You re watching bbc newsroom live. Its 10 am and these are the main stories this morning. 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. The Prime Minister calls for calm. I understand the frustration, i understand the anxiety, i understand the fear, but what i also understand is the need to allow the professionals and the experts who plan and operationalise these responses to do theirjob. 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. I dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train
services, particularly in places Like Northern where its been notably bad and i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing Breast Cancer from mammograms, according to a study. An emotional peter snakebite wright wins the pdc world darts championship, beating world number one Michael Van Gerwen. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im annita mcveigh. Residents and tourists in coastal areas of New South Wales in australia have been told by firefighters to leave within 48 hours. The Evacuation Order comes ahead of forecasts of high temperatures and strong winds on saturday, which will create ideal conditions for more bushfires. A seven day state of emergency will come into force in New South Wales tomorrow. There are trafficjams on main roads, and queues at petrol stations. At least eight people are known to have died since monday. Our correspondent phil mercer has this report. The mass exodus from southern New South Wales is under way. The authorities are urging tourists and residents to leave while they can. It has been slow going and the evacuation has been hampered by a lack of fuel but not Everyone Wants to go. Mum wants to stay but. I dont know. Seeing just all the locals, i can see theyre all nervous and anxious. Everyone isjust on edge. Looking at the queues here, it would be a long, long trip. We actually think wed be better off staying here. Our motorhome is parked by the water. If anything does happen, we can just go down to the water. We were here on New Years Eve that was really, really bad. The fires have become political. The australian Prime MinisterScott Morrison has said Climate Change was one of many factors fuelling the blazes. Hes rejected International Criticism that his government, which is an Ardent Supporter of the nations large coal industry, is not taking Global Warming seriously. The emissions reduction policy will protect the environment and reduce the risks and hazards we see today and will seek to ensure the viability of peoples jobs and their livelihoods all around the country. The Prime Minister has called for calm as dozens of blazes and across the country. More hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast for south eastern australia in the days ahead. This brutal summer continues. Phil mercer, bbc news. Our correspondent, shaimaa khalil, reports from lake conjola, one of the worst affected communities. 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 theyd 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. Its pretty traumatic. Our correspondent phil mercer is in sydney and has the latest on the evacuation. Weve been seeing an exodus from the south coast of New South Wales for most of the day. Thousands of people are heeding the official warning to leave that part of eastern
australia, so seaside communities in victoria and here in South Australia are emptying out. Not everybody will leave, as weve been hearing but the expectation is that many people will have seen the devastation that the fires have caused in that part of eastern australia and will want to be as far away from those areas as possible and we expect strong temperatures into the 40s with strong winds from central australia. They will be warm and dry and all of those factors will conspire to elevate the fire risk. What this state of emergency does is give fire authorities in New South Wales to enforce evacuations, and have all the powers to control the fires at this time of crisis. The worst possible combination of factors in that forecast you were just
mentioning, phil. How difficult is it for people to get away even if they are attempting to do so because of smoke in the air, because of shortages of fuel we have heard about as well. Some of the major highways and southern parts of New South Wales are open with a restricted speed limit because of the volume of traffic on the road and also visibility is poor because of the smoke as well. There isnt enough fuel to go around and some people say that other road closures are making their journey people say that other road closures are making theirjourney out of that area stressful and long, so the authorities are urging people to be patient. Some people in places like victoria are being airlifted by the military or taken away by the navy, so military or taken away by the navy, so it gives you an indication of how severe this crisis is. It is really
unprecedented in australia that we have the military involved and thousands of firefighters and now we have thousands of holiday makers and residents being forced out in what is also an unprecedented evacuation, so is also an unprecedented evacuation, so this crisis in australia began many, so this crisis in australia began any so this crisis in australia began many, many weeks ago and all the indications are that it still has weeks, if not months to run. You mentioned the military. Will some people in some communities have to be airlifted or taken by sea to get to safety because of the routes are cut off . Well, that is what we are seeing, so what weve had is amphibious vessels from the navy having made their way to the coast of victoria. Blackhawk helicopters have flown into some of those communities as well and the reasons for that, in one area for example, there are thousands of residents and holiday makers who are stranded and the main road out goes through miles, and miles of bush land and
its just too dangerous to let people travel along those sorts of roads, so they are stranded. We anticipate about 500 people will be airlifted out or taken away by the navy but that still leaves thousands of people who will still be stuck in places like mallow kuta for many days, so this is a big problem for the authorities, trying to keep people safe and trying to ease their anxieties at a time when we expect dangerous fire conditions on saturday, so its a monumental effort, not only involving the military but also state authorities as well and on the front line firefighters, especially New South Wales, volunteers, some of them have been on the front line of these blazes four weeks. And air quality has clearly been an issue since the
start of the crisis in september. Ive seen reports that one index says that the australian capital has the worst air quality of any city in the worst air quality of any city in the world today. Easy to see why. Here in sydney, in recent times, not so here in sydney, in recent times, not so much today, but recent weeks weve had terrible air quality and i feel a bit raspy myself. Ive never, never smoked a cigarette in my life but i feel like i know what its like to be a heavy smoker, so spare a thought for people in canberra because air quality there is appalling and very hazardous and the Australian National university is closing its campus until next week because of air quality and this has been an issue in cities like melbourne and adelaide and also across the tasman sea. We are talking hundreds and hundreds of miles, smoke from the australian bushfires has blown all the way over to new zealand and once again that is another example as to how serious
and how widespread this crisis is. Rail fares will rise by an average of nearly 3 percent today, despite another year of poor performance by Train Companies. Passengers will have to pay an average of 2. 7 more for train tickets. However, figures from network rail show that only 65 of trains arrived at their scheduled station on time in the 12 months to december 2019. And the independent watchdog transport focus says 53 of rail users do not feel train tickets offer value for money. The train operators say that 98p of every £1 spent on train fares goes towards running and maintaining services. biv a government commissioned review of the railways is due to publish its findings in the coming weeks. But labour said the increase showed the government wasnt serious about supporting Public Services or tackling Climate Change. The secretary of state for transport grant shapps defended the price rises. Look, i think most people appreciate if were going to get the kind of railway that you and i want to see, were going to need to have investment into our railways and we wont get there by putting less money in so these rises which are capped below the retail price index are designed to kick off a year of change. And what i want to see happen is people getting a decent service, trains running on time and fairer ticketing prices which i can tell you about from today when the new pricing starts on some of the lines. 0ur correspondent victoria fritz is at London Bridge station. London bridge is one of the busiest stations in the country and its recently had a £1 billion face lift, and its redevelopment in places like this which is how the whole Rail Industryjustifies those rail fare increases every single year. So this year tickets are going up by 2. 7 across england and wales on average, and most people, the majority of people, over 50 of passengers dont believe
that they are getting good value for money and how can you blame them after what appears for most commuters to be a year of calamity on the rail network. Let speak to sara nelson and claire walker, sara, do you think that the Rail Industry is delivering for passengers . If you ask passengers, as we do, we speak to thousands of passengers a year and we ask about their sense of value for money only half are satisfied, so a third of commuters, so i think the answer is no. Claire, one of the things they are looking at is changing the ticketing system and trailing more flexible tickets. Do you think that would help or confuse people further . I think any step for more flexible fares is a really important step forward but weve been waiting some time for this in the way that people are working, working from home, different shift patterns, working part time has really changed and what we are seeing is a rail system unfair system that is no longer fair for those workers. So what would make it fair . What are you hearing from passengers . We know they find a fair system complex and difficult to understand. You never know if youre getting the right to get all the best value ticket and we like to see something that simple and easy to understand that offers the good value that you can get when you get these and other deals in advance, or the split ticketing. We like that to be available to everyone, not just those in the know. What about businesses . When everyone is late coming in out of stations like this . Businesses are less satisfied with the railway than they were this time last year so they are seeing a decline in satisfaction. They are also frustrated that they are not able to get the talent and people that they need, to get in on time and move them around to meet customers and supply chains effectively and affordably. Claire walker and sara nelson, thank you very much. The Train Companies themselves will say that 98 of every pound spent actually goes back
into the railways, and they are saying to expect a year of action when it comes to the railways and thats what the transport secretary is saying today as he launches these new trials. There will be an independent review that is coming back with its final recommendations in the first few weeks of this year, the first month of the year, so we have to wait and see whether they actually come up with Real Solutions to fix what is a pretty broken relationship between the public and this part public, part private railway system. A study, involving nearly 29,000 women, has found Artificial Intelligence software is just as accurate as doctors at spotting Breast Cancer. Its the result of work by researchers at Google Health and Imperial College london. Cancer experts say it could eventually mean faster and more accurate diagnosis. Heres our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. Reading a mammogram is highly skilled work, done by specialist doctors. Two radiologists analyse every womans x rays but now Artificial Intelligence, a Machine Learning computer designed by Google Health can do it just as well as humans. Compared to a single radiologist working alone, Artificial Intelligence was actually more accurate at detecting Breast Cancer. Ai produced i. 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 Healths 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 havent got a cancer. Doctors will always have the final say over a diagnosis, but ai seems set to play an increasing role in cancer detection. Fergus walsh, bbc news. The headlines on bbc news. 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. Social media addicts, gym junkies and binge drinkers are all being targeted in the armys latest recruitment drive. The appeal is underpinned by research which claims that young people believe they are held back by a lack of self confidence. Heres 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. You are coming out tonight the bold claim from the armys £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. Take those dusty cuffs off your feet, man. The army hopes to build on the success of last years 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, theres been Harsh Criticism from mps over the decision to outsource recruitment to a private contractor. Capita and the army say theyve 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. 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. The two men and a woman who were killed in a New Years Eve crash involving a lorry
near Heathrow Airport were British Airways cabin crew. two of the victims have been named, 25 year old joe finnis and 23 year old dominic fell. A 25 year old woman is also in a serious condition in hospital. A British Airways spokesperson said their thoughts are with their families and friends. Nearly a quarter of hospital admissions for eating disorders last year were for patients aged 18 or under, according to new nhs data. The total number of admissions has risen by more than a third across all age groups over the last two years. Experts have described the figures as worrying and urged the government to invest in early intervention. We can now speak to dr agnes ayton, chair of the faculty of eating disorders at the Royal College of psychiatrists. Thank you for coming along to talk to us today. So why the increase, 37 . What are the factors behind it . Thank you for the invitation. In
fa ct thank you for the invitation. In fact nhs digital has been collecting this data over time and the number of admissions for 18 years old is 7200 and last year it was 19,000, so what we have been seeing in the last decade is almost troubling number of admissions for eating disorders and what is important to understand is that patients who require hospital admissions are usually very severely ill, so this is a really serious concern. This is the very worst end of the scale and the number is therefore of people with eating disorders is actually much higher. Yes, absolutely, thats the case. We havent got good data in the uk about the number of people suffering
from eating disorders and this was highlighted in a recent Constitutional AffairsCommittee Report that that needs to happen, but the data on hospital admissions highlights the severity of the situation and unfortunately we havent had any investment in the number of beds in the last ten yea rs, number of beds in the last ten years, so number of beds in the last ten years, so that means people who are severely ill have to wait, which is an issue is potentially dangerous. Ill come back to that in a moment but if i can take a step back to early in the process, if you like, if somebody goes to a gp with an eating disorder, how much training do gps get in recognising the signs and symptoms . We have done a National Survey on this and what we have found is that the majority of
patients get less than two hours of training in16 years patients get less than two hours of training in 16 years of medical training. Less than two hours of training . Yes and most of the doctors dont get any training at all. We are trying to work with the gmc to improve the situation but it has been a very slow process. What are the signs that they should be looking out for . There could be any number of warning signs which include changes in weight, not necessarily just weight loss but also weight gain and also a number of physical symptoms like fainting, for women, the stopping of menstrual periods and there could be electrolyte disturbances and even suicide attempts, so there could be a range of symptoms that could trigger the possibility that there
might be an underlying eating disorder. So very little training for gps disorder. So very little training forgps and disorder. So very little training for gps and when it comes to specialist psychiatric posts, people who are specially trained to deal with eating disorders, a lot of those are unfilled as well, you say . The Royal College of psychiatrists has done a survey which was published in december and there are spaces unfilled on the psychiatry course, which is a major concern and i think we need to strengthen the training pathway and also make sure that people in eating Disorder Services have manageable caseloads because if theres too much pressure it is hard to recruit staff. Without
all of that, recruiting more specialist, without better training for gps specialist, without better training forgps and specialist, without better training for gps and more beds dedicated for treating patients with these disorders, are the governments plans to improve Services Going to work . Well, we have seen an investment in eating Disorder Services in the last few years and that has improved access to treatment and people under the age of 18 can get treatment in a four week period of time but we dont have anything for adults and the majority of the patients are adults as has been shown by digital data, so we do need the same standards across the age range. Nhs england has published Commission Guidance for the next ten years but
their advice is to locally negotiate and make arrangements and, of course, that would mean that there is no guarantee that the services will be improved for adults. 0k, thank you very much. From spring this year, all adults in england will be considered as potential organ donors unless they opt out. The change could help many of those who are in desperate need of a transplant. Tim muffetts been to meet one family affected. Christmas day in great 0rmond street hospital. Ethans first christmas at the end of a very tough year. Ethan needs a heart. Its his only way to survive. With ethans condition, that means the left side of the heart isnt properly pumping. With it being the left side as well, he also has heart failure. Christmas day in great
0rmond street hospital. Ethans first christmas at the end of a very tough year. 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 this after ethans dad, richard, underwent a heart transplant a year ago. You are having open heart surgery, so you dont know if you are going to make it through it. Thats kind of all you think about before, is this the last time im going to see everybody . 50 of you are so grateful and so happy that richards 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 couldnt go through what i am going through if richard wasnt 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. Its an amazing new piece of legislation thats coming in. Without that, the amount of lives
this will save, this law will save, having been implemented. However, it doesnt include children. Obviously, that age range is. Families dont really talk about it. They havent thought about it. So it makes it harder for the children to get a heart. To be honest, i dont 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 dont 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 hes here and just hope that call comes and it happens. If i spent more time being upset about the things that i cant control, i will miss the time i have with ethan now
and i dont want to do that. Because i dont 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. Anthony clarkson is the director of transplant and donation at nhs england. He told us that he believed this change in legislation would help save lives. So we estimate about three People Per Day diet waiting for a transplant, which is why it is key we make the most of the new legislation that comes in in spring. Currently, somebody has to opt in if they want to be an organ donor, so tell us exactly how that will change come spring. What people will do, everybody will be considered to be a donor. We know from surveys that the vast majority of the population want to be organ donors or support organ donors, but when the time comes that the loved ones or family have to make a decision, about 65 are agreeing with donation and the reason that people say no is because they do not know whether it was what their loved one would have wanted, so what you have to do now
is register to say if you dont want to be a donor and everybody else will be considered to be a donor but of course we will still have a conversation with the family and have a full discussion with them. What evidence is there that that makes a difference . Presumably it makes a really big difference . It makes a tremendous difference and for families at that time it so important that they know what their loved one wanted because then they can make that decision with confidence. So if theyve registered the decision that they dont want to be a donor, we will explain that to them and everybody else will be considered a donor. So they can then, with confidence, agree to donation to go ahead. And whats the situation in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland at the moment and how does england compare . Wales went ahead early and have had it in place since 2015 and england will go live in the spring. Scotland will be shortly after, probably in the autumn, so the rest of the uk is moving
in that direction following the lead from wales which has seen significant success with the new legislation. Yes, i think Northern Ireland has not committed yet to introducing the sorts of laws we are talking about here. So, currently people they have to opt in, i believe. So you mention wales already has this deemed consent and has done for a few years. What difference has it made there . Its made a real difference to the consent rate, the people that support donation. The numbers are obviously smaller than they are in england and scotland. But we are seeing consent rates up to about 80 in wales. Thats compared to the rest of the uk which is around 65 . So more and more people are supporting open donation in wales, which is what we would expect from the change in legislation. The time isjust the time is just after half past ten. Lets check out the Weather Forecast with simon king. Thank you. For many of us, cloudy out there, but a bit of brightness, this is one weather watcher capturing the sunshine and interestingly some lens shaped cloud towards the lay of the Higher Ground in england. But we have rain moving its way through scotla nd have rain moving its way through scotland into north west england, north west wales, turning heavy for a time. Showers and further spells of rain following behind, quite gusty winds for many of us, if t 55 miles an hour in the west of scotland, its mild, temperatures in double figures across the uk, 1012dc. Double figures across the uk, 10 12dc. Staying cloudy in the south east, you keep the cloud and milder conditions here, weather fronts moving south, colder air filtering from the north, chillier night across scotland, Northern Ireland, the north and west of england. Further south and east, its mild. Through friday some rain
in the south east for a time, clearing away, some sunshine, chillier feeling day. Goodbye clearing away, some sunshine, chillierfeeling day. Goodbye for 110w. Hello, this is bbc newsroom live with annita mcveigh. The 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. The Prime Minister calls for calm. I understand the frustration, i understand the anxiety, i understand the fear. But what i also understand is the need to allow the professionals and the experts to plan and then operationalise these responses, to do theirjob. Rail fares rise by an average of almost three per cent today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters the government promises change i dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train service, and particularly in places like
northern, where its been notably bad. I will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing Breast Cancerfrom mammograms according to a study lets return to our main story this hour. Thousands of people are fleeing eastern australia right now amid more forecasts of the weather conditions that led to wildfires which have killed 18 people and destroyed more than a thousand homes. The countrys Prime Minister has defended his governments response and urged people stuck in traffic to remain calm and patient. Helen willetts from the bbc Weather Centre looks at the climactic conditions that have increased the severity of this years fires. Bushfires have been raging throughout australia before summer even began. This year theyve continued
to become more widespread and catastrophic in the last couple of weeks, burning widely as we can see, from this graphic in southern and eastern areas towards the end of december. One of the main drivers for this intense heat and these bushfires is something called the Indian Ocean Dipole. And its been strongly positive this year, one of the strongest weve seen and its when we get warmer waters pulling across the western side of the indian ocean inducing more rain, weve seen 300 of the average rainfall in some parts of the east of africa and devastating flooding, in contrast to that, cooler water pools further east across the indian ocean, round the waters of australia, which inhibits the rainfall and its slowed down the monsoon. So, as a result, much of australia have had their driest spring on record, also the second warmest spring on record, so youre left with exceptionally dry land and dry land heats up more quickly than
damp land, particularly in these long Daylight Hours of summer. So all the suns energy is used to heat rather than heat and evaporate. Whilst the Indian Ocean Dipole is the main driver, the main climatic driver for what weve seen, weve also got a secondary issue, the southern annular mode. Which is the strong westerly winds normally further south across, as can see, the antarctic 0cean but actually, through the latter part of spring early summer, they drifted further northwards and that happens from time to time but it means weve stronger westerly winds, dry winds, blowing into the eastern side of australia, exacerbating the bushfires and bringing more dry air and, of course, blowing the smoke into highly populated areas. So temperature records have been tumbling already and looking at how the heat has happened over the last 100 years, you can see, taken from the average, the anomalies are gradually increasing, the average temperature is gradually rising across australia and weve onlyjust got to the end of december. Normally the hot days in australia are recorded injanuary and february, into the depths of summer but weve already seen records being smashed by day and by night. 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. Id been working along the highway for most of the morning where the fire had jumped over. And id 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 havent 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 ive been photographing fires all over the state and theyve 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 theres 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 ive been learning how to do this for quite some time now, from other photographers that are much more experienced than i am. And so im just trying to make the best fist of it that i can but its 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, its 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. Its incredibly windy, theres embers flying through the air. Its so smoky you can hardly see at some points. You cannot really drive. Its very dangerous to drive sometimes, so yes, its definitely, its a precarious working environment. And its very dangerous for these tourists that are trapped in these parts. As far as im aware, theres still many areas where tourists are trapped, they are not able to leave and thats because, you know, there are several trees that have fallen over the road, there are power lines that are down and its 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. James findlays parents lost theirfamily home in batemans bay. Speaking to the bbc earlier, he described how they found out. My my parents are in new zealand on holiday at the moment and they found out by their neighbour, their neighbour gave them a call to find out if they were 0k and mum answered the phone and said yes, we are fine, why . Just like because, youve lost everything. And my mum said, you are joking. Shes like, no, ican everything. And my mum said, you are joking. Shes like, no, i can see your house now and its up in flames, everything is gone. It is my family home, my dad built it, nearly 30 years ago. When we moved to
batemans bay, my parents wanted to change and they decided to build their dream home. And thatsjust what it was, it was our family home, i grew what it was, it was our family home, igrew up what it was, it was our family home, i grew up there. Before i moved to melbourne, i finished high i grew up there. Before i moved to melbourne, ifinished high school, my parents still live there, my brother lives in the town with his wife. And, yeah, now its gone arent the only thing they have with them as the clothes in their little suitcases that they have for their ten day trip. They are absolutely devastated, you know. All ourfamily memories are in there, all our photos, our old videos from home videos. Family possessions, things that have been passed on from generations, everything isjust gone. And itsjust, itsjust devastating and every time my pa rents devastating and every time my parents think about Something Else that they have lost, they burst into
tea rs. That they have lost, they burst into tears. Its just heartbreaking. 0bviously, tears. Its just heartbreaking. Obviously, i am crushed but its also, i feel so helpless, obviously, i am crushed but its also, ifeel so helpless, theres nothing you can do. The house has burned, but theres nothing anyone can say to make things better, we just kind of have to focus on what will happen next, you know . And just be there for each other, i guess, because thats all you can do. My brother and his wife live in town so they will stay with my brother and his wife for a while. Itjust so happened my parents were planning on building a new house so i guess ill just try and fast track that but 380 homes have been lost on the south coast of New South Wales, as it is. Things might take awhile to going again. Its not going to happen overnight. So i guess as soon as they come back they can stay with my brother and his wife but, thats as far as we brother and his wife but, thats as faras we can brother and his wife but, thats as far as we can kind of look into the
future at the moment. And you know, thats just if my brother s has is still standing, they are predicting catastrophic conditions on saturday and my brother is really worried his house might be next. You just dont know. They are telling everyone to leave because its not going to be safe to be in. Itsjust, its heartbreaking. The psychologist behind the uks main Deradicalisation Programme for terror offenders says it can never be certain that attackers have been cured. Christopher dean says that participants on his scheme can often regress because of their complex identities. One of his former attendees was usman khan, who killed two people near London Bridge in november. For more on this im joined by our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani. You have been talking to mr dean about this programme so tell us more
about this programme so tell us more about it and what its designed to do, what it tries to do. The scheme is designed to try and get inside the heads of terrorism at once they are inside and to clarify as men cant was one of the prison people inside prison who went through the scheme called the healthy identity intervention. Hes not somebody who Christopher Dean necessarily dent with himself, there is client confidentiality around this so we dont know the ins and outs of what happened to as mccann himself but in essence, what happened with the scheme, it was devised in 2010 by Christopher Dean and his colleagues inside the ministry ofjustice as a means of trying to get a terrorism offenders to sit down and consider their identity as a whole. Think about a burglar, they could have committed a crime because of some particular needs such as poverty or desperation from drug abuse. The terrorism offender, youre often talking about someone who is following an ideological cause. So the idea this scheme is effectively to get them to
think about why they follow that course, what is it that made them identify with the Extremist Group and create this avenue through which they can perhaps start to disengage to use the jargon, with an Extremist Group, be it the Islamic State group orafar right group, be it the Islamic State group or a far right group or even an Animal Rights extremist small group as well. What Christopher Dean told me in this interview which you can hear on bbc sounds is that talk of a cure is wrong. You cant necessarily cure is wrong. You cant necessarily cure people, you have people who move backwards and forwards, up and down, at a level of following, adherence to a cause. So sometimes you can make progress but because of the whole day extremism has on them perhaps because theyd been in a group for many years, its difficult to break the cycle and break the chains that bind them to the Extremist Group theyve been following which led to the crimes. Someone may appear to have changed their thought processes, their allegiances, if you like. But then,
that can change again. Absolutely. In his words you can go two rungs up the ladder, two runs down, its difficult to know if someone has changed and people think about these schemes which are in prisons around the world, the uk is one of the most advanced, as a form of deprogramming and he says that language is wrong because you simply cantjust basically wipe somebody s memories and beliefs and upload a new identity. What you have to do is create a space for them to work out slowly for themselves were at their best interests lie. Christopher dean says as part of the management of offenders outside prison and the people who are monitoring them outside prison, should understand what work has been done inside jails but is the system is joined up is that . I think this is going to be an absolutely critical issue when we get to the inquests into the fishmonger is attack and into housman can was able to kill two
people, saskia jones and jack merritt because hed gone through the scheme in prison before his release in 2018, he went into another scheme on the outside which we understand is very similar, managing him in the community. Were their warning signs, where the people managing him on the outside fully aware of what progress not had been made so this is a really complex question, particularly when you think about how many people have left prison with a terrorism offence since 2012, 50 or 60 of them still on licence, still being monitored and controlled and i think this is going to become a critical issue when the inquests are finally opened into these horrible murders. Thank you. In a moment well have all the Business News, but first the headlines on bbc news. 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 lets pick up on that story now. A study has suggested that a new Artificial Intelligence system is as accurate as humans at diagnosing Breast Cancer from mammograms. Researchers designed a Computer Programme to analyse x ray images from nearly 29,000 women and found the system was able to detect cancer as successfully as two expert radiologists working together. Ive been speaking to Fiona Gilbert who is a professor of radiology at the university of cambridge. She helped with the design of the study and started by explaining how her role fitted with the model. The Team Approached me because id been involved in reading mammograms for many years and they were keen to see what was the best way to test
the algorithm they developed so we had a number of meetings which also involved patients, we designed the study and advise them on the best way to actually show that this ai tool was going to work. Why do you think Artificial Intelligence was better than a single doctorate looking at a mammogram or as good as two doctors looking at a mammogram . The results as you say, they are really excellent, incredible. Its partly because theyve used huge numbers of images to train the algorithm and the google team, the ai scientists have really perfected this technique by using the information in different ways and they use different sets of mammograms to try and improve how the algorithm is working. And so, what we did, was actually take the cancers that were detected by the radiologist, but we also included in the testing of the algorithm, the
cancers that were not detected by the radiologists which appeared in the radiologists which appeared in the three year interval between the normal Screening Programme in the uk and so, this really help the algorithm improve its performance and this is why we think weve been able to match the uk performance of the radiologists reading mammograms. Perhaps this is to blunt a way of putting it, but does ai therefore it simply, i use that word in inverted commas, avoid human error . The great thing about al, it doesnt get tired or distracted which is what we find happens to radiologists. The reason we have two radiologists in the uk, second radiologist pick up an additional 6 10 of cancers. The ai tool of course doesnt miss that 610 that tool of course doesnt miss that 6 10 that are potentially detectable. And thats why we think its such a great innovation. And so we are hoping that we will be able to use the ai tool with one of the
radiologists and hope that they will improve their performance. The radiologists of course presumably have access to some of the medical history of the patient is mammograms they are looking at which the ai does not. Is that a factor . Actually, the radiologists dont have any information about the women apart from their age, when they are reading the mammogram so we have no information about past history. Its not a factor, therefore . information about past history. Its not a factor, therefore . I dont think that is a factor, we may be slightly influenced by age but i think not consciously when we are reading the mammograms. Think not consciously when we are reading the mammogramslj think not consciously when we are reading the mammograms. I understand there have been different results between the uk and the us, why is that the case . Well, i think thats quite a complex, the answer to that is quite complex and i think theres many differences between the us and the uk. In the uk, its a very regulated Screening Programme and we have to read a minimum of 5000
mammograms each year so its highly specialised readers in the uk and in the us, its perhaps not quite as regulated as that, the us its mandated only 400 mammograms per year so i think that while there are excellent readers in the us, there may be more variable performances and thats one of the things we need to look at. Maybe the ai tool doesnt improve the performance of really expert readers but hugely improve the performance of readers who are less experienced or low readers for example. Thats interesting. What are the next steps in terms of using Artificial Intelligence as a matter of course in the uk for this sort of diagnosis . I think thats a really important question because we need to be careful that the ai tool doesnt worsen performance of individual readers because as i said, individual readers performance can vary quite a lot in the uk, its quite a narrow performance range but
elsewhere, its quite a narrow performance range but elsewhere, its broader. So what we need to do is we need to take the ai tool and tested with individual radiologists and see what happens to their recall rates and see if it reduces the number of falsely recalled women and make sure we dont miss any cancers when the radiologists are using the tool or at least, it doesnt increase the number of missed cancers. So theres a lot of important work to happen before we can start really using it in earnest. So very important studies which will now take place in the uk. Professor Fiona Gilbert. A vegan man is bringing a Landmark Legal action in which a tribunal will decide for the first time whether veganism is a philosophical belief, akin to a religion, and therefore protected in law. Jordi casamitjana claims he was sacked by the league against cruel sports for disclosing it invested Pension Funds in companies that carried out tests on animals. Our Legal CorrespondentClive 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. His beliefs affect much of his everyday life, he will walk rather than take a bus to avoid accidental crashes with insects or birds. Some people only eat a vegan diet but they dont 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, thats why i use this term why i use this term because veganism is a belief and it affects every single aspect of my life. He 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 investigated in Companies Involved in animal testing, they did nothing. Funds were being invested. He says colleagues
did nothing that he was sacked as a result and claims he was discriminated against on his vegan beliefs and 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. League against cruel sports denies his claim and sastordi casamitjana was dismissed for gross misconduct. But it doesnt 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. If you watched any westerns over the festive break, you might have seen a lone tumbleweed drifting across a deserted town. But take a look at what happens when theres more than one. A us highway had to be closed yesterday after piles of tumbleweed up to 30 feet high blocked the road and buried cars in washington state. Its now been re opened. Time for the weather, simon king is back with more. Thank you. Some sunshine out there across england and wales, generally its quite cloudy, some rain affecting the far north and west. The sunshine i find from our weather watchers is here in cambridgeshire at the moment, as i mentioned for most, its cloudy and towards the north west, whether fronts moving their way in, bringing rain, heavy in places. Quite a brisk south westerly wind. Thats coming from the south west and its mild. Quite a mild feeling day, temperatures above the average for the time of year. Mostly cloudy, for england and wales, some holes developing here and there,
eventually we see something brighter in the north east of scotland as the rain spreads towards the south east but as it clears, further outbreaks of rain, thundery rain moving in towards the north west later, shah was pushing into Northern Ireland. The rain by 3pm moving into north west england, north and west wales, further south and east stays dry. These are the wind gusts, up to 55 miles an hour in the west of scotland, many of us noticing fairly gusty day today. Temperatures ten, 11, 12 celsius, feeling quite mild. Tonight, the south east holding on to milder air, the weatherfronts, rain moving further south and east, colder air filtering rain moving further south and east, colder airfiltering behind it so by tomorrow morning, bit of a chilly start across scotland, Northern Ireland, the north and west, further south and east, remaining wild. Quite cloudy in the south east tomorrow morning, outbreaks of rain, clearing, some sunshine developing across many parts of england and wales, Northern Ireland having some sunshine. Showers into scotland,
could be wintry especially over Higher Ground, perhaps down to lower levels in the far north of scotland and a chilly day for pretty much all of us, temperatures in the afternoon 68d. Of us, temperatures in the afternoon 6 8d. Into the weekend, High Pressure dominating for many, some weather systems going over the top of the area of High Pressure, it means on saturday there will be cloudy skies, outbreaks of rain in the far north of scotland. For most of us, dry day on saturday, there will be some sunshine, temperatures around 8 10dc, and sunday, fairly similar. Rain affecting the far north and north west of scotland, elsewhere, another try one, there will be some cloud but also sunny spells. Temperatures round about 810 spells. Temperatures round about 8 10 or 11 celsius. Quite a windy speu 8 10 or 11 celsius. Quite a windy spell of weather today, then really quite quiet to start 2020. Goodbye. Its11am and these are the main stories this morning. 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. The Prime Minister calls for calm. I understand the frustration, i understand the anxiety, i understand the fear, but what i also understand is the need to allow the professionals and the experts who plan and operationalise these responses to do theirjob. Rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters. The government promises change. I dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train services, particularly in places
Like Northern where its been notably bad and i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing Breast Cancer from mammograms according to a study. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im annita mcveigh. Residents and tourists in coastal areas of New South Wales in australia have been told by firefighters to leave within 48 hours. The Evacuation Order comes ahead of forecasts of high temperatures and strong winds on saturday, which will create ideal conditions for more bushfires. A seven day state of emergency will come into force in New South Wales tomorrow. There are trafficjams on main roads, and queues at petrol stations. At least eight people are known
to have died since monday. 0ur correspondent phil mercer has this report. The mass exodus from southern New South Wales is under way. The authorities are urging tourists and residents to leave while they can. It has been slow going and the evacuation has been hampered by a lack of fuel but not Everyone Wants to go. Mum wants to stay but. I dont know. Seeing just all the locals, i can see theyre all nervous and anxious. Everyone isjust on edge. Looking at the queues here, it would be a long, long trip. We actually think wed be better off staying here. 0ur motorhome is parked by the water. If anything does happen, we can just go down to the water. We were here on New Years Eve that was really, really bad. The fires have become political. The australian Prime MinisterScott Morrison has said Climate Change was one of many factors
fuelling the blazes. Hes rejected International Criticism that his government, which is an Ardent Supporter of the nations large coal industry, is not taking Global Warming seriously. 0ur Emissions Reductions policies will protect our environment and reduce the risks we are seeing today and, at the same time, it would ensure the viability of peoples jobs and their livelihoods all around the country. The Prime Minister has called for calm as dozens of blazes burning across the country. More hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast for south eastern australia in the days ahead. This brutal summer continues. Phil mercer, bbc news. 0ur correspondent, shaimaa khalil, reports from lake conjola, one of the worst affected communities in the state of New South Wales. 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 theyd 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. Its pretty traumatic. 0ur correspondent phil mercer is in sydney and has the latest on the evacuation. Weve been seeing an exodus from the south coast of New South Wales for most of the day. Thousands of people are heeding the official warning to leave that part of eastern australia, so seaside communities in victoria and here in South Australia are emptying out. Not everybody will leave, as weve been hearing but the expectation is that many people will have seen the devastation that the fires have
caused in that part of eastern australia and will want to be as far away from those areas as possible and we expect strong temperatures into the 40s with strong winds from central australia. They will be warm and dry and all of those factors will conspire to elevate the fire risk. What this state of emergency does is give fire authorities in New South Wales to enforce evacuations, and have all the powers to control the fires at this time of crisis. The worst possible combination of factors in that forecast you were just mentioning, phil. How difficult is it for people to get away even if they are attempting to do so because of smoke in the air, because of shortages of fuel we have heard about as well. Some of the major highways and southern parts of New South Wales are open with a restricted speed limit because of the volume of traffic on the road and also visibility is poor because of the smoke as well. There isnt enough fuel to go around and some people say that other road closures are making theirjourney out of that area stressful and long, so the authorities are urging people to be patient. Some people in places like victoria are being airlifted by the military or taken away by the navy, so it gives you an indication of how severe this crisis is. It is really unprecedented in australia that we have the military involved and thousands of firefighters and now we have thousands of holiday makers and residents being forced out in what is also an unprecedented evacuation, so this crisis
in australia began many, many weeks ago and all the indications are that it still has weeks, if not months to run. You mentioned the military. Will some people in some communities have to be airlifted or taken by sea to get to safety because of the routes are cut off . Well, that is what we are seeing, so what weve had is amphibious vessels from the navy having made their way to the coast of victoria. Blackhawk helicopters have flown into some of those communities as well and the reasons for that, in one area for example, there are thousands of residents and holiday makers who are stranded and the main road out goes through miles, and miles of bush land and its just too dangerous to let people travel along those sorts of roads, so they are stranded. We anticipate about 500 people will be airlifted out or taken away
by the navy but that still leaves thousands of people who will still be stuck in places like mallow kuta for many days, so this is a big problem for the authorities, trying to keep people safe and trying to ease their anxieties at a time when we expect dangerous fire conditions on saturday, so its a monumental effort, not only involving the military but also state authorities as well and on the front line firefighters, especially New South Wales, volunteers, some of them have been on the front line of these blazes four weeks. And air quality has clearly been an issue since the start of the crisis in september. Ive seen reports that one index says that the australian capital has the worst air quality of any city in the world today. Easy to see why. Here in sydney, in recent times, not so much today, but recent weeks weve had terrible air quality and i feel a bit raspy myself. Ive never, never smoked a cigarette in my life but i feel like i know what its like to be a heavy smoker, so spare a thought for people in canberra because air quality there is appalling and very hazardous and the Australian National university is closing its campus until next week because of air quality and this has been an issue in cities like melbourne and adelaide and also across the tasman sea. We are talking hundreds and hundreds of miles, smoke from the australian bushfires has blown all the way over to new zealand and once again that is another example as to how serious and how widespread this crisis is. Rail fares will rise by an average of nearly 3 today, despite another year of poor performance by Train Companies. Passengers will have
to pay an average of 2. 7 more for train tickets. However, figures from network rail show that only 65 of trains arrived at their scheduled station on time in the 12 months to december 2019. And the independent watchdog transport focus says 53 of rail users do not feel train tickets offer value for money. The train operators say that 98p of every £1 spent on train fares goes towards running and maintaining services. A government commissioned review of the railways is due to publish its findings in the coming weeks. But labour said the increase showed the government wasnt serious about supporting Public Services or tackling Climate Change. The secretary of state for transport grant shapps defended the price rises. Look, i think most people appreciate if were going to get the kind of railway that you and i want to see, were going to need to have investment into our railways and we wont get there by putting less money in so these rises which are capped below the retail
price index are designed to kick off a year of change. And what i want to see happen is people getting a decent service, trains running on time and fairer ticketing prices which i can tell you about from today when the new pricing starts on some of the lines. 0ur correspondent victoria fritz is at London Bridge station. London bridge is one of the busiest stations in the country and its recently had a £1 billion face lift, and its redevelopment in places like this which is how the whole Rail Industryjustifies those rail fare increases every single year. So this year tickets are going up by 2. 7 across england and wales on average, and most people, the majority of people, over 50 of passengers dont believe that they are getting good value for money and how can you blame them after what appears for most commuters to be a year
of calamity on the rail network . Let speak to sara nelson and claire walker, sara, do you think that the Rail Industry is delivering for passengers . If you ask passengers, as we do, we speak to thousands of passengers a year and we ask about their sense of value for money only half are satisfied, so a third of commuters, so i think the answer is no. Claire, one of the things they are looking at is changing the ticketing system and trailing more flexible tickets. Do you think that would help or confuse people further . I think any step for more flexible fares is a really important step forward but weve been waiting some time for this in the way that people are working, working from home, different shift patterns, working part time has really changed and what we are seeing is a rail system unfair system that is no longer fair for those workers. So what would make it fair . What are you hearing from passengers . We know they find a fair system complex and difficult to understand. You never know if youre getting
the right to get all the best value ticket and we like to see something that simple and easy to understand that offers the good value that you can get when you get these and other deals in advance, or the split ticketing. We like that to be available to everyone, not just those in the know. What about businesses . When everyone is late coming in out of stations like this . Businesses are less satisfied with the railway than they were this time last year so they are seeing a decline in satisfaction. They are also frustrated that they are not able to get the talent and people that they need, to get in on time and move them around to meet customers and supply chains effectively and affordably. Claire walker and sara nelson, thank you. The Train Companies themselves will say that 98 of every pound spent actually goes back into the railways, and they are saying to expect a year of action when it comes to the railways and thats what the transport secretary is saying today as he launches these new trials. There will be an independent review
that is coming back with its final recommendations in the first few weeks of this year, the first month of the year, so we have to wait and see whether they actually come up with Real Solutions to fix what is a pretty broken relationship between the public and this part public, part private railway system. A study, involving nearly 29,000 women, has found Artificial Intelligence software is just as accurate as doctors at spotting Breast Cancer. Its the result of work by researchers at Google Health and Imperial College london. Cancer experts say it could eventually mean faster and more accurate diagnosis. Heres our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. Reading a mammogram is highly skilled work, done by specialist doctors. Two radiologists analyse every womans x rays but now Artificial Intelligence, a Machine Learning computer designed by Google Health can do it just as well as humans. Compared to a single radiologist working alone, Artificial Intelligence was actually more accurate at detecting Breast Cancer. 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 Healths 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 havent got a cancer. Doctors will always have the final say over a diagnosis, but ai seems set to play an increasing role in cancer detection. Fergus walsh, bbc news. The headlines on bbc news. 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 Cancer from mammograms according to a study. And in sport. Peter snakebite wright won the pdc World Championship darts final at Alexandra Palace. He beat defending champion Michael Van Gerwen by seven sets to three to take the title for the first time. In the premier league, arsenal ended a run of four consecutive home defeats with a 2 0 win over manchester united. It was Mikel Artetas first victory as gunners manager. Tonight runaway leader liverpool host Sheffield United. Saracens owner nigel wray has retired as club chairman. The Premiership Rugby side were deducted 35 points and fined over £5 million in november after an enquiry into business dealings between him and some of the players. Ill be back with more on those stories later. Nearly a quarter of hospital admissions for eating disorders last year were for patients aged 18 or under, according to new nhs data. The total number of admissions has risen by more than a third across all age groups over the last two years. Experts have described the figures as worrying and urged the government to invest in early intervention. Earlier i spoke to dr agnes ayton, chair of the faculty of eating disorders at the Royal College of psychiatrists who explained. What we have been seeing is a troubling number of admissions for severe eating disorders and what is important to understand by hospital admissions, they are usually very severely ill, if not life threatening. So this is a really serious concern. This is the worst end of the scale. And the therefore of people with eating disorders is actually much higher . Yes, absolutely, thats case. We havent got good data in the uk about the number of people suffering from eating disorders. This was actually highlighted in a recent public
constitutional Committee Report that that needs to happen. The data on hospital admissions highlight the severity of the situation. U nfortu nately, we severity of the situation. Unfortunately, we havent had any investment into the number of beds over the last ten years, so that means that people who are severely ill have to wait for admission which can be potentially quite dangerous. I will come back to that in just a moment but if i can take a step back early in the process, if you like, if someone goes to a gp with an eating disorder, how much training do gps actually get in recognising the signs, the symptoms . Well, we have done a National Survey and on this. What we have found is the majority of doctors get less than two hours of training in 16 years of medical training. Less than two
hours of training . Yes, and one third of doctors dont get any training at all. We are trying to work with the gmc to improve the situation but its been a very slow process. What are the signs they should be looking out for . Well, there could be any number of warning signs including changes in weight, not necessarily just weight loss, but also weight gain. Also, a number of physical symptoms like fainting for women, stopping the menstrual periods, electrolyte disturbances, or even suicide attempts, so a range of symptoms which could trigger the possibility that there may be an underlying eating disorder. So very little training for gps in terms of spotting the signs and symptoms and then when it comes to specialist
psychiatric posts, people who are specially trained to deal with eating disorders, a lot of those are unfilled as well, you say . Yes, the Royal College of psychiatrists has done a survey which was published in december and they found that 15 of the specialists of posts are unfilled. Its a major concern and i think there are multiple reasons for that. We need to strengthen the training pathway and we also need to make sure that people who work in eating Disorder Services actually have manageable caseloads. Because if there is too much pressure its very difficult to recruit staff. Without all of that, without recruiting more specialist, without better training for gps and more
beds dedicated for treating patients with these disorders . Are the governments plans to improve Services Going to work . Well, we have seen an investment into eating Disorder Services over the last few yea rs, Disorder Services over the last few years, and that has improved access to treatment, so young people under the age of 18 can get treatment within a four week period of time but we dont have anything like that for adults. The majority of the patients are adults, as shown by the nhs digital data, so we do need the same standards across the age range. Nhs england has published guidance for the next ten years. But there are device is to look at funding
arrangements and of course that would mean that there is no guarantee of service is being improved for adults. From spring this year, all adults in england will be considered as potential organ donors unless they opt out. The change could help many of those who are in desperate need of a transplant. Tim muffets been to meet one family affected. Christmas day in great 0rmond street hospital. Ethans first christmas at the end of a very tough year. Ethan needs a heart. Its his only way to survive. With ethans condition, that means the left side of the heart isnt 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 this after ethans dad, richard, underwent a heart transplant a year ago. You are having open heart surgery,
so you dont know if you are going to make it through it. Thats kind of all you think about before, is this the last time im going to see everybody . 50 of you are so grateful and so happy that richards 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 couldnt go through what i am going through if richard wasnt 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. Its an amazing new piece of legislation thats coming in. Without that, the amount of lives this will save, this law will save, having been implemented. However, it doesnt include children. Obviously, that age range is. Families dont really talk about it. They havent thought about it. So it makes it harder
for the children to get a heart. I dont 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 dont 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 hes here and just hope that call comes and it happens. If i spent more time being upset about the things that i cant control, i will miss the time i have with ethan now and i dont want to do that. Because i dont 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. Anthony clarkson is the director of transplant and donation at nhs england. He believes this change in legislation would help save lives. We estimate this. So we estimate about three People Per Day diet waiting for a transplant, which is why it is key we make the most of the new legislation that comes in in spring. Currently, somebody has to opt in if they want to be an organ donor, so tell us exactly how that will change come spring. What people will do, everybody will be considered to be a donor. We know from surveys that the vast majority of the population want to be organ donors or support organ donors, but when the time comes that the loved ones or family have to make a decision, about 65 are agreeing with donation and the reason that people say no is because they do not know whether it was what their loved one would have wanted, so what you have to do now is register to say if you dont want to be a donor and everybody else will be considered to be a donor but of course we will still have a conversation with the family and have a full discussion with them. What evidence is there that that makes a difference . Presumably it makes a really big difference . It makes a tremendous difference and for families at that time it so important that they know what their loved one wanted because then they can make that decision with confidence. So if theyve registered the decision that they dont want to be a donor, we will explain that to them and everybody else will be considered a donor. So they can then, with confidence, agree to donation to go ahead. And whats the situation in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland at the moment and how does england compare . Wales went ahead early and have had it in place since 2015 and england will go live in the spring. Scotland will be shortly after, probably in the autumn, so the rest of the uk is moving in that direction following the lead from wales which has seen significant success with the new legislation. Yes, i think Northern Ireland has not committed yet to introducing the sorts of laws we are talking about here. So, currently people they have to opt in, i believe. So you mention wales already has this deemed consent and has done for a few years. What difference has it made there . Its made a real difference to the consent rate, the people that support donation. The numbers are obviously smaller than they are in england and scotland. But we are seeing consent rates up to about 80 in wales. Thats compared to the rest of the uk which is around 65 . So more and more people are supporting open donation in wales, which is what we would expect from the change in legislation. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon thank you. Sunshine at the moment in fairly short supply but i found one photo at least from our weather watchers this morning, in cambridgeshire, a bit of blue sky in the foreground, but for many of us it is cloudy and weve got some rain affecting the far north west of the
uk. Particularly in scotland, Northern Ireland, the weather system there, but further south and east, looking largely dry and the wind coming from a south westerly direction today, so its mild, with temperatures above the average for the time of year. But lots of cloud, asi the time of year. But lots of cloud, as i mentioned. Heavy rain across scotland, Northern Ireland, clearing eastwards but its not going to reach the far south east of england, so staying dry here into the afternoon. The maximum temperature is around 10 12, but as this first band of rain of the south east, another band of heavy, maybe even thundery rain spreading into the north and west of scotland, with brighter spells for a time in the north east of scotland. Showers moving into Northern Ireland and there is the position of the rain of 6pm across wales, northern england, particularly over the pennines whether rain is quite heavy. Quite gusty winds this afternoon. 55 miles an hour in the west of scotland. But through tonight, that rain linked in with this weather system is going to post to the south east and behind it, colder airfilters in so by
tomorrow morning, temperatures dropping down to about 3 5 in the north, holding onto the milder conditions in the south east, but quite cloudy in the south east tomorrow morning. Outbreaks of rain here. That will clear and there will be some sunshine developing across most areas, but some showers, perhaps even wintry across scotland will move their way and and it will turn chillier as the day goes on, particularly in the south east. Temperatures here dropping to about 68. Temperatures here dropping to about 6 8. Now then come into the weekend, higher pressure dominating for many of us. May lead the south. It means a few weather systems will brush the top of the Northern Edge of that area of High Pressure so on saturday, rain at times in northern scotla nd saturday, rain at times in northern scotland but for most, on saturday, a dry day. There will be some sunny spells. Temperature about 9 10. Sunday is going to be very similar. For most of us, a dry day. There will be some sunny spells for england and wales. A bit more clad, outbreaks of rain affecting the north and north west of scotland
throughout the day and again, those temperatures very similar, about 910 temperatures very similar, about 9 10 or 11 celsius, so quite windy today but a quiet start to 2020. Thats all for me. Goodbye from now. Hello this is bbc newsroom live. The 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. The Prime Minister calls for calm. I understand the frustration, i understand the anxiety, i understand the fear. But what i also understand is the need to allow the professionals and the experts to plan and then operationalise these responses to do theirjob. Rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters the government promises change. I dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train service, and particularly in places Like Northern, where its been notably bad. I will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing Breast Cancerfrom mammograms according to a study. Sport now. Good morning. The new pdc darts World Champion peter wright has told the bbc he took on the snakebite image to act as a mask to hide a shy inner person. Wright whos famed for his mohican hairstyles and snakebite emblems beat world number one Michael Van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace last night. He had Three Chances at a double 10 to beat the defending champion. He missed the first two but made it with his final dart to win the title for the first time at the age of 49. Its the first time hes won the title after losing 10 of his 11 majorfinals. Earlier he spoke to sally nugent. Its crazy, obviously its been a dream of mine to be the World Champion and now, you know, ive finally done it and its, i didnt
sleep at all last night, its settled in. It was terrible. Ive had no sleep. So its actually sunk in that i am World Champion. And im just over the moon talk us through the look, how long does that take and who does that for you . My wife joanne does that, sometimes my daughter naomi does it and sometimes granddad does it for us as well it gives me confidence, im a very, very shy guy away from the sport. And whenjo puts it all on, i become the character snakebite you see on stage that you see, the crazy hairdos. Saracens long standing chairman nigel wray has retired. The club was found to be in breach of the salary cap regulations last november and handed a 35 point deduction for this season and fined £5. 3 million. Wray said in a statement that he felt it was time to step down
and just enjoy being a fan of this incredible rugby club. Wray will continue to bankroll the Club Offering what hes called the required financial support. Edward griffiths has returned as interim chief executive officer. Runaway premier League Leaders liverpool will hope to continue their seemingly irresistable surge towards a first title since 1990. They host Sheffield United at 8 this evening. It was a good start to the new year for managers recently new to theirjobs. Arteta enjoyed his first win as arsenal manager. The gunners ended a run of four consecutive home defeats with a 2 0 win over manchester united. Nicolas pepe and sokratis the scorers. They move up to tenth. United are fifth. West ham celebrated the return of david moyes as manager with a 4 0 thumping of bournemouth. Sebastien hallers goal was the pick of the bunch. The hammers move out of the relegation zone, with bournemouth replacing them. Manchester city look resigned to be fighting leicester for second place. Yesterday gabrieljesus scored twice as they beat everton 2 1. Theyre a point behind leicester. And what a win for them. James maddisons strike was the pick of the goals in leicesters 3 0 win at newcastle. Second placed leicester are ten points behind leaders liverpool, who play Sheffield United today and have 2 games in hand. So, bad news for spurs, and their Managerjose Mourinho was booked after remonstrating with southamptons goalkeeping coach during the match. You can just see mourinho in the distance on these pictures going over to the southampton bench. Apparently he was annoyed at what he thought were time wasting tactics. So far, mourinho has generally been all smiles at tottenham, but maybe his mood is turning a little. Reporter your yellow card, because you approached the southampton bench . Um, i think the yellow card
is a fair because i was rude but i was rude to an idiot and for some reason for some reason i was rude. But i was and because i was rude i deserved the yellow card. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Lets return to our main story this hour thousands of people are fleeing south eastern australia right now amid more forecasts of the weather conditions that led to wildfires which have killed 18 people and destroyed more than 1000 homes. 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. Id been working along the highway for most of the morning where the fire had jumped over. And id been in several locations and i came to the area, there had been news of 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 havent 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 ive been photographing fires all over the state and theyve 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 theres 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 ive been learning how to do this for quite some time now, from other photographers that are much more experienced than i am. And so im just trying to make the best fist of it that i can
but its 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, its been seen around the world. And it gives an idea ofjust 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. Its incredibly windy, theres embers flying through the air. Its so smoky you can hardly see at some points. You cannot really drive. Its very dangerous to drive sometimes, so yes, its definitely, its a precarious working environment. And its very dangerous for these tourists that are trapped in these parts. As far as im aware, theres still many areas where tourists are trapped, they are not able to leave and thats because, you know, there are several trees that have fallen over the road, there are power lines that are down and its 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. Fallen over the road, there are power lines that are down and its 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. The psychologist behind the uks main Deradicalisation Programme for terror offenders says it can never be certain that attackers have been cured. Christopher dean says that particpants on his scheme can often regress because of their complex identities. One of the schemes former attendees was usman khan, who killed two people at fishmongers hall near London Bridge in november. Earlier our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani, gave us more details. The scheme is designed to try and get inside the heads of terrorism at once they are inside and to clarify khan was one of the people inside prison who went through the scheme called the healthy identity intervention. Hes not somebody who Christopher Dean necessarily dealt with himself, there is client confidentiality around this so we dont know the ins and outs of what happened to khan himself but in essence, what happened with the scheme, it was devised in 2010 by Christopher Dean and his colleagues inside the ministry ofjustice as a means of trying to get a terrorism offenders to sit down and consider their identity as a whole. Think about a burglar, they could have committed a crime because of some particular needs such as poverty or desperation from drug abuse. The terrorism offender, youre often talking about someone who is following an ideological cause. So the idea this scheme
is effectively to get them to think about why they follow that cause, what is it that made them identify with the Extremist Group and create this avenue through which they can perhaps start to disengage, to use the jargon, with an Extremist Group, be it the Islamic State group or a far right group or even an Animal Rights extremist small group as well. What Christopher Dean told me in this interview which you can hear on bbc sounds is that talk of a cure is wrong. You cant necessarily cure people, you have people who move backwards and forwards, up and down, at a level of following, adherence to a cause. So sometimes you can make progress but because of the hold extremism has on them, perhaps because theyd been ina group for many years, its difficult to break the cycle and break the chains that bind them to the Extremist Group theyve been following which led to the crimes. Someone may appear to have changed their thought processes, their allegiances, if you like. But then, that can change again. Absolutely. In his words you can go two rungs up the ladder, two runs down, its difficult to know if someone has changed and people think about these schemes which are in prisons around the world, the uk is one of the most advanced, as a form of deprogramming and he says that language is wrong because you simply cantjust basically wipe somebodys memories and beliefs and upload a new identity. What you have to do is create a space for them to work out slowly for themselves where their best interests lie. Christopher dean says as part of the management of offenders outside prison and the people who are monitoring them outside prison, they should understand what work has been done insidejails but is the system isjoined up is that . I think this is going to be an absolutely critical issue when we
get to the inquests into the fishmongers hall attack and into housman can was able to kill two people, saskia jones and jack merritt because hed gone through the hii scheme in prison before his release in 2018, he then went into another scheme on the outside which we understand is very similar, managing him in the community. Where their warning signs . Were the people managing him on the outside fully aware of what progress not had been made so this is a really complex question, particularly when you think about how many people have left prison with a terrorism offence since 2012, about 250 people, 50 or 60 of them still on licence, still being monitored and controlled and i think this is going to become a critical issue when the inquests are finally opened into these horrible murders. Its emerged the two men and a woman who were killed in a New Years Eve crash involving a lorry near Heathrow Airport were British Airways cabin crew. Two of the victims have been named, 25 year old joe finnis and 23 year old dominic fell. A 25 year old woman is also in a serious condition in hospital. A British Airways spokesperson said their thoughts are with their families and friends. In a moment well have all the Business News, but first the headlines on bbc news. 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 Cancerfrom mammograms according to a study. The Business News now. That railfare rise means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 for annual passes. Independent watchdog transport focus
says 53 of rail users do not feel train ticket prices offer value for money. The Group Representing the Railway Network and train operators says extra investment of £20 billion will mean 1,000 extra train 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. Thats according to an Aviation Industry study from the netherlands. Last year it recorded 257 deaths from 8 fatal crashes involving large commerical planes
thats down on the year before, despite a sharp increase in the amount of air travel. Lets talk about that study by the british chambers of commerce. In the Services Sector remember that makes up most of the economy and covers a whole range of things like hotels, shops, transport, Financial Services and so on. Fewer firms reported any increase in sales at home or abroad in the last 3 months of 2019, than in the previous 3 months. But more of them were optimistic that theyd sell more and make profits over the following year. There was a similar increase in optimism in the manufacturing sector. Im joined now by suren thiru, head of economics at the british chambers of commerce. You said the economy limped through the end of 2019. What do you mean and why should that concern us . The striking thing from this survey is the slowdown in the Services Sector. As you quite rarely mention, it isa sector. As you quite rarely mention, it is a dominant part of the uk economy. What we have seen is that parts of the sector are slowing, particularly around cells domestic and international. If you break that down a little further, we are seeing that retailers, hoteliers are struggling the most in the last quarter of 2019. What caused that . Brexit, but domestic reasons as well. Issues such as Business Rates have had an impact on that individual sector. We are also saying that Consumer Spending is fairly subdued, that is hurting retailers and hoteliers and consumer based industries. After the election theres more certainty a government with a majority to get its policies into law
why and how does that affect Business Sentiment . You may well get a modest balance in the First Quarter of this year, but the First Quarter of this year, but the key drivers weakening the uks Economic Outlook still persist. We are seeing a sluggish global economy, cash flow being hurt at home. And we are concerned about the potential cliff edge in regards to brexit are not having a compressive trade deal in place. That could impact key Economic Growth over the coming months. Although we have a bit more certainty around the brexit date and the transition deal and withdrawal, there still seems to be this persisting anxiety about whether, realistically, the uk and the eu can strike a longer term trade deal by the end of december 2020. What
effect are you saying that having . What we saw in 2019 was the impact ofa what we saw in 2019 was the impact of a cliff edge on Business Growth and confidence. Our concern is this year, the fact we had a cliff edge slasher, that could have an impact on key Economic Growth. If we dont have greater clarity around our future relationship with the eu, and get those questions answered about customs, we could see Business Growth and activity and intentions, even, we can over the coming months. Was there anything in the survey that supplies you . Was there anything in the survey that supplies you . You mentioned that supplies you . You mentioned that Business Confidence is fairly strong, relatively speaking. That seems to suggest that if the government puts the rice policies in place, and we have the upcoming budget in the next couple of months hopefully boosting Economic Growth and productivity, that could unleash activity across the uk. It is
important that we get clarity on brexit. We also need is the budget to deliver on business invention the mac investment and productivity, not just in london and the south east but across the uk. Shares on the london ftse 100 are up in the first trading session of the new decade. Mining shares led gains, with antofagasta and glencore up more than 2. 5 each. Thats in response to china taking steps to put more money into its economy. As the worlds biggest buyer of metals, that boosts prospects for sales and profits at mining firms. Other sectors doing well include banks and car makers. Investors are also optimistic about President Trump setting a date to seal a trade deal with china which could help end the 17 month long trade war between the worlds two biggest economies. The pound was weaker as the spike after decembers election gave way to anxiety over the risk of britain and the eu failing to strike a longer term trade deal by the end of 2020. Thats all the Business News. A fire at a zoo in germany on New Years Eve has killed at least 30 animals. The fire struck krefeld zoos monkey house; officials there called it an incomprehensible tragedy. Its thought flying New Years Eve lanterns might have sparked the blaze. Daniel mckerrell reports. At krefeld zoo in germany, new Year Celebrations turned to tragedy. By dawn on new years day, the zoos monkey house had burned to the ground, leaving only the metal skeleton behind. Two chimpanzees managed to survive the fire, but dozens of animals were killed, many of them highly endangered primates. Translation for us, it is especially tragic that the residents of the monkey house, birds and mammals
were victims of the fire last night. Among them were apes like orangutans from borneo, lowland gorillas from Central Africa and chimpanzees from west africa, all of them highly endangered species who will no longer be seen in ourzoo. An investigation into what started the fire is under way. And it is suspected that sky lanterns, small paper hot air balloons lit during new years celebrations had drifted into the zoo and set fire to the enclosure. Translation some witnesses saw these lanterns flying close to the zoo and very low, so we could assume they landed in the area. And in the same timeframe. We have witnesses saying that they landed on the roof as well. So unless we find another cause for the fire, it looks like these lanterns were the cause of it. While a family of gorillas in a nearby enclosure were unharmed by the flames, it has been reported that europes oldest breeding silverback gorilla, massa, was killed. At the entrance to the zoo, a small memorial to the victims of the fire has been made by locals keen to pay their respects. One message on a piece of cardboard simply asks why . A dog has been found tied up at a church in blackpool. A brindle and white Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, whom authorities have named cracker, was found at the Sacred Heart Church in blackpool. Its previous owner left a note saying that saying that their decision to abandon the dog was not taking easily. The rspca say cracker is getting lots of tlc. If you watched any westerns over the festive break, you might have seen a lone tumbleweed drifting across a deserted town. But take a look at what happens when theres more than one. A us highway had to be closed yesterday after piles of tumbleweed up to 30 feet high blocked the road and buried cars in washington state. Its now been re opened. Now its time for a look at the weather. Lots of cloud across the uk, but it is mild. Temperatures above the average for the time of year. Is mild. Temperatures above the average for the time of yeahm is mild. Temperatures above the average for the time of year. If you glimmers of sunshine, you can pick out a few bits of blue sky here. We have some rain affecting the north west. You can see here on the pressure chart, these weather systems here moving and bringing some heavy rain. With a south westerly wind bringing that milder air, as south westerly wind bringing that milderair, asi south westerly wind bringing that milder air, as i mentioned, temperatures are above the average. For the rest of the day, we are going to see the rain continued to move south eastward through much of england and wales, though it is going to stay dry. Similar conditions to what we have now. Lots of cloud, one or two holes developing, temperatures getting to 1012dc. Developing, temperatures getting to 10 12dc. Later on, heavy rain pushes back into the north west of scotland, then are possible here as well. If you clear spells and bright skies for a time in the north east of scotland. Showers and to Northern Ireland and by six oclock, that rain will push its way into wales and into Northern Areas of england. Quite gusty winds for many of us today, especially so in the north west. Gusts up to 50 55 mph. Tonight, these weather fronts will continue to move south eastward and bringing some rain. Will keep the male conditions in the south east tonight, but further north and west it will turn colder. Mild conditions. South and east, temperatures holding up at 9 10d. But it means we start the day with some clouds and outbreaks of rain. That will tend to clear away and for most of us, a dry and sunny day on friday. Showers in this column, this could be wintry over Higher Ground and may be down to lower levels in the further north. It will turn chillier as the day goes on, so temperatures is the day goes on, about 6 8dc. For the weekend, high
pressure is about for the south of the uk, dominates for many weather systems going over the top was at the edge of that area of High Pressure. On saturday that means there will be some cloud and rain across the north and north west. For most of us, it is a dry day and there will be some sunny spells. Maximum temperatures about 9 10, may be 11 celsius. Sunday, spot the difference, really. Nota be 11 celsius. Sunday, spot the difference, really. Not a great deal of change, sums dry and sunny weather for much of england and wales. Some outbreaks of rain affecting the far north and the north west of scotland. Temperatures on sunday about 8 11dc. That is all for me today. You re watching bbc newsroom live. Its midday and these are the main stories this morning. 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. The Prime Minister calls for calm. I understand the frustration, i understand the anxiety, i understand the fear, but what i also understand is the need to allow the professionals and the experts who plan and operationalise these responses to do theirjob. Rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters. The government promises change. I dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train services, particularly in places Like Northern where its been notably bad
and i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing Breast Cancer from mammograms according to a study. And coming up a five year trial shows that wild beavers can live alongside people and deliver benefits for both nature and the community. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im annita mcveigh. Residents and tourists in coastal areas of New South Wales in australia have been told by firefighters to leave within 48 hours. The Evacuation Order comes ahead of forecasts of high temperatures and strong winds on saturday, which will create ideal conditions for more bushfires. A seven day state of emergency will come into force in New South Wales tomorrow. There are trafficjams
on main roads, and queues at petrol stations. At least eight people are known to have died since monday. Our correspondent phil mercer has this report. The mass exodus from southern New South Wales is under way. The authorities are urging tourists and residents to leave while they can. It has been slow going and the evacuation has been hampered by a lack of fuel but not Everyone Wants to go. Mum wants to stay but. I dont know. Seeing just all the locals, i can see theyre all nervous and anxious. Everyone isjust on edge. Looking at the queues here, it would be a long, long trip. We actually think wed be better off staying here. Our motorhome is parked by the water. If anything does happen, we can just go down to the water. We were here on New Years Eve that was really, really bad. The fires have become political. The australian Prime Minister scott
morrison has said Climate Change was one of many factors fuelling the blazes. Hes rejected International Criticism that his government, which is an Ardent Supporter of the nations large coal industry, is not taking Global Warming seriously. Our Emissions Reductions policies will protect our environment and reduce the risks we are seeing today and, at the same time, it would ensure the viability of peoples jobs and their livelihoods all around the country. The Prime Minister has called for calm as dozens of blazes burning across the country. More hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast for south eastern australia in the days ahead. This brutal summer continues. Phil mercer, bbc news. Our correspondent, shaimaa khalil, reports from lake conjola, one of the worst affected
communities in the state of New South Wales. 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 theyd 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. Its pretty traumatic. Our correspondent phil mercer is in sydney and has the latest on the evacuation. Weve been seeing an exodus from the south coast of New South Wales for most of the day. Thousands of people are heeding the official warning to leave that part of eastern australia, so seaside communities in victoria and here in South Australia are emptying out. Not everybody will leave, as weve been hearing but the expectation is that many
people will have seen the devastation that the fires have caused in that part of eastern australia and will want to be as far away from those areas as possible and we expect strong temperatures into the 40s with strong winds from central australia. They will be warm and dry and all of those factors will conspire to elevate the fire risk. What this state of emergency does is give fire authorities in New South Wales to enforce evacuations, and have all the powers to control the fires at this time of crisis. The worst possible combination of factors in that forecast you were just mentioning, phil. How difficult is it for people to get away even if they are attempting to do so because of smoke in the air,
because of shortages of fuel we have heard about as well . Some of the major highways and southern parts of New South Wales are open with a restricted speed limit because of the volume of traffic on the road and also visibility is poor because of the smoke as well. There isnt enough fuel to go around and some people say that other road closures are making theirjourney out of that area stressful and long, so the authorities are urging people to be patient. Some people in places like victoria are being airlifted by the military or taken away by the navy, so it gives you an indication of how severe this crisis is. It is really unprecedented in australia that we have the military involved and thousands of firefighters and now we have thousands of holiday makers
and residents being forced out in what is also an unprecedented evacuation, so this crisis in australia began many, many weeks ago and all the indications are that it still has weeks, if not months to run. 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. Id been working along the highway for most of the morning where the fire had jumped over. And id been in several locations and i came to the area, there had been news of 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 havent 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 ive been photographing fires all over
the state and theyve 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 theres 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 ive been learning how to do this for quite some time now, from other photographers that are much more experienced than i am. And so im just trying to make the best fist of it that i can but its 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, its been seen around the world. And it gives an idea ofjust 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. Its incredibly windy, theres embers flying through the air. Its so smoky you can hardly see at some points. You cannot really drive. Its very dangerous to drive sometimes, so yes, its definitely, its a precarious working environment. And its very dangerous for these tourists that are trapped in these parts. As far as im aware, theres still many areas where tourists are trapped, they are not able to leave and thats because, you know, there are several trees that have fallen over the road, there are power lines that are down and its 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. Rail fares will rise by an average of nearly 3 today, despite another year of poor performance by Train Companies. Passengers will have to pay an average of 2. 7 more for train tickets. However, figures from network rail show that only 65 of trains arrived at their scheduled station on time in the 12 months to december 2019. And the independent watchdog transport focus says 53 of rail users do not feel train tickets offer value for money. The train operators say that 98p of every £1 spent on train fares goes towards running and maintaining services. A government commissioned review of the railways is due to publish its findings in the coming weeks. But labour said the increase showed the government wasnt serious about supporting Public Services
or tackling Climate Change. The secretary of state for transport grant shapps defended the price rises. Look, i think most people appreciate if were going to get the kind of railway that you and i want to see, were going to need to have investment into our railways and we wont get there by putting less money in so these rises which are capped below the retail price index are designed to kick off a year of change. And what i want to see happen is people getting a decent service, trains running on time and fairer ticketing prices which i can tell you about from today when the new pricing starts on some of the lines. Our correspondent victoria fritz is at London Bridge station. London bridge is one of the busiest stations in the country and its recently had a £1 billion face lift, and its redevelopment in places like this which is how the whole Rail Industryjustifies those rail fare increases every single year. So this year tickets are going up by 2. 7 across england and wales on average, and most people, the majority of people, over 50 of passengers dont believe that they are getting good value for money and how can you blame them after what appears for most commuters to be a year of calamity on the rail network . Let speak to sara nelson and claire walker, sara, do you think that the Rail Industry is delivering for passengers . If you ask passengers, as we do, we speak to thousands of passengers a year and we ask about their sense of value for money only half are satisfied, so a third of commuters, so i think the answer is no. Claire, one of the things they are looking at is changing the ticketing system and trailing more flexible tickets. Do you think that would help or confuse people further . I think any step for more flexible fares is a really important step forward but weve been waiting some time for this in the way that people
are working, working from home, different shift patterns, working part time has really changed and what we are seeing is a rail system unfair system that is no longer fair for those workers. So what would make it fair . What are you hearing from passengers . We know they find a fair system complex and difficult to understand. You never know if youre getting the right to get all the best value ticket and we like to see something that simple and easy to understand that offers the good value that you can get when you get these and other deals in advance, or the split ticketing. We like that to be available to everyone, notjust those in the know. What about businesses . When everyone is late coming in out of stations like this . Businesses are less satisfied with the railway than they were this time last year so they are seeing a decline in satisfaction. They are also frustrated that they are not able to get the talent and people that they need, to get in on time and move them around to meet customers and supply chains effectively and affordably. Claire walker and sara nelson, thank you. The Train Companies themselves will say that 98 of every pound spent actually goes back into the railways, and they are saying to expect a year of action when it comes to the railways and thats what the transport secretary is saying today as he launches these new trials. There will be an independent review that is coming back with its final recommendations in the first few weeks of this year, the first month of the year, so we have to wait and see whether they actually come up with Real Solutions to fix what is a pretty broken relationship between the public and this part public, part private railway system. The headlines on bbc news. 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 now. Heres gavin. The new pdc darts World Champion peter wright has told the bbc he took on the snakebite image to act as a mask to hide a shy inner person. Wright whos famed for his mohican hairstyles and snakebite emblems beat world number one Michael Van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace last night to win the title for the first time at the age of 49. Its crazy, obviously its been a dream of mine to be the World Champion and now, you know, ive finally done itand its, i didnt sleep at all last night, its settled in. It was terrible. Ive had no sleep. So its actually sunk in that i am World Champion. And im just over the moon saracens long standing chairman nigel wray has retired. The club was found to be in breach of the salary cap regulations last november and handed a 35 point deduction for this season and fined £5. 3 million. Wray said in a statement that he felt it was time to step down and just enjoy being a fan of this incredible rugby club. Wray will continue to bankroll the Club Offering what hes called the required financial support. Edward griffiths has returned as interim chief executive officer. Australia and new zealands cricketers will wear black armbands in tribute to those affected by widespread bushfires in australia when the teams meet in the third test in sydney which gets under way later tonight uk time. There will also be a minutes applause to honour the countrys firefighters. Earlier we spoke to our sydney correspondent phil mercer. Both the australian and new zealand
teams were hosted by the australian Prime MinisterScott Morrison at his official residence here in sydney a few days ago. And they said that they would wear black arm bands in acknowledgement of the bushfire crisis that is sweeping Many Australian states, cricketing authorities here also saying they will be Fundraising Efforts during the sydney test match similar to those that raised money for Breast Cancer. The charity set up by glenn mcgrath. So australian cricketing authorities well aware that this test coming at a time of great crisis for this country and we also hear that in a practical way the umpires will be allowed to suspend play if smoke from the bushfires sweeps play if smoke from the bushfires swee ps over play if smoke from the bushfires sweeps over the ground as it has done the city of sydney many, many times in recent weeks. Phil mercer there. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Gavin, thank you very much. A study, involving nearly 29,000 women, has found Artificial Intelligence software is just as accurate as doctors at spotting Breast Cancer. Its the result of work by researchers at Google Health and Imperial College london. Cancer experts say it could eventually mean faster and more accurate diagnosis. Heres our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. Reading a mammogram is highly skilled work, done by specialist doctors. Two radiologists analyse every womans x rays but now Artificial Intelligence, a Machine Learning computer designed by Google Health can do it just as well as humans. Compared to a single radiologist working alone, Artificial Intelligence was actually more accurate at detecting Breast Cancer. 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 Healths 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 havent got a cancer. Doctors will always have the final say over a diagnosis, but ai seems set to play an increasing role in cancer detection. Fergus walsh, bbc news. Well, we heard from sara hiom in that report. Shes the director of early
diagnosis cancer intelligence at Cancer Research uk and she joins us live. Thank you very much for your time today. So tell us first of all about the involvement in a bit more detail of Cancer Research uk in this study. Well, Cancer Research uk working with clinicians in england and involved in the breast Screening Programme have curated a large dataset from the breast mammogram is, thats to say the x rays from the breast Screening Programme, over many years, and it was this large sample set that was used to train the Artificial Intelligence, to train the computer in the first place, to create this Artificial Intelligence or reading breast monograms. And what were your expectations of this study and the result it might produce . Have you been surprised by the findings . Well i think everybody has been really
delighted with the findings from this research. This has been an International Team with Google Health, Imperial College, Cancer Research uk, working with colleagues across the country really to find that the system has been able to be trained over time to be as effective, at least as effective, as a single radiologist in analysing mammograms. Its been truly inspirational, actually. Does it mean, in practice, that radiologists might eventually be replaced by Artificial Intelligence . Not replaced. I think its very important to say there will always be the need and the place for our trained expert radiologists in the Health System and in the breast Screening Programme in this case. But what we do see now is the potential for Artificial Intelligence to be able to perhaps ta ke intelligence to be able to perhaps take on more of the routine
radiological work that radiologists currently do, and also perhaps to ta ke currently do, and also perhaps to take the place of the second radiologist that interprets the x rays that is used in the current breast Screening Programme. So, to complement and supplement perhaps, and then come in terms of rolling this out for wider use around the uk, when might that happen . Well, lets not forget this is research and its been done in a research setting, so we would absolutely need to be doing prospective clinical trials, so thats to say testing the system in an ongoing way with women coming through the breast Screening Programme now, and that women who are aged between 50 70 invited to breast screening every three years, and to be able to test this ai system alongside radiologists at the moment in the system to see whether these excellent results can be maintained. Only after that can we be sure that it would be safe for
roll out at a later stage in the nhs. 0k, roll out at a later stage in the nhs. Ok, really interesting to talk to on that story today. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Talks aimed at breaking almost three years of political deadlock in Northern Ireland have resumed. Stormonts devolved government has been inactive since january 2017, when the power sharing agreement between unionist and nationalist parties broke down. They have until 13th january to reach an agreement or a new Assembly Election could be called. Three British Airways cabin crew who were killed in a New Years Eve road crash near Heathrow Airport have been named. The victims, two men and a woman, were 25 year old joe finnis, 23 year old dominic fell and 20 year old rachel clark. A 25 year old woman is also in a serious condition in hospital. A British Airways spokesperson said their thoughts are with their families and friends. The time is now at 1225. A trial in devon has shown that the reintroduction of beavers to british streams and rivers can bring benefits for the environment including potentially protecting against flooding. The animals were hunted to extinction in the uk around 400 years ago. But conservationists have declared a a five year trial on the river otter a success, saying the beavers have made a positive impact in a series of areas, including their dams slowing the flow of water after heavy rain. We can now speak to professor richard brazierfrom the university of exeter who led the research. Thank you very much forjoining us today, to talk about this, so tell us more today, to talk about this, so tell us more about the benefits that you have found over the course of this five year study. Well, theres a whole range of benefits. Certainly we are seeing flood reduction downstrea m we are seeing flood reduction downstream where beaver dams are built, we are seeing Water Quality improvements downstream as they
ca ptu re improvements downstream as they capture sediments and nutrients washing off farmland and a whole host of biodiversity benefits, more wildlife coming into these landscapes, particularly where the larger beaver ponds have been created upstream of these beaver dams. The premise for this five year trial was to try to show that they can live alongside people and deliver benefits for nature and communities, so are they are still people who are not convinced about the merits of having them there or have they been had their minds changed . I think the vast majority of people, as they learn more about these animals, youve got to remember having not had them in our landscape for hundreds of years, we really dont know very much about what they do, but as more people have learned about what these animals can do and more people are realised actually its very straightforward to coexist with them, its very easy to manage any negative effects that might occur, the vast majority of people, for
example all around the river otter catchment, are very positive about the reintroduction. One of those negative impacts you mentioned, what are they . Richard. A landowner who owns the flood plain, it goes underwater during times of heavy flow. So i suppose one of the main negatives might be that flood plains become reconnected or refloated and if you are trying to farm the land, its much harder to do so. How many animals are there now from the population that you began with five yea rs population that you began with five years ago . Its difficult to assess because they are nocturnal creatures. They come out at night and you never see them all in one place at one time, but we are probably looking at a population of
3040 probably looking at a population of 30 40 beaver is living in the river otter catchment. You have to remember its 250 square kilometres, so the population is still fairly low and widespread across the catchment, starting from a population of just catchment, starting from a population ofjust a couple of animals back in 2007. Just finally, are there any plans to roll out similar trials elsewhere or introduce beavers back into english rivers elsewhere . Yes, a number of groups, a number of landowners and organisations, partnerships, have got together, having seen the positive benefits we have seen on the river otter and have proposed licensed reintroduction is of beavers elsewhere, so i strongly suspect, as the years roll by, 3 5 yea rs, suspect, as the years roll by, 3 5 yea rs , we suspect, as the years roll by, 3 5 years, we will see more projects delivering more of these positive benefits we have seen on the river otter trial. Ok, thank you very
much. Now its time for a look at the weather. Hello, lucy. It was a beautiful start to the day for some of us with some gorgeous sunrise photo sent in. A mild if blustery day with rain pushing into the north and west. The first band working its way south east this afternoon with some brighter, drier spells behind it and then the next band works into the north and west with heavy hail and hailand north and west with heavy hail and hail and thunder and even snow mixed in and, ahead of it, looking mostly dry, perhaps drizzle with plenty of cloud and a blustery day across the board with temperatures getting up toa board with temperatures getting up to a maximum of around 12 celsius. Overnight tonight, we see the cloud and rain gradually shifting south east and it will drag in some cooler air behind it. Windy for shetland but elsewhere, the wind tending to ease and a marked difference in temperatures as we hold on to the cloud, ill start tomorrow, patchy outbreaks of rain,
and then brightening up behind it with a scattering of showers pushing into the north and west. Remaining windy in shetland but snow to lower levels under notably cooler feel two things. Hello this is bbc newsroom live. The 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. The Prime Minister calls for calm. I understand the frustration, i understand the anxiety, i understand the fear, but what i also understand is the need to allow the professionals and the experts who plan and operationalise these responses to do theirjob. Rail fares rise by an average of almost 3 today, despite another year of cancellations and delays for many commuters the government promises change. I dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train services, particularly in places Like Northern where its been notably bad and i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Artificial intelligence is better than doctors in diagnosing Breast Cancer from mammograms according to a study. The psychologist behind the uks main Deradicalisation Programme for terror offenders says it can never be certain that attackers have been cured. Christopher dean says that particpants on his scheme can often regress because of their complex identities. One of his former attendees was usman khan, who killed two people near London Bridge in november. Earlier our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani, gave us more details. The scheme is designed to try and get inside the heads of terrorism offenders in prison, and to clarify khan was one of the people inside prison who went through the scheme called the healthy identity intervention. Hes not somebody who Christopher Dean necessarily dealt with himself, there is client confidentiality around this so we dont know the ins and outs of what happened to khan himself but in essence, what happened with the scheme, it was devised in 2010 by Christopher Dean and his colleagues inside the
ministry ofjustice as a means of trying to get a terrorism offenders to sit down and consider their identity as a whole. Think about a burglar, they could have committed a crime because of some particular needs such as poverty or desperation from drug abuse. The terrorism offender, youre often talking about someone who is following an ideological cause. So the idea behind this scheme is effectively to get them to think about why they follow that cause, what is it that made them identify with the Extremist Group and create this avenue through which they can perhaps start to disengage, to use the jargon, with an Extremist Group, be it the Islamic State group or a far right group or even an Animal Rights extremist small group as well. What Christopher Dean told me in this interview which you can hear on bbc sounds is that talk of a cure is wrong. You cant necessarily cure people, you have people who move backwards and forwards, up and down, at a level of following,
adherence to a cause. So sometimes you can make progress but because of the hold extremism has on them, perhaps because theyd been ina group for many years, its difficult to break the cycle and break the chains that bind them to the Extremist Group theyve been following which led to the crimes. Someone may appear to have changed their thought processes, their allegiances, if you like. But then, that can change again. Absolutely. In his words you can go two rungs up the ladder, two runs down, its difficult to know if someone has changed and people think about these schemes which are in prisons around the world, the uk is one of the most advanced, as a form of deprogramming and he says that language is wrong because you simply cantjust basically wipe somebodys memories and beliefs and upload a new identity. What you have to do is create a space for them to work out slowly for themselves
where their best interests lie. Christopher dean says as part of the management of offenders outside prison and the people who are monitoring them outside prison, they should understand what work has been done insidejails but is the system asjoined up is that . I think this is going to be an absolutely critical issue when we get to the inquests into the fishmongers hall attack and into how usman khan was able to kill two people, saskia jones and jack merritt because hed gone through the hii scheme in prison before his release in 2018, he then went into another scheme on the outside which we understand is very similar, managing him in the community. Were their warning signs . There. Were the people managing him on the outside fully aware of what progress not had been made so this is a really complex question, particularly when you think about how many people have
left prison with a terrorism offence since 2012, about 250 people, about 50 or 60 of them still on licence, still being monitored and controlled and i think this is going to become a critical issue when the inquests are finally opened into these two horrible murders. Now for the Business News. That railfare rise means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 for annual passes. Independent watchdog transport focus says most rail users dont feel ticket prices offer value for money. The Group Representing the Railway Network and train operators says therell 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. Thats according to an Aviation Industry study from the netherlands. Last year it recorded 257 deaths from 8 fatal crashes involving large commerical planes thats down on the year before, despite a sharp increase in the amount of air travel. Happy new year and you may be trying to start 2020 on a more virtuous note. Perhaps doing dry january and giving up alcohol for the month or maybe giving up meat and dairy to go vegan. Thousands of people in the uk are thought to be attempting veganuary, as its known, according to the Campaign Group behind the idea. And businesses are getting ready to cash in on it. Greggs is launching a vegan steak bake, after the success of its veggie sausage roll. Costa will sell a vegan all Day Breakfast panini. And subway offers a meatless meatball marinara. Meanwhile, kfc, known for its chicken menu, is selling a chicken free quorn burger. But will it all make any difference . And, like many resolutions, will people even see it through to the end of the month . Edward bergen, globalfood and drink analyst, joins us. What do you think the likelihood is of this making any difference . M what do you think the likelihood is of this making any difference . It is actually not really about that beacon group at all, they still only make up about one or 2 of the population vegan. The numbers at the really strong, in 2019 we had more than half, 51 of uk consumers saying they are either cutting out
meat altogether, as they are actively reducing. That is where the cells are coming from, consumers cutting out a few meals a week to have a few more of these meat substitutes or vegetable options in their diet. In terms of how long it lasts, though, a lot of people set out with his ambitions injanuary, some will see through to the end of the month, some will stick with it for longer. But a lot of these, like with any resolution, they will fall by the wayside before we have even got the double digits ofjanuary, one to . Our data points to the fact that this vegan group is still very small. It would be surprising if they decided to cut it out altogether. What they are doing in january as they are going to be looking to others fabulous range as they are seeing in supermarkets now, and very easy to access exciting aisles and looking at those new ranges and going, you know what, the speaking bid that ten years ago didnt taste very good, now has lots
and lots of flavour and has really high protein content to replace that meat content. It is quite an exciting market. The brands are still going to succeed, as consumers will have if you less of those meat meals and deep or more of those plant based begin meals vegan meals. Some observers might say that what retailers have done here is found very smart way to launch new products any month when traditionally there is no big retail spike because christmas is out of the way, you still have a few months to go before easter and all the big baits on the calendar. Is itjust a marketing ploy . It has always been the new years resolution in january, so we know that as we get closer to somewhere, consumers are to spend a bit more money and enjoy the products available. Without a doubt, january it is a way to cash
infor doubt, january it is a way to cash in for the supermarkets, but they are cashing in on a trend that has not just appeared in are cashing in on a trend that has notjust appeared in the last 12 months, it has grown and grown over time. We have some great data. Back in 2015, only 8 of uk that lunches had a vegan claim. By the end of 2019 it was 23 of food lunches had a vegan claim. It is a long growing consisting claim. Consumers want it. Yes, they are cashing in, but it is not is one of those fads. Shares on the london ftse100 are up in the first trading session of the new decade. Mining shares led gains, with antofagasta and glencore up more than 2. 5 each. Thats in response to china taking steps to put more money into its economy. As the worlds biggest buyer of metals, that boosts prospects for sales and profits at mining firms. Other sectors doing well include banks and carmakers. Investors are also optimistic about President Trump setting a date to seal a trade deal with china which could help end the 17 month long trade war between the worlds two biggest economies. The pound was weaker as the spike after decembers election gave way to anxiety over the risk of britain and the eu failing to strike a longer term trade deal by the end of 2020. Thats all the Business News. Lets return to our main story this hour. Thousands of people are fleeing south eastern australia right now amid more forecasts of the weather conditions that led to wildfires which have killed 18 people in the last few weeks and destroyed more than a thousand homes. The australia Prime MinisterScott Morrison has been visiting
the affected area of cobargo in New South Wales, where two people were killed on New Years Eve, and was met with anger. I know people are feeling very raw. Youve been welcomed in many parts but youve been not so welcome here at the showground. Some people feel youve let them down. Well, im not surprised people are feeling very raw at the moment and thats why i came today, to be here, to see for myself, to offer what comfort i could but you cant always in every circumstance, everybody understands that. I appreciate the welcome ive received, jenny and i, but, at the same time, i understand the very strong feelings people have. Theyve lost everything. James findlays parents lost theirfamily home in batemans bay. Speaking to the bbc earlier, he described how they found out. My parents are in new zealand on holiday at the moment and they found out by their neighbour, their neighbour gave them a call
to find out if they were ok and mum answered the phone and said yes, we are fine, why . Shes like because, youve lost everything. And my mum said, you arejoking. Shes like, no, i can see your house now and its up in flames, everything is gone. It is my family home, my dad built it, nearly 30 years ago. When we moved to batemans bay, my parents wanted to change and they decided to build their dream home. And thats just what it was, it was ourfamily home, i grew up there. Before i moved to melbourne when i finished high school, my parents still live there, my brother lives in the town with his wife. And, yeah, now its gone and the only thing they have with them are the clothes in their little suitcases that they have for their ten day trip. They are absolutely devastated, you know. All ourfamily memories are in there, all our photos, our old videos from home videos. Family possessions, things that have been passed on from generations, everything isjust gone. And itsjust, itsjust devastating and every time my parents think about Something Else that they have lost, they burst into tears. Its just heartbreaking. Obviously, i am crushed but its also, i feel so helpless, theres nothing you can do. The house has burned, but theres nothing anyone can say to make things better, we just kind of have to focus on what will happen next, you know . And just be there for each other, i guess, because thats all you can do. My brother and his wife live in town so they will stay with my brother and his wife for a while. Itjust so happened my parents were planning on building
a new house so i guess theyll just try and fast track that but 380 homes have been lost on the south coast of New South Wales, as it is. Things might take a while to going again. Its not going to happen overnight. So i guess as soon as they come back they can stay with my brother and his wife but, thats as far as we can kind of look into the future at the moment. And you know, thats if my brothers house is still standing, they are predicting catastrophic conditions on saturday and my brother is really worried his house might be next. You just dont know. They are telling everyone to leave because its not going to be safe to be in. Its just. Its heartbreaking. The headlines on bbc news. 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. From spring this year, all adults in england will be considered as potential organ donors unless they opt out. The change could help many of those who are in desperate need of a transplant. Tim muffets been to meet one family affected. Christmas day in great ormond street hospital. Ethans first christmas at the end of a very tough year. Ethan needs a heart. Its his only way to survive. With ethans condition, that means the left side of the heart isnt 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 this after ethans dad, richard, underwent a heart transplant a year ago. You are having open heart surgery, so you dont know if you are going to make it through it. Thats kind of all you think about before, is this the last time im going to see everybody . 50 of you are so grateful and so happy that richards 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 couldnt go through what i am going through if richard wasnt 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. Its an amazing new piece
of legislation thats coming in. Without that, the amount of lives this will save, this law will save, having been implemented. However, it doesnt include children. Obviously, that age range is. Families dont really talk about it. They havent thought about it. So it makes it harder for the children to get a heart. To be honest, i dont 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 dont 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 it while hes here and just hope that call comes and it happens. If i spent more time being upset about the things that i cant control, i will miss the time i have with ethan now and i dont want to do that. Because i dont 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. Nearly a quarter of hospital admissions for eating disorders last year were for patients aged 18 or under, according to new nhs data. The total number of admissions has risen by more than a third across all age groups over the last two years. Experts have described the figures as worrying and urged the government to invest in early intervention. Earlier i spoke to dr agnes ayton, chair of the faculty of eating disorders at the Royal College of psychiatrists who began by explaining the significance of the figures. What we have been seeing is a troubling number of admissions for severe eating disorders
and what is important to understand about patients who require hospital admissions, they are usually very severely ill, if not life threatening. So this is a really serious concern. This is the worst end of the scale. And therefore the number of people with eating disorders is actually much higher . Yes, absolutely, thats the case. We havent got good data in the uk about the number of people suffering from eating disorders. This was actually highlighted in a recent public constitutional Committee Report that that needs to happen. The data on hospital admissions highlight the severity of the situation. Unfortunately, we havent had any investment into the number of beds over the last ten years, so that means that people who are severely ill have to wait
for admission which can be potentially quite dangerous. I will come back to that in just a moment, but if i can take a step back early in the process, if you like, if someone goes to a gp with an eating disorder, how much training do gps actually get in recognising the signs, the symptoms . Well, we have done a National Survey and on this. What we have found is the majority of doctors get less than two hours of training in 10 16 years of medical training. Less than two hours of training . Yes, and one third of doctors dont get any training at all. We are trying to work with the gmc to improve the situation but its been a very slow process. What are the signs they should be looking out for . Well, there could be any number of warning signs including changes in weight, not necessarily just weight loss,
but also weight gain. Also, a number of physical symptoms like fainting for women, stopping the menstrual periods, electrolyte disturbances, or even suicide attempts, so a range of symptoms which should trigger the possibility that there may be an underlying eating disorder. So very little training for gps in terms of spotting the signs and symptoms, and then when it comes to specialist psychiatric posts, people who are specially trained to deal with eating disorders, a lot of those are unfilled as well, you say . Yes, the Royal College of psychiatrists has done a survey which was published in december and they found that 15 of the specialists of posts are unfilled. Its a major concern and i think there are multiple reasons for that. We need to strengthen the training pathway and we also need to make sure that people who work in eating Disorder Services actually have manageable caseloads. Because if there is too much pressure, its very difficult to recruit staff. Without all of that, without recruiting more specialists, without better training for gps and more beds dedicated for treating patients with these disorders, are the governments plans to improve Services Going to work . Well, we have seen an investment into eating Disorder Services over the last few years, and that has improved access to treatment, so young people under the age of 18
can get treatment within a four week period of time but we dont have anything like that for adults. The majority of the patients are adults, as shown by the nhs digital data, so we do need the same standards across the age range. Nhs england has published guidance for the next ten years. But their advice is to look at funding arrangements and of course that would mean that there is no guarantee of service is being improved for adults. A dog has been found abandoned in a church in blackpool with a note from its former owner saying, im so sorry for leaving the animal. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, who has now been named cracker,
was found at the Sacred Heart Church in blackpool. The handwritten note left said life has taken a really bad turn for me and i couldnt imagine him being outside with me cold and hungry. My dog means the world to me and i dont know what else to do. The rspca said it wanted to trace the owner of cracker, to see what they could do to help them. Now its time for a look at the weather with lucy. A glorious start to the day for some of us with this beautiful sunrise photo sent in by our weather watchers. It is looking like a mild day for the time of year, but it is also windy with rain for some. That rain moving on into vans, gradually working its way south and east. Behind it we are going to drag on some noticeably fresher air. You can see we are still in this yellow and orange colour, that is the milder air, but waiting in the wings, that blue colour is going to spread south east as we go through today and tonight. You can see that initial band of rain pushes its way into southern scotland, parts of north west england and wales. He breathed driver interlude behind it,
perhaps brightness and then expanded rain notfar perhaps brightness and then expanded rain not far off. They can be some hail, thunder and even snow mixed in with that. I had of the rain, lots of cloud around, could be thick enough for the odd spot of drizzle but will be mostly dry and a blustery day across the board. The wind is strongest in northern and western areas, expose spots to see gusts around 50 60 mph. The temperature is mild for the time of the year, a maximum of around 1112dc. As the year, a maximum of around 11 12dc. As we go through this evening and overnight, the wind will tend to ease, those weather fronts will sink further south and east. Staying fairly blustery though across shetland, we could see one or two showers falling snow at lower levels and a marked difference in temperatures. Where we have the clear skies, the temperatures dipping away. A noticeably male star in the south, we will see some cloud early on i will gradually brighten not pursue move into the late afternoon. A scattering of showers pushing in on a north westerly breeze. Again, we will hold onto some pretty strong wind gust across shetland, gusts of up to 60 70 miles
an hour hearing, and any showers here could fall as snow, but in noticeably cooler feel two things tomorrow. As we move into the making, High Pressure pushes on, so we are looking at a fair amount of dry weather to come, and there will be some brightness. Always a little bit more on the way of cloud further north on saturday, and the potential to see some outbreaks of rain for northern parts of scotland. The temperatures are about 9 10dc. The maximum. And again, fairly busy. The win will tend to pick up on the north and west is moving to sunday, cloudy skies from Northern Ireland and scotland again, with a greater chance of seeing some rain. The best of the brightness across england and wales, the temperature a maximum of 10 celsius. Goodbye. A state of emergency declared as australias bush fires rage and the death toll rises. There are fears a heatwave forecast for this weekend could make the fires even worse. Australias military are helping a Mass Evacuation as thousands of people flee from towns and villages. We cannot guarantee your safety. If you dont have the means to stay and possibly defend your home, and your life, we strongly advise you to leave now. Australias Prime MinisterScott 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 doesnt have a lot of money, but we have hearts of gold, mr Prime Minister. Well have the latest from our sydney correspondent