:00:00. > :00:00.A huge fire engulfs a luxury hotel in central Dubai -
:00:07. > :00:11.hours before New Year celebrations are due to start.
:00:12. > :00:14.The building - more than 60 storeys high -
:00:15. > :00:16.is now a burning inferno - there's no news so far
:00:17. > :00:23.The clean up-operation starts across the UK after the widespread
:00:24. > :00:29.Police in Brussels arrest six people in connection with an alleged terror
:00:30. > :00:37.Labour have suspended the MP Simon Danczuk over claims he sent
:00:38. > :00:42.explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl.
:00:43. > :00:48.And a new dame at the House of Windsor - the EastEnders
:00:49. > :00:51.and Carry On star tops the celebrity list of this year's New Year's
:00:52. > :01:16.A huge fire has tonight broken out in a building in central Dubai -
:01:17. > :01:19.close to the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa.
:01:20. > :01:22.It erupted as Dubai prepared to hold a major New Year's Eve
:01:23. > :01:26.Crowds had been gathering in the area.
:01:27. > :01:32.We can talk now to our correspondent Bridget Kendall.
:01:33. > :01:40.This has just happened. What can you tell us? It has, and details are
:01:41. > :01:45.just coming in, so we don't know much, but it is very dramatic.
:01:46. > :01:48.Onlookers had gathered for a dramatic fireworks display to
:01:49. > :01:53.celebrate New Year's Eve and instead what they were greeted with was a
:01:54. > :02:00.fire which broke out in the Address hotel, in the heart of Dubai in the
:02:01. > :02:04.united Arab Emirates, right across from the Burj Khalifa tower, the
:02:05. > :02:10.world's tallest building, which was to be part of the display. Nobody
:02:11. > :02:14.knows how it started. Some have thought that, because it goes up 20
:02:15. > :02:22.stories, that it began on the 20th floor. This hotel is 63 stories
:02:23. > :02:28.high. Dubai is full of high skyscrapers. It was built in 2008,
:02:29. > :02:32.eight years ago, so it is relatively modern. It is unclear whether this
:02:33. > :02:37.is an accident. Everyone has been on tenterhooks this New Year's Eve,
:02:38. > :02:42.worried, particularly in Europe, Brussels, about a possible attack.
:02:43. > :02:45.Other cities around the world, too, where they fear that the crowds who
:02:46. > :02:50.had gathered for New Year's Eve, that this could be a possibility
:02:51. > :02:54.that would be used by those who want to disrupt the festivities with some
:02:55. > :02:58.kind of attack. It is by no means clear that this is what has
:02:59. > :03:03.happened. It could very well be an accident but, at least, it is very
:03:04. > :03:08.serious. Think about the fact that Dubai is a very popular holiday
:03:09. > :03:13.destination for New Year's Eve, the hotels will be very full. If it is
:03:14. > :03:14.such a large fire, even an accident, there must be worries about people
:03:15. > :03:17.inside the hotel. Here, clean-up operations
:03:18. > :03:19.are underway across the UK after the flooding
:03:20. > :03:20.caused by Storm Frank. Although drier conditions
:03:21. > :03:22.are forecast for this evening, 17 flood warnings remain in place,
:03:23. > :03:26.meaning that flooding is expected. North-east Scotland -
:03:27. > :03:29.hard hit by yesterday's storm - faces more heavy
:03:30. > :03:32.rain at the weekend. There's also been travel disruption
:03:33. > :03:35.- with the West Coast mainline between Carlisle and Glasgow closed
:03:36. > :03:39.because of a damaged viaduct. After being battered by rain
:03:40. > :03:45.and gales, Scotland has been taking there is widespread
:03:46. > :03:56.destruction. Prince Charles and the Duchess
:03:57. > :03:58.of Cornwall came to talk This was the A93 on Deeside,
:03:59. > :04:02.swallowed by the water, leaving a huge repair
:04:03. > :04:06.bill and weeks of work. Further south in Newton Stewart,
:04:07. > :04:13.it was a similar picture. Debbie Scott was just one
:04:14. > :04:15.of many people trying to salvage their
:04:16. > :04:18.waterlogged belongings. This was one of the
:04:19. > :04:46.worst affected towns. Scotland's First Minister came
:04:47. > :04:48.here to see for herself. I've been talking to some residents
:04:49. > :04:53.and local businesses and this is probably the worst
:04:54. > :04:59.flooding episode that Newton Stewart and much of this region has
:05:00. > :05:02.experienced for some people Northern England missed
:05:03. > :05:05.the worst of the weather yesterday, but you
:05:06. > :05:07.wouldn't think so. In Croston in Lancashire,
:05:08. > :05:10.the RAF was back in action, lowering sandbags to
:05:11. > :05:13.shore up flood defences. We are trying to bring
:05:14. > :05:18.back normality to these people's lives
:05:19. > :05:21.and that's the main effort, to support the local agencies,
:05:22. > :05:23.the Environment Agency in particular, and
:05:24. > :05:25.help people get back York today, the Labour
:05:26. > :05:31.leader Jeremy Corbyn came The only people who have been
:05:32. > :05:38.here helping me is Cleveland Fire And the Muslims from
:05:39. > :05:45.Bradford and London. And those left angry
:05:46. > :05:47.because they feel they didn't Do you think it makes
:05:48. > :05:51.a difference for high profile We are getting on now
:05:52. > :05:57.and on cleaning mission now. But definitely, it makes a big
:05:58. > :05:59.difference for people like this But after the high-profile have
:06:00. > :06:06.gone, this carries on, and the worry for people
:06:07. > :06:08.living in York and other cities affected by flooding
:06:09. > :06:11.over the last month is that this will happen again if
:06:12. > :06:15.the heavy rains come. The hope is that the weather
:06:16. > :06:18.will hold for the next few days at least, to allow the northern
:06:19. > :06:21.flood plains to drain There's tightened security
:06:22. > :06:31.across Europe as hundreds of millions of people prepare
:06:32. > :06:33.to welcome in the New Year. In Brussels, the official
:06:34. > :06:36.festivities were cancelled because the police said
:06:37. > :06:38.they'd disrupted a plot The traditional fireworks in Paris
:06:39. > :06:42.have also been called off - and across France more
:06:43. > :07:00.than 100,000 police It should be the busiest night of
:07:01. > :07:04.the year but tonight Brussels will be one of the quietest capitals in
:07:05. > :07:09.Europe. Plans for the New Year's Eve party cancelled following a decision
:07:10. > :07:12.by nervous authorities. This is the main stage where the fireworks
:07:13. > :07:17.display and New Year's Eve celebrations were due to take place,
:07:18. > :07:21.now being deconstructed. Security officials have said they believe
:07:22. > :07:24.this is the area terrorists were planning to target and the Belgian
:07:25. > :07:30.Prime Minister has said that having tens of thousands of people here was
:07:31. > :07:34.too great a risk. But the mood among many here is defiance. Terrorism is
:07:35. > :07:39.one of those things. If they stop you doing what you want to do, they
:07:40. > :07:43.have one. So you carry on, but you are aware of the risk but make sure
:07:44. > :07:50.you're comfortable with what you are doing. I don't care. For me, it is a
:07:51. > :07:56.risk. I will be here for New Year. I will be happy, anyway. The
:07:57. > :08:01.intelligence follows police raids earlier this week. Two men have been
:08:02. > :08:04.charged in connection with planning attacks and another six detained
:08:05. > :08:07.today. The mayor of Brussels said the decision to cancel was based on
:08:08. > :08:13.sound information. TRANSLATION: There is a threat. We
:08:14. > :08:18.are on alert level three. There is a risk with the fireworks in the
:08:19. > :08:22.centre. I will not take a risk with the public. In Paris, the
:08:23. > :08:28.celebrations have been scaled down. In place of the usual fireworks,
:08:29. > :08:33.there will be a video display at the Champs-Elysees instead. Extensive
:08:34. > :08:37.security measures will be enforced in Berlin, where people will attempt
:08:38. > :08:43.to scream thousands as they gather at the Brandenburg gate. The display
:08:44. > :08:47.in London will go ahead, with 3000 officers in duty, and people
:08:48. > :08:50.attending Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations have been assured the
:08:51. > :08:57.necessary celebrations -- preparations are in place. For
:08:58. > :09:00.people here in Brussels, tonight's cancellation is another sign that
:09:01. > :09:03.extreme security measures are becoming the new normal.
:09:04. > :09:07.Daniel Boettcher is in Central London for us now.
:09:08. > :09:16.There is a heightened police presence on the streets of the
:09:17. > :09:21.capital, too. That is right. We are told that is as a precaution rather
:09:22. > :09:25.than any specific intelligence. As part of that policing, we have seen
:09:26. > :09:29.sniffer dogs and handlers moving down the road across from me.
:09:30. > :09:34.Preparations have been taking place all day. They have been fixing
:09:35. > :09:39.fireworks on the London eye. Behind me, there are three barges on the
:09:40. > :09:43.river with 30 tonnes of equipment, including 12,000 fireworks. At the
:09:44. > :09:49.moment, there are no spectators because, for the second year, this
:09:50. > :09:52.is a ticket only event. 110,000 tickets have been sold. Everybody
:09:53. > :09:56.coming will have to go through a security point. They will have
:09:57. > :10:02.tickets and bags checked before they are allowed in. The first gates will
:10:03. > :10:05.open in about 20 minutes but police have advised anybody without a
:10:06. > :10:07.ticket not to come because they will not be allowed in.
:10:08. > :10:10.There's been widespread criticism of a decision to shelve an inquiry
:10:11. > :10:12.by the Financial Conduct Authority into the culture and behaviour
:10:13. > :10:16.Labour said it was a blow to customers and taxpayers,
:10:17. > :10:18.while a senior Conservative MP described the move
:10:19. > :10:23.Here's our economics correspondent, Andy Verity.
:10:24. > :10:25.Rigging interest rates, fiddling foreign exchange markets,
:10:26. > :10:27.mis-selling payment protection insurance, mistreating
:10:28. > :10:30.small-business customers - just some of the practices banks
:10:31. > :10:34.have been fined tens of billions of pounds for,
:10:35. > :10:36.that led the Financial Conduct Authority to ask
:10:37. > :10:38.if there was something deeply wrong with the culture
:10:39. > :10:45.Now it's dropped its enquiry, some customers are asking why.
:10:46. > :10:48.Clive May is among many business customers who say they've been
:10:49. > :10:52.Over 30 years he built a construction business turning over
:10:53. > :10:58.He says RBS mis-sold him a government backed loan
:10:59. > :11:01.on the basis it would safeguard jobs through a slow period,
:11:02. > :11:04.but then his facilities were pulled at short notice
:11:05. > :11:09.The report that came out today almost felt like a smack
:11:10. > :11:13.They are not doing what they are saying they are doing.
:11:14. > :11:16.You present evidence to the FCA and it's almost like they're trying
:11:17. > :11:19.to conceal it for the benefit of the bank, as opposed
:11:20. > :11:24.RBS has rejected Mr May's accusations, as it has those
:11:25. > :11:27.of hundreds of other small-business customers who say
:11:28. > :11:32.The banks' skyscrapers loom over the regulator's building
:11:33. > :11:37.They say they've brought in major reforms to make their staff much
:11:38. > :11:40.more accountable in recent years and they say they are crucial
:11:41. > :11:45.to the economy, attracting billions of pounds of investment every year.
:11:46. > :11:48.The Financial Conduct Authority's critics say it's too close
:11:49. > :11:51.to the banks, with a revolving door when regulators become bankers
:11:52. > :11:55.The new chairman of RBS, Howard Davies, used
:11:56. > :12:00.The man who ran it during the crisis, Hector Sants,
:12:01. > :12:05.They are not the only gamekeepers who have turned poacher.
:12:06. > :12:09.The Treasury insists the FCA acts independently and that ministers
:12:10. > :12:12.played no part in the regulators' decision to drop the review
:12:13. > :12:16.We were expecting an open and transparent review
:12:17. > :12:18.and publication at the end of the review.
:12:19. > :12:22.This looks as though it's closing down.
:12:23. > :12:26.It means we won't get the review that we wanted and it won't be open
:12:27. > :12:29.and transparent and to be frank it's part of a trend now of really almost
:12:30. > :12:32.turning us back to the days before the economic crash in 2007.
:12:33. > :12:35.I think most people now are concerned that the banks
:12:36. > :12:41.The government says it is changing the culture of banking,
:12:42. > :12:42.bringing in a tough regime for bankers' pay
:12:43. > :12:48.But while one junior banker has been convicted of fraud and several more
:12:49. > :12:56.await trial, not a single senior banker has been prosecuted.
:12:57. > :12:59.Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been suspended from the party
:13:00. > :13:02.after newspaper allegations about his private life.
:13:03. > :13:06.The Sun alleged he exchanged explicit text messages
:13:07. > :13:10.The Rochdale MP has apologised unreservedly
:13:11. > :13:15.With me now is our political correspondent Ross Hawkins.
:13:16. > :13:22.What does this now mean for Simon Danczuk's political career?
:13:23. > :13:29.He as an MP whose political career was made in part by campaigning on
:13:30. > :13:34.the issue of child sexual abuse. I'm told by friends that he is ashamed
:13:35. > :13:38.and embarrassed. Labour promised an independent investigation. It has to
:13:39. > :13:43.be said, he is a man without many friends in Jeremy Corbyn's inner
:13:44. > :13:47.circle. He has a regular newspaper column in which he finds ever more
:13:48. > :13:52.colourful ways to criticise Mr Corbyn. If he is expelled from the
:13:53. > :13:55.party, his political career in reality is probably over. He
:13:56. > :14:00.wouldn't be able to stand as a Labour candidate again. Even those
:14:01. > :14:04.who sympathise with his politics and the position he is in today agreed
:14:05. > :14:06.that he is profoundly politically vulnerable now.
:14:07. > :14:09.A 71-year-old man from Norfolk has been arrested on suspicion
:14:10. > :14:13.The BBC understands the man arrested is the farmer Tony Martin,
:14:14. > :14:17.who was jailed for shooting dead a teenage burglar in 1999.
:14:18. > :14:19.Officers arrested the man this morning in the Wisbech area
:14:20. > :14:22.of Cambridgeshire, and a police search of the property just over
:14:23. > :14:31.All BBC websites were unavailable this morning -
:14:32. > :14:34.and the iPlayer catch-up service and iPlayer radio app were also
:14:35. > :14:39.Visitors to the site were faced with an error message
:14:40. > :14:44.It's now thought that this was the result of a cyber attack.
:14:45. > :14:51.Nearly 1200 people have been recognised in the Queen's New Year
:14:52. > :14:55.They include the actors Barbara Windsor and Idris Elba,
:14:56. > :14:58.the former jockey AP McCoy, and the cyclist Chris Froome.
:14:59. > :15:04.Our entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba takes a closer look.
:15:05. > :15:12.She's long been a national treasure - now she's a dame.
:15:13. > :15:28.I'LL do my best to be a very good dame, and I don't mean in pantomime!
:15:29. > :15:32.There is a knighthood for 20 time champion jockey AP McCoy.
:15:33. > :15:40.I never thought that anything like that would ever be
:15:41. > :15:46.A knighthood, too, for Lynton Crosby, the election
:15:47. > :15:49.strategist credited with masterminding the Conservatives'
:15:50. > :15:51.election victory, an honour being criticised by Opposition MPs.
:15:52. > :15:55.Businesswoman Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of Ann Summers,
:15:56. > :15:57.said she didn't know whether to laugh, cry or scream
:15:58. > :16:06.when she found that she was going to be made a CBE.
:16:07. > :16:09.Luther star Idris Elba becomes an OBE.
:16:10. > :16:15.Football legend Denis Law is made a CBE.
:16:16. > :16:19.While Fara Williams, the most capped of England's
:16:20. > :16:22.Lionesses, says she can't believe she's been honoured.
:16:23. > :16:25.To now be awarded an MBE from the Queen is something
:16:26. > :16:30.I certainly didn't ever think about, even up to now, that I'd ever
:16:31. > :16:35.I think it shows how far the women's game has come.
:16:36. > :16:37.As in previous years, the majority of awards have gone
:16:38. > :16:41.to people not in the public eye, many of whom never expected to be
:16:42. > :16:47.People like James Banks, a bagpiper for 50 years.
:16:48. > :16:51.It's nice to see that the instrument, the music
:16:52. > :16:56.and the general culture and that people have taken an interest.
:16:57. > :16:59.He's one of hundreds being honoured for their work
:17:00. > :17:20.Now on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.
:17:21. > :17:29.We leave you with some images from places around the world that have
:17:30. > :17:40.already celebrated the New Year.