hello, you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm lucy hockings. our top story. lebanon buckles under the weight of a never ending flow of syrian refugees. for the first time ever, syrians need a visa to enter the country. a third of lebanon's population are refugees. we'll be asking how the country is meant to cope. a search operation for the airasia plane which crashed into the java sea is over for another day. the crucial black boxes have still not been found. and an extraordinary statement, buckingham palace

denies that prince andrew had sex with an underage girl. our royal correspondent joins us with the latest. also on the program, aaron joins us. it might be a new year but there are those familiar old problems that are back. >> the euro has had a rough day indeed. yes, that single currency has slid to a nine-year low against the u.s. dollar. all of this as investors are betting that europe's central bank will kick start a massive stick stimulus program. and gooesreece back in the spotlight. could a new party win this month's election and pull greece out of the eurozone? hello, and welcome to "gmt." imagine if one in every five people in your country was a refugee. that's the equivalent of over 64 million people if you're american. that's the situation lebanon has found itself in and the government says it can't cope. it's now putting new

restrictions to try to stem the flow of syrian refugees. for the first time ever they will require visas to get in. currently, there are well over three million registered syrian refugees worldwide. now, most of these refugees are in neighboring turkey and also in lebanon. each of these countries accommodating over one million people. lebanon itself one in five people living in the country is a syrian refugee, and that means it has the highest per camera number of refugees in the world. our reporter september erer sent us this report from the crossing. >> reporter: the last four years, this main crossing from and to syria was often crowded with refugees coming into lebanon. today, it's almost empty. and that's what the authorities here want. after hosting over 1.1 million syrian refugees the authorities

decided in october that they will take no more. they they are implementing new measures to further restrict the entry of syrians in general. while authorities here say they want to regulate the presence of syrians in lebanon and to gradually reduce their numbers, they told us they will not deport anyone but the policy is to actively encourage syrians to go back to safe areas inside syria. >> oxfam says this latest report is a worrying trend. the policy adviser joins us from beirut. thank you for being with us on "gmt." are you worried now, is oxfam worried that this visa requirement is going to push back people into a dangerous situation? >> reporter: well, it remains to be seen how these new restrictions and regulations will play out in practice.

but like you say, this is part of a very very worrying trend over the last six months, which has seen a drop in the number of refugee arrivals into lebanon, and into other neighbors countries as well by up to 50%. and what this practically means, of course, is that more and more syrians are unable to flee the conflict and are trapped in a war zone. >> you can see that lebanon is completely overwhelmed. it's understandable why they feel the need to do something. how are they meant to cope? >> well, in many ways lebanon is in a very unenviable position. it has an obligation to host those that are fleeing the conflict, and syria has been extraordinarily generous over the last years in doing so. but the numbers are massive. so as you say, a quarter of the population and the territory are now refugees from syria. i think one of the key things

that needs to be highlighted is the feelings of the international community, not adequately supporting lebanon towards this number of refugees and have not adequately dealt with the refugee crisis or the crisis inside syria itself. >> so what more should the international community be doing? >> three things in particular. one is to radically increase the amount of aid to support refugees and the countries themselves. so bilateral economic aid. the second is to actually open their doors, to refugees from syria. if you contrast the 1.1 million refugees in lebanon with for example, the 500 that the uk has offered, it's very clear that rich countries can and should do more. and in the third instance really really prioritize a push for a political solution to the conflict inside syria itself. >> daniel give us an idea what life is like for these syrian refugees.

obviously it's cold right now. winter is a horrible time to be living in some of the conditions that some of these people are living in. >> well there's the snowstorms coming to lebanon and to jordan and obviously if you're living in sub stanstandard accommodation, if there's less and less aid, because the u.n. agencies have had to cut back the amount of aid that they can give to refugees. and also there's increasing tension between the host communities and the refugees themselves. it's an increasingly precarious and difficult and desperate situation for the refugees in neighboring countries. >> are you seeing the religious, the sectarian balance being altered in lebanon because of the amount of refugees that are pouring into the country? >> i think that's perhaps a concern of the lebanese government. it's not something that we've looked into, but i think that just by sheer weight of numbers, the strain on infrastructure and

resources, hospitals, schools, networks causing increasing difficulties for the government and the communities in lebanon as well. and often unfortunately refugees are paying the price or bearing the brunt. >> thank you for joining us from beirut. >> thank you. >> do go on to the website to get more on the ongoing war on syria, bbc.com/news. we've got plenty for you on the conflict for you there. including this map. it does actually show you how the territory there has changed, who's in control of what particular areas, and just the differences in that map over the past four years in terms of the battles that have taken place, so do log on bbc.com/news. recovery teams looking for wreckage from the airasia flight that crashed last week have stopped their search for the night now. early on monday they expanded their search in the java sea as they race now to find bodies and of course any remaining wreckage.

rough weather has hampered the operation. 37 bodies have so far been recovered from the disaster. and as of yet, though there was no sign of those very crucial black box flight data recorders. martin patience is in surabaya and indonesia for us following the search operation. it's over for today martin but how is the weather there that's been so crucial to this whole effort? >> reporter: well, there was a piece of good news today and that was better weather. as you reported for the past several days, rescue teams have been hampered by bad weather, high seas. and what they're trying to do is get down to the seabed about 30 meters into the water in order to identify large chunks of the plane. one of those objects, according to the authorities, is ten meters long. and that's believed to be from the plane's fuselage. but when dive teams got down there yesterday, they said the visible was zero. that said they are slowly

bringing more debris ashore. one of our reporters out close to the crash site said that she saw seats being brought on to shore. there are also reports from reuters news agency that the rescue teams may have found the tail of the plane, although indonesian officials haven't confirmed that to us. >> martin everyone is still, of course desperate to know what exactly happened. and clues to that of course should be found with the black boxes. authorities, are they confident that they will indeed eventually find the black boxes? >> reporter: they'll confident they'll find the wreckage most of the wreckage of the plane in large chunks. as for the black boxes, there's been no pings in the last eight days, and that is a very worrying sign. so perhaps the black boxes have scattered somewhere else on the seabed. you're right in pointing out they will need to find them in order to determine exactly what brought this plane down more

than a week ago. the authorities are blaming, saying a major factor was the bad weather. we know that the pilot just before the crash radioed in, to ask to ascend to 38,000 feet and that has led to speculation from some avian analysts that perhaps the plane stalled and plunged into the sea. but until we get the black boxes, we won't know exactly what happened. >> and martin what about devastated friends and family right now? is there criticism of how they're being treated, or are people saying that this has been dealt with quite well this tragedy? martin seems to have frozen there in surabaya just updating us there on that ongoing search. it is over for the night. that airasia flight crashing last week. they have finished because it's dark there at the moment, but bits of wreckage have been found. more bodies recovered. and martin saying the weather has improved and the search will resume tomorrow.

let's bring you up to date with some other news now. taiwan's former president has been granted a one-month medical parole for treatment of neural degeneration. he was six years into a 20-year sentence for money laundering and accepting bribes. he describes the charges as political persecution. the french president francois hollande has condemned the apparent refusal by a small french town to allow a roma girl to be buried in its cemetery. the mayor of the town caused outrage by saying priority for burial plots in the local cemetery went to people who paid taxes. he since said his comments were misunderstood. an investigation has begun here in the uk into why a car transporter which ran aground started listing shortly after leaving the port of southampton on saturday. the owners say it was deliberately run aground after it developed problems and started to list. it's now less than a year before myanmar votes in a

general election. for the first time in 25 years, the pro-democracy campaigner and former political prisoner aung san suu kyi will take part. most believe it is a certainty that her party will win, but the constitution does prevent her from becoming president. our myanmar correspondent jonah fisher was given exclusive access to the nobel peace prize winner as she visited her constituency. >> reporter: it's check-in time for myanmar's nobel laureate. aung san suu kyi has come to visit the country's first training college for the hospitality industry. funded through a charity named after her mother we've been invited to take a look. the college has been built in the constituency where two and a half years ago she first became an mp. 100 young people most of whom have never stayed in a hotel,

are learning about food and how to cook and serve it. >> that's not a fruit. that's just a fizzy drink. >> reporter: for the former political prisoner trying to create better opportunities for young burmese men and women, is a real passion. >> too many young people are unemployed. so we need to help them to get jobs. it's no use having a degree and no job at all. >> the end of myanmar's international isolation means tourist numbers have risen fast and there's a shortage of both hotels and trained staff. with projects like this and by funding health facilities, libraries, and by building roads, aung san suu kyi is hoping to give people just a little glimpse of how things might change if she was to become president. but under the current constitution, she's barred as her sons are british not

burmese. so far all attempts to change the rules have been blocked by the army. is the dream of becoming president of this country over for you? >> first of all, that's not my dream. my dream is the country the kind of country i would like to see. that's what i dream of, not of sitting in a presidential suite or anything like that. and in any case i always say that we should never say we've lost a battle until we've actually fought it to the best of your ability. >> reporter: so you're not ruling out the possibility that some sort of deal could be done? >> it doesn't worry me. i don't like to think of it as a deal. what i like to think of is the people's right to choose the president they want is sacrosanct and this is what we are working towards. >> reporter: in the college kitchen, she is watching her chefs closely as they learn to make chicken and mushroom pie.

in 11 months time she'll compete in a first general election in 25 years. unless someone cooks the books, a win is a near certainty. the presidency is not. jonah fisher, bbc news, myanmar. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come. it may be good for holiday makers, but what about those looking for somewhere to live? paris acts to tackle the rising number of apartments rented online. for over a decade, doctors have been prescribing nexium to patients just like you. for many, prescription nexium helps

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christmas and new year are busy times for global travel. many tourists visiting foreign countries during the holiday period will have stayed in apartments rented over the internet. it's known as the airbnb phenomenon, a name taken from the biggest website which arranges these short holiday lets. good for travelers, but what about the effect on the cityies?

in paris the authorities are so worried they've decided to take drastic action. from there, hugh schofield reports. >> reporter: exasperated neighbors. in a paris courtyard, they're pointing out all the flats where there have been problems. problems caused by tourists on short holiday lets. residents say it's a growing source of irritation how their homes are becoming like hotels. it's the noise, he says and the constant festivities. the whole building feels like it's been invited to their parisian soirees. it's not just the din. the growing demand for holiday lets is distorting the regular housing market, taking thousands of flats out of circulation that are needed for parisians. that's the view of paris city hall, and why it's decided to act.

>> translator: today in paris, there's a terrible shortage of housing. flats are just too expensive, especially for the middle classes. so we need to find measures to protect housing. because if residential flats are turned into holiday lets that means fewer places for parisians to live in with their families. >> reporter: the city's clampdown is not aimed at people who occasionally let out their primary home to visitors. that's perfectly legal. but of people who invest. basically the city says if you buy a flat for short holiday lets, what you're doing is taking a residential property and turning it into a commercial property. so in order to maintain the stock of residential properties you, the new buyer, have to acquire a second property a commercial property and turn that into residential. in other words, in order to acquire one flat, you've got to buy two. the city has a team of inspectors to enforce the new

rule but it's so complex and so expensive that few have complied. property consultant adrian leed says that as a result thousands of owners, french and foreign, now live in constant fear of the knock on the door. >> all of these people who invested in property here they didn't get into this thinking they were doing something illegal or wrong or horrible. they felt good about themselves they felt good about the city and now they've been turned into criminals overnight. >> reporter: the city says that as many as 20,000 paris flats are now being let out illegally. good news for tourists. less good if you live here. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. the duke of york prince andrew, is understood to have returned to the uk after a swiss skiing holiday following sex allegations made against him. he's been named in u.s. court papers relating to the handling of a case against his former friend billionaire businessman and convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein.

buckingham palace has emphatically denied that the prince had sexual contact with a woman who has made the claims. following this for us is our royal correspondent who is with us now. firstly, just take us through what the allegations are against prince andrew. >> these allegations have come out in court papers in the united states. this isn't a legal case against prince andrew it's just that his name has been mentioned in these court papers. it's a long running legal case involving a number of people and jeffrey epstein, and his name has come up in the course of those court documents. he is alleged to have had sex with underaged women who we know to be virginia roberts, on three separate occasions in three separate locations. as you have already said buckingham palace have been extremely strong in their denials about this. >> is this unusual for them to come out and make such an emphatic statement? >> yes, because their default position often is to say nothing. particularly if it's something quite controversial or difficult

to deal with they prefer silence. that's what they often prefer to do. they have felt very differently this time. and we have had not just one, but two official statements from them, and the language in those statements talks about emphatic denials, denying the duke of york had any form of sexual contact or relationship with virginia roberts. the allegations that have been made are false and without foundation. so there is no beating around the bush. it is very clear what buckingham palace are trying to say that the duke of york is not involved in this in any way. >> but he's been on a skiing holiday. do we know for sure that he's come back to the country, he's seen the queen? >> we know that he's back in the country. he's come back from his holiday in switzerland. he is back we understand, at windsor. he has a house in the grounds of windsor castle. we understand he is there. of course, he'll be talking to his advisers his lawyers. they will not tell us buckingham palace, if he is going to see the queen. you would think in in situation in terms of a mother-son relationship, they would be talking. the queen is at sandring her

estate in norfolk, that's where she spends christmas, new year, most of january. you would think he'd be talking to her as well. >> what's the biggest worry here? because this isn't going away. it's been around for a few days now. but is there concern that there might be more that could come out, that there could be further allegations made against him? >> yes, of course. this is a long-running legal case in the united states. the worry is is there more that could come out, more allegations against prince andrew. also in terms of his own personal reputation you know, there is a sense that it focuses on his poor judgment, the poor judgment he made in having the friendship with jeffrey epstein in the first place. something he himself has admitted. but also this sense that nothing quite goes away that there's this constant cloud hanging over him in terms of what might come up. buckingham palace are very keen to stress that he's not in hiding in any way. he's on holiday. he's been on holiday. he's now back home. his next public engagement is

due at the end of the month at davos, that's when we next expect to see him in public. >> thanks for updating us. some of leonardo da vinci's most famous drawings are being shown in southeast asia for the very first time at the art science museum in singapore. >> reporter: he may be known for one of the most famous paintings in the world, but leonardo da vinci is making a splash in asia for his drawings instead. exhibited at singapore's art science museum these centuries-old sketches offer clues to da vinci's genius as an artist, mathematician, architect and musician. but getting them here wasn't easy. so i'm speaking now to the woman who runs this art science museum. you've brought this extensive collection of da vinci's original works. these are hundreds of years old. first of all tell us how challenging was that? >> well, we're standing here in

the room of the centerpiece of da vinci shaping the future. and we're looking here at drawings which are 500 years old. they're priceless. so we want to ensure that bringing them to southeast asia for the first time and presenting them to the public here in singapore, we're still preserving the drawings. and that's challenging. it means that we've got to control the environment perfectly. the reason why it's quite dark in here is because light is the biggest enemy of 500-year-old drawings. so after they're on show here in singapore for three months they then have to rest in the dark for three years. >> reporter: this is the world's first art science museum and we know that da vinci was someone who brought these two studies together. so how significant is it to be showing his works here? >> very significant for us. in many ways you could say that leonardo da vinci is the museum's patron saint. there is no figure in history that represents the unity of arts and sciences more perfectly than he did.

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this is "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm lucy hockings. in this half-hour, the battle against a massive wildfire in australia. the weather is set to get hotter and windier. thousands of people have left their homes. another attack by boko haram militants. they take over a multi-national military base in nigeria, and then target the only remaining town on the northeast still controlled by the government. we'll take you live to lagos with more details. also on the program, aaron is back looking at the big tech trends to expect. >> it is that time of the year

again, when tech companies from all around the world ascend on las vegas for the big tech fest known as cs. let me tell you, their arms will be full of everything that they hope will spark customer interest. so yes, we've got an expert in the house. we're going to take a look at what products will set the world alight this year. welcome back to "gmt." a short window of improved weather conditions in australia is assisting firefighters' efforts to try to bring huge bush fires under control. the fires are burning near the city of adalaide. more than 30 homes have already been destroyed in the hills behind the city. officials are saying this blaze is the worst in the area since the ash wednesday bush fires of 1983, which left 75 people dead. australia's deputy prime minister warren truss spoke to the bbc a little earlier. >> certainly, ash wednesday

brings back horrific memories for australians. fortunately in this case, there's been no loss of life and we're grateful for that and the injuries have been mainly smoke inhalation and the like. so in reality, we're fortunate that there's been not the loss of life associated with ash wednesday, but nonetheless, in the adalaide area alone, at least 26 houses have been lost. another 40 or more out buildings. and the families that have lost everything, clearly they now have rebuilding task ahead of them. >> there is a problem, though. temperatures in south australia are expected to rise again. up to 38 degrees celsius on tuesday and wednesday. with more from sydney, here's jon donnison. >> reporter: for a fourth day, the adalaide hills continue to burn. thousands have been forced to flee. some have returned to find they've lost all that they own.

>> they wouldn't let us come and save the house, unfortunately. >> what have you lost everything? >> everything. >> all my possessions, documents, my paperwork. lost my pets. dogs. few cars. few collectibles. all gone, yeah. >> reporter: today, weather conditions ease slightly allowing a brief window to try and bring the fire under control. we want to contain it before the weather change. we're expecting more hot weather, which will create conditions for the fire it within its general planes known as air tankers capable of dumping over 10,000 liters of water and fire retardant at a time are being used. and more than 500 firefighters many of them volunteers are working round the clock. the adalaide hills are not densely populated, but there are fears huge numbers of cattle and sheep have also perished. and other wildlife have

suffered, too. this was a shelter for orphaned animals. >> when i turned up here i could see the house was well alying, and i just said to them let it go, flag my animals, and we did. >> reporter: people here are well-used to the threat from bush fires. many see it as all part of australian life. others though say climate change is making the fire season increasingly treacherous. jon donnison, bbc news sydney. >> how do you even begin to tackle a fire like this? we're joined on the line from adalaide by the south australia country fire service's assistant chief officer. thanks for being with us. just after 11:00 at night where you are. what will happen first thing in the morning when we hear that it's going to get hotter and windier in the area tomorrow? >> good afternoon to you all. tonight is fire is over 12,500

hectares. the fire is about 230 kilometers in length. so it's a very big footprint in the landscape of the adalaide hills. tonight we have a bush fire watch in place and we're expecting strong gully winds to occur during the night, which will test the perimeter, which thankfully at this time, the fire is not observed to be expanding. but we do have two areas of concern. to the north area of the fire, up near an area -- the southern area of the vicinity. there's some active fire activity there. today we can confirm with a third of the fire area assessment teams, 26 houses have been identified as destroyed, or damaged. along with 41 sheds at least,

and numerous stock losses. we have 23 firefighters which have been injured. and 700 firefighters from south australia, new south wales, and victoria are involved in this firefight. >> so with such a big fire does that mean with everyone sort of pitching in that you do have the resources and the manpower to tackle this? >> reporter: yes, we do.-- >> yes, we do. the fire activity during the course of today and yesterday has given us a respite from the winds. we had winds earlier on friday saturday of 100 kilometers an hour in some places or close to it. and by that time we were battling with nature. there was no firefighting force on earth that would be able to stop that, so we had to wait until the weather conditions eased and we focused our attention on warning the community, and asset protection where it was safe to do so. >> we've been told that this

fire is the worst in the area since ash wednesday, back in 1983. does it bring back memories of that horrible time or does it feel quite different? >> look, yes, it does. i was only a very young lad when that fire started, and that was my first day of being a volunteer firefighter in adalaide. it does certainly bring back many memories for a number of people. but having said that there's at least a third of the community in the adalaide hills that have never experienced a bush fire and there are a number of firefighters who have never experienced a fire of this magnitude. it's been a long time since we have had a fire this large in the landscape, and it's one that will be evened in people's minds for a very long time. >> thank you so much for joining us. good luck tomorrow. thank you. aaron is with us now with the business. it's a new year, aaron. happy new year. it's a new year, but some of the

same old problems. >> we're back. it's been a horrid day for the euro, and greece is back in the spotlight. could have big implications for the eurozone. let me explain. good to see you, lucy. it's been a bruising day for the euro. that single currency slipping to a nine-year low against the u.s. dollar. before recovering just slightly the selloff has been driven by two main factors. let's take a look. firstly, and probably most important it seems that the ecb, the big european central bank may soon start a policy of this qe quantitative easing to stimulate that fragile eurozone. this weekend the bank's president, the big boss mario draghi, he again hinted that he may be willing to make a move telling a newspaper rather cryptically that the bank is preparing, look at this to alter the size speed, and composition of our measures. political turmoil in greece also weighing on the euro with fears

that this snap general election coming up on 25th of january could see the anti-austerity left wing party take control of the country and the possibility has sparked fears about whether greece will stick to the terms and conditions set by the international bailout, or could it even actually leave the eurozone. one german magazine saying that the german government sees a greek departure from the euro as almost unavoidable. if it wins that greek election. let's find out more. jane foley is a foreign exchange market strategist and joins us. great to see you. happy new year to you. we'll talk about the greek saga in a minute. but boy, it does seem like at the moment investors are betting that finally, finally the european central bank is going to press that button and boost this -- or set in motion this huge massive stimulus program. something like we saw i guess here in the uk or in the united states because they have not done this yet. >> they certainly haven't.

you've got to remember that the eurozone is made up of 19 separate countries, which means that the qe plan is a lot more complex than it would be in the uk or in the u.s. but, of course although it's clear that draghi the president of the ecb is in favor of this policy, it's also quite clear that perhaps he hasn't got the majority on the counsel that he needs yet to go forward. so it's not yet a done deal. >> if we turn our attention to greece you know, there's been times that we've talked about this before this possible grexit, greece exiting. there were a lot of worries the last time we spoke about this, i can't remember how long it was a year or so ago. it's back, but without so many worries this time. is that right? >> well, that certainly seems the case. worries for greece but perhaps not so much about the eurozone. that's something that we really need to test and determine over the next few months. the reason for that is of course since the greek problems at the start of the eurozone crisis all those years ago, four or five years ago now, there's been a lot of structure reform.

if you take countries such as ireland or portugal, there's been lots of reforms. and now, of course growth back in countries such as portugal and ireland. for many that's put up a fire wall, meaning a contagion for greece's problems from the rest of the eurozone is far less likely. this is quite interesting. many people would say that if the lift does get in what they want, they want an end to the greek austerity. they want higher wages, more government jobs and what that would probably mean is they'd want debt forgiveness. they would want some of their debt written off, which would be compatible with the terms of the bailout, and many people would say well, you know, if there isn't going to be this risk of contagion to other countries, maybe they would be forced to leave. >> it's going to be fascinating to keep our eyes on that. i know you will. we'll talk to you soon. jane foley there.

let's switch gears. let's talk. what is that? i want one. millions of gadgets have only just been unwrapped for christmas, but the giants and the minnows of the tech world, they are gearing up for a fresh barrage. more than 3,500 firms from all over the world will exhibit new wares at this year's international consumer electronics show in las vegas. last year, we saw -- remember this? those curved tvs. what happened to them? we saw smart watches 3-d printers certainly making waves in the world of tech. but what could 2015 hold in store? i've got a tech expert in the house. ed barton is from the technology consultancy, he joins us. lots to talk about. let me start with these driverless cars. big theme in 2014. but they're still facing lots of laws and regulation about the whole driverless thing. but we keep hearing -- i think it's a bit different. something about connected cars. explain that one. >> well if you imagine that cars up until now have generally

been relatively isolated what manufacturers are now trying to do is to actually connect cars to the internet. so if we think about what that actually means, if you imagine all the things you can currently do, with a pc your mobile phone or a tablet all of those experiences will be enabled in your car. so the most obvious one would be a streaming service, such as bbc i-player accessible in the back seat screen. or perhaps the mapping application, which is currently separate on a separate console on your dashboard, would actually be sbeintegrated. >> interesting stuff. so goodbye to the old stereo, i say. let's talk about wearable technology. another big theme last year. am i right by saying i keep hearing that this year they're going to look better they're going to be basically sexier, also cheaper for the mass market? >> yeah. i mean as you make more of these devices, obviously the cost will come down.

actually i think the biggest challenge for wearable technology manufacturers is giving people a very compelling reason to buy them to use them and to keep using them crucially. we do a lot of research that suggests that the amount of time that people are currently using wearables such as fitness trackers is actually relatively short before they get consigned to a drawer. so manufacturers have to make sure that there is a very compelling human reason to actually use all of these fantastic devices. >> that's going to be the challenge for them. i know everybody uses this internet of things or the internet of everything. that's what we're talking about with these connected cars. but i'm just wondering for household products are we going to see any new -- are we going to see any of our old dumb household products become smart products? >> there are a huge number of appliances around your household which could become smart, so to speak, given the process of connected to the internet. again, manufacturers have to give people a compelling reason to actually do that.

what we're currently seeing is perhaps focused in home security, and in managing the temperature of your household in connected thermostats. of course, the sales of these haven't been huge at the moment. but we do expect these to slowly increase but there are still a number of personal privacy and security concerns, which manufacturers have to reassure people about before they really fly. >> yeah, they do. of course, security on the tech side of things been in the news of late as well. it will continue i'm sure. we appreciate your time. happy new year. we'll talk to you soon. i'm going to quickly give you a flash of the markets. i wanted to show you what i was talking about. the euro to the dollar just over 118, but the markets are down. the focus is european central bank, the eurozone issues. also the question for 2015 for the markets, when will the u.s. federal reserve press the button and raise interest rates? they have been near zero for,

what, six years now? lots of expectations that that will happen this year. that's it with the bismz lotusiness. tweet me i'll tweet you back. @bbcaaron. i've seen these products in the house that are connected. you'd love a fridge that would order you milk. >> i control my washing machine from my phone. i'm serious. i'll show you later. >> smart! do stay with us. still to come on "gmt." we'll bring you the latest from nigeria as the islamist military group boko haram seizes a town and a military base in the northeast of the country. (son) oh no... can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan.

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i'm lucy hockings. thanks for being with us. our top stories this hour. the united nations has expressed concern over the introduction by lebanon of new restrictions on syrians wanting to enter the

country. the search for the indonesian airliner that crashed off the coast of borneo eight days ago has now been called off for the day. let's take you to nigeria now and the insurgency there has taken another dramatic turn. militant group boko haram has seized a town and a multi-national military base in the northeast of the country. the town of baga was the last controlled by the government in the north of borno state. militants driving pickup trucks and motorbikes killed scores of soldiers and civilians as well. residents of the town fled by boat to neighboring chad. the military base which is on the shores of lake chad has hosted troops from both chad and niger. let's take do you will ross, who is following this for us from lagos. a dramatic situation in this particular town a real humanitarian issue there with the amount of people who had to

leave the area. >> certainly, that's what the senator for the north of borno state is saying. he's saying that thousands of people were displaced because not only was there an attack on baga town but also some of the villages in the surrounding area were also overrun by the insurgents, and then other people simply fled fearing that the jihadist fighters were on their way. so thousands of people displaced from their homes. and i understand that the state government in borno has sent some vehicles to try and rescue people who have made it to a relatively safe town and moved them to where they'll be in camps for displaced people joining the tens of thousands who are already there living in camps. what we understand is that the military camp that was attacked it's supposed to be a base for this multi-national force with soldiers from the region from chad niger, nigeria, and soon also from cameroon.

but we understand there were no soldiers there except for the nigerian troops and there was a lengthy gun battle that went on for some hours, according to witnesses. but eventually the boko haram fighters overpowered them and took that base as well as baga town. >> it does feel relentless the attacks by boko haram in this part of nigeria. can you explain the significance of the location, are we now looking at this whole bit of the country now controlled by boko haram? >> part of this state, borno state, is under the control of boko haram. and baga was the last of the towns in the north of the state, the area under the senator for north borno. but it's significant because this is close to lake chad and it gives the insurgents a greater chance to then control that area and move freely between chad niger, and

cameroon and nigeria. so the senator for the area has appealed for reinforcements to be sent urgently to recapture baga and those neighboring villages and smaller towns in the area. but it's yet another sign just of how the military hasn't been able to cope hasn't been able to defend the population against these relentless attacks. and remember on new year's day we had news that 40 young men and boys were kidnapped by boko haram. there's been no news of them. but we assume that they were taken in order to be forced to become recruits by the insurgent group, which has carried out these relentless attacks especially in borno state, but also in neighboring yobe state. >> will thanks so much for the update. prosthetic limbs are usually seen as functional essential items for those who rely on them. but one woman has been working

to turn artificial limbs into wearable art. she makes prosthetics using material such as wood glass, and metal that reflect the wearer's personality. we went to meet sophie at her studio here in london. >> it's kind of a japanese inspired limb. you've got a dragon and then a lady in a kimono with little drawers. i was working for a company making realistic looking prosthetic limbs for amputees and there was a little girl that would attend the clinic and i'd make her realistic limb every year, and she wanted something a

little bit different, though. and started off with little images of pigs eating ice cream riding bicycles. i could see from her rehabilitation point of view what an impact this had on her. so i thought, this is really interesting, making something alternative and having rather than a standard kind of replacement, exploring the space, and then i thought well yeah, we could make some really unusual pieces that kind of spoke from people's soul as it were, and people's imagination, but turning them into kind of reality. and works of art. but i thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to actually work with someone who shared vision of embracing their limb in a different way, and so i found victoria modesta, a performing artist and a singer and we worked together and i made several covers for her, one of which is used in the paralympic closing ceremony. i think it captured the spirit visually of the paralympics and what it means to be kind of

superhuman, almost. and so we had the shape of her leg, and then jus kind of chopped into it and took chunks out, and just made it encrusted with crystals and rhinestones. i think the alternative limbs kind of definitely open up a dialogue, and it's a kind of unspoken dialogue which is if you want to come and speak to me about my prosthetic, i'm clearly kind of happy for you to talk about it and as i'm expressing myself, and if you want to stare at something, i'll give you something good to stare at. >> the incredible work there. just time to show you some amazing pictures from china before we go. these are ethnic kazaks they've been braving the heavy snow as you can see, to perform their traditional art of hunting with

eagles. it involves kazak horsemen riding at breakneck speed and hunting with a huge eagle perched on their arms. it's admired for lots of reasons, its artistry as well and the huge amount of skill that is required. i'm pleased to say it is in no way dying out. thanks for being with us on "gmt." so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates.

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