this is bbc news, i'm gavin esler. the headlines at 103m. at least 39 people have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a packed nightclub in the turkish city of istanbul. the terrorist first shot and killed a police officer at the front and then he fired at people in the venue who were only there to have fun on new year's eve. this is the scene live. the turkish president has called it a heinous attack. buckingham palace says the queen will not attend a new year's day church service at sandringham because of a heavy cold. heightened security and thousands of extra police as revellers welcome in the new year across the uk. in her new year's message theresa may calls for 2017 to be a year of unity following the vote to leave the eu. as we face the opportunities ahead of us, our shared interests and ambitions can bring us together. also in the next hour, technical problems hit the london ambulance service on one

of its busiest nights of the year. it's understood that the computer system crashed, meaning calls had to be recorded by pen and paper for several hours. and at 10.30am, witness looks back on five moments in history with people who were there. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the turkish president says the attack on an istanbul nightclub in which 39 people died was designed to create chaos in the country. police in turkey are hunting for a gunman who opened fire in a packed nightclub in istanbul killing 39 people and injuring many more. 16 foreigners are among the dead and around 70 other people are being treated in hospital. the gunman entered the popular reina nightclub and started shooting at about

i.30am local time. some reports say he was dressed in a santa outfit. the attack happened in the ortakoy district during new year's eve celebrations. around 700 people were thought to be at the club at the time. sheref ishler from the bbc turkish service reports. a new year celebration turned into a massacre in turkey's largest city, istanbul. this time targeting a popular nightclub around 1:15am local time. reina is located on the banks of the bosporus in the trendy 0rtakoy district. it was hosting hundreds of people for a new year celebration. at least one assailant, believed to be dressed in a santa claus costume, randomly opened fire after shooting and killing a police officer at the door. media say some guests jumped into the cold water of the bosporus to escape. the confusion of those inside still visible after. translation: i had my back turned,

my husband suddenly told me to get on the floor. a man ran inside, two or three people started firing. then there was this fog. i fainted at that moment until special forces took us out of there. they shot randomly, there were bodies lying on the floor. the governor of istanbul has called it a terrorist attack. translation: at around 1:15am, a terrorist attacked an entertainment venue using a firearm. the terrorist first shot and killed a police officer at the front and then fired at people in the venue who were only there to have fun on new year's eve. 2016 has been a terrible year for turkey. the eu candidate country has seen over 15 attacks and an attempted coup. some of the attacks have been blamed on so—called islamic state and some on kurdish pkk militants. according to turkish state tv, more than 200 people have lost their lives.

public gatherings for new year's eve were already restricted with around 17,000 police on duty and the country already nervous. but, just as it entered 2017, turkey was reminded once again that tight security cannot always prevent such a determined attack. this update was given on the attacker. according to the information received from the police, there was one gunman, not multiple gunman. he was wearing a coat and trousers, he went inside as he opened fire, and we were told he was wearing different clothes inside and he tried to get out. our police

forces continue to assess this information. it's not fully confirmed but i believe three of the five turks killed in the end attack we re five turks killed in the end attack were employees, we are carrying out a study to confirm this. we will go to our with water in istanbul in the next hour. buckingham palace has said the queen will not attend a new year's day church service at sandringham because of a lingering heavy cold. she missed the christmas day service for the first time in many years. we can speak to our correspondent richard galpin who is in sandringham for us. what more do we know? we have had a statement from buckingham palace over the past hour or so, and they are saying that she cannot attend because she is still recuperating from this lingering cold. they are describing it as a heavy lingering cold. she has not been seen in

public now for about 12 days. before christmas and she had to delay her trip here the sandringham by a day because she had this heavy cold. the duke of edinburgh also not feeling well. so she delayed by a day, then flew here the following day, and then was expected to attend the church service on christmas day here, and was not able to do that. we have been waiting for news to see if she would be able to attend this service today and buckingham palace is saying it is not possible because she is still recuperating. we have a search has been up and about, there is no indication of their being any other more serious illness involved in this. peter hunt is here. recovering from a heavy cold, half the country is doing that, but there is inevitably concern and interest about the queen. it is a decision she will not have been taking lightly, she is supreme governor of

the church of england, she has a deep personalfaith, she had talked about god being an anchor in her life but this is an exercise of caution from a 90—year—old monica. she's feeling miserable with a heavy cold, —— monaco. we are assured it is not flu or pneumonia. if you stay indoors, in limit the risk of it getting worse. she is still receiving papers over the christmas period. she is a voluntary prisoner within her own home, a very nice thing to be a prison in which she has not got out to her 20,000 acre private estate. does the buckingham palace staff hate this kind of speculation? we have been suggesting, people get colds, that is it, but the media, including ourselves, we'll go on and on about it. in an idealworld, any official with any public figure would be much happier if they were there at church so we were happier if they were there at church so we were looking at pictures of

her going to church, so this would disappear. but this is the reality of the head of state who is elderly and has a cold. they are keeping her inside, she has decided to stay inside, she has decided to stay inside to ensure that it does not get worse. thank you. there was tightened security across the uk and around the world as events took place to celebrate the start of 2017. around 3,000 police officers were on patrol in london, as leanne brown reports. big ben chimes. the sky was lit up as big ben struck midnight. tens of thousands of people lined the thames to watch the new year spectacular in london, but among the crowded streets was a huge police presence. we always seek to learn the lessons from horrific events around the world, whether in berlin, nice or paris, last year. we can't allow the bad guys to spoil our way of life. happy new year, london! it wasn't just london with heightened security. with memories of the berlin

lorry attack still fresh, security was also stepped up at celebrations across germany. new year's eve passed peacefully in australia, sydney was the first major city to start proceedings with a glittering display over their iconic harbour bridge. in dubai, fireworks shot from the sides of the world's tallest skyscraper in a lavish display. and in scotland, partygoers welcomed 2017 with the world famous hogmanay street party in edinburgh. fantastic, yes. brilliant, isn't it? first time here, absolutely enthralling. it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. you know how to party up here! heavy protection once again in america where up to 2 million people are thought to have joined the new year's eve ball in time square.

but some regions of the world are still waiting for that much anticipated stroke of midnight. theresa may has called for 2017 to be a year of ‘unity and opportunity‘ following the eu referendum, which she says has exposed the divisions in britain. in her new year message, the prime minister said she would work to secure a brexit deal for everyone, whether they'd voted to leave or remain. we are no longer the 52% who voted leave and the 48% who voted remain, but one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future. with me is our political correspondent chris mason. 0ne understands why the prime minister of all others wants to speakfor all of minister of all others wants to speak for all of this, but there are

not just divisions within speak for all of this, but there are notjust divisions within the main and leave, but in the camps as well. there is not a prime minister in history who has not attached the term unity candidate to themselves, but when you get into the detail, there are lies the challenge. she talks about his desire to represent the 100% rather than the 52 and the 1:8, but the 100% rather than the 52 and the a8, but when you start getting into that detail, there are bound to be divisions. keir starmer, the shadow brexit secretary for labour, is in the times today saying that there is going to have to be some sort of accommodation within the brexit steel that recognises that immigration was a massive issue for millions of people. when you look at the detail of that, you get a sense of the challenge the prime minister will face an under negotiation table. do you have a restriction that means that people coming to the uk have to have a job before they can get here? could that's the

trade—off for favourable access to the single market? there is a lot of detail to be worked through and this will only be the beginning of the process. there will be a couple of months of shadow—boxing between the triggering of article 50 and then there will be a lot of detail talked about. we have been talking about how the british people ask article about political leaders and politicians as a class, they are down there with journalists and other lowlife, this prime minister, there must be a degree of sympathy for the task ahead because there is a monumental task. yes, for the task ahead because there is a monumentaltask. yes, you have seen previous prime ministers reflecting on that, and other senior figures who have held big jobs in government, the task facing theresa may is colossal. and plenty of those who have spent their lifetimes

campaigning for brexit and think it will be terrific for the uk acknowledge that there is still challenge in the process of untangling ourselves from an institution we have been wedded to fourth—generation. so it is undeniably huge and she does that with a very small majority. yet in the opinion polls she appears to the media mars —— she appears to be1 million miles ahead of labour, but she has said repeatedly she does not wa nt she has said repeatedly she does not want a general election any time $0011. want a general election any time soon. on she battles. 0ne economist in the —— columnist in the telegraph says that 2017 could be a yawn—a—thon, he thinks that 2016 was the year of the big headlines, and 2017 will be about the detail which is not necessarily that exciting. hgppy is not necessarily that exciting. happy new year! anti-! -- and to

you! let's go back to turkey and that horrific attack in the nightclub in which 39 people died and many more we re which 39 people died and many more were injured. the security forces have screened of the area. let's talk to our correspondence in istanbul. bring as up—to—date as far as you know about what has been happening the few at last hours. the whole area around the nightclub, where we are, close to the area, it has been sealed off by the police. 0n has been sealed off by the police. on my way here i saw several police vehicles, armed policeman and also quite heavy security presence. this is how we start the new year and also we know some of the victims we re also we know some of the victims were identified and as far as we

know, 21 people were identified who have been killed in yesterday's brutal attack. 15 of them are foreigners. still it is unclear which nationalities they are. they are still trying to understand who those people are, their names and other details. i can tell that we are not, in turkey, making a good beginning to 2017, after experiencing quite a chore matic 2016. several bomb attacks and casualties. we have left those behind. turkey has seen so many attacks on security forces but this is very different. this is an attack on the way of life of many people,

presumably many young people, in istanbul. similar to what happened in paris, in the bataclan. it must bea in paris, in the bataclan. it must be a real shock that people celebrating a big event, new year, are murdered in this way. it is. a chilly most of the people who have been talking on turkish tv have been emphasising that fact that it is an attack on a certain lifestyle. it is attack on a certain lifestyle. it is a surprise because there were terrorist attacks in turkey before, most of them were suicide bombers, planted bombs, this is the first time someone has got into a place and just shooting people, just killing people by randomly. this is quite traumatising. but also it is a strong message from the politicians, but i can tell the first day of

turkey, the mood in general in this country is not getting better because people are thinking that their lifestyle is under threat. ices have threatened turkey only weeks ago. —— isis. so—called islamic state made a threat against turkey in an audio message. those things and messages put people in a difficult position. the streets were entered this morning, a hangover from yesterday and also a concern about what is going to happen next, given that the attacker is still at large at the moment. the headlines at 10:17am. at least 39 people have been killed after a gunman opened fire in that attack in in nightclub in istanbul.

buckingham palace says the queen will not attend the new year's day church service at sandringham because she is still recovering from a heavy cold. theresa may has used her new year message to call for 2017 to be a year of unity following the vote to leave the eu. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's kat. chelsea will start the new year still six points clear at the top of the premier league table, although they were made to work hard before beating stoke. one more win and they'll set a new premier league record. patrick gearey reports. antonio conte needs new no new year's champagne. this is the intoxicating effect of 13 straight premier league wins. mixed with no little adrenaline. chelsea had to work for their record. stoke had pegged them back once, before willian made it 2—1. there was then a manic minute. first, 35 year old peter crouch, of pensionable age

in the premier league, scored his first premier league goal since may 2015, a goal that hadn't been fully digested when chelsea provided the next course 75 seconds later. willian again, costa made it four. chelsea level arsenal's premier league record. who can stop them? liverpool are nearest right now. what was reckoned to be a feast of attacking football against manchester city produced a one goal, this was it, scored by georginio wijnaldum. it gavejurgen klopp victory over his old acquaintance pep guardiola. manchester united may not have given up on the chase although middlesbrough were some hurdle. rod leadbetter gave them the lead at old trafford. none of the complicated stuff would work so united went simple, long ball, header, anthony martial. still five minutes left. united only needed one before juan mata picked out paul pogba. a united turnaround, a fitting way to mark sir alex ferguson's 75th birthday. a few miles north but a world away our burnley, quietly astonishing in their first season

back in the premier league. andre gray's hat—trick helped see off struggling sunderland. who needs champagne when you have this? elsewhere, the champions leicester beat west ham. west brom won at southampton, hal robson—kanu scoring the winner on his first premier league start in over three—and—a—half years. and swansea lost again, 3—0 at home to bournemouth. swansea are still bottom of the table and in a bid to improve their predicament, they're set to appoint former derby boss paul clement as their new manager. he'd be their third this season. he's likely to be at their match against crystal palace on tuesday. wins for both arsenal and tottenham today would push manchester city out of the top four. tottenham are at watford in the 1.30 kick off, while arsenal host crystal palace at a. i'm sure in the second part of the season, when everybody is willing to go for it, it's not any more wait and see, it's go and take now. i'm confident that in the second part of the season, you will see spectacular games,

but we have not completely produced. celtic start the new year with a 19 point lead at the top of the scottish premiership after coming from behind to beat rangers 2—1 in the old firm derby. scott sinclair with the winner. elsewhere, hamilton and motherwell drew. dundee are up to eighth after beating stjohnstone 3—0. partick and kilmarnock drew 0—0 but liam boyce scored twice as ross county beat bottom side inverness 3—2. there was a remarkable comeback in rugby union's premiership, exeter were losing 11—nil at half time against bath but they then scored 17 unanswered points to win it. james short with two late tries. munster are now five points clear at the top of the pro 12, after beating connacht. and wing rory 0'laughlin scored twice as leinster moved into second place with a 22—7 victory over ulster. there were wins, too, for glasgow and edinburgh.

i found the dow finished an injury plagued 2016 on a high, beating david gough and in straight sets to win the world tennis champion chipped in abu dhabi. —— david coffin. he will now head to lisbon ahead of the australian open. sir andy murray came third. more the —— more sport on the bbc website. the london ambulance service says technical problems in the early hours of this morning meant staff in the control room were forced to log emergency calls by hand, delaying response times and treatment. the computer difficulties on what is usually the busiest night of the year began at half past midnight and lasted until 5.15am. with me is our correspondent jon ironmonger. do we know what happened? the

computer system went down at 12:30am and stayed down until 5:15am. so control room staff had to log emergency calls manually. essentially they had to write them down on bits of paper and handle the bits of paper to someone who would prioritise the calls and assign ambulances. a spokeswoman told me that inevitably this delayed response times to emergencies because it took longer to log and process calls. we also note that the digital automated tracking system of the ambulances around london went down as a result of this crash as well. so they had to use the old—fashioned method well. so they had to use the old —fashioned method of well. so they had to use the old—fashioned method of getting a map book out and using radiocommunication to keep track of where all of their were and how they

we re where all of their were and how they were progressing with the jobs overnight. 0n were progressing with the jobs overnight. on top of that, drivers had to operate without satellite navigation systems but they usually have. all of this at 1230 in the morning, half an hour after the new year celebrations with hundreds of thousands of alcohol fuelled pa rtygoers thousands of alcohol fuelled partygoers on the streets of london. we don't know how many emergencies the ambulances attended, because the computer system was down. but i am told it was certainly in the hundreds. presumably they are trained for this that hasn't happened before? is this a frequent occurrence of very rare? the computer system is ta ken occurrence of very rare? the computer system is taken down deliberately for a short time to perform updates. incidents like this are perform updates. incidents like this a re pretty perform updates. incidents like this are pretty rapid one happened in november. that was just three hours, not five hours and staff are not under the same pressure they were in

last night. there has been a statement which i shall read, they say that their staff are trained to cope with the situations and continue to prioritise their response to patients with life—threatening conditions using the same triage system as usual. they also have additional commissions on duty to offer advice if needed. an investigation will be carried out into what caused this problem but clearly a worrying incident at a critical time of year that potentially put many londoners at risk. the archbishop of canterbury has also spoken of the divisions caused by the eu referendum. he's urging reconciliation, as our religious affairs correspondent martin bashir reports. surrendering to the demands of television lighting, the archbishop of canterbury prepares to deliver his new year's message in a familiar setting. justin welby returned to coventry, the city where he started out as a clergyman. a city whose wartime suffering and forgiveness, he says, serves as an example to the nation.

the story of the city says so much that is true about britain at its best, about our courage standing up to tyranny, how we stand alongside the suffering and defeated, how we stand for human dignity and hope. the archbishop visited a drop—in centre for refugees, people he called a blessing to our way of life. and he drew his message to a close by focusing on an issue that has divided so many parts of the country. the eu referendum was a tough campaign, and it has left division. but i know that if we look at our roots, our history and our culture in the christian tradition, if we reach back into what is best in this country, we will find a path towards reconciling the differences that have divided us. from coventry to canterbury, the archbishop believes that looking back will only help us prepare for the future. in his new year's speech

the north korean leader kimjong—un says his country is in the final stages of developing long range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. in a televised speech he said north korea had soared as a nuclear power in 2016. pyongyang has conducted two nuclear tests in the past year, triggering international sanctions. a 12—year—old girl has been killed in a hit and run incident in greater manchester. it happened last night in 0ldham. a second girl, who's 11, is in a critical condition in hospital. police want to trace the driver of a black volkswagen golf. laws come into force today meaning that bankers, lawyers or advisers who help people to evade tax will face much stiffer penalties. anyone found guilty will be liable for the full amount of tax which went unpaid, or at least £3,000. but critics say that revenue and customs doesn't have the necessary resources to pursue offenders. a new 12—sided £1 coin will enter

circulation in march. the current coin will cease to be legal tender come 0ctober. the royal mint says that after 30 years, the coin needs changing to protect it from counterfeiters. new designs have been unveiled for the £2 coin and the 50 pence piece. hull has started its year as the uk city of culture. £32 million has been spent on a year—long programme. at this afternoon's opening event, eight city—centre buildings will be turned into giant screens which will be used to retell the city's history. here's our arts correspondent, colin paterson. after three years of planning and preparation, the waiting is over. hull is the uk's city of culture. one of its most famous residents can hardly contain himself. it's lifted up the spirits of people. you can rebuild and regenerate and build the confidence of the people by culture, and the city of culture is what is now happening to hull.

£32 million is being spent on a year—long programme of events which includes hosting the turner prize. what are you hoping the city of culture will achieve for hull? i want nationally and internationally people to see that this is a fantastic city with great stories, great people, and a lot to offer. because every city deserves its moment in the limelight. and 2017 is ours. it all starts at apm this afternoon, when buildings will be used as giant screens to retell hull's history. with one turning hollywood into hullywood. people here have recreated famous movie scenes. what are you really looking forward to about the year? the 1st of january, looking at the fireworks, i don't even have to move out of my room if i don't want to. i can stay and look at my living room window. it's amazing. it's not just about looking through the window but putting hull in the shop window. the aim, 1 million

extra visitors in 2017. let's see what the new year weather has in store for us. coming in this morning, it was pretty wet and miserable. hgppy happy new year. a completely mixed fixture across the new year. it is a day to get out and enjoy a refreshing war, you can do that in scotland, you have to —— walks, you can do that in scotland but further south, it is a more familiar picture here, it is a day for waterproof and wellies. the rain is easing in west wales, devon and cornwall later on