tonight at 10pm. the governor of new york describes the knife attacks at a jewish celebration as an act of domestic terrorism. five people were injured — two seriously — at the home of an orthodox rabbi during hanukkah.

this is terrorism. it is domestic terrorism. these are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence. president trump has urged people to come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the scourge of anti—semitism. also tonight. as bushfires in australia worsen — sydney's famous new year fireworks display will go ahead despite calls for it to be cancelled. we meet the uk's first paramedics trained to prescribe — in an effort to ease pressure on the nhs. and england's cricketers have lost the first test against south africa in centurion.

good evening. 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 here in monsey to mark hanukkah, 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 running into the big room, which was on the left side,

and i threw tables and chairs and shouted he should get out of here. grafton thomas was arrested 30 miles away in manhattan. mr thomas, why did you do it? he has already appeared in court where he pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder. police in new york had stepped up their patrols in response to a series of anti—semitic attacks in recent weeks, and across the us, jewish leaders are concerned about what they say is an increase in hate crime. 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 be fuelled, at least in part, by anti—semitism. what are we waiting for? first, it wasjust verbal, and 0k, now, people are being murdered. now, people are being assaulted, now, people are being 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 that 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 violence. and chris is in washington for us this evening. strong words from the governor, partly because this is not an isolated event? very strong words from andrew cuomo, he said as far as he was concerned

racism, homophobia and bigotry were poisoning america. you can interpret those as being politically appointed given he is a democratic governor and democrats have accused president trump of causing division in this country. that will be strongly denied by the white house and they would point out even last month executive order to tackle anti—semitism on college campuses. there has been a strong statement in which he said people had to eradicate the scourge of anti—semitism. tonight there is a feeling something practical has to be done and the new york city mayor has announced plans to have extra security and policing in some neighbourhoods as well as proposals to teach about hate crime inside schools. perhaps that is an indication that this is about tackling attitudes in america as well as just violence. chris butler in washington for us. police in london are investigating a racially motivated

hate—crime which also took place during hanukkah. it follows the appearance of offensive graffiti at a number of locations in north london, including a synagogue and shop fronts. dan johnson reports. these are the marks of anti—semitic graffiti that appeared overnight in a part of north london with a largejewish community. the star of david sprayed on shops, phone boxes and a synagogue, alongside the numbers 9/11, an apparent reference to the warped conspiracy theory that jews were responsible for the world trade centre attack. to hit the synagogues here feels very, very personal. it feels like a real attack, it feels very threatening. and to wake up, the people who are members of the synagogue, to wake up in the morning and find their synagogue attacked like this is frightening. it is being treated as a racially— motivated hate crime. police say there will be extra patrols to reassure the community. so far, there have been no arrests. this has been particularly upsetting

because it comes during hannukah, a majorjewish festival. and although the graffiti has been washed away very quickly, it has left real concern amongst people here. there has been condemnation from politicians amidst warnings that hate crime of all kinds has increased across the country, including anti—semitism. tonight, the graffiti spray here has been replaced with positive messages of hope and support for this community. dan johnson, bbc news, hampstead, north london. the mayor of sydney says the city's famous new year's 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.

scorched and scarred, parts of australia have been left in ruins by the bushfires. flames up to a0 metres high tore through bilpin in the blue mountains near sydney. the intensity and scale of the fire crisis have unnerved many australians. thousands have signed a petition calling on sydney to scrap its dazzling new year's eve fireworks display. they insist the event would be an insult and could traumatise some of those affected by the bushfires. the city's lord mayor clover moore said the fireworks were planned months in advance and that 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. volunteers are a vital part of the emergency effort. many have been fighting the flames for weeks. the government says they will be able to apply for about £3,000 in compensation, for taking time off work to battle the blazes. this is a very prolonged crisis. this is putting additional demands on ourfire fighters in particular, and it means that the turnouts, the call—outs 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 volunteers on the front line. it is tough. the payment isjust a recognition of what we are doing. it doesn't compensate us for what we are losing but it is recognition. it is really strenuous,

hard work, you really do feel like you want to be helping, and you really do feel like you are obliged to do that. 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 year's honours list, after their home addresses were accidentally published online. the list of more than 1,000 recipients — including sir elton john, cricketer ben stokes, mp iain duncan smith and the former director of public prosecutions alison saunders — was uploaded to an official website on friday evening and removed around an hour later. the government has apologised and referred the data breach to the regulator. a british woman whose husband and two children drowned in a swimming pool in a spanish resort on christmas eve has said she may pursue an independent investigation, according to her lawyer.

a spanish police report said that tests had found nothing wrong with the pool — and suggested that gabriel diya, his nine—year—old daughter and 16—year—old son, had got out of their depth. let's go now to our europe correspondent gavin lee who's on the costa del sol. tell us more. what we are hearing today are two very different conflicting accounts of what was a family holiday that ended bizarrely in tragedy on christmas eve with three members of the family dying we are told from the police in spain in are told from the police in spain in a tragic accident. there was a lack of expertise of members of the family who could not swim, they say the nine—year—old girl from south london comfort had got in distress up london comfort had got in distress up to two metres deep in the swimming pool. her brother and father, praise—emmanuel and gabriel try to help her. within five minutes

they had drowned. what the mother 0lubunmi diya said returning to the uk, we are told she is in deep distress, returning with another daughter, is the family could swim, there were big problems potentially in the swimming pool. the lawyer has said there was no lifeguard and if one had been on a scene he claims all three members of the family could have survived. the first responders were cleaners who could not swim who waited for help. we should have a full report from the police investigation tomorrow morning giving clarity on what the police and investigation has concluded. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee. let's take a look at some of today's other news. a missile strike has killed at least five people at a military parade in southern yemen. the attack came at the end of a graduation ceremony for recruits to a force known as the security belt — which is part of the coalition that has fought with yemen's government

against the houthi rebels. officials have blamed the houthis for the strike. 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 ten years on espionage charges. she has been held in solitary confinement since october 2018, while ms zaghari—ratcliffe was jailed four years ago. 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 prescribing paramedics — and the team can be deployed across the nhs. 0ur health editor hugh pym has been on the road with some of them. it enhances the role greatly and it makes our role a lot more flexible.

patients don't always phone 999 because they think they have a life—threatening emergency. so, we probably see on average 19 or 20 patients a day and deal with them, and the gp will have time for those more complex patients. we can speak to them and say, rather than put them in the back of the ambulance and take them, how about we 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. so, you are an insulin—dependent diabetic, yeah? 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 had to take her to a&e. 0k? it was sore last night. georgina is helping take the strain off gps.

her shift on this occasion is in a surgery, seeing a range of different patients. with her new qualifications, she can write them prescriptions. previously, i would decide what they need and i would have to go and wait, knock on the doctor's door, wait for them to finish with their patient. whereas now it's my decision, i'm an autonomous, independent prescriber. very impressed with the paramedics. it's like seeing a doctor. exactly like seeing a doctor. they are qualified people, use them. here at this ambulance control centre in south—east wales, around 700 calls come in every day. some will be life—threatening cases, but the challenge is to identify those patients who can be treated closer to home and who won't need to be taken to hospital. you see that call in pontypridd... elton, another of the prescribing paramedics, is deployed here to make 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 calling 999, we would take them to one of the emergency departments in the hospital, but now we have overwhelmed the service, so, in response to that we have had to change the way we approach these patients and signpost 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 these 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. 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 30 years to write and was described as "one of the landmarks of

20th—century fiction. " with all the sport now, here's holly hamilton at the bbc sport centre. good evening. england's cricketers were set yet another improbable task — but this time, failed to conjure another miracle as they finished 2019 with a 107—run defeat in the first test against south africa. chasing a record 376, wickets fell quickly on day four as the hosts claimed their first victory in five tests. jo currie was watching. in a year full of special moments for england cricketers, could they squeeze in one more high before the end of 2019? 376 runs would be england's highest ever successful run chase, and joe denly set about putting a dent in it. but the man that south africa really wanted, rory burns, and they were not far from getting him. his innings yesterday had given england a chance but with a swipe and a grab he was out.

no century, but still a valuable 8a. like a lot of his team, joe root has been struggling with illness, but he looked on the road to recovery. he was about to lose his fellowjoe, joe denly, trapped lbw by dwaine pretorius. that meant the arrival of ben stokes, but what was left in the tank? it turns out just fumes. from the reaction of the south africans, and stokes himself, it shows how crucial this was. jonny bairstow following, it was starting to feel like south africa's day. joe root‘s dismissal only made that feeling stronger. with the captain gone, england put up little resistance. a difficult week on and off the field for the captain. we had to deal with a lot of things around the game itself, but we stood up, especially in the last two days, and we've really come out

and shown a lot of character. it's very frustrating that's all we've got to take from the game. england move on to cape town for the second test on friday. west ham will begin the new year under a familiar face — as the club confirmed david moyes is set to return as manager. his appointment comes less than 2a hours after manuel pellegrini's sacking. he's been reappointed on an 18—month contract and will be in charge on new year's day when they take on bournemouth at home. moyes led the hammers to premier league safety in a seven—month spell from november 2017. he says it's feels great to be home and can't wait to get started. on to today's action then — match of the day and sportscene follows the news. so, look away for a moment if you don't want to know today's results! starting wih the premier league. and chelsea staged a late comeback to beat arsenal while manchester city ground out a 2—0 win over sheffield united. liverpool restored their 13—point

lead at the top after beating wolves 1—0 — sadio mane the only name on the scoresheet after pedro neto's equaliser was disallowed by var for a marginal offside. so, liverpool's unbeaten run continues into the new year. rangers ended their long wait for victory at celtic park in the scottish premiership — claiming a 2—1 win to narrow the gap at the top. in what was another fiery old firm derby, steven gerrard's side took the lead through ryan kent before nikola katic scored the winner in the second half. it moves rangers within just two points of the league leaders with a game in hand. elsewhere, there were wins for livingston, hamilton and st mirren, while aberdeen drew at hearts, as did ross county at stjohnstone. exeter returned to the top of the english premiership after beating champions saracens with a superb defensive effort. two converted tries either side of the break — including this from nic white who won the race to the line in the first half — gave the hosts an early advantage.

sarries were awarded a penalty try in the final moments of the game to finish 14—7 — a result that moves exeter back above northampton. the semifinal lineup for the pdc world darts championship is complete. the defending champion michael van gerwen confirmed his place with a hard—fought 5—2 win over darius labanauskas this evening. he'll face nathan aspinall who'd earlier beaten dimitri van den bergh in his quarterfinal. the last spot went to gerwyn price who beat glen durrant in the last few minutes — he'll face peter wright. there's more on that and all today's stories on the bbc sport website — but from me, goodnight. reeta. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. now, on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are.

hello. this is bbc news. let's get more now on that knife attack in new york during thejewish celebration of hannukah, in which a man injured five people, two of them critically. the new york governor, andrew cuomo, has described it as "domestic terrorism". earlier my colleague, rachel schofield, spoke to armin rosen — a senior reporter at the tablet magazine — a jewish news website, who's been reporting on anti—semitic attacks there, for the past few months. nothing has really changed in the last five and a half months since 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 also no real agreed upon understanding as to why there has been such an uptick in these incidents.

there is very little clarity on exactly what is going on and why. that was going to be my next question, whether in the course of your reporting you had put together a theory perhaps as to what is happening with this rise of violence and intolerance? the most important to understand about the wave of anti—semitic attacks which began in new york about 18 months to two years ago, there is no proven connection between any of the attackers. there is no organisation driving this or no hate movements or activists in new york city that are seeding this from what we can tell. these are disconnected incidents but on the other hand they're clearly connected on a larger sense because of their frequency, their similarity and profile of the types of attacks, most of them street harassment, which has turned violent dozens of times over the past

couple of years. there is a lot of commonalities between them but there's no real... it would be very hard to pin down a causal relationship between any of it. anybody who has one real clear explanation is speculating, even now. in terms of the feeling in the jewish community, how would you describe the level of concern? there has been a level of concern for the last year, year—and—a—half. i think part of the concern isjust figuring out, and the inability to figure out how to stop it. is the answer more policing, is the answer self defence, is the answer a different kind of political organisation that these communities haven't really done before? i don't think anybody really knows and that is where a certain amount of the anxiety comes from. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at tomorrow's front pages shortly

and again at 11:30 this evening in the papers with robert fox, the defence editor of the evening standard, and ruth lea, economic adviser at arbuthnot banking. that's coming up after the headlines. time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. good evening, the final few days of 2019 should bring most of us fine, settled and reasonably mild weather. it was a lovely day on sunday for much of the country, this picture taken in somerset showing the blue sky and sunshine we had there. it is mild at the moment because we had all this air drifting in from the south—west, we have colder air out to the far northwest where those two air masses meet. there is a weather front bringing some patchy rain through tonight across north—western parts of scotland, perhaps a spot of rain or two later across the north coast of northern ireland too, but generally much of the uk is looking dry. clear spells across england and wales and we could just see a touch of frost as temperatures get

down to around three or 4 degrees. perhaps a little lower where those skies clear in more rural spots. monday morning, high pressure sitting across continental europe and a waving weather front across the north of the uk, bringing some rain initally to the western isles and aberdeenshire. later in the afternoon some of that rain pushing into northern ireland towards argyll and bute and the scottish borders, some sunnier fresher conditions to the north of that, but for england and wales, a dry day ahead after morning mist clears away. there should be some sunny spells breaking through that cloud and temperatures still on the mild side. 11 or 12 degrees for most of us. tuesday, new year's eve, is looking like a pretty decent day. the weather fronts in the north will have cleared away. we have still got a couple of spots of rain but across parts of the far south—west of england, perhaps south wales too but away from the south—west, a dry picture. most of the sunshine will be across the northern half of the uk. a little bit more cloud further south. still reasonably mild. if you have plans to head out and see fireworks for new year's eve, it is looking dry and clear. we could just see a bit of mist and fog drifting around

but certainly no rain or no strong winds spoiling those new year's eve celebrations. high pressure brings that mostly dry theme, be prepared for some mist and fog here and there. heading through new year's day on wednesday, high pressure sitting across europe is going to dominate our weather. we have weather fronts out to the far north—west of the uk, so breezy conditions perhaps for scotland, western parts of northern ireland but light winds elsewhere. cloud should thin and break to leave some sunny spells for new year's day afternoon and again, reasonably mild day for the time of year with highs of around seven to ten degrees. bye for now.

hello. this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment — first the headlines. a man has appeared in court in the us, afterfive people were stabbed at the home of a rabbi, in new york state — the governor calls it "domestic terrorism". the mayor of sydney says the new year fireworks display will go ahead as planned — despite a petition calling for it to be cancelled out of respect for those affected by the ravaging bushfires. the lawyer of a british woman — whose husband and two children