From the cricket world cup to a Game Changing summer for womens sport, we look back at the biggest sporting moments this year. The mayor of sydney says the citys famous new years eve fireworks display will go ahead, despite a call for the event to be cancelled because of the bushfire crisis affecting parts of australia. More than a quarter of a Million People have signed a petition urging the authorities to spend the money on fighting the blazes instead. More than 80 fires are still raging across large areas of new south wales. A warning this report from phil mercer in sydney contains flashing images. Its arguably the worlds most dazzling fireworks display, but thousands of people want sydney to scrap its new years eve spectacular. They say it would be an insult and could traumatise some of those affected by the bushfire crisis. Sydneys lord mayor, clover moore, said she shared the deep sympathies of those whod signed the petition, but stressed that the fireworks were planned months in advance and most of the budget had already been spent. So, barring catastrophic fire conditions in sydney on new years eve, the event seems certain to go ahead. In between now and then, the authorities are warning of severe to extreme fire dangers across much of south eastern australia, much of the heavily populated parts of australia. That includes south australia, victoria, tasmania and new south wales, where more than 80 fires continue to burn. Volunteers are a vital part of the emergency effort. Many have been fighting the flames for weeks. The government says theyll be able to apply for about £3,000 in compensation, for taking time off work to battle the blazes. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is a very prolonged fire season. This is putting additional demands on ourfirefighters in particular, and it means that the turnouts and the callouts have been far more extensive than in previous years, going well and beyond and above what is normally expected of those who are engaged in volunteer service. The money and the gesture from the government are broadly welcomed by the volunteers on the front line. Its tough. The payment isjust a recognition of what were doing. It doesnt compensate us for what were losing, but its recognition. When your brigade is tired and exhausted and youre seeing people going out again and again and again, and youre doing 12 hour shifts and its really strenuous, hard work, you really do feel like you want to be helping, and you really do feel like youre obliged to do that. So, like, for me, it means i use my annual leave. Their work is far from over. Dangerous fire conditions and extreme heat are forecast for south eastern australia from tomorrow. Phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. Two people are in a Critical Condition in hospital in new york state after a man wielding a machete attacked people attending hanukkah celebrations. Three others are also being treated for stab wounds. Eyewitnesses said the attacker entered the home of a rabbi in monsey, with his face covered, and began stabbing people. Leigh milner has this report. It was supposed to be a night of celebration at this rabbis house in monsey, just north of new york city. Then this happened. Someone came in, face covered with a scarf, started stabbing people. Five people in total were stabbed. Two of them were taken from the scene in Critical Condition, including one of them, a senior, in very Critical Condition. According to the 0rthodoxjewish Public Affairs council, one of the victims was stabbed at least six times. It comes just a day after new York City Police said officers were stepping up patrols in heavily jewish districts like monsey after a spate of anti semitic threats and attacks. We were scared but we were not surprised because this is not the first incident in new york. This is not the first incident in rockland county. Its horrible. You know, my parents were survivors of the concentration camps and they told me how fearful it was to be jews and they always said we cant let it happen again and im scared that its happening again. Shortly after the attack, the suspect fled but was later taken into custody by the police. His motive is not yet clear. Leigh milner, bbc news. There are calls for an independent inquiry after a data breach which saw the addresses of more than 1,000 people on the new year honours list made publicly available online. The files included the details of celebrities, Senior Police officers and politicians. One of those affected, iain duncan smith, called the leak a complete disaster. Katharine da costa reports. More than 1000 people will be honoured, among them celebrities, sport stars, and politicians, including musician sir eltonjohn, cricketer ben stokes, former Tory Party Leader iain duncan smith, and former director of Public Prosecutions alison saunders. There are also security, counter terror, and justice personnel, as well as chief co nsta bles. But a list containing their home addresses was accidentally published by the government on friday evening. Iain duncan smith, who is due to be knighted, described the data breach as a complete disaster. He told the sunday times. New Data Protection laws were brought in last year, giving regulators more power to penalise those who fail to protect personal data. The Cabinet Office confirmed the list was only visible for an hour. In a statement, it said. The former head of the civil service, lord kerslake, is leading calls for an independent enquiry. The Cabinet Office says it has report the matter to the Information Commissioners Office and is looking into how this happened. But privacy campaigners have expressed concern at what they say is an inexcusable mistake. Data experts warn the government could face legal action, notjust from the data watchdog, but from those whove seen their personal details leaked. Information many may have wanted to keep private. Katharine da costa, bbc news. Katy austin is here. What kind of reaction has there been . Reaction has reflected the seriousness of the incident. There are several things to think about. It is not just are several things to think about. It is notjust that are several things to think about. It is not just that there are several things to think about. It is notjust that there are celebrities want their privacy detected, there are also security figures, senior policing figures, and their address in the wrong hands would really pose a security risk. We have heard iain duncan smith, who is being knighted, calling this a com plete is being knighted, calling this a complete disaster and saying very serious questions need answering, and also lord kerr is leg, the former head of the civil service, has expressed shock at this, and he says that is because the honours process is a well worn process, it happens every year, its very well established, so the fact a mistake has been made looks bad and has serious consequences. What do you think the implications are for the Cabinet Office . When we contacted them yesterday, they acknowledged it had happened and apologised and they said they had tried to take it down as soon as possible, so the list with the addresses on was only up for around with the addresses on was only up foraround an with the addresses on was only up for around an hour, perhaps less. The Cabinet Office also says it is contacting everybody affected, although that will not happen immediately, because there are lots of people on the list and maybe they are being prioritised. Tae kwon do starjadejones told the bbc last night she had not been contacted yet. There is also the fact that Data Protection regulation has been tightened very recently, with gdpr coming in, which many viewers will have heard of, and we know the information regulator will be making enquiries. That if the Information Commissioners Office, which has powers including being able to levy a fine. We can await the outcome of their investigation, but many experts say, if a fine is levied, it would not be stratospheric levels, like millions, because although this isa like millions, because although this is a serious breach because of the nature of those involved, the scale of it is relatively small, so we will have to see what happens. Whatever happens with the enquiry, questions are being raised because we live in an era where the importance of Data Protection is very high in everyones awareness, so how this got onto the internet for even a short time is the key question. Thank you. Cctv footage which appears to show a missing firefighter on the night he disappeared has been released by police. 33 year old Anthony Knott went missing during a work night out in lewes in east sussex on the 20th of december. Sussex police are hoping the footage, showing his distinctive walk, may help them to track his movements before he disappeared. Iran has said a british australian woman whos reported to have gone on Hunger Strike in prison must serve her sentence. Kylie moore gilbert, who was jailed for spying, is being held in the same prison as the british iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe and two french academics. Boats carrying 31 migrants have been picked up as they attempted to cross the english channel. Two have been taken by french authorities to france and the british borderforce intercepted a third. All of those found, including a pregnant woman, are thought to be in a safe condition. A group of former labour mps who lost their seats in the election have called for fundamental change at the top of the party. In a letter to the observer, the group, which includes former mp for Wakefield Mary creagh, said cronyism in the party and labours unwillingness to stand up to anti semitism were repeatedly raised as issues on the doorstep, and that issue shamed the traditional values the scottish author and artist following a short illness. A graduate of the Glasgow School of art, his murals feature in many public buildings in glasgow, while his debut book, lanark, has been described as one of the masterpieces of 20th century fiction. First minister of scotland Nicola Sturgeon paid tribute to him as one of scotlands literary giants. Denmark will start using live video to help people who call the Emergency Services in and around the capital, copenhagen. Anyone with a camera phone will be able to stream video direct from the scene to call handlers without installing an app. Theres been a year long trial, which the Authorities Say was successful. Karl riley reports. Denmarks main Emergency Call Centre where dispatchers give critical advice to callers as ambulances make their way to the scene. From the start of 2020, callers here may be asked to share live video as a trial of the Technology Becomes permanent. We find we use the video calls a lot where there is a lot of panic or when people are having difficulty understanding the instructions that we find we use the video calls a lot where there is a lot of panic or when people are having difficulty understanding the instructions that were giving over the phone. In the year long trial of 700 video calls, more than 40 of the emergencies were re categorised once dispatchers could see the scene live. So, how does it work . Operators can send an sms to mobile callers with a link that opens up their camera and shares video from their device, but only if theres another person at the scene to administer the first aid. Translation its a way to guide the patient since we can monitor the situation. So, someone can help put an unconscious person in position. If its a cardiac arrest, are you pumping the right place at the chest . Are you pumping deep enough . All this happens when the ambulance is on its way, as fast as possible. The scheme has already been credited with saving one live. The person has a heart attack and was helped by colleagues on a video call. Hes welcomed the roll out, saying hes sure it will help many others. Carl riley, bbc news. The headlines on bbc news. A quarter of a Million People sign a petition calling for sydneys new years eve fireworks to be cancelled and the money spent fighting nearby bushfires instead. Five people are injured in a knife attack in new york state during hanukkah celebrations at the home of a rabbi. Calls for an independent inquiry after the new years honours data leak, in which the addresses of celebrities, politicians and Police Officers were published online. Lets get more now on the stabbing in new york, and Yossi Gestetner of the Orthodox JewishPublic Affairs council was on the scene shortly after the incident happened and told my colleague, ben brown, how events unfolded. Last night at about 9 50 local time there was a hanukkah celebration at the house, the home of a rabbi, with about 50 guests. Suddenly someone with a masked face, probably covered by a scarf, came in with a machete or butcher knife and started stabbing people indiscriminately. There was obviously big chaos and mayhem. People rushed from the scene. He ran outside towards the synagogue which is next door and his vehicle was parked basically in front of the synagogue. He got into the vehicle and took off but not before someone who was in the house had in mind to chase him and look at the plates and the plate number was given to Law Enforcement, they sent it out to the whole region and in less than two hours the new York City PoliceDepartment Arrested this person and local detectives went to new york city to pick him up. And the Police Department actually towed back the vehicle from the city back to rockland county, 30 miles north of new york city. We gather five people were stabbed. Is this in your view part of a pattern of anti semitic attacks in new york state . It is certainly an attack which is a targeted attack. And i guess Law Enforcement will need to decide the exact classification. But if someone, lets say for example someone goes into a congregation or a mosque or a church and wants to settle a score with someone, lets say, and then decides to indiscriminately stab other people, that makes it a quintessential bigoted attack. Weve been hearing from the mayor of new york saying we will not allow this to become the new normal. We will use every tool we have to stop these attacks once and for all. Do you welcome that kind of response from the authorities . Obviously it is important for your viewers to understand that new york city, the way it works in the united states, you have the 50 states, and within each state you have counties, within each county towns, within towns you have villages and hamlets. Montey is a small place. It is not new york city. There has been a fair share of attacks on orthodox dues. When the mayor says it cant be the new normal, it is also about concrete steps. Police in london are investigating a racially motivated hate crime in the hampstead area during the jewish festival of hannukah. It follows the appearance of offensive graffiti in a number of locations in north london, including a synagogue and shop fronts. The images include a reference to 9 11 and an anti semitic Conspiracy Theory over the new york attack. The conservative councillor for hampstead, oliver cooper, said he was sickened to find such anti semitism in his neighbourhood. No arrests have been made. The family and friends of a british man and his two children who drowned in a spanish resorts Swimming Pool have been talked of their devastation at the news. Gabriel diya, 52, his daughter comfort diya, nine, and his son praise emmanuel diya, 16, died on christmas eve. Spanish Police Believe the deaths happened after they got out of their depth, but mr diyas wife, olubunmi diya, says all three could swim, and she believes there was a fault with the pool. It is very devastating, because i just broke the news this morning. She has made a u turn from where she was going and she is coming to see her. The family is upset. My mother is 92 years old. I cant tell her. We are in a devastated state at the moment, very devastated. It didnt immediately read that it was my friend, i saw the name diya and i thought, this has to be a nigerian family, so i went to look for gabriel diya on google and then i saw the twitter account and, when i looked on that, i saw the picture andl looked on that, i saw the picture and i said to my friend, that is them, and immediatelyl and i said to my friend, that is them, and immediately i was broken, i was upset. I was weeping. I was angry, really angry, this cant be happening to someone that is so close. Here in the uk, its been more than two years since big bens famous bongs were paused to allow for essential Maintenance Work to be carried out. But new years eve just wouldnt feel right without those iconic chimes. So, for one night only, they will return to ring in the new decade in london. Tim muffett reports. Its one of the worlds most familiar and regularly misnamed buildings. But for two years, the elizabeth tower, which houses the giant bell, big ben, has been surrounded by scaffolding. Repairs that have left big ben itself largely silent. Here it is, big ben. Here it is, big ben, yes, indeed, all 13 tons of it. Its been quiet largely for the last few years. Feels a bit odd . It does feel very odd. Its been way too quiet for my liking. This is, what, the biggest refurbishment project thats ever ta ken place since it was first built. So, the clock mechanics are taking apart every single small piece and then putting it all back together, which hasnt been done before. So, a massive challenge for them. Its that clock mechanism which, for more than 150 years, activated the hammer that strikes big ben. So, for special occasions during the repairs, such as remembrance sunday and new years eve, a new device has been needed. What weve got here is a tolling Automatic Electric tolling motor, which obviously wouldnt have been available when this was first built. This produces the power needed to then lift the big ben hammer, which is, as i say, very heavy, 300, 400 kilograms, and strike it 12 times. Last new years eve, all went to plan. Big ben bongs. Are you nervous in the run up to midnight . I think theres always got to be a bit of nerves because it shows, one, that you care, and also, that its obviously a really, really big moment. Cheering. The new speaker of the house of commons, lindsay hooyle, has said he wont stand in the way if mps vote for big ben to also be struck on january the 31st, the day the uks set to leave the eu. During a tumultuous time in british politics, hidden from view, this 4 year refurbishment has continued. All of the stone that we put onto the tower is hard carved, which is a phenomenal thing to say, brilliant, and it may take them between three and four weeks to produce a carving such as this crown that you can see along here. So, a real labour of love. So, this is the eastern clock face, high up the elizabeth tower, and the most striking thing is the colours. Its not the black paint were familiar with, but gold and blue. So, we found that as we scratched back through the layers, we were scratching, basically going back through time, and found that this was the colour that it was originally. So, its really exciting to find that blue colour as we went back through the layers. And its prussian blue. Prussian blue, yeah. This is gold leaf. And weve reglazed the whole of the clock face with hand blown opal glass. Even standing here, on a rainy day, surrounded by scaffolding, you see that thats one of the faces of elizabeth tower. Big ben. Yes. Its so iconic. To actually be able to stand here and i wont touch the gold, but i will touch in between its not many people can do that. In 2021, the scaffolding will disappear and the worlds most famous bell will again be heard not just on special occasions, but every hour, every day. Tim muffett, bbc news. A group of charities has bought a zoo in the brittany region of france, with the aim of returning the animals to the wild. They raised more than £550,000 on crowdfunding platforms and have ambitious plans. Gail maclellan reports. Zoo de pont scorff in brittany. Closed to visitors for the immediate future. If the rewild teams plans succeed, then the zoo will reopen to the public in the middle of 2020, but it wont be the kind of zoo you might expect. For one thing, the animals will not be on public view. Translation actually, we dont want to close the zoo to the public. For us, its very important that this place stays alive, that people come and continue to have a relationship with living beings. We want to change our vision of wild animals, which are notjust consumer goods. We want to take another approach one thats sensitive and educational. But first, they need to assess the animals that crowd funding helped them to buy. They want, they say, to get them out of the conditions in which they currently live. Translation the rhino is not well. You can really feel the weight of captivity on his shoulders. A black rhino is a folivore, and here, he never has access to foliage. The new owners have asked all 17 of the zoos employees to stay and help look after the animals. Their plans are ambitious and expensive. They are keeping the appeals for funding going as they aim to rehabilitate their charges and, in some cases, reintroduce them to the wild. But not everyone thinks this is a good idea. The European Association of zoos and aquarias think that public contributors are misguided. They point to the difficulty of reintroducing animals to the wild and suggest the conservation arena is no place for amateurs. But they agree that animal species are in serious trouble and it could be that the pont scorff zoo experiment is at least a small step in the right direction. Gail maclellan, bbc news. Lets straight to new york state, because a press conference has just got under way following the stabbing of five people at the home of a rabbi. Members of the community, and we expect also police and new york governor to be speaking. Letsjoin events. Thank you. I want to thank this man for his leadership, the members of Law Enforcement who are here, the chief of the local police, the sheriff, the state police are here, Law Enforcement did a greatjob last night, and i want to thank them very much. Local officials who are here from the community, people who are here, its a very sad situation, obviously, and its also very disturbing. I visited with the rabbi this morning. When he talks about what happened, it is even more frightening than the report you read in the newspapers or on the television. And inexplicable, no warnings, nothing said, just hate, just hate and violence. Thats all it was. Now, wed like to say. I wish i could say that this was an isolated situation but unfortunately its not. Weve had 13 acts of anti semitism since december the 8th in new york state. Id like to say its only those 13, but the truth is we have had incidents of hate all across the state, against the lgbtq community, the African American community, the African American community, the African American community, the latino community, and its not just new community, the latino community, and its notjust new york community, the latino community, and its not just new york state. Community, the latino community, and its notjust new york state. This isa its notjust new york state. This is a National Phenomenon that we are seeing, and its frightening and its disturbing. If anyone thinks that something poisonous is not going on in this country, then they are in denial, frankly. How many incidents do you have to see, from coast to coast, hostility based on religion, based on race, based on creed, based on immigration status . Its all across the country. It is an american cancer that is spreading in the body politic, an american cancer, turning one cell if the body against the other. Once we become intolera nt against the other. Once we become intolerant of differences, then we are intolerant with america, because america is all about differences. We are all from someplace else. And we we re are all from someplace else. And we were founded on the premise of tolerance for the differences. These a cts tolerance for the differences. These acts are intolerant, they are ignorant. To attack the jewish community. The nation is based on freedom of religion George Washington celebrated with the jewish community. Thats what america is all about. Ignorance, intolerance and its also illegal. And for a government, the question is, what are you to stop it, and how are you going to protect us . 13 incidents against thejewish community. Nationwide scourge of hostility. Other incidents in this state. Attack the ignorance, take the intolerance, education, cultural awareness, but attack the