this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm. five people have been stabbed in new york state during hanukkah celebrations at the home of an orthodox rabbi. this is domestic terrorism. these are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence, generate fear. the mayor of sydney says the new year fireworks display will go ahead as planned — despite a petition calling for it to be cancelled because of nearby bushfires. we meet the uk's first paramedics trained to prescribe — in an effort to ease pressure on the nhs.

bong. getting ready for the new year — restoration work on big ben will pause for one night only — so its famous bongs can ring in the new decade in london. and later this hour, private eye's editor, ian hislopjoins the bbc‘s media editor amol rajan to look back on a fascinating year of front covers, cartoons and satire. the governor of new york, andrew cuomo, has called the knife attack at a jewish celebration in new york state "domestic terrorism". five people were injured, two of them critically, during a hanukkah gathering at the home of an orthodox rabbi. a man has been arrested. in recent weeks, police have stepped up patrols in jewish neighbourhoods, following a series of anti—semitic hate crimes.

our washington correspondent, chris buckler, reports. members of new york's largejewish community had gathered to celebrate their religion, only to be attacked because of it. they were at the home of a rabbi in monsey to mark hannukah when a man forced his way into the house and started stabbing people, in some cases multiple times. he pulled it out from the thing and he started to run into the big room which was on the left side and i threw tables and chairs that he should get out of here. the injured are still being treated in hospital and this community has has been left scarred by these stabbings. monsey is just north of new york city and police there had stepped up patrols because of a series of anti—semitic attacks in recent weeks. across the united states, thejewish community has raised concerns about the increase in hate crimes.

just over a year ago in pittsburgh, 11 worshippers were killed in a mass shooting at the tree of life synagogue. in april there was a similar attack at a synagogue in san diego. and another shooting earlier this month, at a kosher supermarket in newjersey is also thought to have been motivated in part by anti—semitism. what are we waiting for? first it was just verbal and 0k but now people are being murdered, assaulted and stabbed. so the governor should announce an emergency in the state of new york. new york's governor seems to be listening. he said words were not enough and it was time for action. it is domestic terrorism. these are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence, generate fear based on race, colour, creed.

that is the definition of terrorism. many claim hate is on the rise in an increasingly fractured america where differences too often end not just in division but in violence. chris joins us now from washington for more on this story. your report featured the new york state governor, powerful words from him. yes, strong words. he talked about there being a poisoning of the country, through egotism, racism and homophobia are not needed to be tackled but a lot of that will be politically appointed because he is a democrat, they are critical of president trump and believe he has healed division in this country. that will be for major night by the

white house. but his words on emigration and other issues, where he has been accused of flirting with white nationalism have done damage to society here. the white house says, they signed an executive order on anti—semitism and they want to bring the country together. but it gives you an idea of the polarising politics in the society having a real impact on communities. talk now of what should be done? yes, i think there is this idea, you heard from andrew cuomo, he wants to make a law against domestic terrorism inside the state. there is a real push to address hate crime. there are indications that in some parts of the us it is rising and that has to be addressed extremely quickly. of course it is not an easy thing to tackle. a lot of it is about dealing

with attitudes which is not as simple asjust with attitudes which is not as simple as just creating a law. in terms of this case, it will really worry people. we have had shootings in synagogues before, this is a stabbing, they will be talking about gun control again but i think this will focus the minds of people to see people being attacked specifically because of religion. in the last few moments, a 37—year—old man has appeared in court, pleading not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. his bail has been set at $5 million. thank you very much, chris buckler there in washington. let's get more reaction to this now from armin rosen who is a senior reporter at tablet magazine — a jewish news website. very good review to join us on bbc news. i know this wave of anti—semitic attacks is something you have been covering over the last

months, i thought it poignant that one member of the jewish months, i thought it poignant that one member of thejewish community and monsey said he was shocked but not surprised by this latest attack. i think the only thing surprising about what we have seen in the last few weeks is how severe it has become. it has escalated to the point where people have actually died. if you look at the jersey city attacks. on the other hand, nothing has changed in the last six months andi has changed in the last six months and i started writing about this. the official response has been lacking according to a lot of people in the community, the attacks have continued frequently and there is no real agreed understanding as to why there has been such an uptick in these incidents. there is very little clarity in what is going on and why. that was going to be my next question, whether you had put together a theory as to what is happening with this rise of violence

and intolerance? what is important to understand about the wave of anti—semitic attacks which began in new york about two years ago, there is no proven connection between any of the attackers. it is no organisation driving this or hit movements in new york city which are pushing this. these are disconnected incidents but they're clearly connected on a larger sense because of theirfrequency, connected on a larger sense because of their frequency, their connected on a larger sense because of theirfrequency, their similarity and profile, the types of attacks, most of them street harassment, which has turned violent dozens of times in the past couple of years. there is a lot of commonalities between them but no real... it would between them but no real... it would be hard to pin down a relationship between any of them. anyone who has won clear explanation is

speculating, even now. in terms of the feeling in the jewish speculating, even now. in terms of the feeling in thejewish community, how would you describe the level of concern? there has been a level of concern? there has been a level of concern for the last year, year—and—a—half. i think part of the concern is just year—and—a—half. i think part of the concern isjust figuring year—and—a—half. i think part of the concern is just figuring out, year—and—a—half. i think part of the concern isjust figuring out, and inability to forget how to stop it. policing is the answer, self defence is the answer, a different kind of political organisation that these communities have not done before but nobody really knows and that is where some of the anxiety comes from. thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. well, police in london are investigating a racially motivated hate—crime which also took place during hanukkah. it follows the appearance of offensive graffiti in a number of locations in north london, including a synagogue and shop fronts. the images include a reference to 9/11 and an anti—semitic conspiracy theory over the new york attack. the conservative councillor for hampstead, oliver cooper, said he was sickened to find such

anti—semitism in his neighbourhood. no arrests have been made. the mayor of sydney says the city s famous new years eve fireworks display will go ahead — despite a call for the event to be cancelled because of the bushfires raging in parts of australia. more than a quarter of a million people have signed a petition urging the authorities to spend the money on fighting the blazes instead. more than 80 fires are still burning across large areas of new south wales. this report — from phil mercer in sydney — contains flashing images. it's arguably the world's most dazzling fireworks display, but thousands of people want sydney to scrap its new year's eve spectacular. they say it would be an insult and could traumatise some of those affected by the bushfire crisis. sydney's lord mayor, clover moore, said she shared the deep sympathies of those who'd signed the petition,

but stressed that the fireworks were planned months in advance and most of the budget had already been spent. so, barring catastrophic fire conditions in sydney on new year's eve, the event seems certain to go ahead. in—between now and then, the authorities are warning of severe—to—extreme fire dangers across much of south—eastern australia, much of the heavily populated parts of australia. that includes south australia, victoria, tasmania and new south wales, where more than 80 fires continue to burn. volunteers are a vital part of the emergency effort. for about £3,000 in compensation — for taking time off work to battle the blazes. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. this is a very prolonged fire season. this is putting additional demands on ourfirefighters 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. the money and the gesture from the government are broadly welcomed by the volunteers on the front line. it's tough. the payment isjust a recognition of what we're doing. it doesn't compensate us for what we're losing, but it's recognition. doing 12—hour shifts and it's really strenuous, hard work, you really do feel like you want to be helping, and you really do feel like you're obliged to do that. so, like, for me, it means i use my annual leave. their work is far from over. dangerous fire conditions and extreme heat are forecast for south—eastern australia from tomorrow. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. the cabinet office is contacting all those named in the new years honours list after their home addresses and contact details were accidentally published online. it has now apologised and referred the data breach to the regulator. the list included the addresses of politicians, military figures and counter terrorism officials,

as well as celebrities such as sir eltonjohn. our correspondentjohn mcmanus is with me now. this is very embarrassing for the government, is this now going to be a huge headache for them? i think it will be and it could be a huge financial headache as well because of the seriousness and sensitivity of the information. more than 1000 addresses were published of recipients of the owners list. some need to keep their details private, for example former military people, counterterrorist people, the former director of public prosecutions, all people who do not wa nt prosecutions, all people who do not want their details in the public eye and also celebrities who will be unhappy about this, sir eltonjohn and ben stokes as well. the cabinet

office has apologised and referred itself to the data watchdog. they may investigate and could levy a large fine on the government if it chooses. its powers were upgraded last year in 2018. they can now, as in the case of a british airways data breach, level of fine of £183 million so it is serious stuff and it goes after public bodies as well as private. it fined the london borough of newman, and in £45,000, a small amount but significant for local government as they accidentally disclose details of 200 people. this could be a financial headache for the government and there is another problem. because there is another problem. because there are celebrities on the list, some of them, very well—heeled, if they choose to go to court and sue they choose to go to court and sue the government this data breach, that would be an even larger bill for the government. two very serious

scenarios for the government at the moment. iain duncan smith who is being knighted and whose details we re being knighted and whose details were released says it was a complete disaster. there are calls for an investigation. this list is released every year so why did it go wrong this year? i know you will continue to monitor this because the story will run for —— will run for quite some time. thank you very much indeed. let us look at the headlines. the headlines on bbc news... five people are injured in a knife attack in new york state during hanukkah celebrations at the home of a rabbi. a quarter of a million people sign a petition calling for sydney's new year's eve fireworks to be cancelled

and the money spent fighting nearby bushfires instead as the nhs braces itself for the new year period — often its busiest time — a pioneering scheme in wales is aiming to take the pressure off hospitals and doctors surgeries. five members of the welsh ambulance service have graduated to become the uk s first advanced prescribing paramedics — and the team can be deployed across the nhs. our health editor hugh pym has been on the road with some of them. it enhances the role greatly and makes our role a lot more flexible. patients don't always phone 999 because they think they have a life—threatening emergency. i would probably see on average 19,20 patients a day and deal with them and the gp will have time for more complex patients. we can speak to them and rather

than put them in the back of an ambulance and just take them, we can get one of our cars to attend. mike is one of a new breed of prescribing paramedics, one of the first five. theirjob where possible is to keep people out of hospital. here he is called to a diabetic patient with an infected wound. you are an insulin dependent diabetic? he checks her medication and is able to adjust her pain relief so she can stay at home. a less qualified ambulance team might have to take her to accident and emergency. georgina is helping take the strain of gps, her shift on this occasion is in the surgery, seeing a range of different patients. with her new qualifications, she can write them prescriptions. previously, i would decide what they need but i would have to knock onthe doctor's door,

wait for them to finish with their patient but now, it is my decision, i am autonomous and can prescribe. it is like seeing the doctor, exactly like seeing the doctor. here at this ambulance control centre in south—east wales, 700 calls come in every day. some will be life—threatening cases but the challenge is to identify those patients that can be treated close to home and will not need to be taken to hospital. elton, another prescribing paramedic, is deployed here to help staff make the most efficient use of resources. he says with huge demands on the system, this new approach was essential. years ago anyone who phoned 999, we would take them to one of the emergency departments in the hospital but now the services overwhelmed so we have changed the way we approach the patients.

we deal with them more appropriately. caring for an ageing population with long—term conditions and complex health needs is an immense challenge for the nhs. empowering staff like this is one response, more will be trained in the drive to cope with the rising demand on the service. hugh pym, bbc news in south wales. us forces have carried out a series of attacks against sites in syria and iraq, operated by an iraqi militia group that's said to be backed by iran. the pentagon said the strikes were a response to a number of attacks by the kata'ib hezbollah organisation, targeting bases in iraq where us personnel are stationed. our middle east analyst, alanjohnston, is with me with more details... what has the pentagon said about these air strikes? this is a significant development. here you have americans going after an iraqi military organisation which the pentagon says is closely linked to

the iranians revolutionary guard. the penchant they went after this his brother organisation in five locations, three in iraq and two in syria. —— the pentagon. they say they went after command and control centres and weapons storage sites. the aim was to deter this organisation and limit the ability to act. the background is that the americans and their bases in iraq have been coming under a series of attacks on the last six weeks or more. the us secretary of state came out and warned that if the attacks continued there would be a firm response. two days ago there was a serious attack on a base where americans warehoused near the city of krkic, 30 rockets were coming down and one undertaking civilian contractor was killed and several servicemen winded. this seems to be

a direct response to that, hitting the organisation the americans blame for carrying out the attacks on their personnel in iraq. what can we expect to happen next? this is a very tense time i would say for all those us personnel based on various basesin those us personnel based on various bases in iraq. it is possible that in the days ahead we will see this organisation hit back and take revenge. we have not heard yet from the organisation yet, we do not north suffered casualties but that is possible. we have also not heard from the iraqi government. this militia organisation is nominally pa rt militia organisation is nominally part of the iraqi defence force and here you had the iraqi government, rusi, attacking iraqi personnel in iraq. we have also not heard from eran and any response to that

connection the pentagon is making between this militia and the iranians regime. a complex situation, thank you for talking is to it. let us look at other news. a missing firefighter‘s distinctive walk may help police track his movements before he disappeared. anthony knott went missing during a work night out in lewes in east sussex on december 20th. sussex police hope cctv footage of the "slight bounce" in his step willjog someone's memory. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is to go on hunger strike in solidarity with another dual national being held in iran. kylie moore—gilbert, a british—australian academic, started an open—ended hunger strike six days ago in protest at being sentenced to 10 years on espionage charges. she has been held in solitary confinement since october 2018, while ms zaghari—ratcliffe was jailed four years ago. the scottish writer and artist, alasdair gray, has died in hospital in glasgow

at the age of 85. gray blended themes of realism, fantasy, and science fiction, and often illustrated his own books, which included "janine" and "poor things". his first novel, lanark, took nearly thirty years to write and was described as "one of the landmarks of 20th—century fiction. " 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 on new year's eve they will return to ring in the new decade in london. tim muffett reports. it's 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 ben.

here it is, big ben, yes, indeed, all 13 tons of it. it's been quiet largely for the last few years. feels a bit odd? it does feel very odd. it's been way too quiet for my liking. that's ever ta ken place since it was first built. so, the clock mechanics are taking apart every single small piece and then putting it all back together, which hasn't been done before. so, a massive challenge for them. it's that clock mechanism which, for more than 150 years, activated the hammer that strikes big ben. so, for special occasions during the repairs, such as remembrance sunday and new year's eve, a new device has been needed. what we've got here is a tolling — automatic electric tolling motor, which obviously wouldn't have been available when this was first built. this produces the power needed to then lift the big ben hammer, which is, as i say, very heavy, 300, 400 kilograms, and strike it 12 times. last new year's eve, all went to plan. big ben bongs. are you nervous in the run—up to midnight? i think there's always got

to be a bit of nerves because it shows, one, that you care, and also, that it's obviously a really, really big moment. cheering. the new speaker of the house of commons, lindsay hoyle, has said he won't stand in the way if mps vote for big ben to also be struck on january the 31st, the day the uk's set to leave the eu. during a tumultuous time in british politics, hidden from view, this four—year refurbishment has continued. all of the stone that we put onto the tower is hard—carved, which is a phenomenal thing to say, brilliant, and it may take them between three and four weeks to produce a carving such as this crown that you can see along here. so, a real labour of love. so, this is the eastern clock face, high up the elizabeth tower, and the most striking thing is the colours. it's not the black paint we're familiar with, but gold and blue. so, we found that as we scratched back through the layers, we were scratching, basically going back through time, and found that this was the colour that it was originally. so, it's really exciting to find

that blue colour as we went back through the layers. and it's prussian blue. prussian blue, yeah. this is gold leaf. and we've reglazed the whole of the clock face with hand—blown opal glass. even standing here, on a rainy day, surrounded by scaffolding, you see that — that's one of the faces of elizabeth tower...big ben. yes. it's so iconic. to actually be able to stand here and — i won't touch the gold, but i will touch in between — it's — not many people can do that. in 2021, the scaffolding will disappear and the world's most famous bell will again be heard not just on special occasions, but every hour, every day. tim muffett, bbc news. coming up after sportsday — private eye's editor, ian hislopjoins the bbc‘s media editor amol rajan to look back on a fascinating year of front covers, cartoons and satire. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafenaker.

hello, it's been a mild and quite dear across the uk and tomorrow will be similar. a slight difference for scotla nd be similar. a slight difference for scotland and northern ireland. today we had some cloud and rain and perhaps tomorrow the clouds will be more substantial with more rain heading into the north—west of the uk. through tonight, you can see epics of rain on the western isles the bulk of scotland, northern ireland and the rest of the country. overnight temperatures, three or 4 degrees. where the clouds hang around it will be milder. here is the weather front for tomorrow, perhaps some rain in glasgow and edinburgh but for england and wales will be a dry day with temperatures around ten or 11 degrees. new year's eve looks dry as well. just watching

out for a bit of folk. goodbye. —— fog. a man has stabbed five people at the home of a rabbi in new york state — eyewitnesses said the attacker entered with his face covered, wielding a large knife

the mayor of sydney says the new year fireworks display will go ahead as planned — despite a petition calling for it to be cancelled because of nearby bushfires. we meet the uk's first paramedics trained to prescribe — in an effort to ease pressure on the nhs. and restoration work on big ben will pause for one night only, so its famous bongs can ring in the new decade in london. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello. thanks forjoining us on sportsday this evening. i'm ben croucher. these are your top stories: under the weather and underwhelming. england stumble to a first test defeat against south africa.

some things in football never change. liverpool win? tick. lots of var talking points? tick. the big stories from the premier league to come... and just how much does it mean to win at celtic park for the first time since 2010? just ask rangers' boss steven gerrard. a tough week wasjoe root‘s rather understated assessment as england crumbled to defeat in their first test against south africa. chasing an unlikely 376 to win, they lost their last seven wickets for 64 runs. adding insult to the illness that has struck the squad in centurion. jo currie reports.