this is bbc news. the headlines at eight: beatles drummer ringo starr and bee gees singer barry gibb are among hundreds of people recognised in the new year honours. authorjilly cooper says she's ‘thrilled' to be listed. i was thrilled. i couldn't believe it. i mean, suddenly, to get a letter, one thinks, "oh, god, it's a bill, a gas bill or something, and there's this heavenly thing saying, "you are a cbe." it's wonderful. manchester firefighters have tackled a blaze in a 12—storey block of flats in the city's northern quarter. one person has been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. there are reports that anti—government demonstrations in iran have turned violent on a number of towns and cities after three days of towns and cities after three days of protests. millennials will benefit from the biggest "inheritance boom" of any post—war generation, according to a new report. and what a fantastic sporting year we've had. join us as we recaptured

all the major sporting stories in half an hour. good evening and welcome to bbc news. two of the most famous names in music — ringo starr of the beatles and barry gibb of the bee gees — are among those awarded knighthoods in the new year honours list. the former deputy prime minister nick clegg also receives a knighthood, and darcey bussell, the accomplished ballerina and judge on strictly come dancing has been made a dame. they're among 11 hundred people named in the new year honours list many of whom have been rewarded for their work in the community. lizo mzimba, reports. # twist and shout...#

more than 50 years after beatlemania, the fab four‘s drummer has been honoured with a knighthood... brian former bee gee barry gibb said he was humbled and very proud to be made sir barry. # with no—one to love you, you're going nowhere. strictlyjudge darcey bussell, who has occasionally performed on the programme too, is to be made a dame for services to dance. and best—selling riders authorjilly cooper. absolutely knocked out. knocked out — i was thrilled. i couldn't believe it. i mean, suddenly to get a letter, you know, and one thinks "0h, god, it's a bill, a gas bill or something". and it's this heavenly thing, saying "you're a cbe". it's wonderful. # i've got to run away...# singer and campaigner marc almond is made an obe for services to arts and culture. commentator: pass to warburton. brilliant catch by the captain! in the world of sport, sam warburton, who has captained wales and the british and irish lions, is made an obe. most of those being honoured

are ordinary people doing extraordinary work, like efe ezekiel, who acts as a mentorfor young people. of course, young people are everything to me. i'm passionate about them and passionate their life, their well—being and their welfare, so for me to be recognised for my passion is one of the greatest honours ever, and in 2018, the honours committee say they will be looking to particularly recognise individuals who were involved in the response to, and the aftermath of, the london and manchester terror attacks, and the fire at grenfell tower. lizo mzimba, bbc news, buckingham palace. i'm pleased to say i'm joined now by paralympian athlete stefanie reid, who has been made an mbe in the new year's honours. congratulations. how does it feel?

my congratulations. how does it feel? my cheeks are hurting because i have been smiling. it's quite overwhelming, just listening to the response of other people, even, it feels really good. how on earth did you keep it quiet? you find out some weeks before, don't you? yeah, i got the letter in the mail a few weeks ago, and it was my husband who opened it. iwas ago, and it was my husband who opened it. i was in the kitchen, washing dishes, and he said, i think they've given you an mbe. and i was like, don't be ridiculous. what might you have nowjoined a list of some phenomenal names from paralympian sport to be on that list. how does that feel and how important do you think this is for the sport itself? i think it shows

how seriously the british public ta ke how seriously the british public take their sport. it feels really good. you're right, i am joining a phenomenal list of athletes. one of the first people to text me was hannah cockroft, to say congratulations, and i think more than anything, it makes me really proud to be from a country that is so proud to be from a country that is so support of a paralympic sport.|j was reading your story of the boating accident, and as part of your recovery, you said you kind of fell in love with sport because you enjoyed the idea that it pushed your body to the limits. and continuously, you talk about being challenged. what will be the next step, now that you have this honour? gosh, it's a tough one. this year was already such an incredible year. and to find out about the mbe, every yeari and to find out about the mbe, every year i try to do something that

pushes me out of my comfort zone, and this year i made my debut as an actor in a short film called the energy within, which was a huge challenge. i will have to come up with something big! the list keeps growing, but for a lot of people who wait for these lists to come out every year, they then say, then what? what do you then do with that honour? what would you like to translate that honour into?|j honour? what would you like to translate that honour into? i think it's an incredible thing to be recognised, but i found more than anything what it's done is it has really motivated me. i want to do more, because i feel like sport has given me so much in terms of opportunities and the people i have met, and the way have been encouraged and invested in as a person and as an athlete, and you know, it's so encouraging and motivating. i just want to give

everything back to the sport is that i've been given and more. huge congratulations again. good luck with the onward you. chris, it wasn't just incredible with the onward you. chris, it wasn'tjust incredible athletes like that and mr wasn'tjust incredible athletes like thatand mrand wasn'tjust incredible athletes like that and mr and mrs smith down the road that made the list, there were also politicians. not everybody is happy with this. give us the breakdown. guaranteed that every time we get the honours list, politicians are likely to feature prominently, and people will grumble about it. there will be others who have received all these gongs who will have hurting cheeks like steph. let's have a look at some of the names. chairman of the 1922 committee, graham brady. probably the most —— one of the most powerful people in politics that you might not have heard of. she leads this

pivotal group of conservative mps who can decide who the leader is. also on the list, geoffrey clifton brown, who gets a knighthood. vice chair cheryl gillan has been made a dame. this committee, as i say, really important for the tory party in crucial in any future leadership party. labour mps, mark hendrick, lindsay hoyle, nick clegg, the former lib dem leader. he becomes sir nick clegg. the inevitable criticism, the snp say that it demeans the system. labour say that it is honours for cronies. the honours committees are independent. these are not gongs given up by the prime minister. the prime minister sets out the broad terms of what direction she hopes the gongs will go in. aqua look at some of the

numbers, there were more politicians in receipt of a knighthood or dame hood this year than last. in the queen's birthday honours injune, there were no politicians on the list because the whole thing was cobbled together during the general election campaign, so you can't sprinkle honours around when there is doorknocking to be done. politicians make up fewer than 2% of those who got a gong. we will leave it there, chris. with all your numbers! we will find out how this story and many others are being covered in tomorrow's front pages. i do hope that you willjoin me at the blood and 30 pm and 10:30pm this evening. our guestsjoining me tonight are henry mance, political correspondent at the financial times, and deborah haynes, defence editor at the times. in iran, thousands of people are rallying in support of the government after street

protests against the authorities entered their third day. despite repeated warnings from the authorities, according to videos posted on social media that had been verified by the bbc, at least two people in a western town had been shot and seriously injured. another video shows demonstrators torching a police motorbike. and in a town in the north, protesters have burned a large banner with a picture of iran's supreme leader. the third day of protests in iran. what began in small provincial cities, now spreading to the capital tehran and the main university campus. these are worrying signs for the iranian government and the ultraconservative shia clerics who have ruled over the country since the 1979 revolution. shouting for the clerics to give him a job, this protester typifies the economic anger felt by many

iranians. they accuse the mullahs of living in gilded palaces and sponsoring conflicts overseas, while the economy and the country suffers. but dissent in iran is only tolerated to a point. uniformed and plain—clothes police clashed with protesters and made dozens of arrests in several cities. i don't expect the protest to snowball as of now because the regime has a response in place. and if the protesters don't stop, ultimately the reaction will become heavy—handed. we're just not there yet. in a response on twitter president trump warned iran that the world was watching, saying that tehran should respect people's rights to express themselves. comments that the iranian foreign minister called opportunistic and deceitful. the government has warned people not to take part in what it

calls illegal protests. organising instead large, pro—regime counterdemonstrations, in support of the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei. an end to clerical rule has been a common theme in these protests, some of which are now turning violent. wyre davies, bbc news. joining me now from prague is golnaz esfandiari, senior correspondent at radio free europe and radio liberty, a us government—funded broadcasting organisation who report the news in 23 countries where a free press is either banned by the government or not fully established. thank you forjoining us. thanks for having me. looking at these protests, do you think there is the potential that they could reach the scale of the 2009 pro—democracy

green movement protests that we saw? it's hard to say. these protests we re it's hard to say. these protests were unexpected, and they have been spreading very quickly. we have seen the third day of protest in iran, and they have spread to major cities. today, they were protesting in tehran at the university and were clashes. we will have to wait and see how the goverment will respond to this. we will see of the measures are repressive 01’ to this. we will see of the measures are repressive or if they will allow the protests. based on past behaviour, i think they will do whatever they can to make it stop, because this makes the iranians establishment look really bad. what exactly a re establishment look really bad. what exactly are they protesting about‘s asi exactly are they protesting about‘s as i understand it, this started with hardliners and it has morphed

into anti—regime, anti—corruption protests. of course, we saw the pro—government protests today. take us pro—government protests today. take us through what the grievances are. yes they started in one town, and we have received reports that hardliners who are against the president organised that protest, but it seems that it got out of control. it started with chance targeting rohani, and that people we re targeting rohani, and that people were protesting about the economy, the high living costs. if you look at the chance now, they are very much political, and they are targeting the supreme leader and the establishment, saying they use islam as an excuse and make people miserable. they are calling for the return of the shah in some of the

protests. they a re return of the shah in some of the protests. they are targeting the clerical establishment. there has been a lot of frustration and anger among iranianss. we saw protests in 2009, millions of iranianss. i think their frustration was not addressed. people are still unhappy, and now they have a chance and they are taking to the streets again and protesting. what sort of reaction has there been to comments made by donald trump, one of the tweets saying that people were fed up with the regime's corruption and the sponsorship of terrorism abroad. they should respect the right to freedom of speech and the world is watching? what do people make of

comments like that? some people are saying that these comments are hypocritical, that donald trump has tried to ban iranians from trying to visit the us, so he cannot be someone who is defending the rights of iranians. we have also seen a few iranians who were happy that donald trump took a different line and expressed support for the protesters on the street. i think most people, it didn't go down well. thank you very much for your time. thank you. nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including mount everest. a tourism official said the law had been revised to make mountaineering safer and to decrease deaths. the new regulations also prohibit double amputee and blind climbers from attempting to reach the summit of the world's highest peak without a valid medical certificate. kenton cool is one of the world's leading high altitude climbers, and has tackled everest 12 times.

thank you forjoining us. what did you think when you heard this from the nepalese government? initially shocked. i can't really understand the reason behind it. by blanket banning solo climbers, it's not going to make climbing on any mountain particularly safer than climbing within a team. if you look backin climbing within a team. if you look back in history, some of the most amazing mountaineering firsts are by super experienced climbers climbing solo. to blanket ban solo climbing just

seems rather absurd to me. i don't really understand the objectives behind it, either. i don't personally see how it is going to make climbing any safer, especially ona mountain make climbing any safer, especially on a mountain where very few people climb so low over the season. how many people do attempt to climb in nepal as a solo climber? very few. certainly on everest. commercially, everest will see less than 1%, if that. almost everyone willjoin a tea m that. almost everyone willjoin a team of the part of a team when they come to mount everest. away from mount everest, there will be a few climbers, but generally those who climbers, but generally those who climb solo are extremely experienced. to ban such experienced climbers and then happily let inexperienced climbers climb in those mountains just seems inexperienced climbers climb in those mountainsjust seems back inexperienced climbers climb in those mountains just seems back to front to me. so, how do you think

the nepalese goverment should be approaching their attempt to reduce the deaths and accidents that take place on the slopes? i think what they are looking at more in general is everest. it is the mountain that once 01’ is everest. it is the mountain that once or twice a year gets huge media coverage, all eyes are on it, especially after the disasters of 2014 and 2015, where there was a huge loss of life in earthquakes and ice collapse. maybe 500 people will try to climb everest on the nepalese side alone, and within that mix of people, there are always people who are very inexperienced. on average, i think there are four of five deaths. i think what the nepalese government are trying to do, they are trying to reduce the number of

deaths on mount everest. the media all look at everest, and it's not good for tourism. they are trying to bounce back the tourist numbers after 2015, and that is really important to them. get bad coverage on everest, then it will have a bad impact on the tourism industry. however, banning solo climbers isn't going to hell, i don't believe, the numbers of deaths that we see at all. and asking for a doctor's covering note for double amputees and blind people, honestly, ijust think that is ludicrous, really. it isa think that is ludicrous, really. it is a stepping stone that people will easily sidestepped if they are focused on climbing in nepal. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: performers, writers, politicians and

local activists are among hundreds of people recognised in the new year is honours list. firefighters have been tackling a blaze in a 12 story block of flats in manchester city centre. the blaze spread to several levels of the building before being brought under control. videos posted on social media appear to show that anti—government protesters in iran have clashed with police in a number of towns and cities. sport now, and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's hugh. good evening. mo salah scored both of liverpool's girls as they came from behind to beat leicester 2—1 at anfield. virgilvan dijk

was watching from the stands after his £75 million transfer from southampton made him the world's most expensive defender. he witnessed some shambolic liverpool defending as jamie vardy gave leicester a very early lead, but mohammed salah scored twice in the second half to secure the win. romelu lukaku was stretchered off with a head injury at old trafford as his manchester united team mates were held to a goalless draw with southampton. jose mourinho confirmed that zlatan ibrahimovic will be out through injury. a third successive premier league draw forjose mourinho's men saw them slip to fourth in the table 14 points behind leaders manchester city, who have a game in hand. mourinho was disappointed referee craig pawson didn't give his side a penalty for what he felt was a deliberate handball by maya yoshida. we played enough to score goals, of course we missed easy chances. but i'm really unhappy with the penalty. not with craig's performance overall

but with the penalty. chelsea moved up to second in the table with a comfortable 5—0 win over stoke city at stamford bridge. defender antonio rudiger got the opener afterjust three minutes before danny drinkwater and pedro put chelsea three up afterjust 23 minutes. stoke stay two points above the relegation zone. swa nsea swansea are off the bottom of the table. the new manager has a winning start to his newjob as swansea boss. celtic go into the new year eight points clear at the top of the scottish premiership. it was goalless in the old firm match at celtic park. rangers stay third, 11 points behind celtic. no goals either between second—place aberdeen and fifth—place hearts. hibs and kilmarnock also drew. elsewhere, there were wins for hamilton, partick and dundee. four matches in rugby union's

aviva premiership today. the top two exeter and wasps weren't playing, and that's seen saracens move up to second after a bonus point win over worcester. there were also wins for gloucester and newcastle, while harlequins hammered northampton at twickenham. in the pro 14 the match between glasgow and edinburgh was suspended was suspended for half an hour because of a security alert. it re—started at 4.30 and glasgow ran out 17—nil winners earlier treviso won at zebre. england's cricketers have avoided a whitewash. but victory was beyond them in melbourne. they had a chance of victory but it was snuffed out by another century from steve smith, the adrenaline captain. on a day in which england would have hoped to com plete which england would have hoped to complete a dramatic and exciting first victory of this series ended ina first victory of this series ended in a somewhat anti—climactic drawl. the reason, the familiar obstacle of steve smith, the australian captain,

who scored his third century in this series. he has scored more than 600 i’u ns series. he has scored more than 600 runs in the series. he batted australia through to see out a draw. england had a glimmer of hope when david warner tried to slotjoe roofs david warner tried to slotjoe root‘s bowling. england got rid of shaun marsh before lunch thanks to a good catch from jonny bairstow, and had real hope of getting into the australian lower order. smith batted alongside mitchell marsh to see australia through the rest of the day. the scoring was very slow, the pitch lifeless and the atmosphere drained out of the stadium. there won't be a 5—0 ashes win for australia as two of the previous three england trips have seen here, but england didn't get that morale boosting win, either. we now get to syd ney to boosting win, either. we now get to sydney to see if england can pick up their first victory of the series, and we will all hope it is a little more exciting than this one. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more for you on bbc news

throughout the evening. firefighters have been tackling a major blaze in a tower block in manchester's northern quarter. the fire spread to multiple floors of the 12—storey building onjoiner street. police closed part of the road, and manchester fire and rescue service is asking people to avoid the area, and to keep their doors and windows shut if they are nearby. our correspondent mark edwardson sent us this report from the scene. this is church street in manchester. it's at the southern edge of what is called the northern quarter, an up—and—coming part of manchester city centre. the fire broke out this afternoon. firefighters were called afternoon. firefighters were called after people reported flames licking out of the building from the windows there. the first thing we knew was when ourfriends, there. the first thing we knew was when our friends, who live on the second floor of the building, phoned us second floor of the building, phoned us from the netherlands to ask if we

had seen the news because they're building was on fire. we are looking after their cats for them, feeding them morning and night, and they we re very them morning and night, and they were very distressed about what is happening, so we said we would come down and try to find out what is happening. say a down and try to find out what is happening. saya man —— down and try to find out what is happening. say a man -- it looked like things were on fire outside the building. quite scary. if you are stuck inside the building and saw the fire spreading outside, it's not good. we know that one person has been taken to hospital suffering the effects of smoke inhalation. the fire and rescue service told us it is too early to speculate about the cause of the blaze, but they have confirmed that an investigation is already underway. lets get the weather with chris.

storm dylan is already on its way to the british isles, bringing strong winds. relatively mild air across parts of england and wales with temperatures in double figures, but further north, cold enough for snow in the mountains of northern scotland. then it is the wind that will really take centre stage. the met office have already issued an amber weather warning, be prepared for strong winds. gusts could reach 80 mph. those winds will be because first thing in the morning, across northern ireland, then working its way east into scotland. winds this strong could blow down trees and could bring power cuts and disrupt transport. the rain will clear away from the east and we will be left with a mixture of sunshine and showers, some of them heavy. cold in

the north, relatively mild in the south. this is bbc news — our latest headlines... beatles drummer ringo starr and bee gees singer barry gibb receive knighthoods while strictlyjudge darcey bussell is made a dame in the new year honours. firefighters in manchester say a blaze at a block of flats in the city centre is under control. crews and up to a dozen fire engines tackled the fire in the city's northern quarter. one person has been taken to hospital. anti—government demonstrations in iran have turned violent in a number of towns and cities across the country after three days of protests, despite warnings from the authorities. millennials will benefit from the biggest "inheritance boom" of any post—war generation, but it will be too late to solve wealth inequality, according to a new report. now on bbc news... it's been another memorable year

in sport, from the world athletics championships and lions tour of new zealand to anthonyjoshua's rise to the top of world boxing. alex gulrajani and jessica creighton take us on a trip through the year's sporting highlights in review 2017: the year in sport. hello, and welcome along to a look back at what has been another fantastic year in sport. yes, from the women's cricket world cup to the british and irish lions tour of new zealand and everything else in between. we'll have it all over the next half an hour. some huge nights across the world, and plenty of them in this stadium behind us. the world athletics and para athletics championships came to london this summer. the quickest, the strongest, the best in the business.