Good afternoon. Thousands of people have gathered on the streets of baghdad for the funeral procession of irans most powerful military leader, who was killed by a us drone strike. President trump said he ordered the attack on general Qasem Suleimani to stop a war not start one. The Foreign Office has warned against all travel to iraq, and all but essential travel to iran. Charlotte gallagher reports. A funeral procession for Qasem Suleimani in baghdad. A man despised by many, but a matter to others. Crowds shout, death to america, and america is the enemy of god. Others waved flags belonging to militia groups backed by iran. The military commander was killed in a us air strike on thursday in the iraqi capital. Suleimani was one of the most powerful men in iran, arguably second only to the Supreme Leader. He helped prop up the syrian regime, thought the Islamic State group and effectively led militia groups in iraq. The iranian president visit suleimanis family, a sign of the generals status in the country. He tells them the americans made a mistake, a strategic mistake. They will see more difficult days are awaiting them. Suleimanis body will be taken back to iran for the funeral and days of mourning. Officials will want to show the world how much he mattered, its expected the Supreme Leader will lead the funeral prayers. He was planning a very major attack and we got him. The man who ordered the air strike President Trump was cheered by supporters last night. The us hasnt released any details about what Qasem Suleimani was allegedly planning. The foreign secretary dominic rob and his predecessor are urging restraint, but havent
criticised mr trump as mike actions. I dont believe for a moment that he does want to work and i am sure he has calculated what the response is likely to be. But if he is going to be effective there needs to be a more consistent long term approach. Iran has sworn revenge but is yet to act. Anything that increases the chance of a direct confrontation between the us and iran is what many fear. Charlotte gallagher, bbc news. Our chief International Correspondent lyse doucet is in kabul in afghanistan. What has been the reaction in the wider region . Suleimani has been very much a mixed reaction, a polarised region where he was revered by some as you saw in that report, but reviled by others. Among his fighters which spanned this region in the militias that he set up in so many countries, there is genuine mourning, mixed with
anger and calls for revenge and retaliation stop but in countries where people suffered from the kinds of crackdowns he helped to organise, we have seen scenes of celebration. But i think we have to underline that there was such a sharp intake of breath after this sudden killing of breath after this sudden killing of such a pivotal figure in the region. People everywhere from here in afghanistan to countries across this region and beyond, people are worried, where will the next step ta ke worried, where will the next step take place and will i be made to suffer yet again . Thank you very much, lyse doucet live in cobble for us. In australia, nearly 3000 Army Reserve Troops are being called up to help fight the bushfires burning across the country. Australian fire chiefs have warned that high winds and soaring temperatures could potentially push fires into heavily Populated Areas this weekend. Since late september, 23 people have died and land more than twice the size of wales has been burnt. Shaimaa khalil reports. The hellish combination of high temperatures, strong winds and dry conditions have made some of these fires too vast to control. A relentless battle for the firefighters. In victoria, as the blazes continue to rage, evacuees from mallacoota were getting ready to board the navy ship taking them to safety. A moment of relief after a harrowing few days stranded in the fire ravaged town. The prime minister, scott morrison, has said 3000 reserve troops will be deployed to help tackle the raging bushfires across the country. The first time this has happened in australias history. We have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level. Temperatures have surpassed a0 celsius in parts of south east australia, with residents in some areas of New South Wales being told it was too late to escape. As the day went on, conditions
worsened and a southerly wind hit. This gusty wind is now picking up very strongly and it is bringing heavy smoke to southern New South Wales here on the coast. This is what the firefighters are dreading, because it fans these blazes, making them unstoppable, but it also spreads the embers, making the fire behaviour quite unpredictable. This is really what theyre up against, theyre fighting against something they cant control. The howling winds and billowing smoke were enough of an alarm for people in this holiday park. Some were hosing their cabins, others taking to the beach to seek refuge. Ijust got a phone call from a friend whose brother is a police officer, and he said, get the hell out. Weve just had the police come up our street and they have said they expect it to impact our houses in the next 20 30 minutes. Firefighters will look for a lull in the weather to keep some of the flames contained, but many are warning that the danger is far from over. Shaimaa khalil, bbc news, on the south coast of New South Wales. Two prominent labour backbenchers have joined the contest to become the partys next leader. The wigan mp, lisa nandy, and Jess Phillips, who represents birmingham yardley, both said they wanted to restore trust in labour and win back voters in its traditional strongholds. This takes the total contenders to four, with others expected in the next few days. Our Political Correspondent john owen is here. The big question ahead for labour now. Thats right. These are two fairly high profile figures to have entered into the contest. In terms of what their respective pitches are likely to be to the labour electorate, Jess Phillips has been a vocal critic ofjeremy corbyn in the past. She has a reputation as an independent minded mp and a campaignerand independent minded mp and a campaigner and she will present herself as someone who is willing to ta ke herself as someone who is willing to take the fight to the conservative party, particularly in those northern seats. Similarly lisa nandy
will want to emphasise the need to appeal to the so called labour apartments, those parts particularly of the north of england where the labour party performed unexpectedly badly at the last election resulting ina lot badly at the last election resulting in a lot of conservative gains. One slightly odd thing about this contest as it stands is that the two presumed frontrunner is, the shadow brexit secretary Keir Starmer Andy shadow business secretary rebecca long bailey have yet to formally announce they will be standing in the contest of that we fully expect that the goodwill in the coming days. John owen, thank you. Lets take a look at some of todays other news. The met police have launched their first Murder Investigation of the year after a man was stabbed to death in north london on friday evening. The victim, in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests have been made and inquiries continue. The governments being urged to take urgent steps to tackle the rising threat of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. A new report says the number of fentanyl linked deaths in the uk
rose from eight in 2008 to 135 in 2017. Police in florida have charged sir rod stewart with battery, after he was accused of punching a Security Guard on new years eve. The rock star is reported to have been trying to get into a private event at a hotel in palm beach when the incident happened. The televison medium derek acorah has died at the age of 69. He was best known for appearing on the show most haunted. His wife gwen said hed been in intensive care following a brief illness. With all the sport now, heres gavin ra mjaun at the bbc sport centre. Good afternoon. Good afternoon to you as well. Thank you for coming us today. England have to hope their bowlers can deliver, in the second test against south africa. They got off to a great start on the second day, following a poor display with the bat, but the home side are fighting back in cape town. South africa are currently 129 3. Add in wild reports. In cape town, one morning, the english night were heating up to. Jimmy one morning, the english night were heating up to. Jimmy anderson into battle after yesterday because my troubles with the bats, englands opening stand was the last. Anderson didnt, not for long anyway. England all out for 269. It may be one of the most picturesque grounds but right then for england things went looking all that great, until stuart broad found the edge of the bat. Joe root with the catch. The ball and game now moving at quite someplace. If anyone could get a grip of it for england it would be ben stokes, another brilliant catch from him, to get the latest batsmen to wonder how he does it. While south africa were still working it out, ben stokes got hold of another. Anderson with the
wicket, england that cape town morning getting brighter by the moment. A brief stop for lunch didnt appear to cool them. The latest to fall, but wait, replays showed a no ball. South africa with the ruler of reprieve. And they were determined to make the most of it. Van douce and and dean elgar taking control. Englands morning, but now south africa finding their voice. Its fa cup 3rd round this weekend, 32 ties in total. Its the time of the year when we could see some giantkilling, with smaller clubs up against top sides. Peterborough of league one, not faring too well against premier league burnley, though. Theyre already 3 i down at turf moor. Erik pieters with the second there, from long range. Theyre just coming up to half time. The other premier league Team Involved in a lunchtime kick off is newcastle united. Miguel almiron has given them
the lead at rochdale, also of league one. Almiron has now scored two in his last five games after failing to find the back of the net in his first 23 games for newcastle. So lets take a look at the rest of lunchtime games under way. Theres an all championship affair, between birmingham and blackburn. Birmingham arei 0 up. Bristol, shrewsbury i 0. Away at Millwall Millwall with the lead there 10. In form rotherham are up against hull city 1 1. And previews from all of the days fa cup ties. But from me, bye for now. Thats it from me. The next news on bbc one is at 5 10pm. Bye for now. They are already facing crippling sanctions. Hello, youre watching the bbc news channel. Lets get more on our top story. Thousands of people have gathered on the streets of baghdad for the funeral procession of irans most powerful military leader, who was killed by a us drone strike. President trump said he ordered the attack on general Qassem Suleimani, to stop a war, not start one. The Foreign Office has warned against all travel to iraq and all but essential travel to iran. Ive been speaking to dr Mahjoob Zweiri hes the director of gulf studies at the university of qatar and an expert on iran. There is no doubt that what happened yesterday is evidence that the two countries, washington and tehran, have a load of mistrust and doubts between both countries. I think the decision made by trump to assassinate Qassem Suleimani has increased more tension between two countries. It is likely to see more war of words between both sides, however, i do believe that the iranians reaction will be calculated. And what sort of response would you expect in that case . There are three measures i think iran will take into consideration as a response. One, they want to make sure that the United States is hurt and i think that will lead, maybe, to have a number of casualties as a result of that consequence and response. The other measure i think they will take into consideration they want to create chaos within the domestic politics of the United States in the year of elections. They want to create more,
i would say, a scared environment within the region and pushing different players to intervene to deal with the tension. I think those three measurements are likely to be considered by the iranians as a response. But it is not necessarily going to happen today or tomorrow, i think it is likely to happen gradually and maybe it happens in different times and in different locations. And how much of the targeting of the us interests will also try to make the most of political splits within the us, given there is an election . What can they do . When you say create political chaos or play into that, what do you mean . There is already a Division Within american politics. Yesterday it was evidenced when the democrats basically criticised the decision made by trump and accused him of not
respecting the constitution. Lets not forget that President Trump had promised, you know, when he became president , that he doesnt want to see americans killed abroad again, criticising, in that context, ba rack obama. Any action or response from the iranian side, which may lead to killing americans, this will affect the public view in the United States and may actually weaken the president himself. Because he did promise that he would not see any americans killed abroad. There are risks, though. It is an important promise by the president. There are surely risks to iran in escalating this, they are already facing crippling sanctions, people are suffering, arent they . Absolutely. That is why it will be calculated and i would say the consequence of that. Basically, they dont want to see a real war with the americans. However, they are facing severe pressure from inside. Because killing Qassem Suleimani, he is the person who is leading their own middle east intervention, all of what is happening in the middle east from the iranian side is designed and implemented from Qassem Suleimani and his people. He is the man. Who will be filling that vacuum . They need to assure their own people they are strong and united and they can still make this intervention as Qassem Suleimani used to do. That is the reason why, i believe, they have no choice but to respond. At the same time, they have to be worried about the consequence. Lets not forget, the idea of survival as a regime is dominating their strategical thinking and i think that will also dominate, affect their final decision about the response as well. Finally, you said the response could be regional, in the middle east there are many options because they have so many interests in the region actively, what about a Global Response . Is it something we could feel here in the uk, europe . It is unlikely. Iran tried to, i would say, reintroduce itself to the Muslim International community as a good player. If you remember what they had done in the context of war, even Qassem Suleimani was fighting alongside the americans fighting isil in iraq. They tried to reintroduce themselves as the good guys and work to see the world more safer. That is why i think they will focus on the region and one or two places iraq and lebanon. And i do remember, in this context, what happened to the marines in the 1980s when basically, what happened in lebanon was the americans were forced to leave lebanon at the time. This is the scene in the central iraqi city of karbala, where pilgrims are gathering at the the holy shrine of imam hussain. People have been gathering to pay their respects to Qassem Suleimani and the Iraqi Militia leader who was also killed in that attack. We are expecting to see mourners paying their respects in iraq and iran
today and for the next few days in iran as the official morning continues there. More now on the bushfires continuing to ravage south eastern australia. Fire chiefs have warned that high winds and soaring temperatures could potentially push fires into heavily Populated Areas this weekend. Since late september, 23 people have died and more than 13 million acres of land has been burnt. In south australia, two people have died on Kangaroo Island, a popular holiday spot not farfrom adelaide. The south australian premier Steven Marshall said about a quarter of the total area has been destroyed. The island houses an Important National park and is home to many unique wildlife species. Ive been speaking to sarah legge, professor of Wildlife Conservation at the Australian National university in canberra. Kangaroo islands one of australias largest islands, the third largest
after tasmania. It is a bit of a wildlife paradise. Some of the feral animals that plagued mainland australia havent reached there. The native species there is very high the density of native species is very high. A quarter of the island is a National Park and a third of the island is a National Park. A lot of native wildlife on Kangaroo Island will be under a lot of pressure. And there has been emergency warnings given to people, there has been a loss of life. H