New Year's Eve: Revellers across the UK usher in 2020 - BBC News

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Revellers across the UK have rung in the start of a new decade, with fireworks displays in London, Edinburgh and other major cities.

In London, some 12,000 fireworks lit up the capital's skyline.

Edinburgh hosted what it promised would be the UK's "biggest street party" as part of the city's Hogmanay celebrations.

Firework shows were also held in other cities including Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle, Inverness and Nottingham.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in his new year message, said the UK was on the verge of a "new chapter" in its history and promised to "finish the job" by delivering Brexit within weeks.

He said he hoped the country would "move forward united" after it leaves the EU on 31 January.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury will use his message - which will be broadcast later - to suggest that Britons should make a "heroic new year's resolution" to contact someone they have drifted apart from.

In London, Big Ben's chimes sounded the start of the display, despite them being silent this year while renovation work is completed.

Around 100,000 revellers packed into the streets around Victoria Embankment as the roar of football anthems such as Three Lions kicked off the new decade, with the festivities providing a prelude to the Euro 2020 football tournament.

Music from artists including Stormzy, Wiley and Bastille also featured in a display London Mayor Sadiq said would be the best the capital "has ever seen".

"We may be leaving the European Union, but we're not leaving Europe. So tonight's fireworks celebrate us as a global city, us as a European city," he added.

He stressed that London and the UK need to be brought "together again" in the 2020s.

"I'm not pretending that fireworks and one night can do that, but I think it's really important [that] we celebrate, tonight, some great things about our city and our country," he said.

On social media, some praised the spectacular display while others complained that a build-up of smoke obscured the view.

The Metropolitan Police said there were 15 arrests at the celebrations in central London, including two arrests for offences involving fireworks and one for sexual assault.

In Edinburgh, more than 3,600 fireworks were let off from the castle as the Scottish capital celebrated Hogmanay.

Musical artists including DJ Mark Ronson, Idlewild, Rudimental and Marc Almond performed on stages throughout the city centre.

Tens of thousands of people attended the party, which extended across more than a dozen streets in the city.

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The first places to welcome 2020 included the tiny Pacific island of Kiribati, neighbouring parts of Samoa and the Chatham Islands.

Auckland in New Zealand was the first major city to ring in the new decade, with thousands welcoming 2020 at a fireworks display at the city's Sky Tower.

The traditional fireworks display in Sydney Harbour also went ahead, despite calls for it to be cancelled due to Australia's bushfire crisis.

European cities, including Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Athens, have also seen in the new year with firework displays.

The uninhabited Baker Island and Howland Island, on the other side of the International Date Line, were the last to leave 2019 behind.

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2020-01-01 00:00:49Z
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UK to press Cyprus on 'distressing' teen gang rape case - CNN

The 19-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had said she was attacked by 12 Israeli youths on July 17 at the Pambos Napa Rocks hotel in the resort of Ayia Napa, where she was staying.

But 10 days later she retracted her statement and police arrested her. She was found guilty of causing public mischief on Monday and now faces up to a year in jail.

"The UK is seriously concerned about the fair trial guarantees in this deeply distressing case and we will be raising the issue with the Cypriot authorities," the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement.

The woman spent more than a month in prison before being granted bail. Her passport has been held to prevent her leaving the country.

The woman's lawyer, Michael Polak, earlier told CNN his client had been pressured into retracting her allegations, and that she was initially denied legal representation.

"She wasn't allowed a lawyer, which is against European law, she didn't have a translator, she was suffering from PTSD," he said.

In court, the woman insisted that she was raped but had been pressured into changing her account by Cypriot police, Reuters reported.

The woman told the court that she had had a consensual relationship with one of the youths, and was in a room with him when the others appeared, Reuters said. She alleged that she was held down and raped.

Judge Michalis Papathanasiou, however, accepted the prosecution's case that the woman fabricated the claims because she felt "ashamed" after finding out some of the Israelis had filmed her having sex on their mobile phones, Reuters reported.

None of the youths was called to give evidence. The judge refused to allow any evidence about whether the woman was raped, her lawyers said.

Following the UK's foreign office statement Tuesday a Cypriot government spokesperson said Cyprus was "an orderly state" with "constitutionally established institutions and separation of powers."

"The Government does not intervene in cases brought before the competent Courts of the Republic of Cyprus, nor does it comment on positions or allegations which are raised with respect to cases still pending before the Courts," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"The Government has full confidence in the Justice system and the Courts of the Republic of Cyprus, which should be left unfettered to implement state laws and deliver justice."

Nir Yaslovitzh, a lawyer representing the young Israelis, applauded the court's decision and said he sought an appropriate punishment on "the girl, who refuses to this day to take responsibility for the horrible act she has done against the boys."

He added that a civil process would take place to compensate his clients.

Rights activists say the case has been mishandled by Cypriot officials. On Monday, protesters from the Network Against Violence Against Women gathered outside the Famagusta District Court, many wearing white scarves portraying lips sewn together.

Sentencing has been adjourned until January 7.

Polak said the woman would be appealing the case to the Cyprus Supreme Court and, should this fail, to the European Court of Human Rights.

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2019-12-31 13:51:00Z
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UK and US considered Nigeria naval blockade over Saro-Wiwa execution - BBC News

The UK and US considered a navy-backed oil embargo against Nigeria, following the 1995 execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, a document released by the UK government reveals.

Saro-Wiwa and eight other campaigners from the Ogoni ethnic group were hanged on 10 November 1995.

They had been found guilty by a secret military tribunal of the murder of four Ogoni chiefs by a mob.

The nine denied the charge and said they had been framed.

Saro-Wiwa led mass protests against oil pollution in Nigeria's Ogoniland.

The protests were seen as a major threat to Nigeria's military ruler at the time, Gen Sani Abacha, and Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.

• Fishermen at risk amidst the oil

• Militants cripple Nigeria's oil sector

The executions led to Nigeria suspension from the Commonwealth.

The UK's then Prime Minister, John Major, called it a "fraudulent trial" and described the executions as "judicial murder".

Notes of a meeting between Mr Major and US President Bill Clinton, nearly three weeks after the executions, show the steps the leaders contemplated to isolate Nigeria.

The two men met while Mr Clinton was on a visit to the UK.

According to the notes, the UK believed that an oil embargo would "only be effective" if done through the UN Security Council and "could only be made to work by a naval blockade".

Such steps would result in "wrecking Nigeria's economy" as it was heavily reliant on oil exports.

'Sycophants surround Abacha'

Mr Clinton agreed, but said the US would only implement an embargo if "all other parties" were willing to do so, pointing out that sanctions would be vetoed by China if brought before the UN Security Council.

There had been pleas from across the world for Nigeria's military leader at the time, Sani Abacha, to exercise clemency, but Western governments had struggled to reach the leader.

Mr Clinton's special envoy to Nigeria, Donald T McHenry, had been unable to see Abacha and concluded that he was "almost wholly insulated from the outside world" and "information was filtered by sycophants: they had no idea of genuine opinion within Nigeria or internationally".

Media playback is unsupported on your device

The hanging of the Ogoni campaigners took place just as Commonwealth heads of state were meeting in New Zealand for their biennial gathering.

The UK issued a statement condemning the executions, but it was South African President Nelson Mandela who led the international criticism.

He called for Nigeria to be suspended from the Commonwealth "at once" and that the suspension should not be lifted until the country had shown "much quicker" progress in returning from military to civilian rule. All political prisoners should be released, he argued.

In this, Mandela was backed by his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe and Kenya's Daniel arap Moi, but the suggestion was criticised by a number of other African leaders, including Ghana's President Jerry Rawlings.

Mandela outspoken

The Commonwealth went ahead with the suspension, but Mandela was determined that the measures should not end there.

He continued his international engagement, making phone calls to Mr Clinton and keeping in touch with Mr Major by phone after the Commonwealth summit ended.

In demanding strong action Mandela appeared to have been isolated from the rest of his government.

Newspaper reports at the time indicate that then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Aziz Pahad, had been reluctant to pursue sanctions against Nigeria.

The UK, together with the European Union (EU), took a number of steps.

Ambassadors to Nigeria were recalled, military training and aid were suspended and an EU-wide arms embargo was instituted.

While Mr Major was willing to consider wider economic sanctions, he was unwilling to do so alone.

The UK accounted for just 1% of Nigeria's oil exports, while the US took 40%.

As a result, Mr Major told Mr Clinton, "we were not well placed to press for [sanctions]".

The UK also had a good deal to lose if Nigeria retaliated.

Pressure from Shell

There was a considerable British expatriate community in Nigeria and UK investments in the country totalled between $3.9bn and $6.5bn (£3bn and £5bn).

This included Shell, which extracted half of the country's oil and was contemplating building a major natural gas project.

The Shell chairman at the time, Cornelius Herkströter, wrote to Mr Major at the height of the controversy, pointing out just how important these investments were.

He argued that the gas liquefaction plant would "make a major contribution to environmental improvement in the region" since it would reduce the need for the flaring of gas.

In the end, the problem of getting UN Security Council approval for an oil embargo appeared to have blocked progress on wider sanctions.

Nigeria was only re-admitted to the Commonwealth in May 1999, on the day on which the country's new civilian government assumed power - ending three-and-a-half years of isolation.

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2019-12-31 12:02:19Z
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UK and US considered Nigeria naval blockade over Saro-Wiwa execution - BBC News

The UK and US considered a navy-backed oil embargo against Nigeria, following the 1995 execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, a document released by the UK government reveals.

Saro-Wiwa and eight other campaigners from the Ogoni ethnic group were hanged on 10 November 1995.

They had been found guilty by a secret military tribunal of the murder of four Ogoni chiefs by a mob.

The nine denied the charge and said they had been framed.

Saro-Wiwa led mass protests against oil pollution in Nigeria's Ogoniland.

The protests were seen as a major threat to Nigeria's military ruler at the time, Gen Sani Abacha, and Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.

• Fishermen at risk amidst the oil

• Militants cripple Nigeria's oil sector

The executions led to Nigeria suspension from the Commonwealth.

The UK's then Prime Minister, John Major, called it a "fraudulent trial" and described the executions as "judicial murder".

Notes of a meeting between Mr Major and US President Bill Clinton, nearly three weeks after the executions, show the steps the leaders contemplated to isolate Nigeria.

The two men met while Mr Clinton was on a visit to the UK.

According to the notes, the UK believed that an oil embargo would "only be effective" if done through the UN Security Council and "could only be made to work by a naval blockade".

Such steps would result in "wrecking Nigeria's economy" as it was heavily reliant on oil exports.

'Sycophants surround Abacha'

Mr Clinton agreed, but said the US would only implement an embargo if "all other parties" were willing to do so, pointing out that sanctions would be vetoed by China if brought before the UN Security Council.

There had been pleas from across the world for Nigeria's military leader at the time, Sani Abacha, to exercise clemency, but Western governments had struggled to reach the leader.

Mr Clinton's special envoy to Nigeria, Donald T McHenry, had been unable to see Abacha and concluded that he was "almost wholly insulated from the outside world" and "information was filtered by sycophants: they had no idea of genuine opinion within Nigeria or internationally".

Media playback is unsupported on your device

The hanging of the Ogoni campaigners took place just as Commonwealth heads of state were meeting in New Zealand for their biennial gathering.

The UK issued a statement condemning the executions, but it was South African President Nelson Mandela who led the international criticism.

He called for Nigeria to be suspended from the Commonwealth "at once" and that the suspension should not be lifted until the country had shown "much quicker" progress in returning from military to civilian rule. All political prisoners should be released, he argued.

In this, Mandela was backed by his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe and Kenya's Daniel arap Moi, but the suggestion was criticised by a number of other African leaders, including Ghana's President Jerry Rawlings.

Mandela outspoken

The Commonwealth went ahead with the suspension, but Mandela was determined that the measures should not end there.

He continued his international engagement, making phone calls to Mr Clinton and keeping in touch with Mr Major by phone after the Commonwealth summit ended.

In demanding strong action Mandela appeared to have been isolated from the rest of his government.

Newspaper reports at the time indicate that then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Aziz Pahad, had been reluctant to pursue sanctions against Nigeria.

The UK, together with the European Union (EU), took a number of steps.

Ambassadors to Nigeria were recalled, military training and aid were suspended and an EU-wide arms embargo was instituted.

While Mr Major was willing to consider wider economic sanctions, he was unwilling to do so alone.

The UK accounted for just 1% of Nigeria's oil exports, while the US took 40%.

As a result, Mr Major told Mr Clinton, "we were not well placed to press for [sanctions]".

The UK also had a good deal to lose if Nigeria retaliated.

Pressure from Shell

There was a considerable British expatriate community in Nigeria and UK investments in the country totalled between $3.9bn and $6.5bn (£3bn and £5bn).

This included Shell, which extracted half of the country's oil and was contemplating building a major natural gas project.

The Shell chairman at the time, Cornelius Herkströter, wrote to Mr Major at the height of the controversy, pointing out just how important these investments were.

He argued that the gas liquefaction plant would "make a major contribution to environmental improvement in the region" since it would reduce the need for the flaring of gas.

In the end, the problem of getting UN Security Council approval for an oil embargo appeared to have blocked progress on wider sanctions.

Nigeria was only re-admitted to the Commonwealth in May 1999, on the day on which the country's new civilian government assumed power - ending three-and-a-half years of isolation.

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2019-12-31 09:05:07Z
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Ayia Napa Briton guilty over false rape claim - BBC News

A 19-year-old British woman has been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped by Israeli youths in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.

She had been arrested after withdrawing an allegation that she was attacked by 12 young Israelis in a hotel in July.

The woman had said Cypriot police made her falsely confess to lying about the incident - but the police denied this.

She was found guilty on a charge of causing public mischief, at a court in Paralimni.

The judge at the Famagusta District Court adjourned sentencing until 7 January. She could face up to a year in jail and a £1,500 fine, but her lawyers have asked for a suspended sentence.

Lawyer Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad which is assisting the woman, told BBC News that "there were a number of bases for appealing the decision".

• Ayia Napa false rape claim accused 'unsupported'

He said those reasons included the court relying on a retraction statement which was given when no lawyer was present, which he said was a breach of European human rights law.

He also criticised the handling of the case by Judge Michalis Papathanasiou, who he said refused to hear any evidence about whether the alleged rape took place.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Prosecutors said the woman willingly wrote and signed a statement retracting her claims 10 days after making the initial allegations.

The woman told the court this happened under duress with the threat of arrest and that she had been denied access to a lawyer.

The trial began at the start of October - with the verdict delayed until now.

The judge said the teenager did not tell the truth and had tried to deceive the court.

He said the reason she initially gave a false statement was because she felt "embarrassed" after finding out some of the group had filmed her having sex on their mobile phones.

Her lawyers had argued that the video found on some of the Israelis' phones showed her having consensual sex with one of the group while others tried to enter the room as she told them to leave.

Twelve men were arrested in connection with the allegations but were later released and returned home.

The Briton spent more than a month in prison before she was granted bail at the end of August, but had not been allowed to leave the island.

Following the verdict, the woman was heard saying to her lawyers "I thought you were asking for a fine", after Ritsa Pekri asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence.

Another of the woman's lawyers, Nicoletta Charalambidou, told reporters outside court that they were planning to appeal against the decision to Cyprus' Supreme Court, and if that failed they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

BBC Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly said the woman's family spent Christmas with her on the Mediterranean island.

Earlier this month, her mother told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme the past few months had been a "living nightmare".

She said her daughter, who was in Cyprus for a working holiday and had been due to start university after the summer, had post-traumatic stress disorder and the symptoms had become "much, much worse" since the alleged rape.

She also criticised what she saw as a lack of support from the authorities, saying that her daughter's human rights had been "violated the whole way through" the process.

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2019-12-30 10:18:12Z
52780528787582

Briton guilty over Ayia Napa false rape claim - BBC News

A 19-year-old British woman has been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped by Israeli youths in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.

She had been arrested after withdrawing an allegation that she was attacked by 12 young Israelis in a hotel in July.

The woman had said Cypriot police made her falsely confess to lying about the incident - but the police denied this.

She was found guilty on a charge of causing public mischief, at a court in Paralimni.

The judge at the Famagusta District Court adjourned sentencing until 7 January. She could face up to a year in jail and a £1,500 fine, but her lawyers have asked for a suspended sentence.

Lawyer Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad which is assisting the woman, told BBC News that "there were a number of bases for appealing the decision".

• Ayia Napa false rape claim accused 'unsupported'

He said those reasons included the court relying on a retraction statement which was given when no lawyer was present, which he said was a breach of European human rights law.

He also criticised the handling of the case by Judge Michalis Papathanasiou, who he said refused to hear any evidence about whether the alleged rape took place.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Prosecutors said the woman willingly wrote and signed a statement retracting her claims 10 days after making the initial allegations.

The woman told the court this happened under duress with the threat of arrest and that she had been denied access to a lawyer.

The trial began at the start of October - with the verdict delayed until now.

The judge said the teenager did not tell the truth and had tried to deceive the court with "convenient" and "evasive" statements.

He said she told investigators she made up the claims because she felt "ashamed" after finding out some of the Israelis had filmed her having sex on their mobile phones.

Twelve Israelis were arrested in connection with the allegations but were later released and returned home.

The Briton spent more than a month in prison before she was granted bail at the end of August, but had not been allowed to leave the island.

Following the verdict, the woman was heard saying to her lawyers "I thought you were asking for a fine", after Ritsa Pekri asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence.

Another of the woman's lawyers, Nicoletta Charalambidou, told reporters outside court that they were planning to appeal against the decision to Cyprus' Supreme Court, and if that fails they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

BBC Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly said the woman's family spent Christmas with her on the Mediterranean island.

Earlier this month, her mother told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme the past few months had been a "living nightmare".

She said her daughter, who was in Cyprus for a working holiday and had been due to start university after the summer, had post-traumatic stress disorder and the symptoms had become "much, much worse" since the alleged rape.

She also criticised what she saw as a lack of support from the authorities, saying that her daughter's human rights had been "violated the whole way through" the process.

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2019-12-30 01:42:47Z
52780528787582

Briton guilty over Ayia Napa false rape claim - BBC News

A 19-year-old British woman has been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, by Israeli youths.

She had been arrested after withdrawing an allegation that she was attacked by 12 young Israelis in a hotel in July.

The woman had said Cypriot police made her falsely confess to lying about the incident - but the police denied this.

She was found guilty on a charge of causing public mischief, at a court in Paralimni.

The judge at the Famagusta District Court adjourned sentencing until 7 January. She could face up to a year in jail, but her lawyers have asked for a suspended sentence.

• Ayia Napa false rape claim accused 'unsupported'

Prosecutors said she willingly wrote and signed a statement retracting her claims 10 days after making the initial allegations.

The woman told the court this happened under duress with the threat of arrest and that she had been denied access to a lawyer.

Twelve Israelis were arrested in connection with the allegations but were later released and returned home.

The Briton spent more than a month in prison before she was granted bail at the end of August, but had not been allowed to leave the island.

The trial began at the start of October - with the verdict delayed until now.

BBC Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly said the woman's family spent Christmas with her on the Mediterranean island.

He said that lawyers representing the woman had indicated they were willing to challenge the verdict as far as the European Court of Human Rights.

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2019-12-30 01:01:29Z
52780528787582