this is bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: reports say that former renault—nissan boss carlos ghosn has left japan where he has been under house arrest, arriving in lebanon. one firefighter dies as fires continue to rage across australia. weather conditions, already described as catastrophic, are expected to worsen. a cyprus court convicts a 19—year—old british woman of lying about a gang rape. the uk government says it's seriously concerned. and why waking up the world to climate change isn't enough. we speak to greta thunberg. 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. hello and welcome to bbc world news. it has been reported that the ousted head of renualt—nissan, carlos ghosn, has arrived in lebanon, apparently by private jet, after leaving japan where he's been under house arrest, awaiting trial for corruption. the news has come as a huge surprise because mr ghosn‘s strict bail conditions would seem to prohibit him travelling abroad. the japanese authorities say they're investigating. christian stadler is a professor at warwick business school, who's followed carlos ghosn‘s career. speaking to me from austria, he gave me his reaction to the news and some background to the case.

it is quite interesting and very unclear at the moment whether he was actually running or whether there was some changes to the bail conditions, that he was allowed to leave japan. very little i can say about that. what is interesting here is the role of carlos ghosn in the alliance and the timing of the allegations in the arrest that came at the time when there was a power struggle, really, in the alliance between nissan and renault, the french company, which led to a lot of speculation that thank you at that particular point in time there was an arrest and the allegations. because carlos ghosn in some ways alleged that it was politically motivated, if i have that correct. yes, you have that correct, and we can't dismiss that offhand. it is a

structure where renault in essence has quite a bit of s —— control of listen, whereas nissan has little say in renault, even though it is the larger company. the reason is that the time when renault got a state, mizzen was in big financial trouble, and carlos ghosn was the central integrating figure suggesting even close integration would make sense. that was not in the interest of neston. and prosecutors would deny those allegations by carlos ghosn, but what kind of man, because you followed him so closely, i am curious, how would you describe carlos ghosn perhaps as a leader, as a man? well, he was a very powerful car executive was particularly known for his efficient cost—cutting, which saved neston, in essence, yeah. a businessman who seemed to have a very good touch and turning companies around, and bear in mind, no—one is questioning the alliance

as such. this works well for both nissan and for renault, and he was the architect as that. certainly strong in the business side. he was also known for rather elaborate lifestyle and that is may be something that didn't play so well injapan. something that didn't play so well in japan. i suppose we willjust have to wait and see exactly what transpires in the coming hours about under what conditions did he actually arrive in lebanon on, but do you see him having a future again in business in the coming years? well, probably not in the current —— car company. he has been burnt badly by this candle. he is not the youngest either. god knows whether he does consulting work or any of that kind, but i don't see him as the leader of a large public company. firefighters in australia are facing another day of extreme conditions as the nation battles one of its worst ever bushfire disasters. the authorities are focusing

their efforts on the south coast of new south wales and victoria's east gippsland region. there are reports that hundreds, possibly thousands of residents and tourists are stranded on the beach in a remote town called mallacoota. in a moment, we'll be hear from a local journalist in that region. but first, let's get a report from our correspondent, shaimaa khalil. 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 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's 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 degrees 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. we wa nt we want to turn to a press

conference taking place in melbourne. the victorian state authorities are speaking about the fires. this is the emergency management commissioner. some really good work was done across a lot of oui’ good work was done across a lot of our state in relation to those fires, and a lot of those fires were contained, and we had some existing fires and some really good work done on those fires. so our focus is very much on what has happened in the east of our state. if i go to the north—east, and a fire started on the new south wales side of the border, north of corryong. and before i talk about that fire, i wa nt to before i talk about that fire, i want to just acknowledge again the tragic loss of life of another new south wales royal fire service volunteer. and other members that we re volunteer. and other members that were injured as part of that particular incident. 0ur were injured as part of that particular incident. our thoughts go out to the new south wales rfs and the friends and family of this young man who has tragically lost his

life. in effect, he was working in support of victoria and victorians, because that is a fire that is now coming into victoria. with that particular fire, coming into victoria. with that particularfire, it took coming into victoria. with that particular fire, it took a long coming into victoria. with that particularfire, it took a long run overnight, more than 30 kilometres and at this point in time, it is impacting on the community of corryong. we know that we have property losses slightly north of corryong where that fire has come through. so the residents of corryong and the neighbouring areas, they are still under threat in relation to fire. if i move to east gippsland, and we have been talking for quite some time about the risk to east gippsland. and what we saw yesterday was again that dynamic in that dangerous situation, notjust for community, but our firefighters and other emergency services who have done an absolutely amazing job,

andi have done an absolutely amazing job, and i thank them most sincerely for the effort they are putting in and continue to put in. and when i say continue to put in. and when i say continue to put in, that is very much the case because we have gone from just over 120,000 hectares down their burns, we are well over 200,000 hectares and we have got going fires, so it is still a dynamic and dangerous situation. i mentioned corryong. i now mention mallacoota, which at the moment is 110w mallacoota, which at the moment is now also under threat of fire so have embers going into mallacoota at the moment, we have 4000 people on the moment, we have 4000 people on the beach there that are being very well protected by our firefighters. so whether you look from bairnsdale, you look right through to mallacoota, we have had impacts across the whole of east gippsland. as you would imagine it is very early days yet and we don't know, we don't have specific details about property losses. but we do have significant property losses across all of east gippsland. whether that is from closer to bairnsdale through

nicholson, reuven, buccan, and right across. “— nicholson, reuven, buccan, and right across. —— bruthen and buchan. we have helicopters flying over and putting in our impac teams and we will have a better idea of losses. at this stage there are significant losses. along with that, we have significant impacts on the road as you would imagine. the princes highway is closed between genoa and bairnsdale. a number of other roads that lead off the princes highway. there are many traffic management plans in place today. and i know some people will be trying to move around that particular part of the state, but i ask you, i encourage you to just pay attention to what is happening in relation to those traffic management points. they are therefore a good reason, they are therefore a good reason, they are there to keep you safe. if you given particular instructions, please listen to whatever the police

member, the ses member or whoever it is, what they are saying to you. it is, what they are saying to you. it is for your safety. so with those highway, the highway being cut, we have a number of community is actually isolated. again, this was a scenario we forecast a number of days ago. our scenario we forecast a number of days ago. 0urfocus scenario we forecast a number of days ago. our focus today is very much about how we can get in, how we can support those impacted communities. so we are moving some extra helicopters down into the bairnsdale area so we can actually look at transporting people in and out of some of those communities. we have to do that at the same time when we are still facing a challenging situation in relation to the going fires down there. people will see that somewhat milder conditions, but again, no—one can afford to relax in that part of the state. we have still got emergency warnings in place, and my message to people that are still in parts of east gippsland is that you need to know how to stay across good information so you can make good

decisions. if you haven't, please, download the emergency out, keep listen to the emergency broadcast. look at the social channels. it is up look at the social channels. it is up to you. it is very much a shared responsibility. 0urfirefighters have been doing a greatjob but again we are all in this together and we have to look after each other. i will pass to the premier to say a few words. thank you very much. that was coming from the victoria emergency management services, andrew crisp. very much outlining how well the firefighters have done, but also saying that it needs to be a combined effort, urging people to listen to emergency broadcast, to know indeed what to do next. also, i was quite struck, he mentioned the figure of 4000 that are stranded on mallacoota beach. let's listen into another little bit. if i could make let's listen into another little bit. ifi could make a couple let's listen into another little bit. if i could make a couple of points in relation to some of the comments andrew made. the only good decisions that can be made at this time it if you have good

information. i would encourage all victorians, particularly those in the north—east around the fire, corryong, that part of our northern most part of the state, and particular communities across east gippsland to remain aware of your circumstances, to get the best information and therefore be in a position to make the best decisions. further if i canjust again emphasise the point andrew made around people doing as they are asked. if you are given an instruction by a member of victoria police or any other member of the emergency services, please follow that instruction and do it promptly. it is notjust your safety that instruction and do it promptly. it is not just your safety that that instruction and do it promptly. it is notjust your safety that is at risk. it is potentially the safety of emergency services workers and volunteers who would have to come to your aid in the event that you found yourself in trouble. for your benefit and the benefit of those who might be diverted from other firefighting activity and indeed based in harms way themselves, please be patient, listen to the advice you are given and follow it promptly. if i can

just make a couple of comments about how impressive our emergency services family, the whole team, paid members of staff, volunteers across all the services and all of our partners, they have done such an amazing job and they are doing the job right now. we have going fires in communities that are acting under —— let under active ember attack, but through planning, through training, through resources and through the absolute determination and skill that set our firefighters in the community, our emergency services community apart, they are doing an amazing job. and on behalf of all victorians, i thank them for their skill and the effective way in which they are dealing with very dynamic and very challenging circumstances. these fires particular in east gippsland overnight and throughout yesterday we re overnight and throughout yesterday were creating their own weather. that is how fierce, that is how active those fires were. there have been very significant losses in terms of property, stock, fencing,

shedding. we won't be in a position to be able to confirm those details for some time, but teams who are assessing that impact on the ground right now doing that important work. there are a number of people who remain unaccounted for, four of them, and of course we have fears for their safety, but we cannot confirm their whereabouts. as and as we can bring any further information to you, then of course we will do that. look out for each other. be grateful that we have such an amazing emergency services family and do everything you tend to have the best information to make the best decisions and ijust again make the point, if you are issued with an instruction, please follow that instruction, please follow that instruction and do so promptly. we are not yet into 2020. this is going to bea are not yet into 2020. this is going to be a long, hot, dry and dangerous fire season. fatigue will be an issue and all of us in that shared response ability have to play our

pa rt response ability have to play our part to make sure that we keep ourselves safe and that we don't put others into harmonic way. again, our thanks and praise... that is daniel andrews, the leader of the region of victoria, the premier. the fires are so victoria, the premier. the fires are so intense that they are actually creating their own weather systems in that area. some of the details that the firefighters are battling against. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: bolivia expels mexico's ambassador and two spanish diplomats, claiming they've interfered with the country's internal affairs. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today. and then we'll be in france and again, it will be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go.

george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. reporter: it was just good? no, fantastic! that's better! big ben strikes the hour this is bbc news. our main headline this hour: reports say the former boss of renault—nissan, carlos ghosn, has left japan where he's been under house arrest, arriving in lebanon. authorities in melbourne,

australia have told residents to shelter indoors as wildfires close in on the city, saying it is too late to leave. bolivia's new government has ordered the mexican ambassador and two spanish diplomats to leave the country. mexico gave asylum to former president evo morales after he was ousted last month. bolivia says spanish officials tried to extract an aide of mr morales who had taken refuge in the mexican embassy. accusations madrid strongly denies. our correspondent will grant is in mexico city. he described the relationship between bolivia and mexico as "broken". let's start at the beginning, if you like, which was of the resignation from the military under duress of evo morales. he came here, and that angered the bolivian government and also angry about the mexican dragging their heels about recognising their legitimacy. they

have accused them in the past of housing and giving refuge to a number of evo morales's ministers with sa should face charges. that is the colonel of how the situation has unfolded. a real ramping up of the security presence and that cause mexico to protest what was happening outside the embassy building. now it has slid even further with this declaring of persona non grata of the mexican ambassador la paz. declaring of persona non grata of the mexican ambassador la pazm that was not complicated enough let's bring spain into the picture. three bolivian diplomats declared persona non grata in this tit—for—tat. describe the significance of that particular aspect? that is surprising in a sense i would not have thought that

bolivians would have wanted to extend this further than a bilateral dispute with mexico that it is bringing in other countries, spain in this instance. a group of spanish diplomats went to the mexican embassy, presumably to hold talks with the evo morales ministers inside and the mexicans. the interim government in bolivia say that those who turned up were masked and armed and that seems an odd situation. obviously, madrid denies the situation and say it was just a routine meeting. exactly who we believe is hard to say but what we do have is a real diplomatic mess involving those three nations and, as you say, madrid has reacted with as you say, madrid has reacted with a reciprocal measure of throwing up three bolivian diplomats in the country. a long way to go before any kind of diplomatic normality is

restored. let's get some of the day's other news: the somali jihadist group al—shabaab has for the first time said it carried out saturday's bomb explosion in the capital mogadishu which killed more than 80 people. it said the target had been a convoy of turkish nationals and apologised for the deaths of civilians. federal prosecutors in new york have filed hate crimes charges against a man accused of stabbing five people at a hanukkah party on saturday. they claim the suspect, grafton thomas, keptjournals containing references to hitler. the suspect‘s family say he wasn't anti—semitic, and suffered mental health problems. dense fog has swept across parts of northern and western india. it's being blamed on cold weather combined with pollution. the conditions have led to disruption on roads and rail, and hundreds of flights have been cancelled. the country's meteorological authority says the north of the country, including the capital, delhi, is experiencing one of its coldest spells in well over a century. three killer whales have been spotted in the section of sea that separates italy

from the mediterranean island of sicily. it's the first such sighting in these narrow straits. marine biologists believe the orcas are from the same group that originally came from iceland, seen off the coast of northwest italy earlier this month. the 16—year—old campaigner, greta thunberg, has said she wants to go back to school as soon as she can. 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 change. 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'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. 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 co 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." 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. before we go, let's take a look at some footage of a narrow escape for a couple of pedestrians in turkey. strong winds ripped through istanbul on monday, in this case bringing down a tree which crashed onto a one—way street. cctv caught the moment it was uprooted, almost crushing two men walking down the road. no injuries have been reported. two vehicles were damaged, the red one taking the brunt of the impact.

don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of my team on twitter. i'm @bbcnuala thank you for watching bbc world news. hello. the final day of the year and the decade will get off to a fairly chilly note across much of northern england, northern ireland and scotland. this weakening cold front has been sliding its way southwards over the last 24 hours, introducing some cold air. to the south of this, still something relatively mild. this area of low pressure generating much more cloud across wales, central, southern and south—west england. maybe thick enough for some patchy rain for the far south—west of england and the channel islands through new year's eve. for much of the uk, we end the year mainly dry with the best of the sunshine the further north and east you go. but a cooler—feeling day for many, 6—9 celsius the top temperature. quite breezy for the western and

northern isles and a colder field. this takes us into new year's eve night most it will be dry, fairly light winds, son missed mcguinness over high ground and suddenly the cloud already in place across wales, central and southern england. clear skies across eastern and north east england and eastern scotland but here is a closer look at midnight. most here is a closer look at midnight. m ost pla ces here is a closer look at midnight. most places will be dry. light winds, quite a lot of cloud. some missed and petrified. clear skies for eastern scotland where temperatures will be getting closer to freezing. maybe following a little bit lower as the night wears on. we have the cloud, temperatures will stay above freezing. a quite a fair across much of the uk thanks to this area of high pressure. northern ireland and scotland are breezy day.

figure cloud in the western isles, maybe some light rain. much of the uk on new year's day, a dry day but with a lot of cloud. sunshine at a premium, the best probably to the north and east of high ground. temperatures are many will not get into double figures. enter thursday, the system coming closer, sliding their way south and east so wet, windy day across much of scotland and northern ireland and eventually rain will start to settle into northern england and the far north of wales by the time we get to thursday afternoon. further south and east, it stays dry. cloud for all the uk on thursday. windy stop starting to push up some milder and so highs of12— starting to push up some milder and so highs of 12— 12 celsius. back to something dry friday and saturday and the return of some sunshine.

this is bbc news. the headlines: reports say the former boss of renault—nissan, who had been under house arrest, has left japan and arrived in lebanon by privatejet. carlos ghosn was due to stand trial on corruption charges and had been barred from leaving japan. he's denied any wrongdoing. one firefighter has died in new south wales as fires continue to rage across australia. weather conditions already described as catastrophic are expected to worsen. in north melbourne, residents have been urged to "act immediately to survive." 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 that she will appeal. the uk government said the case was deeply distressing and it has serious concerns. they are the headlines on bbc world

news. now on bbc news, tom burridge revisits the collapse of travel firm