this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: big ben strikes the hour london welcomes in the new decade to the chimes of big ben as thousands watch a spectacular fireworks display along the river thames. the us is sending reinforcements to help defend its embassy in baghdad, having repelled an attack by protesters angry about american air strikes. lebanon says it had no warning that the fugitive ex—nissan boss carlos ghosn was fleeing japan for beirut. australia calls in the army as bushfires push thousands of people to seek refuge on the coast. we'll be live with the latest from new south wales.

hello and welcome to bbc news. new year celebrations are taking place around the world with many cities holding spectacular firework displays to welcome in the new decade. the first to welcome 2020 included the tiny pacific island of kiribati. the celebrations in sydney also went ahead despite calls for it to be cancelled due to australia's bushfire crisis. and tens of thousands of people gathered in london to watch the fireworks over the river thames. gareth barlow reports. crowd: five, four, three, two, one... big ben strikes the hour midnight in london, big ben welcoming in the new decade, the iconic london eye sparkling on the south bank.

in france, saluts and salutations. parisians partied along the champs—elysees. the arc de triomphe triumphantly hailing 2020 had arrived. in dubai, the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa, was transformed into a tower of lights and pyrotechnics. it was a similar site in taiwan as taipei 101 sparked into a kaleidoscope of lights against an inky night sky. as parts of australia are ablaze

amid relentless wildfires, a political firestorm focused on sydney's display, but the fireworks did go off over the city's harbour bridge. bright lights amid dark days. the new year began in new zealand where 2020 is well and truly under way. next stop, the americas and then the challenge of sticking to new year's resolutions. gareth barlow, bbc news. and a happy new year to wherever you are. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has said the attack on his country's embassy in baghdad was organized by terrorists "abetted by iranian proxies." 750 troops are being sent the region after a crowd of demonstrators tried to break into the compound. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. chanting furious crowds

and an american embassy, the largest in the world, under siege. protesters and pro—iranian militiamen inside baghdad's protected green zone, venting their anger, attempting to breach the embassy walls. one entrance is pushed open, but the crowd is forced back by tear gas fired from inside. the sentry post is attacked. but this is a heavily fortified compound. the soldiers inside seem alert, but not yet alarmed. fires are lit outside, the air thick with smoke and anti—american slogans. but the crowd is not huge. sources inside the compound say the situation appears to be under control. no—one has been evacuated. directing the protests are some of the country's leading shi'ite militiamen. they are backed by iran and deeply hostile towards america. translation: this embassy has been proved to be an embassy of plotting against iraq, the embassy of spying on iraq,

and the embassy of running schemes of sabotage in iraq. tensions rose dramatically over the weekend as american warplanes carried out air strikes against militia targets in iraq and syria. at least 25 fighters were killed. the us blamed the pro—iranian group kata'ib hezbollah for a rocket attack on friday that killed an american civilian in the northern city of kirkuk. donald trump points the finger at neighbouring iran. "iran killed an american contractor," he tweeted this morning, "we strongly responded and always will." "now, iran is orchestrating an attack on the us embassy in iraq. "they will be held fully responsible." he also warned iraq to do more to protect the embassy. but iraq's government is in a bind. the us is still an ally in the fight against so—called islamic state, but its relationship with iran is much closer. the embassy is not thought to be in any immediate danger

but american reinforcements have already arrived. us marines, part of a special crisis response unit, making the shortjourney from a base in nearby kuwait. paul adams, bbc news. we will have more on that situation in iraq a little later in the programme. let's get some of the day's other news. kim jong—un has declared that north korea is abandoning its moratoriums on nuclear and long—range ballistic missile tests. he'd given the united states until the end of 2019 to find a way of salvaging their stalled talks on ridding the korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. president trump says the first phase of a trade deal with china will be signed at the white house on the 15th of january. in a tweet, mr trump also announced that at a later date he will be going to beijing where talks will begin on phase two. riot police in hong kong have begun the new year by firing tear gas at anti—government protesters who blocked roads and started fires. earlier, demonstrators formed human chains at major sites across the territory. a big gathering is planned

for later on new year's day. a court in angola has ordered the seizure of assets belonging to isabel dos santos, the daughter of the former president. she's been accused of involvement in the theft of a billion dollars worth of state assets from angola. she denies any wrongdoing. the authorities in lebanon say the former nissan boss, carlos ghosn, entered the country legally. mr ghosn was on bail injapan, awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges, and his passports had been confiscated. reports in lebanon suggest a group of musicians who played at his house in tokyo smuggled him out in an instrument case. rupert wingfield—hayes has more. last march, carlos ghosn disguised himself as a construction worker as he attempted to slip past the waiting media on his release from jail. now, he has succeeded in slipping out ofjapan, perhaps in another disguise.

even his own defence team have been left dumbfounded, unable to explain how mr ghosn did it. translation: we didn't know anything about it. it's a complete surprise. we still have all his passports. somehow mr ghosn managed to board a privatejet and last night he landed here, in the lebanese capital, beirut. he said he had not fled japanese justice, but escaped from injustice. this is a truly extraordinary development in what was already an extraordinary story. japanese prosecutors will say by fleeing, carlos ghosn is admitting his guilt. but many others agree with mr ghosn and his defence team that the charges against him were essentially politically motivated. and that carlos ghosn‘s real crime

was trying to force a merger between a japanese company, nissan, and its french parent, renault. today in nissan... in the 1990s, carlos ghosn helped save french car—maker renault. in the 2000s, he took on an even biggerjob, turning around japan's moribund car—maker, nissan. he rose to become one of the most powerful figures in the global car industry. but in 2018, he was arrested at tokyo airport on suspicion of financial misconduct. he was held in this tokyo detention centre for more than 100 days, facing daily interrogations. this is a conspiracy. since his release on bail, carlos ghosn has angrily proclaimed his innocence. accusing his former colleagues at nissan of conspiring with japanese prosecutors to manufacture a case against him. the media injapan have been preparing for what was expected

to be the trial of the decade. instead, carlos ghosn is now far away in lebanon, a country that has no extradition agreement with japan. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. the australian armed forces are committing more helicopters, aircraft and ships to help deal with the bushfires in the south—east of the country. more than a dozen emergency level fires are burning across a 500—kilometre stretch spanning two australian states from batemans bay in new south wales to bairnsdale in victoria. the flames are being fanned by extremely hot and windy conditions. this footage from st georges basin in new south wales is typical of many images shared across social media of blood—red, smoke—filled skies. abc correspondent selby stewart is in nowra. i asked him about the major issues authorities are dealing with in relation to the bushfires.

at the moment there is still more than 100 bushfires that are burning across new south wales and the majority of those are still uncontained. and this comes after one of the most devastating days we've had this bushfire season. at the moment, residents here are waking up, it's the morning here and they're discovering just how devastating the last 2a hours have been. we now know that at least 200 homes have been lost. just yesterday, which of course was new year's eve, meant to be a time for celebration, have been lost yesterday. we've now confirmed three people have died on the south coast of new south wales and there are others still missing. right now, we know there are many people trapped, believed to be injured, and because they are in isolated communities, it isjust impossible for emergency services to reach them. and of course, despite those terrible fires we saw yesterday, there are many that will continue to burn and one of the big risks for these communities now

as well is falling trees, that meant much of this forest has been burnt. we've seen over 4 million hectares of land burnt now, which is larger than wales, the size of wales. it really is an incredible scene standing here in these communities that are really hurting. 0ur correspondent phil mercer joins us now from sydney. let's get some more details. we just heard an update on the situation in new south wales but victoria is also facing quite an emergency. yes, some emergency warnings down there in the state of victoria, some communities remain cut off and some of those remain cut off and some of those remain inactive fire zones, so the authorities are worried about those communities. in the town of mallacoota, where thousands of people sought refuge on the beach 2a hours ago, those people still cannot get out of the town because the roads are deemed too dangerous to leave, so supplies are dwindling although we have heard a police boat will be taking supplies in at some point today and the military may well be needed to try to fortify

these communities is the authorities try to make it safe for people to leave. at the other end of the spectrum, you have had many residents who left their homes very anxious to get back to see if they are still standing. the authorities believe they might not be allowed in until the weekend when more dangerous fire conditions are expected. so the crisis just keeps on going. of course, it is new year's day there and we saw the syd ney year's day there and we saw the sydney fireworks go ahead, the new year's eve fireworks, a fantastic display, but there was a lot of controversy about whether that should have happened. what has been the reactions and then? pretty mixed, actually. before the fireworks went ahead, there was an online petition that attracted tens of thousands of signatures, believing that the event would have been inappropriate, an insulted bushfire affected regions. the city council here in sydney was adamant that the event should go ahead

stoppage said that it was spreading a message of hope and optimism about $1.5 million has been raised from the fireworks to bushfire relief, but there will be many australians will be very uneasy that the country was my biggest city should celebrate in sucha was my biggest city should celebrate in such a spectacular, such a fla m boya nt in such a spectacular, such a flamboyant way when there are other australians who are fearing for their lives, hiding in halls, for example, hiding at home waiting for the fires to come. so it is very uneasy time for many australians. yes, we have seen big celebrations, but many australians would be pretty uneasy about those. and briefly, many people around the world watching how widespread those fires are, how repaired is australia to fight these fires? —— prepared. bushfires have always been part of the australian story. this is a country that is well used to this sort of natural menace. the scale,

the ferocity, the intensity of these fires really have taken the emergency effort to it's very limited. so more serious conditions are expected over the weekend here in south—eastern australia, and in western australia, they are preparing for dangerous conditions in the next 2a hours. preparing for dangerous conditions in the next 24 hours. we will have to keep an eye on events as they continue to develop. thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the photographer who is helping foreign workers find love in singapore. 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. the latest headlines: london welcomes in the new decade to the chimes of big ben, as thousands watch a spectacular fireworks display along the banks of the river thames. the us is sending reinforcements to help defend its embassy in baghdad — having repelled

an attack by protesters angry about american airstrikes. let's stay with that story. the pentagon is sending 750 additional soldiers to the middle east after its embassy was attacked in baghdad. mike pregent is a senior fellow with the hudson institute. he was a former intelligence advisor to general david petraeus in iraq. hejoins us now. thank you he joins us now. thank you very much for your time. first of all, can we get a sense of who these protesters are that attacked the embassy. we have been seeing a lot of protests in iraq generally, by ordinary citizens, and that we have had these protesters attacking the embassy. citizens, and that we have had these protesters attacking the embassym the people that have been killing the people that have been killing the protesters in iraq, for the last couple of months, are the militias. these militias are the ones that are

protesting outside the us embassy in baghdad. that's the difference. these are militias. these are not ante iran protesters that are now ante iran protesters that are now ante american protesters because of an attack on a designated terrorist group. —— anti— orion —— anti—american. they are threatening the us embassy and showing their primacy inside of the green zone, this protected area that basically houses a iraq's government. the us has accused iran of being behind this attack. iran has denied it. but i wonder where the situation goes from here. because we are seeing a real escalation between this conflict with iran and the us. right, yes. this is what is likely to happen. we will continue to stay where they are inside the green

zone, threatening the us embassy, they are hoping to constrain events on us actions. we are seeing that the us president is sending reinforcements, there are marines now in the embassy compound to reject personnel and to protect the embassy. we put immense pressure on baghdad to protect the us embassy. we do expect has bhullar to launch rockets at the embassy. trying not to kill americans, but to show their abilities. if they do kill americans the us response would be inside and raack. iraqis are asking us to separate iraq from the usa not use a rockis separate iraq from the usa not use a rock is a battlefield. it is iran's missions in iraq that are killing the protesters and launching rockets on iraqi bases that have killed an american and injured iraqi soldiers and american soldiers. and yet

baghdad somehow condemned the united states for defending itself instead of arresting the leader of this militia and going after the group. it is something baghdad can't do, u nfortu nately. it is something baghdad can't do, unfortunately. it is a very complex picture. mike pregent, thank you very much your time and thoughts on that. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has expressed what he called "alarm" at the decision of a chinese court to sentence a prominent church leader to nine years injail. wang yi of the unregistered early rain covenant church was an outspoken critic of the chinese communist party, giving a sermon describing president xi jinping as a "sinner", who headed a government which "offended god". in a tweet, mr pompeo said pastor yi had been "tried in secret, on trumped—up charges". and he called on beijing to release him and end its repression of religious groups. shipping companies will have to reduce their sulphur oxide emissions from the first of january. strict new international rules

will limit the poisonous gases produced by ships, to 0.5 %. the global body overseeing the maritime sector says this will reduce the harmful effects on human health. but the international maritime organisation won't enforce the ban — that will be the responsibility of the countries where the ship is docked or registered. the french celebrity—chef, marc veyrat, has lost his legal bid to force the michelin guide to fully explain why it had stripped him of its prestigious three star status. he claimed to have been plunged into depression after an inspector accused him of putting english cheddar cheese in a souffle. but the court said the chef had failed to show any proof that he had suffered material damage. the new year has just arrived here in london and the british prime minister boris johnson has issued his message looking ahead to 2020. here's a little of what he had to say. hello, folks.

i hope you've all had a fantastic christmas and are still enjoying the festivities. as we say goodbye to 2019, it's also a time to bid farewell to the division, the rancour, the uncertainty, which has held this country back for too long. 2020 is upon us. and now we have a wonderful opportunity to unite as a country and move forward together. the british prime minister there. the pope has presided over the end of the year celebrations at st peter's basilica. pope francis celebrated the first vespers at the vatican, before walking through st peter's square to greet pilgrims. he tweeted: "let us give thanks to god for his grace, which has sustained us in this past year, and with joy let us raise a song of praise to him." now to a small business in singapore helping migrant workers find their perfect match. it provides a unique service to prospective grooms hoping to impress the families of brides they've not yet met. the firm's found success by doing things the old fashioned way to suit a culture of arranged marriages.

music plays. iam i am feeling the happiness today. yes, we are getting married.

a business in singapore there helping migrant workers find the perfect match. new year celebrations have been taking place around the world — with many cities holding spectacular firework displays to welcome in the new decade. this was how london marked the event.

hello. we've ended 2019 on a fairly quiet note. the best of the sunshine through new year's eve was across northern and eastern england, parts of scotland we saw some spectacular sunsets to end the year and the decade. and this quieter theme continues through new year's eve underneath this area of high pressure. but notice that the isobars are closer together across northern ireland and scotland, so, a windier day here. and also, a cloudier day across the uk to start 2020. that cloud could be thick enough for the odd patch of drizzle. for most it's mainly dry through daylight hours with some brightness or sunshine across eastern counties of scotland, north—east england, perhaps north wales for a time and maybe into east anglia, too. light or gentle winds for most away from the western and northern isles of scotland, where the winds will be strengthening through the day, perhaps gusts of

40—50 miles an hour. still, quite a cool feel to the day across the uk, 5—9 celsius, the top temperature, perhaps 10—11 for northern scotland and south—west england. cloud cover stays with us through the evening and overnight. again we could see some patchy drizzle. for most it's dry, although rain will start to approach the far north—west of scotland and the west of northern ireland as we head towards thursday morning. but underneath the cloud cover, temperatures are going to stay above freezing. and actually, as we go through thursday, it is a milder day. these yellow, and in places orange, colours just indicating the milder air flooding across the uk. but with it comes a set of fronts, and that's going to bring some wetter, windier weather initially across scotland and northern ireland, and slowly it slides its way south and eastwards through the day, but weakening as it does. but potentially some very heavy rain across the highlands of scotland, maybe 40—50 millimetres here, gusty winds as well. this front then slides its way south and eastwards, getting into northern england, parts of wales, south—west england, driest the further south and east you are, but some gusty winds, perhaps 50—60 miles an hour for northern and western scotland and 30—40 miles an hour quite widely. so it's a wet, blustery day across northern and western parts of the uk, but mild for most, it will be in double figures. doesn't last long as those fronts push their way south and eastwards,

behind it we start to see the blue colours returning. so, we're back in the colder air as we go into friday. but what that also means is clearer conditions, much more in the way of sunshine. cloud and rain clearing away from south—east england, some showers peppering the north of scotland, perhaps wintry in nature, but for much of the uk, on friday we'll end the week dry with much more sunshine. but it will be feeling a little bit colder again. as for the weekend, it's looking mainly dry. there'll be some spells of sunshine, little bit milder but potentially turning wetter and windier into next week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: revellers across the uk have rung in the start of a new decade with fireworks displays held in london, edinburgh and other major cities. in london, some 12,000 fireworks lit up the capital's skyline. european cities, including paris, berlin, madrid and athens, have also seen in the new year with firework displays. the united states is to send more troops to protect its embassy in baghdad, which has been attacked by thousands of protesters angry at american air strikes. president trump has blamed the attack on iran. the authorities in lebanon say the former nissan boss, carlos ghosn, entered the country legally. mr ghosn was on bail injapan, awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges. reports in lebanon suggest a group of musicians who played at his house in tokyo smuggled him out in an instrument case.