31/12/2015 BBC News

A huge fire engulfs a luxury hotel in central Dubai -

hours before New Year celebrations are due to start.

The building - more than 60 storeys high -

is now a burning inferno - there's no news so far

The clean up-operation starts across the UK after the widespread

Police in Brussels arrest six people in connection with an alleged terror

Labour have suspended the MP Simon Danczuk over claims he sent

explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl.

And a new dame at the House of Windsor - the EastEnders

and Carry On star tops the celebrity list of this year's New Year's

A huge fire has tonight broken out in a building in central Dubai -

close to the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa.

It erupted as Dubai prepared to hold a major New Year's Eve

Crowds had been gathering in the area.

We can talk now to our correspondent Bridget Kendall.

This has just happened. What can you tell us? It has, and details are

just coming in, so we don't know much, but it is very dramatic.

Onlookers had gathered for a dramatic fireworks display to

celebrate New Year's Eve and instead what they were greeted with was a

fire which broke out in the Address hotel, in the heart of Dubai in the

united Arab Emirates, right across from the Burj Khalifa tower, the

world's tallest building, which was to be part of the display. Nobody

knows how it started. Some have thought that, because it goes up 20

stories, that it began on the 20th floor. This hotel is 63 stories

high. Dubai is full of high skyscrapers. It was built in 2008,

eight years ago, so it is relatively modern. It is unclear whether this

is an accident. Everyone has been on tenterhooks this New Year's Eve,

worried, particularly in Europe, Brussels, about a possible attack.

Other cities around the world, too, where they fear that the crowds who

had gathered for New Year's Eve, that this could be a possibility

that would be used by those who want to disrupt the festivities with some

kind of attack. It is by no means clear that this is what has

happened. It could very well be an accident but, at least, it is very

serious. Think about the fact that Dubai is a very popular holiday

destination for New Year's Eve, the hotels will be very full. If it is

such a large fire, even an accident, there must be worries about people

inside the hotel. Here, clean-up operations

are underway across the UK after the flooding

caused by Storm Frank. Although drier conditions

are forecast for this evening, 17 flood warnings remain in place,

meaning that flooding is expected. North-east Scotland -

hard hit by yesterday's storm - faces more heavy

rain at the weekend. There's also been travel disruption

- with the West Coast mainline between Carlisle and Glasgow closed

because of a damaged viaduct. After being battered by rain

and gales, Scotland has been taking there is widespread

destruction. Prince Charles and the Duchess

of Cornwall came to talk This was the A93 on Deeside,

swallowed by the water, leaving a huge repair

bill and weeks of work. Further south in Newton Stewart,

it was a similar picture. Debbie Scott was just one

of many people trying to salvage their

waterlogged belongings. This was one of the

worst affected towns. Scotland's First Minister came

here to see for herself. I've been talking to some residents

and local businesses and this is probably the worst

flooding episode that Newton Stewart and much of this region has

experienced for some people Northern England missed

the worst of the weather yesterday, but you

wouldn't think so. In Croston in Lancashire,

the RAF was back in action, lowering sandbags to

shore up flood defences. We are trying to bring

back normality to these people's lives

and that's the main effort, to support the local agencies,

the Environment Agency in particular, and

help people get back York today, the Labour

leader Jeremy Corbyn came The only people who have been

here helping me is Cleveland Fire And the Muslims from

Bradford and London. And those left angry

because they feel they didn't Do you think it makes

a difference for high profile We are getting on now

and on cleaning mission now. But definitely, it makes a big

difference for people like this But after the high-profile have

gone, this carries on, and the worry for people

living in York and other cities affected by flooding

over the last month is that this will happen again if

the heavy rains come. The hope is that the weather

will hold for the next few days at least, to allow the northern

flood plains to drain There's tightened security

across Europe as hundreds of millions of people prepare

to welcome in the New Year. In Brussels, the official

festivities were cancelled because the police said

they'd disrupted a plot The traditional fireworks in Paris

have also been called off - and across France more

than 100,000 police It should be the busiest night of

the year but tonight Brussels will be one of the quietest capitals in

Europe. Plans for the New Year's Eve party cancelled following a decision

by nervous authorities. This is the main stage where the fireworks

display and New Year's Eve celebrations were due to take place,

now being deconstructed. Security officials have said they believe

this is the area terrorists were planning to target and the Belgian

Prime Minister has said that having tens of thousands of people here was

too great a risk. But the mood among many here is defiance. Terrorism is

one of those things. If they stop you doing what you want to do, they

have one. So you carry on, but you are aware of the risk but make sure

you're comfortable with what you are doing. I don't care. For me, it is a

risk. I will be here for New Year. I will be happy, anyway. The

intelligence follows police raids earlier this week. Two men have been

charged in connection with planning attacks and another six detained

today. The mayor of Brussels said the decision to cancel was based on

sound information. TRANSLATION: There is a threat. We

are on alert level three. There is a risk with the fireworks in the

centre. I will not take a risk with the public. In Paris, the

celebrations have been scaled down. In place of the usual fireworks,

there will be a video display at the Champs-Elysees instead. Extensive

security measures will be enforced in Berlin, where people will attempt

to scream thousands as they gather at the Brandenburg gate. The display

in London will go ahead, with 3000 officers in duty, and people

attending Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations have been assured the

necessary celebrations -- preparations are in place. For

people here in Brussels, tonight's cancellation is another sign that

extreme security measures are becoming the new normal.

Daniel Boettcher is in Central London for us now.

There is a heightened police presence on the streets of the

capital, too. That is right. We are told that is as a precaution rather

than any specific intelligence. As part of that policing, we have seen

sniffer dogs and handlers moving down the road across from me.

Preparations have been taking place all day. They have been fixing

fireworks on the London eye. Behind me, there are three barges on the

river with 30 tonnes of equipment, including 12,000 fireworks. At the

moment, there are no spectators because, for the second year, this

is a ticket only event. 110,000 tickets have been sold. Everybody

coming will have to go through a security point. They will have

tickets and bags checked before they are allowed in. The first gates will

open in about 20 minutes but police have advised anybody without a

ticket not to come because they will not be allowed in.

There's been widespread criticism of a decision to shelve an inquiry

by the Financial Conduct Authority into the culture and behaviour

Labour said it was a blow to customers and taxpayers,

while a senior Conservative MP described the move

Here's our economics correspondent, Andy Verity.

Rigging interest rates, fiddling foreign exchange markets,

mis-selling payment protection insurance, mistreating

small-business customers - just some of the practices banks

have been fined tens of billions of pounds for,

that led the Financial Conduct Authority to ask

if there was something deeply wrong with the culture

Now it's dropped its enquiry, some customers are asking why.

Clive May is among many business customers who say they've been

Over 30 years he built a construction business turning over

He says RBS mis-sold him a government backed loan

on the basis it would safeguard jobs through a slow period,

but then his facilities were pulled at short notice

The report that came out today almost felt like a smack

They are not doing what they are saying they are doing.

You present evidence to the FCA and it's almost like they're trying

to conceal it for the benefit of the bank, as opposed

RBS has rejected Mr May's accusations, as it has those

of hundreds of other small-business customers who say

The banks' skyscrapers loom over the regulator's building

They say they've brought in major reforms to make their staff much

more accountable in recent years and they say they are crucial

to the economy, attracting billions of pounds of investment every year.

The Financial Conduct Authority's critics say it's too close

to the banks, with a revolving door when regulators become bankers

The new chairman of RBS, Howard Davies, used

The man who ran it during the crisis, Hector Sants,

They are not the only gamekeepers who have turned poacher.

The Treasury insists the FCA acts independently and that ministers

played no part in the regulators' decision to drop the review

We were expecting an open and transparent review

and publication at the end of the review.

This looks as though it's closing down.

It means we won't get the review that we wanted and it won't be open

and transparent and to be frank it's part of a trend now of really almost

turning us back to the days before the economic crash in 2007.

I think most people now are concerned that the banks

The government says it is changing the culture of banking,

bringing in a tough regime for bankers' pay

But while one junior banker has been convicted of fraud and several more

await trial, not a single senior banker has been prosecuted.

Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been suspended from the party

after newspaper allegations about his private life.

The Sun alleged he exchanged explicit text messages

The Rochdale MP has apologised unreservedly

With me now is our political correspondent Ross Hawkins.

What does this now mean for Simon Danczuk's political career?

He as an MP whose political career was made in part by campaigning on

the issue of child sexual abuse. I'm told by friends that he is ashamed

and embarrassed. Labour promised an independent investigation. It has to

be said, he is a man without many friends in Jeremy Corbyn's inner

circle. He has a regular newspaper column in which he finds ever more

colourful ways to criticise Mr Corbyn. If he is expelled from the

party, his political career in reality is probably over. He

wouldn't be able to stand as a Labour candidate again. Even those

who sympathise with his politics and the position he is in today agreed

that he is profoundly politically vulnerable now.

A 71-year-old man from Norfolk has been arrested on suspicion

The BBC understands the man arrested is the farmer Tony Martin,

who was jailed for shooting dead a teenage burglar in 1999.

Officers arrested the man this morning in the Wisbech area

of Cambridgeshire, and a police search of the property just over

All BBC websites were unavailable this morning -

and the iPlayer catch-up service and iPlayer radio app were also

Visitors to the site were faced with an error message

It's now thought that this was the result of a cyber attack.

Nearly 1200 people have been recognised in the Queen's New Year

They include the actors Barbara Windsor and Idris Elba,

the former jockey AP McCoy, and the cyclist Chris Froome.

Our entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba takes a closer look.

She's long been a national treasure - now she's a dame.

I'LL do my best to be a very good dame, and I don't mean in pantomime!

There is a knighthood for 20 time champion jockey AP McCoy.

I never thought that anything like that would ever be

A knighthood, too, for Lynton Crosby, the election

strategist credited with masterminding the Conservatives'

election victory, an honour being criticised by Opposition MPs.

Businesswoman Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of Ann Summers,

said she didn't know whether to laugh, cry or scream

when she found that she was going to be made a CBE.

Luther star Idris Elba becomes an OBE.

Football legend Denis Law is made a CBE.

While Fara Williams, the most capped of England's

Lionesses, says she can't believe she's been honoured.

To now be awarded an MBE from the Queen is something

I certainly didn't ever think about, even up to now, that I'd ever

I think it shows how far the women's game has come.

As in previous years, the majority of awards have gone

to people not in the public eye, many of whom never expected to be

People like James Banks, a bagpiper for 50 years.

It's nice to see that the instrument, the music

and the general culture and that people have taken an interest.

He's one of hundreds being honoured for their work

Now on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.

We leave you with some images from places around the world that have

already celebrated the New Year.