mp “ii-"fliéi “a h‘fiéifli‘ "mil mph—u u—mr misc euer and northern ireland into england and northern ireland into england and wales. then it is a lull before the next band of heavy rain comes oui’ the next band of heavy rain comes our way with hail and thunder. it's going to be a windy day. this is bbc news. the headlines at 10am. at least eight people have died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the fires that ripped through australian on new year's eve. some communities have been cut off. a couple of isolated communities where we have got reports of injuries and burn injuries to members of the public. we haven't been able to get access via roads or via aircraft. it's tough. it was scary. you don't really know what to do, even if you've thought about it, it's hard to know what you'd do or feel at that moment, for sure. the mother of the british teenager found guilty of lying about being raped in cyprus says she believes the resort of ayia napa is unsafe. in their new year messages, the prime minister says brexit will mark a new chapter for the uk, while the archbishop

of canterbury urges people to reconnect with each other. celebrations around the uk mark the start of a new decade, with fireworks displays in london, edinburgh and other major cities. and we follow one woman's journey to find out what family means as she meets the half—siblings she never knew she had, that's in my very extended family in half an hour. good morning. in australia, eight people have been confirmed dead as the bushfire crisis continues to escalate. authorities warn that number is likely to rise with many people still missing in new south wales and victoria. hundreds of homes have been destroyed and residents in several

communities are trapped by bushfires in south—eastern australia. from sydney, phil mercer reports. these are extraordinary times in australia. the bushfires have brought terror into the lives of ordinary people. they are devastating and deadly. more lives have been lost. help is yet to reach some residents who've reportedly suffered burns. it was genuinely terrifying. it was like the day never happened yesterday. there was no dawn, it was just red and dark and smokey the whole day and we didn't know what was going to happen. it was very moveable and very scary. the authorities say it's been too dangerous to send in rescue teams by roads or by air. we have a very real challenge at the moment with a couple of isolated communities where we've got reports of injuries and burn injuries to members of the public. we haven't been able to get access via roads or via aircraft,

it's been too dangerous and we simply can't access, nor can the people in these areas get out. conditions on new year's day have eased, but the danger remains. dozens of fires still burn out of control and the crisis shows no sign of ending. at the very least, weather conditions on saturday will be as bad as what they were yesterday and that's why all of our people on the ground, thousands of them are taking advantage of the milder conditions to make us as well prepared as possible for saturday when any of these fire fronts can again exacerbate and cause damage. bushfires have always been part of the australian story but officials say this crisis is unprecedented. they warn that some of the blazes are so intense, that efforts by firefighters to put them out will fail. what australia needs is fire—drenching rain, but no significant falls are expected for at least another month. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney.

people living in the path of ferocious bushfires in australia have described the scene as "like the end of the world". it's feared hundreds more homes have been lost, as the fire continues to spread. billy tusker howarth is visiting family in new south wales and described the conditions. it's been tense, and i guess it's been rough in terms of not knowing what is happening. we've spent a lot of time sitting inside, listen to the radio on repeat and trying to understand what's happening around us. and even though at the edge of the town of bega, just down the road was the evacuation centre, so we felt our house personally was quite safe, but it didn't feel or look that way outside and you're still aware that 20 minutes away, people are losing their homes and that's other people in the local community. so it's tough, it was scary. you don't really know what to do. even if you've thought about it,

it's hard to know what you will actually do or feel at that moment. at times like today, you can see it's still smoky, but nowhere near the red, orange, ferocious conditions we saw yesterday, but we know that's coming again in a few days. so it means thinking through what we'll do in certain circumstances. if we're really under risk, our plan would be to leave. so when would we make that decision, where would we go, what would we take? we sat down as a family the other day and wrote out answers to those exact questions, to be ready and know what we would do to reduce the panic if that comes up, which was helpful because it also made us feel like we were doing something rather than just sitting and waiting. the mother of the british teenager found guilty of lying about being raped in cyprus has warned parents in the uk that the holiday resort

of ayia napa is unsafe. in an interview with bbc radio 4's today programme, she also said she was supporting a call for tourists to boycott cyprus. jon donnison reports. it's two days since the young british woman walked out of a cypriot court having been found guilty of falsely claiming she was raped by 12 men. her supporters say both the police investigation and the court process were flawed and her lawyers are planning to appeal. now, the i9—year—old's mother has told the bbc of the impact the case has had on her daughter's mental health. her words are read by an actor to protect both of their identities. she's suffering from ptsd. she spends a lot of time with hypersomnia at the moment. that means she's sleeping an awful lot of the day. she sleeps probably 18, 20 hours a day. she's also quite withdrawn, which is very sad for me to see, and she also experiences

hallucinations and she needs to get back to the uk to get that treated. that's my absolute primary focus. these are the young israeli tourists who originally faced accusations that they'ad raped the young woman. they were freed and allowed to fly home after she retracted the allegation. but she said she only did that because she was put under huge pressure by police questioning when she was vulnerable. now, her mother is supporting a call for tourists to boycott cyprus. this is not an isolated incident. the place isn't safe. it's absolutely not safe. and if you go and report something that's happened to you, you're either laughed at as far as i can tell, or in the worst case, something like what's happened to my daughter may happen. the foreign office has called the teenager's case deeply disturbing and says it will be speaking to the authorities in cyprus. the cypriot government says it has full confidence in its justice system and courts. jon donnison, bbc news.

the us has announced the immediate deployment of hundreds more troops to the middle east, in response to an attack on the american embassy in iraq. protesters set fire to a guard post and scaled one of the walls of the fortified compound in baghdad. the demonstrators were supporters of an iranian—backed militia group that lost 25 members on sunday during a us air strike. president trump has said he believes kim jong—un is a "man of his word", and has a signed a contract about denuclearization. it follows a speech by the north korean leader in which he declared his country would abandon its moratoriums on nuclear and long—range ballistic missile tests. and he's threatened north korea could develop a new strategic weapon. thousands are gathering on the streets of hong kong for a massive new year's day anti—government march, as protests in the territory continues into 2020. today's demonstrations follow clashes with riots police

as the new decade began. human chains were formed at major sites across the territory, as people chanted "liberate hong kong, revolution now!" pro—democracy demonstrations gripped hong kong for more than six months last year. hope and reconciliation are the main themes in a number of today's new year messages. borisjohnson has said that 2020 can allow the country to turn the page on the division and uncertainty of recent years. he's pledged to represent all voters, and said that the new year means the start of a new chapter. and the archbishop of canterbury has called for the uk to "start healing divisions" as our religion editor, martin bashir reports. it is a challenging day, weather—wise. although this is not his usual habit, the lifeboat rescue station in dover is within the diocese of canterbury, and archbishop justin welby chose to come here to deliver his new year's message. 0k. so, what we need to do,

run ahead of that red one and then turn to starboard. 0k. that's it. that the right speed? yeah, you're fine. the station is staffed year round by 70 volunteers. it's notjust a group of people working together. it's a family. the seagoing crew includes a student, a train driver, a chef, an electrician. the youngest is 17, the oldest is 62. my wife made me a lovely christmas morning breakfast, and just as the knife was going into it, the pager went off again and we were back out to the channel, yeah. justin welby said their commitment to service is the practical application of the most famous parable in the bible. when we hear someone described as a good samaritan, we think about that person taking the time to help another. but it's a story told byjesus about someone taking the risk of reaching out to another

who was very different to them. dover also happens to be the closest place in britain to continental europe, and the archbishop concluded his message by inviting all of us to take up the challenge of healing divisions between individuals and communities. let's go for a heroic new year's resolution. let's resolve to reconnect, to reach out to just one person we don't know or from whom we have drifted apart. make that connection. let's begin cementing our unity one brick at a time. martin bashir, bbc news, dover. the pope is leading mass at the vatican this morning. the service marks the vatican's world day of peace. in his christmas message the pope appealled for peace in conflict zones including yemen and syria. new year celebrations have taken

place around the world with some spectacular firework displays. here is gareth barlow‘s report. new year in new york. crowds at times square for the big apple's annual party, a celebration that could have only one soundtrack. # start spreading the news # i'm leaving today... down in south america, cheers on copacabana beach, a carnival of colour, new year brazilian style. big ben strikes the hour meanwhile, in london, big ben welcomed in the new decade, with 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. and in dubai, the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa, was transformed into a tower of lights and pyrotechnics. 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.

and in scotland, an alternative take on new year's celebrations. a flaming, spinning spectacular, you shouldn't try at home. gareth barlow, bbc news. we will bring you the latest on a sad story that has come into us in the last hour or so. two men aged 25 and 23 and a woman aged 20 have died after a collision between a lorry and car in stanwell in surrey last night. a fourth person, a woman, is seriously injured in hospital. surrey police have appealed for any witnesses to get in touch via the 101 police number. the headlines on bbc news. at least eight people have died

and hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the fires that ripped through australian on new year's eve. some communities have been cut off. the mother of the british teenager found guilty of lying about being raped in cyprus says she believes the resort of ayia napa is unsafe. in their new year messages, the prime minister says brexit will mark a new chapter for the uk, while the archbishop of canterbury urges people to reconnect with each other. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn. we are reconnecting with you. happy new year to you. the rentals football schedule continues today with nine premier league games, liverpool host sheffield united tomorrow. with jurgen klopp‘s side 13 points clear at the top it seems the battle to stay in the league and the european

qualifications will be more interesting in the rest of the season. interesting in the rest of the season. chelsea play against brighton. i played against his team twice last year and seeing what he has done with brighton, it isn't easy to change, it affects the style of play and he has done that, and it'll be a lot of work there he's done. i have watched bank the game they played against arsenal a weeks ago. they controlled big elements of the game and i'm under no illusions. he's done a big job to affect that change and i think it'll be very tough for us. chelsea's away from very good so far this season, eight other matches including manchester city up against everton at 5:30pm. david moyes takes charge of west ham first time against bournemouth. manchester united play arsenal at the emirates. some good news for england's cricketers ahead of their second test against south africa which starts in cape town on friday, every member of the touring party is expected to train this morning.

england lost the opening test in pretoria, as illness swept through the squad with 11 players and six backroom staff affected. the bbc dance champion has launched an attack on the organisation. the bdo announced monday the prize money would be reduced somewhat after only 1596 would be reduced somewhat after only 15% of tickets were sold. fallon sherrock — who became the first woman to win a match at the pdc tournament, withdrew from the bdo event yesterday due to ‘unexpected changes' at the event they are poor, they really have got to get their act together. we've offered to help many times but they have an arrogance that they can do as well as we are. they are an amateur body, with amateur resources . amateur body, with amateur resources. we have always been there to help but it is a disappointment to help but it is a disappointment to see the players, their prize money, cut when, on the professional side, it's like premier league

football. there is a big difference between premier league football and the va narama between premier league football and the vanarama league. and that is the difference. american tennis starsjohn isner and taylor fritz took time out from training for the forthcoming atp cup in australia to meet firefighters in perth, following the devastating wildfires. the inaugral tournament takes place across three cities, getting under way in a couple of day. a nice touch from them, obviously, in recognition of the widespread devastation that is affecting australia at the moment. that's all the sport for now. i'll be back with another update at around 11:15am. see you then. as a new decade arrives, businesses around the world are under pressure to improve their sustainable credentials to consumers and the fashion industry is no different. globalfashion production produces 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon per year, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. how can an industry of mass consumerism change? could swapping rather than selling help? simon browning reports.

a new style of shopping for a new decade. they call it a "swap shop". bring the stuff you no longer wear and exchange it for something else. i really like the idea of, like, exchanging with people, and, like, recycling. society is shifting and it is changing into something that is more conscientious. jade and lucy set up their clothes—swap business, lonehood, because they were horrified as the sheer volume of clothes they saw every day while working in the modelling industry. i would choose some 110 to sometimes 70 outfits a day. it was overwhelming to think how many clothes are being produced. most stuff is brand new. it is quite shameful on our part. one of the first to arrive at the swap was samantha and her family. so much stuff that we do not wear. and even him, he got given things when he was born that he hasn't worn and i just thought this is such a great way to get rid of the things that we don't want and then get new things but without buying more junk.

bags and bags and bags of clothes for swapping pour in. for each item, you receive a token. the team then make this east end nightclub into a shop.