this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: london sees in the new year in style. thirty tonnes of fireworks light up the sky above the river thames. spectacular celebrations sweep the globe. dubai stages a record breaking laser show at the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa. after four days of unrest, iran's president defends people's right to protest. but he warns violence and vandalism won't be tolerated. and a huge fire in liverpool forces part of the city centre to be evacuated. no—one‘s been injured, but hundreds of cars are destroyed. hello and welcome to bbc news.

london is one of the latest european capitals to welcome in the new year, with 100,000 people gathered in the city to watch the firework displays. it follows exuberant celebrations elsewhere in europe, you are looking at pictures of the river thames, you can see fireworks exploding over the london eye. some 10,000 fireworks lighting up the sky ina12 10,000 fireworks lighting up the sky in a 12 minute display. and here we can see paris and the arc de triomphe welcoming 2018. hundreds of thousands lined the shops the lycee at the arc de triomphe, nearly 140,000 police and armed soldiers

have been deployed nationwide, security obviously very tight. let's go to berlin, you can see the brandenburg gate eliminated for their fireworks, brandenburg gate eliminated for theirfireworks, thousands brandenburg gate eliminated for their fireworks, thousands of people watching. —— eliminated. —— illuminated. and now we are in athens, fireworks their lighting up the sky. just over two hours ago, the fireworks over greece's most famous monument, the acropolis. 2018 coming in varying greece. —— coming in they are in this topic now let's look at the celebrations around the world. the iconic sound of big ben strikes

midnight in london. the party begins with 10,000 fireworks along the river thames. 0ne with 10,000 fireworks along the river thames. one hour earlier, the skies above berlin's brandenburg gate were lit up in every colour. the cat out in paris was watched by thousands at the arc de triomphe, as the night sky was dazzled. perhaps one of the most dazzling displays didn't involve fireworks. in dubai had a whip up the world ‘s tallest building with lasers. burch khalifa becoming a shimmering canvas, visible almost 100 kilometres away. hong kong ushered in 2018 in the style, victoria harbour was transformed into sparkling splendour. auckland was the first major city to see in the new year,

with it sky tower lit up. five, four, three, two, one. followed by sydney, were 1.5 million people lined the harbour front to see in 2018. we will follow many more new celebrations as they happen in the coming hours. the president of iran, hassan rouhani, has appealed for calm, saying people have the right to protest, but not to commit acts of violence. in his first public comments since demonstrations against the government began on thursday, mr rouhani warned that violence and public disorder would not be tolerated. protests have now spread to many cities; and in tehran, police have used water cannon. here's kasra naji of the bbc persian service. central tehran during the fourth day of anti—government protest. these

protesters are shouting death to the dictator, a reference to iran's supreme dictator, a reference to iran's supreme leader. the protest are the most serious challenge to the iranians clerical regime for many yea rs. as iranians clerical regime for many years. as the night fell, there were reports of demonstrations from at least a dozen or so cities up and down the country. president hassan rouhani has finally made a comment on the unrest days after they had started, the first top uranium leader to goose as. —— to do so. translation: protest within a illegal framework is free, but u nrest illegal framework is free, but unrest is not an atmosphere which people will tolerate. the wave of demonstrations throughout the country demonstrations throughout the cou ntry started demonstrations throughout the country started on thursday in the north—east, with what was supposed to bea north—east, with what was supposed to be a small protest sponsored by the hardliners to criticise the

economic policies of government president hassan rouhani. something that quickly got out of control. earlier in the day, the government move to limit the internet and popular social media apps. but in spite of these efforts, more and more videos are being posted on social media and there has been more violence. here in the western city for example, where a number of people are reported to have been injured. the president ‘s latest words are unlikely to calm these demonstrators, who are calling for the overthrow of the government. twelve people have been killed when a small passenger plane crashed shortly after take off in northwestern costa rica. the incident happened near bejuco, in the mountainous region of punta islita, an area popular with tourists on the pacific coast. government officials said the single—propeller cessna had ten u.s citizens and two local crew members on board.

the cause of the crash is not yet known. media reports say five of the passengers shared the same surname, suggesting they were related. police in the english city of liverpool say a fire has destroyed about 2000 vehicles in a multi—storey car park, and forced the cancellation of an international horse show at the city's echo arena. emergency services were called at around 5pm on new years eve and nearby apartments and hotels have been evacuated due to smoke. the public have been advised to stay away from the area and traffic restrictions are currently in place. no—one has been reported injured. some of those attending the horse show at the arena have been speaking about what happened. they just said there theyjust said there was a small incident in the main arena, we sat on the seats at the top. the next

minute they said there was a small incident, no harm or anything like that, about five or ten minutes later they said there was a small fire up in the car park. we were in the arena watching the show, one of the arena watching the show, one of the horses had just come out to do the horses had just come out to do the jumps the horses had just come out to do thejumps and the horses had just come out to do the jumps and they called it back in the. we all looked at each other wondering what was going on. then they said there was a fire on the top floor. nothing to worry about. a bit later on we can outside, because we smelt smoke, we can outside and obviously the fire was a lot worse than they were letting us know, really. 0n the line is lee clark, who had to be evacuated from a nearby hotel and whose car has been destroyed. can you tell us what happened? we we re can you tell us what happened? we were near the arena and we were told about 8pm that there was a small

fire that would be controlled within a couple of hours. a couple of hours later we were informed that we need to evacuate the hotel, we are now in the hilton hotel car park across from the docks, where we don't know whether, we have got a bed to the right but we know for a fact that we don't have a car any more. within nottinghamshire, which is 125 miles away, that will cause a problem for us away, that will cause a problem for us getting home tomorrow. so it has been confirmed to you that yours is one of the cars destroyed? yes, from what i have gathered, i have been following the liverpool echo reporter and the police on twitter and they confirmed that all of the vehicles that were in there, between 1400 and 2000 have all been destroyed. so as far as we know at this stage, we are carless now. we

are looking at pictures of that fire, it looks very intense. were you nearby? can you describe it to us? yes, we left the hotel and went for a bit of a walk at about 8pm, went for a walk and was going to one of the nearby bars, we crossed one of the nearby bars, we crossed one of the nearby bars, we crossed one of the bridges where the dock is and from the one side it looked 0k, from the other side it was absolutely shocking. you can see these flames just building through every single floor of the car park. it was absolutely, honestly it was like someone was absolutely, honestly it was like someone was setting fireworks off in the car park. 0bviously that was cars, it was ridiculous. it was surreal, something i will never —— i have never experienced before or wa nt to have never experienced before or want to again, to be honest. thank you for coming on to discover to us and we hope the rest of your night gets better, anyway. lee clark speaking to us from the. it lets speaking to us from the. it lets speak to nigel blandford, who had to

be evacuated from a nearby hotel. tell us what happened to you this evening? happy new year. we arrived in liverpool for new year's eve at around 2pm, parked out are in the multi—storey carpark and went to the hotel that 50 metres away, popped out for a while and we came back, couldn't get back in, we can see huge amounts of lack blowing smoke and we managed to get back in the room. the room is overlooking the car park, about 50 metres away and there was flames shooting out and you could see individual cars are light. we were then evacuated out of the hotel into the hilton and we just got back in now. about half an hour ago, back into the hotel. 0dyssey found out as well our car was destroyed totally. looking at the window now and the emergency fire at and rescue service are doing a locking up operation, there are

three fire engines out there now dousing and putting the last of the fire at. there is still a little bit of smoke coming out what we can see fla mes of smoke coming out what we can see flames at the moment. given the size of the flames, was there any panic or was it orderly? it was all quite orderly, a bit of confusion about whether the hotel would be evacuated or not. eventually, they moved us to the hotel where they treated us nicely but there was a lot of confusion about whether we can get backin confusion about whether we can get back in not. there was probably 100 people over at the hilton hotel, young families with children. tha nkfully young families with children. thankfully now we have been given the all clear and most people are backin the all clear and most people are back ina the all clear and most people are back in a hotel. with your card street i suppose it is get some sleep and then tomorrow decide what to do? —— car destroyed a. sleep and then tomorrow decide what to do? -- car destroyed a. yes, sorting out the insurance, that will be difficult on new year's day. we wish you a happy new year ‘s anyway

and thank you for coming to talk with us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: saying "i do" without the debt. a mass wedding for 400 cash—strapped couples in indonesia. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we will use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france and again it will be the same money. it has just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his 0xfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good.

you... just good? no, fantastic! that's better. this is bbc news. welcome back. the latest headlines: spectacular new year celebrations are sweeping the globe. in london, a huge fireworks display lit up the sky above the river thames. dubai marked the start of 2018 with a record—breaking laser show at the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa. the leader, kim jong—un, the leader, kimjong—un, has a defiant new year message, saying he

is always within reach of the nuclear button. it comes after escalating tensions over his country's weapons programme. in a televised message, it is reported he said the nuclear button is always on my table. this is not blackmail, but reality. he went on to say he will use their weapons only when north korea's security is threatened. and now we will go back to one of the top stories, the protesting sweeping iran. i am joined from dusseldorf by adnan tabatabai, an iran analyst and ceo of germany—based think tank, carpo, the centre for applied research in partnership with the orient. thank you for coming in on bbc news. we have heard the president speaking today. what you make of his comments? umm, well, we have to see whether it helps, whether he could reach those people who took to the streets in the past few days. we will know more tomorrow. at this

point already, we can say there is a big difference to the 2009 protests where the officials did not even acknowledge the grievances of the protesters. that has at least been a tiny good step, or a step well taken, as the first measure. do you think some of that has to do with the power of social media? you just cannot ignore these protests now. that could be the case. information is disseminated faster. at the same time, the 2009 experience, the post—election crisis, it was really a lesson. the people needed to take the protesting seriously, and that is what he did. people complaining about the economic situation in iran is not new. it can be runs out in the open. it is just how quick it

is, isn't it? -- done out in the open. there is no political ma nifesto open. there is no political manifesto behind it in particular. we should not read too much into it. we should not read too much into it. we have to see how it proceeds. let me pick you up on the slogans. it is quite extraordinary to see people shouting shame on you! you would not think that would be able to happen in iran. that is true. we saw the before. it is also important to note that throughout the rouhani presidency, there have been regular demonstrations and strikes and different forms of people gathering in front of state institutions, but obviously, what we are seeing right now is much more intense and spread throughout the country. so, president rouhani addressed the economic difficulties some of the protesters have been talking about. do you think he has it within his

power, though, to make much difference to the lives of ordinary iranians? i think the problem he has is that the improvements that he wa nts to is that the improvements that he wants to achieve, for example, creating morejobs, is something that takes time. it is a very natural thing that it, big investments happening after the nuclear agreements, investments happening after the nuclearagreements, until investments happening after the nuclear agreements, until the day this trickles down to newjobs, that ta kes yea rs, this trickles down to newjobs, that takes years, and it has nothing to do with the president of iran, but the complexities and things like foreign investment. he will have to be convincing when speaking to the people, that they need to be patient, but at the same time, he has to reconcile the need for some subsidy cuts, and to reconcile this with the needs of the people for basically welfare support. of course, that is the thing about

iran, isn't it? power is so fragmented. the president does not hold all of the cards and cannot pull the levers necessary. he will a lwa ys pull the levers necessary. he will always face challenges, as reavie as presidents have, through the in —— institutions. this is something he has to deal with, and it is something that slows down the pace of substantial change in iran. ok. joining us live dusseldorf. thank you very much for your time. my pleasure. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. palestinians have announced they are recalling their envoy to the united states after donald trump declared jerusalem as the capital of israel. mahmoud a vast said he will not

accept any peace plan in the wake of this move. —— abbas. a sheriff deputy has been killed in colorado along with four other people wounded after they came under fire appeared they were responding to gunfire in a domestic disturbance. two civilians we re domestic disturbance. two civilians were also shot, as was the suspect shooter, who was also dead. then is whether‘s government is raising the minimum wage by 14% with the start of the new year. president nicolas maduro, beset by financial difficulties and political unrest, says he will protect workers against washington's economic war on his country. , ms say it will fuel the already high inflation. —— economists. a seaplane has crashed into a river

near sydney, killing all six people on board. reports suggest four of the victims are british, although this has not been confirmed by police. the foreign office here is in contact with officials in australia. the aircraft was on a sightseeing trip in the run—up to the new year celebrations. it came down ina the new year celebrations. it came down in a river close to the suburb of cowanne. phil mercer reports from sydney. the seaplane crashed intojerusalem bay near the town of cowa n. on board were five passengers and the pilot. the single—engine aircraft is thought to have sunk rapidly. a witness said it had made a tight right—hand turn and then nosedived into the hawkesbury river. a full—scale search was soon under way. there were no survivors. police divers have found six bodies. the wreckage of the plane remains in more than 40ft of water. the authorities say a full investigation will take place. i cannot confirm the identity or ages of the people who were on the plane.

we are... it is early in the investigation, and we are working with the plane company, getting investigators here to confirm the identities and investigate why the plane crashed into the water. the seaplane was returning from a waterfront restaurant to rose bay on sydney harbour. it's a journey that would normally take around 20 minutes. the aircraft is owned by sydney seaplanes. it provides flights around some of the city's most popular tourist attractions, including the opera house, the harbour bridge, and to the north, the hawkesbury river. the company said in a statement that its pilots are some of the most experienced in the world and that all its flights had been suspended until further notice. air—crash investigators will arrive at the site of the accident early on new year's day to try to establish how and why a routine sightseeing flight could end in catastrophe. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. with celebrations going on around

the world to celebrate the arrival of the new year, hundreds of indonesian couples have taken the party theme one step further by tying the knot in a mass wedding. with theirfamilies, they gathered in a large tent in the capital, jakarta, before signing marriage certificates in front of government officials. david campanale has more. as fireworks lit the sky in jakarta to mark the arrival of the new year, over 400 couples gathered to celebrate the turning of a new chapter in their lives. though hundreds of couples were involved, individuals made their day special by wearing elaborate traditional indonesian clothing. just hours before midnight, the mass wedding commenced with the arrival of the governor of jakarta. it was the cost

of the marriage ceremonies he had come to resolve. the city government raised funds to make legally binding marriage is possible. the funds also stretched to cover the indonesian wedding tradition of exchanging token gold dowries. as well as giving congratulations, the governor acknowledged that financial hardship can keep low income indonesian couples from taking on the cost of a traditional wedding. after a brief ceremony in front of government officials, the couples took the final step towards full recognition of their relationship by signing their marriage certificates. translation: those whose marriages we re translation: those whose marriages were not certified can use this opportunity to legalise their marriage, and it is especially helpful for those who cannot afford to do so. translation: i am very happy because we are officially wed in the mass wedding, receiving a blessing from all of society. i am

very pleased. as the happy couples left the venue to join the throng of new year party —goers, jakarta's government promised the city to make marriage possible for many more couples by repeating the event on the next new year's eve. david campanale, bbc news. 0k, ok, the top story. the uk has welcomed in the new year with spectacular fireworks displays in london and edinburgh. among the highlights, more than 100,000 people watched the fireworks show from the bank of the river thames. big ben or the chimed in, having been turned back on partway through restoration work. —— also. let's leave you with fireworks from the river thames. good morning, and a happy new year to you.

before we leap ahead into 2018 and what the weather has in store for the week ahead, let's just take a quick look back at what 2017 brought us. for ennerdale, in cumbria, on the 15th of may, over six inches of rain in 24 hours. it was a hot day though at heathrow, on the 21st ofjune. 34 degrees. the hottest day of the year. in terms of wintriest weather, well, that was sennybridge, in the brecon beacons, on the 11th of december, with 31cm, around a foot, of snow. winter, of course, is not over by far. a very mobile and rather mild picture overall though across the british isles for the week ahead. you may have seen a low there to the south, which will get very close to the south coast this new year's day. strong gusty maybe even damaging winds along the south coast through the first half of new year's day and quite a bit of rain too. it becomes a little bit more showery as we get into south wales,

and there should be some sunshine to the north of that before we meet another area of low pressure that's developing across western scotland and northern ireland. that will bring some strong winds to the early part of the day. and sink its way into southern scotland, northern england and continue to feed showers into northern ireland through the afternoon. further south, our other low pulls off into the continent. we should see more in the way of sunshine. sunshine too for northern scotland. but a chilly story here, just 3 degrees in edinburgh. and then overnight, the showers clear, the isobars open and, with clear skies, temperatures are going to dip away significantly for early tuesday. the first day back at work in the new year, have the ice scrape or the de—icer ready, because it looks like we could see a fairly widespread frost. clear skies short lived though. another area of low pressure swinging its way from the atlantic, through the day. rain, some snow for the hills of northern england and the mountians of scotland. briefly rather mild though to the far south. another area of low pressure comes wheezing in overnight tuesday, into wednesday. very squally winds in association with this low. windy day across the board on wednesday,

with some heavy and thundery showers possible too. temperatures typically around average for the time of year, somewhere between the 6—10 degree mark. perhaps a little bit chilly again first thing on thursday as the winds fall light during the small hours of thursday. but into the day, another area of low pressure coming into the south and west and more heavy rain and a risk by hten of localised flooding. a windy, wet start to 2018. this is bbc news, the headlines. revellers across asia, europe and africa have marked the start of the new year with spectacular celebrations. in london, hundreds of thousands saw thirty tonnes of fireworks light up the sky above the river thames. dubai marked the start of 2018, with a record breaking laser show at the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa. in a few hours, the new year celebrations get underway in the americas.

in his first comments since anti—government protests began in iran, president rouhani has said people have the right to protest, but their actions shouldn't lead to violence. earlier, police used water cannon against protestors in tehran. more than a thousand cars have gone up in smoke in the english city of liverpool. they were parked in a multi storey carpark next to the echo arena, 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