and minnie mouse expire today — along with the rights for a range of other films, books and music. countries around the world have been celebrating the new year with spectacular fire works. officials injapan have issued a major tsunami warning, after a powerful earthquake struck areas to the north coast of the main island of honshu. the tremor, which according to the us geological survey had a magnitude of 7.5, struck atjust after 4pm local time. it happened in the ishikawa area close to the town of anamizu. this camera caught the moment the earthquake happened. officials have urged people living in coastal areas to move to higher ground. we're getting reports that some major highways have been closed but the agency which administers japan's nuclear power plants says they have not been affected.

russia has also issued warnings for its far eastern sakhalin island — and is carrying out evacuations there. our correspondent in the region, jean mackenzie, is monitoring developments from seoul in south korea. the major tsunami warning has been issued for centraljapan, on the west coast, they are warning that waves of up to five metres could hit that run. at the moment there have been waves of up to two metres but officials are saying that there was waves could get bigger, we could see more of them, there have also been tsunami warnings for the surrounding prefectures including toyama. people living in these coastal areas have been told to evacuate immediately, to go inland to higher ground water go to the shelters, people are being warned not to try to go to the coast to see what is happening, but of course to the first waves that hit are often not the biggest, people

are often not the biggest, people are being warned that there could be there are still tremors taking place some of the concern is linked to people's memories of fukushima 2011, that the chief cabinet secretary has said that so far there are no irregularities at any nuclear power plants but is still a concern? absolutely. so, there are actually five nuclear power plants in this area which has received a major tsunami warning, now at the moment they are not reporting any damage or any rise in radiation levels surrounding those plants, but of course this could change as they are being monitored, and as you rightly say, i think many people will be thinking about that disaster back in 2011, one of the biggest nuclear power plant disaster is we have ever seen, in this huge tsunami that hit japan, the biggest earthquake and tsunamijapan has ever

japan, the biggest earthquake and tsunami japan has ever recorded, the magnitude of the earthquake today is 7.5, the one back in 2011 which caused fukushima was magnitude nine, so it is a smaller earthquake today and officials are monitoring the powerplants closely. haw and officials are monitoring the powerplants closely. how prepared are peeple? _ powerplants closely. how prepared are peeple? are — powerplants closely. how prepared are people? are the _ powerplants closely. how prepared are people? are the system - powerplants closely. how prepared are people? are the system is - are people? are the system is different from what they were then? japan is a country which is used to a lot of earthquakes and it has put a lot of earthquakes and it has put a good warning system in place and a good system of shelters and people are being told to go and seek those shelters now so people will know what to do. it is getting dark, it is just what to do. it is getting dark, it isjust gone six what to do. it is getting dark, it is just gone six o'clock in the evening and the authorities are saying to people, don't try to go back to your homes if it is getting dark, stick together and get to those higher ground areas, or to the shelters. we have seen some videos on social media of some initial damage, small houses that have collapsed, we haven't seen much more at this stage and we haven't had any reports yet of casualties or deaths.

jean mackenzie, thank you very much indeed. the start of the new year has brought further hamas rocket attacks and a warning by israel that the war in gaza could continue throughout 202a. air raid sirens were heard in tel aviv and israeli towns close to the gaza strip. there were no reports of any casualties or damage. earlier the israeli military has begun to withdraw some troops — especially reserve units — from the gaza strip. but it said its campaign against hamas was continuing. earlier i spoke to our middle east correspondent yolande knell in jerusalem. this was just after midnight local time, people have been seeing in the new year when a barrage of rockets including longer range ones were fired from gaza towards southern israel and reached tel aviv as well. they were intercepted many of them by israel's iron dome defence

system. we have seen the continuation of the bombardment of the gaza strip from israel as well, with nearly 50 people reported to have been killed in gaza city and still intense fighting going on in the centre and in the south of the gaza strip. news about a bit of a withdrawal from gaza from israeli troops, tell us about that?— about that? that's right. the israeli military _ about that? that's right. the israeli military confirming . about that? that's right. the | israeli military confirming that about that? that's right. the . israeli military confirming that it has begun to withdraw members of several of its combat brigades, of course, there were many reservists that were called up in the wake of the deadly 7th october attacks so this is being presented really as part of a preparation for a prolonged war and something that will also benefit the israeli economy because so many people had to leave theirjobs to go and serve in the military in gaza. now we have been hearing in recent weeks from military commanders that they are preparing to move into a new phase of the war where they would pull out

more troops that are based at the moment deep in the heart of the gaza strip, pulled more out towards the edge, they would be going for a more precise pinpoint operations in particular against hamas leaders and to try to free the remaining 100—plus that is believed to be held in gaza before hamas. i wonder if you could tell us what the situation is at the moment for children in gaza? new year, normally a time of peace, children are still living a nightmare which is coming up living a nightmare which is coming up to three months. 85% of the population are displaced, they are facing starvation, one out of every four households at risk, they cannot

have access to schools, to healthcare, and you have got the complete and targeted destruction of all healthcare facilities, there isn't a single hospital that is left functional in the north. and we see the public health emergencies coming up the public health emergencies coming up in the south and middle areas of gaza because of the significant overcrowding in the shelters and the lack of water and sanitation facilities. children are living through a nightmare. in practical terms, through a nightmare. in practical terms. what _ through a nightmare. in practical terms, what amount _ through a nightmare. in practical terms, what amount of- through a nightmare. in practical terms, what amount of food - through a nightmare. in practical terms, what amount of food and| terms, what amount of food and shelter and so on are you able to get in at the moment and what is the amount that you need to get in? it is not enough. no matter how many trucks we bring in, it is not enough, this is why it is critical that the commercial sector must be restored, you military and is alone we cannot keep 2.3 million people alive, and half of them are children. we also don't have access

to all of gaza. continued attempts to all of gaza. continued attempts to go to the north are blocked. we don't have access to all areas of central gaza because of the escalation in fighting and the conditions in the south right now do not, do not, allow us to mount a principal humanitarian action. you mention the _ principal humanitarian action. you mention the commercial sector, if there were some kind of pause in hostilities to allow aid in, if that were to happen, are there stockpiles ready which could move in quickly order you still need to get hold of the stuff? , , ., ., the stuff? there is still not enough stock. whatever _ the stuff? there is still not enough stock. whatever we _ the stuff? there is still not enough stock. whatever we bring - the stuff? there is still not enough stock. whatever we bring into - the stuff? there is still not enough| stock. whatever we bring into gaza it is not enough. you see the chaos, the desperation of the civilian population in the south, where people are taking things off trucks because they are simply desperate so we are not able to get any supplies to the north, we haven't got enough supplies to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people that are now sheltering in the south, and by the way sheltering in areas that cannot accommodate them and there is no infrastructure to keep them

alive, so, the situation is getting worse and worse every single day, the longer we wait for the definitive and immediate ceasefire, the higher the price that children are paying right now without lives and their futures.— and their futures. jason lee from save the children, _ and their futures. jason lee from save the children, thank - and their futures. jason lee from save the children, thank you - and their futures. jason lee from j save the children, thank you very much indeed forjoining us on bbc. authorities in ukraine say five people have been killed in separate russian attacks on 0desa and donetsk. 0ne official said there had been massive shelling. these are the latest in a series of air attacks by both sides over recent days. in his new year address volodymyr zelensky promised a big increase in the production of weapons in ukraine in the coming year. the ukrainian president said at least a million drones would be built. he added that f—16 fighter jets would be delivered by ukraine's western partners. i spoke earlier to our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse — here is the latest from him. we've had this end—of—year address from president zelensky where, as you'd expect, he looked back, he talked about the country receiving more than 150

military aid packages. he talked about ukraine surviving more than 6,000 air raids. and as you say, that was a tally added to last night with more than 90 russian drones being launched towards the south and west of the country, russian—installed officials and russian—installed officials in occupied donetsk also reported shelling, which is the reminder, a reminder of the fighting that very much continues. but it's been a week where we've seen deadly exchanges really in aerial bombardments. it's a tit—for—tat. but russia launched its biggest ever aerial bombardment on ukrainian cities earlier this week. and i think president zelensky is now starting to look inward. i think if you look at the words he used, he talked about ukraine manufacturing its own equipment. he's promised to build more than a million drones to use against russian forces. he's talked about, you know,

everyone having to work and fight in order to continue in its fight against ukraine. conversely, you have vladimir putin in his end—of—year address sounding very confident, thanking his brave soldiers and saying his government would never retreat. i don't think anyone in ukraine was expecting him to announce pulling out. but itjust shows you, i think at the moment where the winds of this war are blowing. here in the uk, police in london have launched a murder investigation following a fatal stabbing of a teenage boy. detectives say they were called to an incident shortly before midnight in the primrose hill area. a 16—year—old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. a male suspect has been arrested on suspicion of murder. the boy's family have been informed. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the president of taiwan has said china should respect the outcome of the island's election later this month. she urged the people of taiwan to be

alert to interference by china. beijing has cast the elections as a choice between war and peace, and that it was inevitable that taiwan would be reunified with mainland china. visa restrictions on people from kosovo have been lifted across almost the whole of the european union after a six—year delay. kosovo had been the only country in the western balkans whose citizens did not enjoy visa—free access to the eu. spain will continue to require visas, it's one of the member states that do not recognise kosovo's independence. the united states has called for the peaceful resolution of any election disputes in the democratic republic of congo. the statement was issued after president felix tshisekedi was declared the winner of the election in december. 0pposition parties have called for a re—run, alleging alleged widespread irregularities and fraud. alleging widespread irregularities and fraud. you're live with bbc news. a host of famous films, books, music and characters including

mickey and minnie mouse enter the public domain from today. this means disney will no longer enjoy an exclusive copyright over the earliest versions of the characters in the us. our culture reporter noor nanji has more. mickey whistles. it was the animation that launched the house of mouse. 1928's short film steamboat willie featured non—speaking versions of mickey and minnie. these early images are now available to the public in the us to use as they like. this is a deeply symbolic and long—awaited moment because of disney's perceived role and the extension of the copyright term, which prevented these properties from going into the public domain for an additional 20 years. but there are still limits on how you can use these images. what i cannot do is start making merchandise and the same kind of products that disney sells. and so if i'm selling t—shirts with mickey and minnie on it

and someone seeing those t—shirts thinks erroneously that they're getting a disney product when they're not — that's what trademark stops. other famous properties now available to the public include the silent film the circus by charlie chaplin, let's do it by cole porter, and the novels lady chatterley�*s lover by dh lawrence and orlando by virginia woolf. pooh, piglet, eeyore, we were friends for many years. but there are few successful examples of beloved old property being used for new original content. winnie the pooh, which is also owned by disney, was turned into an r—rated horrorflick, blood and honey, after entering the public domain in 2022. the movie was a far cry from the childhood book and, with that in mind, it will be in disney's interest to keep tight control over how their most iconic characters are used. noor nanji, bbc news. all around the world, people have

been welcoming the new year — let's take a look at some of the spectacular celebrations. we start in sydney where the harbour was, as usual, the setting for the fireworks. the harbour bridge was used to get the party going in what is always an eye—catching display. hong kong also set its fireworks against the waterfront. you can see here the display over victoria harbour. the city's bureau of tourism says the event was the largest ever held there. dubai used its most prominent landmark, the world's tallest building the burj khalifa, to stage a display mixing lights and fireworks. and paris also used a landmark the arc de triomphe to light up the arrival of 202a. the french capital

is set for a big year, it's due to host the olympics in a few months�* time. in north korea new year was a bit more of a political rally. the guest of honour at the stadium in pyongyang was kimjong un accompanied by his wife and with his daughter in a prominent position alongside him. the celebration featured dancing, ice skating, synchronised light displays, and, as is usually the case, there was a huge ovation among the audience for mr kim. and in new york's times square, the traditional ball drop to mark the start of the new year took place. it's been going on there for more than a century. some people had been queueing since 5am to get a spot at the party. meanwhile here in the uk, the river thames was the setting

for london's new year fireworks and tens of thousands of people gathered in edinburgh for the hogmany celebrations. greg mckenzie reports. big ben strikes midnight. it's europe's biggest fireworks display and as the countdown began more than 100,000 people watched along the river thames as the london skyline lit up and the sounds of big ben chimed. you can actually smell the gunpowder, the air, you can smell it. it's fireworks night here. big ben, the chimes have rung and we are now officially in 202a. best show on earth. amazing, indescribable, no words. so worth it, i am loving it so much. this is my first time for london, coming here and seeing this. i

i love it, it's so good. we are originally from the philippines but we live in liverpool, so hello to the scousers! this year's theme is unity, a message played from the king. 0ur society is woven from diverse threads. and the london mayor, who thanked those working in the nhs, the police and the fire service. he said the event took months to organise. we've been planning this sincejuly. there is a team of 75 who have been working over the last four days. one of our strengths as a city and country is our diversity. we will be celebrating our diversity

but also trying to bring communities together. pipes play. meanwhile in scotland, edinburgh's hogmanay celebrations saw revellers from all over the globe as it celebrated its 30th anniversary. a total of 85,000 people there alone. best new year's eve ever. new year's eve on princes — best new year's eve ever. new year's eve on princes street _ best new year's eve ever. new year's eve on princes street is _ best new year's eve ever. new year's eve on princes street is the _ best new year's eve ever. new year's eve on princes street is the place - eve on princes street is the place to be _ eve on princes street is the place to be. . , . # should old acquaintance be forgot #. and as those headed home singing auld lang syne and putting 2023 behind them, the focus now turns to a new day as 2024 is officially here. happy new year. greg mckenzie, bbc news. it's been two years since the james webb space telescope

was launched by nasa, and it's already wowed us with the stunning images that it's beaming back. it has also made some astonishing discoveries which are transforming our understanding of the universe. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle reports. the beauty of the cosmos captured by the james webb space telescope. from the tarantula nebula, where stars are born amidst the dust, to a dying star, the ring nebula, throwing off its outer layers as it runs out of fuel. and the phantom galaxy, with 100 billion stars amongst its spiral arms. these images are stunning, but they're also transforming what we thought we knew about the cosmos. the telescope can look back to the very dawn of the universe and it's revealing game—changing galaxies that are breaking all the rules. it can see the cosmos 13 and a half billion years ago, just after the big bang. scientists thought the first galaxies would be primitive structures but in fact

they're forming far faster and earlier than astronomers ever thought possible. we certainly thought that we'd be seeing things that were... i might call them fuzzy blobs of stars, collections of stars. and what we're actually seeing is fully—formed galaxies. and when you look at them, they have sort of perfect spiral arms. you can see that these galaxies in the early universe already have those mature structures. so in that sense, it's really changing scientific thinking. this isn't the only discovery that's shaking up the early cosmos. the telescope is also spotting a surprising abundance of giant black holes. black holes are scattered throughout the universe. this is the one at the centre of our own milky way. they form when a massive star dies and collapses in on itself. what we're now finding with jwst is surprisingly large black holes already existing quite early on in the universe's history, when there hasn't been time to go through this process of stars

forming and living their lives. so what that suggests is that actually these black holes are completely skipping the star formation part of the process. we're also seeing the unexpected closer—to—home bizarre planet—like objects nicknamed jumbos. this is the orion nebula, a star forming region in the milky way. but look a little closer and there's something incredibly strange. huge planet—like objects floating free, not tethered to any star. these tiny pairs of light here — they're called jupiter mass binary 0bjects orjumbos. and they've left astronomers scratching their heads. nobody predicted or expected you would see objects the size ofjupiter orbiting around each other, freely floating. we thought we would see singles, isolated ones, but to find binaries like this it's crazy, we don't expect to find the answer on day one, year one. this is a long journey for all of us now. so what's next for the james

webb space telescope? no doubt there will be more ethereal images, and it will start to look even further back in time as it continues its quest to detect the light from the very first stars to shine. rebecca morelle, bbc news. britain's defence secretary has said the uk won t hesitate to take further direct action against houthi rebels who are attacking ships in the red sea. it's been happening since the start of the war between israel and hamas, and writing in the telegraph newspaper grant shapps said that what was happening was a test for the international community. air strikes are reportedly among the actions being considered. live now to our security correspondent frank gardner, how big a step would it be for the uk to be involved in strikes on yemen? it would be a big step. the uk has already been in action in shooting down yemeni houthi drones that have been fired across the red

sea shipping. hms diamond, a type 45 destroyer, has used its missiles to shoot these down, but there is a huge imbalance here in terms of cost. these missiles that the royal navy and the us are using cost over £1 million each time they are fired. the houthi drones only cost about £15,000, and they've got a lot of them, they are supplied by iran, primarily, although iran denies this, but it would be a big step in escalation and i think the worry here, the dilemma, for the us and the uk, is that they are very reluctant to get drawn into this conflict because they don't want to be seen as taking sides on israel's side, oranybody�*s be seen as taking sides on israel's side, or anybody�*s side in the israel—gaza conflict, because that is how the houthis will depict this, they are saying, we are doing everything we can to support our brothers in palestine, as they put it, they see themselves as allies of hamas, and they are trying to

interdict any shipping they suspect of visiting israeli ports or having any israeli commercial links. a lot of the shipping they have attacked has had no israeli links whatsoever and it is blatant sea piracy what they are doing, they have hijacked a ship called the galaxy leader, a big container ship, they have kidnapped the crew, turned them into a tourist attraction, so it is a problem for global trade and it is a dilemma for the us and britain.— the us and britain. frank gardner, thank ou the us and britain. frank gardner, thank you very _ the us and britain. frank gardner, thank you very much _ the us and britain. frank gardner, thank you very much indeed. - the us and britain. frank gardner, thank you very much indeed. just l the us and britain. frank gardner, | thank you very much indeed. just a reminder of our breaking news, a tsunami warning after a powerful earthquake struck honshu injapan. stay with us on bbc news. hello, i think most of us are ready for a bit of a change in weather typer for a bit of a change in weather type, decemberwas for a bit of a change in weather type, december was pretty dull and

wet. also rather wet too, across the uk, with above—average rainfall quite widely, but wettest of all, eastern parts of scotland. we saw as much as three times our normal december rainfall. now there's more wind and rain to come over the next few days. but that change i mentioned — it could be turning drier. also colder, and an increased chance of wintry weather as we go from late week onwards. now, out there at the moment, there's a bit of sunshine around for new year's day walks, but the morning sunshine gives way to cloud and rain across parts of southern england, wales and northern ireland during the rest of this afternoon. winds also picking up here, lightest winds towards the north east of scotland. we're still on the chilly side. temperatures around 3 to 6 degrees for many, but most parts of the uk will see temperatures, again, above average

for the start of the new year. if you're on the move, though, this evening, more rain arrives, some heavy and persistent rain, lots of surface water and spray on the roads across much of england, wales and northern ireland as we head in towards the evening. that wetter weather spreads into scotland and after a brief frost here, we will see temperatures low enough for some snow on the hills. temperatures will lift, though, for many, through the night, and by the end the night into tomorrow morning, a pretty mild start across the south, 9 to 11 degrees. warmer by night, again, than it should be by day. but a wet and windy day to come across some southern areas, particularly during in the morning. that rain spilling its way northwards earlier than we saw through today, and with stronger winds, maybe a little bit of brightness later. morning rain and mountain snow across scotland edges its way northwards towards 0rkney and eventually shetland. it does mean many parts of scotland brighten up. further rain at times in northern ireland. again, a mild one. but a windy end to the day, particularly across the south and the far north. rain at times across much

of northern england, into the midlands, which will eventually push out in towards the continent to give some pretty stormy weather here, as we head through into wednesday. a quieter area of low pressure moves in and it won't be quite as windy. still breezy though, through shetland and through some english channel coasts. but there'll be varying amounts of cloud, some sunshine, a scattering of showers, mainly to the north and west.

shakespeare's first folio now on bbc news... the arts interviews: david tennant this is a present for you from the british library. that's amazing. i've just handed david tennant a new copy of a very old book. well, it is fascinating to see it all as it was. first published in 1623,