. You said she felt pretty desperate at that point and what it could for her. You said that you both feel like chess pieces in all of this. Have you had any further conversations with him since then . Yes, there have been development, she was taken to a prison clinic overnight on tuesday with an irregular heartbeat and panic attacks and was put on beta blockers to calm things down. I am hoping thatis to calm things down. I am hoping that is just physical manifestations of the stress and the worry. She is yet to see a specialist but one should be coming in next week to assess her. She is not unique, there area number of assess her. She is not unique, there are a number of foreign prisoners sitting there, i have heard stories of people not getting out of bed for the last few days, they are just so low. Coming on the airwaves makes us more risking of being a chess piece, but we have to do that at this point. Thank you very much for your time today. Some breaking news on Northern Ireland. There is talk of the possible power sharing executive getting back up power sharing executive getting back up and running. A spokesman for borisjohnson has said that it is up 110w borisjohnson has said that it is up now for the parties in Northern Ireland to come together and accept a balanced deal to restore the devolved government. The deadline is 110w. Devolved government. The deadline is now. A repetition of that word now. We have been told that the deadline is effectively monday the 13th, that is effectively monday the 13th, that is the point at which either an agreement must be reached, or elections to the Northern Ireland assembly, fresh elections could be called. But the primary minsters spokesperson emphasising that the deadline is now, and it is up to the Northern Ireland parties to come together. The governmentjust trying together. The governmentjust trying to increase the pressure incrementally on those parties to come to a resolution. Prime minister. Heres our ireland correspondent chris page on how this new draft deal is proposing to settle some long standing Sticking Points. Yeah, this is it, the document that the british and irish governments say should unlock the perishing dispute which has meant Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government now for three years. In this document, well, it covers a whole range of issues. Everything from reforming the health service, which is widely acknowledged to be in crisis here in Northern Ireland, to resolving an industrial dispute involving teachers, to improving infrastructure across Northern Ireland. But the main contentious issues that have prevented the restoration of devolution, well, one has been the status of the Irish Language. So, what the governments are proposing is that there will be two commissioners, one who will protect and promote the Irish Language, who will be given official legal status, and then another commissioner that will look at cultural elements which are more associated with british identity. The other big Sticking Point in the talks has been the rules as to how the Stormont Assembly operates, and in particular, a Cross Community veto mechanism, which means the contentious measures have to be approved by a majority of unionists and nationalists in order to pass. So, the document outlines a plan to reduce the use of that veto. So, it is quite a bold move, really, by the two governments. Last night the Northern Ireland secretary, julian smith, and the Irish Foreign minister, simon coveney, held a News Conference quite late in the night, here on the hill at stormont. Lets hear a little of what they had to say. Not all the documents are agreed by all of the parties, some are commitments by each government. But i believe we have a deal that all parties in Northern Ireland can support. My message to the public is very direct. Tell your politicians to take this opportunity. Demand the Better Future that this deal delivers, and we can create a more tolerant, inclusive and generous place, here in Northern Ireland. Chris, are there any financial incentives, any sweeteners to get this deal over the line . Yes, the British Government says it is going to provide a package of financial help here, but there is no cold, hard figures promised in the draft deal. The government says that if a power sharing executive does come back, then they will move rapidly in the coming days, they say, to finalise those figures. The Democratic Unionist Party say thats certainly something they want to look at, the resources that will be available for any new executive, but the dup, crucially, do seem to be on board. The dup leader Arlene Foster says she thinks this deal is a fair and balanced approach. She thinks it is the basis by which power sharing could come back. Sinn fein so far a bit more coy in their response. They say they are studying the document. There will be a couple of senior Party Meetings being held by sinn fein today. The second will be their ruling executive known as the ard chomhairle. They will be meeting in belfast around lunchtime. Delegates from all over the island of ireland will be at that meeting, which will be critically important to determining whether or not the assembly comes back today. The british and irish governments want the five main stormont parties to buy into this, to go back into the assembly chamber, to nominate ministers and restore devolved government, but really, of the five parties, the two who really have to sign up to the deal in order for it to work are the dup and sinn fein. The dup seemingly prepared to do that, so really the focus, i think, for the coming hours, certainly through to the early afternoon, will be on sinn fein and on their response to proposals. And, chris, what is your gut feeling . Will it happen, will it happen today . Because there is a deadline looming, isnt there . Thats right, the legal deadline for an agreement is midnight on monday. Julian smith has made it very clear that this time there is no bluffing, he will call a fresh election to the Stormont Assembly if there is no executive in place by that stage. One thing we have learned, annita, over the years in Northern Ireland, is that until everything is signed and sealed, you can never be absolutely sure it is going to come off. So, until Assembly Members are back in that chamber, in that building behind me, until ministers are nominated and in office, well, nobody can be sure that things are going to stick this time. That said, i dont hear anything at the moment which suggests that there is any huge problem looming. There is nobody saying that there is a major obstacle in the way of this deal being worked out. Though, as i say, the most important events of today, as far as i can see, will be that meeting of sinn feins ruling executive, here in the city of belfast, around lunchtime. Really, if the party rubber stamps the deal at that meeting, well, then, we are on for power sharing to be restored very, very quickly. If not, well, we are back to a world of uncertainty again. Chris page, outside stormont. And you can get more information on that story on our website. If you go down further you should find a link as to what is in the draft stormont deal. Ido what is in the draft stormont deal. I do not think that is actually showing you the correct part of the website not the one i am looking at anyway but there is a story on the front page and you can find a link, what is in the draft stormont deal. That will tell you what both governments, the irish in the british, have come up with to try to sort out those long standing Sticking Points for the parties in Northern Ireland. The headlines on bbc news. Iran denies a missile was responsible for this weeks plane crash in tehran. Western leaders believe the ukranian passengerjet may have been shot down by accident. The duchess of sussex returns to canada, a day after she and prince harry revealed they will step back from their roles as senior royals. The bbc learns an inmate, suspected of attacking guards at a maximum security prison in cambridgeshire, was jailed for planning to behead a british soldier. In sport, england captain harry kane has just two months to get fit for the european championships for england. He will be out of action until april after getting injured on new years day. They will be funds raised for the stroke in bushfires in the premier league games this weekend. Serbia have got into the semifinals of the atp cup with this victory byjock ovitch over his canadian opponent chappelle off. Firefighters in australia are trying to contain blazes which are threatening to advance again as hot weather returns after a five day cool spell. As night falls there now, strong winds have been gusting up to 60 kilometres an hour with gusts up to 90 kilometres forecast along with temperatures in the 40s celsius. In the 40s celsius. More than 100 bushfires are still burning in the south of the country. Let us now talk to jonathan let us now talk tojonathan head. Explain how the strong winds are making the situation even more dangerous and how desperate the situation that people there find themselves in. Well, the wind has changed about four hours ago, it was quite a dramatic, it had been a clear day up until that point. Suddenly we could smell smoke. The view from this town was completely shrouded, it is night time now but we could smell the smoke, it was coming from fires that are inland, some not that far away, about 20 kilometres, that are being fuelled by the strong winds coming from the south west. That is the real problem, even in this town where the have been evacuated in the last weekend, people are bracing themselves for the possibility that they may well wake up tomorrow morning to find themselves surrounded by fire. Further inland, along the New South Wales victorian border, the situation is even more critical. There are towns there which have been ordered to be evacuated over the last 24 hours who are now being given the message that it is too late. That the roads out are completely covered in flames and they must make themselves as safe as possible. Many people turned down the offer of evacuation because they wa nted the offer of evacuation because they wanted to stay and defend their homes. And even here where there are a lot of people staying whose homes and outlying villages have been com pletely and outlying villages have been completely destroyed in the recent virus, there is a sense of real concern about how long this will go on. We have had five days of coolidge weather, now we have these very strong winds whipping up the fires, filling the air with smoke, and the worry that people here may have to move again. How many more times will they have to do this before the hot season ends in about two or three months time . They all say these are unprecedented conditions that they are enduring down in this area. But they have not experienced fires here like this in living memory. Jonathan head, thank you, in New South Wales. The duchess of sussex has returned to canada amid the fallout from the announcement that she and prince harry intend to step back as senior members of the royal family. The queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have instructed their staff to find a solution within a matter of days. Simon jones has more. Prince harry and meghans first public appearance this year, a visit on tuesday to canadas high commissioner in london to thank the country for showing them warmth and hospitality during their six week break over christmas. But now meghan has already flown back there while prince harry remains in the uk to deal with fallout of the shock announcement that they want to step back as senior royals and enjoy financial independence. In toronto, theres sympathy. I respect the fact that they are trying to make their own way in the world. Theyre a young couple. They are trying to do things differently. I think they wanted to go back to being independent and private. Thats what Buckingham Palace is now grappling with. The queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have told their staff to find a way forward quickly, but royal watchers are split on how easy that will be. I think its really difficult to propose to be half in and half out of the royal family. It is a team, and you are either a full member of the team or i think you have to leave the team entirely. They seem to be talking about going to live in canada which is actually a monarchy in its own right, and i take them at their word. They dont want to be non royal, they do not want to be semidetached royal. Harry and meghan, on a new website theyve launched, talk about finding a progressive new role but despite their announcement its still not clear what will be. Simon jones, bbc news. A new analysis of Mental Health services for children has found that more than a quarter of those referred to Specialist Services in england were rejected in 2018 19. The study has been carried out by a think tank, the education policy institute. But the nhs says its flawed, and that many children are referred to other, more appropriate services. This comes at a time when the latest figures available from the nhs show a rise in Mental Health issues in children aged between 5 and 15. Sarah hannafin is a senior policy advisor for the Education Union naht and she joins us now live. Thank you for your time today. Please explain how schools are fitting into the overall picture of looking after the Mental Health of young people. Our members and School Leaders have been consistently reaching raising concerns about the capacity of childrens Mental Health services over a number of yea rs Health Services over a number of years because they are feeling that it is insufficient to meet demand. Schools are on the front line when it comes to childrens Mental Health. 0ften it comes to childrens Mental Health. Often they are the first ones to spot signs of concern. But they are education specialist, not medical specialists. So, when a school feels that the needs of a people have gone beyond their own experience and expertise, their role is to refer those pupils onto other professionals who can help them, including childrens Mental Health services. And if i could interrupt to ask, when schools are referring 01 to ask, when schools are referring or recommending a referral to specialist Mental Health services, how many of those children are coming back with referral rejected . 0ur coming back with referral rejected . Our members are reporting that is a significant issue. They have said that too often referrals are rejected and also you have the problem that even if the referral is accepted, young people are having to wait several months for treatment. The main reason that referrals are rejected is that the problems are not severe enough, they do not reach the threshold. So it is only when children are at a crisis point is when the referrals are accepted . Which seems to be, well, perhaps not the best idea. 0bviously, which seems to be, well, perhaps not the best idea. Obviously, you want Early Intervention to stop it reaching a crisis point. Absolutely, Early Intervention is absolutely crucial. You know, young people deserve support when they need it, they shouldnt have to wait until crisis point or until their Mental Health symptoms worsen to be able to access that support. And it is those young people that dont quite meet those high thresholds for specialist Mental Health services, that seem to be falling through the net. The nhs is saying that the report from the Educational Policy Institute is inaccurate and it says that, yes, sometimes children are rejected, the referral is rejected, but actually they are sent to other more appropriate services. Are you also seeing that happening . What we are actually seeing is that schools are trying to do more and more to plug those gaps that they are seeing. When they refer a child to specialist Mental Health services and it is not accepted, obviously the school is then looking at what support they can put in place. And they have a vital role to play in they have a vital role to play in the promoting of Mental Health, they do that in many ways. Many schools have now employed their own Mental Health professional, most often a school counsellor, to try to bridge some of those gaps that they feel are in place. Especially where it is not sustainable. Schools are under pressure with their funding and they are finding that they do not have to resource to either continue with that support, or to develop it to meet the needs that they feel their pupils have. Thank you very much for giving us that perspective on the story, Sarah Hannafin who is the Senior Policy Adviser at the National Association of head teachers. Time for the weather. And apologies, i think simon is having a problem with his microphone, which means we cannot hear him. I wonder can we try to hear him. I wonder can we try to hear him. I wonder can we try to hear him now . No, but hopefully, we will catch up with him very soon, the full forecast in about half an hour. Hello this is bbc newsroom live. The headlines the Foreign Office advises agains all travel to iran as the country denies a missile was responsible for this weeks plane crash in tehran. The duchess of sussex returns to canada, after she and prince harry reveal they will step back as senior royals. An inmate suspected of attacking a guard at a maximum security prison in cambridgeshire was jailed for planning to behead a british soldier. And Northern Irelands main Political Parties are considering a draft deal to restore power sharing at stormont. As bushfires continue to rage new evacuation orders are issued to nearly a 250,000 australians. Its its time to catch up with the with ben. Not good news for tottenham and england striker harry kane this morning, he will have to undergo surgery on a morning, he will have to undergo surgery on a ruptured tendon in his hamstring. They will keep him out until at least april. The captain hobbled off during Tottenham Hotspur is defeat at southampton on new years day. Not likely to return to training on time, just two months before he is due to lead england at euro 2020. Here is how his manager reacted after the injury. Everybody knows, again, the importance of harry in the squad. He is irreplaceable, but we have to try solutions in relation to the players that we have. West indies pulled off a miraculous victory to deny ireland in the Second One Day International in barbados. It was going so well for the irish, Paul Stirling with 63 set the windies 238 to win. They looked on target were reduced to 1487, but the looked on target were reduced to 148 7, but the tail wag when the penultimate ball was smashed for six, deny ireland only a second 0di win over the west indies, they have taken the game with a game to spare. Matty ryan is the latest appointment to it for a donation to the austral and bush fires fun. He is from not farfrom and bush fires fun. He is from not far from sydney and and bush fires fun. He is from not farfrom sydney and he has pledged to give 500, about £260, for every save registered by a premier League Keeper this weekend. Rather number two n ova k keeper this weekend. Rather number two Novak Djokovic has taken serbia through to the semifinals of the atp cup. He had to fight for it, though, he went one set down in sydney before winning the decider on a tie break. It gave serbia an unbeatable lead opening canadians, they won back the doubles as well to make it 3 0. They play russia in the semifinals. Back to fibula and the former premier League Referee bobby madley has been speaking to the bbc about his fall from grace. He was sacked in a video in which he appeared to mock a disabled person. He said it destroyed his reputation and family life. He is now based in norway and trying to rebuild his career. I am embarrassed with myself. It is not an embarrassment because i got caught. Now, i look and think, 0k, because i got caught. Now, i look and think, ok, i didnt have social media then, we were not allowed accounts, and i have a social media accounts, and i have a social media account now. I am very conscious of everything that i put on there, everything that i put on there, every word i put on there, everything i like on there, because i now know that anything taken out of context can reflect on me as a person. As i said, i let myself down. The tough thing is that i have a brother who is a referee as well. I dont want that to reflect on him asa i dont want that to reflect on him as a professional person. We are two very different people in terms of careers, so very different people in terms of careers, so i knew my actions could reflect on him and have an adverse affect on his career. Luckily, he has been promoted to the premier league. As i said, i cant apologise for it enough. If you want to hear more from that, you can watch the full interview on football focus at 12 noon on bbc one tomorrow. Now, the winter youth 0lympic 12 noon on bbc one tomorrow. Now, the winter Youth Olympic Games are under way in switzerland, with a 28 strong Great Britain squad competing in11 of strong Great Britain squad competing in 11 of the strong Great Britain squad competing in11 of the 16 strong Great Britain squad competing in 11 of the 16 disciplines. These are live pictures from the mixed ca rolling. Are live pictures from the mixed carolling. Russia are level with canada at the ninth and, although, canada at the ninth and, although, Canada Holding the stones in this one at the minute. Later on, france ta ke one at the minute. Later on, france take on britain. This is the third running of the youth 0lympics with competition across 13 days. You can watch this right now, live on the bbc sport website. That time of year where we love curling again. That is all the sport for you now. Iran has strongly denied claims it accidentally shot down a ukrainian passenger plane this week, killing all 176 people on board. The us, british and canadian governments now believe the jet was brought down by an iranian anti aircraft Missile System shortly after taking off from tehran airport. There are suggestions it could have been a catastrophic mistake, coming at a time of heightened tension between iran and the United States. 0ur defence and diplomatic correspondentjonathan marcus is with me. Lets begin with a question from jim, who asks, why were no us patriot defensive missiles fired to stop the Iranian Missile attack . Well, it is not clear that us patriot missiles were deployed at either of these bases, that is not certain. What is clear, the pentagon has said that they did have an Early Warning of these missile attacks, so presumably, there were radars of some kind alerting them, or else an american satellites, or whatever gave summer american satellites, or whatever gave summer alert, that is one of the reasons why there were no casualties, people were able to take cover or able to disperse it to places where they were less likely to be struck. Just to be clear, youre going back to the events leading up to the plane crash, and those retaliatory actions by iran at the two us bases. We have another question, what role could rush to end up playing during these times . Would it be strictly political . Russia is obviously militarily involved in the region, it has had a huge role in the syria complex, directly with its air force advisers on the ground. There are russian mercenaries, if you want to call them that, or military contractors on the ground in libya, we believe. But of course, russias main goal at the moment is to try and take advantage of washingtons apparent reduced interest in the region. President trump is still sending out signals that america believes the middle east is less important to its interests, perhaps still important to its allies. 0ne interests, perhaps still important to its allies. One of the reasons, he said, nato should do more in the middle east. Russians are trying to leveraged in response to that position, to leveraged their own position, to leveraged their own position, to leveraged their own position, to show in many ways that they are a much more dependable ally, as they would have it, then the americans are. That is an interesting counterpoint from the next question, what is the key interest of the us in the gulf region . Traditionally, it was always energy, it was always oil. If you follow President Trumps logic, the us isa follow President Trumps logic, the us is a Major Oil Producer of its own, and does not need to depend on resources from the earl depend on resources from the earl depend on resources from the middle east. 0ther economies do need to depend on them. And i dont think President Trump can easily wash his hands of the middle east, there are key strategic interests, one of the reasons clearly is that us forces are in iraq is to continue the struggle against the islamic state, but i have a presence on the ground, but i have a presence on the ground, but also to train and assist the iraqi military. The bases in iraq are important for americas remaining presence in Eastern Syria as well. There is a whole parcel of economic strategic interest in the region, which President Trump seems eager in some ways to turn his back on, but which many other analysts evenin on, but which many other analysts even in the usa believe inevitably will still form some part of americas global responsibilities, even as it turns to confronting major power conflict, russia, china and so on. And your answer to that question touches on the theme of the next question as well, what are the implications of the us iran tension is for the rest of the world . Clearly, if there were to be a major blow up in the region, a war, on shipping and so on, interruption to energy supplies, that would have a huge economic impact. And iran and its allies have, in the past, been involved in all sorts of unpleasant goings on around the world, bomb attacks abroad and so on. There is obviously a residual fear that if iran chose to pursue its retaliation elsewhere, outside the region, that could be a problem. 0bviously, elsewhere, outside the region, that could be a problem. Obviously, we are thinking of targets like diplomatic buildings, prominent american interests overseas and so on. And so i think it clearly has huge ramifications, one should remember, it was fascinating the other day, world were three was trending on twitter, people were very concerned at the result of this crisis and rightly so. We are not going to get world war iii and that isa going to get world war iii and that is a very eurocentric view, that if you sit in the middle east today, you sit in the middle east today, you have got world war iii. In libya, syria and yemen, there have been appalling complex going on, famine, shortages of basic resources , famine, shortages of basic resources, hundreds of thousands of people killed, and the structure destroyed, and much of that is still continuing. Appalling conflicts going on. So these concerns about future conflict in one part of the world should be contrasted with very real and present conflict in significant part of the middle east. And of course, critics of iran would say that iran had a very crucial hand in many of these particular conflicts. A couple of questions that focus more on the plane itself. 0ne that focus more on the plane itself. One question, how has the finding been made that the plane being shot down was unintentional . This is an aircraft flying out of iranian airspace with huge numbers of iranian nationals on board. It would be unthinkable that the iranians would want to shoot it down deliberately, if that is indeed what happened. We still dont know 100 yet clearly, but one has to say that there is a developing body of information, suggesting that that may well be the case. 0n the one hand, you have this film taken on a cell phone, which seems to show the destruction of an airliner by something coming up from the ground, hitting it, an explosion. The americans have clearly said that they have both, there is signals intelligence and Satellite Network has found both the switching on of a surface aware missile radar at the appropriate time. They also say that they saw the infrared signals from they saw the infrared signals from the launch of two surface to air missiles. A third blip when one of these missiles perhaps struck the aircraft. The canadian and British Government seem aircraft. The canadian and British Government seem to think this american information is reliable. So the flight was perhaps mistaken as a threat . Another one of a reviewer has asked, was this flight somehow mistaken as a threat and talk to because of that . If it was targeted, it was a mistake and was perceived wrongly as a threat. We dont know quite how effective the transponder, the Identification Systems that all aircraft carry, how are was the russian built Missile System, was it capable of registering that information . Was the system actually functioning . We dont know. Also, these operators have a very short envelope of time in which to engage a target, if they believe that it is potentially hostile. The extraordinary thing in all of this is an aircraft that was close to an International Airport on a recognise flight International Airport on a recognise flight path, all of that information should have been available to the iranian authorities. The nature of this aircraft on a radar screen would very clearly not be that of a fast military jet would very clearly not be that of a fast militaryjet or a Cruise Missile coming in or so on. So clearly, if indeed it was shot down by the iranians, a terrible error has been made, and the real problem now is that if that is the case, how do they go about firstly, gathering further evidence and information, and how willing will the iranians be in the final analysis to own up to the terrible mistake that occurred . Thank you, jonathan. That final point that jonathan is thank you, jonathan. That final point thatjonathan is making, bringing me on to our next conversation. Im joined now by david gleave, who is an aviation safety investigator at loughborough university. Good morning. There are two very different narratives emerging today, political narratives in many ways, one hand, you have a number of western countries saying that this plane was brought down by a missile. You have the iranians are saying that that simply is impossible, its not what happened. What is your analysis today, taking into account everything that you have been able to learn so far . Well, there is a safety as a safety investigator, you try to keep an open mind until you try to keep an open mind until you have conclusive evidence, one way or the other. I think the initial reaction from the iranians that there was one reaction that said it was shot down, and another that said it couldnt have been, thenit that said it couldnt have been, then it definitely wasnt. We have seen then it definitely wasnt. We have seen reactions from the west that said it was, then it wasnt, and thenit said it was, then it wasnt, and then it was again. I am keeping an open mind at this stage, and i cannot verify it because i am not on site, i havent seen the parts myself, in that sense, so lets wait until the official investigation gets going before we make any conclusions. Certainly, if the us president is saying, in effect, the hidden agenda is that spy satellites we re hidden agenda is that spy satellites were able to detect the following, thenit were able to detect the following, then it certainly looks like strong evidence in that sense. Key to establishing what happens is a thorough investigation, and we have seen thorough investigation, and we have seen reports today suggesting that the crash site hasnt been preserved ina way the crash site hasnt been preserved in a way that a lot of investigators would like to see it preserved. Well that make it difficult to get to the truth of this matter . If it a miss if it is truth of this matter . If it a miss if it isa truth of this matter . If it a miss if it is a missile strike and we can get the readouts from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, those should prove it was not a technical problem with the aeroplane or human error on the flight aeroplane or human error on the flight deck, or inappropriate procedures or anything like that. We should be able to find evidence within the parts are potentially missile explosions, if it is a proximity fuse or an infrared tracking missile and possibly damaged the engines. But certainly, you would want the red crescent to go in and remove the bodies, so that they can be repatriated. You would like to see the wreckage on site, or at least very well documented, and certainly not the general public running around the site, possibly removing parts or placing parts there which could hinder the investigation. If that is what happened or has happened, the second scenario, where it has not been preserved properly, do you think the data you were talking about, from flight data you were talking about, from flight trackers and so forth, that that can be enough on its own to establish what happened without as much information as investigators would like from the crash site itself . Yes, you would sort of come toa itself . Yes, you would sort of come to a negative conclusion that it wasnt a technical problem or a trending problem with the pilots or anything like that. You would then look for evidence as to whether it was a look for evidence as to whether it wasa midair look for evidence as to whether it was a midair collision with a spy plane or drone, whether it was an airto air missile plane or drone, whether it was an air to air missile or ground to air missile, you would then refocus the investigation like that. The basic accident investigators that would be travelling are unlikely to have some of those skills, they are more focused on what the basic skills of the investigation are, which is to look for standard problems without military interference. Thank you for your thoughts on that today, david. The government is being urged to consider imposing restrictions on using pay as you go phones anonymously. Thats one suggestion which, a report from a policing watchdog says, could limit the criminal activities of county lines drug gangs. Lets talk to our Home Affairs Correspondent danny shaw. How is it being suggested the county lines drugs, people behind the drugs gangs, using these pay as you go mobile to further their criminal activity . The phone line is crucial to their activities, because what happens is that drugs are ordered on that phone line, people find the number, order their drugs, everything is arranged via the mobile phone and it means that these gangs can move across the country, set up operations in towns and cities right across the uk. We know that county lines drug gangs have spread over the last five years or so. Spread over the last five years or so. What the government did was introduce laws three years ago that allowed police to apply to the courts to block these phone numbers. 0nly courts to block these phone numbers. Only about 50 or so of those court orders were made in what police found was as soon as the number was blocked, the criminals with then go toa blocked, the criminals with then go to a phone shop, buy a pay as you go phone or a burner phone anonymously, didnt have to disclose their details, and set up another number and the dealing would continue quickly. That measure has not worked. What is now being suggested is that you would actually have to give your identification details, your personal details, when you go toa your personal details, when you go to a shop to buy a phone. And have some proof of identification, presumably. Will that be a straightforward process . Presumably. Will that be a straightforward process . This is what police would like to see, because can you imagine how that would assist detectives in their endeavours to try and find the people behind these gangs . And not just drug gangs, criminal conspiracies of all types, serious offences, rely on the anonymous use offences, rely on the anonymous use of mobile phones, people being able to discard phones and get another one, sim cards and so on. The police would like it, the inspectors of co nsta bula ry would like it, the inspectors of constabulary are saying there needs to bea constabulary are saying there needs to be a review. The government says it will carefully consider the proposal, however, there is a lucrative industry for the mobile phone sector, it is also popular for customers to be able to buy a phone without the rigmarole and hassle of trying to prove their identity. And for some people, for example, homeless people, those who have no fixed address, it is useful to be able to get a pay as you go phone are not have to prove your identity or where you live. A complex situation, thank you, danny. In a moment, we will have all the Business News, but first, the headlines on bbc news. Iran denies a missile was responsible for this weeks plane crash in tehran western leaders believe the ukranian passengerjet may have been shot down by accident. The duchess of sussex returns to canada, a day after she and prince harry revealed they will step back from their roles as senior royals. Hello, i have your Business News. The release of a batch of internal messages has raised more questions about the safety of boeings 737 max. In one of the communications an employee said the plane was designed by clowns. The plane maker described the communications as completely unacceptable. The 737 max was grounded in march 2019 after two fatal crashes in indonesia and ethiopia, which killed almost 350 people in total. Fashion chain superdry has warned that its profits could be wiped out after a sharp sales slide by more than 15 over the Christmas Period. The firm, which has been trying to sell more clothes at full price, said it had been hit by unprecedented levels of promotional activity by rivals. Joules shares have fallen by a third after the fashion retailer warned its annual profits will be significantly behind expectations due to supply chain issues during the Christmas Period. But ryanair has had a good christmas its raised its full year Profit Guidance after a stronger than expected performance over the festive period. The airline, which is led by michael 0leary, now expects pre tax profit to be between £806 million to £890 million. That is ahead of a previous estimate of . 800m to . 900m. However, it said its austrian subsidiary, laudamotion, continues to underperform, with net losses widening. Christmas Sales Results for retailers are rolling in and they are a real mixed bag. As ive mentioned, fashion chain superdry has issued a profit warning after sales fell sharply over christmas and joules also had supply chain issues. Yesterday, the British Retail Consortium said sales fell overall last year for the first time in 25 years with november and december proving exceptionally weak. But today, lidl reported an 11 rise in sales in the four weeks to dec 29, confirming it as the uks Fastest Growing grocer over the Christmas Period. And jd sports said it expects annual profits to be at the higher end of forecasts after posting encouraging sales growth over the key festive period, despite challenging conditions. The sportswear retailer said it saw positive like for like sales across its fashion businesses, with particular growth overseas. Lets have a chat about all of this with chana baram, senior retail analyst. The winners and losers of the festive period, what do you thinkjd are doing well to increase the challenge . So, jd sports is doing a few things, it is benefiting from the popularity of Sports Fashion items, so people are wearing Sports Fashion for lots of different reasons, not just for fashion for lots of different reasons, notjust for going fashion for lots of different reasons, not just for going to fashion for lots of different reasons, notjust for going to the gym or doing different sports, but also, for work or even more formal events, so this has become more and more popular as the years have gone on. However, it is notjust benefiting from this, jd sports is also doing quite a a few things to make sure that it is ahead of any competitors, and that its gaining new customers and customer loyalty. The big sports brands, adidas and nike e, for example, becoming far more selective with which retailers they will allow to stock them, but they will allow to stock them, but they have got a really Good Relationship with jd sports, they have got a really Good Relationship withjd sports, which jd sports has built up over the last few years. It seems as though they are getting the right products into store at the right time, unlike joules, for example, but they were hit by a drop of sales after a quite a good black friday promotion. Yes, joules has done quite well over the last year, so it is surprising to see it struggle here. We have seen this with quite a few of the fashion retailers, particularly over christmas, there has been a lot more sales than usual, more discounting, which shows that people perhaps dont have the right product in, the weather has been a little bit unpredictable as usual, so quite a few retailers have been suffering from these conditions as well. Thank you forjoining us. The behaviour of Energy Companies is back in the spotlight some have bene sending out big bills after recalculating past energy use, even though that is meant to be banned. Figures released to bbc news by the energy 0mbudsman show that it resolved 2,539 complaints about back billing in 2019, the first full year in which the ban applied. This was an increase of more than a third. The ombudsman also said more complaints were upheld last year. A century ago, new restrictions on selling alcohol left us wine merchants reeling. Now, president Donald Trumps decision to raise taxes on european wine imports to 100 presents a similar threat, the industry says. Wine sellers are warning that their businesses will not survive if the tariffs go ahead. They want washington to drop the proposal, which is in retaliation over european subsidies for airbus. And segways prototype wheelchair crashed during a demonstration at the ces tech show in las vegas. The s pod a self balancing electric wheelchair was being tested by a journalist at the time. The rider had accelerated the vehicle before accidently crashing into a wall. Its maximum speed is 24mph. The company said no one was injured and analysts say the company should not face lasting damage. Thats all your business use for me for now, back to you, i need her. Now its time for a look at the weather. Hopefully your mic is working also in this time yes, apologies for it some technical issues, lots of sunshine in england and wales, but further north and west across scotland and Northern Ireland, the cloud will increase here throughout the afternoon, eventually, reina spreads in across the west of scotland, which will be quite heavy and will be accompanied bya quite heavy and will be accompanied by a strong, gusty wind, potentially Gale Force Winds. The south and east saying largely dry with sunny spells, temperatures 6 9, colder across southern spells, temperatures 6 9, colder across southern areas spells, temperatures 6 9, colder across southern areas compared to yesterday. Through tonight, the rain will move south that is, but into northern england. It will be quite heavy and will last most of the night, with the strong wind. Strengthening wind elsewhere, but temperatures into saturday morning will rise, so double figures to start of saturday across scotland and Northern Ireland, but we will continue with some rain, strong wind in scotland, Northern Ireland, northern parts of england as well. Drier in the south east, but by sunday, the rain will have cleared away, it will be drier and brighter, some sunny away, it will be drier and brighter, some sunny spells. Wind not as strong on sunday, but the temperatures will come down a little bit. Seven celsius in the north, but milder conditions towards the south east. Youre watching bbc newsroom live, its midday, and these are the main stories this morning iran denies a missile caused the plane crash in tehran. Western leaders believe the ukranian passengerjet may have been shot down by accident. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an iranian surface to air missile. This may well have been unintentional. Iran prepares to open the flight data recorders and invites boeing and Government Agencies from the us, ukraine and canada to help investigate. The duchess of sussex returns to canada, a day after she and prince harry revealed they will step back from their roles as senior royals. The bbc learns an inmate, suspected of attacking guards at a maximum security prison in cambridgeshire, was jailed for planning to behead a british soldier. Northern irelands main Political Parties consider a draft deal to restore power sharing at stormont. New evacuation orders are issued to nearly a quarter of a million australians as hot, windy weather threatens to fan new bushfires. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im annita mcveigh. Iran has accused western leaders of lying about the cause of the ukrainian plane crash which took place near tehran on wednesday. Both canada and the uk say intelligence suggests an Iranian Missile brought down the passenger plane, killing everyone on board. Iranian Officials Say the black box flight recorders from the aircraft will be examined today. France has confirmed it will be involved in the investigation into the plane crash. Representatives from the United States, canada and ukraine will also travel to iran to attend investigation meetings. However, the chief of irans Civil Aviation 0rganisation insists they can say with certainty that a missile was not the cause of the crash. The Foreign Office is now advising against all travel to iran. In a statement, the foreign secretary dominic raab said. Nada tawfik has this report. Us media say these images appear to show the moment the ukrainian airliner was hit by an Iranian Missile, minutes after take off. A small explosion occurs and thejet, now in flames, tries to turn back towards tehrans airport. But within minutes, the planes signal is lost and it crashes with 176 people on board. 63 canadians were among the dead. Prime Ministerjustin Trudeau says the governments preliminary conclusions showed irans anti Missile System accidentally shot down the plane. We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an iranian surface to air missile. This may well have been unintentional. Also in canada, foreign secretary dominic raab addressed the tragedy after borisjohnson confirmed the death toll now includes four british citizens. The Iranian Regime must open up to the international community, including access to the crash site, so we can get the truth as quickly as possible to give the families of the victims an understanding of what happened to their loved ones. The answers and evidence lie here at the crash site. Iranian officials have ruled out a missile strike, calling the allegations illogical rumours and psychological warfare. Across canada, more vigils are being held. People here are continuing to bring flowers and candles for the victims. The focus is very much on mourning their lost loved ones. They do want to know what caused this horrific tragedy, but they are happy to wait for an investigation that is full and thorough. Finding the answers they are looking for could take months and even years as the investigation unfolds. Nada tawfik, bbc news, toronto. Well, lets just remind ourselves of the planes movements on wednesday morning. The aircraft took off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in tehran with 176 people on board. The last signal from the plane was received two minutes after take off this is when it is believed some kind of impact took place. Video from this area appears to show the plane heading back towards the airport before it crashed. And to the north west of that point of impact, is an Iranian Military Research Site which previous photography has shown is defended by missiles. Lets go live to tehran and join professor Sayed Mohammad marandi who is the chair of american studies at the university there. Thank you for your time today. With the black box, the flight data recorder, still needing to be analysed, are you surprised that iranian officials are seeing definitively that the plane was not hit by a missile and that they are not being more open at this stage . No, ithink not being more open at this stage . No, i think the iranians are shocked and surprised that the americans and the canadians are using this as a Political Tool to score points. In fa ct, Political Tool to score points. In fact, they take the canadian prime Ministerjustin Trudeau spoke about working with his colleagues to resolve this. There is talk of some sort of conflict that everything has to be reviewed. There is a standard protocol, a plane crashed, there will be investigators links to other countries that have something involved, either citizens or those who built the plane or parts of the plane. They will be involved in the investigation and that includes iran because it fell on iranian territory. So far, the canadian Prime Minister has provided no evidence. The clips that we seem, despite the fact that the western media says it was hit by missiles, there is no signs of missiles or especially two missiles in the clips, and therefore, they ran ians feel justified that the clips, and therefore, they ran ians feeljustified that the suicidal psychological warfare. The investigation will take place, there will be short term, medium term, long term, like all investigations, but when it is iran they twisted and frame it to make it look suspicious and somehow sinister. But the countries who are talking about msl having struck the plane are saying that they do not believe that would be an intentional act, so that is certainly the sort of language that is designed to de escalate the situation. But coming back to my initial question, given that the flight initial question, given that the flight data recorders havent been examined yet, would it not be normal procedure, normal protocol for the country where the crash happened to say, lets keep an open mind as to the cause until we actually get all the cause until we actually get all the Data Collected and internal investigators have actually been to the crash site itself . No, because at the moment, there is no information at all of my cell is moving towards the plane. Western countries are not to the escalating, they are actually making families more upset and more angry and more depressed, and they are just scoring political points. They will investigate just like in any other country, there will be an investigation and so far there is no evidence out there. We have not seen any signs of missiles moving towards the plane on the clip. The New York Times shows a clip suggesting evidence, but there is no evidence. But if, although people here doubt it, if a missile was dropped, it is the americans who created the mess in the first place by carrying out an act of war against iran and an act of war against iraq, and creating this escalation, constantly threatening iran with attacks on Cultural Heritage sites. Donald trump is responsible for the mess that we have in this region and the United States is responsible for the mess in iraq over the last four decades. Iranians are being normal about this, they have said they will be an International Investigation and then the western media reports that iran were not allowed foreigners to be involved. No one has said that here, i do not know where these narratives come from but it is not helping the investigation. That is certainly not what we have been reporting. We have been reporting that iran says investigators, including from the United States, will be able to visit the crash site. So you may have heard that on other media, but certainly not here. What about the crash site itself . We have seen some reports from the scene with suggest that the integrity of the crash site hasnt been preserved as fully as it might have been. Is that going to complicate investigation . might have been. Is that going to complicate investigation . I dont think so. There were reporters there from the initial impact of the plane crash, Many International reporters from International News agencies, iranian reporters. When it hit the ground, it exploded. I am at the studio, a private studio and they have said that it was absolutely horrible. The things were spread out any very large area. It is not something that you can easily prevent the public from going and seeing. We will try one more question, because we are losing some of the sound from you. Youre getting some words and not others. We will try another question, if we may. Clearly, this is a situation, anyone looking for at this from a neutral standpoint would say that there is a lack of trust between the two sides, that is a two way street. But do you think that the great wish of people there is for the situation to de escalate, or do you think there is public support, as their appetite for further attacks on us targets . Appetite for further attacks on us targets . I think the people here believe that the United States is behaving as a rogue regime that is a lot of this, it does not abide by iraqi sovereignty, it isjudge, jury and executioner, and it ignores the iraqi government, the iraqi Prime Minister, and as long as the United States occupies iraq, i do not think that things will get better. I think the concerns in western countries and especially in the us, is not iran but how iraqis are going to react in the coming months with the murder of their own soldiers and their own commanders by american folder forces. Iraqis are just as outraged as the iranians. Thank you very much, professor. Ukraines president has asked western intelligence to provide evidence to support their claims. It seems that that evidence has now been forthcoming. 0ur correspondentjonah fisher is in the ukrainian capital kyiv. The last time we spoke, you said that intelligence has now been shared. Yes, i think the ukrainians we re shared. Yes, i think the ukrainians were upset that they had been kept out of the loop, and while this information was shared between the United States, canada and the United Kingdom, this intelligence, which supported the idea that there had been a shoot down by a surface to air missile, the information took a lot longer to come to the ukrainian authorities. In the last hour or so, we have had confirmation from the ukrainian president s office that a meeting has taken place between officials from the presidency and the american evidence the American Embassy here and that important data was handed over, one would imagine that is that intelligence information that had been widely shared before, and the ukrainians will now be digesting it. Up until that point, ukraine had been pretty clear in its response, saying it was keeping a pretty open mind and that it shoots down by a missile was one of the options that they were still considering, but that they did not considering, but that they did not consider it as being confirmed as what had happened. Interesting that ukraine was or is keeping an open mind, given that many of the other nations clearly arent. Iran saying absolutely that it was not a missile strike, canada and the us saying it was. Why that particular stance from the ukrainians. We have to bear in mind there is a large team of ukrainians on the ground in tehran. They were sent on wednesday evening by the president to try and take pa rt by the president to try and take part in the investigation. They are still there. It is not clear how much success they are having in terms of taking part in the investigation. So, ithink terms of taking part in the investigation. So, i think they are careful not to put those people any difficult place. Jonah fisher, thank you, speaking from kyiv. More on todays main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. We now continue with the main stories on the bbc news channel. Downing street has urged parties in Northern Ireland to come together and accept a balanced deal to restore devolved government to the province. A spokesman for the Prime Minister borisjohnson has warned that the deadline is now. The draft deal has been put together by the british and irish governments after three years of deadlock at stormont. They describe it as a fair compromise which contains something for everyone. Joining me now from belfast is brendan mulgrew, a political commentator and former sdlp stormont adviser. Brendan, good afternoon to you. From what you know of this draft a deal, do you think it is a fair compromise . Yes, it certainly has the potential to kick start our government, to get stormont up and running again after a period of three years. And there is the expectation amongst the general public and the business committee, the trade unions and the Civic Society that our government will get together again on the back of the steel which was published overnight. Important to also stress, this is not an all Party Agreement that we have had in the past, it is a proposal prepared by the two governments and put to the parties, and the parties are considering whether they regard that as a basis for a return to government. There is something in it for all of the parties. None of the parties is jumping for joy because parties. None of the parties is jumping forjoy because they got every single thing that they were hoping to achieve in these negotiations, but the feeling is that there is something in it for all the parties and certainly reading the paper overnight and earlier this morning, it would appear to me that no ones identity is threatened or undermined. Everyone through this deal can look forward to better funded everyone through this deal can look forward to betterfunded Public Services and for our schools and our hospitals, and we have reached crisis point in those areas, our nurses are striking today. We need to Government Back in place and this proposal, published overnight, contains the basis for a return of stormont, finally. If it happens this time, how much do you think thatis this time, how much do you think that is because the patience of supporters of the two main parties, the dup and sinn fein, has been exhausted . Certainly, the dup and sinn fein, has been exhausted . Certainly, before the dup and sinn fein, has been exhausted . Certainly, before the general election when i was in Northern Ireland, the assembly was very much on the minds of people, people were clearly frustrated that three years on they still have local politicians dealing with local issues. Still dont have local politicians dealing with local issues. Yes, there is no doubt that all Political Parties and crucially the two main parties, the dup and sinn fein, they heard that from the electorate in the run up to the general election and both of those parties suffered vote loss in that election, the dup suffered a loss of two seats as well and lost the position at being at the centre of power in westminster. The situation dramatically change, the 12th of december was a game changer in Northern Ireland and across the uk, and there was a convergence of other factors. Nurses are striking, we have the worst waiting lists in the ukfor our have the worst waiting lists in the uk for our hospitals. 0ur Education System is in crisis. All of those factors combined have really made. 0ur factors combined have really made. Our local Political Parties have run out of road not in terms of getting back into government but it is expected that this paper published overnight gives them the pieces to return. The protection of cultural identity is a huge issue for people of every political persuasion in Northern Ireland and we are hearing that this draft deal contains talk ofa that this draft deal contains talk of a commissioner to protect the Irish Language and that there will bea Irish Language and that there will be a commissioner to protect unionist traditions as well. But i wonder, if all of this works out today, if there is a deal done today, if there is a deal done today, and certainly the government here in westminster seems to be really pushing for that to be sealed, can it stick . Will it last . We have had stops and starts in this process before. That is the absolutely crucial question. Much of what is on the table now was on the table and for 2018, when the dup in particular, the party of Arlene Foster, decided they would not sell that due to their supporters. Arlene foster was quick last night on the publication of proposals to say that, yes, the dup regarded this as a basis for going back into government. But in orderfor a basis for going back into government. But in order for the government to be more durable and sustainable and to deliver real change for people who live here, it is really a question of the relationships and personal relationships and personal relationships around at the executive table. We need a new mindset where people can begin to trust each other, to develop better relationships. Proposals published overnight give us the structures, but we need a political mindset amongst our leaders to make sure that if they do get back into government, this time it can stick, and that is what people are crying out for here. 0k, brendan mulgrew, thank you very much for that. The headlines on bbc news. Iran denies a missile was responsible for this weeks plane crash in tehran western leaders believe the ukranian passengerjet may have been shot down by accident. The duchess of sussex returns to canada, a day after she and prince harry revealed they will step back from their roles as senior royals. The bbc learns an inmate, suspected of attacking guards at a maximum security prison in cambridgeshire, was jailed for planning to behead a british soldier. Sport now. The cameras are doing lots of interesting things. There we go. Let us head over to the bbc sport centre andjoin us head over to the bbc sport centre and join ben. Hello, we expect to hear from Tottenham Hotspur in the next there to gauge reaction to the news that harry kane will be missing for three months with a hamstring injury. He is due to undergo surgery to repaira injury. He is due to undergo surgery to repair a ruptured tendon and will only likely return in april, a few months ahead of euro 2020. Harry kane picked up the injury and spurs defeat to southampton on new years day. He is their top scorer this season with 11 goals. Matt ryan, the brighton goalkeeper, becomes a later sportsperson to pledge his support to the australian bushfire relief efforts. £260 will also go from every save made by every premier League Keeper this weekend. Shane warne has said he has been blown away by the half £1 million raised by his baggy green cap going on sale on ebay. The winning bid came in the final minute of the auction. Whilst the atp cup continues in sydney, preparations for the show in open continue across the country. Several tournaments have been affected by the bushfires, including affected by the bushfires, including a recent event for british fed cup player katie swan. She could not train in camera. The competition was due to take part but moved to melbourne. We would advise not to go outside. They told us to try to purchase masks so that when we were outside we could breathe, basically. And not inhale all of the smoke. They were able to move the tournament to a different city, so we ended up staying on camera for three days without being able to practice or use the gym because the smoke was inside as well as outside. Back to the atp cup, Novak Djokovic has taken serbia into the semifinals. He was one set down to Denis Shapovalov before winning the decider on a tie break. He had an unbeatable lead over the canadians and they will now play russia in the semifinals. Serbia winning 3 0 against the canadians. We will have more sport later on. Thank you. The duchess of sussex has returned to canada amid the fallout from the announcement that she and prince harry intend to step back as senior members of the royal family. The queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have instructed their staff to find a solution within a matter of days. Simon jones has more. Prince harry and meghans first public appearance this this year, a visit on tuesday to canadas high commissioner in london to thank the country for showing them warmth and hospitality during their six week break over christmas. But now meghan has already flown back there, while prince harry remains in the uk to deal with fallout of the shock announcement that they want to step back as senior royals and enjoy financial independence. In toronto, theres sympathy. I respect the fact that they are trying to make their own way in the world. Theyre a young couple. They are trying to do things differently. I think they wanted to go back to being independent and private. Thats what Buckingham Palace is now grappling with. The queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have told their staff to find a way forward quickly, but royal watchers are split on how easy that will be. I think its really difficult to propose to be half in and half out of the royal family. It is a team, and you are either a full member of the team or i think you have to leave the team entirely. They seem to be talking about going to live in canada which is actually a monarchy in its own right, and i take them at their word. They dont want to be non royal, they do not want to be semidetached royal. Harry and meghan, on a new website theyve launched, talk about finding a progressive new role but despite their announcement its still not clear what will be. Simon jones, bbc news. The police say a woman disguised herself as a teenage boy to sexually assault girls after grooming them online. Gemma watts, whos 21 and from enfield, pleaded guilty to Sexual Offences involving four girls, but police say she may have assaulted up to 50 victims in total. Gemma watts posed as 16 year old jake waton and shared intimate images with victims across england. A man who went on the run to brazil after taking part in an Armed Robbery at the scottish Gleneagles Hotel has been jailed for 11 years and four months. Deanjones was a member of a three man gang who stole rolex watches worth over half a Million Pounds from the luxury Perthshire Hotel in 2017. Firefighters in australia are trying to contain blazes which are threatening to advance again as hot weather returns after a five day cool spell. As night falls there now, strong winds have been gusting up to 60 kilometres an hour, with gusts up to 90 kilometres forecast, along with temperatures in the 40s celsius. More than 100 bushfires are still burning in the south of the country. With so much fire on the landscape, we are going to continue to see fire with so much fire on the landscape, we are going to continue to see fires getting a run on, fires flaring up for weeks to come. Even with rain in melbourne, even with forecast better conditions next week, there is a long way to go in what has been an unprecedented fire event and certainly so early on in the fire season. And, of course, we know that we have many weeks of the fire season to run. That was state premier, daniel andrews. Earlier i spoke to our correspondentjonathan head. He gave us the latest on the situation from eden, a coastal town in New South Wales. The wind changed about four hours ago, it had been a dramatic change, it had been a clear day up until that point. Suddenly we smelt smoke, the view in this town was shrouded, it was night time but we could smell the smoke coming from fires in land, some not far away, 20 kilometres away, but being fuelled by the strong winds from the south west. That is the real problem, even in this town, where they have evacuated within the last weekend, people are bracing themselves for the possibility that they may well wake up possibility that they may well wake up tomorrow morning to find himself surrounded by fire. Further inland, along the New South Wales victoria border, the situation is even more critical. There are towns there which have been ordered to be evacuated over the last 24 hours, who are now being given the message that it who are now being given the message thatitis who are now being given the message that it is too late, the roads out are completely covered in flames and that they have to make themselves are safe as they possibly can. Many people turned down the offer of evacuation because they wanted to stay and defend their homes. And even here, where there are a lot of people staying, whose home and outlying villages have been com pletely outlying villages have been completely destroyed in the recent virus, there is a sense i think of real concern about how long this will continue. We have had five days of coolidge weather, now we have this very strong wind whipping up the virus, filling the air with smoke, and the worry that the people here may have to move again. How many more times what they have to do this before the hot season ends in about two or three months time . It is, and they all say, these are unprecedented conditions that they are enduring. Down in this area they have not experience fires like this in living memory. Jonathan head. Further questions have been raised about the safety of boeings 737 max after the firm released hundreds of messages as part of its commitment to transparency. In one communication an employee said the plane was designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys. The 737 max was grounded in march last year after two fatal crashes in indonesia and ethiopia, which killed almost 350 people. Our Business Correspondent theo leggett is here. It theo leggett is here. Is worth reminding our viewe about it is worth reminding our viewers about the lead up to these crashes. Yes, this is about how boeings newest and best selling aircraft was developed. You might remember in november 2018, a boeing 737 max belonging to the Indonesian Airline went down off the coast of indonesia. 189 people were killed in that crash. That was followed by a further crash a few months later involving another identical 737 max run by Ethiopian Airlines which crashed after taking off from the airport there and another 147 people we re airport there and another 147 people were killed. Following that accident, the 737 max was grounded. 157 accident, the 737 max was grounded. 157 people. It remains grounded nine months later and there is a big review going into how it came to be on the market in the condition it was in with many believing that it was in with many believing that it was actually a flawed aircraft. As you mentioned in the introduction, theo, boeing has released a whole haul of messages, a trove of messages, as part of its commitment to transparency. What do these reveal . These are messages between boeing colleagues, some at lower level, some at higher level, which really paint a picture of frustration within the organisation. There are references to lying to regulators, frustration from management who always wanted to use the cheaper supplier, regardless of how good they wear. It kind of reinforces a flavour that we have been getting from whistle blowers, congressional hearings in the us and so on congressional hearings in the us and so on that boeing was really a company that has lost its way, that its focus had moved from safety onto production, speed and maximising profits. You look at these quotes, they are devastating, this aeroplane, one said as designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys. There is a lot of focus on the simulator is being developed for the simulator is being developed for the 737 max, a lot of frustration amongst employees. 0ne the 737 max, a lot of frustration amongst employees. One said to another, would you put your family ona another, would you put your family on a max simply to train the aircraft . I wouldnt. There is also the suggestion that some avoidance of training pilots was undertaken because it would be cheaper for the airlines and make the aircraft more economical to buy. How airlines and make the aircraft more economicalto buy. How damaging is all of that, that sort of information, coming from boeing employees . How damaging will that be to the companys reputation . Employees . How damaging will that be to the companys reputation . M employees . How damaging will that be to the companys reputation . It is humiliating for boeing and the regulators, because it shows that they were treated by content by many employees within boeing. But whether it is the company any more damage is open to question. Boeings reputation has already been horrendously damaged. Now it could be that the company is saying, 0k, we havent got anything to lose but by being transparent about our past failure as we can prepare the ground for when this plane is flying again and show we are reforming and becoming a better company. But by the looks of it, from these e mails and everything we have heard over the last nine months, that will be a real challenge. Very interesting, thank you, theo leggett. Time for the Weather Forecast with mel coles. It isa the Weather Forecast with mel coles. It is a much quieter story across the board today. Most of us getting to see some sunshine, but the next weather system will start to show its hand across parts of Northern Ireland and western scotland as we approach the early part of the evening. Wet and windy weather moving on, gail is expected for the Western Isles. Elsewhere, a good gale of fine and dry weather. Cooler thanit gale of fine and dry weather. Cooler than it has been recently with the sunshine some compensation. Here is our band of rain, it will continue its journey south and east towards overnight. We might see some hill snow for parts of scotland and some spelling into cumbria and wales as the night progresses. A good gale of cloud and temperatures will rise as the night progresses as we draw and milderair the night progresses as we draw and milder air from the night progresses as we draw and milder airfrom the the night progresses as we draw and milder air from the south west. The rain outstayed its welcome on saturday, some heavier policies and it sank southwards and eastwards. A windy day across the board on saturday, quite a bit of cloud to the south of it, it will brighten up behind it but some showers with a wintry flavour to them. Temperatures, feeling milder, many places in double digits. Hello this is bbc newsroom live. The headlines the Foreign Office advises agains all travel to iran as the country denies a missile was responsible for this weeks plane crash in tehran. The duchess of sussex returns to canada, after she and prince harry reveal they will step back as senior royals. An inmate suspected of attacking a guard at a maximum security prison in cambridgeshire was jailed for planning to behead a british soldier. And Northern Irelands main Political Parties are considering a draft deal to restore power sharing at stormont. As bushfires continue to rage new evacuation orders are issued to nearly 250,000 australians. More now on our top story. Iran has said it wants to download the black box recordings of the ukrainian airliner that crashed on wednesday itself. The head of irans Civil Aviation authority said it could take up to two months to extract information from the flight recorders. He rejected suggestions from western leaders that the plane was shot down by an Iranian Missile. Earlier, i spoke to Michael Stephens, middle east fellow at the security think tank, rusi, for more on the latest intelligence into what might have happened. I have spent a lot of time talking to my contact in canada and the United States and some in britain. What appeared to be happening yesterday and the course of yesterdays events was that it became more clear that this was not what it seemed to be, and that this looked to me like a shoot down of the plane, although, it was, and i think everybody is stressing that if thatis think everybody is stressing that if that is 100 confirmed that it was accidental. 0ne that is 100 confirmed that it was accidental. One of the things that has happened is the initial leaks of information coming out from the department of defence in the usa have been very clear to say it is accidental, we are not going to escalate it as a result of this, the same is being said in canada and i thinkjustin trudeau made it very clear that if this was the case, as it looks increasingly likely, that that was not something they would use against iran, they would not use it to escalate tensions and create further problems in a scenario which is already looking quite unstable. Yet, we are hearing the head of the Civil Aviation authority say it was scientifically impossible for a missile to hit the ukrainian plane. Why do you think the iranians are insisting on this stance, rather than presenting a more open minded sta nce than presenting a more open minded stance at this stage . It can be scientifically impossible, that can be true, given the technology exists today, how you are able to identify civilian versus military aircraft, but it is humanly possible. Human error creeps in, that is the problem. And if the iranians are going to admit guilt, they will have to admit there was human error in the process and then we have to look at chains of command and i dont think the iranians are in a place right now where they would want to do that. Lets see what happens, there is an investigation taking place but im afraid to say that the weight of evidence seems that the iranian version of events does not seem iranian version of events does not seem to be true. The fact is this, western states are not putting the iranians on the blog here. They want to cooperate and they want cooperation from the iranians. It looks like they might get it, and in that respect, i dont think the iranians will be backed into a corner, so iranians will be backed into a corner, so it would be betterfor then, if they come out and say the truth. You think on their own time, they will do that . I have no idea. We are dealing with the middle east and sometimes, these things take a bit of time, if at all. If we look at the last time a plane was brought down over ukraine, i feel very sorry for the ukrainians, this is the second incident in five years, this information as part of the game, it is what happens, and we will have to accept that. Is this why the international investigators, both of those who are in the country and those who are in the country and those who are in the country and those who have not arrived yet, have not been allowed the sort of access to the crash site that they want to get . Yes, and they need full access to the crash site and there needs to be no evidence of tampering or anything of that nature. Lets hope the iranians are more cooperative, they said they will cooperate now. That is a positive step, and we will then wait down the line to see what then wait down the line to see what the reports reveal. Im afraid to say that the initial reports coming from the americans, and the americans are the only country on earth who would have the signals and satellite capability to work this out, dont look very good. That was Michael Stephens from the think tank rusi speaking to me earlier today. Now with all the Business News here is susannah. Im susannah in the Business News. The release of a batch of internal messages has raised more questions about the safety of boeings 737 max. In one of the communications an employee said the plane was designed by clowns. The plane maker described the communications as completely unacceptable. The 737 max was grounded in march 2019 after two fatal crashes in indonesia and ethiopia, which killed almost 350 people in total. Fashion chain superdry has warned that its profits could be wiped out after a sharp sales slide of more than 15 over the Christmas Period. The firm, which has been trying to sell more clothes at full price, said it had been hit by unprecedented levels of promotional activity by rivals. Joules shares have fallen by a third after the fashion retailer warned its annual profits will be significantly behind expectations due to supply chain issues during the Christmas Period. But ryanair has had a good christmas its raised its full year Profit Guidance after a stronger than expected performance over the festive period. The airline, which is led by michael 0leary, now expects pre tax profit to be between £806 million to £890 million. However, it said its austrian subsidiary, laudamotion, continues to underperform, with net losses widening. So the retail winners and losers of the crunch Christmas Period are emerging. As ive mentioned, fashion chain superdry has issued a profit warning after sales fell sharply over christmas, and joules also had supply chain issues. Yesterday, the British Retail Consortium said sales fell overall last year for the first time in 25 years with november and december proving exceptionally weak. But today, lidl reported an 11 rise in sales in the four weeks to dec 29, confirming it as the uks Fastest Growing grocer over the Christmas Period. And jd sports said it expects annual profits to be at the higher end of forecasts after posting encouraging sales growth over the key festive period, despite challenging conditions. A little earlier, i spoke to chana baram, senior retail analyst at mintel and she told me whyjd sports was winning customers. So, jd sports is doing a few things. So, for a start, it is definitely benefiting from the popularity of Sports Fashion items. So, people are wearing Sports Fashion for lots of different reasons, notjust for going to the gym, or doing different sports, but also for work even, or even more formal events. So, this is something thats become more and more popular as the years have gone on. However, it is notjust benefiting from this, jd sports has also been doing quite a few things to make sure that it is ahead of any competitors and it is gaining new customers and customer loyalty. So, the big sports brands, adidas and nike, for example, are becoming far more selective with which retailers theyre going to allow to stock them. But they have a really Good Relationship with jd sports, whichjd sports has built up over the last few years. To las vegas now, where weird and sometimes wonderful electronic gadgets are being unveiledwith inventors claiming they will transform our lives. The latest offering is an invisible keyboard. Yes, samsung has developed a way for smartphone owners to type on a table or other surface as an alternative to tapping on the handsets own screen. Chris fox tried it out. No keys, this is a prototype from samsung. Instead of typing on a tiny smartphone screen, you can use Selfie Camera and touch type on the table in front of you, and the camera recognises the letters you are trying to type in your head. I have been put in Training Mode here, i have only had a few minutes to try it and i have only had a few minutes to try itandi i have only had a few minutes to try it and i have got some speed up. 0bviously, it and i have got some speed up. Obviously, i have to type a particular way. Im not the best touch type, i would normally stab at the keys, not very professional, i know. This is training me so that the ai know. This is training me so that the a can recognise where my fingers are. Lets bring on one here, tell me, what is the idea behind this . There are many different ways you can type, some people who prefer typing on a physical keyboard, and this is one solution that can avoid you having to carry extra devices. This is a research project, when might we see this on a phone . We are still working hard on this one and there is no official date for the release, but we will see how it goes in the future. Here is another device designed to speed up your typing, instead of tapping at a keyboard, you move the sticks around, and you can play chords that type whole words. I have had no time to practice, but hopefully youre good at this, riley. Let me put you to test, lets have you type. Can you type this for me, this is bbc news . So, how long does it take you to get used to doing this . It is much faster to learn than a traditional keyboard. You can pass your speed and less than a month. This might be quicker than typing on a qwerty keyboard. We know this is not the most efficient ways, so how will you convince people to adopt this system . Convince people to adopt this system . If we showed kids there skill, they love it, the sit down immediately and say, this is better than a qwerty, can i get this . The challenge we are facing, people over the age of 30 40, who have invested a lot of time in a qwerty, itll be ha rd a lot of time in a qwerty, itll be hard for them. Qwerty was invented for something that didnt even run on electricity, so are trying to eliminate that. There will be more from las vegas and all the different gadgets that have been revealed their later in the day. Lets check in with the Financial Markets now and the ftse100 the index of the top 100 Companies Trading on the London Stock Exchange is in positive territory. Airline stocks like easyjet and British Airways owner iag have taken off after as i was telling you earlier irish carrier ryanair raised its profit forecast. And the broader sentiment improved as tensions in the middle east subsided a little. Retailers came under pressure, after a warning of poor sales from superdry. That down almost 15 . And despite a more bouyant Trading Update from jd sports, its share are only up a nudge. Thats all the Business News. Developments are now in the attack on prison officers at the maximum security at whitemoor prison in cambridge. They met Police Announcing in the last few moments that that attack is being treated as a terrorist attack. What happened was that a prison officer was approached by two inmates and attacked with what have been described as improvised bladed weapons. He was injured in the head and neck. A four other prison staff we re and neck. A four other prison staff were injured as in the incident. The metropolitan Police Announcing that this is being treated as a terrorist attack. Malaysian authorities have said there wont be an inquest into the death of nora corin, the teenager found dead after ten days missing in the malaysia and jungle. Her parents are demanding answers from officials after they said no further action would be taken over her death. We can speak now to noras mother, who is at home in south london. Thank you for talking to us on what is obviously a very difficult day for you, with this decision from the immolation authorities, that they will classify noras death as no further action. What do you want them to do . We want them to keep the case open and keep an open mind, frankly, there are so many questions that we have that remain unanswered. 0nly that we have that remain unanswered. Only the initial findings from the pathologists on the cause of noras death, we have yet to see a full postmortem report, which could unveil postmortem report, which could u nveil lots postmortem report, which could unveil lots of different details, perhaps at least may be even more importantly, all of the questions surrounding how nora got to where she was found. We dont believe our daughter was physically or mentally capable, in any respect, of getting as far to where the body was discovered. We think that there are a number of questions regarding the search, regarding what happened on the premises and so on that need to be fully explored. We also need the police to look into, in more detail, what happened. Where we were, there isa what happened. Where we were, there is a matter of an open window, which has not yet been fully explained. There is an awful lot to uncover, still, with regard to noras case, and we are shocked, upset, frankly flabbergasted at the idea that no further action will be taken at this time. What has the immolation Attorney Generals Office said to you as the reason for them saying that no further action would be taken in the case as far as they are concerned . Well, we had been given absolutely no detail, other than a press article that was published in malaysia, which refers to their decision being taken on the basis of the initial findings of the postmortem, which really only pointed to the cause of death. So thatis pointed to the cause of death. So that is obviously a very premature conclusion to take. We havent had any other information or communication from malaysia at any level since we left the country, be that from the police, from diplomacy, from legal quarters, it is quite extraordinary. The Lucie Blackman trust, which are supporting it through this process, has accused the authorities of effectively closing down the case. Given the statement from the Attorney Generals Offices, what redress do you have . What path can you follow to try to get the answers youre looking for a . I guess our main path is one of diplomacy, which frankly, we have employed from the beginning. We have had a huge amount of support, both here in britain and obviously from france and ireland also. While we were in malaysia, those three governments spoke to each other on a daily basis and a huge amount of diplomatic effort was put in place in our regard. We have been given assurances by our governments that they will continue to support our demands forjustice and ourfight to support our demands forjustice and our fight for the truth, and so we need those diplomatic efforts to escalate now and to really discuss matters of file and frankly with the malaysian government. Some of him we had the opportunity to meet while we we re had the opportunity to meet while we were there, and so, we do expect those conversations to accelerate now at this time. 0k, thank you for taking the time to talk to us today about those developments in the case. Sinn feins ruling body is meeting today to discuss a possible deal to end the three year political deadlock at stormont. The democratic unionists have already indicated their support for the proposals, which were drawn up by the british and irish governments. Here are some of the key points in the draft deal titled new decade, new approach. The deal would aim to reform the health service, including settling pay disputes, a new action plan on waiting times, and extra nursing and midwifery training. Theres a promise of more investment in the economy and funding for essential infrastructure projects. The proposed deal would also see legislation created for the appointment of both an Irish Language commissioner and an ulster scots commissioner. Joining me now from belfast is ben lowry, Deputy Editor at belfast news letter. Thank you forjoining us. As we mentioned, the dup were sounding pretty positive about their is a d raft pretty positive about their is a draft deal. It has been described as something for everyone kind of deal by the government and compromise was a lwa ys by the government and compromise was always going to be necessary. Do you think it has got what it takes at this particular time . To get the party is back there to stormont . Put the deal aside for a moment and think about the context of the deal. The context of the deal is that sinn fein and the dup had a bad election. The dup went down 5 , sinn fein went down 7 , the dup lost one of its key mps, sinn fein lost an mp in an area where it should do well, in the north west, by a spectacular margin. And suddenly, several commentators we re and suddenly, several commentators were thinking the divisions were so great that stormont might never return. We went from that situation to both parties having an interest in returning, and we have come up with this deal which is a bit of a mishmash and has a lot in it. Some of us have spent the last 12 or more hours trying to absorb it. The dup, as you say, seems to be very significantly in favour, there is dissent within it, we are hearing, and the expectation is that sinn fein will approve it. As you said, they are meeting as we speak. The most significant thing in it is what is happening about the Irish Language. There had been such a dispute over the irish line which, unionist perception that the Irish Language, any advances or Legal Protection is part of a culture war, an attempt to change the essence of Northern Ireland, the nationals perception that this is a fundamental minority language rights issue and it is absurd that there is no legislation, and there will be this commissioner, but there will not be, seemingly, an Irish Language act, effectively an Irish Language act, effectively an Irish Language act, without that title. The context of those westminster Election Results are very important and perhaps resolving the situation this time, a after the sender collapsing. I was talking about the ability for this deal to stick, for the politicians not to go back to that assembly, only for it to collapse again. What about the subject of personalities . If you think back to the days of ian paisley and martin mcguinness, who got on rather well despite their differences, and then Mark Mcguinness and peter robinson. It seems like the personalities now dont get along quite so well, so do you think there may be further roadblocks ahead . You think there may be further roadblocks ahead . It is two women in charge of the two big parties now. You could argue that previously, when there had been majorfigures during the troubles, who are in charge, that they knew, one thing they seemed to know was where not to go to antagonise the other community, perhaps because they had the long experience of the troubles and because they were very much respected in having earned their spurs on either side of the community divide. That is a huge difference, the personalities. There are two differences about the sustainability issue, neither in this deal has been dissolved resolved decisively. The nationalists wanted the petition of concern, to protect minority rights, ironically, originally, it was to protect nationalist rights, but now unionists are in a minority. There was a feeling that the dup had abuse that i dont needed radical reform. There will not be a radical reform, there will be a partial reform of that. The unionists were concerned that. The unionists were concerned that sinn fein had only sinn fein would be allowed to do this, they pull down the consecutive three yea rs pull down the consecutive three years ago that all the Health Issues are ina years ago that all the Health Issues are in a sense a material because they wouldnt arise if sinn fein hadnt been allowed to do that. The unionist perception that that must never happen again, that hasnt been addressed in this either. There is a cooling off period, a mechanism, but there is no mechanism for penalising somebody who does that. Sorry to cut you off, ben, but we are out of time. Thank you forjoining us. A 60 year old soviet era submarine that was abandoned in an amsterdams harbour in 2002 has been moved after a lengthy legal battle. Officials have spent years trying to track down the owner, but ultimately failed. Gareth barlow has more. 1500 tonnes and 90 metres long, this soviet era submarine has finally been removed from amsterdams harbour, 18 years after it was abandoned. Its a clean up operation unlike any other. Translation the submarine was built in latvia in 1956. It served in the soviet navy for a long time and eventually, it was bought by a dutch entrepreneur. In the end, Nothing Happened and the owner hasnt been traced. It has been here for a long time and the city of amsterdam finally decided to get rid of it. Plans to convert it into a museum or a nightclub sailed, failed and with environmental officials classing the hulking vessel a hazard, the decision was taken to scrap the submarine and recycle it to make new products. With the clean up estimated at 1. 6 million, if the submarines owner is ever found, they will be faced with a slim down sub, but a very large bill. Then will be here shortly with the news at 1pm. But first, its time for a look at the weather. Good afternoon, a lull in proceedings after all the wet and windy weather we have seen recently. A quitea windy weather we have seen recently. A quite a story, a lot of sunshine around, too, but the next weather system is waiting in the wings, and it will show its hand across Northern Ireland and western scotla nd Northern Ireland and western scotland a little later on. Accompanied strengthening wind. The Western Isles can expect a Gale Force Wind as we head towards the Western Isles can expect a Gale Force Wind as we head towards this evening. Away from that, a good deal of fine and dry weather to be had. It is cooler than it has been recently, but there is more in the way of sunshine to compensate. Into this evening, they went will its way further south and east writs. It may turn wintry over the hills of scotla nd turn wintry over the hills of scotland for a time, some heavy pulses of rain spilling into parts of cumbria and perhaps north wales as the night progresses. Elsewhere, clear skies tending to give way to increasing amounts of cloud, and as the night goes on, we will start to see temperatures left. We are starting to draw in milder air on south westerly wind, thanks to this area of low pressure, which will be driving our weather as we head into the start of the weekend. Draped around that, we have this trailing weather front, though the around that, we have this trailing weatherfront, though the rain around that, we have this trailing weather front, though the rain will begin to outstay its welcome as we had through saturday, some heavy downpours across the board, it will bea downpours across the board, it will be a windy day, but particularly for parts of scotland and northern england. Some rain will be quite heavy. Behind the band of rain, it will brighten up, but some showers could be wintry. I had of it, largely dry, quite a lot of cloud around, but it will be mild, most places through saturday will see temperatures in double digits once again. As we head into saturday night, are a band of rain continues to work its way further south and east writs. Behind it, the wind sta rts east writs. Behind it, the wind starts to ease a little. Quite a contrast in the temperatures to start sunday, where we keep the cloud and the wind, theres temperatures remain in double figures, but much cooler the further north you go. The rain and wind gradually start to clear down towards the south and east. Sunday will be another blustery day, while there will be some sunshine around, there will be some sunshine around, there will be some sunshine around, there will also be some showers which through the hills of scotland could be a little bit wintry at times, and you will notice that the temperatures are down a notch a two on saturday. Iran strongly denies it shot down a ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board. Western governments believe the plane was brought down by an Iranian Missile probably by accident. The Iranian Regime must open up to the international community, including access to the crash site, so we can get the truth as quickly as possible, to give the families of the victims an understanding of what happened to their loved ones. The Foreign Office is advising against all travel to iran. Also this lunchtime. The duchess of sussex goes back to canada amid talks to try and find new roles for her and prince harry. An assault on prison staff by two inmates wearing fake suicide belts is being treated as a terrorist attack