Hello, im ros atkins, this is outside source. Huge crowds have attended the funeral procession of the Iranian Military commander who was killed by the us on friday. This was the scene in tehran earlier, where huge crowds turned out for qasim suleimani, with many people chanting death to america. His daughter addressed the crowd. Translation crazy trump, arrogant, and a plaything of zionism. Dont think that everything is over with my fathers martyrdom. Meanwhile in the us questions are being asked about the justification for the drone strike, and President Trump has again said cultural sites in iran could be targetted. And well have the latest on the australian bushfires theres a fear a number of fires could merge to form whats being called a mega blaze. Hundreds of thousands of iranians have filled the streets of tehran to mourn Qasem Soleimani. He was irans most senior military commander and he was assassinated on friday. Some pictures coming in, this is the supreme some pictures coming in, this is the Supreme Leader of iran, i atomic a mining, crying over the coffin. Over 1 Million People are said to have attended. We cant confirm that but there are hundreds of thousands. General soleimani was widely considered the second most powerful man in the country and as you can see was a hero to many. Irans foreign Ministerjavad Zarif has tweeted donald trump. The funeral procession began in baghdad where soleimani was killed by the us air strike. It went on to tehran for todays procession, and then continued to the holy city qom before being taken to the generals hometown of kerman for burial tomorrow. This is what happened when the generals coffin arrived in qom. The crowd of mourners carrying the coffin over their heads and struggled to pass it through the mosque, as people pressed in to touch it. Heres Rana Rahimpour on how real this outpouring of grief is. It seems that its real and its astonishing, too manyjournalists and observers that the turnout has been shockingly huge. Whats interesting is that we could see prominent figures of the opposition joining these funerals and they said this has nothing to do with our problems, our internal problems, in their view. Qasem soleimani was a National Hero and his assassination was an attack on iranians. Why was he a hero . Interesting question. Thats what weve been trying to figure out, why do they think he was a hero. Different reasons. One is that many iranians believe he fought isis. They say that its because of him that isis isnt in tehran raping iranian women. They say that he was not afraid of giving his life to secure iranian borders and they differentiate between soleimani and the islamic republic, which too many others is very surprising. Qasem soleimani was born in the city of kerman, in 1957. In his adult life, he moved through the ranks of the Iranian Military and became head of irans elite quds force. This means he oversaw iranian and foreign militias cross the middle east including in iraq, syria, lebanon and yemen. In 2013, the former cia officerjohn maguire told the new yorker general soleimani was the single most powerful operative in the middle east. And many concurred. Hes believed to have been central in devising a strategy to help Bashar Al Assad resist the insurgency in syria in 2011. He also worked with the shia militant Group Hezbollah in lebanon and hamas in gaza. The houthi insurgency in yemen is also backed by iran. Then theres iraq. During the 2003 us led invasion, the general directed militant groups who were attacking us troops and bases. This guardian article reports that back in 2008, when the us was battling shia militias in iraq, the head of the cia, david petraeus, was shown a text message from general soleimani, saying, general petraeus,
you should know that i, Qasem Soleimani, control the policy for iran with respect to iraq, lebanon, gaza, and afghanistan. And indeed, the ambassador in baghdad is a quds force member. The individual whos going to replace him is a quds force member. Well, general soleimani life ended in iraq killed in a convoy close to the airport. Also killed was caro abu mahdi al muhandis, a senior figure of the popular mobilistation forces, thats a shia militia in iraq. Hes also the commander of the iranian backed Kataib Hezbollah group. Washington blamed that group for a rocket attack which killed a us civilian contractor in Northern Iraq late last year. After that the militia protested outside the us embassy in baghdad for days. Today it held a memorial in baghdad. Jeremy bowen was there. You can get an idea of the shock and anger at this place, the official morning, the official commemoration. Over there on the poster, Qasem Soleimani and the other man is the leader of one of the main armed groups here. You can see a line of yellow flags, from that mans group. There is a lot of anger over there. Some finely developed calm anger. People arent yelling but they want to get even. The two countries they talk about the most are the United States, donald trump, and israel. The question is, what happens next . What do the iraqis in baghdad and their allies in iran do with this shock and anger . I dont think its
going to dissipate easily. You can senseitin going to dissipate easily. You can sense it in the, from talking to people. There will be consequences. Consequences that cant be predicted at the moment, but consequences theyre quite likely. It may make this difficult situation already more complicated. After assassinating general soleiman the us justified the moved by saying he was actively developing plans to attack us diplomats and Service Members in iraq and throughout the region. We have no verification of that, and nor does us congress. Its members werent involved in the decision to kill the general. More on that shortly. First heres secretary of state mike pompeo. We would have been culpably negligent if we hadnt taken the action, the American People would have said we werent doing the right thing to defend american lives. Have said we werent doing the right thing to defend american livesm the threat that imminent . Are the attacks he was putting together so
imminent and big it would have been seen as that kind of negligence . After the assassination, Iraqs Parliament voted in favour of expelling american forces. And this was Donald Trumps response. But dramatic those these exchanges are its the iranian response, not the iraqi response, that is being watched most closely. First, this is general soleimans daughter speaking at the ceremony in tehran today. Translation crazy trump, arrogant and a plaything of zionism, dont think that everything is over with my fathers martyrdom. General soleimanis successor will be his Deputy Esmail ghaani. Here he is appearing to cry over the coffin. And this is what he said about plans
to avenge the killing. Translation we will continue soleimanis path. We will remove the us from the region in several steps. The Supreme Leader backs this. Attention is already focusing on the strait of hormuz. Last year, iran targeted oil tankers several times. That partly explains why the assassination of general soleimani caused price of a barrel of oil to spike. It went higher again today after donald trump threatened sanctions against iraq. But whether iran acts in the strait of hormuz or elsewhere, we cant know. But no response appears highly unlikely. This is the former Us Ambassador to yemen. This was a decision of tsunamic
proportions and the ramifications of which we arent going to know for a while. But there were protests in iran against the regime and that now has flipped and there were protests in iraq against the iranian presence and those have now had the wind taken out of them. We have a non binding but still significant resolution for us to leave. We dont know what the gulf states are thinking but they have got to be deeply worried about how this escalates. I have worked in this region for a very long time and ive never seen a situation this precarious. A key figure in deciding how iran responds to general soleimanis death is his successor, esmail ghaani. Heres Bahman Kalbasi from bbc persian on what we can expect from him. He is likely very similar
to mr soleimani, without obviously the connections and the recognition that mr soleimani had. Obviously him being in the crowd, that was very diverse, is remarkable because people who came out an agreeing with this new commander or mr soleimani. Many disagreed with them but they came out because it seems that they had a bigger priority and that was to send a message that whatever disagreements iran had with the regime, it doesnt mean that they are indifferent to foreign involvement or possibly a war. So it throws the calculation in washington to some extent into challenge because it doesnt seem that it has any sympathy inside iran for the action it took and probably united large segments of the Iranian Society against donald trump in his threats against iran. For many years youve looked closely at iranian involvement
in middle eastern countries. Do you think the death of one man can fundamentally change irans policy in the region in the way that donald trump hopes it will do, especially in iraq . Extremely unlikely because it isnt a i person show. This is a Foreign Policy vision that has been in the works for years and the root causes of it come from the iran iraq war. You have to have influence in countries around you so you dont have to go through the eight year war that we did after after the invasion of iraq by the us, the entire idea was, they are coming for us next so the only way to stop that is to go fight americans in iraq before they get to tehran. So this Foreign Policy doctrine has been carried out and mr soleimani
was obviously instrumental and key in it but definitely not the only one who is capable of carrying it out. We will have more coverage of those tensions. Well bring you the latest on australias bushfires emergency as fears grow that a number of fires could merge to form whats being called a mega blaze. There have been protests across india after masked men armed with sticks attacked students at a Prestigious University on sunday. Dozens of people at thejnu campus in delhi were injured. Pratiksha ghildial reports from the university. According to the students here, a right wing group called avbp entered this campus and started assaulting the students. However, abvp, the right wing group
which is seen as theologically close to the ruling hindu nationalist government said it was actually the left wing student groups that started the assault. However the police have a lot to answer because the students here allege that the police were late in their response and did not act adequately. As you can see around here, protests are still going on. Students are demanding a speedy enquiry, a speedy investigation into yesterdays incident. This is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. Huge crowds have taken to the streets in iran to pay respects to the iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a us attack on friday. Turkish troops have begun deploying in libya, to try to prop up the un recognised government in tripoli. The forces of the libyan warlord general Khalifa Haftar say theyve taken control of areas around the coastal city of sirte. Theyve been trying to oust
the government since april. Harvey weinstein has been charged with Sexual Assault in los angeles on the same day he appeared in a new york court on a separate case. In la the hollywood Film Producer is facing charges relating to the alleged Sexual Assault of two women. Rowers dressed as witches have been racing through the canals of venice in the annual epiphany regatta. The competitors dress as befana, an imaginary witch of italian folklore who fills childrens stockings with sweets if theyve been good or coal if theyve been bad. Let me give you the latest on the bushfires in australia. Theres particular focus on the states of victoria and New South Wales, where there are fears a number of fires could merge to form whats being called a mega blaze. This is a live visualisation of active fires from nasa. As you can see, New South Walesis bearing the brunt of this. There was brief respite over the weekend with some light, sooty rain. It was well received in sydney. Cheering the hot dry weather is due to return though. And Prime MinisterScott Morrison is warning the fires emergency could last months. These are the latest pictures. This is extraordinary, from a military plane trying to land at victoria in a haze of smoke. The military is now involved in evacuation efforts. There aerial pictures show the devastation to one community in batlow in New South Wales. The fires are having a devastating Environmental Impact too. Koalas usually get their water intake from eucalytpus leaves. Many are now needing help to get. This is from south australias kangaroo island. Its renowned for its wildlife its home to several threatened species. There are fears some species could be wiped out. In New South Wales alone, its believed hundreds of millions
of animals have been killed. Lets focus on the coastal town of eden. Many residents have evacuated. Our correspondent Shaimaa Khalil has been there. Eden wharf became a makeshift evacuation centre. The weekend fires came close to the town. People came here and sheltered in boats, cars, some in the open air, to be close to the water. We have had a little bit ofa the water. We have had a little bit of a break in the weather, the wind has dropped. People have been trying for rain. We know it isnt going to last. Authorities say they expect worse conditions later in the wake and thats been the story of these fires. There are more to come and people are living in limbo. This is what residents in eden have told us. Basically uncertainty as to what happens when the fire comes through because of how fast it has been going. If the wind really picks up and comes over the hill it is going to come in quickly. Its a waiting
game. But well get there. Waiting for it to stop. Shaimaa then moved on to the australian capital canberra. The air quality there has been was the worst of any major city in the world. Thats meant government buildings have had to be closed. Heres shaimaa. So ive just arrived so ivejust arrived in so ive just arrived in canberra and it has been blanketed white smoke. On any given day. This is parliament house, the citys most iconic building. Im standing right in front of it. The drive here was very smoky because fires are ranging all around us. In eastern and southern australia. The printed here and it hangs heavily on the city. It is brutal and makes it hard to breathe. The wind is picking up. Its not just outdoors, breathe. The wind is picking up. Its notjust outdoors, its indoors, in homes and offices and shopping centres. There are Health Concerns about those with respiratory problems. No one knows how long this is going to last because the fire is burning. As it stands, the equality in australias capital is one of the worst in the world. The air quality. Worth mentioning the firefighters. Some are professional most are volunteers. And many of them have lost their lives since these fires began. This is from a last week a one year old boy receiving a bravery medal on behalf of his father who died on december 19th. Since september, 25 people have died, over 1,200 homes have been destroyed and millions of hectares have been burnt out. And Prime MinisterScott Morrison has announced a further 1. 1; billion to help with the fire recovery. We make this commitment to all australians, that we will be there for you during this immediate
response and we will be there for the rebuilding and the recovery. And today in cabinet with made a number of decisions to support that recovery effort, to do whatever it ta kes, recovery effort, to do whatever it takes, to do whatever it costs, to build resilience for the future and to enable australians, wherever they are, all across the country, to be able to go forward in confidence for their futures. But Prime Minister has been facing relentless criticism. He went on holiday to hawaii during a week when the temperatures spiked and the fires intensified. Theres frustration that help for Rural Communities has been too slow and too little. Remember this from last week. You are out, son, you are out and his sincerity is being question too. Thats a reference to Scott Morrisons previous career in marketing and to this video which the government put out in the last few days. Heres a snippet. Thats the government pushing back at the idea that it is not responding adequately. Most serious of all Scott Morrison is accused of not doing enough on Climate Change. The context here is that australia has been getting hotter over the past century. Especially the last 25 years. Thats caused by Climate Change, which is caused by humans and the higher temperatures mean that the chances of bigger, faster, more intense bushfires are higher than they used to be. Scott morrison acknowledges reducing emissions would reduce bush