this is bbc world news, i'm james reynolds. our top

stories: thousands of volunteer firefighters are to be offered compensation for loss of earnings after battling the australian bushfires for weeks. somalia's president says his country will not be demoralised after a bomb attack kills more than seventy people. democratic presidential contender joe biden says there's no legal basis to force him to testify at donald trump's impeachment trial. and the french crowd—funding plan which aims to return a zoo full of animals to the wild. hello and welcome to bbc news. the australian government says thousands of volunteer firefighters in new south wales will be compensated for loss of earnings during the bushfires. more than

a hundred are still burning in southern australia — and conditions are expected to worsen. meanwhile, sydney's mayor has insisted the new year's eve fireworks display will go ahead — despite calls to redirect funds to the firefighting efforts. briony sowden reports. for those living on the edge of the fires, this is now the new normal. more than 100 fires are continuing to burn across new south wales, the biggest one threatening the country's most populated city, sydney, and with temperatures forecast to reach a0 degrees over the coming days, there appears to be no reprieve in sight. for weeks on end, firefighters have been out on the front lines. many of them are volunteers who have given up their own pay to fight the blazes. it is now taking its toll. when your brigade is tired and going out again and again and you're doing 12— our

ship and its really strenuous hard work, you deal feel like ship and its really strenuous hard work, you dealfeel like you ship and its really strenuous hard work, you deal feel like you want to be helping and you do feel like you are obliged so for me, it means i use my annual leave. despite previously resisting the idea of paying volunteers, the government has now bowed to pressure and says some firefighters in new south wales will now be compensated. for many, it is welcome news. the prime minister scott morrison admits fires that began before summer admits fires that began before summer have put an extra strain on volunteers. this is a very prolonged fire season. this is putting additional demands on our firefighters in particular and it means that the turnouts and the callouts have been far more extensive than in previous years, going well and beyond and above what is normally expected of those who are engaged in volunteer service. while the bushfire smoke continues to sweep over sydney, a new crisis has erupted. sydney officials are coming under pressure to cancel its

annual new year's eve fireworks extravaga nza annual new year's eve fireworks extravaganza which some say are now an insult. in the past two weeks, an on line petition has gained momentum and now has more than a quarter of a million signatures. according to the petition, people are already traumatised and dealing with enough smoke in the air. the bushfires have taken a toll on australia's's lovett native, the koala,. in south australia, is thirsty koala bear went in search of water, stopping a group of cyclists in their tracks as temperatures hit 42 celsius. the bushfires have had a devastating effect on communities, destroying more than 1000 homes since the fire season more than 1000 homes since the fire season began insert timber. sydney's 110w season began insert timber. sydney's now says although she says her deep sympathies with victims, the fireworks event will still go ahead. of course let's bring you some

breaking news now. several people are reported to have been injured in a mass stabbing at the house of a rabbi in upstate new york in the united states. according to the new york times, it happened during a hanukkah party in monsey, an area with a large population of ultra—0rthodoxjews. the attacker is reported to have fled and no arrest has been made. so that breaking news — several people are reported to have been injured in a mass stabbing at the house of a rabbi in new york state. that's informaiton we have at the moment. we'll bring you more when we get it. the president of somalia has blamed al sha baab militants for a deadly bomb attack that killed about 70 people. but mohamed abdullahi farmajo said they wouldn't succeed in demoralising the somali people. the explosion took place at a security checkpoint in the south—west of the capital mogadishu. it's being reported that at least 16 of those killed

were university students. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reports. moments after the blast, an eyewitness films the scene. smoke still billowing from a vehicle, the remains of what is thought to have been a massive car bomb. shocked civilians move in to look for survivors. the attack was timed to catch the morning rush—hour in mogadishu. many students had been heading to classes. dozens were killed when the bomb exploded at a busy intersection in the somali capital. attacks like this are not unusual here, but they are seldom so deadly. this man said the blast caught him as he was getting out of a minibus heading to work, his leg injured. within minutes, emergency workers were at the scene. somalia, plagued by violence for decades, is still wrestling with extremism. the country's president quickly blamed the islamist militant group al—shabaab. mohamed farmajo said their aim was to instil terror and to prevent the country from rebuilding. "they will never succeed," he said.

al—shabaab, linked to al-qaeda, is still a threat in a country plagued by drought, feuding clans, and the aftermath of a terrible civil war. but the group has lost ground in recent years, targeted by american drones and african union troops. today's devastating attack will fuel the fears that somalia's security forces are too weak and divided to protect civilians in mogadishu and that foreign troops, who are supposed to be on their way out, will be needed here for many years to come. andrew harding, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. five people who were on their way to a football game have been killed after their plane crashed in lafayette in louisiana. one person on board the plane survived and is being treated in hospital.

the plane hit a car as it crashed, injuring the driver. two more people on the ground were also hurt. doctors in the syrian province of idlib say their hospitals are full and they lack the resources they need to cope with close to 250,000 people who've been displaced by the lastest fighting. syrian government forces, supported by russian warplanes, have been advancing on rebel—held positions in the south of the province. samoa has lifted a state of emergency that was declared last month in response to a measles epidemic. more than 80 people were killed, most of them children. there have been no fatalities from measles in the last four days and doctors say a mass vaccination campaign is working. the government says the compulsory vaccinations will become a permanent part of the country's healthcare system. us democratic presidential hopeful joe biden has tried to clarify comments in which he appeared to rule out testifying at donald trump's impeachment trial. mr biden told reporters in iowa he had always complied with legitimate requests from congress in the past. but he insisted the trial should focus on president trump's conduct.

one recommendation to come one the whole point of this is, anyone subpoenaed relating to this investigation of a president has to be able to have some knowledge to share on whether or not he committed the offences he's accused of committing. i have no first—hand knowledge, there's no basis to that, so my point was, it would be no basis on which to call me as a witness. joe biden. 0ur north america correspondent chris buckler explains how the former vice president has been caught up in all this. in this impeachment trial, donald trump stands accused of abusing his power as president by trying to force ukraine into launching investigations into political rivals, including joe biden, and of also trying to obstruct congress and their investigation by ordering officials in the white house and other parts of the administration to ignore

subpoenas — those are legal demands for information or for people to come and give testimony to congress. now, that has been widely criticised by democrats, but in a newspaper interview in the last couple of days, joe biden, who is one of the party's leading contenders to become the presidential candidate to challenge donald trump in 2020, he said that he would defy a subpoena if he was asked to testify during mr trump's forthcoming impeachment trial. now, that has been widely criticised and has led to some allegations of hypocrisy. as a result, mr biden has now released a statement on twitter in which he's tried to clarify his remarks. he says he has always complied with legal orders and what he calls legitimate requests from congress but he said that there was no legal basis to order him to give testimony in this case. now, republicans have suggested at times that they might try to turn this whole impeachment trial on its head and ask questions about the bidens. president trump, you might remember, has made unsubstantiated

investigations of corruption regarding joe biden and his son hunter during business dealings in ukraine. they have strongly denied that, and in a statement from joe biden, he said it's important to recognise this impeachment process should focus on donald trump's conduct, and not his. a german woman, her 7—year—old daughter and another 7—year—old girl have been killed by a large avalanche in the italian alps. the accident happened on the val senales glacier, close to the border with austria. it's the latest in a series avalanches affecting ski resorts in the alps, following recent heavy snow. bill hayton reports. a rescue helicopter with a sad burden. the bodies of a 35—year—old german woman and her seven—year—old daughter brought down from the slopes above. another seven—year—old was dug out of the snow and rushed to hospital. tragically, she too later

died. all three were among a small party of skiers hit by a large avalanche, 150 metres wide and 500 metres long. there was no way to escape. an 11—year—old boy and his father, also part of the same group, were injured. 70 rescuers from the alpine service and the italian security forces searched the mountain in case others had been buried by the snow. that work continues. a spokesman said the avalanche risk had appeared low at the start of the day, but a strong wind and a rise in temperature may have loosened the snow. several avalanches have hit ski resorts in the alps over the past few days. in those cases, the skiers had lucky escapes. sadly, in the latest incident in northern italy, that wasn't true. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: and the bells will ring out for new year's eve — london's iconic

big ben will chime for the start of the new decade. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today. and then we'll be in france and again, it will be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. reporter: just good? no, fantastic! that's better! big ben bongs

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: thousands of volunteer firefighters in new south wales will be offered compensation for loss of earnings. they've played a key role in tackling severe bushfires in recent months. at least 76 people are reported to have been killed by a car bomb during morning rush hour in somalia's capital. the president has blamed al—shabaab militants for the attack. more now on that story. colin clarke, senior research fellow at the soufan center, explained how al—shabaab was able to carry out such an attack. this is a group that clearly maintains a pretty extensive reach throughout somalia, even though at the

current times, most of its controlled territories in the lower — in the southern part of the country, about 20% of the country, and it has got about 5,000—10,000 fighters, under arms, as we have seen in years past, the group retains the capability to conduct spectacular attacks, which often result in very high casualty counts in urban areas, including the capital, mogadishu. colin, for those who do not follow somalia every day, can you remind us who al—shabaab are and what it is they want? yeah, so al—shabaab is a salafi jihadi militant group that is based in somalia, but also has reach into kenya and other parts of the region and is largely aligned with al-qaeda. this is a group that kind of grew in power after 2006. it didn't really become aligned with al-qaeda until six years later but is attempting to establish sharia governance throughout the country and is clearly willing to kill civilians to destabilise the current efforts of the somali government. at the moment, the us carries out

drone strikes against al—shabaab, the african union has carried out an offensive for many years. 0ne somali activist i spoke to said, we don't need all that, we can do it ourselves — is that possible or likely? no, clearly not. and you know, moreover, even with africom and the us and special forces, it is still not enough. this is a group that is operating inside of a country that is a country in name only. it is the world's kind of prototypical failed state and has been so for the better part of three decades and so, even as al—shabaab‘s attempts at governing territory has ebbed and flowed over time, the group is clearly capable of destabilising what modicum of governance exists in the country at present. is there a consensus then about how to defeat al—shabaab? well, i think we talk about all the time about the kinetic aspects, if you talk to africom —

that's african command and the united states — they will give you a number of jihadists killed. but to use a well worn cliche, it is a bit of whack—a—mole. really what i think the country needs to focus on, there needs to be a true international effort to fund institutions in somalia, a judiciary, a government beyond just the security forces and that's a hard sell because that's a really long—term effort and it is not going to produce quick results and those results might experience setbacks. this is a multigenerational challenge, no doubt about it. talking about the long term, we understand the us is looking at all of its deployment in africa. it has got about 500—600 forces in somalia, it carries out those drone attacks. should the us reconsider its deployment there? so, most of what i'm hearing is the potential drawback as the us repositions to deal with great power competition, ie, china and russia, the drawdown is going to start

in west africa, and that the troops that are currently in and around or allocated to the horn of africa, including somalia, will remain but it is only a matter of time, as we've seen with president trump as his willingness and desire to really withdraw forces from places like syria, afghanistan and elsewhere, that somalia is next on the chopping block. colin clark there. denmark is to roll out live video assistance to people who call the emergency services in and around the capital. the feature will be available to mobile phone users without them having to install an app. it follows a year—long trial, hailed as success by authorities. karl riley reports. denmarkomahon emergency call centre where dispatchers give critical advice to callers as ambulances make their way to the scene. from the start of 2020, callers may be asked to scare live video as a trial of the technology becomes permanent. translation: it makes a

big difference. we find we use a video call a lot where there is a lot of panic or when people are having difficulty understanding the instructions. that we are giving over the phone. in the year-long trial of 700 video calls, more than 40% of the emergencies are re— categorised once dispatchers could see the scene live. how does it work with among operators can send an sms to mobile callers with an link that opens a camera and shares video from their device, but only if there is another person at the scene to administer the first—aid. translation: it is a way to guide the patient since we can monitor the situation. so someone can help put in unconscious person in a position. if it is a cardiac arrest, are you pumping the right place on the chest? are you pumping deep enough? all this happens is the ambulances on its way, as fast possible. all this happens is the ambulances on its way, as fast possiblelj all this happens is the ambulances on its way, as fast possible. i have been credited with saving one lie.

this person was having a heart attack. he has welcomed the rollout saying it is sure it will help many people. a coalition of charities has bought a zoo in the brittany region of france with the aim of returning the animals to the wild. they raised 650,000 euros on crowd—funding platforms and have ambitious plans, as gail maclellan reports. zoo de pont scorff in brittany. closed to visitors for the immediate future. if the rewild team's plans succeed, then the zoo will reopen to the public in the middle of 2020, but it won't be the kind of zoo you might expect. for one thing, the animals will not be on public view. translation: actually, we don't want to close the zoo to the public. for us, it's very important that this place stays alive, that people come and continue to have a relationship with living beings. we want to change our vision of wild animals, which are notjust consumer goods.

we want to take another approach — one that's sensitive and educational. but first, they need to assess the animals that crowd funding helped them to buy. they want, they say, to get them out of the conditions in which they currently live. translation: the rhino is not well. you can really feel the weight of captivity on his shoulders. a black rhino is a folivore and here, he never has access to foliage. the new owners have asked all 17 of the zoo's employees to stay and help look after the animals. their plans are ambitious and expensive. they are keeping the appeals for funding going as they aim to rehabilitate their charges and, in some cases, reintroduce them to the wild. but not everyone thinks this is a good idea. the european association of zoos and aquaria think that public contributors are misguided. they point to the difficulty

of reintroducing animals to the wild and suggest the conservation arena is no place for amateurs. but they agree that animal species are in serious trouble and it could be that the pont—scorff zoo experiment is at least a small step in the right direction. gail maclellan, bbc news. here in the uk, it's been more than two years since big ben's famous bongs were paused to allow for essential maintenance work to be carried out. but new year's eve just wouldn't feel right without those iconic chimes. so, for one night only, they will return to ring in the new decade in london. tim muffett reports. it is one of the world's most familiarand it is one of the world's most familiar and regularly misnamed buildings. but for two years, the elizabeth tower, which houses the giant bell, big ben, has been surrounded by scaffolding. repairs that have left big ben itself largely silent. here it is, big

bend. yes indeed. 13 tons of it. it feels a bit odd. it does feel very odd. it has been too long for my liking. this is the biggest refurbishment project that has ever taken place since it was first built. they are taking apart every single small piece and putting it back together, which hasn't been done before. a massive challenge for them. it is a clock mechanism which for more than 150 years activated the hammer which strikes app big bend. for special occasions during the repairs, a new device has been needed. what we have here is an automatic turning which would not have been available when this was first built. it produces the power to lift the big ben hammer which is very heavy, 300, 400 kilograms, and strike at 12 times. last new year's eve all went to plan. were you nervous in the run—up? i think

there is always going to be a bit of nerves because it shows you care and it isa nerves because it shows you care and it is a really, really big moment. the new speaker of the house of commons has said he won't stand in the way if mps vote for big ben to also be struck onjanuary the 31st, the day the uk is set to leave the eu. during a tumultuous time in british politics, hidden from view, this four year refurbishment has continued. it is handcarved, which isa continued. it is handcarved, which is a phenomenal thing to say, and it may take them between three and four weeks to produce a carving such as this crown that you can see along here. a labour of love. this is the eastern clock face, and the most striking thing is the colours. it is not the black paint we are familiar with, but gold and blue. we found that has been scratched back through the layers, we were going back through time and found this was the

colour it was originally. really exciting to find that blue colour as we went back. and it is blue. and this is gold blue —— the gold leaf. even standing here, on a rainy day surrounded by scaffolding, you see that, that is one of the faces of elizabeth tower. yes,... that, that is one of the faces of elizabeth tower. yes, . .. it that, that is one of the faces of elizabeth tower. yes,... it is so iconic. i will not touch the gold, but i will stand in between are not many people can do that. in 2021, the scaffolding will disappear in the scaffolding will disappear in the world's most famous bill —— let the world's most famous bill —— let the world's most famous bill —— let the world's most famous bell will be heard of every hour of every day. a reminder of our breaking news this hour. five people are reported to have been injured in a mass stabbing at the house of a rabbi in upstate new york in the united states. according to the new york

times newspaper, it happened during a hanukkah party in monsey, an area with a large population of ultra—orthodox jews. the attacker is reported to have fled and no arrest has been made so far. so that breaking news — five people are reported to have been injured in a mass stabbing at the house of a rabbi in new york state. there has been some reaction. the mayor has tweeted that the attack is horrific and there's so manyjewish families in our city have close ties, and he goes on to say, i think this is what you are watching, we will not allow this to become the new normal. we will use every tool we have stopped these attacks once and for all. the nypd has deployed a visible and growing presence around jewish houses in williamsburg. carrying on now. parts of east africa are struggling to cope with the effects of more than two months heavy rain that has caused widespread flooding and landslides. it's thought that at least 265 people have died in the region since october and tens of thousands

more have been displaced. one of the worst affected areas is around the kenyan town of kisumu. kathryn armstrong reports. scenes like this are an all—too—common sight in kenya's port city of kisumu at the moment. residents searching through their flooded homes for anything they can salvage. translation: there's no place to sleep, we don't even have tents, no water to drink, and i have to take care of my children. translation: all our food went with the water. school shoes and the books for the kids too. my belongings are outside here and i don't know where i will go. for more than two months now, heavy rainfall has plagued east africa due to warmer water on the western side of the indian ocean — part of a climate system known as a dipole. scientists say it's of a magnitude not seen in years, maybe even decades. many other countries in the region have been affected, including somalia, tanzania

and south sudan, where the rain has pushed a country devastated by drought to the brink of famine. with further rain forecast, there are now growing fears that water—borne diseases could make the situation much worse. kathryn armstrong, bbc news. we are going to carry on with our reporting on that breaking news. the reports that people are being stabbed in a house of a rabbi in u pstate n ew stabbed in a house of a rabbi in upstate new york. david hoffman is the editor of a local newspaper in the editor of a local newspaper in the area. hejoins us. david, thank you very much for speaking to us. what happened ? you very much for speaking to us. what happened? the reports are unclear. they are coming in right 110w. unclear. they are coming in right now. what we do know is that the rabbi, a very, very wonderful person was doing his hanukkah and we had many people

in the house and it carried on for quite some time and at the tail end, a p pa re ntly quite some time and at the tail end, apparently some information we have that somebody, a black man broke into the house and started swinging a knife or a machete of some sort and people were being stabbed, were being hit. somebodyi and people were being stabbed, were being hit. somebody i know personally very, very well with a heart condition was stabbed and is 110w heart condition was stabbed and is now in critical condition. everyone is praying for him, and then supposedly some of the people in the house started to throw things at the attacker and they forced him out of the house and then they chased him and he tried to go into the synagogue next door but they locked the doors, and at that point, there was a car waiting. it is unclear if he was driving or if someone was driving him and hejumped into the carand driving him and hejumped into the car and drove away. the

last i heard was just a couple of minutes ago, was just a couple of minutes ago, was that a person was apprehended in new york city, the bronx new york, the same and supposedly they have one person in custody. that is as much as i can verify. david, thank you, and of course we will update oui’ you, and of course we will update our view was on the news you were telling us there about a potential arrest. we will check that out ourselves. i am wondering, would there have been security provided by there have been security provided by the community for this hanukkah party at the rabbi's house? well, first of all, it was not a hanukkah party. it was just... first of all, it was not a hanukkah party. it wasjust... it is first of all, it was not a hanukkah party. it was just... it is a very, very wonderful community and we have never had issues like this. this is something that is shocking because these things, we have not experienced anything like this. the rabbi was lighting the menorah for hanukkah. it wasn't a

party, it wasn't a big event, it wasjust... it was just someone who does not like i don't know. it became a fad. to attackjewish people. this person, i don't understand how this happened. a terrible, terrible thing. david hoffman, thank you very much forjoining us. just repeating the news. there have been reports of a stabbing at a house of a rabbi in u pstate n ew a stabbing at a house of a rabbi in upstate new york in the area of monsey, an area with a large population for unorthodox jewish people and we will continue to watch this. you are watching bbc news. now on bbc news, we're looking back to june and the events to mark the 75th anniversary of the d—day landings. robert hall followed three hundred veterans as they boarded a ship