this is bbc news. the headlines: a british teenager is convicted by 3 cyprus court of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. the world will face irreversible heating unless firms shift their priorities soon — a warning from the outgoing bank of england governor. i would say we're in a climate crisis, just like a financial crisis. i think what's essential on this topic, on climate change, is that we have a cross—party, nonpartisan approach to it. too late to evacuate: thousands risk being cut off as scores of fires burn out of control across australia. a heatwave sees temperatures exceed a0 degrees in every state. this is a high—risk day for victoria. people, get out now.

if you don't, you've got to stay across the conditions and listen to those warnings. the search continues for father of four and firefighter anthony knott, who's now been missing for 10 days. doris day, clive james, toni morrison and albert finney — just a few of those whose lives are celebrated in review 2019: we remember, in half an hour's time. a court in cyprus has convicted a british teenager of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. the 19 year—old said she had been attacked in a hotel in ayia napa. she was arrested after police said she withdrew her accusation. joining me now from brussels is our europe correspondent,

kevin connolly. tell us what the judge had to say to her. essentially, this revolves around a judgment on this young woman as a witness. the district judge in famagusta has said that he has found her to be an unreliable witness and that in retracting her allegation of rape, she was effectively, in so doing, admitting that she had made up the allegation in the first place. so the whole affair revolves around the disputed circumstances of a night in a hotel room in cyprus injuly. this young woman was having a holiday romance with one israeli. she says she was gang raped by a group of his friends. they have always denied that. after they were released, she was questioned. the police say she changed her story, and it is that

changing of the story which lies at the heart of today's conviction under the cypriotjudge the heart of today's conviction under the cypriot judge of the heart of today's conviction under the cypriotjudge of public mischief, which is in effect falsifying a legal claim. so no sentence today, but a criminal conviction and a long appeals process to follow, i think. the woman, who was 19 at the time, says she was forced to admit to this. that's right. her lawyers are going to focus on the human rights aspect of this case, which is not so much about the disputed events in that hotel room, but how the woman was handled by the police and criminal justice system in cyprus afterwards. they are going to say she was questioned without a lawyer being present to represent her, that she was questioned for a long period of time stop she was hungry, traumatised, tired and distressed. and it is in those circumstances, and because of all of that, that she changed her story. they will also argue that retracting an allegation

is not the same as fabricating a church. so they are going to explore all of that —— it is not the same as fabricating a charge. it may go as far as the european court of human rights ultimately. today is certainly not the end of the road. kevin, thank you. joining me now from melbourne is michael polak, a lawyer who specialises in helping people caught up in legal difficulties while abroad. he's been working with the teenager during the case. thejudge didn't the judge didn't believe her. well, it's a worrying conviction for a number of reasons. it should be noted that none of the israeli youths were brought to court to give evidence about what happened in the hotel room that night. so what the court was left with was the evidence of the teenager about what happened. we say there was supporting evidence which shows that she was actually telling the truth. it is very worrying for a court to rely upon a

retraction statement given after more than seven hours in a police station without any legal representation and without any interpretation from somebody who was suffering from ptsd. we have got expert evidence from a well—known psychologist in ptsd, who said the teenager was suffering from ptsd and that people suffering with ptsd can make retraction statementjust to get themselves out of the situation in which they find themselves. and it is ordinary and normal for them to do so. so you are planning an appeal on what basis? are you saying the trial wasn't correctly performed? well, there are a number of reasons for appealing the decision. that includes how the judge approached the evidence in the case. a number of times through the hearing, he refused to hear evidence which went to whether a rape took place. he would say this is not

about a rape, i am place. he would say this is not abouta rape, iam not hearing place. he would say this is not about a rape, i am not hearing a rape case, i'm not interested in that evidence. but to be guilty of public mischief, it has to be an imaginary offence. so it is clear that one of the elements must be that one of the elements must be that she wasn't telling the truth about the rape. so we say that approach in itself means that she didn't have a fair trial because he had closed his mind to whether the rape had taken place. there are also other issues with regard to rye relying on a retraction statement when no lawyer was present. we say thatis when no lawyer was present. we say that is an important breach of both european union law, european union human rights law and also the cypriot constitution. as her lawyer, what would you say was behind that retraction, then? well, she was taken into the station on a day when the female police officer who she had been dealing with wasn't available. and we said that wasn't by chance. she was taken by two male

police officers to the police station and was told she couldn't leave. there are snapchat messages she sent to her friends saying, they say they are going to arrest all of you. they say i'm not entitled to a lawyer here, i can have a lawyer in england but not in cyprus. they say ifi england but not in cyprus. they say if i retract my statement, they will let me go home. if i don't, the next timei let me go home. if i don't, the next time i see my mother i will be in the courtroom. so there was an enormous amount of pressure placed upon her to make that retraction statement. nothing in the police station in cyprus was recorded, and it is hard to believe a modern country in the european union doesn't record anything which happens in the police station. it is a choice cyprus has made not to record things in the police station. there is no audio recording or visual recording. so it means whatever happens in the police station can't be looked into by a court properly. i think her family spent time with her over christmas. she gets sentenced on the 7th of january. she could be going to

prison. it's possible that she could go to prison. she spent four and a half months in nicosia prison in a shared cell, which is a very difficult situation for a teenager to be in. we hope that any prison sentence will be suspended, but we are not sure what the court will do. amol, thank you very much. —— michael, thank you very much. the outgoing governor of the bank of england, mark carney, has said financial companies are failing to act quickly enough to curb their investment in fossil fuels. in an interview with this programme, he says some financial assets could end up "worthless" if investment firms do not adjust to a zero—carbon economy. mr carney is due to start a new role next year as the un's special envoy for climate action and finance. it's talked about 2020 being a decade of action absolutely necessary on climate change. we want action on the finance side. we want, on that disclosure, companies doing that disclosure.

we want that to become the norm. it's important that you and i, people watching, can understand how our money's being invested. is it being invested consistent with the transition path that is the law of the land that is what our citizens want, which is that we're transitioning in a way that will stabilise the climate? you will spend a lot of 2020 working on the climate as part of your un role in the run—up to the glasgow summit. i wonder why you choose not to use the term "climate emergency". i would say we're in a climate crisis, just like a financial crisis, where action needs to be taken. this is a slow—burn crisis, if you will, so it's more difficult to act because you don't have the public spectacle of a failing bank or queues outside a building society or those types or those types of tangible, the markets moving

around, the tangible ways that force action. that's part of the challenge. that's the tragedy of the horizon. you have taken a fair amount of flak in this role on various different on various different fronts, including from mps. i wonder if you think, as you look at this country, whether we have enough truth in our political debate, enough truth in our brexit debate? i think what's essential on this topic, on climate change, is that we have a cross—party, nonpartisan approach to it, that the science is clear, that the type of transition that we have been talking about, that we get as specific as possible about what's needed. we can't afford, on this one, to have selective information, to have spin, misdirection, misleading. it needs to be absolutely clear, because we are all in on it. i'm also seeing it in the light

of other challenges that we have, and i wonder how difficult you think the next stage of brexit might be, trade deals? well, i would like to think that we will turn a page as we move to the next stage. those deals will be developed in the context of a very shifting global environment for trade. the global trading system is fragmenting. we should be clear about that. because of the us, and china? there's a variety of forces, but the nexus of that is because of that relationship. but it is absolutely broadening. the broadcaster and naturalist sir david attenborough has paid tribute to climate change activist greta thunberg in an interview for radio 4's today programme. the 16—year—old and 93—year—old spoke to each other via the internet

about their worries and fears over lack of action on tackling climate change. speaking to sir david, greta said she was inspired by him to make a change by watching his programmes. when i was younger, when i was maybe eight, nine, ten years old, the thing that made me open my eyes to what was happening with the environment and the climate was films and documentaries about the natural world and what was happening, what was going on. so that has been an eye—opener for me, and that was what made me realise the situation. so thank you for that, because that was what made me decide to do something about it. it's very flattering that you should say that. a lot of people didn't.

the trouble is, politicians are just concerned about tomorrow and the day after. and when you say there is a big danger looming in 20 years' time and we have to do something now, they say yes, of course, we will do it the day after tomorrow. and it's the same even now. here we are. in britain, we have just had a general election, and you would think that if you think the same way that you andl if you think the same way that you and i do, that the most urgent thing is to deal with this problem. was it mentioned in the election? hardly at all. the only reason that it has been mentioned even that much is because of you. you have woken up the world. we need to highlight the gap between what the science course for and what is actually being done. lam nota for and what is actually being done. i am not a scientist, in the sense that i have not devoted much of my life to climate science. what i want to do and what i have been doing all

my life is making programmes about animals and natural history, because it is fun and that is what i like doing. and i am sure you like sitting down watching creatures and natural world. we don't want to spend our time marching on the streets. but we have to, and you have shown great courage in doing that. i don't know why people are listening to me. i don't know how long it will last, ijust know that right now people are listening to me andi right now people are listening to me and i need to use that opportunity and i need to use that opportunity and to try to get out as much as i can during that time. of course, it isa can during that time. of course, it is a problem repeating these things over and over again. that's what you need to do because they are obviously not listening, and you need to repeat it until people get it, until it is being understood.

greta thunberg and sir david attenborough. raging bush fires are burning out of control across australia, with authorities in the state of victoria saying it's now too late for people to evacuate. yesterday, tens of thousands of residents and tourists were told to leave due to worsening conditions. in the past hour, the rural fire service in new south wales has confirmed that a volunteer firefighter has died and two firefighters have suffered burns whilst tackling a blaze. it is believed that their truck rolled when it was hit by extreme winds. officials are predicting another day of extreme danger — with soaring temperatures and a change of wind direction. briony sowden has this report. an unprecedented step in unprecedented bushfire conditions. as emergency level blazes flare across victoria state, tens of thousands of holiday—makers are told to get out. this is a high—risk day for victoria. this is a day we do not often see.

our state is dry. it's going to be very hot and very windy. people, get out now. if you don't, you have to stay across the conditions and listen to those warnings through the day. temperatures above a0 degrees and changes in wind direction are pushing destructive bushfires closer to towns and homes in already dry, tinderbox conditions. victorian authorities are most concerned about two out of control bushfires which have merged in popular tourist spot, east gippsland. the blaze is within a few kilometres of the only highway into and out of the area, and there are fears that that road could be cut off. it's hot and windy and there was a lot of smoke about and a lot of fires still going, so i'm best off camping down here until it's over. we would prefer to be safe. if we got stuck here, it would be a big problem for us. a warm front has pushed mercury levels above a0 across south—eastern australia,

with fire warnings stretching from west to south australia and into tasmania. the biggest blazes are raging in new south wales, where two mega—blazes have now encircled the country's most populated city, sydney. in the blue mountains, flames up to a0 metres high tore through bilpin, leaving a trail of devastation. it had escaped from the fire. thankfully, it wasn't burnt. the bushfires have had catastrophic impact on wildlife and their habitat. some experts estimate up to half a billion animals may have perished in the flames. all four paws are burned. her nose has been burnt. her ears are both burnt. all of that, i'm ok with. i mean, i'm sure she's not ok, but she's on pain meds, but she's ok with it. my biggest concern is the eyes. this eye closest to me, her right eye, looks like it certainly has smoke damage. in new south wales, the warm weather is forecast to peak on new year's eve, with some relief

expected on wednesday. well, sydney's iconic new year's eve fireworks will go ahead after the new south wales rural fire service granted organisers an exemption from a total fire ban. our sydney correspondent shaimaa khalil has more. here in the sydney harbour, preparations are well under way for new year's eve celebrations. thousands of tourists have packed the place, getting ready for the events. however, this year it has been particularly controversial. the issue of fireworks in particular, and this is because more than 300,000 people have signed a petition saying this is not the right thing to do. this is not the time, given the bushfire crisis and given the fact that nearly 100 fires are raging across new south wales, with the biggest one surrounding sydney. this as well as temperature is being expected to rise above a0

celsius across new south wales into tuesday, which is new year's eve, and more fires are expected with the worsening conditions. elsewhere in southern australia, specifically in the state of victoria, more than ten emergency fire warnings have been issued. the area that was under the most threat throughout the day has been the area of east gippsland on the east coast of victoria. we have seen temperatures soar. we have seen the wind grow stronger and change direction and people have been told it is now too late to evacuate the area. this is a popular tourist destination. about 30,000 people have been holidaying in the area. we are expecting temperatures to kill a bit towards the end of the day in victoria but for now, —— we are expecting temperatures to cool, but the danger is not over. the headlines on bbc news... a british teenager is convicted by a cyprus court of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. the world will face irreversible heating unless firms shift their priorities soon. that's the warning

from the outgoing bank of england governor, mark carney. raging bush fires are burning out of control across australia, with authorities in the state of victoria saying it's now too late for people to evacuate. temperature are exceeding a0 degrees in every state. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane dougall. good morning. liverpool are now unbeaten in 50 home league games — that's after their win over wolves. they'll end 2019 top of the premier league, 13 points ahead of second placed leicester, wolves incredibly unhappy with the way the decisions went. referee anthony taylor ruled that sadio mane's goal should be disallowed for handball by adam lallana but var overruled it and the goal stood. wolves then thought they had scored an equaliser, but pedro neto's goal was ruled out because jonny‘s foot was offside in the build up.

you don't get clarification of what is happening. they don't tell you what is going on. how far off side is he? we don't know. it is so tough to take, and it has happened twice in the last two games. we have had to play the best two teams in the world in three days and these decisions are running against us. it's difficult and on an emotional level, you are up and down. you're not sure what to do. i'm sure the process could be quicker and a bit more smooth, but it's all about getting the right decision at the end of the day. 2—0 at the etihad. the goals came from sergio aguero and kevin de bruyne. city are third in the table, 1a points behind liverpool and have played a game more. chelsea had a stunning comeback to beat arsenal 2—1.

the gunners were 1—0 up with less than ten minutes to go at the emirates when chelsea struck throuthorginho and tammy abraham. david moyes says he has unfinished business at west ham after being appointed to manage the club for a second time. moyes kept the hammers in the premier league during six months as caretaker manager at the club two years ago. he's replaced manuel pellegrini who was sacked after saturday's home defeat by leicester. rangers won at celtic for the first time since 2010, beating them 2—1 at celtic park in the scottish premiership. nikola katic scored the winner in the second half of a typically explosive match. rangers are now 2 points behind celtic and have a game in hand. stephen gerrard's side haven't lost in the league since celtic beat them in september. you can see how much it meant to him. england's test cricketers finished off a dismal 2019 with another defeat. they lost by 107 runs to south africa in the first

test at centruion. chasing a total of 376 for victory, england were bowled out for 268. in the year that the one day team won their first world cup, the test side have lost 6 of their 12 test matches — winning just a. they'd played through this test with illness affecting several members of the team. everything has been thrown at this group on and off the field this week. we have worked really hard to deal with that. in many ways, it feels that will stand us in good stead. hopefully, the illness is through the camp now and the guys can do is prepare for that test matched. and we can look at putting in more of a performance from yesterday night into the whole week. michael van gerwen is a step closer to successfully defending his title at the world darts championship. he's through to the semi finals at alexandra palace after beating darius la ba nauskas 5—2. van gerwen now faces

england's nathan aspinall. and after her success at the world championships, fallon sherrock will be the first women play in the world series of darts next year including the us darts masters in new york, that's all the sport for now. police in sussex are into the tenth day of searching for a father of four who disappeared after a night out with friends. firefighter anthony knott hasn't been seen since the 20th of december. his fiancee says she feels numb, not knowing what's happened to him. jon ironmonger reports. ten days gone, anthony knott‘s disappearance remains a total mystery. a firefighter with the london fire brigade, the 33—year—old went missing during a work night out in lewes in sussex on the 20th of december. he'd been to various pubs in the town and was last seen leaving the lamb just after 7pm.

he is a family man, he loves hisjob, he loves his friends, he loves his kids. it's christmas. this isn't something that he would intentionally do. he wouldn't want to stay away, so that's why we are extra worried because it's. .. it's just... it'sjust not like him. and we're thinking... we're just thinking the worst. search teams have scoured the nearby river 0use which was flooded in recent days, but have found nothing. police say there's no evidence to suggest anthony has left the town, or that his disappearance was the result of criminal activity. they have now released this cctv, which shows him walking with a distinctive bounce in his step, in the hope it could jog someone's memory. the emergency services are expected to continue searching for their colleague this morning. jon ironmonger, bbc news. we have got to keep an open mind, but there has been no contact with

his family and we know that would be very out of character. the emergency services are expected to continue searching for their colleague this morning. jon ironmonger, bbc news. for more on this, we can go live now to james waterhouse in lewes. at the moment, this is a mystery? that is fair to say. police have said this case is unusual firstly because of the sheer amount of time that anthony knott has been missing, ten days now. it was the 20th of december when his christmas do with taking place. secondly, it was out of character. you had in that report that his family say he loved both his family and his work. he seemed happy at the time of him being dropped off and you see him carrying about his normal business on the cctv. so police say they are keeping an open mind because they have to, because all possibilities are being explored. in the meantime, this distinctive walk he is said to have had, they are hoping that

description mightjog had, they are hoping that description might jog the had, they are hoping that description mightjog the memories? yeah, they are putting the focus on that. he apparently walks on the balls of his feet, so they are urging members of the public to recollect their memories to see if they saw him at the time of his disappearance. there are posters dotted all around lewis with anthony's image and a message underneath urging him to get in touch. around the time of his disappearance, the area around here, the river 0use and an open—air swimming pool were all affected by heavy floods at the time. so now, as those waters subside, the police are thanking the public for their support. they said the response has been outstanding but they are urging people to stay safe as they try and help with the search, because they are now searching an area just north of lewes, where the water has now subsided, forfurther of lewes, where the water has now subsided, for further clues. but for his friends and family, it has been ten days that he has been missing and of course over the cosmos

period. thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. this morning we have had some mist and fog patches around, which will slowly lift as we go through the morning. if you have stuck with clear skies, there is a good chance that you will hang onto them. but we do have some rain in the north. that rain is currently moving across scotla nd rain is currently moving across scotland and northern ireland, eventually getting into northern england as a weaker band. behind it, rings will brighten up and ahead of it, we will see sunny skies. the far southis it, we will see sunny skies. the far south is hanging on to cloud. this evening, that band of cloud and rain sinks further south, eventually ending up as just sinks further south, eventually ending up asjust a band of sinks further south, eventually ending up as just a band of cloud. sinks further south, eventually ending up asjust a band of cloud. a cloudy night for england and wales, but as we move into northern areas, we have clearer skies, so a colder

night and we have clearer skies, so a colder nightand a we have clearer skies, so a colder night and a touch of frost. for new year's eve, it will be dry for most of us, but some showers in the south—west.

hello, this is bbc news with simon mccoy. the headlines... a british teenager is convicted by a cyprus court of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. the world will face irreversible heating unless firms shift their priorities soon. that's the warning from the outgoing bank of england governor, mark carney. i would say we are in our climate crisis, just like the financial crisis. what is essential on this topic, climate change, we have cross— party, topic, climate change, we have cross—party, nonpartisan approach to it. raging bush fires are burning out of control across australia,