This is bangkok, live at midnight. Spectacular scenes in the capital of thailand. There was a pause on the dot at midnight. Perhaps someone had lost the key moment. But in the end, it was worth waiting for. Those fireworks will no doubt continue for a number of minutes as people in thailand celebrate the arrival of 2020. Those images matching some of those we have shown you around the
world in the previous hours in cities like auckland, sydney, where there was controversy over the rights and wrongs of the fireworks display in sydney harbour. Pictures from tokyo. We showed you what happened one hour ago in hong kong, a more low key celebration because the annual firework display did not happen because of security concerns. There was instead a light show. But now the scenes in bangkok and i think you will probably agree that they are pretty good. Plenty more capital is to visit, of course, in the coming hours, and we will show you some of the preparations going on in this country as midnight approaches a little bit later on this evening as well. To the menus down to the menus now. Thousands of people
in south eastern australia have been forced to seek refuge on beaches and boats after becoming trapped by advancing bush fires. In the state of victoria, 4000 people, locals and tourists alike, prepared to flee into the ocean as a last resort. Military aircraft and naval ships are being deployed to carry out evacuations and support firefighters. In New South Wales, two more people have been killed and dozens of Properties Destroyed along a stretch of coastline. Our sydney correspondent, shaimaa khalil, reports. This is what uncontrollable blazes pushed by strong winds have done to towns across eastern australia. And this is what firefighters have been up against for weeks now. This crew trapped in their fire engine as they fight an impossible battle. In the coastal town of batemans bay in New South Wales, residents have fled, taking shelter on the beach, desperately trying to escape the hellish fire conditions. 300 kilometres south in the state of victoria, thousands in mallacoota also escaped to the shores. At one point, people were told to jump in the water if the fire came their way. More than a dozen emergency level blazes, spanning 500 kilometres, have stretched across the two states of victoria and New South Wales. Several holiday spots along the coast have now been cut off and the main road in the region is closed. Military aircraft and vessels could be sent to help rescue efforts and to bring aid to those trapped in the worst hit areas. Time and time again, people have told us that the scale of these fires is unlike anything theyd ever seen before and so too is the extent of the damage. And as these blazes continue to rage across eastern and southern australia, many are dealing with the reality of going back home when theyve lost everything. The village of balmoral in New South Wales has seen some of the worst devastation in recent weeks. Everywhere you look is a sign of how the blazes ravaged through the area. Rosemary doyle lived in this house for 13 years with her late husband. She tells me she felt relatively safe, living just across the road from the local fire station. But nothing here has been spared. And then i stood across the road and just watched it burn, room by room, which was really, really difficult. The last room to burn was where id left my husbands ashes. Soaring temperatures, strong winds and relentless drought have made it impossible to stop the trail of these huge fires and with no rain predicted, australians will now head into the new year with the threat of more blazes looming over them. The former boss of the car giant nissan has fled japan where he was facing trial over allegations of financial misconduct. Once one of the most powerful figures in the car industry, carlos goan flew to lebanon to escape what he calls injustice and political persecution. Rupert Wingfield Hayes is in tokyo theres some flash photography in his report. Last march, carlos ghosn disguised himself as a construction worker as he attempted to slip past the waiting media on his release from jail. Now, he has succeeded in slipping out ofjapan, perhaps in another disguise. Even his own defence team have been left dumbfounded, unable to explain how mrghosn did it. Translation its a complete surprise and we are perplexed. His passports are with his lawyers. Somehow, mr ghosn managed to board a privatejet and last night he landed here, in the lebanese capital, beirut. In a defiant statement he said he had not fled Japanese Justice but escaped from injustice. Im now in lebanon, he said,
and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese Justice system, where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant and basic human rights are denied. Carlos ghosn was born in brazil to parents of lebanese descent. In the late 1990s he helped save french car maker renault. In the 2000s, he took on an even biggerjob, turning around japans moribund car maker, nissan. He rose to become one of the most powerful figures in the global car industry, but in 2018, he was arrested at tokyo airport on suspicion of financial misconduct. He was held in this Tokyo Detention Centre for more than 100 days, facing daily interrogations. This is a conspiracy. Since his release on bail, carlos ghosn has angrily proclaimed his innocence, accusing his former colleagues at nissan of conspiring with japanese prosecutors to manufacture a case against him. The media injapan had been preparing for what was expected to be the trial of the decade. Instead, carlos ghosn is now far away in lebanon, a country that has no extradition agreement with japan. Rupert Wingfield Hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. Shortly you will see a report from beirut. Firstly, lets hearfrom Andrew Walker who has been following the story. I do not think there is a bigger name in the global motor industry than carlos ghosn, one of the Biggest Industries in the planet. Someone to have been arrested in this way and then to flee the country. One could not say like a common criminal, because firstly he protests his innocence, but also because it must have taken quite considerable resources to
organise this kind of flight from right under the noses of the japanese authorities. And without a passport, because they had been taken away. Yes, but bear in mind, it is possible to have more than one passport for a particular country. You might want to have one passport in hand while another is getting a visa from an embassy. Perhaps the lawyers thought that they had all of his passports but reports from beirut suggest he had entered the country on a french passport and also using a lebanese identity card. You mentioned the stature of this man, his business pedigree is extraordinary. Absolutely. He took over at nissan and reynold at a time when nissan was really in quite serious difficulty, it was losing money, building up debts, and there we re money, building up debts, and there were some really big question marks about the security of its future. He did a lot of things that were pretty painful, reducing costs, shedding
workers, closing factories and changing relationships with other japanese businesses and supply chain, but the company came out of that in reasonable shape, and it has taken a significant role in looking to the next stage in the evolution of the global motor industry, which iam sure of the global motor industry, which i am sure will have electric vehicles as an absolutely essential element in it. And carlos ghosn was certainly an important figure in driving that change in nissan which has an important contributor to what will be the next phase in the industry development. What of the accusations that he was facing . He denies them but what do the authorities suggest he allegedly did wrong . That he misrepresented his earnings to the japanese stock market and that he had also misused company assets. The suggestion there was an appropriate use of Company Resources to fund some of the properties, personal properties he owned, he had a number of personal
residences in paris, rio dejaneiro, tokyo, amsterdam, and also suggestion that he may have used them for financing financial holidays. He denies this and all the proprietary but that is the main allegations against him. So, carlos ghosn has fled to lebanon and quentin somerville, our middle east correspondent is in beirut. The lebanese authorities are saying he arrived by private jet on sunday and that he entered the country legally using a french passport and his lebanese id card. How he got out of japan, they are kind of shrugging their shoulders and saying we do not know, that is not our concern, as faras we are know, that is not our concern, as far as we are concerned he is here illegally and that is the end of the matter. The lebanese media, which is quite excitable at times, it says it has an idea, it says that carlos ghosn was smuggled in a musical
instrument case of a gregorian chanting band which was playing in his home in japan. Chanting band which was playing in his home injapan. They then got him onto the private jet and this whole plot, if you like, was orchestrated by private security contractors, some who are former special forces operatives. Now that he is there, because of the lack of any sort of agreement between japan and because of the lack of any sort of agreement betweenjapan and lebanon, presumably he will stay put, does he . Unless he decides to vanish again. But, yes, he is pretty safe here. Carlos ghosn was born in brazil, his grandfather was lebanese and moved to brazil many years ago. He is very much seen as one of lebanons success stories, despite the fact that he has gone through quite considerable legal and financial troubles. They have even put his face on a postage stamp peer. When he travels around town he
has an escort from the cute from the security services. He is well plugged into the lebanese political elite, and that will give him a lot of protection, especially as there is no extradition treaty with japan. Japan isa is no extradition treaty with japan. Japan is a country that gets a lot of money to lebanon on, but if you are putting a mans face on a postage stamp, you must think twice about giving him up, i would suggest. Quentin sommerville in beirut. A 10 Year Old Girl who was hit by an ambulance on an emergency call out days before christmas has died. The girl was on foot at the time of the crash, which happened in nottingham at around 6. 30pm in the evening on the 22nd of december. The chief executive of east Midlands Ambulance service offered his deepest condolences to the girls family. Nottinghamshire police are looking for any witnesses to come forward. The government has announced that the National Living wage will go up in april for workers over the age of 25. Rising by 6. 2 , the living wage from april will be £8. 72 an hour. Thats an increase of 51 pence an hour on the current rate. Theres also a rise to the minimum wage for 21 to 2a years going up to £8. 20 an increase of 6. 5 . Thousands of mixed sex couples in england and wales the headlines on bbc news. Thousands of people in south eastern australia are forced to seek refuge on the coast after becoming trapped by advancing bushfires. Lebanon says the former nissan boss carlos ghosn entered the country legally and will not face any legal consequences, after he fled japan where he was awaiting trial. Thousands of Iraqi Militiamen have attacked the American Embassy in baghdad, angry at us air strikes on theirforces. Sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres olly. Theres finally some good news
for england ahead of the second test against south africa that starts on friday in cape town ollie pope says hes ready to go after recovering from the illness that has affected most of the squad. He, chris woakes and jack leach sat out the first test defeat three of 11 players whove been hit by a sickness bug. Couldnt have come at a worse time, really, with the test match, but luckily feeling all right now. Been feeling good for the last few days, so, yeah, im on the mend and ready to go. I was a bit more feverish. For the first two days, i sort ofjust stayed in bed, really. I think probably caught it off broady and jof and those guys who missed about a week of the warm up games, which wasnt ideal. It swept through pretty much the whole camp, so theres not much we could have done about it. The Manchester United manager ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he has money to spend in the january transfer but wont buy anyone just for the sake of it with the worry that he could upset
the team dynamic. I am optimistic we can keep players fit. And if the right ones become available we do have the resources. And i do have the backing from the board but it is also about getting the right ones, it has to be, there is no point suddenly thinking, bringing someone else in nowjust for the sake of three orfour months. If that can disrupt any. Not good feeling in the group, but the chemistry in the group because the chemistry is really good. The west ham captain mark noble has backed david moyes to turn things around. There has been a mixed response from hammers fans to the scots return to the club. He helped keep them up two years ago but was then replaced by Manuel Pellegrini who was sacked on saturday with the club one point above the relegation zone. Noble says moyes is the best person for the job and brought out the best in the players in his first spell in charge, so everyone should support him. Ian holloway is the new manager of League Two Side grimsby. Hell also have shares in the club and take a place on the board. He led blackpool and Crystal Palace into rhe Prmier League into the premier league but his last managerialjob was with qpr last year. He will take charge with the club 21st in league two and without a win since september. Gerwyn price and peter wright have kissed and made up after their bad tempered semifinal at the pdc world darts championship. Both men goaded each other on the oche and price refused to shake hands after losing. Price took to social media today to say. He went on to apologise for not
shaking wrights hand, saying. Wright, who won 6 sets to 3, has also apologised for his conduct. Hell face reigning champion, michael van gerwen, in tomorrows final. Fallon sherrock, who last week became the first woman to win a match at the pdc World Championship, has withdrawn from the bdo womens World Championship next week. Her decision comes after the bdo announced that theyd be reducing prize money following poor ticket sales. Maria sharapova will make her comeback from a shoulder injury in next weeks brisbane international. Its kept her out for almost a year, with her ranking dropping to 133. The tournament is a warm up event for the Australian Open the first grand slam of the new year. Five time grand slam champion sharapova last played a competitive match in the first round of the us open in august. Rhys webb has signed a two year deal to rejoin ospreys from next season which could also see him return to the wales side. The scrum half has been at toulon who have agreed to release him from the final year of his contract forfamily reasons. He left ospreys last year to join the french side and that ruled him out of test selection, but hell be eligible again for the new wales coach wayne pivac. Thats all the sport for now. You can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. There are a few premier league press conferences, nine fixtures in all tomorrow. I will be back with sports at around tomorrow. I will be back with sports ataround 6 20pm. See you then. Thank you for that. The United States is expected to temporarily send additional troops to its embassy in baghdad, following violent demonstrations outside the compound. Crowds of demonstrators attacked the American Embassy in baghdad, during a protest against us air
strikes on an Iraqi Militia group. Earlier our middle east analyst Alan Johnston explained the context to these protests in baghdad. This small army seems to walk through the checkpoints, suggesting there was official blessing for this. As the militia men gathered at the gates, you can imagine the scene, chanting, anti american slogans, throwing stones, eventually two thick columns of black smoke rising above the compound, a guard post had been set on fire, and it seemed that dozens of protesters had managed to scale an outer wall, got
into a reception area, before forces defending the compound fired tear gas, apparently disbursing them. After that there seems to be a sort of winding down of this. As we speak, i think there are still some protesters outside the embassy, but the situation seems to have calmed down very much. I mentioned in the introduction of the american reaction thus far. This plays into the wider narrative, doesnt it come of relations between the us and iran. Those acute tensions between america and iran, very much in the background to this. Over the last two months or so, the americans were coming under attack in bases that they use in iraq and they blamed one particular Iraqi Militia group backed by iran for this. On sunday, in the strikes on which thousands of Iraqi Militia men were killed or wounded, the americans were sending a signal, saying provoked like that
they would hit hard at irans proxies in iraq. I think we might be able to show a tweet from donald trump at this point. This illustrates what he is saying to those many millions of people in iraq who want freedom and you dont wa nt to iraq who want freedom and you dont want to be dominated and controlled by iran, this is your time. It is very clear where he is coming from. As always. What he is alluding to the air, is that we have had months of Anti Government protests in iraq, with demonstrators making clear that they are very much against the large amount of influence that iran has in the iraqi political system. We have had two cases of iranian councillors being attacked in iraqi cities. What donald trump is saying is that if you want them out, you have to rise up you want them out, you have to rise up against them. I think there will be some who are pleased at the
americans attacking these militia groups, but at the same time many iraqis do not have any good feeling whatsoever to america. I am sure many iraqis feel that both the iranians and the americans have brought them a barrel full of trouble over the years. Allan johnston on events in baghdad. The labour mp Richard Burgon has announced that he will be standing to be deputy leader of the labour party. The mp for east leeds and shadowjustice secretary made the announcement on twitter this afternoon. The third mp to confirm they are standing to replace tom watson, often on our screens, standing to replace tom watson, often on oui screens, very standing to replace tom watson, often on our screens, very loyal to Jeremy Corbyn when a lot of the shadow cabinet members leftJeremy Corbyn. He stuck byJeremy Corbyn. He has treated in the last two hours that after a break in discussions with mps and party members, i am announcing that i am standing to be the labour pa rtys announcing that i am standing to be the labour partys deputy leader. He goes on to say. Well, in that
article he refers to the air, he has said abandoning the labour partys transformational policies would be a mistake. Jeremy corbyn should not shoulder the blame nor the recent election loss. He said that was an election loss. He said that was an election about brexit and that the failure was not honouring the referendum and losing the trust of the voters that way and therefore they could not be trusted on the ma nifesto. They could not be trusted on the manifesto. He said instead of going back to the future, possibly referring to tony blair, he is saying that they have to turn male, railand saying that they have to turn male, rail and water back to Public Ownership and this could be a continuity carbon candidate coming up continuity carbon candidate coming up here. He will be standing against the shadow equalities minister, dawn butler, and another man who has thrown his hat into the ring. And we are expecting Angela Rayner to stand
and the sitting mp doctor rosie allen. We should find out more next week when the governing body of the party sets out its timetable. More now on the new years celebrations. Auckland was the first major city to welcome twenty20 with a bang. The sky tower at the centre of celebrations. In sydney, the traditional display went ahead, despite some calls for it to be cancelled because of the bushfire crisis. They were singing, dancing and fireworks in pyongyang, as north korea saw in the new decade. Whilst a traditional buddhist ceremony was the focus then japan. The fireworks
show was scaled back in hong kong because of the recent unrest. Protesters formed human chains in the city. Not the usual big display in the middle of Victoria Harbour on this occasion. But still, there was still quite young show. Quite some show. That is where celebrations have taken place. More to come, of course. Lorna gordon is in edinburgh head of the hogmanay celebrations there. Lorna. Nowhere quite like scotla nd there. Lorna. Nowhere quite like scotland when it comes to new year 01 scotland when it comes to new year or hogmanay, and nowhere quite like edinburgh. Let me set the scene. There will be a big party in the centre of the city a little later on. We are expecting 75,000 people. The castle, a fantastic landscaped environment for it. There is the main stage down there as well. Click and dom, legendary childrens performers on at the moment entertaining the children who are jumping around and keeping warm in
the chilly scottish weather. Later we will have mark ronson, the digi, the first dj in fat to take to the main stage here in edinburgh for hogmanay. I was speaking to him a little earlier and he has been to edinburgh before. I asked him what his memories were of the city. |j have a lot of memories from edinburgh. My mothers mother is from here. And on the i remember coming to play tea on the fringe backin coming to play tea on the fringe back in 2006 or 2007 with amy and daniel. It is always a great place to play. Tonight you are doing something special, a soundtrack to the fireworks. How does that work . We just made a mega mix. They wanted to take certain songs over the past 12, 15 years and put to take certain songs over the past 12,15 years and put them into an explosive display. You are known for
your work where you collaborate with famous artist, other famous artist. Did you collaborate to do this . Was there a bit of toing and froing . Yes, i had to see what they wanted, how long it was, and it was going to be televised, so i helped to put together the soundtrack for the show. Edinburgh is known for its chilly temperatures, any plans, any tricks on staying one . chilly temperatures, any plans, any tricks on staying one . I liked that electric hand warmer that you showed me. I dont want to show the brand, but it works pretty good. We are playing tonight and playing the Acoustic Guitar and finger picking when you are trying to do your sound check any code, but i like the challenge. This has been a great yearfor challenge. This has been a great year for you, challenge. This has been a great yearfor you, and challenge. This has been a great year for you, and oscar, glastonbury. What has been a highlight . Both of those things. Both stand out. Glastonbury was amazing, getting to play with miley cyrus on the pyramid stage. Then
playing with princess and djing. I was doing the photos. I had a great blast. And the oscar was also the highlight as well. Hogmanay is a big deal in scotland. Will you pa rta ke big deal in scotland. Will you partake in any of the traditions, first footing, jumping into the firth of forth, going for a swim . To go for a swim . What does that mean . To go for a swim. Do you fancy that . Where do i go for that . Just a couple of miles outside of edinburgh. Our people naked . Maybe one 01 edinburgh. Our people naked . Maybe one or two but possibly swimming costu mes one or two but possibly swimming costu m es for one or two but possibly swimming costumes for most. Maybe on the way to the airport tomorrow. There was mark ronson, partaking in the new year spirit. You can see some people gathering already. We have been
speaking to people from brazil, australia. And scotland of course. Cani australia. And scotland of course. Can i interrupt you for a second please . Where are you from . We are from perth, scotland. Not australia. Have you come here tonight especially . We came down to visit my parents and we were going to come along to the party but we were a bit late so we did not make it. What are the children making of it . |j late so we did not make it. What are the children making of it . I think they are enjoying it, arent you . Yes, they are really good. Well they get to stay up and see in the new year . Probably at grannys house, maybe. But we might come out later oii. Maybe. But we might come out later on. We will come back for the party. Which better you are looking forward to the most . Fireworks, always. Thank you both very much. Have a lovely evening. Happy new year to you when it comes. Always the fireworks, and what a display as
planned here