this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 12. the star of grease, olivia newton—john, is made a dame — in a new year honours list which also recognises four members of england's world cup winning cricket team. ben stokes receives an obe and there's an mbe forjoe root. very privileged and a bit humbled, to be honest, to be receiving an award like that. when you play cricket you are part of a team. more than a thousand people are recognised — including 94—year—old, d—day veteran, harry billinge, who raised over £10,000 for a national memorial. it was far from my mind that i was ever going to be recognised for doing a bit of a collection. a woman whose husband and two children drowned on christmas eve in a swimming pool at a resort

in spain says all three could swim. she blames a fault with the pool concerns for australia's wildlife as an extreme heatwave hits the country, putting increasing pressure on authorities battling the bushfires. a crisis for england's cricket team on day three as hosts south africa lead by more than 350 runs in the second innings. coming up — click — presents highlights from their live show earlier this year — and travels to california, to test a robot with nasa. over a thousand people —

from household names to previously unsung volunteers — have been recognised in the new year honours list. sir elton john receives the highest accolade — he's been made a companion of honour. 0ther singers feature — 0livia newtonjohn who becomes a dame, and billy ocean is made an mbe. the film directors, sam mendes and steve mcqueen are knighted. four members of england's world cup—winning cricket team — 0wen morgan, ben stokes, joe root and jos buttler — have also had their achievements recognised. this report from our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, contains flashing images. # you're the one that i want # you are the one i want... olivia newton—john says she is honoured and grateful to be made a dame for services to charity, cancer research and entertainment. the singer, who has cancer, has raised millions of pounds for treatment and research. a damehood, too, for floella benjamin, for her lifelong work with children's charities.

absolutely amazing to be recognised this way for doing charity work. i realised that childhood lasts a lifetime and i had to give back to children because when i did playschool 43 years ago, i realised children did not have a voice. there are knighthoods for two british film—makers, steve mcqueen, who directed the oscar—winning i2 years a slave and sam mendes, who directed bond films skyfall and spectre. in the world of sport, eoin morgan, who captained england to victory in the cricket world cup, becomes a cbe. ben stokes an 0be, jos buttler and joe root become mbes. extremely proud, very privileged and a bit humbled to be receiving an award like that. when you play cricket, you are part of a team, and you rely on 11 other blokes and a huge support staff and players around the squad to influence a game.

again, going for the dead ball line. an mbe, too, for england star jill scott for services to women's football. itjust feels really surreal to see my name, jill scott mbe. it just feels really surreal. i think it has been a greatjourney for women's football from the time that i started playing to now and to see the recognition that women's football is now getting, it is very pleasing. # love is like a butterfly. in the world of entertainment, butterflies star wendy craig becomes a cbe. as does peaky blinders creator steven knight. ladies and gentlemen, the... and dj annie nightingale. for services to music, queen drummer roger taylor is made an 0be. and singer billy ocean an mbe.

also becoming mbes, tv chef nadiya hussain, inspirational young cellist sheku kanneh—mason, and gok wan, for services to fashion and social awareness. of course, the vast majority of those who will come here to buckingham palace or the other royal residences to receive their honours are not those in the public eye, they are individuals who have done something special for their community or their country. thank you, darling. people like d—day veteran harry billinge who becomes an mbe in recognition of his charity fundraising work. and yewande akinola, an engineer who works to encourage girls to enter the world of engineering. it is a big deal to me. it really feels great to be recognised for it. i guess my passion is encouraging young girls to see engineering asa career option.

just a few of many honoured for trying to change the lives of those around them. i'm joined now via webcam from her home in london by baroness floella benjamin 0be — who's been made a dame for her services to charity. use congratulations, this will be your second trip to the palace, what does it mean to you this time?m your second trip to the palace, what does it mean to you this time? it is absolutely wonderful. they say there is nothing like a dame and ifeel that this morning, absolutely incredible in diameter looking forward to going to the palace to collect my one and i wish my parents ready to come with me but they are not going to be here because they both passed away but my son and daughter and husband don't come with me and we will celebrate all the way. you spoke about your mum very

fondly on a piece about the windrush generation, what do you think she would be thinking watching you taking that trip? you got a lot of inspiration from her? she used to see education as your passport to life. you know we love used to go out and show the world what you are made of and that is just what i have done, i have given my heart and soul to children especially to make sure they understand that they are not as well and there is so much they can do fa feel confident about themselves and were the that is what my parents did to me and my whole life is about giving unconditionally, i do not expect anything for that but when something like this happens you do feel bowled over and feel this lovely feeling in your heart, quite thrilled about the world and realise that answer many things to do and put right but i am

determined to make a difference and change the world with children so they feel happy and love and a better world. you're right in britain as a ten—year—old with the windrush generation, you describe a hostile environment, bullying and violence and racism but which is true to your character, you put a positive spin on it and said it made me the person i today, character building. if you believe what other people tell you you can go down and i had people tell you you can go down and ihada people tell you you can go down and i had a spiritual moment when i was 14 when i realised i could not change the colour of my skin and people have a problem at as theirs and not mine and having this impact that my parents did to me and my dad told us there was a wonderful world out there to discover, when mum give us out there to discover, when mum give us the confidence to capture that warrant and when you believe in

yourself then you can actually push aside adversity and fears and have that and a strength full of love and i have been given so much love, every day i receive a love letter, an e—mail, inundated with thousands of people responding to this wonderful news so i know i am loved so wonderful news so i know i am loved soi wonderful news so i know i am loved so i have a duty, someone in our position when you are in the public eye you have a responsibility to be able to share confidence and love with other people so that is what i do. jabbing a for services to charity, one of them is about cancer because of the experience to share with your mum. red you get that campaigning spirit from? with your mum. red you get that campaigning spirit from ?|j with your mum. red you get that campaigning spirit from? i have a lwa ys campaigning spirit from? i have always been a fighter, my dad said it started when i was 15 months when

he took me to a party and i told everybody to stop because they were not doing it properly and i have never been afraid to speak up, a lwa ys never been afraid to speak up, always brave enough to have the courage to stand up for other people ifi courage to stand up for other people if i something is not right. i realised on playschool i had a voice people would listen to so i campaigned for children to have a minister, campaign for seat belts on school buses, diversity and picture books especially on television, i ran ten consecutive london marathons for barnardos to tell people that some children's lives is like a marathon, everyday as right. i campaigned for sickle—cell disorders, big people understand people children suffer from a blood disorder that needs a cure, i'm a patriot of transparent links will be do kidney transplants, children and

the caspian day caribbean suffer from that so whatever i feel that as a cause eye campaign, i try to motivate people to change the world for children and if we can do it right for children to grow up happy and contented, children who are abused or neglected, if we can care for them and think about childhood, childhood last a lifetime and so many people ending say people sieving ending up unpleasant on oral health tooth decay, education children are considered, we can save so children are considered, we can save so much money every put children first so my greatest wish getting this honour is for people to recognise the importance of childhood which lasts a lifetime. huge congratulations again and you are never going to give up until you ta ke are never going to give up until you take your last breath the fantastic

spirit, thank you. i am now 78 so i'm going to make the most of the rest of my life and make a difference and change the world. —— iam now difference and change the world. —— i am now 70. a woman from london whose husband and two children drowned while on holiday — on the costa del sol — has provided a version of events, which contradicts that given by spanish police. 0lubunmi diya denied reports that none of them could swim. she believes that something was wrong with the pool — that made swimming difficult. the resort where the family was staying, insist that police investigations have confirmed that the pool was working normally. sean dilley reports. four days on from a christmas tragedy, a mother in mourning speaks out. 52—year—old gabriel diya, his nine—year—old daughter comfort, pictured here, and his 16—year—old son, praise—emmanuel, died in this pool at club la costa world. speaking for the first time since their deaths, the mother and wife of the victims, 0lubunmi diya, sought

to correct what she called inaccurate information. she said the whole family were present when comfort and praise—emmanuel found themselves in trouble and that their father gabriel attempted to help them. all three died. in a tribute sent from the spanish resort, she spoke of the joy and love herfamily brought to the world and she said, the owners of the hotel, club la costa resort, refute this. pointing at an official police report, they say, but mrs diya says police investigations are ongoing and that no such conclusion has been shared with her or her family. a little earlier fernando torres, a local journalist,

gave an update about what the police and hotel have been saying. the pool, at this very moment, they didn't find nothing wrong, neither the police nor the government, because they sent people from the government to check the place. neither the pool managers. nobody found nothing working wrong. so, maybe, i think we just need to wait for the police about what they tell to the family. that's all we can do right now because anything else could be hysterical. yeah. what about the suggestion that the mother has denied, that none of the three people who died could swim, or they weren't good swimmers? do we have any idea where that information came from? police said yesterday, officially, my newspaper had this information the day before. yesterday, they confirmed.

they said officially, according to their child and the mother , we know that they told us they didn't know how to swim properly. that's a very important detail because maybe you can know how to swim, maybe you are not a good swimmer, maybe if something is wrong with the pool, that's something we said from the beginning, if something is wrong with the pool and you are not a good swimmer, these two things can result in this tragedy on christmas eve. fernando, this was christmas eve. presumably, the resort was quite busy. have any other witnesses come forward as to what happened? well, this is our... we are close to the beach hotel, so it is not high season. although it is not cold, but today is colder than the other day, so it wasn't full at this time. this is full in summer, but not right now.

there was nobody else at the pool. there were five family members, all together, nobody else. no witnesses, no workers, nobody. according to the law, they don't need to have a lifeguard there. they have a lifeguard in summer but not those days because the pool is supposedly not being used. fernando torres talking to my colleague shaun ley. the headlines on bbc news... grease—star olivia newton—john is made a dame in the new year honours list — she's one of eleven hundred people recognised for their work. a woman whose husband and two children drowned on christmas eve in a swimming pool at a resort in spain says all three could swim. she blames a fault with the pool concerns for australia's wildlife as an extreme heatwave hits the country, putting increasing

pressure on firefighters battling the bushfires. at least 90 people are reported to have been killed — and 90 others wounded — in a car bomb attack in the somali capital, mogadishu. it happened at a checkpoint at a busy intersection during the morning rush—hour. the mayor of mogadishu says, most of the injured are students who were on buses at the time. the bbc‘s ben morris reports. the tangled wreckage of vehicles whichjust minutes before had been waiting at a busy intersection in the mogadishu morning traffic. the blast happened at a checkpoint at a crossroads in rush hour hitting locals on the daily commute. the blast took place as i was getting off a bus, i was going to work, my leg was injured. minutes later chaos as the wounded are rushed to hospital. the mayor was sombre as the number of deaths climbed. we do not have the exact death toll

yet, more than 90 people were wounded according to witnesses. the exact death toll will be given to us later but it is not less. most of the people killed in the attack were school and university students. the city is no stranger to violent attacks. just this month five were killed when an islamist militant group targeted this hotel popular with politicians and military officers leading to a fierce gun battle with security forces. no group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast but for citizens of this bustling capital city it is a horribly familiar scene. firefighters in australia are bracing themselves for another period of hotter, drier and windier weather. temperatures are forecast to exceed a0 celsius in several states, including new south wales, south australia and victoria. deadly bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares in five

australian states since september. it's feared that a third of the koala population of new south wales, about 10,000 animals, may have been lost in the bushfire crisis as their habitat has been destroyed. this thirsty koala found a passing cyclist in adelaide hills who shared her water bottle. a member of the rescue team who saved 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in thailand last year has died. petty officer beirut pak—bara, a thai navy seal, contracted a blood infection during the operation. a british man who won one of europe's biggest lotteryjackpots, has died after a short illness. colin weir, who was 71, and wife chris, from largs in north ayrshire, took the £i6i—million euromillions prize in 2011.

at the time it was one of europe's biggest ever lottery wins. labour's former deputy leader, tom watson, has said he quit parliament at the general election earlier this month, in part, because of the "brutality and hostility" in the party. in an interview with the guardian, mr watson said the situation contributed to making his political career unsustainable, as our correspondent kathryn stanczyszyn explained earlier. tom watson talks about the brutality and hostility from both within and outside of the party. he stood down as deputy leader of the labour partyjust five weeks before the election and something that came as a surprise to some people. although the political differences between himself and jeremy corbyn, of course, were well—documented. they had been laid bare several times, particularly around the party's brexit stance and also its handling of anti—semitism. he was seen as a bit of a figurehead round which more centrist labour mps

could cluster, and that meant that people also saw him as deeply disloyal. there was that attempt at labour's party conference to try and oust him, a momentum attempt to get rid of him. but he said at the time he was stepping down for personal, not political reasons. he's had this very visible transformation, lost eight stone, reversed his type two diabetes, and he said he was going to be embarking on a career as a fitness instructor. he was going to be doing things like writing books and campaigning on public health. so this is the first time he's talked about that political climate in which he stepped down. he says he left because he was worried about that brutality and hostility. he says, for example, the police informed him that a death threat had been made against him by a labour supporter, but that the labour party had reported it, but they hadn't told him about it. he also said that factionalism from within had become what he describes as a heavy load, that he was still shocked at that attempt to get rid of him. and the quote there is, i don't think you could pre—empt such political idiocy, such

collective self—harm. so in the end, he said it was doing his health no good. and it was the right time to get out. nasa has just unveiled the latest mars rover which will be heading to the red planet injuly. fuelled by a mini nuclear reactor, it's fitted with 23 cameras, articulated arms, a drill to collect samples, and a laser to analyse them. it's intended to cruise the surface of the planet for about two years. 60 years after ivor the engine first steamed onto our television screens, his creators want to shunt him out of retirement and onto the silver screen. the tales of the small steam locomotive were inspired by the poetry of dylan thomas and created by hand in a cow shed. tomos morgan reports. snow was falling in the top left—hand corner of wales. ahead of its time, it was one of the uk's first tv cartoons.

are you ready, ivor? ivor toots his horn. some may remember the adventures of the small green steam locomotive who worked for the merioneth and llantisilly railway traction company limited in north wales. snowdrifts lay deep on the railway line, but ivor charged through them and split them like meringues! the programme was the brainchild of the late legendary animator 0liver postgate, who wrote the scripts, filmed the scenes and voiced many of the characters, along with artist peter firmin for a budget ofjust £10 a minute. my dad would put them together, using blu—tack. you'd — you'd move the foot along, take a photograph... nowadays, digital animation costs a fortune with high—tech computers and sophisticated software bringing creations to life in 3d. ivor the engine, however, was made using paper and cardboard cut—out watercolours in a farmhouse barn in rural kent. he wanted to find a way of animating which didn't involve too much

of people walking around, because that was difficult to animate. so ivor was quite good, because he had wheels. edwinjones, we have an emergency! eli the baker is out of flour! a friendship with a welsh fireman fondly described how steam engines came to life when you rode on them, and there were strong welsh influences throughout. ivor toots his horn. he came up with the idea that there was a steam locomotive who wanted to sing in the welsh choir, and that was the starting point. he loved dylan thomas and he loved the whole magic and feel of how he felt about wales. oh, dear! although he probably wasn't the most famous cartoon train that graced our tv screens, ivor was the inspiration for 0liver postgate's more successful titles... yawns. ..such as bagpuss.

bagpuss gave a big yawn and settled down to sleep. after the success of daniel's recent remake of the clangers — another of his father's classics — on the 60th anniversary that ivor first hit television, could there finally be a comeback — but this time to the silver screen? i was interested in the idea of a live—action story of ivor, because i think although it is a children's programme, it also has a lot of interesting characters but you need to find lots of money to do things like that! ivor felt really happy. so, after over half a century, it may not quite be the end of the line for ivor, jones the steam and dai the station. ..as he pounded down the line. tomos morgan, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell the weather prospects looking pretty great for many, the best of the brightness tomorrow but very mild.

pulling on airfrom brightness tomorrow but very mild. pulling on air from the south—west, a long wait south—west sending temperatures well above—average. and northern ireland. this afternoon wet weather. that and northern ireland, england and wales hanging onto a lot of cloud, fog lingering in the east, the best practice and the west with the best practice and the west with the breeze picks up, highs across the breeze picks up, highs across the board of ten to 12. maureen spreading across scotland overnight, murk speaking up further south, overnight lows of nine in aberdeen and belfast, exceptionally mild, rather grey across england and wales but hopefully the cloud will break through the day, sunshine. that and northern ireland which are to get up to 15 and the money for.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. grease—star 0livia newton—john is made a dame in the new year honours list. she's one of 1,100 people recognised for their work. a woman whose husband and two children drowned on christmas eve in a swimming pool, at a resort in spain, says all three could swim. she blames a fault with the pool. concerns for australia's wildlife, as an extreme heatwave hits the country, putting increasing pressure on authorities

battling the bushfires. sport, and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. thank you very much. england's hopes of salvaging a victory from their opening test against south africa in centurion are fading rapidly on day three. they need an unlikely 376 to win after the bowlers had a lacklustre third day. they were frustrated from the start by some dog—eared second innings batting from rassie van der dussen and anrich nortje. the pair added 191 for the fifth wicket. england did eventually manage to get some wickets towards the end of the morning south africa put the game virtually

out of england's reach. england are eight without loss in their reply. the worlds first defeat the closest side to liverpool and leicester city. one of the three premier league kick offs today. leicester have lost it has catapulted us into a race with these two super clubs now. but those talents have been really tested in the past couple of years. the excitement is that we can get better and over the course of the next few seasons of course we want to improve the squad and keep developing. if that is injanuary,

great. if it is not,