the health secretary says sorry to nhs patients who've had their operations delayed because of winter pressures. i want to apologise for the fact that we have had, regrettably, to postpone a number of operations. theresa may rejects claims that the health service is in crisis, but admits the delays are frustrating for patients. we'll be looking at the impact on patients and asking what it tells us about the pressures on the nhs. also this lunchtime... storm eleanor has been battering large part of the uk, leaving thousands of homes without power. winds reached 100 miles an hour, bringing down trees and power lines and causing flooding and travel disruption. all of a sudden, the skyjust lit up and these power lines touched each other, and it was just like guy fawkes. it was sparks, it was unbelievable. president trump starts the new year with a string of twitter messages — boasting to the north korean leader about the size of his "nuclear button".

sweet news for the music industry, the number of streams, downloads and sales in the uk last year rose at its fastest rate for nearly 20 years. and coming up in the sport on bbc news, reports in spain suggest barcelona will bid imminently for philippe coutinho. liverpool turned down three offers for their brazilian forward in the summer, although as yet they haven't had any new bids. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the health secretaryjeremy hunt has apologised to patients affected by a decision to postpone tens of thousands of operations in england until next month. theresa may acknowledged the decision is frustrating for people, but said the nhs is better prepared this year than ever before. but senior doctors say pressure has escalated rapidly

over the festive period. our health correspondent catherine burns has the details. anna is waiting for an operation thatis anna is waiting for an operation that is going to change her life. herfacial nerve was that is going to change her life. her facial nerve was removed when she had cancer seven years ago. she is due to have an appointment to plan facial reconstruction surgery next week, but is expected to be cancelled. i was hoping i would have the surgery maybe at the end of january beginning of february, but i have a feeling it will be knocked back to april or may. she's due to have the surgery at queens medical centre in nottingham, but it is on high alert and is asking people to stay away from a&e. several other hospitals around the country have similar stories and now the british medical association is calling this winter crisis. a warning from the royal college of emergency medicine that this is absolutely affecting patient safety. and so nhs england

has taken action. before christmas, it had already told hospitals they could cancel all nonurgent operations and outpatient appointments for the first two weeks of the new year. now it has extended that until the end of the month. with respect to patients, i want to apologise for the fact that we have had, regrettably, to postpone a number of operations. we are trying to do it differently this year. last year, we cancelled a lot of operations at the very last minute, so people got a call the day before to say their operation wasn't going ahead. that is obviously very undesirable, so we wanted to do it in a much more planned way. but our hope is that the total number of cancelled operations will be significantly higher this year than last year. during this time, hospitals will not be penalised if they put patients on mixed six wards. it operations for cancer and other times and stiff conditions will still go ahead. we know the system is going to get difficult. rather than cancelling patients at the very last minute and

having patients queueing, we want to free up the bed capacity that would normally be used for those planned ca re normally be used for those planned care patients and make that available for our sick patients that are in the a&e departments. she does feel frustrated, but thinks things could be worse. i am not really in much pain, and i can carry on with life quite well. but i do feel very sorry for people that are waiting for hip operations or knee joints, because they are dealing with quite a lot of pain. authorities in scotland, wales and northern ireland say they are facing higher demand from patients as well. here we are, three days into the new year, with questions about what could happen if the weather got colder or the increase in flu cases becomes an outbreak. catherine burns, bbc news. hugh pym is here. you havejust been speaking to the health secretary. the prime minister has spoken this morning. what does this tell us about the government's approach to this? it is interesting that the transport secretary was abroad

during the railfare increase situation yesterday, wide criticism of that. here we have the health secretary andy prime minister coming out to talk about the state of the nhs after these very widespread reports of extreme pressure, doctors tweeting and talking about hospitals being in third world conditions and overcrowding. i think they felt they had to take this head on. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, has apologised to patients. theresa may has said it is disappointing and frustrating for patients. they are making this point, as we heard in catherine's piece, that it is best to announce this sort of thing now, through nhs england, to take anything that is not urgent out of the equation so that senior doctors can be used to help with emergency ca re can be used to help with emergency care and assessing patients, to get that right for january, care and assessing patients, to get that right forjanuary, rather than to stumble on and somehow end up in a situation where you end up with a lot of last—minute, very frustrating cancellations anyway. i think the problem is that they have played that card now. what if things do get worse? they have said that the reason that they made the

announcement yesterday, nhs england, is that they have seen an increase in flu cases, there are fears of a major outbreak. what if things get worse? what do they do next? i think it does illustrate the level of concern, at a very high level, that things could yet get worse across hospitals before they get better. labour are making the point that it shows how out of touch the government is, they are saying they are frustrated and disappointed when it is them, labour says, that has not funded the nhs or social care adequately, and they say there is a lot of explaining that needs to come. storm eleanor has swept across the uk, causing flooding, damage to homes, and disruption to motorists. gusts of up to 100 miles per hour were reported in the pennines, and thousands of homes are without power across northern ireland, wales, the midlands and south west england. several major bridges have been closed because of high winds, and there are numerous reports of fallen trees blocking roads. dan johnson reports. it was a wild, wet and noisy night in the name of storm eleanor. in the channel islands, jersey's seafront

took a pounding under strong winds and surging tides. ireland felt the storm's force first. this is galway, on the west coast, where high seas meant flooding. eleanor also took power from thousands of homes. the storm then swirled across the uk. huge waves in anglesey. hailstones in blackpool. and here's what people were dealing with this morning. trees down, bits of buildings crashed through cars, some vehicles off the road altogether. today has been really hazardous on the roads. we had a record number of call—outs earlier this morning, from cars being damaged from debris falling from trees, branches etc. other the cars just wouldn't start because of

all the rain, with wet engines, flat batteries. in terms of breakdowns, it's been busy, but also in terms of driving conditions. many roads have been closed or blocked with fallen branches. aberystwyth was one of many places clearing up this morning. so was belfast, where falling trees caused all sorts of problems. all of a sudden, the sky lit up, the power lines touch each other and it was just like guy fawkes. sparks, it was unbelievable. teams are still working to reconnect some electricity supplies. disruption continues on railways and roads. at the worst has now passed. it is an improving picture as we go through the day. storm eleanor is sitting in the day. storm eleanor is sitting in the north sea. we currently have strong gusty winds, 50 or 60 mph. as we go through the afternoon, the wind will ease up and we will see some sunny wind will ease up and we will see some sunny spells. import -- in cornwall, part of portreath's harbour wall was taken by the sea. buildings were also damaged

and it wasn't quite clear what belonged were. across large parts of the country, there are severe weather warnings still in place across the rest of the afternoon. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast. belfast is one of the areas affected. there is a clear up going on behind you. how is that going? yes, a lot of hard work being carried out by those whose job it is to return northern ireland to normal after a bruising night. to return northern ireland to normal aftera bruising night. in to return northern ireland to normal after a bruising night. in this residential area of south belfast, they have spent the morning cutting up they have spent the morning cutting upa they have spent the morning cutting up a tree that had been lying across the road. as you can see, they have blocked the road and that has allowed specialist vehicles run by engineers from the northern ireland electricity networks to move up. they are unloading poles to replace the ones that were brought down during the storm and then they can work on bringing back the power lines which were brought down by strong wind. there was also pretty bad damage to somebody‘s garden

fence. pretty clear there was a risk to life last night when storm eleanor barrelled through northern ireland. mainly southern counties we re ireland. mainly southern counties were affected, (333! down, ireland. mainly southern counties were afi ggasfzzifag di meant g ireland. mainly southern counties were afi ggasfzzifag di meant there 5 too "1-51? people out and were not too many people out and about. thankfully there were not any injuries as a result. as you can see, still pretty pleasant. still wet and windy and that is going to continue through the afternoon. the worst of storm eleanor has passed. thank you. president trump has said that his nuclear button is "much bigger and more powerful" than that of the north korean leader. his comments, on twitter, were the latest in an increasingly personal feud with kim jong—un. they came as south korea said the north had restored a hotline between the two governments,

after a silence of nearly two years. 0ur correspondent in seoul, sophie long reports. this morning, in a broadcast on its state—run television, north korea announced it would reopen an inter—korean hotline. translation: by upholding a decision by the leadership, we will make close contact with south korea in a sincere and faithful manner. we will discuss working—level issues related to the dispatch of the winter olympics delegation. just after 3:30 seoul time, the south korean government announced that it had received a telephone call from the north, the first direct form of communication between the two countries for nearly two years. it's hoped this could pave the way for high—level talks proposed by the south on tuesday. if they go ahead, the two sides are expected to discuss the possibility of pyongyang sending a delegation to the winter olympics, due to get under way in south korea next month. the south korean president,

moonjae—in, has said the pyeongchang? games could mark a turning point and relieve tensions on the korean peninsula, which are at their highest point in decades. kim jong—un announced he was open to dialogue with south korea in his new year speech, which also had a defiant message for the united states. he said he had nuclear weapons and a button on his desk. today, the us president gave his response to that. "will someone from his depleted and food starved regime", president trump tweeted, "please inform him that i too have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one and my button works!" and there was scepticism about the moves towards dialogue between the two koreas from the us state department. we are very sceptical of kim jong—un's sincerity in sitting down and having talks. our policy hasn't changed.

the south korean's policy has not changed. but a key communication line is now open, so talks about higher—level talks could now take place. sophie long, bbc news, seoul. six people have been arrested on suspicion of being members of the banned far—right group national action. they're being detained at addresses around the country. our home affairs correspondent june kelly is here. tell us more about this? these arrests were said to be preplanned and intelligence led, and involved counterterrorism detectives from around the country. five men in 20s have been detained at various addresses, in cambridge, banbury, wolverhampton, leicester in stockport, and a woman of 37 was also arrested in banbury. they are being held on suspicion of two offences, first of all the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism, and also, secondly, suspicion of

being members of the far right group national action. national action was banned by the home secretary in 2016 and was denounced as racist, homophobic and anti—semitic. the ban came six months after the murder of the labour mp came six months after the murder of the labourmpjo came six months after the murder of the labour mp jo cox. came six months after the murder of the labour mpjo cox. members of national action have actually applauded her killing. since the ban, we have had a number of arrests and some people have been charged. this morning, we have six more people detained. they are being held ata people detained. they are being held at a police station in the west midlands. 0k, thank you. the united states says it plans to call an emergency session of the un security council to discuss the ongoing unrest in iran. 22 people have died in six days of anti—government demonstrations, which were initially in response to price rises and accusations of corruption. tens of thousands of people are taking part in pro—government demonstrations today, after the government said it would organise counter—rallies. richard lister reports. after a week of anti—government protests, the regime responded today

with rallies of its own. state television showed these marches taking place in cities around the country. some reports though suggest government workers were ordered to take part. by contrast, the demonstrations of discontent across iran appear to have been spontaneous. triggered by high food prices and unemployment, they have become a defiant challenge to iran's all—powerful clerics. and while these outbursts have been relatively small, they have been widespread. this map using data from opponents of the regime, shows protests in almost every province including rural conservative areas once firmly behind the leadership. and iran's leaders don't have a unified response. the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei, blamed outside forces. the government today

was more conciliatory. the law and the government recognise the protests as the rights of citizens to send their messages to the authorities and make their voices heard. but this needs to be done within the framework of the law. what the regime wants to avoid is this. in 2009 a disputed presidential election brought millions onto the streets. leading to a violent crackdown by the authorities. washington is now shining a spotlight on iran and calling an emergency session of the un security council. the people of iran are crying out for freedom. all freedom—loving people must stand with their cause. the international community made the mistake of failing to do that in 2009. we must not make that mistake again. this was tehran last night.

more than 20 protesters have died in the past week. hundreds more have been arrested. this simmering rage could evaporate, or it could boil over. richard lister, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime. the health secretary says sorry to nhs patients in england who've had their operations delayed because of winter pressures. and coming up — one last chance — england look to redeem their ashes scorecard in the final test down under. coming up in sport. west ham are investigating a confrontation between west brom's jake livermore and home fans during at london stadium. the midfielder was involved in a heated exchange after being substituted. a chef has received death threats after boasting online that she'd "spiked" a dish for a vegan customer at her restaurant. laura goodman has since apologised

and offered to resign, and the restaurant has denied that meat was included in the food. but trading standards officials have begun an investigation. giles latcham reports. police at carlini's in albrighton in shropshire responding to death threats made online against laura goodman, co—owner and head chef. in the early hours of sunday she posted in a closed facebook group that she had just, "spiked a vegan". and that a "pious and judgmental vegan i'd spent all day cooking for has just gone to bed still believing she's a vegan.". there has been a storm online. herfiance and business partner is doing his best to quell it. we have got the possibility of demonstrations outside the restaurants, we've had death threats. you know, all i can say is to those people who are active vegans and vegetarians, is listen to our side of the story. nothing happened here. nobody had anything with meat in it.

they say the "spiked" comments relate to one of the vegan diners ordering a pizza with cheese on it. which laura duly prepared. but the comments online include, "your behaviour as a chef towards vegans is sickening.". "disgusting behaviour on the part of your chef... possibly illegal.". "what if that vegan was allergic to animal products? this is fraud.". i spoke briefly to laura goodman and she looked pale and exhausted. she said she was deeply sorry for the comments she posted, deeply distressed by the response to them. too distressed, she said, to appear on camera. a committed vegan from telford says it's a question of trust. your initial thought is, oh my goodness, am i ever going to be able to trust a restaurant again? but also it makes you worry for other people who might have gone there who might have had an allergy or whatever. and you know, may well then sufferfrom some kind of symptom as a result of,

you know, not being given what they thought they were having. food standards officials have begun an investigation. a new dish at carlini's, humble pie. giles latcham reporting. sales at the fashion chain next went up unexpectedly over the christmas period, with a particularly strong performance online. sales were up 1.5% — much better than the 0.3% fall it had expected. our business editor simon jack is here. this has taken analysts by surprise. and the company, they told us sales would go down but they had gone up. people are looking for the first indications about the winners in christmas and you look at the figures, a strong light, online performance offsetting a fall in in—store sales. so the most

interesting comments were about inflation. the boss of next said inflation. the boss of next said inflation of his clothing will go from 3% to 0% in the second half of the year. for most of last year prices have been going up faster than wages so you have had a big income squeezed. this is not food but some hint that that could turn around and we will all start feeling around and we will all start feeling a bit better off in the second part of this year. that is good for all consumers and very good for retailers as well. thank you. a homeless man who was hailed a "hero" for helping some of the injured at the manchester arena bombing, has pleaded guilty to stealing a purse and a mobile phone from victims of the attack. chris parker appeared at manchester crown court earlier — our correspondent clare fallon is there. what happened in court? after that bomb attack at manchester arena in may of last year chris parker was described as being a homeless hero.

i interviewed him on the night of the explosion and he described to me how he had run into the fourier web explosion has happened and try to help some of the most seriously injured. but today at corti pleaded guilty to stealing from some of the victims. he took a mobile phone from a 14—year—old girl who was seriously injured and also took a purse from a woman whose granddaughter was one of the 22 who were killed in the terror attacks at up to date his lawyer said he could only apologise for his appalling actions. he will be sentenced later this month. a man is due in court charged with the murder of a 22—year—old woman in a park in north london on christmas eve. kasim lewis — who's 31 — is accused of killing iuliana tudos. she was found dead not far from her home in finsbury park on december 27th. at least 48 people have been been killed in peru after a coach plummeted down a hundred metre cliff near the capital lima. 55 people were on board the bus, which landed upside down on a deserted beach.

the accident happened on the notorious devil's turn bend of the pacific coastal road. the queen will share memories of her coronation when she makes a rare appearance in a tv documentary, to be broadcast by the bbc on january 14th. the programme tells the story of the crown jewels, and the symbolic part they played in the ceremony. 0ur royal correspondent jonny dymond is here. tell us more about what is in the documentary. the big focus is going to be saint edward ‘s crown, the crown used at the coronation and only for that. the grant we are most used to seeing is the imperial state crown used at the state 0pening used to seeing is the imperial state crown used at the state opening of parliament and when the queen leaves the coronation. but saint edward ‘s crown, made of solid gold, and there you see the queen commenting that she has been to the coronation of

her father she has been to the coronation of herfather in 1937 she has been to the coronation of her father in 1937 and her own coronation and she herself says this, pretty remarkable. so something of a trip down memory lane for the queen and seeing some of these jewels for the first time in a very long time. most of the time they are at windsor or the tower of london. but here she is going to see them again. many thanks. last year was a record year for music consumption in britain. figures from the bpi, which represents the music industry, suggest the amount of music streamed, downloaded, or bought in the uk rose at its fastest rate for nearly 20 years. home grown artists such as ed sheeran and little mix accounted for eight out of ten of 2017's best selling albums. nina warhurst has been looking at the sales trends. # i have no time... 2018 is set to be big for francis long. # give it back... releasing his first album on manchester's buzzing music scene. because of the internet, he doesn't need the backing

of a big label to be heard. # give it back... if i finish a record, i've got the power to put it online immediately and everybody that is waiting for it can hear it. whereas before, before the dawn of the internet you could say, i would have to wait for someone to give me permission, wait for somebody to tell me that it is good enough for other people to hear. last year we streamed more music than ever, 68 billion songs. the equivalent of more than a thousand each. father christmas brought it, and that is... perhaps more surprising is how the tables have turned with vinyl records. some who had flirted with digital returned to their first love. just the beauty of having the record in your hand, i think. and looking after it, making sure it doesn't get scratched. so you like physically holding it? physically holding it, looking at the artwork on the covers, maybe reading the song lyrics as you are listening. vinyl sales were up an astonishing 26% on the year before

with 4 million records sold. and the shape of the british music industry was helped by one ed sheeran. for the 13th year in a row, the number one artist was home—grown. today's news is encouraging for studios like this one in manchester, which is home to a small record label. but there's still what is termed a value gap. that is a disparity between the amount of music that is being listened to, and the amount of money that that is generating for the industry. the consumption of music on video streaming platforms such as youtube, who currently can hide behind these safe harbours in european law. which means they do not have to pay the same amount as even spotify or apple, deezer or any of those. and that is a significant amount of revenue that is not getting through to artists or songwriters or labels and publishers. so artists like francis long wont be singing from the rooftops just yet.

but our willingness to spend more on music as times get tighter does give the industry a little something to dance about. nina warhurst, bbc news, in manchester. spinner mason crane will make his england test debut in the 5th and final ashes test in sydney. he's in for chris woakes, who will miss the match through injury. england lost the first three tests to surrender the ashes, and drew the fourth. patrick gearey reports from sydney. there is a bit of sydney harbour side that's forever teesside. the harbour bridge engineered by dorman long and company in middlesbrough using steel largely from england. built by the english, made great by australia. as the locals would have it, much like cricket. well, england arrive here in slightly steadier shape than they might have been. still no victory, but no whitewash either. and a real hope that here in sydney, the gap between these sides

might be bridgeable. the draw in melbourne showed england could be competitive and avoid defeat, but they still haven't taken 20 aussie wickets in a match. to that end, change is in the air. with chris woakes injured, a test debut for mason crane, a leg—spinner who played here for new south wales and his middle name is sydney. maybe he is made for this place. the way he has conducted himself throughout this whole trip and since he has been involved in our squads, he has been outstanding. for a young man to apply himself and absorb himself in the environment as he has, is exactly what you're after. it's a really good chance for him to show everyone what he's capable of. but i think on this surface he's going to be a really good option. australia's dilemma was whether to put pressure on the recovering heel of mitchell starc, the series' top wicket taker. they have decided to play him, and if you were questioning their motivation, they will still run this before every session of the test play. beat england...

this still matters. every opportunity we get to play on this ground, it is special. and it is another ashes test match and the guys need no more motivation. it is a great opportunity to try and win this test match and win the series 4— nil. ashes series take a long time coming around. england must wait two years to try and reclaim the urn and four years for another chance over here. but the aim now is to turn the wheel just a little in their direction. patrick geary, bbc news, in sydney. an irish footballer has scored his first big victory of the year, by winning the lottery. preston north end's kevin 0'connor was visiting family in ireland when he found out he'd won a million euros in the christmas millionaire raffle, after his uncle bought him a ticket. he says he has "no immediate plans" on how to spend the money and that his main focus is helping his team climb up the league. now more about the havoc wreaked by

storm eleanor. here is louise lear. gusts of wind is in excess of 100 miles an hour but generally speaking up miles an hour but generally speaking up to 75,80 miles an hour quite widely. still quite windy out there at the moment. these are the gusts in the last half an hour. but it will ease as we go through the afternoon. now storm eleanor is sitting in the north sea and is left behind a trail of shower clout and blustery wind. some of the shower is heavy with sam hilland some of the shower is heavy with sam hill and thunder. across central and southern parts of england and wales it is an improving story through the day. some showers through the north and west, some of these giving longer spells of