this is bbc news, i'm gavin esler. the headlines at midday. at least 39 people have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a packed nightclub in the turkish city of istanbul. turkish authorities are still searching for the gunmen. 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. the royal family are attending church at sandringham. buckingham palace says the queen will not attend a new year's day church service at sandringham because of a heavy cold. the 12—year—old girl who was killed in a hit and run incident in greater manchester has been named as helina kotlarova. also in the next hour, technical problems hit the london ambulance service on one of its busiest nights of the year.

in halfan in half an hour we will look back at a momentous year in science, one which sought to impeach return from space. —— which sought to 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. 15 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 500 people were thought to be at the club at the time. counting down to 2017, 500 revellers came to the nightclub to celebrate the new year in istanbul. a little more than one hour later this cctv footage appears to show the lone gunmen approaching the nightclub. this unconfirmed footage shown on turkish media appears to show

footage inside the club, the gunmen a p pa re ntly footage inside the club, the gunmen apparently in a santa suit. at least 39 people were killed, including 15 foreign nationals. dozens more are being treated for their injuries this 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 a fault, ifainted until special forces took us out of there. they shot randomly, bodies were lying on the floor. turkey has suffered repeated terrorist attacks in crowded spaces over the past year. there were also attacks on state and military targets, bringing the death toll in 2016 to 250. kurdish militants and the so—called islamic state were to blame. not clear who was responsible for this act of terrorism. translation: he went

inside as he opened fire, we were told he was wearing different clothes inside, and he tried to get out. 0ur police forces continue to assess this information. in his new year's message before the attack the president told the nation it was fighting a new war of independence. in a statement since he has vowed not to give the terrorists. 2017 has begun in the most tragic ways in istanbul. carnage in a beautiful location, more innocent lives taken. this lets go live to pictures coming in from istanbul. you can see the scene, a lot of people milling about, the police and security services lodgers cordoning off the

area, but putting those sheets around it, to keep people from having a look at what is going on inside. as they try to piece together what went on in the attack. we will go live to our correspondent later in istanbul. the queen did 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. the palace said the queen was still recovering. we can speak to our correspondent richard galpin who is in sandringham for us. a pretty miserable day so far there? cold and wet. 0ne a pretty miserable day so far there? cold and wet. one of the reasons why the queen decided not to attend the new year service. we know that duke of edinburgh was there, prince edward, and the princess royal, with theirfamilies. the edward, and the princess royal, with their families. the queen was

edward, and the princess royal, with theirfamilies. the queen was not there. buckingham palace said it was a precautionary measure. that the queen does not feel ready to attend church at the moment, she is still recuperating from this lingering heavy cold. they are emphasising there is no sense of undue concern about her health. she is 90 years old, many illnesses. 0ne like this is bound to be of concern. 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. chris mason says the prime minister

faces a challenging year ahead in the brexit negotiations. a colossal challenge she faces as prime minister. the detail is what follows this new year, as opposed to the revelations and headlines following the referendum campaign. how does she go about managing to negotiate a deal that satisfies the country and as many people as possible. some people going for a hard brexit, complete breakaway from the european union, others saying there will have to be some sort of arrangement and deal that can accommodate the desire for many who voted leave who wanted something done about immigration, as against the clamour from business to give us access to the european markets. that process will begin with the triggering of article 50, then the nitty—gritty detail of trying to work out how the arrangement will look.

also a story in the sunday times about isis planning a chemical weapons attack in the uk? very striking headline, the desire to plot a chemical attack. based on an interview with ben wallace, the security minister. he suggested the headline was rather overdone. the quotes in the article are accurate, he says it is an aspiration of islamic state to carry out some sort of chemical attack. there was a cell in morocco successfully raided where various chemical weapons and the chemicals required to make them were there. obviously, you would expect a group like islamic state to aspire to try and kill as many people in the west as they could possibly do so. whether by chemical attack, or a marauding gun attack, it is not news, but it is quite striking when it is out of the mouth of the security minister.

he talks about the enemy within, traitors recruited by our enemies, working within government, or places where they could do damage. the insider threat is real, it can be exploited, there are people trying to do that we speak. hard to get in the front door, they try to get someone inside. the big message, he was telling me, in a small way we can all do our bit. cyber security is a massive threat. really basic things like changing passwords very often, having adequate virus protection software is very crucial. not always from terrorists, but those who try and send us false invoices from companies that are not what they purport to be. the 12—year—old girl who was killed in a hit and run incident

in greater manchester has been named as helina kotlarova. she was holding hands with her friend when they were hit by a car last night in 0ldham. the second girl, zaneta krokova, is in a critical condition in hospital. police want to trace the driver of a black volkswagen golf. let's get more on our top story, the deaths of 39 people in that nightclub attack in istanbul. perhaps you could bring us up to date with the latest on what has been happening? we said earlier, there were foreigners who were killed in yesterday's brutal attack. the total number was 39, 15 of them we re the total number was 39, 15 of them were foreigners. amongst those identified. we now know the

nationalities, they are coming from lebanon, saudi arabia, morocco, libya, and israel. these people came to istanbul as tourists, most probably. wanting to spend a great night ina probably. wanting to spend a great night in a great luxurious restau ra nt, night in a great luxurious restaurant, looking over the bosporus river. unfortunately they lost their lives yesterday. to a brutal attack. we can still say the attacker is at large. we have not heard about what kind of operation is under way, the interior minister and officials confirmed there is a manhunt in the city. you can see the traces of the manhunt. roads have been blocked. traffic has been quite

slow in some parts. the police are controlling vehicles. now we are expecting to hear more details, to get a clearer picture about what happened last night in its brutal attack. when you read out the foreign casualties, you remind us of what a great city you are in. people from all over the middle east, all over europe come to have fun in turkey. this was an attack on people just wanting to live a normal life? it is quite heartbreaking. i want to remind you at last year's end and this year ‘s's beginning, people attacked at the heart of istanbul's is. iam attacked at the heart of istanbul's is. i am standing just in front of the bosporus bridge, connecting asia and europe. such a cliche, but the

beautiful cliche. whilst asia and europe are connected in one city, you are getting different cultures, different backgrounds. gathering different backgrounds. gathering different people in the same place. now it is quite heartbreaking to see those people are getting killed in dispute city. we should keep them alive. this is the main point. we should keep alive our own people and the tourists. the headlines on bbc news: at least 39 people have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a packed nightclub in istanbul. turkish authorities are still searching for the gunman. buckingham palace says the queen did not attend a new year's day church service at sandringham because she is still

recovering from a heavy cold. police looking for a hit—and—run driver. the 12—year—old girl who was killed in a hit and run incident in greater manchester has been named as helina kotlarova. the second girl, zaneta krokova, is in a critical condition in hospital. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's kat. happy new year again. liverpool manager jurgen klopp says he will not be thinking about winning the premier league until much closer to the end of the season. his side are six points behind chelsea after beating manchester city 1—0 at anfield. a georginio wijnaldum header. we have very difficult games, against sunderland, they had not the best result before the game. that will be the next difficult game for us. i don't care. when it stops. we need to be ready

for the next fight, and we will be. antonio conte says the winning streak is meaningless unless they go on claim the premier league title. they equalled arsenal's record with their 13th win in a row. stoke made them work for it, levelling twice. willian scored twice and costa put away the fourth to put them six points clear at the top of the table. jose mourinho has said anthony martial needs to listen to him, and not his agent, amid rumours the striker could move to sevilla. he scored only his fifth goal of the season. united came from behind with paul pogba scoring the winner. anthony needs to listen to me, and not his agent. he has to listen to me, in training every day. the feedback i get to try and improve players. martial, i read every day

in the newspaper, he goes to sevilla, goes on loan, he's not happy. he needs to listen to me. he is a player with amazing conditions to be a top player. 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 4. 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. 70,000 people watched the big bash match between the two melbourne science, the renegades and the sta rs. science, the renegades and the stars. kevin pietersen made this terrific catch, despite declaring he was rubbish in the field. this one suggest otherwise. the renegades reaching 171—11. cameron white with a hefty 64. after reaching 171—4. cameron white with a hefty 64. after rain interrupted play, the stars were set 159 to win. three batsmen were run out. adam zampa breaking his back in

frustration. the stars falling short. that is all the sport for 110w. 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. the computer system went down at 12:30am and stayed down until 5:15am. that was because of a technical error. all of the logging systems they usually used to log calls and emergencies went down with it. control room staff recorded everything by hand with pieces of paper, giving them to staff members, who had to prioritise who they and

how. it meant the real—time web—based mapping of ambulance crews around london went down with it. staff had to rely on radio communications only. it meant that ambulance drivers had to input locations of where they are going to go to manually into their sat—nav systems. all of these problems on new year's eve, the busiest night of the year. half an hour after the celebrations. 100,000 or more partygoers on the streets of london. a lot of drinking. typically a night when they are under a great deal of pressure. we don't know how many emergencies they responded to because the system was down. i'm told it was hundreds. they have released a statement. they said staff were trained to handle these sort of problems. they continue to prioritise response

to patients with life—threatening conditions using the triage system. 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. reports from indonesia say at least 23 people have been killed

after a ferry caught fire near the capital, jakarta. the vessel was carrying about 100 people to a resort island when the fire broke out. it's believed a short circuit on a power generator was responsible. 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 4pm 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. a very mixed picture, this shot

summing it up. dark clad bringing rainfor summing it up. dark clad bringing rain for some, little bit of sunshine. you can just rain for some, little bit of sunshine. you canjust make out a cold wind. sleet and snow flurries across scotland and north east england. grey and wet start of the year a cross england. grey and wet start of the year across east wales, much of southern england and the midlands. heavy bursts of rain over higher ground, some snow mixed in. temperatures at their highest in the south—east corner, maybe double figures, 4—7dc. cold wind making known. chasing the rain away, lingering through the english channel overnight. some showers in scotla nd channel overnight. some showers in scotland and northern england. widespread frost into monday morning. ben —— bank holiday for many of you. if you have delayed your new year ‘s walk, tomorrow looking better. dry and sunny, if you coastal showers, but feeling

cold and the wind. —— aa few coastal showers. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: turkish president erdogan says an attack on a nightclub in istanbul was designed to create chaos in the country. 39 people were killed, including 15 foreign nationals. there was one gunman, not multiple gunmen. 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. the royal family has attended a church service in sandringham this morning, but the queen wasn't with them because of a heavy cold. 12—year—old helina kotlarova has died, and herfriend zaneta krokova is in a critical condition, after a hit and run incident in greater manchester. they were holding hands when they were hit by a car. theresa may has called for unity in her new year message to the country, and said last year's eu referendum was "divisive". the london ambulance service says there were technical difficulties in its control room in the early hours of the morning, meaning staff had to log calls by pen and paper.

rebecca morelle looks back on the year in science — from british astronaut tim peake's adventures in space, to a discovery that will transform our understanding of the universe. that's review 2016: the year in science. from the mission of a lifetime, this was the year british astronaut tim peake spent six months in space.