anti—government protesters have taken to the streets across iran, in the country's most serious show of dissent for years. thousands demanded an end to corruption, rising prices, and the release of political prisoners. authorities have warned that the demonstrators will be firmly dealt with. new york's fire department says a fire which killed 12 people was caused by a toddler playing with burners on a stove. investigators say the kitchen door was then left open, allowing the blaze to spread. four people remain critically injured in hospital. the beatles‘ drummer, ringo starr, has been knighted in the new year's honours, together with the surviving member of the bee gees, barry gibb. the renowned former ballerina, darcey bussell, becomes a dame. more than a thousand people receive an award — most recognised for work in their communities. now on bbc news, anne marie tasker and kofi smiles look back at the highlights of hull 2017 and find out what impact this

year—long festival of arts and culture has had on the city. hello and welcome to hull, britain's city of culture as we review 12 months of cracking events. that's right, it's been an absolutely phenomenal year. we have so much to look back on. across four seasons, hull took art out of galleries and theatres and into the streets. 365 days of events changed the way the city has been seen by the rest of the world. the year has gone by so quick, i cannot believe it's almost over,

and i hope these guys get to stay. this is the latest installation for 2017 called where do we go from here. these robot arms brought out of retirement to do some dancing here in the city of culture. and it sort of mirrors the start of the year back injanuary when the whole of the city centre was filled with lights and sounds. that was amazing. that was how we started this season, made in hull. crowd: eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. 2017 really did start with a bang. with 3.5 tonnes of fireworks. and made in hull, a spectacular

light show telling the story of the city and its people. what do you think to this unbelievable display? i thought it was amazing. absolutely fabulous. i've got family in canada and they're watching it live now. i'm from london and i think if this was in london... i can't explain, the reaction you get is absolutely fantastic. it's amazing. fantastic, i thought it was really very moving, very emotional. i am from brazil and i spent two new years in copacabana and it's the same quality here. it's amazing. i am so proud of hull. it's absolutely amazing. i think it will launch a really positive year. at the centrepiece of a season called made in hull, something that was. a huge wind turbine blade, handmade at the city's siemens factory. an incredible 75 metres long, and to put that into some

perspective, i am about six foot so i would fit along this 41 times. that's a lot of kofi. getting it in was a big job. 50 lamp posts, traffic lights and barriers were taken down for its four hourjourney from factory to city centre. and it drew in the crowds — one in five people who came to see it were from outside hull and east yorkshire. caroline quentin and mark addy starred in the world premiere of the hypocrite. i've spent the last two days running round inside a cardboard box which represents a commode, for reasons too complicated to go into. the play was by award winning hull—born writer richard bean and told the story of hull's role in the start of the english civil war.

shutting the city's gate on the king. who will make the first advance? i'm really looking forward to the people of hull seeing this play. there's so much great stuff in it. some of the jokes, they are so deeply entrenched in the culture here, they are going to love it. upon your conscience! the show had the theatre's biggest cast, biggest set and spectacular special effects, and it won a new audience, one third of them who had never been to this theatre before. february brought another world premiere. 6000 pipes, written by britain's most popular living composer, sir karljenkins. # there's a starman waiting in the sky...# weeks later the orchestra made way for one of david bowie's old bandmates, the spiderfrom mars,

woody woodmansey. the last surviving member of the band from hull performed the rise and fall of ziggy stardust album live and in full for the first time ever. it is somewhere that bowie wanted to play himself. he knew we were from here. so to come back now, to hull the city of culture is amazing. made in hull also celebrated pioneering women of the city of culture. from the world's first woman conductor to the first women's world boxing champion barbara buttrick. i think all this talk about girls not boxing is old—fashioned. girls aren't the delicate flowers they used to be and anyhow my boyfriend doesn't mind. art's original bad girl from her performance art collective and one of hull's most famous daughters, maureen lipman, on inspiring the next generation.

if there's one kid out there watching, who thinks, "god, if that white—haired woman with spectacles can be on telly, so can i." and even if you are not famous and from hull you could pretend to be, as photography show hollywood icons let people take on the favourite film roles. and there were other ways to get involved, people choosing coloured filters for their flats as part of this community project, called i wish to communicate with you. i think is brilliant, it makes you feel good that you are part of the city of culture. by march, nine out of ten people in hull had been to a city of culture event and with 60 community projects in 2017, many were even taking part. that was one of the community projects put together by people from hull for people from hull. really a great way to get everyone involved.

the woman who masterminded it is sharon darley. sharon, before 2017 some people might have thought art is not for me, is just for the cultural elite. has this project changed that? yes! in what ways, what have you seen? the whole year has changed that, the project we were involved with definitely helped oil the wheels. what changes have you seen, just explain to people who don't know hull, the problems in the estate where you started that work. lots of the usual inner—city challenges, lack of employment, lack of prospects. lack of aspiration sometimes. although i like to say that i work with a really creative, innovative, funny community. do you think 2017 has drawn that out? i think so, and it doesn't take a lot. how can you keep these things going, for the people who might not have the time or the money to go to theatre or the art gallery? i'm going to say the l word, legacy.

this year is a beautiful launch pad. it is now up to us to keep it going and going and make it, if it is around for a long time, the more chance you've got of seeing stuff. sharon, thank you so much. and there were so many more community events stretching into season two called roots and routes. my favourite was seeing katy perry at big weekend, she was for me one of the highlights of season two. (cheering and applause). let's go, hull! season two looked to hull's place in the world. and you don't get much more global than katy perry. dozens of stellar pop acts came

to burton constable near hull for radio 1's big weekend. in a festival environmentjust outside of hull is crazy. it is so cool. to have this on your doorstep. we keep running into people we know. it is like all the city in a big place. it's great. just from the crowd you can always tell what type of energy is out there, and it sounds like people really appreciate the music, it seems like a real freedom here. music should be somewhere where people can come together no matter what background you are from. we need music to connect and i don't think that should ever be something people are afraid to come together for. we saw stormzy earlier. are you a grime fan?

i'm interested in the grime scene, and he's one of the best. i saw little mi earlier, they are trained, they are in the dressing room next to mine and theirvocalwarm—ups were quite impressive. i don't think i can nail that. i'm going to stay at the french level, below that. but that was not the only festival in town. north atlantic flux celebrated hull's historic ties to scandinavia and was created by the musician john grant. hull is a place that has been on my radarfor some time, several of the artists i admire have connections to hull. i think you will see what hull has to offer and also things from the north atlantic, it is quite scandinavian.

another event with sound at its heart, height of the reeds was a sonicjourney across the iconic humber bridge. the swan extend their necks backwards to see god. then the magnetism of the blue space. listening through headphones they are hearing a piece of work which combines poetry with the sound of the bridge as it creaks and sways in the wind. 0pera north's chorus and orchestra married with sound recordings of the bridge itself. look up! and a hull schoolgirl who guided the audience. it will be weird hearing myself, but it will be pretty cool. australian company circa brought circus, dance and sound to a hull graveyard. a horse, horse, my kingdom for a horse! and more world—class theatre with matt fraser

in shakespeare's richard iii. i'm a deformed actor playing a deformed characterfor the first time in britain, which is extraordinary that it should be the first but exciting that i get to do it. thousands came to see the weeping window poppies on tour from the tower of london. and revealed in more ways than one, more than 3000 people from around the world who took part in sea of hull. in april they saw the final artwork by specer tunick unveiled in the gallery. i'm about there. you have only one life, just live it. i don't care if anyone sees me or not. # i've got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire #.

big weekend was a highlight of season two, the perfect warm up for a season of festivals in the city of culture. we are now halfway through the year and it is clear that hull is getting pretty good at putting on unexpected, innovative and exciting events like this installation, and that that is changing perceptions of the city. it was not that long ago when hull was voted britain's crappest town, but if you look in the papers today you will see that is no longer the case. and with a summer packed full of events to come things got better and better. one, two, three! # what are you thinking? summer was a season of festivals.

more than 100 local bands at the humber street sesh. we are sitting on an amazing wealth of talent in this region and i think it is about time the rest of the country was aware of it. the tenth annual freedom festival, with a lecture from former un secretary—general kofi annan. art and culture is very much part of life. it brings people together. they may not understand what the artist is saying, but they stop and look at it and question something within themselves. the city's first ever children's literature festival, the big malarkey. they all live at number 41 fairfield road, and their next—door neighbour is mr nigel mcnumpty, who is a grizzly bear. and hull was even on show

at the world's largest arts festival, the edinburgh fringe. we are here representing hull, which is the uk city of culture this year. the proms came here outside london for the first time in more than 80 years. and hull hosted the first ever uk pride parade, marking 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. we're bust to bust. yes, bust to bust, yeah, after all these years. cheering and applause. as part of lgbt 50, radio 2 to brought the i feel love concert to town. today, i feel really reflective and i feel i kind of stand on the shoulders of great people who have done — you know, like, marc almond's here. i mean, that'sjust like, he's an amazing artist an amazing advocate for lgbt people. alison moyer, amazing. so it's just why would i not say no to be in the company

of those people? hello from hull, the 2017 city of culture. hull took over the airwaves again in september with contains strong language, a festival celebrating poetry and spoken word. what is exciting is to see the hull acts and the hull language taking its place on this global stage. here, domes and statues. spires and cranes cluster. you mentioned before about philip larkin and andrew marvell. yeah. reading both of them today, who is hull's best? 0h. do you know, i never compare — i never compare lovers, i never compare poets. i mean, i never compare music. it'sjust different. i'm glad we don't have oscars for poets — i mean, it's ridiculous enough for actors. then there was the weird and wonderful — bill bailey invented tales about strange items in his cabinet of curiosities at hull's maritime museum. do you think you are the first

comedian to have curated a museum exhibition? i don't know. i'm gonna say yes. it certainly seems like new ground, doesn't it? i've decided! in the spirit of this exhibition, yes, i, bill bailey, bill of bailey, am the first comedian to curate an exhibition of this kind anywhere in the world. and an immersive experience like no other, from high—tech shopping, being captured by the police of 1980 south korea, in a performance called one day maybe. if i don't make it out, tell my mum, dad, sisters, brothers that you can't touch my stuff. oh, what? did you see that? he knows i'm watching! and one of the season's highlights, a special gala performance by the world—famous royal ballet. its principalsjoined a handful of top ballet dancers who had all taken their first lessons at skelton hooper school of dance in hull. so many wanted tickets, 5,000 people watched on screens

in a nearby park. the gala showing off the great dancers who started theirjourney to the top in the city of culture. applause. well, you may have noticed in there some of the army of 2,500 turquoise—coated volunteers who are working for city of culture. and joining us is — this is special, we have three generations of volunteers, leanne, sheila, and karen. now, how many hours of volunteering have you put in this year between you? we've put injust under 1,300 hours of volunteering. 1,300? between the three of you? between the three of us. incredible.

and what have been your highlights? mine was one day maybe, which i absolutely adored. it was a long shift but certainly worth the effort. one of mine was the gay parade. i really enjoyed that. gay pride? yeah. i was lucky enough to be in flood. i was on one of the floating platforms. 0h, brilliant! that was fantastic. we will be seeing some of that later in the programme. and you'll be sticking at it next year as well? yes, definitely. and longer to come, yeah. yeah, we have really enjoyed it, everybody. we're just like one big family. thank you so much for coming down. we are getting to the end of our review. season four is called tell the world. the final season of 2017 and the world premieres kept coming. maxine pea ke's play, the last testament of lillian bilocca, told the story of four hull women who fought the government for better fisherman safety, and won. the winner of this year's

turner prize is lubaina himid. this year's turner prize was awarded in hull to lubaina himid, the oldest winner in its history and the first black woman to win the prize. thank you, panel. first of all, to the people who stopped me in the streets of preston and hull to wish me luck, thank you, it worked. the show at the ferens art gallery featuring the four short—listed artists has drawn huge crowds — more than double the average it usually gets in london — and already, the most second—visited turner prize show ever. another treat for visual art lovers was hull, portrait of a city. every shot taken by world renowned photographers martin parr and olivia arthur in the city of culture. there you go.

brilliant. but the contemporary art was not confined to galleries — it took over the city streets with huge installations like flow and a hall for hull. and mythical mystical beasts roamed the streets for the land of green ginger unleashed parade — the finale of a year of events that of the artistic spectacle out to the city's communities. it was fantastic! well worth the wait, and i want to see it again! oh, it was so good! i didn't know what to expect. i didn't know it would be like that, though. it was kind of scary when the people came up to you. it's what we've needed, it's what the city's wanted, and it just shows with the amount of people who are here that we all wanted it, you know? long may it continue. art even found its way into hospital. the footprint of every baby born in hull has been taken during 2017,

and along with the midwife's hand print, they've made a huge mural reflecting every new life in the city of culture. it's lovely that he was born in 2017, and the little footprints are a great idea. i think they will be a gorgeous little tribute to him and a lovely tribute to all the staff as well. on october 1, all of hull's cream phone boxes rang and the public took calls from the future. the live experience was part of we made 0urselves over 2097 and ran alongside five short sci—fi films and an interactive app. and another glimpse of a possible future came from theatre company slung low with a year—long performance called flood. tell me how i can save them, save the world! the dystopic story imagined europe flooded and its citizens as refugees.

told online, on tv, and in a series of live performances in one of hull's old docks, its ambition reflected that of hull's whole year as city of culture. that was some of the fantastic moments from season four‘s tell the world. and the man who made 2017 happen is its director, martin green. when you moved to hull three years ago, martin, did you ever imagine that 2017 would be as successful as it has been? never in a million years is the truthful answer. i don't think anyone would have that kind of ego. it has been the most extraordinary year in the life of this great city. how would you sum up the changes that you've seen over that time? i think what we have seen here again is how art is the life force of a city and quite apart from the many events and exhibitions and performances, what you have seen is a re—finding of a city's voice, a re—finding of its pride, and the rediscovery of a city by many people who aren't

from this city as well. martin, will leave soon and hand over the reins to new management. what is the one thing that you would like to see carried on as legacy from this year? i think it's that ambition. i think what we've done here this year is the unexpected, you know, really interesting cultural experiences. and i think this city has a great ambition to be different, and if hull can continue to be a city of the extraordinary, then that would be one of the many legacies that will come from this year. thank you so much, martin. and that's it for our review of 2017. this year has been incredible. can you believe that there's been at least one event every single day? and we have been to most of them! and if you want to take a look back, you can go to our website. it's just bbc.co.uk/hull2017. and there's been so much going on, here are a few bits that we haven't managed to squeeze in. bye— bye. see ya! if you've not heard of fuzzfeed, where the hell have you been? all: where have you been? if you like your coffee hot,

let me be your coffee pot! robot: i am a loose cannon. king ata king at a risk of icy stretches, but south, a mild start the day with temperatures well up into the double figures, first thing. through the rest of saturday, most starting on a great note. 0utbrea ks rest of saturday, most starting on a great note. 0utbreaks moving from northern ireland into scotland bumping into that called eric and. willacy a spell of further cold in scotland. 200 metres elevation and some sleet possible. most essential areas we will have the best of any afternoon or sunny spells. range of too far from the south and blustery showers from the north. for music, storm dylan could ring severe gales for the northern half of the uk and along with that there will be rain easing to blustery showers and some sunny spells in between and temperatures around about six or seven degrees in the north, mild further south and keeping those showers as the run—up to the celebrations at midnight. welcome to bbc news,

broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: iran's anti—government protests spread. thousands across the country demand an end to corruption, rising prices, and the release of political prisoners. a toddler playing with a stove is thought to have caused new york's worst fire for decades. 12 people died in the blaze in the bronx. funerals in egypt for nine people killed in attacks on coptic christians. so—called islamic state have claimed responsibility. peace and love! and arise, sir ringo. the beatles' drummer, ringo starr, receives a knighthood in the british new year honours list. so, too, does bee gee barry gibb. dancer darcey bussell becomes a dame.