Welcome to bbc news, im mike embley. Our top stories is this the momenta ukraine passengerjet was shot down with 176 people on boa rd 7 the us, britain and canada say theres evidence it was accidentally targeted by iran. The us house of representatives votes to limit President Trumps war powers against iran, without the approval of congress. Leave your homes or risk being trapped, authorities warn residents in victoria, as australia braces for more hot weather and strong winds. A day after the duke and duchess of sussex announce theyre stepping back from royal life, meghan leaves the uk for canada. Canadas Prime Minister has said intelligence suggests the ukranian plane that crashed outside tehran this week was brought down by an Iranian Missile. President trump says the strike may have been a mistake. Everyone on board was killed, including dozens of canadians. It was just hours after tehran launched missiles at bases hosting american troops in iraq, in retaliation for the trump administrations assassination of irans most senior general, qassem soleimani. The bbcs nick bryant has the story. American media say these images appear to show the moment the ukrainian airliner was hit by an Iranian Missile shortly after take off. The plane did not explode immediately and continued flying for several minutes as it tried to return to tehran airport. This video appears to show the boeing 737, which seems to be on fire,
as it went down. Just before it crashed, a satellite apparently detected the heat trails of two missiles, followed moments afterwards by an explosion. Us officials said it was highly likely the plane, with 176 people on board, was mistakenly shot down by iranian anti Aircraft Missiles. 63 canadians were among the dead. The countrys Prime Minister, justin trudeau, shared with his people news that he said would shock. 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. It was just five hours after iran launched the missile strikes on us forces in iraq that the plane crashed shortly after take off. Irans anti Aircraft Systems would probably have been active, anticipating american retaliatory
strikes that never came. Speaking before his canadian counterpart, President Trump revealed his own suspicions. It is a tragic thing when i see that, its a tragic thing. But somebody could have made a mistake on the other side, could have made a mistake. It was flying. It was flying in. Not our system, its nothing to do with us. It was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood and somebody could have made a mistake. There might be crucial evidence that lies within this wreckage. The iranians have been bulldozing the crash site and are not yet sharing information from the black box recorders. The countrys head of Civil Aviation claimed reports of an Iranian Missile strike were illogical rumours. At this prayer vigil in canada, the faces of the dead, the anguish of the relatives who now mourn them. I think everyone
is just heartbroken, everyone is trying to process it and believe it. Relatives in ukraine want answers, too. Their loved ones, casualties of a conflict of which they were no part. Officials in britain, canada and here in america tonight are all saying this was a mistake. Not a reason, then, for now at least, to further escalate tensions with iran. Nick bryant, bbc news, washington. Well a short time ago i spoke with giancarlo fiorella, who has been investigating the situation with journalism website bellingcat about what we know so far. While the publication on bellingcat deals with the video that allegedly shows the aeroplane being struck in midair, and we were able to locate that video in a section of the vicinity of the airport, knowing the location of the aeroplane, its last known location,
we were able to determine that the video was focusing on an area of the sky where we believe the aeroplane would have been, so in any direction, whether this was definitely a muscle strike or it wasnt, i think we have to wait for more evidence. If the correct procedures were being followed clearly this should have never happened. You would hope so. If this was a missile shootdown event, there are lots of anti Aircraft Missile systems all over the world. Most of the worlds military have equipment deployed all over, and fortunately we dont see events like this happen too often, so again in the coming hours and days it is going to be even more vital to make
sure that we have correct and authenticated information before we can really definitively say what happened. How sure are you at the moment of your conclusions of the images you are using, the calculations youre making, the people doing the calculations, and does any of this throw light on how or why this might have happened . We are very confident in our publications as we are in all of our work. This last article that we worked on which was published just shortly, a short while ago, does talk the reader through all of the steps that we followed for calculating where we believe that this video was taken, and again what it does show is an object hitting another object in the sky, in a section of the sky that we know the aeroplane would have been at. We are confident in those conclusions. The us house of representatives, dominated by the democrats, has voted to limit President Trumps ability to take military action against iran, unless Congress Gives its approval. The house vote, which went almost
exclusively along party lines, comes 4 days after mr trump ordered the drone strike which killed general soleimani. Democrats accuse the president of acting recklessly. I got the latest from our correspondent peter bowes. This is a largely symbolic measure. It is a measure that, yes it curbs the president s ability to use the Us Armed Forces to pursue military action against iran without advanced congressional approval. Indeed, congress would have to make a declaration of war or there would have to be an imminent threat of an attack against the united states. And in fact, earlier in the day the president referred to this saying that often things are moving very quickly and the president has to make a split second decision. This measure will not prevent him from doing that but may well curb his use of the military
and future as it applies to iran. Certainly members of the house of representatives voted mostly along party lines. Three republicans voted with the democrats. Eight democrats opposed the motion. There has also been a response from the white house who has said that the president has the right and the duty to protect the nation and citizens from terrorism. That is what he continues to do, says the white house and they say the world is safer for it, also adding that the house resolution, as far as the white house is concerned, undermines the ability of the Us Armed Forces to prevent terrorist activity by iran and its proxies, and attempt to hinder the president s authority to protect america. Lets get some of the days other news. According to the army in niger, a suspected jihadist attack on a military camp near the western border with mali, has killed at least 25 soldiers. The Army Statement says at least 60 militants also died. Its not yet clear who carried out the attack. There is a worsening Islamist Insurgency in the sahel region. Brazils Supreme Court has overturned an injunction against netflix that was preventing the company showing a comedy satire depicting jesus as gay. The courts president said freedom of speech was fundamental in a democracy and said the film would not affect the Christian Faith of brazilians. To puerto rico now, where two thirds of the island is still without power, and a quarter is without running water, after a series of earthquakes this week. At least one person died and 300 homes were destroyed in a 6. 1i magnitude quake and 6. 0 aftershock on tuesday. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the island in over a hundred years. Mikol hoffman is with world central kitchen. Theyve jst arrived in the city
of ponce on the Southern Coast of the island. You are feeding thousands of people . Thats right, world central kitchen has been activated since the first day of the earthquake since 4 30 atm, feeding thousands of people across several sites including shelters in the south Eastern Region of the island. All credit to you and your colleagues, i think you did the same thing with the hurricane . Absolutely. We have an amazing team of chefs here in puerto rico, they we re of chefs here in puerto rico, they were activated in 200017 of chefs here in puerto rico, they were activated in 2000 17 for the hurricanes, they were active for about nine months after the hurricane and in a matter of minutes after the earthquake, by 435 p. M. , there were already about 20 chefs that were activated and ready to go,
ina that were activated and ready to go, in a matter of minutes. How does it compare . There must be thousands of people who have still not recovered from the hurricane. Absolutely, not only physically and economically but also mentally. There is a lot of emotional and psychological trauma, a lot of ptsd has really been reactivated, especially considering the blackouts that still affect about 70 of the island right now. With the earthquakes, we are hearing people are still so scared they are refusing to sleep inside. Power off for 70 of the island, thousands without water, the biggest generating plant knocked out and still earthquakes happening. We just felt about a 3. 9 a couple of minutes ago, we arejust felt about a 3. 9 a couple of minutes ago, we are just a few minutes away from where the epicentre was, in a city that has regained light but in other cities west of here there is
still no electricity, some of them dont have running water, and most of the people are so scared that even the ones who have lost their homes, the ones whose homes have been physically damaged and even the ones whose homes are perfectly 0k, no one wants to sleep indoors so eve ryo ne no one wants to sleep indoors so everyone is outside, sleeping on mattresses, on the floor, sleeping in theircars, mattresses, on the floor, sleeping in their cars, even the municipal shelters, people are not sleeping inside, they are sleeping just outside of them. We are seeing a lot of people that are very scared right now, very anxious, and those are exactly the type of people we are trying to serve with food and water and whatever other Emergency Services we can provide. And whatever other Emergency Services we can providelj and whatever other Emergency Services we can provide. I want to give you and world central kitchen massive props for what you are doing. Thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to us. Its been confirmed to the bbc that meghan, the duchess of sussex has left the uk for canada. This just as the queen summoned
an urgent family conference to find a way to accommodate prince harry and meghans surprise statement that they wish to go it alone. The queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have instructed their staff to find a solution within days. Gareth barlow reports. Just a few days ago, harry and meghan together in london. Now, the duchess of sussex has flown back to canada, where the couple spent six weeks over christmas. Her husband remaining at home, as the royal family plans for their future. The queen, alongside the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge have instructed senior staff to work with the sussex household and the government to find a solution to harry and meghans wishes. Im not really one for them trying to follow the rules over there right now because if they want to shy away from them and do what they want to do, then let them live, let them be themselves. Ijust saw it on tv. I dont know how they will pull it off but im sure they will. The royal family is far
from ordinary but the household strives to be organised and orderly. The sense is that the sussexs announcement lacks the latter. Meghans departure from the uk sends a clear message, they are determined to follow their own path. Its a shame that she couldnt remain and kind of be the face for the people. Hes a prince, isnt he, at the end of the day. Obviously has got to do his duty with the queen, so i dont know. I reckon, do that. From finances to titles, their home to their personal security, there is a long and complex list for the royal family to work through. Prince harry will remain as sixth in line to the throne and the couple will keep their house in the grounds of windsor castle. In many respects, that is the easy decisions made. Next, its all about money. A difficult topic for any family, let alone the royal family. Gareth barlow, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news,
still to come the bbc speaks to carlos ghosn, the fugitive businessman now banned from leaving the country he fled to. The japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. Thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. Good grief after half a century of delighting fans around the world, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. The singer paul simon starts his tour of south Africa Tomorrow in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. They Say International artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. Teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. Three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. It didnt. The worlds tallest skyscraper opens later today. The burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. This is bbc news, the latest headlines the united states, canada and britian say theres evidence that Iranian Forces brought down a ukrainian airliner in tehran by accident. And Australian Authorities warn nearly a quarter of a Million People to evacuate their homes, or risk being trapped. As temperatures and winds are expected to fan bushfires across the east coast. Well, lets stay with that now. The state of victoria has declared a state of disaster as temperatures there are set to spike. More than 100 bushfires are still burning along the New South Wales victoria state border. Live now to bairnsdale, victoria, where we can talk
to frank brown graham, who was forced out of his home by the fires. He and his wife, paula, are staying in their caravan at a friends house. How are things for you and paul and your neighbours . Have you seen anything like this before . Hello, mate a few questions there. We are 0k, we are actually in our caravan but we also have use of their home. We are in a lovely air conditioned environment right now. We are ok. 0ur neighbours are not so. Weve had terrible fires. We were almost turned down on new years eve. The fire came to within 100m of our home, but sadly a number of our neighbours and farming properties very close to us have been devastated. We are relatively well off, but very apprehensive because these conditions are something weve not seen before fourjanuary. January february are the normal worst months and here we are in december january and disaster has struck. Pretty scary. And there looks like they could beam more bad stuff to come . Well, yes. These fires are uncontrollable. They are burning in remote country. The consensus is it will take four inches of rain to have an influence, and thats just not going to happen. Theres no rain other than a few millimetres here and there on the horizon. I think we are in for the long haul and we are all very well prepared and we just dont know where its all going to end. Take us through it. I have friends near sydney as well. Im sure you, like many people, have this emergency app. I guess for you on new years day it bings and you see the location of the fire and the co ordinates of it are pretty much
your home, arent they . How does that feel . Thats exactly what happened to us in the wee hours of the first of january. We were safely in town but, of course, when the app bings, its a compulsion to lock and the fire icon popped up right on top of our house and we thought, well, thats it we were resigned to the fa ct thats it we were resigned to the fact our house had gone. We got a wonderful phone call from a neighbour in the morning who had stayed out in our region to tell us we hadnt been burned but we went close. Yes, its notjust here, its right up the coast up as far as the queensland border. Yesterday, mike, we visited. Theres queensland border. Yesterday, mike, we visited. Theres a young man. I sent some images to your office, i dont know whether youve had access to them, but i sent them to claire at the bbc of a young family that we
know very well. In fact, young matt mats garni was a man i taught many yea rs mats garni was a man i taught many years ago and his young emily, four children, his wife, a farming operation, totally destroyed. House, shedding, machinery, crops, workers accommodation, all gone. If you could have access to some of those images, you would know first hand the degree of devastation. We did see those images but we cant get them up at the moment. Im sure everybody watching and me as well send our best wishes to you and paula and everyone there. Thanks for talking to us. I have attached those images and if any of your listeners would want to assist the zagarbey family, it would be a wonderful gesture. Thank you for talking to
us, frank. We hear you. On saturday, taiwans voters go to the polls for a hotly contested election in which the self governing islands relations with china have become a major issue. There argument alienating by one further from trying i would be folly. From taiwan, heres our correspondentjohn sudworth. In her bid for re election, taiwa