31/12/2015 BBC World News

A huge fire engulfs a luxury hotel in Dubai -

Close to where New Year celebrations are being held. Eyewitnesses said

that the flames spread rapidly through the 300 metre tall

skyscraper. The debris was raining down and it shot up through the

hotel, everybody was screaming, everybody was running. The fire did

not stop a spectacular fireworks display from going ahead. Moscow

becomes the latest major City to welcome in the New Year. This is the

scene live in the Russian capital. Hello and welcome to the programme.

Authorities say that 14 people have been injured just hours before the

's celebrations were due to begin. It is still not clear how the fire

started in the 63 story Address Downtown hotel. Part of the same

complex where the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, is

situated. Despite the blaze the firework display to herald the New

Year did take place as planned a few hours later.

Literally a towering Inferno, and intense blaze sweeping through a

luxury downtown hotel. A dramatic and terrifying picture. Hardly what

the crowds had come for. The blaze broke out less than three hours

before the City's planned spectacular New Year firework

display. Just a few metres away from the Burj Khalifa, the world's

tallest building, the fire apparently started on the hotel's

20th floor, and before long flames engulfed the side of the 63 story

building, sending out billowing smoke and scattering blazing debris.

Inside one resident said as the alarms went off there was absolute

pandemonium as people rushed to get out of the building. Amazingly with

the help of the fire brigade and civil defence teams it seems

everybody was evacuated. Officials said that apart from one person who

suffered a heart attack there were only moderate and light injuries.

One jazz singer was performing inside the hotel as the blaze

started. It was a stampede. It was incredible. I was never so

terrified. All of the glamorous women took off their high heels and

everybody ran. We left everything. There was debris falling down. It

shot up through the entire hotel. Everybody was screaming, running.

Honestly, I thought... The wind has been really strong all week but

especially tonight. And the smoke and the fire really took hold of the

building. Right through. I can't imagine it not being in the

interior. After little more than an hour the fire subsided, what caused

it is not clear. There have been no signs so far that it was deliberate

despite fears around the world of possible terror attacks. The Dubai

authorities did not want to stop the party. Admit neither celebrations

went ahead, but it won't be the fireworks that the start of 2016

will be a member to fall but a massive hotel fire that miraculously

did not cause more injuries. Let's get the very latest on what's

happening in Dubai with Marcus George joining us from there now. In

terms of the fire itself in the hotel, is it still going on? It

appears that firefighters have certainly got it under control over

the last half an hour or so. From what was as we heard many times a

towering Inferno, to a much more stable size and extent. I believe

that the fire is still going on. I spoke to an eyewitness in the last

15 minutes and he told me that whilst the flames have died down a

grade eel, that it was still there. Firefighters still have a job to do

and no doubt it will be some hours before they consider the fire to be

out. Certainly this has been a dramatic evening for Dubai, it has

wanted to be part of the world stage to see in the New Year and instead

as Bridget Kendall reported, it is seeing a different picture, one in

which an enormous fire has broken out, one which fortunately so far is

not thought to have claimed any lives but one which certainly not be

the image that the Dubai authorities want to have appearing around the

world. Indeed. At the height of the fire, the images we are seeing, it

was incredibly intense and miraculous no one was killed?

Certainly is. That is testament to the fact that this enormous

fireworks display which the warranties were laying on, had

attracted tens of thousands of people, going to watch. And of

course with that many, many security teams and firefighting teams

on-site, we don't know what has caused this yet, but of course those

security services and rescue teams were able to step in very quickly.

And I think, judging by how fast people were evacuated following

social media, it is always extraordinary how quickly the events

unravelled. Certainly judging by the panic and concern at the area, then

this is a very significant incident. Let's hope that it remains the case

that no loss of life has taken place. Indeed, let's hope so. 14

people injured is what we are told by officials. Marcus George joining

us live from Dubai. We will stay in Dubai because now we can speak to

the BBC producer who is stuck in gridlocked traffic and she has been

stuck for hours close to the scene of the fire. I know you were

actually on holiday there. When this took place. Tell us about the

situation you are in Well, I have been in traffic for

almost three hours now. I while and almost every route has

been shut by police. It seems that there are only a couple of roads

that everybody has do take out of the downtown area. It is really

gridlocked. I have been trying to get out of this one road for 45

minutes now. That must be incredibly frustrating but it would have been

an incredibly busy area anyway given this spectacular fireworks display

but has it been intensified by what happened at the downtown hotel? I

think it would have been bad either way. There has been an increased

police presence. I people were evacuated from the area.

A lot of people who were going to watch the fireworks, closer

Burj Khalifa had to go to the roads and some of them park their

the middle of the highway and watched from there. I know you

we were stuck in traffic. -- oh, yes. I thought

thought they were a bit shorter and maybe it was related. That is

certainly something that Dubai and the UAE prides itself on, postcard

to the world, incredible fireworks. With this fire, that will give the

image that they don't want transmitted across the world. That

is very true, and I have to say, it really did not feel when I was

watching the fireworks, it was surreal. Less than an hour ago there

was this massive fire and the fireworks still went on, thousands

of people were able to watch them, and it was quite spectacular, I have

to say. Well, we wish that you do get home safely back to your

location and out of the gridlock. That was the BBC producer, speaking

from Dubai. Stuck in gridlocked traffic following the immense fire

that took place at the Address Downtown hotel and 14 people are

believed to have been injured but with no fatalities even though it

was an extraordinarily intense fire. The images that we are showing,

these were earlier images, earlier on today. Of course we will continue

to monitor all of the events in Dubai but now let's bring you

up-to-date with the other news today.

Security has been stepped up across Europe for

In Brussels, official festivities have been abandoned

after information came to light about an alleged plot

The traditional Paris fireworks were also called off and across France

more than 100,000 police are being deployed.

It should be the busiest night of the year but tonight Brussels will

be one of the quietest capitals in Europe, New year's party plans

cancelled after a decision by nervous authorities. This is the

main stage where the celebrations were due to take place and

being deconstructed. Security officials say that they believe this

is the area where terrorists were targeting and Charles Michel Bopanna

Panthers says that having tens of thousands of people here was a great

risk. -- the Prime Minister says. If they stop huge doing what you want

to do then they have won so you just carry on. You are aware of the risk

and you make sure you are comfortable with what you're doing

and where you are. I don't care there is a risk of terrorism, for me

it is not a risk and I'm not afraid and I will be here for the New Year.

I will be happy anyway. The intelligence follows police raids

earlier this week, two men charged in connection to planning attacks

and another 60 detained today. The mayor of Brussels said the decision

to cancel was based on sound information. There is a threat and

we at an alert level three, there is a risk with fireworks in the City

centre and I won't take a risk with the public and that is what is most

important to me. In Paris too celebrations were scaled down, in

place of the usual fireworks there will be a five-minute video

displayed at the Champs-Elysees instead. Extensive security measures

will also be in force in Berlin when people will attempt to screen

thousands as they gather at the Brandenburg gate. The London

firework display will go ahead with 3000 police officers on duty. People

planning to attend Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh were

reassured that necessary measures are in place. The balance for

European officials is on how to maintain security with minimum

impact on everyday life. For people here in Brussels this cancellation

is another sign that extreme security measures are becoming the

new normal. President Lon of France has -- President Francois Molins has

said he will carry on attacking Isis as long as it was necessary. He said

that protecting people was necessary. France has to make good

decisions. Above and beyond, partisan divisions. And have basic

principles. I will do so because I am a guarantor and I will never

accept that we can cause divisions because after all, that is what the

extremists want. I will not accept that a secular republic should be

attacked. Or that a place of worship could in fact be attacked. Just as

was done recently in Corsica. Those kind of gestures will never remain

unpunished, whether we are talking about a mask, synagogue, Temple or

church. It is France's on to defend those places. US authorities say

that have arrested a man said to have been planning a deadly attack

on a bar in Rochester in New York state. Laura Bicker explained what

we know so far. 25-year-old man planning to attack a restaurant in

Rochester with knives and machetes on New Year's Eve. In just a few

hours' time. He is said to have been in contact with a member of Isis is

overseas and he is said to have been willing to do anything to join the

ranks of the group and be in Syria. His contact overseas said he should

be tested, and this was one of the things he should do. He went to buy

the knives, he bought machetes and plans which restaurant he would

attack. He also recorded a video message in which he admits planning

the attack, and that was obviously meant to be released after the

attack. And he also pledges allegiance to the leader of Isis.

This 25-year-old is a self-confessed Muslim convert, he has a history of

mental illness, and also a criminal record. One of the interesting thing

is when you read the indictment is that he was arrested with the help

of an insider, an undercover agent who was working with the FBI. Laura

Bicker on that arrest reporting from Washington. Stay with us on BBC

News. We have lots more still to come.

Hello and welcome to BBC News. The main headlines this our... United

Arab Emirates celebrates the New Year despite a massive fire in the

centre of Dubai. The blazing gold the 63 story Address Downtown hotel.

No one was reported to have been killed. We will stay with the

massive fire that in God the skyscraper in Dubai, incredibly

there have so far been reports of fatalities. -- that improved it. The

jazz singer Anita Williams will is actually performing at the hotel

when the fire began on an upper floor. It was incredible, we were

performing at the Address Downtown which is right next door to the Burj

Khalifa. It is the best place to be fireworks. My bass player and one of

the musicians said that there was a fire on the balcony, which was three

floors above. To be honest we did not think much of it. And within a

minute the entire hotel was on fire. And after that I can tell you it was

just absolutely stampeding, it was incredible. I was never so

terrified. All of the glamorous women took off their high heels and

everybody just ran. We left everything on the stage, we left

everything. There was debris falling down. It just shot up through the

entire hotel. Everybody was screaming and running. Honestly, I

thought it was like a film. It was incredible. Just to clarify, was the

fire inside the hotel, within the building? Because we were performing

outside we had an outside stage, we were outside the hotel. The hotel,

it went straight up the exterior. It went up so quickly that I don't

think anyone actually realised how quickly it went up. It went up in

minutes. The images are absolutely extraordinary, the fire and the

intensity of it. What is miraculous is that nobody was killed in this.

When we were running, my husband and I, everybody literally just ran and

the band went in five different directions. We were all running. I

thought this is it, my goodness. I have never ever seen the way the UAE

and how they got it under control is incredible. It is incredible. Within

five minutes. There were tankers, emergency crews, incredible. I've

never seen anything like it. They blocked the roads and everything. We

were running in between, running under, down under the hotel and then

we ran across and then under and we ended up in the Dubai Mall. She was

performing at the hotel when the fire took place and she shared with

those remarkable stories of how they managed to escape. Of course we will

continue to monitor those events because the fire is still going but

it's very much under control. Russia's involvement in Syria has

dominated Vladimir Putin's New Year message. Appearing against the

backdrop of red Square in Moscow, he gave special mention to military

personnel deployed abroad in what he described as the fight as

international terrorism. He said he was defending Russia's national

interest. The Russian air force has been conducting air strikes in Syria

for three months. In some of the days of the news to people were

sentenced to death in Bangladesh for killing a secular blogger nearly

three years ago. Six others were convicted in the involvement of the

murder of the man hacked to death after campaigning against Islamist

leaders accused of war crimes. One of China's most controversial laws,

the one child policy, has officially ended and couples can now have two

children, the one child policy was introduced nationally in 1979 to

curb rapid population growth but there are now concerns that the

ageing population will reduce the workforce and exacerbate elderly

care issues. The American comedian Jerry Seinfeld has begun the seventh

series of his web series comedians in cars getting coffee with a

top-level guest, Barack Obama. They drove

White House in 1963 Corvette stingray the Ford ditching it for

the presidential limo known as the Beast. Let's go. I'm glad you had

some free time. I really like this car. Be careful about hidden... You

look a little nervous. Are you always so nervous? This is a little

different. You are not like this with David letter man! We will run

out for a coffee. That's not possible. I do this show. You are

going nowhere. Back it up. Do you ever think about every person you

talked to is putting on an act? It's a problem. Don't you think every

American child is growing up loving the president? I do very well with

the 0- eight demographic. Partly because my ears are big and I look a

bit like a cartoon character. And little kids love to say my name. But

it's all one big name. It is one of those names you could compress into

one word. It is like Nickelodeon. It's fun. This is called the Beast.

It's a Cadillacs on a tank frame. Oh my God. I could call a nuclear

submarine right here. I don't have that! That is a cool feature. And De

Rossi warmers. -- there are seat warmers. That is pretty standard?! I

like the security guard the most. It is already 20 16,000 people but in

London we just have to wait a few more hours. -- it is already 2016,

but for people in London... Here are some of our memories. I am still the

president, even suspected, I am the president and I'm not ashamed. I

regret but I'm not ashamed. If the Turkish government has decided this,

that is up to you. I just want to say, everybody else can get stuffed

if they think women aren't strong enough. We have been putting up with

this for years and now when we start talking about it everybody is

pretending like it's our imagination. There is no tolerance

towards those who are not willing to help if help is needed. We need the

world to know that we are heading to a low emissions, climate resilient

future. Yesterday the American space programme took another historic leap

for humankind. We expected to come here and play our best. If the team

is better than us on the day so be it. We want to give ourselves a

pretty good chance. In Europe, it is not the future of austerity. It is

the future of democracy, solidarity and cooperation. Compromise,

compromise, without being compromised. I know that I have

always carried a habit of submissiveness with the idea that it

makes me more likeable and I had to say something because we need to

talk about it. Je Suis Charlie. We must confront this evil and it's

time for us to do our bit in Syria. They stole away the life of an

exceptional person. I am officially running for

president of the United States. The majority of votes in favour of the

proposal, 467,000 307. -- 467307. Hello there. New Year's Eve has

brought a bit of everything weather-wise across the country. We

started off with sunshine today but more rain to come, not as heavy or

persistent as in recent days but sharp showers moving their way from

west to east and then behind as temperatures fall away we will see

snow on higher ground and also into Scotland. Anywhere above 200 metres

will continue with snow showers and icy stretches as the rain eases off

into the North Sea leaving clearer skies for the New Year's Eve

celebrations which will be perfect for seeing firework displays. It's

going to turn quite cold as temperatures in towns and City

centres are close to freezing and perhaps in raw parts below freezing.

Frost is not out of the question first thing on New Year's Day. We

start off with some sunshine, those up early enough. It won't be long

before the cloud starts to gather down into the South ahead of the

next rain arriving. The wins will strengthen again from a southerly

direction. It will be a largely fine and dry start up and into the North

and east of the country. It will be a wet start for Cornwall. 15 mph not

out of the question. There should be sunshine around into the afternoon

and predominantly dry albeit feeling chilly across northern England and

Scotland. Outbreaks of showery rain pushing into Northern Ireland and

eventually into the western fringes of Scotland as well. That area of

low pressure slowly meanders north and east for the start of the

weekend so there will be outbreaks of rain before another system moves

in by the end of the day. More wet and windy weather. As we move into

the weekend it is decidedly unsettled again. On Saturday there

will be outbreaks of rain and strong winds pushing the rain across the

country. It will again field milder than of late. I suspect temperatures

are academic with the wind and rain 7-12d. The rain stays consistent and

at the same time urges with another band of rain in the West and this

time it could be heavy and fairly persistent as well.