This is bbc news. The headlines at 103m. Iran admits unintentionally shooting down the Ukranian Airlines passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board, because of human error. The Northern Ireland assembly will today sit for the First Time Since the collapse of power sharing three years ago. Keir starmer the shadow brexit secretary today launches his Leadership Campaign in the race to lead the labour party. Today he defended anti austerity policies. Sometimes when you lose an election there is a tendency to say that everything must go. That is wrong in my view. In the sport, more var controversy
after west hams injury time equaliser is denied due to an accidental handball picked up on the cameras. Coming up, cutting your train fares we look at how split ticketing can save you money, as its rolled out by a major ticketing firm. And at 10. 30 transporting you to outer space, in northern spain. An other worldly experience, in the travel show. Good morning. Iran has admitted that it unintentionally shot down a ukrainian passenger jet because of human error. 176 people died in the accident, just hours after iran had fired missiles at American Military bases in iraq. Flight data was lost with the aircraft shortly after it took off from tehrans International Airport on wednesday. Lets take a closer look at the timeline of events that morning. We know iran fired missiles at two us bases at 2 30am local time. Less than four hours later, the Ukraine InternationalAirlines Flight took off. Within six minutes, communication had been lost with the aircraft. Rich preston reports. Iran had previously rejected claims it shot down Ukraine InternationalAirlines Flight ps 752 on wednesday. Western leaders said the plane had been hit by a missile, claims iran repeatedly denied. Now, iran says it was behind the crash, and blamed human error. Irans foreign Ministerjavad Zarif posted his message of condolence to the victims on twitter. A sad day, he said, offering irans profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to
other affected nations. In a Statement Released on saturday, officials said the missile strike had been caused by human error after the plane flew close to amilitary base. Close to a military base. The crash came amid high tensions with the us, and days after threats of strikes against iranian targets, following the killing in iraq of irans top military commander. Irans president Hassan Rouhani said the human error came at a time of crisis caused by us adventurism. Posting on twitter, he said an investigation had concluded that regrettably missiles were fired and that investigations will continue to identify and prosecute those behind this great tragedy and unforgivable mista ke. He added irans deep regrets and his sincerest condolences. The plane was hitjust after taking
off from tehran airport. All 176 people on board were killed. Initially iran denied any involvement in the crash. Translation we have to be certain of the things that we say. We are not sure of the causes, but what we can say for certain is that msl did not strike the plane. That the fire and its causes still need to be uncovered. Amateur footage showing what appear to be a missile hitting the plane added to the growing speculation. Missile. Many of those on board were canadian. At a press c0 nfe re nce , those on board were canadian. At a press conference, ca nadas those on board were canadian. At a press conference, canadas foreign minister vowed to get answers to what had happened. Minister vowed to get answers to what had happenedlj minister vowed to get answers to what had happened. I know families of canadians have a lot of questions andl of canadians have a lot of questions and i can assure you we will not re st and i can assure you we will not rest until we get to the bottom of this. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a national tragedy. This. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a nationaltragedy. Whilst this. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a national tragedy. Whilst this admission of responsibility will provide some relief for the victims families, it is unlikely it will
ease the Political Tension between iran and the west. Rich preston, bbc news. Our correspondent Quentin Sommerville is in baghdad in neighbouring iraq. He gave us the latest on irans admission of responsibility. The body of evidence against them was gathering that this was, in fact, an iranian strike, and they had little alternative, so they had to come clean. Days and days of denials this disaster happened on wednesday were beginning to wear a little thin. First of all, there was video evidence, which was corroborated and appeared to show a missile striking the plane. Then we had information from Us Intelligence and other intelligence authorities, saying that they saw a number of radar pings, which also indicated an iranian strike. So, iran really had come to the end of the road. So we heard the Iranian Foreign minister, javad zarif, expressing profound regret over this this morning, apologising to iranians, but also apologising to the families of other countries four britons killed, almost 60
canadians died in that disaster. But at the same time, the foreign minister putting in a dig at the United States, saying that the turmoil that the United States has caused in this region, the profound crisis, is partly responsible for that. The Iranian Military has said that it mistook the plane for an enemy target, because it was banking over a Republican Guard base, near the airport. All this really is an indication ofjust how destabilising things have been in the middle east, following the uss assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the leading iranian general. That has upset the balance, notjust here in iraq, where iran and the United States have been vying for power for many years and influence,
but throughout the region. Ukraines president , volodymyr zelensky, has welcomed irans admission that it shot down the plane but insisted on what he called a full admission of guilt. Our correspondentjonah fisher has more details about what mr zelensky had to say. For the last three days, ukraine has been keeping an open mind, at least in public, as to what it thinks caused this plane to crash, and although, of course, people here are extremely sad, i think there is a sense of relief, and you can see it in his statement. I willjust read part of it to you. This morning was not good, he said, but it brought the truth. But we insist on a full admission of guilt. We expect from iran assurances of readiness for a full and open investigation, bringing the perpetrators to justice, returning the bodies of the dead, payments of compensation, official apologies through diplomatic channels. So, i think there is a suggestion that although ukraine is very
grateful that iran has owned up to this, there will not be a prolonged cover up, which i think was a fear here, that they now expect iran to really comply with all the legal obligations, that taking responsibility for having caused this crash brings with it. And we gather that the Iranian Administration has posted pictures showing shrapnel onto facebook. Let us showing shrapnel onto facebook. Let us speak to our Diplomatic Correspondent in beirut, caroline hawley. Please give us a sense of the reaction to this complete change of position by iran. Well, look, it is an extraordinary turnaround. For days and days, three days, the iranians insisted that suggestion is that a missile brought the plane
down where wise, that it was psychological warfare. Now we have iran completely coming clean, iranian officials in fact are falling over themselves to acknowledge that a terrible, terrible mistake was made and to apologise. And the latest reaction we have is from the supreme leader, ayatolla h we have is from the supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei, who has said he has asked the armed forces to rectify a ny has asked the armed forces to rectify any shortcomings that led to this mistake to make sure that such a thing can never happen again, and suggesting that it was he who ordered that the truth should come out about this. But i think once iran had decided in some way to co operate with the outside world, it had invited in ukrainian investigators and canadian investigators, invited American Transport safety officials to take pa rt transport safety officials to take part in the investigation, there was really nowhere to hide, and they had to come clean. I think what the
world will want his continued cooperation, and not just world will want his continued cooperation, and notjust the ukrainians, but the canadians as well are asking for a full and transparent investigation. There are calls for the ukrainians, as you heard, for compensation. So, the world, as justin heard, for compensation. So, the world, asjustin trudeau said, is watching. One thing this does provide any very dangerous and difficult atmosphere, as an opportunity for iran to cooperate with the outside world and to help reduce tensions that have been running dangerously high. That is the hope under one good thing that could possibly come out of this terrible accident. Yes, and caroline hawley, what does this new position tell us about politically what might go on within iran in terms of responding to this massive increase in tension . Look, it is clear that iran was under huge pressure. It did not want an all out war with the us,
which could have happened. Everyone really held their breath last week, didnt they, after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and irans response . But both sides have stepped back from the brink. Iran cannot afford a war, it is already economical on its knees because of sanctions. It is notjust the international pressure, but the domestic pressure. The economic sanctions are biting, there have been protests in iran and there is absolute fury here that this mistake happened and that people are asking how on earth was it thatjust after iran has fired missiles at american basesin iran has fired missiles at american bases in iraq, it didnt close down the airspace to civilian aircraft, it didnt stop planes taking off . Caroline hawley in beirut, thank you very much indeed for that update. The Northern Ireland assembly will sit later today, following a deal to restore the devolved government after power sharing broke down three years ago. The assembly will elect a speaker, a first ministerfrom the dup, and a deputy first minister from sinn fein. Keith doyle is there for us. What will happen today . Good morning from stormont on yet another historic day for Northern Ireland politics. Later today, the Northern Ireland assembly will be back up and running. It was on thursday that the Northern Ireland secretary, julian smith, and the deputy Prime Minister of ireland, simon coveney, put that
make or break due to the party right in front of the Stormont Parliament buildings on thursday night. So, yesterday we saw those dramatic developments as the dup said, yes, they would sign up to it. Arlene foster, the leader of the dup called itafairand foster, the leader of the dup called it a fair and balanced deal. Then we saw sinn fein come out yesterday evening saying, yes, while they did not think it was perfect, there was enoughin not think it was perfect, there was enough in it, particularly on that issue of Irish Language. That was one of their red lines on the fact that Irish Language will get an official and legal standing in Northern Ireland, was enough for them. So, the result of that is today at one oclock the assembly will be recalled. The speaker will be sworn in at one oclock and that will be followed by the first minister, we assume it will be Arlene Foster of the dup. Deputy first minister, possibly Michelle Oneill from sinn fein, but we will have to see exactly who they nominate. Then there is a very sensitive post of the justice minister. That has been held in the
past by the alliance party, but we will have to see who gets that. It is more complicated, it needs cross party is more complicated, it needs cross party support. There are three ministerial positions for the dup, two for sinn fein and one for the other nationalist party, the sdlp and another for the advance party. The smaller parties, they might make up the smaller parties, they might make up the rest of this, what is, effectively a coalition government, 01 more may effectively a coalition government, or more may decide to stand as official opposition. Either way, what we will see by the end of the day as the Northern Ireland assembly up day as the Northern Ireland assembly up and running. The Prime Minister borisjohnson has said that this is a great step forward for the people of Northern Ireland and for restoring Public Confidence and sta ble restoring Public Confidence and stable and devolved government. Really, there is a collective sigh of relief across Northern Ireland that something along the lines of normal politics will be back up and running again later today. Keith doyle at stormont, thank you very much. Let us speak to the irish
political commentator, sarah crichton, who is in belfast for us. Sarah, thank you forjoining us. How momentous is this . It is a huge day. I think most people in Northern Ireland, we have been here before many, ireland, we have been here before any ireland, we have been here before many, many times, but it is hugely significant that after three years, after nine months after the murder of lyra mckee, the two big Political Parties have been able to work through many complicated issues like the continuity agreement and the Irish Language issue. What will this mean in terms of ordinary political decisions being made . Up until now the Civil Service have had to make short term decisions but the long term decisions cannot be made without political leadership. Exactly, it will have huge impact on the lives of ordinary people and we have a crisis in the Health Service here. Over 300,000 people are on the waiting list and the fact that there
has been no minister to those decisions has been huge negative impact on many people here. The fact that we will have ministers in place able to take those decisions, that will impact usually on the lives of people. Nurses were on strike yesterday, someone will have to deal with that issue Going Forward. For many ordinary people, they will see a big change in their lives now that stormont is back. What will this mean for what will happen post the end of january, and mean for what will happen post the end ofjanuary, and brexit . We have had so much debate of course about what our long term brexit will lead to the unification of ireland . In terms of brexit, it is usually significant. Boris johnson has terms of brexit, it is usually significant. Borisjohnson has a mechanism for the assembly to be in place and vote on alignment or not. The fact that the assembly is back is usually significant for that. The new deal also has a brexit subcommittee which will be chaired
by the offices of the first minister and the deputy first minister. This will allow the mlas to discuss the issues coming forward and we can look at the transition and the issues around that. Is there confidence that this new arrangement is going to last . That is the Million Dollar question. The fact that the parties have had three yea rs that the parties have had three years now, the fact that they have been able to work through very complicated issues like live Irish Language, abortion, equal marriage, the hope is that those issues can be focused on by the parties Going Forward and the new deal has a mechanism, a leading a Leaders Forum that allows the mlas to airany Leaders Forum that allows the mlas to air any grievances that they have. Also with brexit down the line, the hope is that this will focus the minds of the politicians. As long as the institutions can be collapsed by other the first
minister of the deputy first minister of the deputy first minister having that mechanism in place, there is also a risk that this could happen again. Sarah crichton, thank you for your time today. There are just two days left for the six labour leadership candidates to gain the backing they need to get to the next stage of the contest, and its sir keir starmer who currently has the most nominations and the support of the uks largest trade union, unison. The five other candidates standing are rebecca long bailey, emily thornberry, clive lewis, lisa nandy and jess phillips. Registered supporters who are not full Party