this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: fireworks and festivities welcome in 2017. in australia, there was a spectacular display of fireworks over the sydney harbour bridge. this is the scene in dubai. security is stepped up for new year celebrations in major cities around the world. in london, thousands of extra police are deployed. the un security council unanimously endorses the ceasefire in syria brokered by russia and turkey. britain's olympic and paralympic stars are recognised in the new year's honours, with a knighthood for andy murray. i feel more still like andy murray. feels obviously more normal to me but it's obviously, you know, a big honour and happy with that. nice way to finish, or start, the new year. also in the next hour, why you'll have to wait a little

bit longer to welcome in the new year tonight. an extra second will be added to the world's clocks to stay in sync with the earth's rotation. good evening and welcome to bbc news. celebrations around the world are continuing to welcome in 2017. this is the scene live in dubai, the latest major city to tick past midnight. hundreds of thousands of people are watching the display at the burj khalifa, the world's tallest building, measuring 828 metres high.

these pictures show events in sydney earlier. we've been talking about the security and put in place in many of the cities around the world tonight and here in dubai, private security guards are in attendance on the streets and there are metal barriers blocking the pavements around the building clear so that emergency vehicles could reach the centre of the city fc needed to. of course, last year, things went slightly awry last year, things went slightly awry last year. police ce thought —— —— police say the quality wedding sporty faults just before midnight.

—— faulty wiring sparked a fault. beautiful fireworks from the top of that building. these pictures show events in sydney earlier. officials say it was the city's biggest ever fireworks display. about 1.5 million people have been celebrating by the iconic opera house. and in hong kong a few hours ago, a similarly elaborate display, as the sky along the waterfront lit up with thousands of fireworks. earlier the city had seen pro—democracy rallies against the government, but revellers came together to see in the new year. aside from the celebrations, security has been stepped up in major cities as the world marks the start of the new year. concrete barriers have gone up near central squares in paris, madrid and new york.

these pictures from berlin, the scene of the deadly christmas market attack earlier this month, show heightened security checks being put in place. and in cities including london, thousands of extra police are being deployed ahead of new year celebrations. helena lee reports. sydney, australia, one of the first cities to welcome in 2017. the harbour bridge the focus of their spectacular display. soon after, it was hong kong's turn and this was their party. in london, they're preparing for tonight's celebrations.

the met police says it is not had any specific intelligence to point to an attack, but they've looked at what happened in berlin and nice and adjusted their plans. there'll be more than 3000 visible police officers present tonight. as in the past, there will be officers with firearms, but the key thing is to strike the balance, and none of us wants to disrupt the enjoyment all of us want to have on new year's eve. we can't allow the bad guys to spoil our way of life. in other european cities, including berlin, security has been stepped up. in her new year's eve address, the german chancellor angela merkel acknowledged the threat her country faces. translation: the biggest test, without a doubt, is islamist terrorism, which has had germany in its sights for many years. in 2016 it attacked us in wurzburg, asbach and just a few days ago in the christmas market here in berlin. other political leaders sending new year messages

included donald trump. he tweeted: around the world, millions of people are getting ready to celebrate their new year's eve, welcoming in 2017 in style. andrew black is in edinburgh. things are getting underway this year. the security gates at either end opened an hour ago soul revellers are end opened an hour ago soul revellers a re really end opened an hour ago soul revellers are really streaming in 110w revellers are really streaming in now as you can probably see behind me. tonight ‘s events are sold out, so we are expecting on this street or in something like 75,000 people

gathering from 80 countries all around the world. tonight ‘s festivities are going to be beamed around the world to an estimated 1 billion people. there is plenty to do this year, a number of stages, live bands and djs. with a big public events like these, public safety is a big priority and we have heard a little clearer about the extra precautions being taken in light of the attack in berlin. police scotland say that they have a proportionate response in place, that they want to strike the balance between keeping people safe and making sure people have a good time as well. there are also several hundred security guards on hand to make sure that everything goes smoothly and, of course, everyone is hoping that that is what happens.

the big event it tonight is a fireworks display which is happening at midnight, something like 5.5 tonnes of pyrotechnics are going to be shot off of edinburgh castle‘s battle m e nts be shot off of edinburgh castle‘s battlements and we are told that that will be the most intensive six minutes of fireworks ever seen in the uk and that actually tonight ‘s display will be able to be seen from 30 miles all—around edinburgh. another piece of news, the weather is not always that keeps year in scotla nd is not always that keeps year in scotland at this time of year. there was a bit of an earlier but things are looking up. i think we are looking at the pretty spectacular night. the new year's honours list has been dominated by britain's olympians and paralympians. there are knighthoods for andy murray and mo farah. and from the world of entertainment there's a knighthood for knotty ash funny man ken dodd. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has the details. game, set, match, murray.

ending the year with a win on the court and with a knighthood to his name, the title sir andy, though, could take some getting used to. i feel more still like andy murray. it feels, obviously, more normal to me, but it's obviously a big honour and i'm happy with that, a nice way to finish or start the new year. gold for great britain again! olympic champion mo farah says his knighthood is a dream come true. london 2012 gold medallist jessica ennis—hill has become a dame, as has rower katherine grainger, after five medals from five olympics. in the world of entertainment, one of britain's's favourite performers ken dodd has received a knighthood. i said to the fella i said, excuse me, can you help me out? he said certainly, which way did you come in? the best day ever, you can't get better than this. i've played lots of big theatres, but this is it, this is the day, yes. i'm very, very proud. laughter.

the bucket residencs, lady of the house speaking. actress patricia routledge, she's been made a dame. kinks frontman ray davies said he felt humility and joy to become sir ray. a knighthood, too, for award—winning actor mark rylance. victoria beckham becomes an obe for services to the fashion industry. the hillsborough independent panel was chaired by the former bishop of liverpool, jamesjones. he's now been knighted. obviously great pride, but mixed with sadness because of that enduring sadness of the families, who have continued to feel the loss of their loved ones at hillsborough. he's one of hundreds being recognised for their contributions to their communities across the uk. joining me now from her home in nuneaton is annie zaidi, who has

been award a british empire medal for services to football coaching. congratulations. when did you find it? about two weeks ago. it was on my return trip to malaysia, so i phoned it when a court on my post. how much of a shock was it? initially, i was a bit apprehensive opening the letter because i thought it was a speeding ticket or some sort bad news letter. it was a speeding ticket or some sort bad news letterlj it was a speeding ticket or some sort bad news letter. i hope it was in better quality paper than that would be! it was all great. it looked official. tell us about your journey. he wanted to be a football coachin journey. he wanted to be a football coach in the men's game for such a long time and the obstacles in your

way there are many, weren't they? there have been many, but i don't see them as obstacles, there are other people's obstacles put in my way so i just other people's obstacles put in my way so ijust had to get up and jump higher. it's been a journey of many tea rs, higher. it's been a journey of many tears, blood, sweat and tears, to be fair, what of sacrifice and hard work, resilience, more negative than positive, but sometimes you get awarded, a prestigious award, when i haven't —— when i haven't achieved anything. what sparked your interest in football? my brothers, sitting with them in the back garden. i wa nted with them in the back garden. i wanted to be one of the boys. i think that is where, ijust wanted to be one of the boys. i think that is where, i just want to belong, and the more i did it, and started watching it more seriously, i thought that i could do this. i used to play football any opportunity i had, in my training kit, on the back garden, t in the park. idid

kit, on the back garden, t in the park. i did it in coventry. yes. what kept you going, when things we re what kept you going, when things were so difficult and you had to knock backs? one of my mottos is that when you have a gene that no one can see but you can you keep calling because you visualise yourself doing it, that is what kept me going. i am not one, once i get down, get back up. that is one of my personal attributes. it is working. it has made me thick skinned as well and more determined. you have had to get used to being the only woman, the only woman who's doing the job of managing teams, coaching teams. a much more accepting of people view these days? elect my work do my

talking, on the pitch. a lot of people can talk a good talk about football, but i shall it on the training ground or on match days and my knowledge of it is second to none. so, when i do sessions at high—level, they are not perfect, but they are working towards becoming perfect. then i shall people my abilities with my coaching. you are a court at the moment with the team in leicester. no, i left that last season. i am of the football association at the moment, on a mentoring programme. and also working towards setting up my own foundation to inspire other generals to make their dreams come true, whether it's in football anything else they might want to do. what is your message to girls and young woman who made want to fight — — follow young woman who made want to fight —— follow in your footsteps? young woman who made want to fight -- follow in your footsteps? the message would be done at other peoples barriers become your barriers. when the —— once they become your barriers, that hinders

your development and progression, so people, if a bit barriers on, just run back andjump people, if a bit barriers on, just run back and jump over them as hoddle ‘s. —— hurdles. foryour dream and it's a one—wayjourney, but if you believe in yourself anything is possible because i am living proof. what are your hopes for 2017? on living proof. what are your hopes for2017? ona living proof. what are your hopes for 2017? on a professional level, get my foundation up and running and then work towards my licence. then, just keep progressing and be known as an elite coach, within the professional game. with letters behind your name now. yes, and more. thank you very much and a happy new year to you. to you too, thank you. the queen had to miss the christmas

day church ever said other members of the royal family attended. it is expected at the session will be made in the morning. the headlines on bbc news: new year celebrations are underway around the world. in london thousands of extra police are deployed as security is stepped up for celebrations in major cities around the world. the un security council unanimously endorses the ceasefire in syria brokered by russia and turkey. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's ollie foster. there were seven matches in the premier league today. and the leaders chelsea have matched arsenals1li year old record of 13 wins in a row in the same

premier league season. they beat stoke 11—2 at stamford bridge but they had to work hard for the win, it was 2—2 with 25 minutes left to play, but a second from willian and a late diego costa goal made sure of the record. and if they beat tottenham next week, they will match arsenal's all time record of 1a straight wins set across two seasons. to win 13 games in april in this league is very difficult and studio is another example. we faced against a team that played very well. i'm pleased because my players showed me that they are very to adapt into different situations, a different type of game that we face. second placed liverpool remain six points adrift of chelsea after a 1—0 win over 3rd placed

manchester city at anfield. georginio wijnaldum's early header settled the match city are now 10 points off the top. the quality of manchester city, the situation, and this season, it means that we already have a lot of games and when you invest in a game like this, so much, then at the end, of course, you want to have all and thank god we got it, because the day after tomorrow, we play again. manchester united came from behind against middlesbrough to win 2—1 at old trafford. paul pogba scored in the 86th minute. it came a minute after anthony martial had equalised. grant leadbitter had given boro a second half lead. manchester united are still sixth but level on points with spurs in fifth. the other results, andre grey scored a hat—trick

for burnley as they beat struggling sunderland 4—1. leciester beat west ham 1—0. kanu scored a brilliant winner for west brom at st mary's as they beat southampton 2—1 to move up to 11th. managerless swansea went down 3—0 at home to bournemouth. but paul clement is set to become their third manager of the season in the next 48 hours. he's currently assistant to carlo ancelotti at bayern munich and was previously with the italian at chelsea, paris st—germain and real madrid. he was sacked by derby earlier this year with the club fifth in the championship, despite having lost only seven of his 33 games in charge. there was one match in the aviva rugby union premiership. exeter have jumped above bath into third in the table after a stunning second half comeback at the rec. they were 11—0 down at half time, but two tries from james short in the final 10 minutes saw them win17—11. in the pro 12 munster won 16—9 against connacht to strengthen their position at the top

of the table. leinster beat ulster to move into second place. 22—7 the final score. glasgow and edinburgh were both given tough matches in italy agaoinst treviso and zebre, but both won. andy murray has been given a knighthood in the new year's honours list. he's also just finished third at the world tennis championship in abu dhabi. he beat beat milos raonic in straight sets in saturday's consolation game at the exhibition tournament, so he finishes the year with a win and also the title sir andy. it was a big honour to be asked, recognition of my results over the last few years, and it's obviously a nice way to finish 2016, august 2017, but i am more than happyjust being known as andy, that is fine by me. that's all sport for now.

the united nations has unanimously approved a resolution endorsing a ceasefire in the syrian civil war. russia and turkey brokered the truce. it's the third ceasefire this year, as part of efforts to end nearly six years of fighting in syria. our correspondent, jonny dymond, has been giving us the latest. the world treated this ceasefire with relief when was announced. russia backs the steadying regime and turkey has backed what you might call the more moderate rebel groups and they are in his name this deal was struck, but there are so many different groups operating within syria that that left a lot people outside it, the kurdish groups operating in northern syria, what we used to call the album the strut front and the problem is that the

steadying regime has pressed its fight against this ceasefire. some of whom operate in the ceasefire. those in the ceasefire had said i should stop this, this ceasefire is over. it is clearly a shaky ceasefire. you have explained the complicated situation very well. you have to wonder how, in those circumstances, you can never set up a process, epo, that can survive the fact that there are so many factions, many of whom, as you say, are outside that deal. i think it is extraordinarily difficult. you can wait for some to exhaust themselves, frankly, and thatis exhaust themselves, frankly, and that is they will be that the world will stop. other groups, will be picked off by international actors. deals are done on a bilateral basis. you might see soviet splitting up into different zones of influence.

at the moment it is very difficult to see it as a total ceasefire. politically, diplomatically, dublin seven politically, diplomatically, dublin seve n saves politically, diplomatically, dublin seven saves in all of this to say that they are trying to take action, well, at the same time, they engage infighting. yes, they can do. it enables turkey to concentrate on its primary enemy which is the cards, who are amassed in the north of syria. it enables iran to maintain a sphere of influence. this is a very cool and dark diplomatic place with people vying for influence in the shattered remains of serbia. —— syria. we can speak to the commissioner of

the metropolitan police. thank you for joining the metropolitan police. thank you forjoining us. what measures have been put in place, notjust in london but other cities? first of all, we want to make sure people will enjoy tonight. every year, people come here, the london eye, next to big ben and cd firework display. ireland 1 million people attend the event, 100,000 buy tickets for it. it's a great event and what we do is make an best effort to make sure everyone is safe. some of our officers are armed and some of those will be seen. we make sure we had a good section regime and people know that we are following the events in berlin and making special letters that there are no equal access to certain sites. we will take these measures to help people enjoy the event and of course keep them safe. to help people enjoy the event and of course keep them safelj recognise that you may be slightly

circumspect about this answer, but what particular intelligence or threats has led you to take this decision, to put more resources out there on the street? well, i think that people know that we use this phrase that's cause severe, which means that an attack is highly likely, but we have no specific intelligence about this particular event. in the past there have been events weather has been no intelligence, slightly dry and do is ta ke intelligence, slightly dry and do is take reasonable steps all the time. we monitor the people we think are dangerous and we put them before a court order restrict them in some way and we address them where we can. but we can't have perfect knowledge, so our next best thing is to perfect to perfect events —— protect events that might be targets. we're usually a lot of people are gathering, of course, you had to consider that policy. we have two strike the balance between making sure that people lead a normal life

and protect them. we try to reassure people that we have seen the reports from around the world and we would be foolish for not taking risks —— for not taking precautions after that. is there an expectation or hope that we, as numbers of the public, will also be vigilant? yes, that would be helpful, of course, because if people see something, they ask what is it you want us to kill you? we they ask what is it you want us to kill you ? we wanted they ask what is it you want us to kill you? we wanted to hear there is an unusual behaviour. if there is a way that people are gathering together or something that they are trying to hate, anything you think is unusual is worth telling is about. we will have a talk with them and ofan about. we will have a talk with them and of an innocent, nothing is harmed. that is something that is worrying, that is our first warning. ina big worrying, that is our first warning. in a big trade, the best defence is a big crowd. people if they see something can go and find a police officer. they should think in a friendly and welcoming. you can find an officer and tell them what you

have seen and we will investigate further. thank you very much for talking to us. enjoy the evening and a happy new year to you. and to you, also. if you're staying up to welcome in the new year, then you'll have a bit longer to wait, as a "leap second" will be added to this year's countdown to compensate for a slowdown in the earth's rotation. the extra second will occur as clocks strike midnight, and the change is needed because standard time lags behind atomic clocks. here's our science correspondent, rebecca morelle. big ben tolls. this new year's eve, you have a tiny bit longer to enjoy the celebrations. an extra second is being added to the world's time. and it's all because of a very slight wobble in the earth's rotation. our planet speeds up and slows down as it spins. so while a single rotation equates to one day, some days end up being a tiny fraction longer or shorter than others.

and gradually the earth's time drifts out of sync with our clocks. right now, that difference has grown too large, so just before the clocks strike midnight, an extra second is being added to bring everything back into phase. it's the 27th leap second since they were introduced in the 1970s, but there have been calls to abolish them. communications networks, financial markets and computer software all rely on extremely precise timekeeping, and some say that having to reprogram an extra second puts them at risk. others warn that without leap seconds, over thousands of years, the earth's time and our clocks will grow more and more off—kilter — so much so that one day your watch might say it's midnight as the sun is starting to rise. rebecca morelle, bbc news. and now the weather.

2017 is going to bring a sea change in the fuel to the weather. things are feeling a little more when three over the next 2a hours or so. cold here is moving in from the north. showers in northern scotland and northern ireland. there could be some pace and round. the north. showers in northern scotland and northern ireland. there could be some pace and round. rain is leading the head towards midnight and moving and across parts of northern england better the wet for newcastle or manchester, for instance. it is fairly cloudy in southern england. most of it is dry and it will stay that way into midnight also. the rain is working its way into the north west. it will patients wait for the south. here's the scene at midnight, mailed and cloudy in the south, cold and clear at the further north. from the data model, we will keep the sunshine for many northern

parts of the country come with some slick and snow showers moving in, but it picks a vain for the midlands and east anglia for much of the day. eventually the cold air will clear and abusive for older student course of monday. hello. this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines: in hong kong, a spectacular firework display welcomes in the new year. as the world marks the start of the new year, security has been stepped up in major cities. in london, thousands of extra police are being deployed ahead of the celebrations. the un security council has unanimously supported the ceasefire in syria brokered by russia and turkey. it has also called for rapid access for the delivery