rigfiw-uwé - lu»: - auckland tower. pyrotechnic engineers there since 63m auckland tower. pyrotechnic engineers there since 6am local time to set this up. and here's the countdown. ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... so, some 3000 fireworks lighting up the sky in total in this display. as new zealand welcomes 2018. the auckland sky tower the focus for the new zealand display. in two hours‘ time, we've new zealand display. in two hours‘ time, we‘ve got the sydney firework display to show you. all setting the barfor display to show you. all setting the bar for these new year displays. the headlines now on bbc news — a little after 11:00. six people have been killed after a seaplane crashed into a river north of sydney —

it‘s thought four of the victims may be british. police are at the scene. we have forensic police on their way here to carry out identification. we have investigators from marine area command, who are on their way to our location. criminal gangs who claim benefits underfalse identities are to be targeted by the government using artificial intelligence. after three days of political protests — iran‘s revolutionary guards warn demonstrators they face the nation‘s "iron fist". political leaders reflect on the past twelve months in their new year‘s messages — theresa may says 2017 was a "year of progress" for the uk. jeremy corbyn says the hope of a new britain is closer than ever. thousands of rail travellers face disruption as workers from two train companies stage 24—hour strikes. and in half an hour here on bbc news, — dateline london looks ahead

to the world in 2018 — in britain, the rest of europe, the us and around the world. good morning and welcome to bbc news. we‘re getting reports that four british nationals are among six people who died when their sea plane crashed into a river in australia. the plane went down in the hawkesbury river near cowan — which is around 31 miles north of sydney. the single—engine aircraft belonged to the well—known tourism company sydney seaplanes. police say it was on a sightseeing flight ahead of new year celebrations at sydney harbour. the bodies of five passengers and the pilot have been recovered from the wreckage. unconfirmed reports

say an 11—year—old boy is among those killed. officers say they don‘t yet know why the plane went down. for reasons that are not known at this stage, the plane had hit the water, and it has subsequently sunk. it is sitting in approximately 13 metres of water. at the time of the collision, the plane had a pilot and five passengers on board. i can confirm the six people on the plane are deceased. i do not have details, or cannot confirm, the identity or ages of the people on the plane. it is early in the investigation, and we are working with the plane company, bringing investigators here to confirm the identities, and investigate why the plane crashed into the water. abc‘s nour haydar has been at the scene — earlier i asked her what is known about the crash so far.

at the moment, police have not been able to give us any details about what they have been able to ascertain from witnesses. they are urging anyone who was a witness, or anyone who may have been filming, to pass that information over to police. when asked about the identities of victims, police were not able to confirm if any were indeed foreign nationals, but investigators will arrive at the scene tomorrow morning to begin retrieving the wreckage and working out what happened and what caused the crash to happen. they have released a statement today a short while ago, saying that while the sequence of events is not fully understood, it appears that when the plane struck the water, it quickly sunk. we do know that all six passengers died. sorry, all five passengers died, and the sixth person was the pilot.

the accident happened shortly after 3pm australian time. police divers have retrieved the bodies from the wreckage. just to clarify, the crash happened as the plane was coming into land, is that correct? police have not been able to tell us the sequence of events. it seems there was no warning time. it was a fairly quick incident and initial investigations indicate that want it struck the water, it sank rapidly. we don‘t know exactly what happened before that. the plane is in a fairly bad way and remained submerged. the journey that this plane was on, is this a popular sightseeing trip? we do know that the people

on board the plane were on the same flight earlier in the day. they were in a national park, which sits along the river north of sydney. they went on the flight, had lunch, and were returning when the crash happened. what went wrong is still yet to be revealed by police. investigators will arrive there tomorrow morning to work out exactly the sequence of events that led up to this horrible tragedy. finally, although there are reports that four of the victims are british, that has been absolutely no official confirmation of that, has there? that‘s right. police literally an hour ago spoke

to abc news and said they were not able to reveal the identities of the victims, and next of kin had not yet been informed. they did not confirm that foreign nationals were on board the plane. the bodies will now be taken to a morgue in sydney‘s cbd and the identification process will kick off. when the safety bureau releases its full report, we will learn what went wrong. criminal gangs who claim benefits under a false identity are to be targeted by the government using artificial intelligence. the department for work and pensions says it will use sophisticated

computer programming to identify organised attacks. ian palmer reports. job centre plus staff identify suspicious benefit fraud in individuals but it‘s much harder to notice broad patterns of behaviour across thousands of benefit applications, an indication of organised criminal activity. 0ften, gangs making repeated applications using fake identities tend to leave traces such as using the same phrase when stating what they‘ve done to try and find work. by monitoring thousands of applications using artificial intelligence, it should be easier to detect organised benefit fraud. what we will be able to do using ai is identify some of those networks, for example, see patterns of behaviour like shared addresses or the same telephone numbers being used. they will be able to identify that more easily in a way that will enable us to stop that from happening and protect taxpayers‘ money.

the artificial intelligence software has been developed by the department for work and pensions. the idea has been put through a series of trials. the dwp says the computer programme will be slowly rolled out across the country. introducing the technology is an attempt to recoup more of the £3 billion paid by mistake or fraudulently claimed each year. the changes will affect people who claim universal credit, jobseeker‘s allowance and personal independence payments. ian palmer, bbc news. demonstrators in iran have been warned they‘ll face the nation‘s "iron fist" if the political unrest there continues. the revolutionary guards issued the ultimatum after days of protests intensified. on saturday two people were reported to have been shot dead in the city of dorud. the government blamed foreign agents for their deaths. the protests — which began over living standards and rising food prices have spread to several major cities, including tehran.

jon ironmonger reports. a crack of gunshots as panic ripples the a crowd in the western city dorud. later, a wounded man is carried through the streets. it is being reported a number of people have been killed following an escalation of violence and three days of unrest. late into the night, demonstrators attacked targets with links to the government and the ruling clerical elite. in karamabad, the governor‘s office was burned. in the northern city of a mashhad, police motorbikes were set alight while crowds taunted the security services. what started as a provincial process about rocketing prices has become deeply political and moved to the capital tehran, where offices were pelted with stones near the main university. riot police were used to quell the disturbance. this video shows a baby

being taken to hospital, apparently suffering from the effects of tear gas. it is thought the iranian authorities have reacted by cutting access to the internet in many cities, especially to mobile phones and instagram, which had become hugely popular in iran, is now said to be inaccessible. iranian officials have vowed on state tv to double their efforts to resolve the economic problems and ploughed ahead with commemorative pro—government rallies on saturday. but further protests are expected over the coming days and experts say opposing the islamic republic will be a colossal challenge. do not underestimate the repressive capability of the revolutionary guards, the resiliency of the islamic republic. this regime is well institutionalised in iran and can

deal with protest movement such as the one that we have witnessed in the past few days. iran‘s ultraconservative regime is facing its biggest threat in nearly a decade, but what lengths will it go to to survive? political leaders have been reflecting on the past 12 months in their new year‘s messages, with theresa may calling 2017 a "year of progress" for the uk. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn said the hope of a new britain is closer than ever. with more here‘s our political correspondent, emma va rdy. after a political year dominated by brexit, it‘s no surprise the subject played a key part in theresa may‘s new year‘s message. she said the government has pursued our brexit objectives with steady purpose and progress will continue in 2018 as the talks move on to trade. but not for the first time, theresa may made clear she wants to be more than madame brexit.

making success of brexit is crucial but it will not be the limit of our ambitions. we also have to carry on making a difference here and now on the issues that matter to people‘s daily lives. that means building an economy fit for the future and taking a balanced approach to government spending. so we get our debt falling but can also invest in the things that matter — our schools, our police and our precious nhs. theresa may says next year will continue the fight against all forms of extremism and she believes 2018 can be a year of renewed pride in our country. meanwhile, the tone ofjeremy corbyn‘s address was rather different. he said we are being held back by a self—serving elite and pointed to the gains labour made at the general election, saying this was a year when people said, "no more." the old political consensus is finished. we are staking out the new centre ground in british politics, backing the things that most people

want but are blocked by vested interests. we are a government in waiting while the conservatives are weak, divided and stuck in an outdated rut with no new ideas. the hope of a new britain, which runs in the interests of the many, not the few, seems closer than ever before. the new year messages brought to a close what has been politically a dramatic 12 months. 0ur political correspondent emma vardy is here. for theresa may and jeremy corbyn, they couldn‘t have imagined how the year turned out, with the snap election and it not going the way theresa may wanted with a much better result forjeremy corbyn than expected. i don't think any of ours could have imagined it. these are

pretty typical addresses from conservatives and labour in the new year. theresa may presenting the government as a stable force to steer the country towards exiting from the eu. the reality is brexit continues to divide voters. i wonder how many arguments were had over christmas about brexit. in reality, there is never going to be a smooth course for brexit. lots of battles ahead, moving stage two of the talks, talking about trade in the new year, also the withdrawal bill, going into the house of lords, lots of battles to come there. already crossed party plans to try to defeat the government there. plenty of hurdles ahead in reality. we saw the tone ofjeremy corbyn‘s address, presenting the labour party as a government in waiting. they are trying to capitalise on the

feel—good factor that came to labour supporters after the general election in which they made a lot of unexpected gains. in reality, they need to build more trust and credibility with voters on areas like the economy to really become a force. criticism directed at social media companies, just an idea but not a policy, perhaps the government could levy a tax on them if they don‘t comply or make greater efforts to help deal with the threat of terrorism in the uk. has there been any response? a new idea put forward by the security minister ben wallace. not the first time we‘ve seen tech firms hold over the coles because of extremist material on their platforms. ministers have really ramped up the pressure. google and twitter say they are

doing much more to tackle this content but ministers still say it doesn‘t go far enough. ben wallace talked in pretty strong terms to the sunday times today saying they are ruthless profiteers. in the last hour, we have had a response from google and facebook on this. they say he is wrong to say they put profit before safety especially in the fight against terrorism. they have invested millions of pounds in people and technology to remove content. they have also said that it isa content. they have also said that it is a complex problem that they are committed to being part of the solution for. it is fair to say that tech companies have stepped up their effo rts tech companies have stepped up their efforts this year using things like artificial intelligence to spot and ta ke artificial intelligence to spot and take down extremist content but there isn‘t a quick fix. not eve ryo ne there isn‘t a quick fix. not everyone agrees on what material should stay up and should be removed so we are should stay up and should be removed so we are going to continue to see

this battle between tech firms and ministers in the months to come. emma, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: police confirm that six people have been killed after a seaplane crashed into a river north of sydney. there are reports that four of the victims may be british. criminal gangs who claim benefits underfalse identities are to be targeted by the government using artificial intelligence. after three days of political protests — iran‘s revolutionary guards warn demonstrators they face the nation‘s ‘iron fist‘. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. it could be a record—breaking day for manchester city. in 45 minutes time they come up against crystal palace. victory could see them equal a record set by pep guardiola during

his time with bayern munich of 19 consecutive victories. a win will also see them go 16 points clear at the top of the premier league. always talk about the numbers and the records, that is a consequence of what we do on the pitch. i‘m not here to comment about the record because it is simple to say yes or no whether we break it or not. it isn‘t what counts. what counts is what we have to do against crystal palace to continue this amazing cycle we have. chelsea have moved up to second after a 5—0 thrashing of stoke, which piles more pressure on their manager mark hughes. antonio rudiger had given the home side a lead before a super strike from danny drinkwater, his first for chelsea, to double the lead afterjust fifteen minutes. it was an emphatic display from chelsea — davide zappacosta scored their fifth to ensure an imprssive end to 2017 for chelsea. they‘ve now won five of their last six games. liverpool came from behind

to hold onto fourth place — jamie vardy had given leicester a first half lead but liverpool‘s saviour came in the form of, who else, but mo salah as he scored after the break. his second, and his 17th league goal of the season, came fifteen minutes from time to hand liverpool an important three points. in this little guy sleeps a nice big striker. he wants to score, he‘s strong how he comes into these situations. he misses chances but he wa nts to situations. he misses chances but he wants to score all the time so that‘s good. i saw him limping afterwards, we have to check it. then we try to change as quickly as possible now. there was a winning start for new swansea manager carlos ca rvalhal — his side came from behind to beat watford 2—1. they were trailing 1—0 in the 86th minute — but scored two in quick succession. it lifts swansea off the foot of the table and carvalhal

says their belief is now stronger. the bbc understands that nottingham forest have sacked their manager mark warburton. it follows forest‘s 1—0 defeat to sunderland yesterday, forest are currently 14th in the championship table. it‘s understood director of football frank mcparland has also been sacked. gary brazil is to take over as caretaker manager while forest look to appoint a replacement. england‘s cricketers have arrived in sydney ahead of the fifth and final ashes test which begins in four days‘ time. england wicketkeeper jonny bairstow has given his backing to all—rounder moeen ali saying he remains in their best 11. moeen has only taken three wickets and averaged 19 runs with the bat this series. mesto says he has a lot to bring to the team. i think it's unquestionable to even think that he‘s not in the best 11. he wouldn‘t have played all those test matches

if he wasn‘t. not many finger spinners come to australia and bowl teams out. it‘s very important to get behind him. he can take the game away from you. meanwhile, ben stokes won‘t be flying out to australia with england‘s one day squad — as he continues to await news of any possible charges against him from the crown prosecution service following an incident outside a bristol nightclub in september. stokes was named in the squad for the games which begin after the fifth and final test match in sydney but it‘s now thought highly unlikely he will be involved in the series. dawid malan will replace stokes in the squad. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more in the next hour. thanks very much. see you in the next hour. we‘ve just had a statement from sydney seaplanes, the well—known tourist company whose plane came down north of sydney today with the loss of six lives, including reportedly for britons.

they say they are deeply shocked by the incident and the resulting loss of life. they wish to pass on condos to the family and friends of the passengers and pilot who were tragically killed. they do not know the cause of the accident and are dedicating resources to assist the police, the transport safety board, civil aviation safety authority and other relevant authorities to understand the cause of the accident. they say they have suspended all operations until further notice. they say they have been operating since 2005 and have undertaken thousands of flights in that time and until this crash have had an unblemished safety record. we heard earlier from had an unblemished safety record. we heard earlierfrom new south had an unblemished safety record. we heard earlier from new south wales police that divers had recovered the bodies of all six people who were on board that playing but no confirmation yet of the identities of those who died although it is

being reported that four on board may have been british. we‘ll bring you more on that story of course as we get it. thousands of rail travellers face disruption to theirjourneys today as workers from two train companies stage 24—hour strikes. members of the rmt union on south western railway and crosscountry are taking action in disputes involving the role of guards, and rosters and sunday working. anisa kadri is at london busiest station waterloo for us now. i know you have been checking out what it‘s like inside. what impact the strikes having? we noticed that the strikes having? we noticed that the 10.092 was cancelled. staff said that there is disruption because

members of the rmt union are striking over working conditions and rotors as well and the role of guards on trains. that is an ongoing dispute over driver only trains and whether there is a need for guards as well. south western railway which operates services to places like surrey, hampshire, berkshire from waterloo, as you say the uk‘s busiest station, there will be reduced services on most blinds and no service ensemble. three quarters of trains are expected to run and the government is calling this strike a misery for people looking to get in, perhaps for new year‘s eve fireworks tonight. the train company is calling it an unnecessary strike but the people striking believe it is the only way that people are going to listen to their concerns over safety and it is not

just here that is affected. cross—country network is also affected. they are running a reduced service between newcastle and edinburgh. no service between glasgow and aberdeen and other lines are also affected. thanks very much for that update. let‘s catch up with the weather forecast. matt taylor has the details. an amber warning remains in place for potentially disruptive gales. the strongest winds will be 70 or 80 mph. still blustery for many. cloudy outbreaks of rain and hill snow for central areas. wet in the south—east. sunny spells in between for the west. this evening, the east

will stay dry but with clearer conditions it will be a cold start than this morning. after a chilly start, lots of sunshine around. we could see wet weather pushed through the english channel into southern counties and into the afternoon showers in western scotland push into northern ireland and nor the parts —— northern parts of england. we start 2018 on a changeable note. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a seaplane has crashed into a river north of sydney, killing all six people on board. police say the aircraft was on a sightseeing flight ahead of new year celebrations at sydney harbour when it came down. there are reports that four of the victims may be british. the department for work and pensions says it plans to use artificial intelligence to detect criminal gangs claiming benefits underfalse identities. computer algorithms have been

developed to identify large—scale benefit fraud. iran‘s revolutionary guards have threatened anti—government protesters with an "iron fist" if days of political unrest continue. the warning came after protests intensified in the capital, tehran. thousands of rail travellers face disruption, as workers from crosscountry and south western rail services stage 24—hour strikes.