this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 1: at least eight people are killed by bushfires in australia, in the deadliest day since the wildfire crisis began. hundreds of homes are destroyed and some communities cut off. there are a couple of isolated communities where we have 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. two men and a woman are killed after a lorry collides with a car in stanwell in surrey on new year's eve. 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, what it's like being a 17—year—old in countries around the world? bbc radio one's newsbeat has been meeting teenagers, and hearing their hopes and dreams. eight people are known to have died in australia's bushfires in the past 2a hours, with more missing, in the worst loss of life since the crisis began.

more military personnel are on the way, to try to protect isolated communities in the south east of the country. many are cut off, without power, and some are running out of water. phil mercer has sent this report. 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 and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. you walk around a bit of your house, and you go, that was the bedroom, that was where my antiques were from my family history. all of my baby memories from the kids, just everything, just gone. i don't know what i'm going home to, so... ijust hope for the best. it's upsetting to lose your memories, that's very upsetting. but you can't dwell on it, you know. if you dwell on it, then you'd just be upset all the time and that doesn't get you anywhere.

you've got to move on. help is yet to reach some residents who reportedly suffered burns. the authorities say it's been too dangerous to send in rescue teams by road 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 men as 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 continue to burn across several states. bushfires have always been part of the australian story, but officials say this crisis is unprecedented. dry and windy weather is forecast for saturday and australia will once again brace itself for another onslaught. 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. our correspondent shaimaa khalil is in new south wales — she says thousands of people whose homes have been ravaged by the fires

are trapped and unable to move from the area. this part of the princes highway is the only access in and out of the devastated areas on the southern coast of new south wales, and it has been completely cut off, this is as close as we can get. we are told there is a bushfire down the road and firefighters are trying to control it, prevented from coming closer and covering more bushland. that means that thousands of people in the areas that have been ravaged by the blazes are still trapped there, unable to move. for example, in the coastal town of batesman bay, people have been encircled by a ring of fire and they are unable to move anywhere. there are water shortages, food shortages, telecoms and power are down, they are not able to communicate with relatives, and family members were on their way here who are trying to get in and are worried but are unable to get in. the real challenge is not tojust control this huge fire front, but also to get people out safely.

the mother of a british woman convicted of lying about being raped by 12 men in cyprus has backed calls for tourists to boycott the country. the woman told the bbc that ayia napa — where her daughter had been on a working holiday — was unsafe. the foreign office has expressed what they call "serious concerns" about the case. john 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 19—year—old's mother has told the bbc of the impact the case has had on her daughter's mental health. the words are read by an actor to protect both of their identities. she is suffering from ptsd and 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 is 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 had raped the young woman. they were freed and allowed to fly home after she retracted the allegation. but she says 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 are 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. two men aged 25 and 23 and a woman aged 20 have died following a collision between a lorry and car in stanwell in surrey last night. a fourth person is seriously injured in hospital. our news correspondent gave us the latest from stanwell. desperately sad news to start 2020. we know that this accident happened just before midnight yesterday on new year's eve, involving a lorry and a car carrying four or young people. this morning, confirmation from the police that two men aged 23 and 25 were killed, a woman aged 20, and 25 were killed, a woman aged 20, and another 25—year—old woman was

taken to a london hospital where she is being treated for serious injuries. behind me, you can see where the trees have been knocked down, where a lorry ended up in a ditch. the scene has now been cleared. police say the lorry driver was not injured in the accident but was not injured in the accident but was taken to hospital as a precaution. no arrests have been made and the investigation is very much continuing into what happened here. the next of kin of the victims had been informed but have not been named. 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 has used his first message of the year to defend the rights of women. speaking at a packed mass at st peter's basilica, the pope denounced the abuse of women in modern society and defended women's rights to migrate in search of a better future for theirfamily. before celebrating mass, the pope confessed that he had lost patience with an admirer who grabbed his hand on saint peter's square on tuesday. he apologised for what he said was the "bad example" he gave when he slapped the woman's hand twice to break free from her grip. the lady in the front by the man taking the photograph. he is trying to pull away, she is shaking his hand and he slaps her hand. you can see his expression. he said: "we lose patience many times — it happens to me too." she looked very shocked, didn't she? lesson learned for everybody. the headlines on bbc news:

at least eight people have been killed by bushfires in australia, in the deadliest day since the wildfire crisis began. two men and a woman are killed after a lorry collides with a car in stanwell in surrey on new year's eve. 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. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. hgppy happy new year, gavin, i hope you had a good one. it was bullied, thank you, happy new year to all of you at home. busy day in the football today — two premier league matches underway right now. more now from kt who is at the etihad stadium ahead of the big—game airfrom etihad stadium ahead of the big—game air from manchester city against everton. how will they fare today? well, it is a difficult one to call,

because if you look at manchester city over the last decade, they have been formidable at times, haven't they? they have won back the premier league with 100 points, more trophies than any other english side in the last ten years, but they haven't finished 2019 as they would haven't finished 2019 as they would have liked. they are currently third in the table and trailing liverpool bya in the table and trailing liverpool by a whopping 1a points. but they do have a chance to eat into that lead with liverpool playing tomorrow, they face everton here. it is a trickier prospect than it would have been a few weeks ago, because everton a re been a few weeks ago, because everton are revitalised under their new manager. they are now tent at the table, they have won at their last two, they have a chance to make it three from three here, semi—difficult prospect for pep guardiola. he was asked ahead of this game at his side needed to do to try and really liverpool and this is what he had to say. work harder, play better. and pray.

we can only do what we can do, there are things we cannot control. so we have a fantastic team, and liverpool have a fantastic team, and liverpool have done well so far, and other issues we can control, we can control. everybody is fit, we can do it. what other matches can we look forward to today? it is a very busy schedule, nine games taking place today. one of the other games that catches the eye is down in london. you may not have said that several weeks ago, but west ham against bournemouth is a very interesting one, david moyes first game in charge since he returned to west ham. he spent six months there 18 months ago, save them from relegation in 2018, they have brought him back again after the failed reign of manuel pellegrini, hoping that he could do the same thing. he takes on fellow strugglers

bournemouth this afternoon, really hoping that the new year brings a fresh start for both of them. of course, there is southampton, spurs, that can be an interesting one to call, and this evening, everything gets rounded off with arsenal against united. arsenal really needing a good win to boost their confidence, sitting 12th place in a table, they haven't been very good at home either, so they are desperate for a win to lift them up the table. that kicks off at 8pm. thank you for that update. eight other matches including manchester city v everton at 5.30. david moyes takes charge of west ham for the first time against bournemouth. the late match has arsenal up against manchester united at the emirates brighton 0—1 chelsea — azpilicueta with the goal. and aston villa are 2—0 up against

burnley. jack grealish had the second. in the big one to look out for, arsenal versus manchester united at 8pm. it is all from us for now, you can get more on the bbc sport website, including all the games from the premier league, the latest scores, when the kick—off, they up to the darts final this evening. peter wright, not they up to the darts final this evening. peterwright, not steve! had to the website for that one. i would love to see steve wright play darts, i know what you're thinking. thank you, gavin. police in hong kong have clashed with pro—democracy protesters during a new year's day march. 0rganisers of the demonstration say that more than a million people took part. police fired tear gas and some protestors responded by throwing petrol bombs. today's demonstations follow clashes with riot 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 much of last year. a little earlier, i spoke to my colleaguejonathan head, who is at the protests. he said police were trying to get demonstrators to leave the centre of the city. the police are pushing us back and trying to clear the streets at the moment. there was a large rally here earlier with a very large number of people, but they have tried to clear the streets. a small number of hardcore protesters lingered on after a lot of people had gone. the police allowed the protest to go on for about four hours and declared its permission was over. we were left with a hardcore set of protesters who built improvised barricades along this street. the protesters made it clear they did not want to fight. however, the police are not tolerating anyone here, they want to clear the streets completely. this is in the centre of hong kong, this would normally be busy, but they have all been emptied for now. it seems they want to shut everything down tonight, they don't want to take any risk that protesters might come back

and carry out symbolic attacks which is what they had seen in the past. the protesters don't want to fight, but it has been a fairly typical day in hong kong. for those who organised the mass rally where you saw a much broader spectrum, they got the numbers out and they have sent the message to the government that what we saw last year, the extraordinary protest movement that lasted for almost seven months, carries on, the grievances that have driven this movement have not been settled and in essence, what we have today is a continuation of this tremendous battle of will between two sides that won't back down. you would have talked to many more than i have of the protesters. i remember one guy said to me, we don't really expect a change of direction by the government, but we just don't think we have any choice. it feels like we are in a situation that is without resolution, until exhaustion or something terrible happens.

i think you are right. exhaustion is clearly what the government and its chinese backers hoped would have had an impact long before now. there are five demands they chant, they want hong kong's special autonomy to be protected, they feel it has been eroded by china, but the demands are quite moderate. behind that is a sense that this city with a unique history and status is losing its identity. for young hong kong people, there's a sense of despair. for many protesters, this is far more about expressing their anger and rage rather than any expectation they will achieve anything. 0n the side of the government, the chief executive, carrie lam, probably one of the most unpopular leaders in the world, doesn't make any concession or suggest it, because she can't, she has to get permission from china and china doesn't want any sense of weakness.

there are two sides stuck in roles we have seen them playing for months now with no indication they will stop. it is extraordinary that we still have so much public support in a territory where the economy has been so badly damaged from a protest movement that is not willing to give up. just hearing them chanting in the background is a reminder of how visible and vocal the young protesters are in particular. what about the attitude to how the world is responding to this? we had a big announcement by donald trump that he would be giving support to protesters and they went to march to the us embassy some weeks ago and show their appreciation. the uk is a joint guarantor, supposedly, the freedoms of hong kong. do you get any sense of people feeling that the there is a sense of disappointment of the british government response so far? there is a lot of disappointment, we are constantly reminded that britain was supposed to be

the guarantor of the agreement. china's view is that once hong kong reverted to chinese control in 1997, that was it, china has the final say. china insists it is not violating the basic law, although many people would dispute that. there isn't a great deal the usa can do. a lot of protesters take a lot of encouragement. you can see a unionjack flags, american flags being flown, but deep down, everybody knows that this is something that has to be fought between the people of hong kong and their government and ultimately with china. it is the attitude of china that is decisive. that is what fuels the sense of despair, these young protesters know that however hard they push the government here, they can't do anything unless china says yes. china has made a decision that it cannot be seen to make concessions, it is still waiting this out in the hope, and a hope that has proved futile up to now,

that eventually, some of these people get sick of protesting and you're only left with a few hardcore that they can isolate. everyone thought it would happen before now, it hasn't yet and it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon. jonathan had, our correspondent in hong kong. 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. protestors 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 kimjong un is a "man of his word", and has signed a contract about denuclearisation. 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. 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, loanhood, because they were horrified as the sheer volume of clothes they saw every day while working in the modelling industry. i would shoot some a0 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. then it is time to ready, steady, swap. the fashion industry is facing a huge challenge as it is built on mass consumerism, but every single garment made has an environmental impact. take a pair ofjeans — 10,000 litres of water to make one pair. and it is leading to serious questions for retailers, manufacturers and suppliers about what changes they need to make. there's the men's stuff.

great shirts. jade and lucy believe we have the power. i definitely think that the more we shout about what we want, and we want it to be more sustainable, then businesses will then listen. but last summer, those businesses were accused of not listening or acting fast enough, when extinction rebellion protesters tried to stop london fashion week. the environmentalists believe fast fashion is one of the world's worst polluters. this woman runs a parliamentary group on fashion. she brought the protesters and industry bosses together. she says big behavioural changes are needed. we have all got to stop thinking that buying seven bags of clothes on a friday is a good idea, whether it is something from primark or something from prada, do you really need it? are you going to wear it at least 30 times? we asked six big retailers for an interview — no—one was available. sustainability means producing and buying less to reduce our impact on resources but, for shops who want to sell,

that is a profit problem and a big business challenge. but here, pre—loved and reworn. a little sustainability just one swap at a time. simon browning, bbc news. we had to bring the best pictures of the new year celebrations that have taken place the new year celebrations that have ta ken place over the the new year celebrations that have taken place over the last 2a hours around the world, since auckland began at 11am uk time yesterday. gareth barlow had the fun of looking through them all. 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. now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. a very good afternoon to you and

happy