this is bbc news. the headlines at 6.00pm: a cyprus court convicts a 19—year—old british woman of lying, after telling police she'd been gang—raped by 12 men. a warning that the planet faces irreversible warming, unless businesses shift their priorities soon. that's according to the outgoing bank of england governor, mark carney. authorities in australia are forced to cancel the evacuation of residents, as bushfires continue to rage. police investigating the deaths of three british tourists, who drowned in a pool in spain on christmas eve, say it was an accident and that the case can now be closed. also, we speak to greta thunberg, the teenager who spearheaded a global movement against climate change, who's calling for more action and less talk. we, climate activists,

are being listened to, but that doesn't mean that what we are saying is translated into action. a 19—year—old british woman has been found guilty of lying about being raped by a group of men in cyprus. the teenager was arrested after withdrawing a claim that she was attacked by 12 israeli men, at a hotel in the resort of ayia napa injuly. she was found guilty at a court today, of the charge of causing public mischief, and could face a custodial sentence. but the woman said police compelled her to make a false confession, something they deny, and the woman's lawyers say

they are planning to appeal. our europe correspondent, kevin connolly, has the story. his report does contain flash photography. when these legal proceedings began, the young british woman at the heart of the case was a victim, making a complaint of rape. she came to court today to be found guilty of making a false statement about what the law in cyprus says was an imaginary crime. her lawyers say both the police investigation and the court process were flawed. we believe that there have been many violations in the procedure and the rights to a fair trial for our client have been violated. we are planning to appeal the decision to the supreme court, hoping that our client will find justice in cyprus, at least from the supreme court. these young israeli tourists were released from police custody and allowed to fly home after the woman retracted

her allegation of rape. she said she only did so because she was put under huge pressure by police questioning, and she was vulnerable and didn't have a lawyer. women's rights activists outside the court argued that the young woman was a victim, not a criminal. some wore scarves showing lips stitched together — a reminder, they say, that women's voices are not being heard. they say this case is not over. translation: we are here to show our support and solidarity to the victim of this process. the young woman, who has now been convicted, hasn't been allowed to leave cyprus sincejuly. she's been told she will be sentenced on january 7th, when she could be jailed for a year. 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 the today programme on radio 4, 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. the uk is co—chair of cop26, a big meeting in glasgow. we want action on the finance side. we want three things. on that disclosure, companies doing that disclosure... we want that to become the norm. we want all public companies to do that disclosure. we want to do something about the banks, i'll come back to that, if you wish. but then the third thing which goes to this investment is, it's important that you and i, people watching, can understand how our

money's being invested. a 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? a volunteer firefighter has died battling wildfires in the australian state of new south wales — bringing the total number of dead to ten. about 30,000 residents and tourists were urged to flee an area east of melbourne — but evacuations were later deemed too risky as fires encroached on major roads. officials say a fast—moving fire is now threatening homes and lives in melbourne's northern suburbs. as a heatwave continues to grip the country, temperatues have exceeded a0 degrees celsius in every state. the most dangerous bushfires today are in the state of victoria, where 70 new blazes have begun since yesterday.

since the fires began in september, four million hectares of bush have been destroyed. the fires are wreaking havoc on australia's wildlife, with 10,000 koalas dead so far. it's feared that worsening weather conditions — including strong winds and lightning strikes — could make the situation even worse. shaimaa khalil reports from sydney. this is what scorching temperatures, strong winds and thunderstorms have done to vast areas of the state of victoria, with blazes rapidly expanding and firefighters rushing to control them. as the temperatures soar to the mid—40s and the winds change direction, some fires were too fast and too big to contain. officials said the wind—driven flames were racing towards the coast and had moved faster than predicted. what we've seen up until today is more than 70 new fires in the state. more than 20 of those are going fires at the moment. we have got a long way to go.

we're only partway through the day in terms of the fire risk to the state and to our communities. the east gippsland region is a popular tourist destination, and it has seen the worst of the fires. thousands of holidaymakers and residents have heeded the authorities‘ calls to evacuate earlier in the day, trying to beat the speeding blazes in the area. so we decided last night to leave nungera — family farm, leave there, because it takes so long to get the 30 of us anywhere at once. and yeah, evacuated here, so that we were all safe for the day and see how it all pans out, i guess. it's hot and windy and there's a lot of smoke about and a lot of fires still going, so i'm best off camping down here until it's all over, i think. in new south wales, a volunteer firefighter died battling a blaze. two others were taken to hospital with burns. this, as the state braces itself for another heat wave. temperatures are expected to rise

above a0 celsius in parts of new south wales for tuesday. already, there are nearly 100 fires raging across the state, with the biggest ones surrounding sydney. this is why the issue of fireworks has been so controversial this year. nearly 300,000 people signed a petition saying it's just not the right thing to do, given the bushfire crisis. and while other areas and towns around the city have cancelled theirs, the famous sydney new year's eve fireworks are going ahead as planned. with weather conditions set to worsen throughout the country's hot, dry summer, australia heads into the new year under relentless fire threats. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. lets turn again to our main story

this hour, that of the 19 your woman who has been accused of lying about her rape allegation. someone has said they are seriously concerned in what they have described as a deeply distressing case, of the case of a british woman being accused of lying about rape in syria. —— in cyprus. sirius can turn out from the uk foreign office about what they call the fair trial guarantees, in that case in cyprus. new york mayor bill de blasio has announced a series of measures to tackle anti—semitic attacks after saturday's stabbings. he said security would be stepped up injewish areas and schools would teach students to tackle hate. at least five people were injured in the knife attack at a rabbi's house in new york state on saturday. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent, michelle fleury, who is in new york.

so we have heard the mayor say there is no room the hate, and he intends to introduce new measures to combat this. those include increased police presence on the streets, in a neighbourhood where there is a higherjewish community. williamsburg in brooklyn, for instance. he is also talking about things like light towers. there are already 15 up, six more cunning. they are talking about increasing, or creating a neighbourhood safety coalition. essentially something like a neighbourhood watch, which brings together people from the community, the idea being that it is people notjust from one group, but from multiple groups, who can try and spot warning signs before things turn to violence. the other measure that he has introduced is this idea of trying to get to young people early, and to educate them about hate, hate crimes, the dangers of them. and so, that means introducing a new curriculum, which they say

will start in certain communities in brooklyn within the next month. what is the state of the investigation into this specific attack? well, we're still waiting for new developments. this is an ongoing investigation, but we have been hearing and learning a bit more about this suspect, notably, his lawyer put out a statement saying that he has no history of anti—semitism and that, if anything, he has a history of mental health. we are going to wait and try to find out more details about what that means exactly, but that does give some sort of insight because, of course, the motivation is something that the authorities will be looking into. into the gentleman who has been arrested. police in spain have concluded their initial investigation into the deaths of a british father and his two children. gabriel diya, his 9—year—old daughter, comfort, and his 16—year—old son,

praise—emmanuel, died at a swimming pool in fuengirola on christmas eve. a police spokesman told the bbc that there was no need for further investigation, because it was a freak accident and the case can now be closed. 0ur correspondernt, gavin lee, is outside the resort on the costa del sol, with more on that police report. they have given their initial conclusion and we will not see a public account of that until at least thursday. the police spokesperson has said that this is a freak and tragic accident and it is something that the hotel holds no responsibility for, it is something that they have found was just an occurrence based on the lack of ability of the family to swim and, he said, as far as he is concerned, as far as the force is concerned, there is not much more we can do, it is case closed. certainly, the conflicting accounts that we are hearing from the family are striking. the mother, the surviving wife

of gabriel, stated she believed there was a fault with the swimming pool. there are three swimming pools here. the lawyer has said that he will insist, this has been caused by two factors. in the space of a week, there haven't been any testimony from the two witnesses. a mess from the police. and they are both british tourists and one is in lancashire, a miss from the police. we have also had some new details from the lawyer for the family, who said that at the time of the

accident, it was 2.00 on christmas eve, in about five minutes it was the time that took the three family members to drown. he said that two members of the family, the six nearby and his family, were 6—foot, just ten centimetres shorter than the maximum of the pool. the younger sister, who survived, she ran out of the pool to get one of the life buoys and she had problems untying it, and her family members were dead by the time she returned. the first to the scene were three cleaners. the police have been back today, investigators around the pool as well, talking to some of the hotel staff. we have seen attributes as well, roses and flowers by the poolside. counter terror police have arrested five men on suspicion of terrorism offences. the arrests took place in london, manchester and peterborough this morning — where a number of addresses are also being searched. police say the arrests

are not linked to new year's eve celebrations or the attack at fishmongers' hall in november. police searching for the missing firefighter anthony knott, say they still have no idea where he went after he was last seen. the father of four, from kent, disappeared on december 20th after going to a pub with friends in lewes in east sussex. the headlines on bbc news: a british teenager has been convicted by a cyprus court of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. her lawyers say she will apeeal. the outgoing head of the bank of england, mark carney, has said the financial sector is being far too slow to curb investment in fossil fuels. dozens of fires are burning out of control across australia as temperatures exceed a0 degress in every state. the 16—year—old campaigner greta thunberg has called on the british government to ensure

that crucial climate talks in glasgow, next year, succeed in combatting global warming. she's been talking to the bbc at the end of a year in which she became known around the world for spearheading a youth movement pressing for more action on climate. mishal husain went to stockholm to meet her. she's the girl who galvanised the children to go on strike from school, and people of all ages to march, pushing for more action to control a warming world. it's a mission that has taken greta thunberg around the globe, becoming a distinctive but also a divisive figure. i haven't really grasped what's happened during this last year. i am being listened to, and we climate activists are being listened to, but that doesn't mean that what we are saying is translated into action. she spoke at the recent cop25 un climate talks in madrid,

part of the system under which countries make pledges to cut carbon emissions. with the next summit taking place in glasgow, she wants the british government to make sure it succeeds. since the cop25 failed, that just puts c0 p26 into a different light. we, and they, must do everything they can to make sure that it doesn't fail. it was outside the swedish parliament in stockholm that greta's activism began as she sat with a sign saying, "school strike for climate." when she decided to do this, we said, you know, quite clearly, that we would not support it. we... "if you're going to do this, you're going to do it by yourself." why did you say that? well, obviously, we thought it was a bad idea, putting yourself out there with all the hate on social media... you wouldn't want that as a parent. greta was 12 when she was

diagnosed with asperger‘s. she's also suffered from depression. her father says her activism transformed her. i can see greta is very happy from doing this, and i saw where she was before. i mean, she didn't speak to a single person. she could only eat in her own home. she changed. and she could do things that she could never have done before, and now she'sjust like any other... you think, er, she's...not ordinary now, because she's special and she's very famous and all these things, but to me, she's now an ordinary child, she can do all the things that like other people can, and she's happy. but some of the most prominent advocates for the planet see her as extraordinary, the person who has brought urgency to the climate debate. i'm very grateful to you. we all are. it's now on the front line, and you've put it there and the motto, which is, "the world

belongs to young people," is a very powerful one, and you have made it an argument that people haven't been able to dodge. she is still only 16, and her high profile has meant scrutiny and criticism. some see her as unrealistic, a teenager who ought to be in school. on that, she can agree. i hope i don't have to be a climate activist any more. i am really looking forward to going back to school and to just be like a normal teenager. but of course, this isn't normal. . .situation. and we must all do things that we may not feel comfortable doing — we need to step out of our comfort zones. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday.

hello and welcome to sportsday, with me sarah mulkerrins. david moyes says he aims to give west ham no choice but to extend his 18 month contract after being appointed as the club's manager. he kept the club in the premier league in his first stint in charge, a six month spell as caretaker manager two years ago. he returns to replace manuel pellegrini who was sacked after saturday's defeat by leicester. and he believes he still has plenty still to offer the club as jo currie reports. when you're struggling at the wrong end of the league table, sometimes it is best to stick to what or who you know.

what anybody is getting here with me isa what anybody is getting here with me is a very experienced manager. arguably, there are only two or three people who have more experience in the premier league. so if you are putting it that way, that is what i do. i win. he if you are putting it that way, that is what i do. iwin. he made if you are putting it that way, that is what i do. i win. he made his name in the top flight at everton, where he spent ten years. then he went on to spend ten months at manchester united in 2017, before being let go and relegated with sunderland. but after the failed appointment of pellegrini, west ham have come calling once again. david never wanted to leave west ham in the first place, despite banning them to safety, the owners decided not to renew his contract. now he returns, with a point to prove. why bring him back to 18 months after getting with him? if you can do the

job, good on him. a new guy, and you start. with west ham hovering one point above the relegation zone and due to host bournemouth on new year's day. this will be the test. football's law—makers say var shouldn't be "too forensic" when it comes to offsides — and should only be used to reverse "clear and obvious" errors. lukas brud, general secretary of ifab, which sets out the laws said: "with var we see some things that are going in a direction that we may need to re—adjust." five goals in the premier league were ruled out at the weekend for marginal offsides, leading some managers and players to criticise the system. brighton manager graham potter weighed in today — suggesting referees and linesman could be replaced by drones and artificial intelligence. the next thing we are going to do is probably get rid of referees, get rid of the linesmen because we want everything so correct. i don't understand why we want that, but if the next thing we are going to do is probably get rid of referees,

we want everything so correct, then in the end, just do away with referees, linesmen, put drones up, use computers, artificial intelligence... which i'm sure will get all the decisions correct, but i don't will really like football any more. i think football at times is really unfair, but that is what is so good at it. it is like life. sometimes you get at the end of a wrong decision, and you have to get on with it. to take that decision away from the game, it is changing the game. in scotland — rangers have repeated their call for the introduction of var following sunday's premiership victory over celtic. they believe scottish referees need additional help if they are to get more of the big decisions correct and the club is convinced var would provide that extra assistance. the clubs says in recent weeks, rangers has suffered from errors ofjudgment but it is our strong view that var would be to the benefit of everyone

and in particular the referees themselves. rangers is aware of the financial argument against var but the cost to clubs which suffer from such game—changing decisions and the integrity of our game must also be given priority. what a season it's been so far for leicester — they finish 2019 second in the premier league table and travel to play newcastle on new year's day. they had their season put into perspective by successive defeats against reigning champions manchester city and liverpool but manager brendan rodgers is taking the positives heading in to a new year. the last two games were never going to ta ke the last two games were never going to take away what this group are doing at the moment. like i said to them, we start the new year today, in terms of the second part of the season, and i think 2020 can be a really exciting time for us. we've got a big month of gains and semifinals, and of course, our

objective is to get to wembley, so... objective is to get to wembley, so... but our focus above everything, it is our next game. like i say, it is a really exciting time for the club. let's take a quick look at some other stories making the news today. india will compete at the birmingham 2022 commonwealth games after fears its athletes could boycott the event when shooting was omitted from the schedule. the announcement comes after commonwealth games federation officials held talks with indian representatives in new delhi. 0njanuary 2nd alan pardew will be presented as the new head coach of ado den haag, together with assistent coach chris powell and technical advisor martin jol. pardew takes charge with den haag two points off the bottom of the eredivisie. he may have missed out on this year's ballon d'0r but cristiano ronaldo has finished 2019 with another accolade. thejuventus striker has won dubai's globe soccer‘s best player of the year award. there was also a first—ever women's

award and it went to england and lyon right—back lucy bronze. to the nfl now, as the regular season is all done and dusted — we're heading into the playoffs for a spot in super bowl 5a and the champions last season — the new england patriots have missed the chance to earn a bye for the first round. they were upset at home by the miami dolphins — it's the first time in 10 seasons they'll have to play a wild card game. lydia campbell reports. these are not the scenes at the patriots were expecting at the end of the season. they were defeated by a team who they bought —— beat a0—0 earlier in the air. a touchdown with less tha n earlier in the air. a touchdown with less than 30 seconds left is what earlier in the air. a touchdown with less than 3c fate. 1ds left is what earlier in the air. a touchdown with less than 3c fate. now, it is what earlier in the air. a touchdown with less than 3c fate. now, the what earlier in the air. a touchdown with less than 3c fate. now, the patriots sealed theirfate. now, the patriots have a wild card match against the

tennessee titans, a much harder route. i don't think there is any one particular thing, obviously... turning the ball over, but i don't think we did a good enoughjob. i certainly didn't do a good enough job. teams in the wild card round rarely have super bowl success. since 1970, only ten teams have reached the final match, and at those teams, only six had actually w011. those teams, only six had actually won. the last time this happened was backin won. the last time this happened was back in 2010, when the packers beat the steelers to win the super bowl title. it is not how the patriots would have wanted to continue their season, but if they do defend their title in the wild card round, perhaps it would be their sweetest super bowl victory yet.

that is all from us here. we will have more throughout the evening. another mild day across most of the uk. having said that, a touch of frost tonight across northern part of the country. winds are clearing, temperatures dropping as well. some areas like belfast could be below freezing early on tuesday. whereas in the south, much milder. temperatures around 80 degrees in plymouth, and starting values in london at around 5 degrees. 0n tuesday, the northern half of the uk, after that chilly start, basically sunny with light winds. south—west of the uk will have more cloud, spots of rain. here, a greater risk of thicker cloud

through the course of the evening. some of that cloud might spread into western parts of the uk, but on the whole, at a stroke of midnight into 2020, the weather across much of the uk is looking dry, with some clear spells.

a british teenager who accused 12 men in cyprus of gang—rape is herself found guilty of lying. the woman, who can't be identified, retracted her accusation, and may now face prison — she claims police forced her to say she lied. the foreign office says the uk is "seriously concerned" about whether the woman has had a fair trial, and will be raising the issue with the cypriot authorities. also tonight. the deaths of gabriel diya and his daughter and son in a hotel swimming pool in spain. police say it was a freak accident and the case is closed. as the bushfires continue to rage in australia, a volunteer firefighter dies while battling a blaze. and we speak to greta thunberg about life as a teenage activist — and the challenges ahead. i'm being listened to and we climate

activists are being listened to. but that doesn't mean that what we are saying is translated into action. good evening. a british woman, who's 19, has been convicted in cyprus for lying about being raped by a group of men. she said she'd been attacked by 12 israeli men at a hotel in ayia napa injuly — but then withdrew the claim, and was arrested. she was found guilty today of the charge of causing public mischief, and could face jail. but the woman said police forced her to say she'd lied about the attack — something they deny — and her lawyers say they're planning to appeal. this report by our europe

correspondent kevin connelly contains flash photography. when these legal proceedings began, the young british woman at the heart of the case was a victim, making a complaint of rape. she came to court today to be found guilty of making a false statement about what the law in cyprus says was an imaginary crime. her lawyers say both the police investigation and the court process were flawed. we believe that there have been many violations in the procedure and the right to a fair trial of our client have been violated. we are planning to appeal the decision to the supreme court, hoping that our client will find justice in cyprus, at least from the supreme court. these are the young israeli tourists who originally faced accusations that they had raped the young woman. they were freed and allowed to fly home after she

retracted the allegation. but she says she only changed her story about the young men because she was put under huge pressure by police, questioning her when she was vulnerable. her defence team are likely to base their appeal on the way they say she was questioned for eight hours without access to a lawyer and then forced into agreeing that her claims were false. women's rights activists outside the court argued that the young women was a victim, not a criminal. some wore scarves showing lips stitched together — a reminder, they say, that women's voices are not being heard. they say this case is not over. translation: we are here to show our support and solidarity to the victim of this process. the young woman, who has now been convicted, hasn't been allowed to leave cyprus sincejuly. she's been told she will be sentenced on january the 7th, when she could be jailed for a year.

kevin connolly, bbc news. 0ur correspondentjon donnison joins me — and we've heard from the foreign office tonight? in the last 30 minutes quite a strongly worded statement saying they are seriously concerned about they are seriously concerned about the fair trial guarantees, about what they call a deeply distressing case and saying that they will raise the matter with the cypriot authorities. as we heard in that piece there as it seems going to be an appeal according to the lawyers for this young woman but in the meantime of course she faces sentencing in just over meantime of course she faces sentencing injust over a meantime of course she faces sentencing in just over a week. meantime of course she faces sentencing injust over a week. and she could get up to a year in prison. many thanks. four men aged between 19 and 23 have been arrested in different parts of the country on suspicion of plotting a terror attack. they were detained after raids in manchester, peterborough and north london. a fifth man, who's 19 and also from peterborough,

was arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism. police say they don't believe there's an imminent threat to the public. the shadow business secretary rebecca long—bailey says she's considering standing in the labour leadership election. writing in the guardian newspaper, she said labour had to rebuild trust after its election defeat — blaming the result partly on the party's stance on brexit. a volunteer firefighter has died battling wildfires in australia — as temperatures exceeded aoc in every single state in the country. the most dangerous bushfires today were in the state of victoria, where conditions hampered efforts to evacuate 30,000 residents and tourists. from sydney, shaimaa khalil reports. this is what scorching temperatures, strong winds and thunderstorms have done to vast areas of the state of victoria. this is what scorching temperatures, strong winds and thunderstorms have done to vast areas of the state of victoria. with blazes rapidly expanding and firefighters

rushing to control them. as the temperatures soar to the mid—a0s and the winds change direction, some fires were too fast and too big to contain. officials said the wind—driven flames were racing towards the coast and had moved faster than predicted. what we've seen up until today is more than 70 new fires in the state. more than 20 of those are going fires at the moment. we have got a long way to go. we're only part way through the day in terms of the fire risk to the state and to our communities. the east gippsland region is a popular tourist destination, and it has seen the worst of the fires. thousands of holidaymakers and residents have heeded the authorities‘ calls to evacuate earlier in the day, trying to beat the speeding blazes in the area. so we decided last night to leave nungera — a family farm, leave there, because it takes so long to get the 30 of us anywhere at once. and yeah, evacuated here,

so that we were all safe for the day and see how it all pans out, i guess. it's hot and windy and there's a lot of smoke about and a lot of fires still going, so i'm best off camping down here until it's all over, i think. in new south wales, a volunteer firefighter died battling a blaze. two others were taken to hospital with burns. this, as the state braces itself for another heat wave. in sydney, just hours ahead of new year's eve, the city's renowned celebrations have sparked a debate. temperatures are expected to rise above a0 celsius in parts of new south wales for tuesday. already, there are nearly 100 fires raging across the state, with the biggest ones surrounding sydney. this is why the issue of fireworks has been so controversial this year. nearly 300,000 people signed a petition saying it's just not the right thing to do, given the bushfire crisis. and while other areas and towns around the city have cancelled theirs, the famous sydney new year's eve fireworks

are going ahead as planned. with weather conditions set to worsen throughout the country's hot, dry summer, australia heads into the new year under relentless fire threats. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. well, with climate change being cited as one of the factors fuelling the bushfires — the 16 year old campaigner greta thunberg is calling on britain to ensure that crucial climate talks it will host in glasgow next year succeed in combating global warming. she's become the face of an international youth movement pressing for more action on climate change. mishal husain went to stockholm to meet her. she's the girl who galvanised children to go on strike from school, and people of all ages to march, pushing for more action to control a warming world. it's a mission that has taken greta thunberg around the globe, becoming a distinctive, but also a divisive figure. i haven't really grasped what's happened during this last year.

i am being listened to, and we climate activists are being listened to, but that doesn't mean that what we are saying is translated into action. she spoke at the recent cop25 un climate talks in madrid, part of the system under which countries make pledges to cut carbon emissions. with the next summit taking place in glasgow, she wants the british government to make sure it succeeds. since the cop25 failed, that just puts c0 p26 into a different light. we, and they, must do everything they can to make sure that it doesn't fail. it was outside the swedish parliament in stockholm that greta's activism began, as she sat with a sign saying, "school strike for climate." when she decided to do this we said

clearly we would not support it, if you're going to do this you do this by yourself. why did you say that? obviously we thought it was a bad idea, putting yourself out there with all the hate on social media. you would not want that as a parent. greta was 12 when she was diagnosed with asparagus full stop she also suffers from depression. herfather says her activism has transformed her. i see greta is happy doing this. she did not speak to a single person and could only eat in her own home and she changed. she could do things she could never have done before. now she isjust like any other. you think she is not ordinary i'iow other. you think she is not ordinary now because she is special and famous but to me now she is an ordinary child. she can do things

like other people can and she is happy. but some of the most prominent advocates for the planet see her as extraordinary. the person who brought urgency to the climate debate. i'm very fortunate and we allare, it is debate. i'm very fortunate and we all are, it is now on the front line. in the lotto, the world belongs to young people, that is powerful and you have made it an argument that people have not been able to dodge. she is still only 16, and her high—profile has meant scrutiny and criticism. some see her as unrealistic, a teenager who ought to be in school. on that, she can agree. i hope i don't have to be a climate activist anymore. i am really looking forward to going back to school and to just be like a normal teenager. but of course, this isn't normal. . .situation. and we must all do things that we may not feel comfortable doing —

we need to step out of our comfort zones. greta thunberg there, speaking to mishal husain. police searching for the missing firefighter anthony knott say they still have no idea where he went after he was last seen. the father of four, from kent, disappeared on december 20th after going to a pub with friends in lewes in east sussex. two leading private schools have defended a decision to turn down a gift of more than a million pounds — because the donor wanted to help pay the fees of disadvantaged white boys. studies have shown that white boys who are from deprived backgrounds are among the worst performers overall in schools. but dulwich college and winchester college said any donations on the grounds of a pupil's colour were not compatible with their schools' values. police in spain have concluded their initial report into the deaths of a british father

and his two children, who drowned in a hotel swimming pool. they told the bbc that gabriel diya, his 9—year—old daughter comfort and 16—year—old son praise—emmanuel died because of a freak accident, and that the case can now be closed. but mr diya's widow wants the investigation to continue. our correspondent gavin lee reports. flowers a nd flowers and roses by the poolside, tributes from tourists in a case that has baffled investigators. how three members of the same family drowned within five minutes in the afternoon of christmas eve. how it could be that 16—year—old praise—emmanuel and his father gabriel, both over six feet tall and only ten centimetre stronger than the deepest part of the swimming pool could not save nine—year—old comfort or get out themselves. police returned to the scene today, though the initial investigation has concluded it was an accident, not a fault in swimming pool. what

happened in the spoonful a spanish police he thinks was frankly a tragic and freak accident. they say it is case close but that is not good enough for the surviving family who want more answers question the fairness of the investigation. translation: with cases so exceptional and so strange it is a sum of factors, not only one. it could be the shape of the swimming pool, the temperature of the water, the levels of distress but it is clear that with a lifeguard this would not have happened. when three people die in the same spoonful there has to be another reason we do not know yet. he said eyewitnesses who, some saw everything that happened and yet have not given testimony to the police. translation: someone apparently did see what happened and has not been questioned by police, we are trying to find him. another person contacted us

that helped try to resuscitate the victims and because of his knowledge can give us information. flags are flying at half mast at the club la costa resort today, a place packed with british holiday—makers coming foran with british holiday—makers coming for an idyllic winter break. several say they have been coming to the same hotel for years. say they have been coming to the same hotelfor years. everything is an extremely satisfactory standard. antidote this has happened in a place you've come for years?” antidote this has happened in a place you've come for years? i find it very strange, it is very sad, anytime is bad enough but christmas eve, that is just dreadful. anytime is bad enough but christmas eve, that isjust dreadful. what is it like for you to be here with your family today knowing what happened? it feels a bit odd and ijust want to make sure you know what has happened is just an accident not a fault of any swimming pool or something like that. today spanish police have confirmed that although they have concluded their initial assessment of events, they are requesting to speak to the british tourists who were witnesses to

events here. tonight the swimming pool has reopened, empty now, bar a single floral tribute. gavin lee, bbc news. football, and west ham has welcomed its new manager david moyes back for a second stint. he says he aims to give the premiership club no choice but to extend his 18 month contract. he replaced manuel pelligrini who was sacked at the weekend following a string of defeats. jo currie has more. when you're struggling at the wrong end of the premier league table, sometimes it's best to turn to what, or who, you know. david moyes, back at the club he rescued from relegation in 2018, and with the same remit. what anybody is getting here with me is a very experienced premier league manager. i'd argue there's only two or three who have more experience with games in the premier league. i think i've probably got the biggest win rate out of a certain amount of managers as well. so i think if you are putting in that way, that's what i do, i win.

moyes made his name in the top flight at everton, where he spent 11 years. but then went on to only last ten months at manchester united in 2013, before being let go after a year with real sociedad, and relegated with sunderland. but after the failed appointment of manuel pellegrini, west ham have come calling once again. david moyes never wanted to leave west ham in the first place. despite guiding them to safety in 2018, the club's owners decided not to renew his contract, instead opting for the high calibre manager of manuel pellegrini. now moyes returns with a point to prove. you got rid of them at the end of the season, why bring him back 18 months later? i'm surprised as everyone else, but if he can do thejob, then good on him. new manager, new start, let's get behind him and support west ham like we should. and the hard work starts now for moyes, with west ham hovering one point above the relegation zone. and due to host fellow strugglers bournemouth on new year's day. jo currie, bbc news, london. the writer, actor, comedian

and musician neil innes has died at the age of 75. now, here is neil innes. he was a long term collaborator with the monty python team, writing and performing on the tv series in the seventies. he appeared in the films too, composing songs for ‘monty python and the holy grail‘ and ‘life of brian'. an award—winning musician, he was also a member of the comic band the ruttles. there‘s more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. we‘re back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one it‘s time for the news where you are. goodbye. in nigeria‘s largest city, lagos, eve ryo ne in nigeria‘s largest city, lagos, everyone is hustling their way to the top. but while most are striving to stand out, others are forced to hide. i grew up in a christian family, a very religious family, that believes same sex relationships to be demonic. this man has asked us to be demonic. this man has asked us to conceal his identity out of concern for his safety. when he told

his family he had feelings for other men, his sister reacted badly. a few days later, she asked him to meet with her, but when he showed up, she and a so—called prophet for stem into conversion therapy. they hello. this is bbc news.

let‘s get more now on the news that a british woman has been convicted of lying about being raped by a group of men at a hotel in cyprus. the woman, who‘s 19, was prosecuted after she withdrew a claim that she had been attacked by 12 young men from israel. her defence argue that she changed her story under pressure from the police when she did not have a lawyer. here, the foreign office has said it‘s deeply concerned about the fair trial guarantees in the case. michael polak is a lawyer who specialises in helping people caught up in legal difficulties while abroad. he‘s been working with the teenager during the case. earlier, he told simon mccoy that they intend to appeal. well, there are a number of bases for appealing the decision. that includes how the judge approached the evidence in the case. a number of times through the hearing in the trial transcript, he refused to hear evidence which went to whether a rape took place.

he would say, "this is not abouta rape, iam not hearing the 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‘s quite clear 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 relying on a retraction statement when no lawyer was present. we say that is an important breach of both european union law, european human rights law, and also the cypriot constitution. 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 say 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 if i retract my statement, they will 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. here‘s the thing. nothing in the police station in cyprus was recorded, and it‘s hard to believe a modern country in the european union doesn‘t record anything which happens in the police station. it‘s a choice cyprus has made not to record things in the police station. there‘s no audio recording or visual recording. so it means whatever happens in the police station can‘t be looked into by a court properly. two leading private schools have defended their decision to turn down an offer of more than a million pounds — because the donor wanted to help pay the fees of disadvantaged white boys. on average, poor white boys are among the worst

performers in schools. but dulwich college and winchester college say the bequest from professor sir bryan thwaites wasn‘t compatible with their values. the schools say they don‘t want to award scholarships on grounds of race. a marked police car in plymouth has been given a £50 parking ticket while officers were attending a 999 call. when police called the company that issued the ticket to explain that they were exempt, they were told they would have to write a letter of appeal before the ticket could be cancelled. plymouth police have tweeted a picture of the ticket, saying... "please hold calling 999 whilst we do that!" a spokeswoman for devon and cornwall police said force vehicles were exempt from parking tickets when on duty. five years ago, the nigerian government signed the same sex marriage prohibition act, essentially banning gay relationships. activists say the law has worsened discrimination

against sexual minorities in the highly religious country. they also claim there‘s been a rise in instances of extortion and blackmail of the lgbt+ community by security forces. half a decade after the passage of the law, our correspondent mayeni jones investigates what life is really like for nigeria s gay community. in nigeria‘s largest city, lagos, everyone is hustling their way to the top. but while most are striving to stand out, others are forced to hide. i grew up in a christian family, a very religious family, that believes same sex relationships to be demonic. this man has asked us to conceal his identity out of concern for his safety. when he told his family he had feelings for other men, his sister reacted badly. a few days later, she asked him to meet with her, but when he showed up, she and a so—called prophet forced him into "conversion therapy".

he would come in at intervals to do some "spiritual exercise", as he said, which included stripping me naked and flogging me and all that. then the third day, out of exhaustion and the pain that i was going through, i passed out. "conversion therapy" is a term used for any form of so—called treatment that attempts to change sexual orientation or reduce same—sex attraction. it‘s common in nigeria, where, in 201a, the same sex marriage prohibition act was passed, essentially banning gay relationships. many say the 201a law has led to a pattern of police persecution and extortion of those who are suspected of being gay. this man was stopped by the police while on the back of a motorbike taxi. it‘s very scary to be a gay in nigeria. a gay person in nigeria.

you‘re kidnapped, pretty much pushed into a vehicle, i didn‘t even know they were policemen, because they weren‘t wearing police uniforms, they were wearing black shirts. being pushed into a bus and being threatened, being threatened with rape, it‘s incredibly unacceptable. this is one of the few organisations openly working with the nigerian lgbt+ community. young people, especially young men, have been affected specifically by the same sex marriage prohibition act, because the police have used it as a cover to basically target people that they find to not conform to muscular entity people that they find to not conform to masculinities in the way that they imagine, and they detain people like that and they extort them for money. tracking weather attitudes to the queer community are changing is difficult. it‘s a topic that remains taboo. but for many, nigeria is still one of the most difficult countries in the world to be lgbt+.

mayenijones, bbc news, lagos. the hollywood actress sharon stone has outed herself as looking for love online, after revealing she was blocked by the dating app bumble. her account was barred after several other users thought her profile was fake. the basic instinct star took to twitter and asked bumble not to shut her out. if you fancy your chances of scoring a date with the actress you‘ll be pleased to hear bumble has duly responded and she‘s back on the app. time for a look at the weather, with tomasz schafernaker. hello, there. in the short—term we are expecting a touch of frost tonight across the northern half of the uk and in the last 2a hours we have seen this weather front coming out of the subtropics, pushing mild air in our direction which has been spreading

across many other parts of europe, but now, this weather front here will be sinking southwards and the colder air will be sinking southwards and the colderair in will be sinking southwards and the colder air in the north atlantic will push into scotland and northern ireland and also the north of england. the wind is also going to fall light, the skies will clear and essential as we‘ll be dipping away. in some of the major cities, belfast, glasgow, edinburgh and newcastle, temperatures will be close to freezing or even lower. but in the south it is going to be a good deal milder. so, we are into new year‘s eve and this is the weather map across europe, big high pressure, with this rather older looking area of low pressure sitting right in the middle of it. and it is unusual, it is just a right in the middle of it. and it is unusual, it isjust a bit right in the middle of it. and it is unusual, it is just a bit of cloud and a few spots of rain spinning around the isles of scilly. the skies may be a bit cloudy across wales and perhaps southern parts of england but much of the country is infora england but much of the country is in for a bright if not sunny day and

slightly colder in the north. and then, it is new year‘s eve night, so, what can we expect? at the stroke of midnight, it looks like it will be a little bit cloudy across western parts of the uk, but the important message is that it is going to be dry across most of the uk, with light winds, about as ideal weather conditions as we can get around this time of year. so, 1st of january 2020, big high pressure to the south of us, however, we are a little closer to the weather fronts in the atlantic which means the cloud will be increasing for the rest of the week across the north—west of the uk but still it is a dry day, firstjanuary, with amounts of cloud, 11 degrees in the south. here is the summary for the first few days of 2020, mainly dry, but with some rain expected in north—western parts.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 7:00pm: a cyprus court convicts a 19—year—old british woman of lying after telling police she‘d been gang—raped by 12 men. police investigating the deaths of a british father and his two children, who drowned in a pool in spain on christmas eve, say it was an accident and that the case can now be closed. authorities in australia cancel the evacuation of one area, as it‘s considered too risky, as bushfires continue to rage and temperatures exceed a0 degrees celsius in every state. also, we speak to greta thunberg, the teenager who spearheaded a global movement against climate change, who‘s calling for more action and less talk. we, climate activists, are being listened to, but that doesn‘t mean that what we are saying is