the fireworks display will get under way at any moment now. this is one of the biggest new year's eve celebrations around the world. it happens right in brazil. let's have a listen. cheering 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."

new year celebrations have been spectacular fireworks display there taking place around the world — on copacabana beach. that is in with many cities holding spectacular firework displays to welcome in the new decade. brazil in rio, bringing in the new a short time ago, year there. celebrations in brazil began. in rio dejaneiro, more than two million people gathered for fireworks parties and carnivals all held along a wonderful display there with lots the 4—kilometre long copoca ba na beach. we will leave you with these of colourful fireworks. we have seen pictures. stay with bbc news. many of those scenes repeated around the world and now it is time for rio. millions are actually gathered on that beach, we believe more than 2 million. it is a real carnival hello. atmosphere there. apparently people wear white to celebrate new year's we've ended 2019 on a fairly quiet note. the best of the sunshine

eve and new year in rio in order to through new year's eve was across northern and eastern england, parts of scotland we saw some spectacular sunsets symbolise a new beginning, people put flowers and candles in the to end the year and the decade. and this quieter theme continues through new year's eve water. the fireworks are actually underneath this area of high pressure. but notice that the isobars being launched about 275 metres from are closer together the beach. this is said to be a m across northern ireland and scotland, so a windier day here. and also, a cloudier day minute long show. and isn't it a across the uk to start 2020. that cloud could be thick enough for the odd patch of drizzle. good one? lots of gold and blue. for most, it's mainly dry through daylight hours with some rarely, a beautiful display. —— brightness or sunshine across eastern counties of scotland, north—east england, perhaps north wales for a time and maybe into east anglia too. really. and a big security operation light or gentle winds for most away as well, thousands of police from the western and northern isles officers deployed. they will keep 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, people safe, millions gathered on 5—9 celsius, the top temperature, the beach, just watching the perhaps 10—11 for northern scotland fireworks display. and south—west england. cloud cover stays with us through the evening and overnight. again, we could see some patchy drizzle. new year celebrations are taking for most, it's dry, although rain place around the world with many will start to approach the far

cities holding spectacular north—west of scotland and the west firework displays to welcome of northern ireland as we head in the new decade. towards thursday morning. but underneath the cloud cover, the first to welcome 2020 included temperatures are going to stay above freezing. and actually, as we go through the tiny pacific island of kiribati. thursday, it is a milder day. these yellow, and in places orange, the celebrations in sydney also went ahead despite calls for it to be colours just indicating the milder air flooding across the uk. cancelled due to but with it comes a set of fronts, australia's bushfire crisis. and that's going to bring some and tens of thousands of people gathered in london to watch wetter, windier weather initially across scotland the fireworks over the river thames. and northern ireland, gareth barlow reports. and slowly it slides its way south and eastwards through the day, but weakening as it does. but potentially some very heavy rain crowd: five, four, across the highlands of scotland, three, two, one... big ben strikes the hour maybe 40mm or 50mm here, gusty winds as well. this front then slides its way south and eastwards, getting into northern england, parts of wales, south—west england, midnight in london, driest the further south and east you are, but some gusty winds, big ben welcoming in the new decade, perhaps 50—60 miles an hour the iconic london eye for northern and western scotland sparkling on the south bank. and 30—a0 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. in france, saluts and salutations. so, we're back in the colder air

as we go into friday. parisians partied but what that also means is clearer conditions, along the champs—elysees. much more in the way of sunshine. the arc de triomphe triumphantly cloud and rain clearing away hailing 2020 had arrived. 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 in dubai, the world's tallest with much more sunshine. building, the burj khalifa, but it will be feeling a little bit colder again. was transformed into a tower as for the weekend, it's looking mainly dry. of lights and pyrotechnics. there'll be some spells of sunshine, a little bit milder but potentially turning wetter and windier into next week. it was a similar sight 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. asa as a wonderful fireworks display in rio continues, you can have a look at how the rest of the world has been celebrating the beginning of the new year. that is just on our website. there you can also see what the world's leaders' new year this is bbc news, the headlines: mesage has been, including, of course, from london, revellers around the globe have the new year message from the uk's prime minister, rung in the start of a new decade, borisjohnson. with fireworks displays held in london and other major cities. the us secretary of state, in rio dejaniero more mike pompeo, has said the attack than a million people gathered on the copacabana beach to celebrate the new year. on his country's embassy in baghdad the united states is to send was organised by terrorists more troops to protect its embassy "abetted by iranian proxies."

in baghdad, which has been attacked by thousands of protestors, 750 troops are being sent angry at american air strikes. to the region after a crowd president trump has blamed of demonstrators tried to break into the compound. the attack on iran. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. the authorities in lebanon say chanting the former nissan boss, carlos ghosn, entered the country legally. mr ghosn was on bail injapan, furious crowds and an american embassy, the largest in the world, under siege. protesters and pro—iranian militiamen inside baghdad's awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges. protected green zone, reports in lebanon suggest venting their anger, a group of musicians, attempting to breach who played at his house in tokyo, the embassy walls. smuggled him out, one entrance is pushed open, in an instrument case. 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. more later in the programme. some comments from donald trump on it as well. 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 just 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 that 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, 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 incredible scene down standing here in these communities that are really hurting. 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. let's go back to the situation in australia, those widespread fires across the country. one of those emergencies is focusing on the state of new south wales. we can now speak to anna clark who has had to evacuate with her family from their farm near tathra in new south wales. that is on the south coast. she joins me now. thank you so much for speaking to us at a really difficult time. i wonder if you can describe the situation for us there —— for you there, and what was happening as

you there, and what was happening as you were fleeing. we are literally evacuating now out of the area where oui’ evacuating now out of the area where our farm evacuating now out of the area where ourfarm is. evacuating now out of the area where our farm is. yesterday evacuating now out of the area where ourfarm is. yesterday we evacuating now out of the area where our farm is. yesterday we couldn't do that and we had an emergency warning coming from the rural fire service very early in the morning and we couldn't evacuate, so we are very near the beach, we packed our bags and got ready to go to the beach, basically. but it was genuinely terrifying. there was no dawn, it was just read and dark and smoky all day. we didn't know what was going to happen. it was very scary. and you have any news on the situation at your farm and your property? yes, wejust situation at your farm and your property? yes, we just left now. today a southerly wind came through so we were today a southerly wind came through so we were saved yesterday very fortu nately, so we were saved yesterday very fortunately, but that means other people were not so lucky. it was coming directly in our direction on the southerly came through so it pushed the fires away for now, so we

had a safe moment today to leave, but we're not sure how that will last, so we decided to leave. can you describe what those fires were like as you were leaving? i know it is very difficult, it must be frightening. today is a calm day and the fire is still relatively sedate, certainly a smoky day, but not like yesterday. it was very scary and very dark and we woke up to the sound of burnt leaves falling on the roof, like the bitter patter of rain, but it was black, absolutely black, and the sky was blood red and we just black, and the sky was blood red and wejust didn't black, and the sky was blood red and we just didn't know what was going to happen. australia and the state of new south wales are relatively used to bushfires, but have you seen anything quite like this before?

this is extraordinary. it is so dry. we have got dams on our farm that have never been drier, but there is just no water. no firefighting can be done in a way because there is nothing to fight the fires with. the whole bush is extraordinarily dry and it is going up in a way, people haven't seen it like that before. and what are your plans now in terms of evacuating and staying safe until you can go back to your property? we are going into town to my uncle's place, we will stay here for a while and see how we go, we might go to syd ney and see how we go, we might go to sydney or canberra in the next few days otherwise we willjust camp and see how we go here. do you feel like there has been enough of a firefighting efforts, in a firefighters to really deal with this? the problem is there are so many fires. where do they go? every little town has a brigade. if you

have 300 fires across the state, where do they all go? they are prioritising safety, i guess, and it is really very frightening. well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us, and we wish you the very best and we hope you can stay safe. thank you. that is anna clark, she was on a farm in tathra in new south wales, forced to evacuate those terrifying fires in new south wales. we will keep you up—to—date as the situation continues to develop in both new south wales and victoria. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we'll have more on the us and plans to send reinforcements to help defend its embassy in baghdad. 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: rio dejaneiro has welcomed in the new decade with over a million people gathering on copacabana beach to watch a spectacular fireworks display. we go back to those events in iraq. the pentagon is sending 750 additional soldiers to the middle east after its embassy was attacked in baghdad. in the last half—an—hour president trump has been speaking about the events in iraq. this will not be a benghazi. benghazi should never have happened. this will never, ever be a benghazi. but we have some of our greatest warriors there. they got in there very quickly. as soon as we saw there was a potential problem they got in and there was no problem whatsoever. they also want to thank the iraqi government, they really stepped up. they spoke to the prime minister today, i thank you. but they stepped up very nicely —— i

spoke to. david tafuri is an international lawyer and former state department official who worked at the us embassy in baghdad. thank you so much for your time, david. festival, you have been at that embassy, can you describe it for us? -- first of all. it is in baghdad, the area that was formerly the green zone. it is still a somewhat protected area. the us embassy is a fortress. it was built in 2008 - 2009, it embassy is a fortress. it was built in 2008 — 2009, it was built in order to anticipate attacks like this, knowing that iraq is a fluid place, that there are some dangers that us personnel can be targets. but over the last several years us personnel have not been targets. so it is surprising this has happened over the last few months. it certainly involves iran and the iranian backed schier militias. they instigated these protests and

demonstrations. they are also responsible for the rocket attacks that killed one us contractor, which cause the trump administration to respond with our strikes against these militias. so we have rising tensions in baghdad, in part because of these iranian backed militias and also in part because iran and the us have such a strained relationship right now and iran is using iraq to strike back at the us. iran obviously denies any involvement in the embassy attack stop but i wonder, the 750 additional soldiers, given the fortress that is the us embassy, what are those soldiers going to do? the embassy is the largest embassy for the us in the world. it is a huge compound. we spent billions of dollars in order to build it. we're not leaving a rock, so we need to stay in a rock and we need to continue have diplomats in a rock in the future ——

iraq. we need to continue to engage in diplomacy with iraq. mainly they are protecting the embassy grounds, the personnel who are still there, notably the ambassador and the high—level state department officials who have apparently been evacuated. but there are apparently still some people there to protect. 0riginally still some people there to protect. originally a quick reaction force of ioo originally a quick reaction force of 100 marines went into protected and 110w 100 marines went into protected and now we have 750 additional soldiers. again, these forces were traded as a result of what happened in ben garcia where a mission in ben garcia was overrun by radical islamist —— benghazi. crosstalk. just briefly, the iraqi government in all of this, do they have any agency, in all of this, do they have any n in all of this, do they have any agency, can they do anything to stop this happening in their own country? as you reported, president trump spoke with the prime minister, he has resigned, so he isjust the

acting prime minister. this goes to the heart of one of the other things that has happened in iraq, which is iraq doesn't have a government right 00:23:07,804 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 now. it has been engulfed by protest