This. Tonight at six a state of emergency in south east australia amid warnings of more bushfires. The largest forced evacuation New South Wales has seen thousands are fleeing the path of the flames. The fireball just came through at about 80kph, hit the house, and then we ran into the lake and then all the embers and everything were hitting us, burnt our hair a little bit. Theres anger over the governments handling of the emergency as the Prime Ministerfound out when he toured the area. 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 be looking at australias changing climate and what thats got to do with the fires. Also tonight millions of rail commuters face more
expensive journeys many will pay an extra £100 a year. Could gabriel diya and his children have been saved from drowning on Christmas Eve . We talk to a british tourist who was poolside as the tragedy unfolded. Spotting Breast Cancer on a scan Scientists Say a computer can do thejob better than a radiologist. And coming up on bbc news peter snakebite wright reflects on his historic world title, at the pdc world darts championship and the real reason for the flamboyant fashion. Good evening and welcome
to the bbc news at six. In three hours time a state of emergency will come into effect in the australian state of New South Wales, the area worst affected by raging bushfires. This will enable the authorities to carry out forced evacuations. Already, many thousands are fleeing their homes. This map shows the fires that have been burning since monday. There are new ones breaking out all the time. Theyre concentrated in and around australias coastline, where 90 of the countrys population lives. Our sydney correspondent Shaimaa Khalil is in milton town, one of the areas under the evacuation order, and sent us this report. A mass exodus from the devastation on the Southern Coast and a race to escape the dangerous fire conditions ahead. Thousands of holiday makers inching their way to safety with a 48 hour deadline. Families have heeded the calls to evacuate, but because the conditions
on the road are still very dangerous, there have been closures in Different Directions and now they tell us they feel stranded having evacuated those fire risk towns, now unable to get home. You kind of have a feeling that you cant go forward, you cant go backwards. And really, you know, stuck between a burning rock and a burning rock, arent you . Just have to sit it out and hopefully, you know, not get caught in the middle of a fire. Some families were able to get away early in the morning before the road closures. This couple lost their house and had to take refuge in the lake across the road. The fireball came over the hill just opposite the lake. We thought we had a few minutes at least. We were hosing down the house and everything, doing the gutters, what they say to do, and within two or three minutes the fireball just came through at about 80kph, hit the house, and then we ran into the lake and all the embers and everything were hitting us, burnt our hair a little bit, and we were in there for about an hour before
we got rescued. This is what theyre escaping. Burning since september, these bushfires have destroyed more than 1,200 homes. The Prime Minister who has been a staunch supporter of fossil fuels, insisted that government policy struck the right balance between supporting the economy and protecting the environment. How come we only have four trucks to defend our town . Because our town doesnt have a lot of money but we have hearts of gold, mr Prime Minister but he got an angry reception from the residents of cobargo when he visited their town. No, hes an idiot, mate. Lake conjola is a popular holiday destination. Now it looks like a conflict zone. When kim harper came back to her house, she couldnt recognise the neighbourhood. It feels like im in the middle of the apocalypse. Like, i think someones dropped a bomb on us, basically. Thats what it feels like. In the neighbouring state of victoria, the navy has been
helping evacuate people. So far, 18 people have lost their lives in the fires. Volunteer firefighter Geoffrey Keaton was one of them. Today was his funeral where his 19 month old son harvey was presented with his fathers medal for bravery. Gusty winds and temperatures soaring above a0 degrees are set to create hazardous fire conditions in the coming days. Shaimaa khalil, bbc news, lake conjola, New South Wales. Bushfires have always been a feature of australian summers but as weve just reported this season has seen some of the most intense and extensive fires ever. Experts say its difficult to pinpoint a single cause but three years of dry weather and the hottest temperatures on record last year clearly played a part. As our science editor
david shukman reports. 0na on a terrifying scale and burning into many different areas to be stopped, the flames are causing a massive shock. Even in a country thatis massive shock. Even in a country that is used to fire. Usually, the blazes strike scrubland. These are instead tearing into the forests which means the fires are hotter and taller and harder to tackle. For a sense of their size on a map of the uk here is that the vast area in australia thats burned so far. The impact has been devastating. With lives lost amongst firefighters and residents, more than 1000 homes destroyed and an estimated death toll among animals of 500 million. So, whats behind these fires . Well, 2019 was the countrys hottest year on record and the higher the temperature is the greater the risk because fires start more easily and
pla nts because fires start more easily and plants and soils dry out. So, no surprise that australia has just come through its driest spring on record, leaving a lot of vegetation ready to burn. And this was partly caused by the waters of the indian 0cean being relatively warm in the west and cooler in the east, which has the effect of leaving australia dry and all the time the global average temperature is heading up. Scientists researching the fires say conditions have created a perfect storm, with Climate Change heating the planet and adding to the dangers. Clearly, the warmer dry weather we expect to see from Climate Change and what we have probably already seen in australia leads to more vegetation being available to burn and more vegetation being available to burn earlier in the year. So, the fire seasons have lengthened, beginning early and also finishing later as a result of Climate Change. The past year saw fires around the world. In the amazon rainforest they were
started deliberately to create farmland. And in california they encroached on urban areas. A view from space of the australian fires. The smoke drifting to new zealand. Where on this glacier the ice and the sky turned dark. Threat is far from over. Shukman, bbc news. Floods in indonesias capital, jakarta, are now known to have killed at least 26 people, after the city experienced its heaviest rainfall in more than two decades. At least 30,000 residents have moved to temporary shelters. Officials said 37 centimetres of rain had fallen in a single day. Rail fares across england, wales and scotland have risen, on average by nearly 3 . The increase has angered many commuters who complain that years of higher fares have failed to improve the services they depend on. The transport secretary grant shapps says Northern Rail the Company Running the Biggest Network in the north of england is not fit for purpose. A decision on whether the company
should be stripped of its franchise is expected in a matter of weeks. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, is at manchester piccadilly station. Tom. Januarys rail fare rises always contentious, this years even more so contentious, this years even more so because passages in several parts of the country and particularly in this region were let down too often last year but as the ticket price kicked in this morning the transport secretary took a swipe at running one of the largest franchises in the country, northern. A union accused grant shapps of trying to deflect attention away from the fare increase, which as we have been finding out as we travelled across england, has not been going down well with passengers. The service is absolutely shocking. I cant get to the nursery sometimes on time. We cant get to meetings on time. It causes logistical nightmares. Travel from the midlands. At the end of the day were always late for work, were never on time. Its so bad, sometimes i have to get a taxi. To the north of england
and the stories are similar. Todays rail fare rise hard to swallow. The prices seem to keep going up and you dont seem to get anything more for your money. As i say, they are always late. Sometimes only by a minute or two, but theyre always late. As the price hike took effect this morning, the transport secretary said the Company Running the largest franchise in Northern England wasnt fit for purpose. Ijust dont think it is acceptable. Ive been a long suffering commuter myself for many years, and i dont think its right that people cant always rely on their train services, and particularly in places like northern, where it has been noticeably bad, i will absolutely bring that situation to an end. Northern, the Company Operating these services, is effectively on a final warning. In a matter of weeks, the government has to make a controversial call. Either strip the company of this franchise, or keep
it operating these trains on a simpler type of contract. Paul has been campaigning for improvements for years. He wants northern out. Nothing has improved in 12 months and yet we have had two fare increases. People are paying a lot more now for theirjourneys, theyre taking hours to get home from work or to get to work, people have had to change jobs, lose theirjobs. Northern says delays to infrastructure upgrades have affected its performance. But the problems stretch far beyond northern. The Scottish Government will end its contract with scotrail early because of poor performance. And in the Second Quarter of last year, only a 40 of services on Transpennine Express made it within a minute of their arrival time. The punctuality record of London North Eastern Railway and Cross Country were only slightly better. The trains were so unreliable last year on West Midlands and london northwestern railways that a season Ticket Holders there
will not pay more this year. The body representing Train Companies says its not all bad. There are surveys taken of passenger satisfaction, not by the rail industry, theyre done independently and they consistently show 83 84 satisfaction levels. But too often passengers are let down. The government will soon publish a blueprint on how our railways can improve. Tom burridge, bbc news. Derbyshire police force has referred itself an early and accurate diagnosis of Breast Cancer is quite often the key to successful treatment. Now researchers at Google Health and Imperial College in london have developed an Artificial IntelligenceComputer Program that is more accurate at assessing a mammogram than one radiologist working alone and as good as two experts working together. As our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports this use of whats called ai could well improve all cancer care. This is painstaking work. It takes more than a decade of training to become a radiologist and have the skill
to read a mammogram. In the nhs, two doctors analyse every womans x rays. Now, Artificial Intelligence, a Machine Learning computer designed by Google Health, can do itjust as well as humans. This went far beyond my expectations. It will have a Significant Impact in improving the quality of the reporting and also freeing up radiologists to do even more important things. Women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for breast screening every three years. The study in the journal nature showed al was actually better than one doctor working alone at reading mammograms. It produced 1. 2 fewer false positives, where a healthy mammogram is wrongly labelled as abnormal. And there were 2. 7 fewer cases where a cancer was missed. And ai will only get better. 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 for results and Better Outcomes overall. Helen edwards from surrey has been clear of Breast Cancer for 15 years. She was a patient representative on the panel which had to approve Google Healths access to the mammograms, all of which were anonymised. Initially, i was concerned, google, what are they going to do with this information . What are they 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. This is a breakthrough moment for Artificial Intelligence, which seems certain to play a major role in the diagnosis of Breast Cancer in years to come. And ai has already proved its ability to read other types of patient scan, showing itself as good as leading ophthalmologists in diagnosing more than 50 different eye conditions. The nhs needs another 1,000
radiologists, so using al to replace one of the two doctors who read mammograms would ease that pressure and speed up diagnosis. Fergus walsh, bbc news. A british tourist who tried to resuscitate one of the members of the diya family who drowned in a spanish Holiday Resort on Christmas Eve has told the bbc he believes more could have been done to prevent their deaths. Josias fletchman says simple measures could have made a difference. Gabriel diya and his nine year old daughter comfort died alongside his 16 year old son praise emmanuel at a resort on the costa del sol. Helena wilkinson reports. I was at the reception and a lady comes screaming. She was screaming, a spanish lady, but the way she come she was traumatised. I could tell by the scream. Me personally i knew
it was something serious because i said to my wife, i said, thats a death cry, that. My wifes like, nah, nah, nah, but i said thats a death cry. Thats something serious. This was the moment Josias Fletchman knew something terrible was happening. He was on holiday with his family in spain but ended up being one of the first to try and help a father and his two children who drowned. On Christmas Eve, nine year old comfort and 16 year old praise emmanuel got into difficulty in this pool at Club La Costa world. Their father gabriel diya then tried to save them but all three died. Youth workerjosias was heading for a family swim when he realised something was going on. When i got there, the reception people had already, they must have got the bodies of the three people out, brought them out the pool. There was a lady there and she said can i take over . So i took over. At first i was like in my head thinking, whoa, because ive done cpr on dummies but to do it on a real body for a minute i was like, woof, but then the spirit kicked in yet again and allowed me to do my bit. The hotel resort has a number of swimming pools butjosias says he doesnt think there was enough Safety Measures in place. There wasnt a lifeguard at that pool . No. Were you surprised by that . Yeah. Tell me why you were surprised. Because if a lifeguard was there that probably wouldnt have happened. That person could have lived if there was a lifeguard there. Spanish police have now finished their investigations and say this was a tragic accident. Theyve lost not one but three people, a young little girl, a 16 year old lad and a husband. Im praying for her every single day, im praying for her. I was praying for her on holiday
and i am still praying consistently. That was Josias Fletchman speaking to our correspondent helena wilkinson. Our top story this evening a state of emergency in south east australia amid warnings of more bushfires thousands are ordered to evacuate. Why conservationists say bringing back the beavers to a devon river is a success both for them and for us. Coming up on sportsday on bbc news a kickabout goes wrong for rory burns, the england opener could miss the upcoming test against south africa. Earlier, we saw how Climate Change is playing its part in the australian emergency. Thousands of miles away, in southern africa, the people of zambia are in the midst of a devastating
drought that experts say is caused by a dramatic shift in weather patterns. Temperatures in the region are expected to rise by twice the global average and the United Nations is calling for urgent action. More than two Million People in zambia are now in need of fo