this is bbc news. the headlines at seven. cctv footage shows the moment gunmen launched an attack on a nightclub in istanbul killing 39 people. moments earlier, revellers were welcoming in 2017 and in the chaos, the gunmen managed to escape. mourners lay flowers for a 12—year—old girl who was killed by a hit—and—run driver in oldham. her 11 year old cousin remains seriously injured in hospital. the royal family attends a new year's day church service in sandringham, but without the queen, who still has a heavy cold. also in the next hour. hull officially becomes the uk's city of culture. thousands of people watched the opening installation ahead of a giant fireworks display later this evening. and a goal of the season contender helps arsenal to victory at the emirates. we will have that and the rest of the action in cat—macro

sports day. —— sportsday. good evening and welcome to bbc news. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. police in turkey are hunting for a gunman who opened fire at a nightclub packed with new year revellers — killing at least 39 people. another 69 people were wounded — four of them critically — in what istanbul's governor described as a "terrorist attack". a police manhunt is underway after the attacker left his gun before "taking advantage of the chaos" and escaping the scene. the shooting marks a bloody end to a year which saw ankara and istanbul targeted by several attacks carried out by the so—called islamic state group, and separately, kurdish rebels. mark lowen reports from istanbul. the mood was of celebration, one of istanbul's top nightclubs, reina, counting down to 2017. five, four, three, two... they expected a night ofjoy, a fresh start — not this.

less than two hours into the new year, a gunman opened fire outside, bullets ricocheting as he shot a policeman and a civilian. inside, his killing spree continue — turks and foreigners murdered, others jumping into the freezing bosporus to escape. dozens more were injured, some critically. the gunman is still at large. witnesses spoke of the horror. 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. today, the scene was heavily guarded. too late for the victims of last night's security breach. there's still no word of who was behind it. well, this is as close as we can get to what was one of turkey's most renowned nightclubs, which has become

a scene of mass murder. turkey is now worryingly accustomed to these attacks, and as perhaps the most turbulent year in its modern history ends, another begins, yet again marked by terror. at the mortuary, they counted up the bodies. those waiting feared the worst. some already knew it. muhammad from iraq told us one of his friends was killed and two others injured. "we came here on holiday," he said. "now we are taking our friend's body home." visiting the wounded, the prime minister sounded defiant, but after more than 20 attacks in the past year, killing almost 400, many will see his words as empty. terror cannot intimidate us. we will intimidate terror. we will continue to invite against it. our biggest insurance is to see our people

standing in solidarity and supporting our resolve. and so a scene that's becoming almost routine here. today they bid farewell to ayhan arik — a brother, husband, father. after driving tourists to the nightclub, he was gunned down outside. they grieved for him and for a country they once called safe, as they're left to wonder — what has happened to turkey? mark lowen, bbc news, istanbul. we can speak now to jamesjeffery at the washington institute and us ambassador to turkey between 2008 and 2010. he joins ambassador to turkey between 2008 and 2010. hejoins us now via webcam from washington. thank you for joining us here on bbc news. what is your view of how the turkish authorities have responded to this attack? first, our thoughts are with the victims. the turks have responded as they have with all the

other attacks, very quickly and efficiently. unfortunately they have had much experience with the tax, both from isis and from the pkk in the past two years, roughly ten major terrorist attacks with casualties running into dozens or more. what makes you so certain that it is an attack carried out at least in the name of the islamic state? the two other attacks in istanbul, at the airport and the attack close to the blue mosque, both targeted tourists, foreigners, as well as the tourists, foreigners, as well as the tourist industry in general and most of the people killed in the attack last night at the nightclub, where in fact foreigners. why is it and turkey being targeted in this way do you believe? several reasons, first of all, it is available because isis

is just next door in syria and iraq and they have built up sales in turkey earlier when the turks were not herfault turkey earlier when the turks were not her fault about who they were providing arms and support to in syria. thirdly, the turks are waging a very strong offensive in northern syria against the positions of isis and there is a considerable amount of fighting, the turks are put in their own ground troops and isis sees them as a key enemy. how difficult do you think it will be for the turkish authorities to find this single gunmen who was able to escape in the chaos of what followed ? escape in the chaos of what followed? who knows? it is irrelevant, there are plenty of young men who are capable of doing this with a kalashnikov. isis has a lot of people able to do this, they have good intelligence, all the intelligence from the turkish media is that the nightclub and the escape route at the actual operation was well planned. but how important is

it politically for the government to show that they have carried out a thorough investigation and tried to find the person responsible? your point is good. erdogan is under a lot of pressure. he promised the turkish people peace and prosperity, given the attacks by isis on the one hand and the pkk on the other hand, he certainly has not given the turkish people peace and in terms of prosperity, this has an impact on the markets and tourism, which is a major source of income. erdogan will try hard to capture this guide that it will not stop the attacks. they will continue until we destroy isis. mr erdogan has reiterated that, that he will root out terrorism, but how does he do that? what sort of back—up might turkey need? does he do that? what sort of back-up might turkey need? first of all, there is always better intelligence, possibly, the turks will have to look at some of the

opposition movements against the assad regime in syria that have taken root in turkey to see which of them might have ties to isis but most importantly, the international community has to get serious about isis. isis is sitting with around ten to 12,000 troops defying the international community while west refuses to put in ground soldiers. that has to stop. where is the evidence of the political will to do that? united states has 10,000 troops fighting in afghanistan still today. this is the will of one man, barack obama today. this is the will of one man, ba rack obama who today. this is the will of one man, barack obama who will be out of office in a year, because he would not commit ground troops against isis, the french who have many good reasons to do so and did it against al-qaeda in mali two years ago, they have been deterred from doing it like other western powers, apart from the turks who are fighting isis with great effect. how different

might it be when donald trump takes over? even donald trump will be careful on ground troops, because president obama has put a hex on any use of ground troops in this complex by conjuring up the image and you understand it well in britain, of 2003 and going into iraq and thousands of casualties and a decade of fighting. it is very unfortunate, because it is a totally different situation. but, we have seen this fragile ceasefire in syria that was brokered by turkey, with russia. might it be that president putin steps in to help turkey? president putin's capability other than mass carpet bombing on the likes of aleppo, of fighting terrorism is highly questionable. he had one victory in pal meera. isis took a

back one month ago. their capabilities against isis are relatively minimal. we appreciate you taking time to speak to us. thank you and happy new year. thank you and a happy new year to all. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages. at 10.15 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are caroline frost, entertainment editor at the huffington post and robert fox, defence editor at the london evening standard. return to index of stories... police in oldham are hunting for a hit—and—run driver who knocked down two girls from the same family, leaving one dead and the other fighting for her life in hospital. twelve year old helina kotlarova was killed when crossing the road with her eleven year old cousin. eye—witnesses said the girls were holding hands at the time. from oldham, danni hewson reports. today's family gathering should have been a celebration. instead, it was about sharing grief. the flowers laid here for 12—year—old helina kotlarova,

killed in an apparent hit—and—run crash last night, a crash that also left her 11—year—old cousin critically ill. it is an incredibly busy road. the girls had crossed it to buy some crisps from the local shop. they were with a bigger group, more cousins and sisters, but they'd already made the return journey. the two girls held hands and stepped into the road. she was on the floor, she had blood all over herface, and i was touching her, i was trying to see if she's going to breathe or something, but she couldn't breathe or nothing. and i've seen herface, this face was all, you know, bleeding and... there was nothing...to do. throughout the day, investigations have been ongoing. greater manchester police confirmed they were searching for the driver of a black vw golf that had failed to stop. so far, there have been no update on their progress. for the family, no news will soften the grief. it's just hard to believe

that she's gone, because she was too young and still have, like, life. tonight, tributes continue to be laid at the scene — a reminder of one life cut tragically short and prayers for another girl critically ill. danni hewson, bbc news, oldham. the queen missed the annual new year's day church service in sandringham this morning, because of a "lingering heavy cold". she was also absent from the christmas day service at her norfolk estate because she was unwell. buckingham palace says the queen has been up and about in recent days, but is "still recuperating" as our royal correspondent, peter hunt, reports. for a second time during the holiday season, the royals headed to church. for a second time, the queen was a notable absentee. her 95—year—old husband, who's also been ill, did attend and was described by one observer as "chipper". protected from rain and walking alongside her husband, anne, a princess in purple,

told someone in the crowd her mother was feeling better. during these security—conscious times, the windsors over christmas are an attraction for the dedicated, who, despite the weather, gather outside the sandringham church. once again, the 90—year—old monarch wasn't on display. a little bit disappointed, because the queen wasn't there, but that is understandable at 90 years of age. she's in the best place, yes, and i wish her all the best for 2017. obviously, if she's not well, then you don't want to see her come out in this weather, do you, you know? at christmas, our attention is drawn to the birth of a baby some 2000 years ago. the queen, who recorded her christmas day message early in december, will not have taken the decision to miss church lightly — the supreme governor of the church of england has a deep personalfaith. but in her tenth decade, and on the advice of her doctor, the monarch is exercising caution in the face of a heavy cold she's had for nearly two weeks. the queen has been laid low and left feeling pretty miserable at the end

of yet another significant year in her long reign. as well as celebrating her landmark birthday, she's started to acknowledge her advancing age and reduce her workload. just last month, the queen severed her links to 25 organisations she'd been patron of for decades. palace officials insist the queen is up and about and she hasn't been to hospital or had tests. as head of state, she continues to deal with the government documents she receives. the queen is clearly doing all she can to get rid of a lingering cold, rather than make it worse. peter hunt, bbc news, buckingham palace. 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% devotedly

than the 40% who voted remain, but one great union of people with a proud history and a bright future. there have been delays in attending to emergency ambulance calls across london after the service's computer system crashed — on one of the busiest nights of the year. staff in the london ambulance control room had to log calls for nearly five hours overnight. richard lister has more. three, two, one! new year's eve, hundreds of thousands of people pour onto the streets of the capital, creating the busiest night of the for the london ambulance service. its control room keeps watch over more than 600 square miles and 7 million people, using a sophisticated computer system. but just after midnight, that system failed. the computer crash meant that all call details had to be written down. call handlers couldn't see where the ambulances were.

they had to use radios to contact paramedics. inevitably, that meant delays. we do deal with the most critically ill and seriously patients first, and we continued to do that last night. obviously, i'd like to apologise to any patients who did have a slightly extended waiting time while we were dealing with the system on paper. the london ambulance service says because it has no computer record, it doesn't know exactly how many calls it dealt with last night. these were some of the incidents they attended, but there were hundreds more. if the system fails at a time when there is huge pressure on the system, when, for example, there was a major disaster or a terrorist attack, we're going to be in really serious trouble, so we've really got to make sure, the london ambulance service has got to make sure that this system doesn't collapse again. emergency call handlers here are trained to dispatch ambulances using a pen and paper. extra staff had already been drafted in for the new year celebrations.

but the failure of their multi—million pound computer system on the busiest night of the year is now the subject of an urgent investigation. the system was restored by 5:30 this morning and is now working normally, but it may be a while before we know how many patients didn't get care when they needed it because ambulances couldn't get there in time. richard lister, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. the headline. cctv footage shows the moment gunmen launched an attack on a nightclub in istanbul killing at least 39 people. he is being hunted by police. police in oldham are looking for a driver who killed a 12—year—old girl and left her 11—year—old cousin in a critical condition. the royal family attends a new year's day church service in sandringham but the queen stayed away due to a heavy cold. homer

mackerel has become its year as the uk city of culture. £32 million has been spent all year long programme, eight city centre buildings have been turned into giant screens which will be used to retail the history of the city. our arts correspondent is in hulland of the city. our arts correspondent is in hull and they have not wasted any time in getting going. what are they up to? not at all. i am in the marina area of the city were 25,000 people are descending to watch the fireworks display which is going to start appropriately enough for the year of culture at 20. 17. we have been featuring dj linda, the pub landlady dj in her pub to 80 people to dj tonight for 20 5000. she is doing well. she is playing the monkeys. let's make what the public are making. my name is glenn. are

you a local? that devil accounts. what does it mean to you to have hull as a city of culture? it has always suffered. it is the north east are in town. it is a yorkshire town. it has a unique atmosphere. hull people are different from the re st of hull people are different from the rest of yorkshire and britain. it is fantastic that we have a chance to show who we are and what we are. organisers are saying that they want this year to change perceptions of hull. i think it will definitely do that. i have lots of friends around the world who have heard about it and it has really put us on the map. it was amazing walking past marks and spencers with all the lights on, completely naked. it was fantastic. you enjoyed it. it was fantastic. it was a coming together, there was

lots of people from different parts of the country, all of the world, and everyone was the same. the enjoyment and the enthusiasm and people were really excited about what was happening in hull. it was a world event, it was fantastic. thank you. dj linda is playing the beatles. hello, you are live on the bbc news channel. what are your names? bradley. kara. we are locals. what does it mean to you to have a whole as city of culture? it is fantastic. it is good to see new things coming into hull. what is exciting new about it? just about being city of culture. it will be good. you are down here for the fireworks. i'm hoping for a big show. 15,000 fireworks. fantastic. and all to a soundtrack from hull. i don't know what music i like. are you enjoying the dj? yes. she is

getting the crowd going. let's speak to some other people. they are live on the bbc news channel. hello. we are trying to get the atmosphere. are you local? no, i'm from sweden. had you heard of hull before? my daughter is living in the south of the humber. it is through heri heard about it. are people in sweden talking about hull? no, i haven't heard about it yet in sweden. what have you learned about hull?|j heard about it yet in sweden. what have you learned about hull? i was at the play at the city hall. it was interesting. we can show you some pictures. this is called made in whole. it started the year long programme. it is pretty pictures on buildings. explain it for viewers who have not been there. it

describes the history of hull, from during the warand describes the history of hull, from during the war and how hull depends on the sea. it is going to be running for the next week and anyone can go and see it. the first event is something free that anyone can go to. it is a nice city to walk around and all the people. thank you. i hope you spread the word to sweden. we will be back on the news channel just before eight point 17 pm when the fireworks display takes place. i have put in requests for neil diamond for you. thank so much. 8.17pm precisely. the archbishop of canterbury has urged people to use 2017 to heal divisions caused by the eu referendum. in his new year

message recorded in coventry, the leader of the church of england praised the efforts of refugees who have made their home in the uk. religious affairs correspondent, 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 this 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 can only help us prepare for the future. you're watching bbc news. the bodies of three people have been found at the foot of cliffs in kent. police say the body of a man was discovered near dover after they were alerted by a member of the public. during a search by coastguards, the bodies of another man and a woman were found. officers do not believe their deaths are linked to that of the first man. laws come into force today

meaning that bankers, lawyers or advisers who help people 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 three—thousand pounds. critics say that revenue and customs doesn't have the necessary resources to pursue offenders. accuse the government of cracking down on pro12 democracy legislators and say beijing has interfered in the affairs of hong kong by interpreting laws. it may be new year's day, but hong kong protesters are not celebrating. instead, they are not celebrating. instead, they are marching through hong kong streets calling for democratic reform. activists hold pro—democracy marches every year in hong kong, but this time, it is a new sort of tension. these protest, months before the hong kong chief executive elections, but the protesters here argue that none of the expected candidates have any credibility

because they will not have been democratically elected. the government says the legislators should be to qualify. but critics accuse the government of a political crackdown. i voted for law and the government has the nerve to try and disqualify him after he has been sworn in. ifeel disqualify him after he has been sworn in. i feel furious disqualify him after he has been sworn in. ifeel furious about disqualify him after he has been sworn in. i feel furious about this. i feel i cannot sit at home any more. if you sit at home, you may as well come out and protest. the government should not do that, why are they stirring up so much trouble, they are just trying to do theirjobs. why is the government trying to destroy voices that it does not agree with? this stops the legislators from doing theirjobs. hong kong's unpopular leader will step down next year. but protesters argued that without democratic reform, there is no guarantee that the next leader will be any better. public opinion in hong kong is split. some argue that pro—democracy

groups have not achieved anything and are distracting the government from more important issues. we do notjust want from more important issues. we do not just want to disqualify him, but also, we are asking for a fundamental revamp of the system. but these activists say they are determined to fight on, so hong kong is likely to see more protests over the coming year. reports from indonesia say at least 23 people have been killed after a ferry caught fire near the capital, jakarta. passengers jumped into the sea to save themselves. the boat was heading for a holiday island north of jakarta. what is left of the express very. officials say it burst into fla m es express very. officials say it burst into flames shortly after setting sailfrom jakarta.

into flames shortly after setting sail from jakarta. more than 230 people were on board heading to an island to celebrate the new year holiday. witnesses say a lot of passengers jumped into the sea. survivors were treated at a hospital injakarta survivors were treated at a hospital in jakarta were survivors were treated at a hospital injakarta were relatives of the dead also gathered. thick smoke suddenly emerge bracketing the cabin. everyone panicked and ran up to the debt to throw floats into the water. in a split second, the fire became bigger, it was coming from where the fuel is stored. rescuers and investigators are continuing to search the boat, with people still unaccounted for. the ship was carrying more than double the number of passengers listed on its manifest according to a disaster agency spokesperson. ferries are often overcrowded and pearly maintained in indonesia and sea accidents are frequent. nevertheless, for a country made up of it remains of key form of transport. hundreds of

people forced to leave a west london pub last night before it was destroyed by fire. the pub in act was engulfed by flames in the early hours of this morning as a new year's eve hours of this morning as a new yea r‘s eve party hours of this morning as a new year's eve party was underway. more than 300 customers were led to safety with over 70 firefighters needed to bring the fire under control. the fire alarm started going off, started seeing smoke come up going off, started seeing smoke come up from the edges of the wall. and then we realised that downstairs is on fire. last night during a packed new year's eve party on fire. last night during a packed new yea r‘s eve party cover on fire. last night during a packed new year's eve party cover this pub caught fire. the blaze would not stop for hours. hundreds of people had enjoyed a circa showed just hours before. jackie who arranged and performed and it found herself trapped in it. she was saved by her friends. it was so quick, seconds... too much smoke. it came up and we

could not see or breathe. billy and carol managed to get us out onto the balcony. somehow, beryl found a latter. her friend, also a performer, was outside waiting for her. it was quite scary. there was a lady who started shouting. there is going to be an explosion. my friends we re going to be an explosion. my friends were in there. it was notjust the bravery of ordinary members of the public, officers from the next or police station also helped save people from the fire. one officer went into the building to save a woman having an asthma attack. today, fire teams inspected the damage from the blaze. it raged through