this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 9am: we are getting reports that six people have been killed after a seaplane crashed into a river north of sydney. it's thought four of the victims may be british. criminal gangs who claim benefits under false identities are to be targeted by the government using artificial intelligence. we are going to use new technology, artificial intelligence, to identify patterns and networks of behaviour ina way patterns and networks of behaviour in a way that would not be possible for humans to do. after three days of political protests, iran's revolutionary guards warn demonstrators they face the nation's "iron fist". political leaders reflect on the past 12 months in their new year's messages, theresa may says 2017 was a "year of progress" for the uk. jeremy corbyn says the hope of a new britain is closer than ever. thousands of rail travellers face disruption as workers from two train companies stage 24—hour strikes. in halfan

in half an hour, join me as i take a look back to the photocall held here at addington palace which introduced prince harry's bride—to—be meghan markle to the world's media. —— kensington palace. we're getting reports that four british nationals are among six people who died when their plane crashed into a river in australia. the plane went down in the hawkesbury river near cowan, which is around 31 miles north of sydney. the single—engine aircraft is known to be a "sydney sea—plane" which was carrying five passengers and the pilot. police say all six bodies

have been recovered. unconfirmed reports say an 11—year—old boy is among those killed. we have just had a statement from police investigating this crash, confirming six people on board. it went down around 3:10pm local time. police divers are on the scene, and six bodies have been recovered from the wreckage. police say they will work with the australian transport safety bureau as enquiries into the crash continue. no information is available on the identity of the occu pa nts available on the identity of the occupants at this stage, they say. that statement is just coming in from local police. we have also had a statement from the foreign office, which says officials from the british consulate are in contact with local authorities in relation toa with local authorities in relation to a seaplane crash near sydney and

staff are ready to provide consular assistance. we'll bring you more details on the developing story as we get them. criminal gangs who claim benefits under a false identity are to be targeted by the government using artificial intelligence. the department for work and pensions says it will use sophisticated computer programming to identify organised attacks. ian palmer reports jobcentre plus staff identify suspicious benefit fraud in individuals, but it is harder to notice odd patterns of behaviour across thousands of benefit applications. an indication of organised criminal activity. often gangs making repeated applications using fake identities tend to leave traces, often by leaving the same phrase. by monitoring thousands of applications using artificial intelligence, it should be easier to detect organised in a fit fraud. what we are going to be able to do,

using artificial intelligence, is identify some of those networks, see for example patterns of behaviour, shared behaviour or addresses, the same telephone number is being used, we will be able to identify that more easily in a way that will enable us to stop that from happening and protect taxpayers money. the artificial intelligence softwa re money. the artificial intelligence software has been developed by the department for work and pensions. the idea has been put through a series of trials. the dwp says the computer programme will be slowly rolled out across the country. introducing the technology is an attempt to recoup more of the £3 billion paid by mistake, or fraudulently claims each year. the changes will affect people who claim universal credit, jobseeker‘s allowa nce, universal credit, jobseeker‘s allowance, and personal independence payments. demonstrators in iran have been warned they'll face the nation's "iron fist" if the political unrest there continues. the revolutionary guards issued

the ultimatum after days on saturday two people were reported to have been shot dead in the city of dorud. the government blamed foreign agents for their deaths. the protests, which began over living standards and rising food prices, have spread to several major cities, including tehran. a crack of gunshots as panic ripples the a crowd in the western city of daroud. later, a wounded man is carried through the streets. it is being reported a number of people have been killed following an escalation of violence and three days of unrest. late into the night, demonstrators attacked targets with links to the government and the ruling clerical elite. in karamabad, the governor's office was burned. in the northern city of mashhad, police motorbikes were set alight while crowds taunted the security services. what started as a provincial

process about rocketing prices has become deeply political and moved to the capital tehran, where offices were pelted with stones near the main university. riot police were used to quell the disturbance. this video shows a baby being taken to hospital, apparently suffering from the effects of tear gas. videos like these are helping to fuel the protests. it is thought the iranian authorities have reacted by cutting access to the internet in many cities, especially to mobile phones. iranian officials have vowed on state tv to double their efforts to resolve the economic problems and ploughed ahead with commemorative pro—government rallies on saturday. but further protests are expected over the coming days and experts say opposing the islamic republic

will be a colossal challenge. do not underestimate the reppressive capability of the revolutionary guards, the resilience of the islamic republic. this regime is well institutionalised in iran and can deal with protest movement such as the one that we have witnessed in the past few days. iran's ultraconservative regime is facing its biggest threat in nearly a decade, but what lengths will it go to to survive? political leaders have been reflecting on the past 12 months in their new year's messages, with theresa may calling 2017 a "year of progress" for the uk. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn said the hope of a new britain is closer than ever. with more here's our political correspondent, emma va rdy. after a political year dominated by brexit, it's no surprise the subject played a key part in theresa may's new year's message.

she said the government has pursued our brexit objectives with steady purpose and progress will continue in 2018 as the talks move on to trade. but not for the first time, theresa may made clear she wants to be more than madame brexit. making success of brexit is crucial, but it will not be the limit of our ambitions. we also have to carry on making a difference here and now on the issues that matter to people's daily lives. that means building an economy fit for the future, and taking a balanced approach to government spending. so we get our debt falling, but can also invest in the things that matter — our schools, our police and our precious nhs. theresa may says next year will continue the fight against all forms of extremism and she believes 2018 can be a year of renewed pride in our country. meanwhile, the tone ofjeremy corbyn‘s address was rather different. he said we are being held back

by a self—serving elite and pointed to the gains labour made at the general election, saying this was a year when people said, "no more." the old political consensus is finished. we are staking out the new centre ground in british politics, backing the things that most people want, but are blocked by vested interests. we are a government in waiting while the conservatives are weak, divided and stuck in an outdated rut with no new ideas. the hope of a new britain, which runs in the interests of the many, not the few, seems closer than ever before. the new year messages draw to a close what has been a politically dramatic 12 months. our political correspondent emma vardy is here. to reset may say the government has the bandwidth to do more —— theresa

may. and jeremy corbyn saying that labour is a government in waiting. what more do these messages tell us about the challenges for the two leaders in the year her clay—macro ahead? theresa may is trying to say that she will continue to steer the ship through the brexit challengers over the next 12 months. of course, brexit as dominated the political landscape over the past year, and it is so difficult for the governor to because it is incredibly divisive, it cuts across party lines and spits the conservative party. we saw that she is trying to emphasise that progress has been made and we are moving onto an important stage, to talk about trade. it will continue to dominate headlines, brexit, over the coming 12 months. as we saw there from jeremy corbyn, labour has tried to remain on this general election voting, ever since the unexpected gains that they made in the general election this year,

jeremy corbyn is trying to keep up the feel—good factor that created, and present themselves as a government in waiting. he repeated this mantra of the many and not the view, that we have heard so many times, and striking out at what he is calling the country being held back by the elite. the can expect to hear a lot more of that from him and his supporters. talking about all things political, the security minister ben wallace has said the government should consider a special tax on internet companies unless they are more willing to cooperate in tackling the threat of terrorism in the uk. tough talking from him, is this a new idea? what we have seen this year if the government ramping up the pressure on tech firms. the idea of trying to hit them in the pocket with a tax, it is a new idea that has come from ben wallace, it is not statement policy by any means, but this really shows that ministers behind—the—scenes are looking at all sorts of measures

that they could enforce to try to get internet firms to go further. google and facebook have taken a lot more responsibility this year in terms of tackling online extremism. they have got artificial ins between macro intelligence to identify content that should be taken down. also redirect services to put people across to counter extremism messages. but there is a tug—of—war going on. ministers believe internet firms should go further. internet firms should go further. internet firms say the internet is a huge space and they are already doing a lot and actually it is a space for free speech. thank you. winds of up to 80—miles an hour and a series of rail strikes are threatening to cause disruption as the uk gets ready to see in the new year. the met office is warning of flying debris and damage to buildings as storm dylan hits northern ireland and parts of southern scotland this morning, while a 24—hour walk out could hit passengers on crosscountry and south western rail services. but hundreds of thousands of people are still expected to take to the streets to celebrate, as simon clemison reports.

why have one night of celebration when you can have two? with this torchlit parade, hogmanay is already under way in edinburgh. our 2a vikings have travelled down from the shetland isles, on a longboatjourney, and we're here to basically warm things up a bit. in london, as in scotland, security is key but despite four terror attacks this year, there will be fewer officers on duty for tonight's huge fireworks display, but the met insists the numbers are right. people will be remembering those who have died and those who were injured in those attacks. we have been policing at "severe" for quite a long time now and our experience of doing that means our tactics and our way of mitigating those threats has developed along the way. but, will people be able to get there? delays and cancellations are expected on south western railway and crosscountry because of the strike. south western says it thinks

it will be able to run three—quarters of trains. the only question remaining, the weather. edinburgh has already enjoyed some fireworks but gusts of 80 miles per hour are predicted across areas of scotland and northern ireland. the warnings of the met office drop off by the afternoon, but the dying hours of 2017 are making their presence felt. and simon is at london waterloo for us now. good morning to you. so it is going to be affected by the rail strikes. what sort of impact is that going to have? hello, welll what sort of impact is that going to have? hello, well i feel like an unwelcome guest at a new years party by saying this, but beware there are trains strikes today. this is britain's busiest railway station, and it has been quiet this morning, as you might expect for a sunday morning, but tens of thousands of people are expected in london later.

if you look at the departure board, you can see trains there listed and they have been leaving on time in many cases, some minor delays, but there has been a reduced timetable here today and that is what you don't see. there are fewer services running, and on some routes and none are running at all. it is a 24—hour walk—out, as we have been saying, right to operators, and the advice is very much to check with them before you travel. on south western railway, which runs out of here too and from this station, the services are disrupted and there is a reduced service on most lines, and none on others. overall, though, three quarters of trains will be running, they expect, from here today. the other operator affected, crosscountry, there is a reduced service between newcastle and edinburgh. there is no service

between glasgow and aberdeen, and all other lines expect to be impacted. rudi wulf digard. the government is saying that the union is making misery for millions of passengers. the company is seeing it does respect the role of the guard, but the unions concerned about safety and not convinced. ultimately, today and not convinced. ultimately, today and tonight, there are fewer trains than there were meant to be, and many, than there were meant to be, and any than there were meant to be, and many, many more passengers trying to get on them, especially this evening. that makes for the most heady mix as we go into the new year. 0k, thank you very much for that update and good luck if you're travelling today. a huge fire in an apartment block in manchester appears to have spread via external wooden balconies, according to the fire service. a 23—year old man was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after the fire yesterday. flames spread over multiple floors

in the 12—storey building. greater manchester fire and rescue service says no external cladding was involved. the headlines on bbc news: six people have been killed after a seaplane crashed into a river north of sydney. there are reports that four of the victims may be british. criminal gangs who claim benefits underfalse identities criminal gangs who claim benefits under false identities are to be targeted by the government using artificial intelligence. after three days of political protests, iran's revolutionary guards warn demonstrators they face the nation's "iron fist". sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. power your? i am well, thanks. power your? iam well, thanks. i hope you're well, too. we will start with the premierfrom hope you're well, too. we will start with the premier from yesterday. ——

premier league from yesterday. jose mourinho felt his manchester united side were denied a clear penalty during their goalless draw with southampton. it was more points dropped for united, who lost second place to chelsea. alex south begins his round up of yesterday's action at stamford bridge. chelsea rounded off 2017 in some style. commentator: 0h, brilliant! the champions demolished stoke city 5—0 to make it five wins from their last six games and push stoke further towards trouble. today, we finished a great year for us. for my players, for the club, for the fans, especially, for me, because in my first experience in a new league in england, to win the title is not easy. conte's team now trail leaders manchester city by 13 points, but are up to second, courtesy of manchester united failing to defeat southampton. it wasn't a good day forjose mourinho as he saw romelu lukaku stretchered off early on, and later saw the referee wave away what he thought

was a certain penalty. wasn't it? it clearly struck him on the arm. 0h, 0k. thank you. presumably, you've spoken with the officials? yeah, but for what? for what? liverpool were up to fourth as mohamed salah scored his 16th and 17th league goals of the season to help the reds come from behind to win against leicester. the only negative being that salah limped off later on. at the other end of the table, there was plenty of late drama. bournemouth scored an 88th minute winner against everton to move out of the bottom three, and swansea left it even later as they completed a remarkable turnaround against watford, scoring in the 86th and 90th minutes. sacked last week by sheffield wednesday, celebrating his new side's victory six days later, carlos carvalhal will tell you that a week is a long time in football, let alone a year.

alex south, bbc news. elsewhere, the matches between huddersfield and burnley, and newcastle and brighton finished goalless. there's two matches in the premier league today. west brom take on arsenal, but before that leaders manchester city visit crystal palace. a win would not only take them 16 points clear at the top but would also see manager pep guardiola equal his own record with bayern munich for 19 consecutive victories in europe's top division. always hear you talk about the numbers, breakers, records. that is a consequence of what we do on the pitch. i am a consequence of what we do on the pitch. iam not a consequence of what we do on the pitch. i am not here to comment about the record because it is simple to say that we break it or not. but that is not what counts. what counts is what you have to do against crystal palace, what you have to do against the amazing four

strikers they have. pep guardiola has had to answer lots of questions about record this season. celtic go into the winter break with an eight—point lead over aberdeen at the top of the scottish premiership after the old firm derby ended in stalemate. brendan rodgers' side had the best of it in the first half, with scott sinclair twice missing good chances. but in the second half rangers were denied by some brilliant saves from craig gordon. they stay in third, 11 points behind the leaders. elsewhere there were wins for hamilton, partick and dundee. serena williams says she was excited to be back on a tennis court yesterday, less than four months after giving birth to her daughter. she was playing in an exhibition match in abu dhabi against the latvianjelena ostapenko. williams lost the match on a tie break but said she was really proud of being able to compete. she hadn't played since winning her 23rd major singles title at january's australian open, which she won while eight weeks pregnant. ben stokes won't be flying out to australia with england's one day squad as he continues to await news

of any possible charges against him from the crown prosecution service following an incident outside a bristol nightclub in september. stokes was named in the squad for the games which begin at after the fifth and final test match in sydney but it's now thought highly unlikely he will be involved in the series. northampton saints have now lost 11 games in all competitions after they were thrashed 50—21 in rugby union's premiership. danny care scored twice as quins turned on the style in front of a crowd of more than 70,000 at twickenham. elsewhere there were wins for saracens, newcastle, and gloucester. in the pro 1a, glasgow warriors were 3—0 up against edinburgh just before half—time when the scotstoun stadium had to be evacuated because of a fire alarm. the delay didn't throw glasgow, though. they went on to win17—0. leejones scored the only try of the game. britain's world champion bianca

wogan has rounded off her outstanding year with gold at the inaugural championship in south korea. she won the title and with it the £52,000 prize pot, the largest everin the £52,000 prize pot, the largest ever in taekwondo. afterwards she said that words cannot describe her happiness, after a year that has included multiple titles and a nomination for sports personality of the year. she says she now plans to buy a house. phil "the power" taylor will go for his 17th world title in his last ever match in professional darts tomorrow night as he made it through to the final of the pdc world championship. taylor beat the impressive qualifier welshmanjamie lewis by six frames to one in the semifinals at ally pally. he won his first title back in 1990 but this is taylor's last event before retirement. but he'll have to beat rob cross, the man who pulled off a major shock in the other semifinal to knock out the reigning champion and world number one michael van gerwen.

van gerwen missed six darts to win, so the match went to a deciding leg which cross won to claim a 6—5 victory. it's the first time cross has played at the pdc championship. it will be quite a final for rob cross tomorrow night against his hero, phil "the power" taylor. that's all the sport for now. moroney website. i'll have more for you in the next hour. if you are finalising your new year's eve if you are finalising your new yea r‘s eve plans if you are finalising your new year's eve plans and want to check out the weather forecast, look no further than this. the strong winds from storm dylan may have peaked in northern ireland earlier today but we still have a weather warning for parts of southern scotland. potential for travel disruption and damaging winds. the centre of storm

dyla n damaging winds. the centre of storm dylan is working its way east across scotland. on the southern flank we have the strongest of the winds. in central and southern scotland we could see 80 mph. then those winds will gradually ease at lunchtime as the storm continues to move into the north sea. heavy rain and sleet and snow over the hills for central and northern scotland. elsewhere, blustery day, windy and northern england. lots of sunshine around after morning rain, but brighter in east anglia and the south—east compared with this morning. showers to be thundery in the south west of the country and temperatures drop through the day, feeling cooler than yesterday. this evening, be prepared for showers working across england and wales in parts of western scotland. maybe also northern ireland. if you're heading out in north—east england or the east of scotland, it is a different story. you could get through the entire

evening in aberdeen, edinburgh newcastle with dried, clear conditions. still the chance of a few showers in northern ireland and some across parts of the midlands and england. if you are not far away from london you will have seen showers air line in the night. the showers air line in the night. the showers keep going into the channel islands and parts of cornwall in south west wales. still blustery but the winds will have eased from what we saw earlier in the day. on new year's day itself, keep an eye on this storm system affecting france. it will bring wet and windy weather to the channel islands and it may get close to us. there is a chance we could see wet and windy conditions across southern counties of england. it brightens up. lots of sunshine around on new year's day. in the afternoon, northern england, northern ireland, and north wales will see wintry showers. cold night follows. maybe a frosty start to tuesday. for those returning to

work, be prepared from wet dash for wet windy on tuesday, with snow over northern hills. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: six people have been killed after a seaplane crashed into a river north of sydney. police divers are at the scene and all the bodies have been recovered. there are reports that four of the victims may be british. the department for work and pensions says it plans to use artificial intelligence to detect criminal gangs claiming benefits underfalse identities. computer algorithms have been developed to identify large—scale benefit fraud. iran's revolutionary guards have threatened anti—government protesters with an "iron fist" if days of political unrest continue. the warning came after protests intensified in the capital, tehran. thousands of rail travellers face disruption as workers from crosscountry and south western rail services stage 24—hour strikes. now on bbc news, from the engagement

of prince harry and meghan markle, to the retirement from royal duties of the duke of edinburgh, sarah campbell looks back on the key events in review 2017: the royal year. reporter: congratulations from all of us! how are you both feeling? (inaudible). this was the year in which prince harry introduced his new leading lady, the american actress, meghan markle. the fact that i fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly, was sort of confirmation to me that everything, all the stars were aligned, everything was perfect. after 70 years of public service, the duke of edinburgh, britain's longest—serving royal consort hung up his hat and retired from royal duties.

prince george had his own milestone moment — his first day of school. and, flexing their royal muscles in an effort to put the issue of mental health firmly on the national agenda. after weeks of fevered speculation came confirmation that prince harry, the fifth in line to the throne, was engaged to the american actress, meghan markle. the happy couple appeared in the grounds of kensington palace, which will be her new home. this was only the second time they had appeared together for the cameras. reporter: harry, when did you know she was the one? the very first time we met!