hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2: a week—long state of emergency in australia — with a warning that a heatwave forecast for the weekend could make the bushfires worse. there are fears of fuel shortages — thousands take to their cars to flee the areas under threat. australia's prime minister scott morrison cuts short a visit to one devastated community as people there heckle him. how come we only have four trucks to defend our time? we don't have much money. delays and cancellations on the railways — but most fares still go up an average of 2.7% from today. artificial intelligence ‘outperforms‘ doctors in diagnosing breast cancerfrom mammograms — according to the latest study. coming up on afternoon live
all the sport — john watson. after sickness and defeat in the first test we find out how england are shaping up ahead of the second test against cape town stop thanksjohn, and sarah ahead of the second has all the weather — sarah. ita mile it a mile day to day today and it will be some more sunshine. we will have a full forecast for you as well asa have a full forecast for you as well as a look at the world for situation in australia. thanks sarah. also coming up... getting to the meat of it — the employment tribunal considering the case of a man sacked — he says — because he's vegan. they must decide whether veganism is akin to a religion — and should be protected in law. hello everyone, this is afternoon live. the situation in australia
is already dire — and there are warnings it could be about to get even worse. a week—long state of emergency has been declared in new south wales as bushfires claims more lives. the country is now bracing itself for a weekend heatwave with higher temperatures and strong winds that are expected to fan the flames. thousands of people are already fleeing a vast "tourist leave zone" in nsw, with supplies running low in some cut—off towns. the australian prime minister was heckled as he toured fire—ravaged towns by residents who accuse the government of not our correspondent phil mercer sent this report. (vt our correspondent phil mercer sent this report. the mass exodus from southern new south wales is under way. it has been slow going at the evacuation has been hampered by a lack of fuel. phone and internet networks have been disrupted, adding to the anxiety. the authorities are urging tourists and residents to leave while they can before the fire danger returns. we cannot guarantee
your safety if you are a resident in these areas, and do not have the means to stay in post with your home, and your wife, we strongly advise you to leave now. we just wa nt advise you to leave now. we just want to get our kids out of year. we are more important than anything. the authorities fear a repeat of the disaster on new year's eve. more lives were lost and hundreds of homes destroyed. recovering from this could take years. in victoria, thousands of people in the seaside town of marketer were stranded. the name is cut but there is an escape by sea for some. the navy has been called in to carry out emergency evacuations. we have the opportunity today to potentially move about 500 people out of year. the interesting
thing about this is that some people may not want to leave. they may want to leave —— stay there until such time that we may be all to get out by road. that could be a number of weeks, that may be two or three weeks, that may be two or three weeks at this stage. the australian prime minister was heckled when he visited a small time. how can we only have two trucks defend our townwe don't have much money but we have hearts of gold, mr pye minister. angry locals don't hold back. the accused him of mishandling the crisis. you are an idiot, mate. he has been accused of not taking global warming seriously. so i summer global warming seriously. so i summer time this area has a flood or fire, we get nothing. with donations and emergency relief, four trucks...
scott morrison says his climate change policies are adequate and responsible. opposes will both protect our environment and reduce the risk houses that we are seeing today and at the same time our policies will seek to ensure the viability of people's jobs and livelihoods around the country. the prime minister has called for calm as dozens of blazes burning across the country. the scale of this disaster is so great that smoke has drifted hundreds of miles across the sea to new zealand. there is no end in sight. more heart dry and windy conditions are forecast in south—eastern australia in the days ahead. our correspondent shaimaa khalil is in lake conjola, 70 miles west of canberra, in an area where the fires have claimed 3 lives. the extent of the damage that these
huge fires have caused here, in lake conjola, is all around. homes have been ravaged, the earth is scorched, still smouldering, still hot. you can feel the smoke. three people died in this small community alone, one of them just up the street over here. this is one of the coastal towns where tourists have been given 48 hours to evacuate. many of them have been trying to get out. it has been very hard for them to leave because the conditions around us are still quite hazardous. residents are still in shock at what happened to their town. some have left, when the fires hit, others stayed to defend their homes. and then we could see it coming and it wasjumping from house to house. there were plants, like, underneath the front or at the front of the houses, and they'd just explode into flames, and then they was embers everywhere. and then thatjust — bang — it just caught fire. they were going, like this one up here, it went behind,
and then two down below, so we had nearly eight houses alight. you know, did we sort of cheat it? we survived. yeah... it's pretty traumatic. the son of a volunteer who died fighting australian bushfires has been presented with his father's medal for bravery at his funeral. 19 month old harvey keaton wore a uniform and sucked his dummy as received his father's posthumous medal at thursday's funeral near sydney. dozens of firefighters formed a guard of honour to salute mr keaton‘s coffin. 0ur science editor david shukman is here. we keep hearing the word
unprecedented, but how bad are things at the moment? got a large number of files scattered across several states and they began earlier in the feeding year. australia had to try that allowed the forest and the base to become very vulnerable to fires and they have been running since september in parts of australia. you have not only got certain parts... that are more and more people exposed to danger. towns and cities have expanded even into areas that are now in danger. 0n have expanded even into areas that are now in danger. on top of that, you have also got a very unusual factor here, which is typically you think of australia is a land of fires and floods. now does happen and what the court the bush, the scrubland is. these fires tend to be in the forest, so they are much harderfor in the forest, so they are much harder for the firefighters to
tackle. it is easier for a fire team to try a that is a forest fire. put all that together, record temperatures and exceptional drought over many many months, in fact even a period of three years, below average rainfall, you put that together and you have got a very combustible mix. add to that in a lot of questions about how effective oi’ lot of questions about how effective or not be various local governments have been creating what we call fire breaks, these are areas in which wetter times you deliberately burn vegetation to create a barrier, a lack of fuel, so the fire cannot jump. they have been behind in that work over the last number of years, so one work over the last number of years, so one scientist was saying that you have got a perfect storm. add to that record temperatures and this looks set to last. use the phrase, in wetter times. the problem is to have not been wetter times in recent
moments. people are saying this is ma nifest moments. people are saying this is manifest in the result of climate change. climate change is definitely raising the average temperature. globally it has gone up i degrees although the last 150 years, which is the same as australia. when you get a higher temperature you create the risk of fire, particularly if you dry and the soil is. yet the right ingredients them for the fire. it is important to say that other factors come into play as well. funding for firefighters, we talked of the fire breaks, all these activities have a bearing as well and adding to the deed all the time isa and adding to the deed all the time is a higher temperature of the projections are, depending on what happens to global emissions of greenhouse gases, definitely for temperatures to rise a degree or two in the coming decade, that will only add to the danger. the prime minister is being heckled and there is anger at the government, a government that says the are involved a considerable reduction
schemes for emissions, the government has a responsibility for many mining communities, this is a country that relies heavily on its fossil fuel. yes, country that relies heavily on its fossilfuel. yes, this country that relies heavily on its fossil fuel. yes, this government is trying to do a balancing act. they are trying to sound like they are taking climate change seriously while also fostering a very important employer, is very important employer, is very important part of the economy... australia is one of the largest exporters of coal in the world, mostly to china and india. the australian government responding to this is to say after the last climate change treaty, we met our target. but if you would back at that, their targets were very generous and even allowed an expansion of greenhouse gases, so it is not totally accurate that they have really contributed to a reduction in emissions. at the same time, scott morrison is seeing that
they are a tiny contributor to global warming, a percentage point. the answer to that is, well, as a developed country, australia has been pumping out greenhouse gases for longer than china or india. therefore you could argue there is a moral responsibility to take the lead in reducing those emissions. this is all being given a sharper focus because last month at the annual un climate talks in madrid, i was there, australia played a pretty dirty game trying to get in the way of negotiations held up by many environmental groups, sickly awkward groups in an awkward squad of countries that want to take part in climate change. we came out of it been criticised for, and one example, double counting, trying to argue that if they sell gas to developing countries and those
countries would rather burn that and call, australia should get some type of credit for that. they were trying to argue that under the previous emissions schemes the gained credits and therefore should be allowed to carry guns forward onto the paris agreement. it would allow them to keep burning more fossilfuels effectively. this comes at a time where scott morrison is getting a lot of local criticism for a failure to act in the times are to be affected by the fires, but also globally more and more countries and environmental groups are highlighted australia and seeing they are a victim of changes climate are talking about but you, as a government, are failing to thank you. floods in indonesia's capital, jakarta, are now known to have killed at least twenty one people, after the city experienced its heaviest rainfall in more than two decades. at least thirty—thousand residents have moved to temporary shelters. officials said thirty seven centimeters of rain had fallen in a single day.
despite delays and poor performance from some train operators — millions of commuters in england and wales will have to pay an average of 2.7% more for their tickets from today. it means some passengers face a rise of more than a hundred pounds for their annual passes. prices in scotland are also going up. the rail delivery group, which represents the train companies, claims average fare increases have been kept to below inflation for the third year in a row. emma simpson reports. back to work today and not much to smile about. as usual, train fares are going up and it has become a january ritual. my travel in particular is affected every day because i have late trains every day and they are literally crawl into london waterloo, so it makes it very difficult for me to plan so it makes it harder for me to understand the justification of an increase in price when i do not see any improvement. we have had a year of bad service but i have just come to
expect now. ijust get on with it. the service has not been particularly good over the past two or three years so i think you'll find that a lot of people are annoyed about it. today's increases are all about regulated fares which cover around 40% of journeys, including season tickets, for instance the annual commute from reading to london is going up by £132. for gloucester to birmingham, it is going up by £118. and edinburgh to glasgow, it is not that far behind. all these season tickets are now well over £4000 per year. nobody wants to pay more for theirfares, we understand that, but by keeping the increase just below the rate of inflation, it allows us to cover the day—to—day running costs of the rail industry which then frees up billions of pounds of public and private cash which is needed to upgrade the system. but it has not gone to plan. for northern rail commuters,
2019 saw another year of misery, delays, cancellations and overcrowding. the transport secretary says northern rail is no longer fit for purpose and confirmed it may be stripped of its franchise. i do not think it is right that people are unable to rely on their train services, particularly in places like northern were it has been notably bad. i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. today he also announced two new trials on flexible tickets, including better value fares aimed at part—time commuters. we think there needs to be overhaul all of the system, you need to work out and also has to offer better value. that will include tickets that reflect we live now. change could be on the way, a big long awaited review of the railway commissioned by the government is due to be published the coming weeks.
researchers say a new artificial intelligence system has proved as good if not better than human experts in spotting breast cancer in scans. as part of a research project, a computer system was trained to read x—rays. it was more accurate than a single radiologist and on a par with two experts working together. here's our medical correspondent fergus walsh. it takes a decade of training to become a radiologist and have the skill to meet a mammogram. in the nhs, two doctors analyse every one's x—rays. now artificial intelligence, a machine learning computer, designed by google health, can do it just as well as humans. this went far beyond my expectations. it will make an impact on the quality of the report and also freeing up radiologist to do even more important things. women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for breast screenings every three years.
the study showed that al was actually better than one doctor working alone at reading mammograms. it produced 1.2% fewer false positives, where a healthy mammogram is wrongly labelled as abnormal. there were 2.7% fewer cases where a cancer was missed. ai will only get better. this study shows is that in the future it might be possible to make that screening process more efficient, which means less worrying times for patients waiting for results and better outcomes overall. this woman has been clear of cancer for 15 years. she was a patient representative on a panel which had to approve google health‘s access to mammograms, all of which were anonymized. initially i was concerned in what google were going to do with this information and what would be able to do with
the data, but when i thought about it in the longer term it can only benefit woman in having less records when they haven't got cancer. this is a breakthrough moment for artificial intelligence, which seems certain to play a major role in the diagnosis of breast cancer and used to come. ai has already proved its ability to read other types of patient scans. it shows itself as good as leading specialists in diagnosing more than 50 different eye conditions. the nhs needs another 1000 radiologists, so using al to replace one of the two doctors who read mammograms would ease the pressure and speed up diagnosis. let's talk now to hugh whittall, director of the nuffield council on bioethics. this is a very positive story. yes very exciting. if there are ways in
which we can improve diagnosis rates with fewer false positives and false and negatives, that is very promising. i hesitate to say but because i do not want to sound negative about it, but i feel that with any such technology we just need to be careful about where we implemented or make sure we go through proper trials. we have to question how our data may be used to feed the systems. what it means for the human interaction if we increasingly move to machine interactions. you still see a doctor. and the presumably pass it to the machine and then a consultant speaks to you. we can always expect that to happen and that is true, but the potential becomes whether this becomes a black box technology, in which we do not understand quite what the computation is happening
inside the black box. we want to be confident that consultants know what is happening and that we do end up ina is happening and that we do end up in a situation where the machine is taking all the decisions on the basis that other people cannot understand and then we can understand and then we can understand who is taking responsibility for the decision and advice. there is no question that this ai is making decisions, it is just going through some of the radiologist work and spotting things that radiologist good form. indeed, if what we get to is better earlier diagnosis and fewer false results, and we can still have this positive interaction with their doctors and understand what is happening and be informed, one can see the positive. we just need to think about the things around in it because technology doesn't just things around in it because technology doesn'tjust happen in isolation. there is trust placed in technology and on our health care
professionals. these systems are enforced by patient data. are we confident our data has been used in ways that we are comfortable with, especially if it is going into areas of private sector development, and this is still within the range of expectations that we have. the use of google health has raised an eyebrow but they make a point that the data is data and it will ever become public. there was the case a few years ago that google was working with another company and later was being fed into that in two ina way later was being fed into that in two in a way that patients might not have expected. if my health information and data is within the health service and especially when we have a national health service year, our expectations that that is contained within that health environment, we are very sensitive about our health information. there needs to be a proper understanding
on the part of patients of how that data may be used to might access it and for what purposes. how is it secured? these are not things that can be done, it isjust secured? these are not things that can be done, it is just that we need to be careful that we make sure that they are done and we inform people. i think we can be optimistic and positive about how this research can go forward but let us put all those questions in the picture from the beginning and involve patients in that discussion. thank you very much. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines a state of emergency is declared in part of australia as tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee, amid forecasts of ferocious bushfire conditions. rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 per cent today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters — the government promises change artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing breast cancerfrom mammograms —
according to a study it is tomorrow for the second test against south africa for england. captainjory against south africa for england. captain jory says he against south africa for england. captainjory says he will make a late call on his sickness. nigel wray has retired as chairman. points we re wray has retired as chairman. points were deducted after an enquiry into their business deals. pvc champion said his snakebite image says it made him what he is as a player. more to come on all the stories soon. the psychologist who developed the uk's main deradicalisation programme for terror offenders has told the bbc nobody can be absolutely sure it works. told the bbc nobody can be his comments come after usman khan, who had taken part in the scheme, killed two people at fishmongers' hall near london bridge in novemember. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani is here.
how does the scheme work? it is the key scheme given in prison those who have committed extremist crimes. people who have support for an ideological cause. in essence, if people volunteer to join the scheme, they are not compelled to do it, they are not compelled to do it, they sit down with a psychologist over many sessions and there is an investigation into their identity and what made them believe what they believe, what is because they were trying to with? interiors that if you can reduce the strength of the relationship that they have with the extremist group you willjust the likelihood of them reoffending and increase the possibility of them to become a better person and not go back to prison. it is very complex
psychological therapy. what is the success rate? it is very difficult to stay as the people involved in is very small. at any given moment, a few hundred radicals are injail, so tracking them them is very difficult. let's say we had 10,000 burglars, it is obvious you can't runa big burglars, it is obvious you can't run a big programme on what happens to those burgers are what works for them. the man who devised this, what is says about it is it works in some cases but it cannot be guaranteed to work in every case and what they often find is that they take steps forward , often find is that they take steps forward, we look like the artist engaging and changing their identity and less radicalised as they have discovered a group that says violence is the answer to all the problems in syria, this may decide that group is lying to them and they can make changes to legitimate campaigning and charity work, so he
says the work is very complex. critically, when someone leaves prison there has to be further monitoring to make sure that whatever has progressed stays embedded. talks aimed at breaking almost three years of political deadlock in northern ireland have resumed. stormont‘s devolved government has been inactive since january 2017, when the powersharing agreement between unionist and nationalist parties broke down. they have until the 13th of january to reach an agreement or a new assembly election could be called. the three british airways cabin crew who were killed in a new year's eve crash involving a lorry near heathrow airport have been named by friends and colleagues. 23—year—old dominic fell, joe finnis who was 25, and 20—year—old rachel clark died at the scene in surrey. a 25 year—old woman remains in a serious condition in hospital. a fundraising page set up to help the families of the victims has raised more than £47,000 so far.
just to bring you some breaking news, nick ramsey has been arrested and suspended from the welsh conservatives. he was arrested last night following an incident. the party was informed this morning and he was suspended from the conservatives. he was elected in 2007. he was a shadow finance minister, a welsh spokesperson said that he has been suspended following an incident which took place yesterday. the suspension will be reviewed following consideration of the matter with external agencies. so nick ramsay was arrested yesterday and is now suspended from the welsh conservatives. time for a look at the weather.
let us look at what is happening in australia. what is the meteorology of what is going on there? there are lots of reasons. one of them we can look at exactly what is happening in the indian ocean at the moment. you may well have heard of the el nino effect but people might not have heard of the indian ocean dipole. it happens in the indian ocean. we have got a positive phase in the moment and much warmer water is piling up in the west indian ocean and is caused flooding in africa. conversely, towards australia we have clear water that is starting to comment in the eastern indian ocean. that means that cooler waters are less conducive for rain clouds to form. it has been very dry there over the past few years and particularly dry over australia. we have got all that dry air but we also look at what's happening with
the winds. it is a bit like arrow jet stream delivers when to us, we have the southern annular mode. we see strong westerly winds pushing further northwards. but that is met is that all the dry and hot here has moved towards victoria and the australian capital territories. of course, we have got is things like the southern annular mode, but we are all superimposed on climate change. this graph shows her average damages are reviewing from normal over the past 100 years. it tells a story. 0ver recent years, temperatures right across australia have been more than a degree or so above average. looking at that wind direction, the smoke from these fires have been seen for many miles
away? yes, this plume of smoke has been moving across. this shows us the smokes coming from the south east australia right across new zealand and they have gone beyond into places like chile. this is on the glasses in new zealand and there isa the glasses in new zealand and there is a distinct brown colour to them as the smoke particles and the air had been falling onto the snow and that has further implications is darker coloured snow absorbs more heat so it could sue those glaciers melting a little quicker over the summer months. what is happening closer to home? we have colder conditions. 0ut there today it is a mild date with a lot of cloud around at outbreaks of rain moving in from the north—west and it is also feeling quite windy. it is back to business as usual in terms of the
weather. we have several weather fronts heading south—east. it is a blustery fuel to the weather. but the winds are coming from a mild direction in the south—west, colder air towards the north—west and we have a couple of weather fronts were two air masses meet in wales and the north west of england. that will be coming into the north—west of scotla nd coming into the north—west of scotland as well. hail and thunderstorms are being produced and a bit of dry weather for the likes of aberdeen and down towards belfast but only having next area of rain coming into the west of england and north wales. for the south east of england it will mostly be drive the next few hours but wherever you are you will notice that breeze picking up you will notice that breeze picking up between 55 mph and 45 mph. it is mild but not feeling great and need the cloud with the rain. through this evening and overnight we are going to see a milder air getting squeezed away towards the
south—east, colder conditions developing. for part of scotland, ireland, england there will be frost, but we still have that mild temperature. early cloud and patchy rain across eastern england and that will ease away and go all good to have cleaner air with further showers putting in from the north—west. some will be wintry over the high ground of scotland. temperatures in single figures. we will see some sunshine to compensate. as we look to the weekend, we have an area of high pressure to the south holding onto the weather. the weather front will bring some rain onto the far north. elsewhere, early mists should clear way to show sunnier skies. temperatures are reasonably typical of the time of year with single figures. it is a similar picture as we head on into sunday. high pressure will keep things mostly dry, with sunshine across southern
and eastern parts of england. there are some spots of rain to have points of sorrow for north—west scotland. it continued to look fairly unsettled with spells of rain at times to the course of the next week. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a week—long state of emergency in australia, with a warning that a heatwave forecast for the weekend could make the bushfires worse.
there are fears of fuel shortages — thousands take to their cars to flee the areas under threat, australia's prime minister scott morrison cuts short a visit to one devastated community, as people there heckle him. how come we only had four trucks to defend our town? because our town doesn't have a lot of money but we have hearts of gold, mr prime minister. delays and cancellations on the railways — but most fares still go up an average of 2.7% from today. artificial intelligence outperforms doctors in diagnosing breast cancer from mammograms, according to the latest study. and getting to the meat of it — the employment tribunal considering the case of a man sacked, he says, because he's vegan. they must decide whether veganism is akin to a religion and should be protected in law. sport now on afternoon live withjohn watson. talking cricket, and joe root has
got a selection dilemma? yes, it has been farfrom ideal so got a selection dilemma? yes, it has been far from ideal so far for england on their tour. 11 players down with a sickness bug as england lost the first test. most have now recovered ahead of tomorrow. england have an injury tojoffre archer, who trained but didn't finish the whole session today. we didn't bowl because of a sore elbow. england waiting for the results of a scan. there would be a late: whether he plays tomorrow. i think all options are on the table at this point. having as much information as we can, making sure we see what results come back from that scan, seeing wa ry come back from that scan, seeing wary is, we don't really want to go into the game with him not being 100% and we don't want to potentially see him miss a lot more cricket through playing him when he's fit to play, so being really clear about where he is at and making a balanced decision on the side of the back of it.
and it will be scans all around, with news of opening batsmen rory burns picking up a football injury in training. as we know, after the success they have had in the shorter formats over the summer, they will wa nt formats over the summer, they will want results to improve in the test arena. let's talk about australia. they are paying tribute to those involved in fighting the fires? yeah, they have. we have seen pictures of the wildfires and that the devastation they are bringing. nick kyrgios, the tennis player, says he will donate $200 for every ace he hits at the australian open this month. it could work out at about £2000 per match. alex demeanour and jol —— john millman have done the same. the australian and new zealand cricket teams will wear black arm bands when the teams meet in the third test in sydney tomorrow. both of the australian and new zealand teams were hosted by the
australian prime minister scott morrison at his official residence here in sydney a few days ago. and they said they would wear black arm bands in acknowledgement of the bushfire crisis that is sweeping many australian states. cricketing authorities here also say there will be fundraising efforts during the sydney test match similar to those that raised money breast cancer, the charity set up by glenn mcgrath. the australian cricketing authorities well aware this test match is coming ata time well aware this test match is coming at a time of great crisis for the country. we also hear that in a practical where the umpires will be allowed to suspend play if smoke from the bushfires sweeps over the ground as it has done the city of sydney many times in recent weeks. phil mercer reporting. saracens chairman nigel wray has retired. the clu b chairman nigel wray has retired. the
club was found to be in breach of the salary cap rules last november. they were fined just over £5 billion. he said in a statement he felt it was time to step down and just enjoy being a fan of this incredible rugby club. he will continue to bankroll the club offering what he says is the required financial support. edward griffiths is interim chief executive. the new pdc darts world champion peter wright said he took on his snakebite image to act as a mask to hide his shyness. he beat world number one michael van gerwen ad alexandra palace last night to win the title for the first time at the age of 49. it's crazy. it has been a dream of mine to be the world champion. now i have finally done it and it's just... i champion. now i have finally done it and it'sjust... i didn't sleep at all last night. it was terrible. i have had no sleep. it has actually
sunkin have had no sleep. it has actually sunk in that i am world champion. i am over the moon. a great achievement for him. he already looks so different because as we know the usually has the colourful signs and pictures on the side of his head. great stuff from him. more later. see you later, john. thank you. australian prime minister scott morrison has been heckled while visiting the affected area of cobargo in new south wales, where a father and son were killed on new year's eve. the fire blazed through the village, with the fire service estimating dozens of buildings in the historic village were destroyed. let's go. get him to give you a lift. he is a working man. what about money for our forgotten corner of new south wales, mr prime minister? how can we only had four trucks to defend our town? because
our town doesn't have a lot of money but we have hearts of gold, mr prime minister. beep. no, you are an idiot, mate. you really are. no liberal votes around here. you're out, son. you are out. kiss off. what about the people who have nowhere to live? beep. and the prime minister gave his reaction to the reception. i know people are feeling very raw. you've been welcomed in many parts but you've been not so welcome here at the showground.
some people feel you've let them down. well, i'm not surprised people are feeling very raw at the moment and that's why i came today, to be here, to see for myself, to offer what comfort i could but you can't always in every circumstance, everybody understands that. i appreciate the welcome i've received, jenny and i, but, at the same time, i understand the very strong feelings people have. they've lost everything. scott morrison. an update on the gavin and stacey christmas special figures. the figures have now been consolidated. they show a record—breaking 17.1 million people watched that christmas special. the biggest christmas programme of the decade and the ninth biggest transmission of the decade. that is the bbc iplayer and viewers on
terrestrial television all coming together, 17.1 million of them, to watch gavin and stacey. charlotte moore, the controller, the head of content moore, the controller, the head of co nte nt for moore, the controller, the head of content for the bbc, said gavin and stacey has been a phenomenal hit, breaking records, the biggest scripted show of the decade, the biggest figures of any episode on bbc iplayerfor biggest figures of any episode on bbc iplayer for young audiences ever. she passed on correct —— congratulations to everyone involved. 17.1 million in total have watched that christmas special. a vegan man is bringing a landmark legal case, calling for veganism to be protected by law. he wants it classified as a philosophical belief and comparable to a religion. the man claims he was sacked by the league against cruel sports for disclosing that it invested pension funds in firms involved in animal testing. the league says he was dismissed for gross misconduct. clive coleman reports.
jordi casamitjana describes himself as an ethical vegan and campaigns to get his message to others. this is showing you the life of the animal, how they're killed. his beliefs affect much of his everyday life. he will for instance walk rather than take a bus to avoid accidental crashes with insects or birds. some people only eat a vegan diet but they don't care about the environment or the animals because they care only about their health, for instance. i care about the environment, the animals, my health and everything, that's why i use this term ethical veganism because for me veganism is a belief and it affects every single aspect of my life. jordi worked for the league against cruel sports and claims that when he drew his bosses‘ attention to the fact some of its pension funds were being invested in companies involved in animal testing, they did nothing. so he informed colleagues and says that he was sacked as a result. he claims he was discriminated against on the basis of his vegan belief. today an employment tribunal
will consider for the first time if veganism is a philosophical belief akin to a religion and so protected in law. to qualify, it must be a genuinely held, serious belief, not an opinion. cover a substantial aspect of human life. and be worthy of respect in a democratic society. and not interfere with the rights of others. the league against cruel sports denies his claim and says jordi casamitjana was dismissed for gross misconduct. but it doesn't contest that veganism should be protected in law. if successful, the case could provide vegans with protection against discrimination in employment, education and the provision of goods and services. and those holding other beliefs could then seek similar legal protection. clive coleman, bbc news.
in a moment, the business news. first, the headlines on afternoon live. a state of emergency is declared in part of australia, as tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee amid forecasts of ferocious bushfire conditions. rail fares rise by an average of almost 3% today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters. the government promises change. artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing breast cancer from mammograms, according to a study hello there. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. that railfare rise means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 for annual passes. independent watchdog transport focus says most rail users don't feel ticket prices offer value for money. the group representing the railway network and train operators says there'll be 1,000 extra carriages this year. a key survey suggests the uk economy
stagnated at the end of last year. the three—monthly study by the british chambers of commerce found manufacturing firms reluctant to invest in factories and machinery. it also detected weakness in the services sector, which makes up 80% of the uk economy, and includes retail, banking, travel and leisure. the survey concludes the uk economy limped through the final quarter of 2019". plane travel got safer last year. the number of people killed in crashes of large commercial planes fell by more than half compared to 2018. that's according to an aviation industry study from the netherlands. last year it recorded 257 deaths from eight fatal crashes involving large commerical planes. that's down on the year before, despite a sharp increase in the amount of air travel. after months of lea ks, after months of leaks, we now know what greggs are following their
vegan sausage roll with? yes, it is the vegan steak bake. deborah, my producer, has been out to get one of these vegan steak ba kes. to get one of these vegan steak bakes. would you like to do the honours and share it out? we slightly failed in the mission. we couldn't get hold of one. they have sold out completely. all the ones around here. the popularity of this is such. it might be down to people trying to start the new year on a more healthy note, on a more virtuous footing, perhaps. there are none to be found in the vicinity. that word virtuous is an interesting one. those of us who eat meat don't regard themselves as necessarily own virtuous? no, far from it. some would say the environmental impact
and the health benefits are what drive people to try it forjanuary. but some say it is actually a case of businesses cashing in on what they see as a marketing opportunity. clearly they detect a trend. you look at the numbers. the figures back it up. last year you mentioned the veggie sausage roll. in the first half of the year, greggs profits soared more than half to 36 million for the first six months of 2019, on the back of the success of the sausage roll. they are hoping to build on that. other companies are catching up as well. we have got a kfc releasing a vegan burger made from corn. costa selling an all day vegan breakfast penny. and frankie and benny is i've got a whole vegan menu backed by rock music legend meatloaf. i think they went for the ironic endorsement. it worked. it
isn't all the papers. we are marking veganuary? yes, that is why they are trying to capitalise on this. last year1.3 trying to capitalise on this. last year 1.3 million people tried giving up year 1.3 million people tried giving up meat products, animal products, meat and dairy for the month of january. this is according to data company cantor. people said they did because of the veganuary movement. the people behind that movement say more than half of those people stayed vegan afterwards and even those who didn't stay reduced the amount of meat they eat right through until about halfway through the year. like many resolutions, some people stick with it. for some, they were not even see it into the double digits of january. like all of our resolutions. speak for yourself. one of the biggest financial stories of 2019, the trade war between the united states and china. we may have a date for a signature? yes, it seems like progress. it looks like a truce may
have been found. let's start the new year with an optimistic tone. as much as it kills you to try. 0ptimism prevails. talk of a deal being signed on the 15th of january. global stocks have moved higher as a consequence. michelle fleury, new york stock exchange. (0s hgppy happy new year, michelle. happy new year! it is a good new yearfor those monitoring trade talks?m year! it is a good new yearfor those monitoring trade talks? it has beena those monitoring trade talks? it has been a long time coming. this was announced a couple of weeks before the new year. a phase one trade deal between the us and china. china promising to buy more american goods, including agricultural products, energy products, manufactured goods. in return, the us will not impose tariffs that were due to go into effect in mid december. they also rolled back some
tariffs, but there are still 25% tariffs, but there are still 25% tariffs on some $200 billion worth of chinese goods that are imported into the united states. this is an important step. we are waiting for more details about this deal. it seems donald trump treated just before the new year a little surprise, basically saying he expected the deal to be signed in washington, dc on january 15, expected the deal to be signed in washington, dc onjanuary15, and that he would be travelling later on to beijing to begin talks for a phase to trade deal. some might observe, indeed some have observed, we have been here before, haven't we? i think this is somewhat different. the thing to take away from this is it is far short of the lofty ambitions that america started out with when they talked about resetting the trade relationship with china. that being said, they have got some kind of deal. it is the easiest stuff that has been agreed to. the question is this phase two, will that ever
materialise? donald phase two, will that ever materialise ? donald trump phase two, will that ever materialise? donald trump talking about the trip to asia in the future to restart those negotiations. that is the tricky stuff. the kind of request that china redresses its relationship with state owned enterprises, some cities it gives to certain industries. those issues have not been resolved. while progress is being made, this is not the full enchilada. they will be more trade talks to be had. it allows donald trump to each name a victory. it allows the chinese to claim they haven't given away anything that they had not previously offered. and for donald trump looking at re—election this year, it allows him to say, we have made progress with china, we have made progress with china, we have made progress with china, we have made progress on nafta, now we can turn out focus to europe. that is certainly something to watch out for. trade talks between the united states and europe in the months ahead. michelle, thank you. talk of enchiladas around lunchtime makes my
tummy rumble. i have had a tweet from gary chapman who says there is no such thing as a vegan sausage. if it is not meat, it is not a sausage. a similar argument with the word steak. thank you. let's look at the shares. the ftse 100 is up. 0ptimism around the talk ofa 100 is up. 0ptimism around the talk of a trade deal between the us and china. and also from china there is talk about putting more money into the chinese economy. this is from the chinese economy. this is from the authorities. that has helped to lift some of the big mining companies. they benefit from talk like that because china is the world's biggest consumer of metals, so it raises prospects for sales and profits. is that it? for now, yes. you can have that back. very kind. see you later. now, the rspca are searching of a home for a dog has been abandoned in a church in blackpool
with a note from its owner saying, "i'm so, so sorry". the dog, who, whom authorities have named cracker, was found at before christmas. its previous owner left a note saying that saying that their decision to abandon the cracker was not taking easily. mark edwardson went along to meet cracker. yes. meat cracker. he is a seven—year—old staffordshire bull terrier. as you can see, he is placid, well kept if a little bit chubby. currently looking after him as well from the rspca. you are not his original owner. tell us what happened to him? i was called a couple of weeks ago to a church in blackpool, where unfortunately, greco had been found by the staff in the morning tied to the alter near the morning tied to the alter near the church. when they went and got him they've found a rather sad note attached to his collar that just explained the previous owner was in a very difficult time in their life, and would struggle to keep cracker and would struggle to keep cracker and they were worried that if they
did so he would end up on the streets with them. obviously having read of this the church got in touch. i went down and went to see cracker. it was clear that he had been through a bit of a time but with a little coaxing around he came with a little coaxing around he came with me and got into the van. we have had him now for a couple of weeks. as you can see, he has come mcgrath his shell. he certainly has. it sounds as if his previous owner was quite a caring person to have left him in a secure place with a note explaining why. i guess what you are trying to do now is find somebody equally caring to look after him? yeah. i do have a lot of sympathy with the owner. it doesn't sound like they were doing what they felt was best. while i would say if they are out there and they want to get in touch with us, we will more than happily speak to them about how we can best help them and cracker going forward. but if we don't get any further contact, we would love to find cracker a new home. he will
get all his veterinary bits and pieces before he goes. hopefully we will find someone who wants to give him a loving home. i wish you the best of luck. i just wish him a loving home. i wish you the best of luck. ijust wish i was that person. that is it. back to you. let's catch up with the weather from sarah. thanks, simon. some outbreaks of rainfor thanks, simon. some outbreaks of rain for some today. quite a wintry feeling day as well. some brightness for southern and eastern parts in particular. this picture was taken in hastings area. we have already seen quite a bit of rain and winds strengthening. it will push its way south—east through the day. more rain in parts of northern england, wales, and the next band of rain putting across scotland and northern ireland. winds gusting at 50 mph. not quite as windy further south and east. this evening and tonight that
rome will push across much of the uk. the odd heavy burst with hail and thunder in the west for a time. with the cloud hanging on in the south, it will be mild. further north we could see a touch of frost first thing tomorrow. initially cloud and patchy rain lingers in southern and eastern parts of indent. that should clear on friday. more showers from the north—west. wintry over the high ground of scotland. it would be a dry day in general but colder with more sunshine than today.
hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 3: a week—long state of emergency in australia — with a warning that a heatwave forecast for the weekend could make the bushfires worse. there are fears of fuel shortages — thousands take to their cars to flee the areas under threat. australia's prime minister scott morrison cuts short a visit to one devastated community as people there heckle. why does our town only have four trucks, mr prime minister? we're a poor town with a heart of gold. delays and cancellations on the railways — but most fares still go up an average of 2.7% from today. artificial intelligence ‘outperforms' doctors in diagnosing breast cancerfrom mammograms — according to the latest study.
coming up on afternoon live all the sport — withjohn watson. after sickness and defeat in the first test — we find out how england are shaping up ahead of tomorrow's second test in cape town. thanksjohn and sarah keith—lucas has all the weather. it isa it is a mild and cloudy day today for outbreaks of rain for summarise. we will look at the uk forecast and the way to situations of the bushfires in australia. also coming up find out why this abandoned dog — named cracker — has been making headlines around the world. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. the situation in australia is already dire — and there are warnings it could be about to get even worse.
the country is now bracing itself for a weekend heatwave with higher temperatures and strong winds that are expected to fan the flames. victoria and new south wales have both declared a week—long state of emergency as the bushfires claim more lives. thousands of people are already fleeing a vast "tourist leave zone" in nsw, with supplies running low in some cut—off towns. the australian prime minister was heckled as he toured fire—ravaged towns by residents who accuse the government of not doing enough to help. our correspondent phil mercer sent this report. the mass exodus from southern new south wales is under way. it has been slow going and the evacuation has been hampered by a lack of fuel. phone and internet networks have been disrupted, adding to the anxiety. the authorities are urging tourists and residents to leave while they can before the fire danger returns. we cannot guarantee your safety if you are a resident
in these areas and do not have the means to stay and possibly defend your home, and your wife, we strongly advise you to leave now. we just want to get our kids out of year. they are more important than anything. the authorities fear a repeat of the disaster on new year's eve. more lives were lost and hundreds of homes destroyed. recovering from this could take years. in victoria, thousands of people in the seaside town are stranded. the name is cut but there is an escape by sea for some. the navy has been called in to carry out emergency evacuations. we have the opportunity today to potentially move about 500 people out of year. the interesting thing about this is that some people may not want to leave. they may want to stay there until such time
that we may be all to get out by road. that could be a number of weeks, that may be two or three weeks at this stage. the australian prime minister was heckled when he visited a small town. how can we only have two trucks defend our town? we don't have much money but we have hearts of gold, mr pye minister. thye accused him of mishandling the crisis. you are an idiot, mate. he has been accused of not taking global warming seriously. with donations and emergency relief, four trucks... scott morrison says his climate change policies are adequate and responsible.
our policies will both protect our environment and reduce the risk houses that we are seeing today and at the same time our policies will seek to ensure the viability of people's jobs and livelihoods around the country. the prime minister has called for calm as dozens of blazes burning across the country. the scale of this disaster is so great that smoke has drifted hundreds of miles across the sea to new zealand. there is no end in sight. more hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast in south—eastern australia in the days ahead. the son of a volunteer who died fighting australian bushfires has been presented with his father's medal for bravery at his funeral. 19 month old harvey keaton wore a uniform as he received his father's posthumous medal at thursday's
funeral near sydney. dozens of firefighters formed a guard of honour to salute mr keaton's coffin. i've been speaking to our science editor david shukman — he explained how the situation was different from the usual bushfires. you have not only got a very large number of very large files, you have got them scattered across several different states and they began earlier in the year than one might expect. australia had the drier spring on record and that loads the forests, the bush, to become very vulnerable to fires and they have been running since september in parts of australia. so we have not only got this enormous spread of danger and risk, you have got more and more people exposed to danger because, as the population of australia has grown, the towns and cities have expanded into areas that are now in danger.
so on top of that you have also got a very unusual factor that typically one thinks of australia as a land of fire and flood. normally those fires happen in what they call the bush, the scrublands, these fires have tended to be in the forest so we have been much harderfor the firefighter to tackle. it is easier for a fire team to try to control a bushfire and it is a forest fire. if you put all that together, record temperatures and exceptional droughts over many many months, and in fact even over a period of three years with below average rainfall, you put all that together you have got a combustible mix. add to that in a lot of questions about how effective we are not various local governments have been creating what are called fire breaks, these are areas where, in wetter times, you deliberately burn vegetation to create a barrier, a lack of fuel, so the fire cannot jump.
they have been behind in that work over a number of years. so the combination, as one scientist i spoke to today put it, you have got a perfect storm. add to that record temperatures and this looks set to last. now you used the phrase "in wetter times". the problem is the haven't been wetter times recently, as you say. there are those who see this is manifestly the result of climate change. well, climate change is definitely raising the average temperatures. globally it has gone up 1 degree over the last 150 years, and that is the same as australia. when you get a higher temperature you create the risk of fire, particularly if you dry out the plants and soils. you have got the right ingredients then for a fire to take hold. it is important to say that other factors come into play as well. funding for firefighters, we talked about the fire breaks, all of these activities have a bearing as well. adding to the danger all the time is a higher temperature and the projections are, depending on what happens to global emissions and greenhouse gases, but definitely for
temperatures to rise a degree or two in the coming decade and that will only add to the danger. as we saw, the prime minister was getting heckled and there is anger at the government. a government which says it is involved with considerable emission reductions schemes, we are talking about a government that has a responsibility for many mining communities, this is a country that relies heavily on its fossil fuels. yes, this government is trying to do a balancing act and trying to sound like it is taking climate change seriously while at the same time fostering a very important employer, a very important part of the economy. australia is one of the, if not of largest, exporter of coal in the world, most of it going to china and india. the australian government respond to this and say well, under the last climate change treaty, the kyoto protocol, we met our targets. in fact, if you look back at that
treaty, their targets were incredibly generous, and it even allowed an expansion of greenhouse gases. so it is not totally accurate to say that they really contributed to a reduction in emissions. at the same time, you hear scott morrison, the prime minister, saying that they are only a tiny contributor to global warming, a percentage point or so. the answer to that is, well, as a developed country, australia, like britain and america, have been pumping out greenhouse gases for longer than china or india. therefore, you could argue there is a moral responsibility to take a lead in reducing those omissions. ——emissions. this has all been given a sharper focus because last month at the annual un climate talks in madrid australia played a pretty dirty game. they tried to get in the way of the negotiations, held up by many
environmental groups as a particularly awkward for awkward squad of countries that don't want to take action on climate change. they came out of it actually really criticised. they were criticised for double counting, trying to argue that if they sell gas to developing countries then those countries would rather burn that than the coal they previously burnt. australia should get some sort of credit for that. they are trying to argue that under the previous emission schemes australia and some credits and therefore should be allowed to carry those forwards on the paris agreement. sounds a bit technical. it would allow them to burn more fossilfuels. this comes at a time where we saw scott morrison getting a lot of criticism for a theory to act in the towns that have been affected by the fires but also globally. more and more countries and more more environmental groups are highlighting australia and saying that you are a victim of the changes that the climate sciencetists have been talking about yet you, as a government, failure to act.
despite delays and poor performance from some train operators — millions of commuters in england and wales will have to pay an average of 2.7% more for their tickets from today. it means some passengers face a rise of more than a hundred pounds for their annual passes. prices in scotland are also going up. the rail delivery group, which represents the train companies, claims average fare increases have been kept to below inflation for the third year in a row. emma simpson reports. back to work today and not much to smile about. as usual, train fares are going up and it has become a january ritual. my travel in particular is affected every day because i have late trains every day and they are literally crawl into london waterloo, so it makes it very difficult for me to plan so it makes it harder for me to understand the justification of an increase in price when i do not see any improvement. we have had a year of bad service but i have just come to expect now. ijust get on with it. the service has not been particularly good over the past two
or three years so i think you'll find that a lot of people are annoyed about it. today's increases are all about regulated fares which cover around 40% of journeys, including season tickets, for instance the annual commute from reading to london is going up by £132. for gloucester to birmingham, it is going up by £118. and edinburgh to glasgow, it is not that far behind. all these season tickets are now well over £4000 per year. nobody wants to pay more for theirfares, we understand that, but by keeping the increase just below the rate of inflation, it allows us to cover the day—to—day running costs of the rail industry which then frees up billions of pounds of public and private cash which is needed to upgrade the system. but it has not gone to plan. for northern rail commuters, 2019 saw another year of misery, delays, cancellations
and overcrowding. the transport secretary says northern rail is no longer fit for purpose and confirmed it may be stripped of its franchise. i do not think it is right that people are unable to rely on their train services, particularly in places like northern were it has been notably bad. i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. today he also announced two new trials on flexible tickets, including better value fares aimed at part—time commuters. we think there needs to be overhaul all of the system, you need to work out and also has to offer better value. that will include tickets that reflect we ——the way we live now. change could be on the way, a big long awaited review of the railway commissioned by the government is due to be published the coming weeks.
researchers say a new artificial intelligence system has proved as good if not better than human experts in spotting breast cancer in scans. as part of a research project, a computer system was trained to read x—rays. it was more accurate than a single radiologist and on a par with two experts working together. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. reading a mammogram is highly skilled work, done by specialist doctors. two radiologists analyse every woman's x—rays but now artificial intelligence, a machine learning computer designed by google health, can do it just as well as humans. this went far beyond my expectations. it will have a significant impact include proving the quality of treatment and allowing experts to focus on other important things. ai is actually
better than one doctor working along at reading mammograms. ai produced 1.2% fewer false positives, where a healthy mammogram is incorrectly diagnosed as cancerous. and there were 2.7% fewer false negatives where a cancer is missed. this study shows us that in the future it might be possible to make that screening programme more accurate and more efficient, which means less worrying time waiting for patients' results and better outcomes overall. helen edwards has been clear of breast cancer for 15 years. she was a patient representative on the panel which approved google health's access to the anonymized health data. initially i was concerned, google, what are we going to do this information, what are we going to do with the data? but when i thought about it, longer—term it can only benefit women in having less recalls
when you haven't got a cancer. this is a breakthrough moment for artificial intelligence which seems certain to play a major role in the diagnosis of breast cancer in the year to come. ai diagnosis of breast cancer in the year to come. a! has already proved its ability to read other type of patient scans. it is as good as leading experts in diagnosing more than 50 different eye conditions. the nhs needs another 1000 radiologists, so using ai the nhs needs another 1000 radiologists, so using al to replace one of the two doctors who read mammograms would ease that pressure and speed up diagnosis. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. a state of emergency is declared in part of australia as tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee, amid forecasts of ferocious bushfire conditions. rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 per cent today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters —
the government promises change. artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing breast cancerfrom mammograms — according to a study. archer according to a study. is a doubt in the second test tomorrow archer is a doubt in the second test tomorrow in the test against south africa. joe root says he will make you meet core on the business. every ace that curiosities sends up, you will put towards $200 towards the effort against the australian bushfires. nigel wray has retired as clu b bushfires. nigel wray has retired as club chairman. the robber chairman was deducted 35 points after enquiry into his business dealings. —— likely chairman. millions of
commuters were to be 2.24... the travel secretary says he wants to tackle the current situation with northern rail. andy burnham — mayor of greater manchester joins me now... do you welcome these comments? yes, they have finally addressed the feelings of northern, but we have heard similar sediments from previous transport secretaries. people need more than words know from the government. they need a timetable for action and we are still waiting for that. he says to judge and within the year. ok, that is if they charge at their world, i will not rush to judgment because people are sick of that. we just
wa nt people are sick of that. we just want real services to improve. i'm here to work with him to get a solution which is correct for people across the north—west. but i will judge him if they do not improve. we have had two years of real chaos and a prayer service before that. we cannot wait any longer for the government's promises for transport to really improve. to be fair to the government, there are contracts and lawyers involved. it is a process. that is true, but if the franchising system that they original set up as fewer people, it is a licence to print money. these computers keep raking in the fee increases thinking it is unlikely we will lose the contract, so that the transport secretary is talking about removing the franchise but we need to know think about what comes next. we need to agree on a way of running the railway that is right or the people.
you have been expressing some concern and there may be a wee run this in offering a short—term contract. you don't want a contract offered at all? no, because that would be a reward for failure. northern has filled people and ruined lives. i get e—mails from people saying we have to pay for extra childcare and taxi bills because northern are running a per service. this should be no ongoing role for northern. i am surprised at the transport sector secretary has left that possibility on the table, that northern would get imagine contract that northern would get imagine co ntra ct of that northern would get imagine contract of some kind. that would not be exactly to the people of greater manchester or myself so the government really need to hear what we are seeing what we can get a solution. i am sensing from you a sense of compromise that perhaps was
not there just a few months ago?m is about making things work, is that? thejob of is about making things work, is that? the job of the mayor is not to play politics but to speak as loudly for the era that you represent as possible. we can find solutions and i will work with any government that truly was to sort out transport in the north. i am prepared to give the travel secretary the benefit of the doubt but i will very much judge and on what happens next. some must they may think you would be a good labour leader. i tried that twice and failed twice, i do not believe that politics in this country needs to be less westminster centric. we need more power in the hands of the people in the regions so that we can
decide how we want our real services to be run. i believe i am rebuilding a different politics, if you like. i'm not hungry after ending. thank you very much. talks to restore powersharing in northern ireland have resumed today, in the hope of breaking three years of political stalemate at stormont. the talks were put on pause over the christmas holidays after the dup was singled out as the party standing in the way of a possible deal. devolved government collapsed in january 2017. our ireland correspondent chris page is at stormont — and what chance is there of some progress? to drop landscape firm have changed inafew to drop landscape firm have changed in a few weeks. yes, the conservatives won a big majority and the dup no longer have as much power. that for the dup means they
have lost that interesting position at westminster and has heaped the pressure on them to get back to some form of government here in northern ireland. there are other factors to which mean the the pressure is on the parties. they say there is a real crisis on the health service in northern ireland. because there has been no political direction of government for three years, nobody has been a chance to move money around a part of the nhs are said to be near collapse. nurses are on strike for the first time in their history. as a big pressure from voters. the backdrop is that is a big gap coming, the 30th ofjanuary. if they haven't got a deal by then the secretary of state will call a fresh assembly elections because the dup didn't perform very well in the general election and lost many votes, it is unlikely we are going
to wa nt votes, it is unlikely we are going to want to hit another election where voters can choose to punish them again at the ballot box. we are shortly could be hearing from the dup, but is there a sense that this will be taken to the wire or is there a real feeling this is going to have to move soon? over the past three years when talks have come and gone, loss of their players have felt the ad would be a hard deadline but then they have been pushed back and missed. the importance of them have diminished a bit but the feeling is that the undersecretary of state says is going to be hard deadline and he really is keeping the party pass my feet to the fire. i think the tension is high now and adding pressure on them to get a new deal possibly next week to avoid having to go back to the ballot box. at the same time, just before christmas the dup were singled out by the english and irish governments, they were blamed for holding out on the deal and if you know anything about the dup is the
party that is uncomfortable with holding firm. is it we can give from jeffrey donaldson from the back no. happy jeffrey donaldson from the back no. happy new year. thank you for coming along. we have been engaged all day with the government and with other parties are the outstanding issues, working towards what we hope will be an agreement to restore the political institutions here at stormont. that is the priority for us. what power back at stormont and what the outstanding issues properly addressed. we want to see the sustainability that is necessary to ensure that we get political stability, that we remove for the future the ability of one party to hold the people of northern ireland at ransom, whilst recognising that we want baltic to work in northern
ireland. we are very happy to take questions from you on where we are at the moment on the process. i suppose i am one of the few people left from the 1998 era who actually negotiated the agreement. on which the political institutions are based. the petition for concern was very important, a very important element of that process and, indeed, when people talk about resetting the factory settings of the good friday belfast agreement, this was one of them. it is an important protection for all of us operating the assembly, but we do recognise that the petition of concern has been used in the past on issues that perhaps were not envisaged at the time that this important safeguard was created. we recognise that there isa was created. we recognise that there is a need to tighten up on the use of the petition of concern but i
think all the parties agree that it should be retained as an important safeguard for all minorities in northern ireland, to protect their interests here at stormont. we are not against reforming, we favour reform, but we want to see this important safeguard retained. we muck is still a gap in your position in the party? the problem with that question is it presupposes the petition of concern is the main and only issue. it isn't and let me be clear about that. there are a range of issues that we are dealing with, one of which mean the petition of concern. one of which mean the petition of concern. i think we have one of which mean the petition of concern. ithink we have in one of which mean the petition of concern. i think we have in our engagement with other parties with what they need, we have an understanding, they have an understanding, they have an understanding of our concerns as well. i am understanding of our concerns as well. lam hopeful that understanding of our concerns as well. i am hopeful that we can reach a consensus on well. i am hopeful that we can reach
a consensus on this and other issues and that is what we are working towards. you are aware that there are more health strikes planned. when do you anticipate things will come to a head? will lead the hard way that deadlines and adding to the wire is not the sensible way to negotiate. we want it done as quickly as possible but we want to be sure that it is a sustainable agreement and that we have a lengthy period of political stability so we are not in the business of snatching at something because there is a deadline. we want stormont restored wa nt deadline. we want stormont restored want it restored as soon as possible. we want to see settlement, if there reasoning for the health ca re if there reasoning for the health care service, we do not see how that
should be delayed until stormont is restored. we do all the parties have put forward motions to the secretary of state and that it can be settled ina way of state and that it can be settled in a way that it gives the unions what they need at the health care workers of northern ireland the pay award that the deserve. we are also focused on the other issues at hand and the need to be addressed and we are going to work at that for as long as it takes to get an agreement and the sooner that happens the better. this inaudible to be frank, i don't think we are at the stage yet where we can publish a draft agreement because the discussions were ongoing on the key outstanding issues and we wa nt on the key outstanding issues and we want to try to get the broadest level of consensus that we can before you start publishing text. therefore i think it's important to
drill down on those issues. that is what we are doing today. i think the engagements we have been having have been very constructive. and i think there is a willingness on the part of all of the parties to see this over the line. we have had three years now without a government. three years of the people of northern ireland are being held to ransom. three years when key decisions were not being made that affect the people i represent and the people represented by all of us. and therefore we need to get this right. we cannot go for a quick fix. we need to ensure we don't repeat the mistakes we made in the past. that we avoid getting into the kind of situation we have seen in the past where people can walk away. we we nt past where people can walk away. we went through more than 30 years of the troubles in northern ireland and our local government worked all through those 30 years and all the difficult issues that arose. we want stormont to be the same. that it is credible, it is strong and robust
and can withstand the inevitable challenges and difficulties that come down the road. there will be more in the future. we don't want the people of northern ireland to be in the position in the future where they don't have a government. and we closer than we have been before? i think there is a willingness among all the parties to get a deal. for our part of the dup is absolutely determined to get this right, to get a fairand determined to get this right, to get a fair and balanced outcome that we can take to the people of northern ireland and that will provide sustainable political institutions, and that we avoid getting back into and that we avoid getting back into a situation we find ourselves in in the past three years. has any consideration be given to the fact the place has been closed for three years?
i have never been a big fan of the american congressional system where every congressman and woman gets elected for a two—year term. they are in perpetual electioneering mode. i have always felt having a longer period provides greater stability for the political system. nevertheless, we are where we are. we have to work to that. i think it's crucial what happens in the next 18 months to two years. let's hit the ground running. we can only do that on a sustainable basis. the la st do that on a sustainable basis. the last thing we want in the next period of time is another crisis in stormont. so we need to ensure that our political institutions, the reforms that we introduce, mean that we avoid the kind of crisis situation that has brought us to where we are at now, three years without a government.
inaudible. there needs to be a financial package, that is absolutely clear. we have talked to the government about that and what our priorities are. and you have mentioned some of them in relation to the transformation of the health service in northern ireland. reform of the education system. there are a range of areas, infrastructure investment, where we need a financial package from the treasury. and of course preparingfor brexit. which is coming down the track and is a major issue that we cannot overlook. having financial support from london is important. it is a key element of the union. it is why i am a unionist at the end of the day, because northern ireland benefits financially from being part of the united kingdom and we want that to continue. yes, we do want to see this place transformed. we don't
wa nt this place transformed. we don't want to go back to a situation where we do our politics by crisis management, where people walk away when they don't get what they want or they don't like what is happening. politics is the art of the possible and we need to work to have institutions. we need political institutions that are sustainable, sta ble institutions that are sustainable, stable and provide the kind of government people want. yes, we want to see goodwill. we recognise in our journey in the peace process we have come a long way. but we have not been able to move to the next level. we have a society out there that is still deeply divided. a society that is still hurting from 30 years of violence. and it is time for healing. it is time to take us onto the next level. to do that we need a firm foundation. we need to have a sta ble firm foundation. we need to have a stable and sustainable political process that can enable not just the politicians but the people of northern ireland to move to the next
stage, which is about healing and reconciliation. we must and can only do that on the basis of a firm foundation. that's why we are engaged in this. that the outcome we want. not a quick fix, not another sticking plaster. we want a firm foundation for moving northern ireland forward again. thank you. so jeffrey donaldson, the new westminster leader of the dup, talkingabout the assembly's controversial veto system, the petition of concern, and clearly a major sticking point in those talks which resumed at stormont today. let's go back to emma. the mood music is fairly downbeat? you are right. politicians have been lining up right. politicians have been lining up infront right. politicians have been lining up in front of the microphone giving positive bits of language and saying there is political will and everything but it does come down to the nitty—gritty. you heard him talking about the petition of concern. it is a vtol mechanism which many critics say has been misused over the years. the assembly
use that far too often. it was meant to be something that safeguarded the interests of nationalist or unionist communities, someone couldn't dominate over the other. but it has faced a lot of problems. now all the parties wanted reformed or removed. that is one of the big sticking point. just before christmas they we re point. just before christmas they were new proposals for this, which four other parties agree to. the dup wasn't on board. they had fingers on board. —— they had fingers pointed at them. jeffrey donaldson said it is an important protection. it is up to the parties to work out how it should be tweaked or changed to fit the new assembly going forward. that seems to be the key to unlocking the progress at the moment. it is not the only problem and we all know what they are over the years? well, exactly. there are still big questions over legacy from the troubles, the irish language act has also been a sticking point throughout the three years. you have
the dup talking about the sustainability of the assembly. this is not the first time the assembly has collapsed over the years. it has happened several times. northern ireland being left in these periods of limbo. what the parties want now is the ability to ensure people just can't have this situation go on endlessly. in future, the unique governance of northern ireland is that there is this monetary coalition between unionist and nationalist. you have a first minister from nationalist. you have a first ministerfrom each nationalist. you have a first minister from each community. nationalist. you have a first ministerfrom each community. if one pulls out, that ends the assembly. that has happened throughout the yea rs. that has happened throughout the years. this three year period has been to the detriment of services, of people's lives outside this building. they want to make sure it can't happen so easily in the future. it is still a very difficult thing to achieve. emma, thank you very much. emma vardy at stormont. more now on our story. australia prime minister scott morrison has been heckled while visiting the affected area of cobargo in new south wales, where a father and son
were killed on new year's eve. the fire blazed through the village, with the fire service estimating dozens of buildings in the historic village were destroyed. let's go. get him to give you a lift. he's a working man. what about money for our forgotten corner of new south wales, mr prime minister? how come we only had four trucks to defend our town? because our town doesn't have a lot of money but we have hearts of gold, mr prime minister. beep. no, you are an idiot, mate. you really are. no liberal votes around here. you're out, son. you are out. kiss off. what about the people who have nowhere to live? beep.
and the prime minister gave his reaction to the reception. i know people are feeling very raw. you've been welcomed in many parts but you've been not so welcome here at the showground. some people feel you've let them down. well, i'm not surprised people are feeling very raw at the moment and that's why i came today, to be here, to see for myself, to offer what comfort i could but you can't always in every circumstance, everybody understands that. i appreciate the welcome i've received, jenny and i, but, at the same time, i understand the very strong feelings people have. they've lost everything. from the spring of this year,
all adults in england will be considered as potential organ donors, unless they opt out. hundreds of people die every year because of a shortage of donors. the change is being made to help many of those who are in desperate need of a transplant. tim muffet has been to meet one family affected. christmas day in great 0rmond street hospital. ethan's first christmas at the end of a very tough year. ethan needs a heart. it's his only way to survive. with ethan's condition, that means the left side of the heart isn't properly pumping. with it being the left side as well, he also has heart failure. this machine is only designed to be on for up to two to three months. we are getting to that point. all the worse after ethan's dad, richard, underwent a heart transplant a year ago. you are having open—heart surgery, so you don't know if you are going to make it through it. that's kind of all you think about before, "is this the last time i'm going to see everybody?" 50% of you are so grateful
and so happy that richard's alive, but at the same time, the other half of us are grieving for that family. richard is living proof of what a donation can do. he is here, he is living. i couldn't go through what i am going through if richard wasn't here. in england, the law surrounding organ donation will change. all adults will be considered potential organ donors, unless they opt out. wales already uses this system. scotland will follow suit in the autumn. it's an amazing new piece of legislation that's coming in. without that, the amount of lives this will save, this law will save, having been implemented... however, it doesn't include children. obviously, that age range is... families don't really talk about it. they haven't thought about it. so it makes it harder for the children to get a heart. to be honest, i don't think we had thought about it until it all happened.
everyone discusses everything about their lives, shares so much about their lives, but we find it very strange that people don't talk about death or dying. not that everyone wants to, but namely, sharing your wishes in the event of your death. live each day as it is and enjoy him while he's here and just hope that call comes and it happens. if i spent more time being upset about the things that i can't control, i will miss the time i have with ethan now and i don't want to do that. because i don't want to ever look back and think, i spent a whole day crying when i could havejust spent the whole day being happy with him. in a moment ben is going to bring us the latest business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a state of emergency is declared in part of australia, as tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee amid forecasts of ferocious bushfire conditions.
rail fares rise by an average of almost 3% today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters. the government promises change. artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing breast cancer from mammograms, according to a study. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. that railfare rise means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 for annual passes. independent watchdog transport focus says most rail users don't feel ticket prices offer value for money. the group representing the railway network and train operators says there'll be one thousand extra carriages this year. a key survey suggests the uk economy stagnated at the end of last year. the three—monthly study by the british chambers of commerce found manufacturing firms reluctant to invest in factories and machinery. it also detected weakness in the services sector —
which makes up 80% of the uk economy and includes retail, banking, travel and leisure. the survey concludes the uk economy limped through the final quarter of 2019." plane travel got safer last year — the number of people killed in crashes of large commercial planes fell by more than half compared to 2018. that's according to an aviation industry study from the netherlands. last year it recorded 257 deaths from 8 fatal crashes involving large commerical planes — that's down on the year before, despite a sharp increase in the amount of air travel. now, that present you gave me for christmas, rubbish. taking it back. but i am not alone. you are going to talk about france. i was going to go
with it. i thought you wanted to talk about returns. keeping you on your toes. let's talk france. an historic milestone, this strike in paris has been going on 28 days?m is into its 29th day now. it is the strike against planned pension reforms. this makes it the longest rail workers strike there since may 1968. as you say, something of a milestone. this industrial action is against president emmanuel macron's planned pension reforms. it has hit train services hardest. the government says these changes are necessary to make the system fairer and more affordable, more sustainable in the long term. but unions that represent millions of workers say a lot of the workers will lose out, they will have to work longer, orface will lose out, they will have to work longer, or face getting will lose out, they will have to work longer, orface getting less in their pension payments. mr macron is trying to replace something like 42 different pension regimes with one single points based system. we should say that france did already
raise the retirement age within the past decade from 60 to 62. that remains one of the lower stages to retire among the world's richest countries. in the uk, the pension age of 66 due to rise to at least 67. more talks are due to be held between the french government and the unions on january between the french government and the unions onjanuary seven. between the french government and the unions on january seven. is there any hope for a solution? this is not just there any hope for a solution? this is notjust something emmanuel macron has tried to do. possibly. there may be a breakthrough. if you look at the tone from both sides, it doesn't give much hope for any immediate breakthrough in terms of bringing the strike to an end. president macron vowed not to back down in his new year's eve speech. he said it would be a betrayal of our children, their children, who would then have to pay the price for what we have now. union leaders though have called for a day of mass protests on the 9th of january, a
new blockade of petrol facilities, including refineries, terminals, deep bows, is also planned for the 7th of january for 96 hours. most lines on the paris match are expected to be open, all disruption is expected. what's interesting is despite all this disruption, a poll carried out before christmas showed that still the majority of people in france, the majority of the public, back the industrial action taking place. we shall see. now, that inevitable part of christmas where people return all the gifts that you have given them because frankly, they weren't up to much? either that or they maybe didn't fit. one mince pie to many, perhaps. suddenly those genes perhaps need to go up a waist size. an inevitable part of christmas is those returns. it now has its own moniker. we have had cyber monday, black friday. now take back thursday's what they are calling it. this is because the amount of goods being returned is
expected to spike today. royal mail says the first working day of the year is likely to be the busiest for postal workers as they handle all those unwanted returned christmas gift. they are expecting the returns to be 72% higher today than on any average day in december. and, you know, part of this is down to a rise in online shopping. royal mail did a study and found that people were more likely to buy online if there was a try before you buy option. on average a uk shopper returns an item bought online once a month. let's talk about this with kate hardcastle, a retail analyst. she joins us from leeds micra. good to see you and happy new year. notjust a happy new yearfor see you and happy new year. notjust a happy new year for retailers getting stuck back. presumably quite problem? a happy new year to you both. quite right to point out
online retail is often seen as this triumphant part of the sector that has been very successful where bricks and mortar has really struggled over the past decade. if you dig deeperand struggled over the past decade. if you dig deeper and her start looking into online retailing businesses, operationally there are huge costs. one is particularly because we have greater returns, greater opportunities as a consumer to return, because of how our consumer rights are protected with online shopping. therefore, many of us have accepted that we can return goods. we do by often extra sizes, extra colours, with the full knowledge we are going to return. returns can be in excess of 40%, which is significant to these businesses. you draw the comparison between the high street and online shops. the royal mail study found that returns to online stores were as high as 50%. whereas for high street stores its between five and 10%. i suppose we are sending stuff backed by post and
there is an environmental impact. it has to be transported by air, road etc? absolutely. i think we are also going through a difficult emotional state of buying when we are buying in the store. we can see the product, touch and feel it. when we have to return it, we have to physically do it to another human. if perhaps we want to get away with perhaps returning something that we might have decided we don't lie, that we don't want a confrontation, it's easy to do when it's without the human interface, sending it online. also, a lot of people get to this time of the year and decide they need to keep watching their pennies. they need to ask if they use that item, did they get the benefit out of it? every time we are returning goods there is an infrastructure behind sending it back, which includes drivers, distribution, network, operations. it's great for the employment sector because we have seen huge rise in jobs there. but there is the environmental element of actually it's not that great for the environment to have all of this
extra parcel floating around. what's fascinating is there are entire industries, entire firms, that now handle returns for some of the major retailers. it has got to that stage. it's extraordinary? it's hardly surprising. a lot of the products sold fashion items. consumers want choice. they can select one item. they are relying on that process. they are relying on that process. they find it easy and convenient to return. that is why they wanted to use those retailers. to have the sunshine of the cells in the first place, the retailers are having to acce pt place, the retailers are having to accept that online they're probably going to see a heightened amount of returns. of course that means a whole infrastructure to set that up. kate, what is the worst present you received this christmas?” kate, what is the worst present you received this christmas? i received so little because people know not to buy for a retail expert! always a pairof buy for a retail expert! always a pair of christmas socks. i'm pleased a lot of it went to charity donations, which is a better idea. a lot of it went to charity donations, which is a better ideal am not going to bother next year
then! not christmas socks, thanks. kate's worst gift was an invitation to appear on with you. she graciously accepted. a lesson for us all. that is all the business for now. thank you. the weather in just a moment. some breaking news. this follows the incident in derbyshire on new year's day where a man and a woman were killed. we are hearing the families have been paying tribute. helen anker, 39, from duffield, and martin griffiths, 38, found at a property on new zealand lane. they have been formally named today. a39—year—old man arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder remains in police custody. the force has referred itself to the independent office for police conduct. this is due to contact between mrs hancock and officers prior to the incident. officers remained at the address
with searches and door—to—door enquiries taking place. the family of mrs hancock have been paying tribute. they are devastated at the loss of helen, a lovely, bubbly and social person. we would like to thank people for allowing us privacy at this most difficult of times. mr griffiths family said, martin was a lovely dad, brother, son, husband and uncle. he had a passion for adventure and a love of animals. he enjoyed mountain climbing and spending time with his two children. he will be greatly missed. they do wa nt to he will be greatly missed. they do want to ask people to respect the privacy and allow space to grieve as they attempt to come to terms with his death. police naming the two victims in that double murder, but also say they are referring themselves to the independent office for police conduct due to contact between one of the victims and police officers. more on that later. now, the rspca are searching of a home for a dog has been abandoned in a church in blackpool with a note from its owner saying, "i'm so, so sorry."
the dog, who, whom authorities have named cracker, was found at before christmas. its previous owner left a note saying that saying that their decision to abandon the cracker was not taking easily. mark edwardson went along to meet cracker. yes. meet cracker. he is a seven—year—old staffordshire bull terrier. as you can see, he is placid, well kept if a little bit chubby. currently looking after him is will from the rspca. you're not his original owner. tell us what happened to him? i was called a couple of weeks ago to a church in blackpool, where unfortunately, cracker had been found by the staff in the morning, tied to the alter near the church. when they went and got him they found a rather sad note attached to his collar that just explained the previous owner was in a very difficult time in their life, and would struggle to keep cracker and they were worried that if they did so he would end up on the streets with them.
obviously having read this the church got in touch. i went down and went to see cracker. it was clear that he had been through a bit of a time but with a little coaxing around he came with me and got into the van. we have had him now for a couple of weeks. as you can see, he has come out of his shell. it sounds as if his previous owner was quite a caring person to have left him in a secure place with a note explaining why. i guess what you are trying to do now is find somebody equally caring to look after him? yeah. i do have a lot of sympathy with the owner. it does sound like they were doing what they felt was best. while i would say if they are out there and they want to get in touch with us, we will more than happily speak to them about how we can best help them and cracker going forward. but if we don't get any further contact, we would love to find cracker a new home. he will get all his veterinary bits and pieces before he goes. hopefully we will find someone who wants to give him a loving home.
i wish you the best of luck. ijust wish i was that person. that is it. back to you. know the weather with sarah keith—lucas. good afternoon. after a drier, quieter break in the weather over christmas and new year, for many the weather is getting back to work today. that means weather fronts moving in. this is the picture in woodbridge in suffolk. a lot of cloud as there is in much of the uk. some of it producing outbreaks of rain as we move through the rest of the afternoon into this evening. it is cloudy, it is damp and it is breezy, courtesy of a couple of weather fronts moving south—east across the uk. they are introducing some colder air moving from the north—west. for the here and now we have got milder with south—westerly winds. here i think through the afternoon. rain pushing back in two
parts of north—west scotland, where it is going to be quite heavy. some strong gusty winds, 45 to 50 mph. some of the heavier bursts of rain could bring the odd rumble of thunder. next area of rain pushing into parts of northern indemnity wells as well as we head through the into the evening hours. strong gusty winds. the south—east stays dry into the evening. overnight at the rain pushes into the uk. clearer skies from the north. scotland, northern ireland, northern england, a chilly night. temperatures well down in single figures. towards the south—east temperature is around nine to 10 degrees with the cloud and rain forest thing. friday's weather, those frontal systems will clear off towards the south—east. a ridge for higher pressure. a drier day. a colder day in store for friday. early cloud and rain in the south—east should clear away to leave clearer skies, a scattering of showers from the north—west, snow flurries over high ground in scotland. most other places looking
dry by the afternoon. colder than recent days with temperatures in mid to high single figures. looking to the weekend, an area of high pressure holding out to the weather in the south. weather fronts further north. a bit of rain on saturday across northern and western parts of scotland. the rest of the uk not a bad day. could be some early mist and fog. it should clear to leave sunny spells in the afternoon. temperatures nine to 10 degrees on saturday. heading into the second half of the weekend and again mostly dry and settled for many on sunday. cloud towards the north and west. rainfor cloud towards the north and west. rain for north—west scotland and temperatures around eight to 10 degrees. bye for now.
hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 4:00: a week—long state of emergency in australia — with a warning that a heatwave forecast for the weekend could make the bushfires worse. there are fears of fuel shortages — thousands take to their cars to flee the areas under threat. australia's prime minister, scott morrison, cuts short a visit to one devastated community, as people there heckle him. how can we only had four tracks to defend our town? mr prime minister? delays and cancellations on the railways — but most fares still go up an average of 2.7% from today. artificial intelligence ‘outperforms' doctors in diagnosing breast cancer from mammograms, according to the latest study. coming up on afternoon live,
all the sport with john. after sickness and defeat in the first test, we find out how england are shaping up ahead of tomorrow's second test in cape town. back to you. thanksjohn, and we'll bejoining you for a full update just after 4:30. sarah keith—lucas has all the weather. it's a cloudy day, with outbreaks of rain. we will be talking a bit more about the wildfire situation in about the wildfire situation in about half an hour. also coming up: find out why this abandoned dog — named cracker — abandoned at a blackpool church — with a "so sorry" note from his owner. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. the situation in australia is already dire — and there are warnings it could be about to get even worse.
the country is now bracing itself for a weekend heatwave with higher temperatures and strong winds that are expected to fan the flames. victoria and new south wales have both declared a week—long state of emergency, as the bushfires claim more lives. thousands of people are already fleeing a vast "tourist leave zone" in new south wales, with supplies running low in some cut—off towns. the australian prime minister was heckled as he toured fire—ravaged towns, by residents who accuse the government of not doing enough to help. our correspondent phil mercer sent this report. the mass exodus from southern new south wales is under way. it has been slow—going and the evacuation has been hampered by a lack of fuel. phone and internet networks have been disrupted, adding to the anxiety. the authorities are urging tourists and residents to leave while they can before the fire danger returns. we cannot guarantee your safety if you are a resident
in these areas and do not have the means to stay and possibly defend your home, and your life, we strongly advise you to leave now. we just want to get our kids out of here. they are more important than anything. the authorities fear a repeat of the disaster on new year's eve. more lives were lost and hundreds of homes destroyed. recovering from this could take years. in victoria, thousands of people in the seaside town are stranded. the main road out is cut but there is an escape by sea for some. the navy has been called in to carry out emergency evacuations. we have the opportunity today to potentially move about 500
people out of this town. the interesting thing about this is that some people may not want to leave. they may want to stay there until such time that we may be able to get out by road. that could be a number of weeks, that may be two or three weeks at this stage. the australian prime minister was heckled when he visited a small town. how come we only have two trucks defend our town? we don't have much money but we have hearts of gold, mr prime minister. thye accused him of mishandling the crisis. you are an idiot, mate. he has been accused of not taking global warming seriously. with donations and emergency relief, four trucks... if and emergency relief, four trucks... we were sydnw coast, if we were sydney, if we were north coast, we would be flooded with emergency relief. four tracks!
coast, we would be flooded with emergency relief. fourtracks! —— tracks. scott morrison says his climate change policies are adequate and responsible. our policies will both protect our environment and reduce the risks that we are seeing today and at the same time our policies will seek to ensure the viability of people's jobs and livelihoods around the country. the prime minister has called for calm as dozens of blazes burning across the country. the scale of this disaster is so great that smoke has drifted hundreds of miles across the sea to new zealand. there is no end in sight. more hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast in south—eastern australia in the days ahead. our correspondent shaimaa khalil is in lake conjola, 70 miles west of canberra, in an area where the fires have claimed three lives. the extent of the damage that these huge fires have caused here, in lake conjola, is all around.
homes have been ravaged, the earth is scorched, still smouldering, still hot. you can feel the smoke. three people died in this small community alone, one of them just up the street over here. this is one of the coastal towns where tourists have been given 48 hours to evacuate. many of them have been trying to get out. it has been very hard for them to leave because the conditions around us are still quite hazardous. residents are still in shock at what happened to their town. some have left, when the fires hit, others stayed to defend their homes. and then we could see it coming and it wasjumping from house to house. there were plants, like, underneath the front or the front of the houses, and they'd just explode into flames, and then there was embers everywhere. and then thatjust — bang — it just caught fire. they were going, like this one up here, it went behind, and then two down below, so we had nearly
eight houses alight. you know, did we sort of cheat it? we survived. yeah... it's pretty traumatic. the son of a volunteer who died fighting australian bushfires has been presented with his father's medal for bravery at his funeral. 19—month old harvey keaton, wore a uniform, as he received his father's posthumous medal at thursday's funeral near sydney. dozens of firefighters formed a guard of honour to salute mr keaton's coffin. i've been speaking to our science editor david shukman — he explained how the situation was different from the usual bushfires. you've not only got a very large
number of very large fires, you had got them scattered across several states. and they began earlier in the australian year than one might expect, so australia had the driest spring on record, and that allowed a forest, the bush, to become very vulnerable to fires. and they have been running really, since september, in parts of australia, so you have not only got this enormous spread of danger and risk, you have got more and more people exposed to danger because at the population of australia has grown, its towns and cities have expanded into areas that are now in danger. so on top of that, so on top of that you have also got a very unusual factor that typically one thinks of australia as a land of fire and flood. normally those fires happen in what they call the bush, the scrublands, these fires have tended to be in the forest so we have been much harderfor the
firefighters to tackle. it is easier for a fire team to try to control a bushfire and it — than it is a forest fire. if you put all that together, record temperatures and exceptional droughts over many, many months, and in fact even over a period of three years with below average rainfall, you put all that together you have got a combustible mix. add to that a lot of questions about how effective we are not various local governments have been creating what are called fire breaks, these are areas where, in wetter times, you deliberately burn vegetation to create a barrier, a lack of fuel, so the fire cannotjump. they have been behind in that work over a number of years. so the combination, as one scientist i spoke to today put it, you have got a perfect storm. add to that record temperatures and this looks set to last. now you used the phrase "in wetter times". the problem is there haven't been wetter times recently, as you say. there are those who are saying this is manifestly the result of climate change. well, climate change
is definitely raising the average temperature. globally it has gone up 1 degree over the last 150 years, and that is the same as australia. when you get a higher temperature you create the risk of fire, particularly if you dry out the plants and soils. you have got the right ingredients then for a fire to take hold. it is important to say that other factors come into play as well. funding for firefighters, we talked about the fire breaks, all of these activities have a bearing as well. adding to the danger all the time is a higher temperature and the projections are, depending on what happens to global emissions and greenhouse gases, but definitely for temperatures to rise a degree or two in the coming decade, and that will only add to the danger. as we saw, the prime minister was getting heckled and there is anger at the government. a government which says it is involved with considerable emission reductions schemes, we are talking about a government that has a responsibility for many mining communities, this is a country that
relies heavily on its fossil fuels. yes, this government is trying to do a balancing act and trying to sound like it is taking climate change seriously while at the same time fostering a very important employer, a very important part of the economy. australia is one of the, if not the largest, exporter of coal the world, most of it going to china and india. the australian government respond to this and say well, under the last climate change treaty, the kyoto protocol, we met our targets. in fact, if you look back at that treaty, their targets were incredibly generous, and it even allowed an expansion of greenhouse gases. so it is not totally accurate to say that they really contributed to a reduction in emissions. the fugitive former head of nissan, carlos ghosn, has released a statement, saying that no members of his family helped him flee japan,
where he was awaiting trial on charges of financial misconduct. mr ghosn skipped bail before his trial injapan and flew to lebanon on a private jet via turkey earlier this week. reports from beirut say lebanon has recieved an arrest warrant seven seven people are said to have been detained, including four pilots. turkey's parliament has approved a bill allowing the deployment of military forces to libya. turkey is allied with libya's un—backed government, which is based in the capital, tripoli. the libyan government has been fighting an insurgency of rebel forces loyal to a rival parliament in eastern libya. the vote passed, despite all major opposition parties voting against it, as the governing turkish coalition holds a majority in parliament. despite delays and poor performance from some train operators, millions of commuters in england and wales will have to pay an average of 2.7% more for their tickets from today. it means some passengers face a rise of more than £100 for their annual passes. prices in scotland are also going up.
the rail delivery group, which represents the train companies, claims average fare increases have been kept to below inflation for the third year in a row. emma simpson reports. back to work today and not much to smile about. as usual, train fares are going up and it has become a january ritual. my travel in particular is affected every day because i have late trains every day and they are literally crawl into london waterloo, so it makes it very difficult for me to plan so it makes it harder for me to understand the justification of an increase in price, when i do not see any improvement. we have had a year of bad service, but i have just come to expect now. ijust get on with it. the service has not been particularly good over the past two or three years, so i think you'll find that a lot of people are annoyed about it. today's increases are all about regulated fares which cover around 40% of journeys, including season tickets, for instance the annual
commute from reading to london is going up by £132. from gloucester to birmingham, it is going up by £118. and edinburgh to glasgow, it is not that far behind. all these season tickets are now well over £4000 per year. nobody wants to pay more for theirfares, we understand that, but by keeping the increase just below the rate of inflation, it allows us to cover the day—to—day running costs of the rail industry, which then frees up billions of pounds of public and private cash which is needed to upgrade the system. but it has not gone to plan. for northern rail commuters, 2019 saw another year of misery, delays, cancellations and overcrowding. the transport secretary says northern rail is no longer fit for purpose, and confirmed it may be stripped of its franchise. i do not think it is right that
people are unable to rely on their train services, particularly in places like northern, where it has been notably bad. i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. today he also announced two new trials on flexible tickets, including better value fares aimed at part—time commuters. we think there needs to be an overhaul all of the system, easier to work out and also has to offer better value. that will include tickets that reflect we live now. change could be on the way, a big long awaited review of the railway commissioned by the government is due to be published in the coming weeks. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: a state of emergency is declared in part of australia, as tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee, amid forecasts of ferocious bushfire conditions. rail fares rise by an average of almost 3% today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters — the government promises change. artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing breast
cancer from mammograms — according to a study. sport this afternoon, the injuries in sport this afternoon, the injuries mount up the england's cricketers after sickness affected them. java archer has been sent for scans ahead of tomorrow's second test. nick curry curious will offer $200 for every acer served up to help the wildfire relief effort. the country's cricketers will wear black arm bands for tomorrow's test. amount after they were deducted 35 points and fined over £5 million for breaching the salary cap. more to come later. police have released the names of a man and woman who were found dead in a house in derbyshire. helen hancock and martin griffiths were found by officers in the early
hours of new years day. our correspondent simon ward is in duffield for us with the latest. a duffield for us with the latest. community in shock that a community in shock there? yes, thatis a community in shock there? yes, that is right. officers were called here just after 4am yesterday on new year's day. they came to this property and found two people dead inside the property behind me. they had been killed through stab wounds, the police say. there was a forensics team hear all of yesterday and a police cordon here for much of yesterday. that has just been removed this afternoon, just a single policeman behind us. this afternoon, the police have confirmed formerly who has died. they are 39—year—old helen hancock from the local area, and 48—year—old martin griffiths from derby. a49—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and he remains in police custody. tributes have been paid to the two victims. helen hancock's family paid tribute, saying they are devastated. she was a lovely,
beautiful bubbly and social person. also to from a family of martin griffiths. saying he was a lovely dad and husband, and he had a passion for adventure. both families are being supported by specialist police officers, and derbyshire police officers, and derbyshire police have also referred themselves to the independent office for police conduct. that is due to contact between helen hancock, one at the people who died here, and officers before this incident. so confirmation of the people who died in this area of derbyshire, and that investigation continues. simon, thank you very much. researchers say a new artificial intelligence system has proved as good, if not better than human experts in spotting breast cancer in scans. as part of a research project, a computer system was trained to read x—rays. it was more accurate than a single radiologist and on a par with two experts working together. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh.
this is painstaking work. it takes more than a decade to become a radiologist and have the skill to read a mammogram. in the nhs, two doctors analyse every person's and x—rays. now, thanks to artificial intelligence, a machine can do it just as well as humans. this went far beyond my expectations. it will have a significant impact include proving the quality of treatment and allowing experts to focus on other important things. women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for breast screening every three years. the study showed ai invited for breast screening every three years. the study showed al was actually better than one doctor working alone at weeding mammograms. ai produced 1.2% fewer false positives, where a healthy mammogram is incorrectly
diagnosed as abnormal. and there were 2.7% fewer false negatives where a cancer is missed. this study shows us that in the future it might be possible to make that screening programme more accurate and more efficient, which means less worrying time waiting for patients' results and better outcomes overall. helen edwards has been clear of breast cancer for 15 years. she was a patient representative on the panel which approved google health's access to the anonymized health data. initially i was concerned, google, what are we going to do this information, what are we going to do with the data? but when i thought about it, longer—term it can only benefit women in having less recalls when you haven't got a cancer. this is a breakthrough moment for artificial intelligence which seems certain to play a major role in the diagnosis of breast cancer in the year to come. a! has already proved its ability to read other type of patient scans. it is as good as leading experts in diagnosing more
than 50 different eye conditions. the nhs needs another 1000 radiologists, so using al to replace one of the two doctors who read mammograms would ease that pressure and speed up diagnosis. we will bring you more on the... there has been arrest warrant out for colour ghosn. they have received something for the rest of carlos ghosn. it is yet to be referred to the judiciary, ghosn. it is yet to be referred to thejudiciary, we'rejust from ghosn. it is yet to be referred to the judiciary, we're just from the lebanese, a statement from the lebanese, a statement from the lebanese minister of justice, lebanese, a statement from the lebanese minister ofjustice, who says the judiciary has taken the necessary procedures that may result in interrogating carlos ghosn. in the latter findings, he says the judiciary will take the necessary measures, but in accordance with the lebanese panel code, leather
non—does not expedite any lebanese citizens to another country. carlos ghosn howls lebanese citizenship. he was facing trial injapan for alleged financial misconduct. he escaped japan on new year's eve. the aeroplane that took him landed in istanbul first, aeroplane that took him landed in istanbulfirst, pending aeroplane that took him landed in istanbul first, pending an investigation by turkey. several arrests have been made in turkey in connection to the case. for pilots, a cargo connection to the case. for pilots, a cargo company manager and connection to the case. for pilots, a cargo company manager and two airport workers. that is the latest on carlos ghosn. we will bring you more on that as we get it. a youth support worker who gave cpr to one of the three members of the family who drowned in a pool in spain has spoken to the bbc 52—year—old gabriel diya, his nine—year—old daughter comfort and his 16—year—old son praise—emmanuel, died on christmas eve in a hotel swimming pool in the costa del sol. josias fletchman says he was one of a number of people who tried
to help revive praise—emmanuel. speaking to the bbc‘s helena wilkinson, he described how his faith in god kept him going and how believed all three victims would wake up. i stayed with the lady, the mother. and the wife, because she is a wise as well. i stayed with them, and you know, i was just praying for them. we were just praying. because we still believe that then bodies could get up. we still believe that there bodies could get up, even though the paramedics hadn't stopped. we still believe that those bodies could get up, so we were just to stick their pain, went over to the bodies and prayed. we would pray, we would go over to each one and pray, and then we would sit down. i was just praying, with standing next to the lady, being a support and just
praying. he was talking to are reported. the army has launched a new recruitment campaign with an advert all about self—confidence. social media addicts and gym—goers are being targeted with the slogan ‘army confidence lasts a lifetime'. it's the latest attempt at boosting falling troop numbers. here's our defence correspondent, jonathan beale. advert: where does confidence come from? how you look? this, the latest in a series of high—profile recruitment campaigns, is aimed at young people, many of whom research suggests lack self—confidence or feel inadequate when comparing their lives to others. quick hits. yes, brother! you are coming out tonight! the bold claim from the army's £3 million appeal for new soldiers is "army confidence lasts a lifetime". in contrast to the quick fix hits of, say, social media and fast fashion. some fresh heat. take those dusty cast—offs off your feet, man. the army hopes to build
on the success of last year's campaign, which saw a record number of applications, though still only 10% of those made it through to basic training. come on, mate, nearly there. in the past, there's been harsh criticism from mps over the decision to outsource recruitment to a private contractor. capita and the army say they've dramatically improved the system. the army has also introduced new training programmes to help prepare young people who may struggle with fitness and literacy to meet basic entry requirements. we are about 95% on our current target with three months of the recruiting year left. so the marketing campaign, along with the hard work between the army and capita, and the hard work that goes on out in the careers offices, is making a real difference. but despite claims of progress, the british army is still well below its target strength. and the problem is not just about recruitment,
but retention too. jonathan beale, bbc news. now — the rspca are searching for a home for a dog that's been abandoned in a church in blackpool with a note from its owner saying "i'm so, so sorry". the dog, who authorities have named cracker, was found before christmas. its previous owner left a note saying their decision to abandon cracker was not taken easily. mark edwardson went along to meet the dog. yes. meet cracker. he is a seven—year—old staffordshire bull terrier. as you can see, he is placid, well kept if a little bit chubby. currently looking after him is will from the rspca. you're not his original owner. tell us what happened to him? i was called a couple of weeks ago to a church in blackpool, where unfortunately, cracker had been found by the staff in the morning, tied to the alter near the church. when they went and got him, they found a rather sad note attached to his collar that just
explained the previous owner was in a very difficult time in theirlife, and would struggle to keep cracker and they were worried that if they did so he would end up on the streets with them. obviously having read this, the church got in i went down and went to see cracker. it was clear that he had been through a bit of a time but with a little coaxing around he came with me and got into the van. we have had him now for a couple of weeks. as you can see, he has come out of his shell. he certainly has. it sounds as if his previous owner was quite a caring person to have left him in a secure place with a note explaining why. i guess what you are trying to do now is find somebody equally caring to look after him? yeah. i do have a lot of sympathy with the owner. it does sound like they were doing what they felt was best. while i would say if they are out there and they want to
get in touch with us, we will more than happily speak to them about how we can best help them and cracker going forward. hopefully we will find someone who wants to give him a loving home. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. this is the picture in hastings, earlier on a little bit of blue sky breaking for that cloud. we are going to be seeing the arrival of some rain as we through the this evening, and into the night. south
england remaining largely dry into this evening, but it winds will gust about 40 or even 50 mph. even stronger than at any north—west, and maybe even a rumble of thunder there. overnight, the cloud and rain sits towards the south and east, so clearer skies further north and a touch of frost here. in mild start across southern and eastern england for friday. during friday, the cloud should be a way to the south—east, sunnier skies, that showers from the north—west, and a bit wintry at the hills in scotland.
this is bbc news — our latest headlines... a week—long state of emergency in australia — with a warning that a heatwave forecast for the weekend could make the bushfires worse. there are fears of fuel shortages — thousands take to their cars to flee the areas under threat. australia's prime minister scott morrison cuts short a visit to one devastated community as people there heckle him. how come we only had four tracks to defend our town? because our town doesn't have a lot of money but we
have hearts of gold. delays and cancellations on the railways — but most fares still go up an average of 2.7 per cent from today. artificial intelligence ‘outperforms' doctors in diagnosing breast cancerfrom mammograms — according to the latest study. sport now on afternoon live. far from ideal for england, eleven players hit with a sickness bug, as england lost the first test. and while most have recovered ahead of tomorrow's match, england are not without their problems for the second test tomorrow. batsmen rory burns injured himself in training today, playing football in a warm—up session, landing awkwardly here. —— batsman. and hobbled around for a while afterwards. he's been sent for a scan. and batting an area that england need to improve upon, with captainjoe root opting to bowl first in that opening test. a sense perhaps that he doesn't fully trust his top orderjust yet. concerns in the bowling department over the fitness
ofjofra archer — he trained but didn't finish the whole session today, and more importantly didn't bowl beacuse of a sore elbow. england waiting on the results of that scan before deciding if he's fit to start tomorrow's cape town test. i think all options are on the table at this point. having as much information as we can, making sure that we see what results come back from this game, where he is, we don't want to go into a game with him not being 100% and we also don't wa nt to him not being 100% and we also don't want to potentially see him miss a lot more cricket through playing him when he is not fit to play. so being really clear about where he is at and then making a balanced decision on the side of the back of it all. so it's scans all round — and late decisions for england to make. we've seen the wildfires and the subsequent devatstation.
australian tennis player nick kyrigos is donating $200 for every ace he serves up in tournamnets he plays there this month. compatriots alex de minaur and john millman doing the same, but offering up varying amounts. the country's cricketers planning tributes and other fund—raising efforts as well — the team and opponents new zealand will wear black armbands when they meet in tomorrow's third test in sydney. both the sterling and the new zealand teams were hosted by the australian prime minister scott morrison at his official residence here in sydney a few days ago. they say that they would wear black arm bands in acknowledgement of the bushfire crisis that is sweeping
many australian states, creating authorities also say that there will be fundraising efforts during the test match, similar to those that raised money for breast cancer. —— cricketing authorities. so australian cricketing authorities well aware that this test match is coming ata well aware that this test match is coming at a time of great crisis for this country, and we also hear that any practical way the umpires will be allowed to suspend play if smoke from the bushfires sweeps over the ground as it has done the city of syd ney ground as it has done the city of sydney many times. saracens chairman nigel wray has announced his retirement a month after the club were found to have broken the premiership's salary cap rules. he is 71 and has been their principal backer for the last 25 years. he oversaw the player investments which led to the breach — and resulted in a record 35 point deduction and £53 million fine. the club are currently bottom of the premiership, eighteen points adrift.
you think it's all glamour, fast cars and top notch training facilities in the premier league. well, not so for sheffield united earlier on. have a look at this. this was them training in stanley park in liverpool, ahead of their match there tonight against the league leaders. only for that little chap to appear and do his business on a training cone. before making a swift exit. singled that one out, as everyone watched. i imagine whoever lost the five aside probably had to pick that one up. it would normally be due army, i have senior play. talk to you later. —— it would normally be you or me. i have seen you play. more now on our story. the australian prime minister, scott morrison, has been heckled while visiting the affected area
of cobargo in new south wales, where a father and son were killed on new year's eve. the fire blazed through the village, with the fire service estimating dozens of buildings in the historic village were destroyed. let's go. get him to give you a lift. he's a working man. what about money for our forgotten corner of new south wales, mr prime minister? how come we only had four trucks to defend our town? because our town doesn't have a lot of money but we have hearts of gold, mr prime minister. beep. no, you are an idiot, mate. you really are. no liberal votes around here. you're out, son. you are out. what about the people who have nowhere to live? beep.
well let's hear what the prime minister made of his reception there. i know people are feeling very raw. you've been welcomed in many parts but you've been not so welcome here at the showground. some people feel you've let them down. well, i'm not surprised people are feeling very raw at the moment and that's why i came today, to be here, to see for myself, to offer what comfort i could but you can't always in every circumstance, everybody understands that. i appreciate the welcome i've received, jenny and i, but, at the same time, i understand the very strong feelings people have. they've lost everything. of the many dramatic images of the australian bushfires, this one is on several newspaper
front pages this morning. this photo, taken in the town of lake conjola in new south wales, shows a kangaroo leaping past a burning house. it was taken yesterday by freelance photojournalist matthew abbott. speaking to the bbc, he described how he came to take the photo. this was in lake conjola. i'd been working along the highway for most of the morning where the fire had jumped over. and i'd been in several locations and i came to the area, there had been a couple of thousand tourists trapped there. and i came down the main street and this one house was on fire. there was lots of neighbours trying to put the house out. trying to remove garbage bins that were melting and trying to protect their own properties with hoses. i was there taking photographs. when i saw a bunch of kangaroos were fleeing another blaze. and theyjust happened to hop right
past this house that was engulfed by flames. these fires, they are unprecedented. they are moving into areas that we haven't seen before. australia is currently experiencing its worst drought in history, since european history. and this is, you know, providing a lot of fuel and very dry conditions which is exactly what fires thrive on. so for the last six weeks i've been photographing fires all over the state and they've sort of been moving slowly further east towards the coastline. and itjust so happened that a lot of these fires actually reached the coastal areas in the busiest week of the year. this part of the country is very popular with tourists. and there's thousands of tourists here, basically on holiday, that had been caught in the middle of these massive fires. it is a dangerous job.
there are times when you wonder should i go down this road, should i hold back? but i've been learning how to do this for quite some time now, from other photographers that are much more experienced than i am. and so i'm just trying to make the best fist of it that i can but it's very important for photographers to be able to be there and see these things as they happen. and you know, this image is testament to that, it's been seen around the world. and it gives an idea of just how serious this current crisis is for australians. these fires, they sort of create their own weather systems so you know, you can expect a fire coming from one side and then, you know, they started doing what is called spot fires and the next minute, the area that you are in can be burning from all different angles. it's incredibly windy, there's embers flying through the air.
it's so smoky you can hardly see at some points. you cannot really drive. it's very dangerous to drive sometimes, so yes, it's definitely, it's a precarious working environment. and it's very dangerous for these tourists that are trapped in these parts. as far as i'm aware, there's still many areas where tourists are trapped, they are not able to leave and that's because, you know, there are several trees that have fallen over the road, there are power lines that are down and it's going to take days, potentially, to reach some of these people. a town in victoria has navy ships that are actually deploying to pick up some of these stranded tourists. in victoria's far north, the town of cudgewa is banding together as residents assess their losses. donated supplies are coming in as people take refugee at nearby tallanagatta. but there are warnings that the worst is yet to come. matt doran from australia's abc news sent this report.
the devastating reality of the fire's fury. only now coming interview. i've got it on my camera, my computer. might banjo. —— i have lost. this family have lost a cudgewa home but still have each other. we went into town with 20 other. we went into town with 20 other people thatjust turned up i needed somewhere to be. we stayed there together until 2am and watch there together until 2am and watch the fire roll over the mountains. roads in and out of the region remain closed even to residents. people only getting in if they are resorted by emergency services. an ominous reminder of what lies over the horizon in the evacuation harp as the committee bound together to support those in their time of need. a strong need for fodder and support to animals. that is been essentially coordinated, but there will be much more needed. this is last major
committee on the highway before roadblocks, and the first port of call for those fleeing. a convoy was escorted out last night after days of being cut from power and phones. we had convoy that came out last night of over 120 vehicles. we are expecting 60. that is the type of logistics that we are dealing with. booze are racing to get through this area and see just how many homes have been destroyed by this fast moving fire. so far the number is sitting at around 12, but it is not only houses that are being counted as losses, stock as well. 18,000 cattle and sheep have survived with serious burns, add a likely going to have to be put down. dealing with the laws, locals are banding together. an online donation drive has already received tens of thousands of dollars and supplies are being brought into the very heart of this town. but while
recovery is front of mind, these effo rts recovery is front of mind, these efforts are against a backdrop of dangerous weather continuing tomorrow and saturday. that could lead fires tojoin tomorrow and saturday. that could lead fires to join our creating a monster blaze. the areas, there is the large fire that came through, so there is the gap between a large area. if these two fires get to roll, they will suck each other in. if you have a young family, you should just get out straightaway. warning it is hoped others will heed. the psychologist who developed the uk's main deradicalisation programme for terror offenders has told the bbc nobody can be absolutely sure it works. his comments come after usman khan, who had taken part in the scheme, killed two people at fishmongers' hall near london bridge in novemember. earlier i spoke to our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani... the scheme is designed to try and get inside the heads of terrorism
offenders in prison, people who have some kind of ideological cause. if people volunteer tojoin ideological cause. if people volunteer to join the scheme because they cannot be compelled to go through it, they sit down with the psychologist over many sessions and there is an investigation into their identity, what made them believe what they believe. what was the cause what they believe. what was the cause they by trying to identify? the theory is if you can reduce this strength of the relationship they have with the extremist group, you will reduce the likelihood of them reoffending and potentially increase the likelihood of them turning out to bea the likelihood of them turning out to be a better person, lower risk of going back into prison. it is very complex psychological therapy. what is the success rate? difficult to
say, the cohorts involved in this is very small, fewer terrorism prisoners than we imagine. any given moment, a few hundred are injail. tracking what happens is difficult. if you compare that to burglars, say we have 10,000, obvious you can run a big programme to work out the outcomes what happens to them, what works for them. christine, the psychologist who devised this, he says it works in some cases, we cannot guarantee it will work in every case. cannot guarantee it will work in every case. what we often find is that people take steps forward, look like they are disengaging but are changing their identity and becoming less likely to be involved perhaps because they have discovered a group that has given them some kind of solution, saying that violence is the answer to all of their problems in syria. they decide that group is lying to them and realise the answer may be through legitimate campaigning or lobbying or charity worker whatever. he says this work is very complex and critically when
someone leaves, there has to be further monitoring. in a moment the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a state of emergency is declared in part of australia as tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee, amid forecasts of ferocious bushfire conditions. rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 per cent today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters — the government promises change artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing breast cancerfrom mammograms — according to a study. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the annual rail fare rise means an increase of more than £100 for annual passes for many commuters. independent watchdog transport focus says most rail users don't feel ticket prices are good value. the group representing the network and train firms promise a thousand extra carriages this year.
a key survey suggests the uk economy stagnated at the end of last year. the three—monthly study by the british chambers of commerce found manufacturing firms reluctant to invest in factories and machinery. it also detected weakness in the services sector — which makes up 80% of the uk economy and includes retail, banking, travel and leisure. the survey concludes the uk economy limped through the final quarter of 2019." plane travel got safer last year — the number of people killed in crashes of large commercial planes fell by more than half compared to 2018. that's according to an aviation industry study from the netherlands. last year it recorded 257 deaths from eight fatal crashes involving large commerical planes — that's down on the year before, despite a sharp increase in the amount of air travel. taking on amazon is notsomething you
do lightly — but there's a man who thinks he can. his name is mukesh ambani, and he's got a personal fortune estimated to be around £45 billion.ambani's the boss and chairman of the conglomate reliance industries — which owns a range of companies — including phone, energy and retailfirms. he's now offering customer's from india's biggest mobile phone comany called jio — which he owns — to sign up for a new grocery delivery service. jio currently has 360m subscribers. the announcement will lay down a serious challenge to the likes of amazon, which has been operating in india since 2013. amazon, along with flipkart, which is owned
by walmart, currently dominate india's online shopping market. so this isn't some start—up, it's a well—established player. completely — the group's core business is oil refining but it also has major investments in other sectors including retail. reliance retail owns grocery stores in india, runs outlets for global brands, including hugo boss and burberry, and in 2019 bought the british toy shop hamleys, has a reputation for disrupting markets it starts businesses in, be it power, oil, retail or telecoms. its foray into e—commerce is unlikely to be any different. it's the first trading day of the new year — what's been happening? london's leading index of shares, the ftse100, starts the decade on a positive note. it's closed higher, led upwards by gains in mining stocks.
they're up after news of a trade deal being signed later this month to bring an end to the 17—month long trade war between the us and china. we have said this before. there is a degree of optimism about this. let's find out what is behind that optimism from simon french. good to see you. this optimism about the trader, as simon observes, we have been here before, what makes this time different? this is at the end of the story but the new term optics are positive for investors. there is are positive for investors. there is a commitment from the us administration to sign the phase one trade deal regarding not rolling forward existing tariffs and indeed the increase that was expected, and
for investors in mining stocks and stocks that are sensitive to global growth, taking that this tie will see a pause. may will be a signal for what we see the rest of 2020 as we run into that pivotal us presidential election in november, that donald trump may be less hawkish on trade. meanwhile we have this study from the british chambers of commerce, we have to point out it is looking backwards, the last three months of 2019. it showed signs of wea kness months of 2019. it showed signs of weakness in the uk economy. what do you make of that? it is right to caveat this by saying it is rather backward —looking given the political events that took place in december. an increased little clarity for investors and business owners to operate in in 2020. but it does tell us that the overall starting position is fairly modest growth, about 1% year—on—year, half the rate of growth we are used to in
the rate of growth we are used to in the uk economy. while most of ours, myself included, would expect a pick—up, we are starting from a low base either takes a while for a £2 trillion economy like the uk to pick up trillion economy like the uk to pick up momentum. we also have the due rail fares up momentum. we also have the due railfares taking up momentum. we also have the due rail fares taking effect. up momentum. we also have the due railfares taking effect. an up momentum. we also have the due rail fares taking effect. an average increase of 2.7%. it will add something like £100 to the cost of an annual pass for many. but people will still say there are delays, cancellations, as a cause that has a knock—on effect on businesses. cancellations, as a cause that has a knock—on effect on businessesm does, and we probably look at the rail system, transport system as integral to the productivity potential of the uk economy. how effective and efficient businesses can be. clearly if customers are paying more and the choice ultimately is for real users or the general taxpayer to pay more, and the service is improving, you think you're not getting much productive return for your investment, so 2.7%
increase, lower than last year at less tha n increase, lower than last year at less than the rate of wages, but still comes as a painful reminder that finding our railway system is a key pa rt that finding our railway system is a key part of many household budgets. simon, thank you. happy new year. that's all the business news. see you soon. holding out for those offers which are not going to come. a vegan man is bringing a landmark legal case — calling for veganism to be protected by law. he wants it classified as a ‘philosophical belief‘, and comparable to a religion. the man claims he was sacked by the league against cruel sports for disclosing that it invested pension funds in firms involved in animal testing. the league says he was dismissed for gross misconduct. our legal correspondent clive coleman reports. jordi casamitjana describes himself as an ethical vegan and campaigns to get his message to others. this is showing you the life
of the animal, how they're killed. his beliefs affect much of his everyday life. he will for instance walk rather than take a bus to avoid accidental crashes with insects or birds. some people only eat a vegan diet but they don't care about the environment or the animals because they care only about their health, for instance. i care about the environment, the animals, my health and everything, that's why i use this term ethical veganism because for me veganism is a belief and it affects every single aspect of my life. jordi worked for the league against cruel sports and claims that when he drew his bosses‘ attention to the fact some of its pension funds were being invested in companies involved in animal testing, they did nothing. so he informed colleagues and says that he was sacked as a result. he claims he was discriminated against on the basis of his vegan belief. today an employment tribunal will consider for the first time if veganism is a philosophical belief akin to a religion and so protected in law.
to qualify, it must be a genuinely held, serious belief, not an opinion. cover a substantial aspect of human life. and be worthy of respect in a democratic society. and not interfere with the rights of others. the league against cruel sports denies his claim and says jordi casamitjana was dismissed for gross misconduct. but it doesn't contest that veganism should be protected in law. if successful, the case could provide vegans with protection against discrimination in employment, education and the provision of goods and services. and those holding other beliefs could then seek similar legal protection. clive coleman, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. a break in the weather over
christmas for many, the weather is getting back to work today and that means a weather front moving in. this is the picture in woodbridge. a lot of crowd around as there is much of the uk. some cloud producing outbreaks of rain as we head through the rest of the afternoon into this evening. cloudy, damp, breezy courtesy of a couple of weather fronts moving their way gradually south—eastwards across the uk. introducing colder air eventually, moving in from the north—west, but we still have the masirewa with those south—westerly wins. here are things through the afternoon. rain reaching into parts of north—west scotla nd reaching into parts of north—west scotland where it will be heavy, strong gusty winds about 45—55 mild power. heavier bursts of rain could bring the drop love thunder. next area of rain into northern england, wales as we head into the evening. strong gusty wind here today, 40 mild power. south—east staying dry, overnight we see a rain pushing
across all of the uk. clear skies moving in scotland, northern ireland and northern england a chilly night to come, temperatures in single figures. was he south—east about temperatures around nine or 10 celsius with the cloud and rain first thing. friday, frontal systems clearing, we have a range of high pressure building in, a drier day but also a colder day for friday. early cloud and rain in the south—east should clear, leaving clear skies, a scattering of showers moving in from the waist, snow flurries across higher ground of scotland. most other places looking dry by the afternoon but colder than recent days with those temperatures generally in the mid to high single figures. the weekend, an area of high—pressure holding onto the weather in the south, whether france further north, rain on saturday across northern western parts, but the rest of the uk not a bad day, early mist and for clearing to leave sunny spells in the afternoon, most of us seen ten which is around nine
or10 of us seen ten which is around nine or 10 celsius on saturday. the second half of the weekend, bosley dry, settled upon many of us on sunday. more cloud in the north and west. temperatures around about 8-10dc. west. temperatures around about 8—10dc. goodbye for now.
today at 5 — a state of emergency is declared as australia's bush fires rage and the death toll rises. there are fears that a heatwave forecast for this weekend could make the crisis even worse. australia's prime minister scott morrison cuts short a visit to one devastated community as people there heckle him. how come we only had four trucks to defend our town and? we don't have a lot of money but we have hearts of gold, mr prime minister! is julia's army and navy are evacuating as thousands flee from the flames. the other stories on bbc news at 5. delays and cancellations on the railways but fares still go