this is bbc news. the headlines. the rising number of migrants trying to cross the english channel is declared a ‘major incident‘ by the home secretary. a tourist bus is hit by a roadside bomb near the giza pyramids in egypt, killing two people. following an explosion in leicester in february, three men are found guilty of murdering five people. the music retailer hmv is being put into administration, placing more than 2,000 jobs at risk. in halfan in half an hour i'll be looking back ata in half an hour i'll be looking back at a momentous year for science, when astronomers sent a probe to touch the sun while on earth, climate scientists warned it is now oi’ climate scientists warned it is now or never to save the planet. that's the year in science. the home secretary sajid javid has

declared a "major incident" after a surge in the number of migrants trying to cross the english channel in small boats. 75 people have reached the uk in the past three days. but only one of the five patrol boats operated by the border force is currently operating in the channel. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy sent us this from dover. another calm day on the channel which is why we've seen more sailings today. two more, bringing 12 more migrants. 0verall, sailings today. two more, bringing 12 more migrants. overall, the total since november has gone up to 220 migrants who have made the crossing which is why we have heard from sajid javid that he is declaring

this a major incident. huddled in life jackets, these were some of today's arrivals off the coast of dover. two boats with 12 men, cold and disorientated, and now in the hands of immigration officials. they'd managed to get across despite the presence of this border force cutter that we filmed off folkestone today. the boat is currently britain's only major channel patrol vessel. tony smith, who once ran border force, says it isn't enough to stop a disaster at sea. out on the channel we do need more capacity to enable us notjust to spot these small boats, but also to intercept them, and i think it needs an international effort really in collaboration with the french law—enforcement agencies, to prevent them from coming in the first place. tonight the home secretary sajid javid has declared the rising number of migrants a major incident and says he is considering whether another border force

cutter is required. that's certainly what some refugee charities are calling for, but wouldn't more patrol boats lead to more migrants? i think the uk has an overinflated sense of its own attraction for asylum seekers. in the grand scheme of things very few asylum seekers want to come here. the journey is arduous and i think if you make the last bit of itjust that little bit safer, i don't think it's going to suddenly pull in hundreds of thousands more people. the government says that although this is the only border force cutter currently patrolling off the coast of kent, they don't want to put more resources into this for fear of attracting more migrants. the argument being that if the migrants and smugglers in france get wind that it's safer to cross the channel then they'll be tempted to make the crossing. so just how many are trying to come over? well, in addition to today's i2 migrants, there were 23 people yesterday, and a0 on christmas day, making a total of around 220 since november. really what we need to do is to stop people making these

journeys in the first place, so more patrol boats is part of the answer, but it's also having resources on the ground. we need working in partnership with the french to identify the gangs and stop them making crossings in the first place. the numbers of people trying to reach britain are nothing like those who came into southern europe in 2015, but with the home secretary now getting involved, these channel crossings are taking on a different and more urgent character in britain's response. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in dover. well, mrjavid also appointed a "gold commander" to oversee the situation and give daily updates, and he's had a conference call with agencies. the local mp for dover and deal, conservative charlie elphicke told me that migrant channel crossings has been a problem for some time now.

some 200 people have come to our shores in the last couple of months. it's intensified recently. it's really important, as the former head of the border force was saying in your package just now, that we have more co—operation with the french. make sure we work closely to find the traffickers behind the problem and put a stop to it. where are most of these migrants actually coming from? do we know that? reports indicate that they are from iran and that they are paying the trafficking organisations a lot of money, up to £30,000. so this is not your ordinary trafficking type of network. this is a highly funded network and that's why it's particularly important that we find these traffickers, bring them to justice before there is a tragedy in the channel. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining martine croxall tonight are political commentator

giles kenningham and the defence editor of the evening standard, robert fox. two vietnamese tourists have been killed in an explosion on a tourist bus in egypt. it happened near the pyramid complex at giza, just outside the capital city cairo. the authorities say another ten vietnamese tourists were injured, and so was the egyptian driver and a tour guide. the interior ministry said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device. three men have been found guilty of the murder of five people, including a mother and her two sons, in an explosion at a shop in leicester. the blast destroyed a supermarket and the flat above, where a family lived. the court had heard that the men caused the explosion, in order to make an insurance claim. a warning that this report by kathryn stanczyszyn contains distressing images from the start. a massive explosion rips through a building, tearing a hole

in this city street. people who witnessed it thought a bomb had gone off. but instead, it was caused by a fire, started deliberately to profit from an insurance claim. it destroyed a polish shop and the flat above it. mary ragoobeer, two of her teenage sons, sean and shane, and his girlfriend, leah reek, who had arrived 10 minutes before, were spending sunday evening together at home. all four were killed. the light went out of our world on that terrible night, and it is so difficult to put into words how much we miss leah. she was an amazing, inspirational young lady who was just starting out on her life adventure. we know leah worshipped shane and they adored each other. and they were taken from this world. we are so grateful to the family for making leah so welcome. she loved being there and knowing she was always happy there gives us some comfort. also killed was 22—year—old viktorija ijevleva, who was working in the shop at the time.

she'd been conspiring with three men — hawkar hassan, arkan ali and aram kurd. they wanted to claim £300,000 in insurance because the business was failing. this cctv footage shows them buying more than 20 litres of petrol the day before the explosion. they also bought other flammable materials to intensify the fire. the jury heard the three men had deliberately left viktorija ijevleva, who was arkan ali's partner, in the shop to die because she knew too much about the scam. they also believed they would get more money if people were killed. aram kurd ran the polish supermarket. prior to the explosion he moved the cctv camera outside the shop to obscure the view. here he is at the scene just seconds afterwards. he had been in the basement when it happened. then, an hour later, talking to police. just go through how it all came about. the bbc spoke to him the next day,

before he was arrested. how are you feeling at the moment? i don't know how to tell you. never have i felt what i feel now. the three men will be sentenced next month for the murder of five people. a cynically planned fraud with no regard for human life. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news, leicester. one of the most familiar names in british retailing, hmv, has confirmed that it's calling in administrators. the move affects more than 2,000 staff, at 125 stores, throughout the uk. sales at the music and film retailer have been hit by competition from online retailers and streaming services. it's the second time in five years that hmv has hit serious financial trouble, as our business correspondent rory cellan—jones reports. there's some flsh photography coming up. from david bowie...

..to eltonjohn... ..to take that. they all chose the most famous name in high street music to launch an album. but that was then. now, hmv has collapsed into administration for the second time in five years. the main reason? people are finding other ways to get music and movies. netflix or spotify. i don't ever buy anything. no, i don't buy any. i download everything. i like movies but i'm not bothered about having them on dvd all the time and stuff like that. so it won't be that bad for me, to be honest. hmv‘s current owners bought it out of administration five years ago. but today they said an extremely weak christmas and a poor outlook for music and dvd sales next year meant they couldn't go on trading. when it comes to physical sales, hmv is still a major force, with around a third of all music

sales in the uk and about a quarter of the dvd and blu—ray market. but both are in decline and a big fall in recent months in sales of dvds seems to have pushed the firm over the edge. don't you get sick of it all? the rise of streaming services such as netflix and spotify means millions no longer choose to own dvds or cds, making the environment for a high street entertainment retailer ever harder. i don't think that's the whole story. i mean, obviously hmv have seen a change in terms of sales as people move to digital access models. but actually, i think what we're seeing now is something akin to some malaise on the high street generally with high rent and rates and a very torrid christmas trading period this year. i bought my first records in hmv. it was kind of like a magical place. jimmy martin went on to work at hmv for 15 years and now helps run this store specialising in second—hand vinyl.

he says there's still a place for music on the high street. i think it's all about making what is selling more desirable. i think there is a future for hmv. it's all second—hand product, the same way we do. i think there's a future for them to sort of diversifying and i think record shops can be as exciting as they were to me in 1985 when i first went into them. for now, the 125 stores remain open. the search is on for a buyer who believes that a business which has been through almost a century of change can still have a profitable future. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. news coming in from kent police, that a 37 euros woman, samantha ford, has been charged with murder. this follows the deaths of children in margate in kent —— a 37—year—old woman. charged with murderfollowing the deaths of two children in

margate in kent. more on that as it comes to us. new research shows that more than half a million potholes were reported by members of the public to local authorities in the uk last year. the rac says the figure proves road conditions are worsening. in 0ctober‘s budget the government pledged more than £400 million to tackling the problem. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports. they're a hazard, sometimes huge, almost impossible to count. so, this is a typically damaged wheel. we see no less than six a day. sometimes as many as ten cars a day, which are only here because of pothole damage. just one garage, in one area. for the last two or three years it has been getting worse and worse. the scale of the problem nationwide, it must run into millions and millions in terms of the cost of damage to the road user at the moment, it is really, really scary. and today we have new figures confirming a big rise in potholes on our roads. the number of potholes reported

by people in 150 local authorities in england, scotland and wales rose by a whopping 44% in two years. this guy feels potholes are his calling. he argues that real investment in repairing road surfaces, instead of patching potholes up, would ultimately save money. if you did a proper investment plan, changed the culture, training, contracts, supervision, the right quality of materials, 95% of potholes could be eradicated from ever appearing on our road network. the rac says councils don't have the money and the government needs to act. what we require is a long—term funding mechanism whereby local authorities can plan ahead and actually deal with the specific issue of the structural defects, rather than simply filling in potholes. the government says it's giving councils an extra £400 million for local road repairs this year, and funding trials to identify potential potholes so roads can be repaired before they form.

the headlines on bbc news. the rising number of migrants trying to cross the english channel is declared a ‘major incident‘ by the home secretary. a tourist bus is hit by a roadside bomb near the giza pyramids in egypt, killing two people. following an explosion in leicester in february, three men are found guilty of murdering five people. let‘s get more on the news that more prisoners will be allowed to make phone calls from their cells under government plans to tackle violence and reoffending. currently 20 prisons in england and wales have phones inside cells. they‘re closely monitored and can only call pre—approved numbers. £10 million will be spent extending the scheme to 50 prisons by early 2020. john mcmanus reports. for years, the authorities

have struggled to stop illicit mobile phones making their way into prisons. along with drugs, they are big business behind bars because they allow some offenders to maintain contact with criminal associates. some gangs have resorted to using drones to deliver them over prison walls. stamping out their use has been a priority. hello... but now, the government says that thousands of prisoners will, in future, be able to make calls on landlines from their own cells. the scheme has already been tried at 20 prisons in england and wales, like here, at 0akwood prison. that number will rise to 50 by march 2020. the government says it‘s vital that prisoners maintain contact with those most able to support their rehabilitation — theirfamilies. one of the things that helps reduce re—offending is maintaining family ties. and i think it is really important that we allow prisoners

the opportunity to maintain those family ties, maintain links with their loved ones, because when they are released, those relationships are going to be really important in keeping them on the straight and narrow. but the idea of making prison life more comfortable has been criticised by the conservative mp and former shadow home affairs minister andrew rosindell, who tweeted he thought "the idea of being sent to jail was to punish criminals and take away their freedom and creature comforts." his comments, though, have been challenged by the prison governors association. we would disagree with prison being a place of punishment. the fact that you are sent to prison is the punishment. we shouldn't further punish people whilst in prison. 0ur role is to reduce re—offending, so that when they go back into the community, they're able to integrate and there is less chance of them re—offending. the authorities say that prisoners will only be able to call a few approved numbers, and conversations can be monitored at any time.

it‘s hoped that violence within prisons will also fall — a problem the government‘s been struggling with. john mcmanus, bbc news. two british women and a baby were killed when the 4x4 they were travelling in crashed off a bridge in iceland. the vehicle was carrying two brothers who were touring the country with their families, including two children aged seven and nine. all four were seriously injured. a man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after arriving on an inbound flight at luton airport. the 32—year—old was taken to a bedfordshire police station, on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism but has now been released on bail. police say his arrest is syria—related, and not to do with any offences at luton airport. the investigation is being led by the metropolitan police‘s counter terror command. the number of illegal knives seized at the uk‘s borders has more than doubled in a year. official figures show officers took possesion of more

than 7,600 blades during the 12 months to september. it comes as knife crime in england and wales reaches an eight—year high. 0besity costs the nhs billions of pounds every year. many people have followed medical advice and lost significant weight, potentially saving the nhs money in the long run. but some are left with folds of excess skin and they want the health service to pay for the operation to remove it. getting this surgery depends on where you live, and some argue that treatment of this kind of treatment shouldn‘t be available on the nhs. 0ur health editor hugh pym has the story. at his largest, jack was nearly 3a stone, living on a diet of takeaways. that was then, but this is now. he has lost 18 stone. that was after doctors told him he was at risk of dying young. but the dramatic weight loss has left him with another problem. so i have a lot of loose skin, especially around the torso area.

i think at my age, being only 22, it‘s something quite difficult to live with. jack told me he was in a dark place when things got out of hand with his diet and lifestyle. eating was a comfort and it‘s a vicious cycle. you would eat to feel better. you would feel better, you would eat again and then you would feel bad and upset because you were getting bigger. he feels he did his bit by going on a rigorous diet to get his weight down. now he thinks his local nhs should do an operation to deal with his folds of skin. i‘ve worked this hard to get myself out of a situation which could have cost the nhs a lot of money going forward. the mental aspect of having to deal with your body once you‘ve worked this hard for it can be quite challenging. getting body contouring surgery after weight loss depends on where you live. in kent, jack‘s local area, it‘s not possible to have the operation routinely on the nhs.

but in hampshire, local commissioners will pay for it. in wales and northern ireland it‘s not routinely funded. but in scotland it is possible for some patients. the series of operations required can cost the nhs up to £24,000. but surgeons argue it‘s an essential part of the treatment of those who are tackling their own severe obesity. we must, must get away from the fact that people think this is cosmetic surgery. it could not be further from the truth. this is reconstruction and patients do benefit from having the surgery. nhs clinical commissioners said the surgery was available in some cases but unfortunately the nhs does not have unlimited resources. "some tough choices have to be made, which we appreciate can be difficult for some of our patients." forjack, it‘s a simple question of fairness. i‘m not doing this for just the cosmetic. it‘s for me to be able to live a normal life. to go to the gym and have to tuck yourself in, like a shirt, you have to tuck yourself in to be able to work out.

it‘s very difficult in social events when you‘re wearing a shirt because you have a fold. it‘s notjust the cosmetic side, it‘s the kind of mental aspect and the effect that does have, especially being such a young person. hugh pym, bbc news. lifeboat crew in cornwall say a fisherman who fell overboard near newlyn whilst adjusting his nets has been "amazingly" lucky to survive. nathan rogers managed to cling onto his nets forfive miles, while the boat took him back to shore on autopilot. he was treated for severe hypothermia and is now recovering at home. 0ur cornwall reporter tamsin melville has the latest. we can see the man holding on, holding onto the boat. lucky to be alive, the moment fisherman nathan rogers is pulled from the sea after being dragged five miles by his own boat. i've never known anyone to be dragged behind a boat for that amount of time and to still survive.

it's amazing. having fallen overboard he had clung onto hoses connected to hauling gear and had been in the water for one hour, travelling at six knots with his boat on autopilot. crashing into the pier. the boat hit the pier in newlyn and the rescue was filmed and the alarm raised by a family on a beachclean. i saw the boat with no one on it. what did you do then? i told my dad to phone 999. i was shouting swim, swim, but he wasn't moving at all. the lifeboat was on anotherjob when the alarm was raised. the skipper of the dream catcher was holding him out of the water until we got alongside. the fact that we passed him two miles further south and just steamed past him is quite frightening. they were just amazing, from the passing fishing

boat to the crew. the crew was just there rescuing another boat. they came so fast, you know. yes, they were just marvellous. taken to hospital with hypothermia, nathan rogers has been recovering at home today. an unfortunate accident with a happy ending here but the incident has raised the dangers of fishing, particularly when alone, with some pointing to the importance of life jackets with safety measures, like locater beacons. police in new york have sought to reassure residents after a bright blue light illuminated the night sky over the city. officials have explained the glow was not some otherworldly phenomenon but was caused by a transformer explosion, as rhodri davies reports. alien, the almighty, or apocalyptic? new yorkers were asking the question when the night sky turned blue on friday. it was freaky.

it was like independence day, the movie, where you just look up and a weird blue colour that you haven‘t seen, lighting up the clouds in the sky. it looked like something was above the clouds. it stunned residents. 0n social media, one person spoke of a vibrating noise. another said she was shocked to the core. another suggested the presence of ghostbusters, or extraterrestrial beings. the answer was far more down to earth. a hot electrical fire in the city‘s largest borough of queens in fact caused the cool blue shade that cut through the sky and disrupted some residents‘ plans. a surge at a local electric power plant set off the small fire and the blue sparks. it could‘ve been, since it was an electrical fire, that it caused arcing — a flash of power, so to speak. and that might have been what caused that large light. there were local outages.

some city trains were stalled and flights at one of new york‘s majorairports, laguardia, were stopped for about half an hour. but there were no injuries and the city police department was intent on allaying any further fears, saying that the incident was the result of a transformer explosion and there was no evidence of extraterrestrial activity. they will hope that that will be enough to put all suspicions to rest. rhodri davies, bbc news. one of the world‘s rarest birds, a species of duck called the madagascar pochard, has been given a new home. a team of british conservationists from the durrell wildlife conservation trust and the wildfowl and wetlands trust have released a small group of birds at a lake in the north of madagascar. as our science correspondent victoria gill reports, it‘s the first step in the recovery of a species that was once thought to be extinct. 0n the brink of extinction.

the madagascar pochard was thought to have been wiped out completely, but a tiny group of the birds was rediscovered just 12 years ago, at one remote lake. wetland habitats here have been so polluted and damaged that the birds were forced into a last untouched area. but as pristine as it looks, this final refuge is actually too deep and too cold for the pochards to thrive. they are clinging onto existence in a place that isn‘t really suited to them. the threats that they face across the rest of madagascar — which is why they‘ve been wiped out so extensively — are vast and range from sedimentation, invasive species, pollution, poor agricultural practices. a whole suite of different things that combine to make the perfect storm that really make it hard for a species like the madagascar pochard to survive. so conservationists embarked on a painstaking rescue mission. after bringing a few birds into captivity to start

a breeding programme, the researchers scoured madagascar for the best possible site to bring them back to the wild. lake sofia, in the north of madagascar, will be the pochards‘ new home. and for the world‘s rarest birds, the team has developed an extra level of protection. well, it might be bit of a different climate here in gloucestershire compared to madagascar, but the team at the wetlands here have been able to develop this floating aviary. the idea is, it‘ll keep the birds safe and get them accustomed to their new lake. there they go, swimming off, swimming off... the doors to their floating aviary have now been opened and the pochards are venturing out to explore. it‘s a small — but significant — step, conservationists say, in saving one species from extinction and in protecting madagascar‘s threatened wetlands. victoria gill, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with louise lear.

good afternoon. a straightforward weather story to end the year. high pressure is going to stay with us until new year. it is allowing these weather fronts to go over, meaning tonight we‘ll see some cloud and rain in scotland and moving east. quite a lot of cloud elsewhere. not a cold night, cloud preventing temperatures from falling far so preventing temperatures from falling farsoa mild preventing temperatures from falling far so a mild start on saturday but grave. misty and murky weather cloud brea ks grave. misty and murky weather cloud breaks in places but the rain is going to ease away. windy in scotla nd going to ease away. windy in scotland but the wind will ease down by lunchtime and then we are into a cloudy story, mostly dry but temperatures above where they should be for the time of year, 10—13. it looks like we do it the same with showers overnight saturday into

sunday, then clearing integrates dry but mild sunday. the latest headlines: the rising number of migrants trying to cross the english channel is declared a "major incident" by the home secretary. a tourist bus is hit by a roadside bomb in egypt killing two people. following an explosion in leicester in february, three men are found guilty of murdering five people. the music retailer hmv is being put into administration placing more than two thousand jobs at risk. now on bbc news, it‘s been a year in which climate scientists warned it‘s now or never to save the planet and a paralysed man took his first steps. pallab ghosh presents review 2018: the year in science. ..2,1, 0.

liftoff. this is a year that nasa sent a probe to touch the sun, and a japanese spacecraft landed on an asteroid. on earth, climate scientists warned it was now or never to save the planet. in 2018, a crisis of plastic waste. in indonesia, the army was called in to deal with the problem. machines became better than doctors at diagnosing diseases. and a paralysed man took his first steps. what a year in science it‘s been. it was yet another incredible year for space exploration.

astronomers here at the royal observatory in greenwich have been gazing at stars for centuries. but in april, nasa launched a probe to listen to what they sound like. these are the vibrations of a nearby star — similarto oursun — converted into sound. and this is another, much bigger and older star. each one we see has its own unique sound. this will be the first mission to scan nearly the entire sky, sector by sector. the sound a star makes will tell scientists how big and how hot it is. many of them will have planets in orbit around them. some will be too close. those that are the right distance

away will be the ones most capable of supporting life — in what scientists call the goldilocks zone, where the temperature is just right. and there was one star that nasa was particularly interested in. ..two, one, zero. liftoff! into the night and on a mission to touch the sun. a daring mission to shed light on the mysteries of our closest star, the sun. nasa‘s parker solar probe is now in orbit and has come closer than any other spacecraft. it will touch the sun, dipping into its scorching atmosphere. it will be heated to 1300 celsius — enough to turn the probe into liquid, were it not for its heat shield. the probe will spend the next few years studying the sun‘s atmosphere, which can be seen from earth during a total eclipse. shimmering and beautiful from so far away, violent and raging close up. touchdown confirmed! now, a landing on mars.

as well as the cheers, there was an extra celebration. i am over the moon. it's, like, incredible! this is my first mission. i mean, i feel like... i still feel nervous. like, i don't know. the adrenaline is still going through me. but we're on mars. marco worked. insight worked. it's been... it was a soft landing. everything was perfect, which is so rare. and now, ijust want more data. i want to see what's happening on mars! just a few moments earlier, nasa‘s insight lander plunged through the thin martian atmosphere and landed safely. its job is to investigate mars‘s interior and attempt to detect tremors — or marsquakes. liftoff at 7:51am, eastern... 50 years ago, america sent astronauts to the moon on its mighty saturn v rocket. since those heady days, there hasn‘t been a us rocket capable of leaving the earth‘s orbit.

five, four, three, two, one! until now. those glory days may soon be back, with the successful testing of elon musk‘s falcon heavy rocket, blasting all 27 of its engines, soaring high above the atlantic ocean. and then, in a carefully choreographed dance, its boosters return back to earth. this year saw the publication of the most worrying report we‘ve ever had on the impact of climate change. scientists warned that it was now or never to save the planet, and they called for drastic action to keep global temperature rises to within 1.5 celsius. any more, and we risk irreversible environmental damage to our world. the ipcc has warned of two possible futures for our planet. in the 2 degree world, there‘s severe drought. in the northern hemisphere, there‘s more flooding. people are poorer and have less food.

and all the coral in our seas has gone. as things stand, that‘s the world we‘re headed towards. if action is not taken, it will take the planet into an unprecedented climate future, if we compare it to what has happened during all of human evolutionary history. to avoid damaging global warming, the scientists call for much more renewable energy, the development of planes that use less fuel and new ways to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. all that is happening, but according to sir david attenborough at a recent un meeting, not at the speed it needs to. if we don‘t take action, the collapse of our civilizations

and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon. scientists have not been able to link specific weather events — such as this summer‘s heatwave — to climate change. this year, that began to change. it's becoming much clearer that we can, with quite a lot of confidence, say that something like an extreme weather event is linked to climate change or, at least, it would be very unlikely to happen without climate change. the heatwave this year brought back memories of the long, hot summer of 1976. there were droughts, thousands had their water cut off, and people had to collect it in buckets from stand pipes. this was the temperature map at the time, the heatwave in red localised to the uk. now look at it this year.

it‘s all across the northern hemisphere. this is how averagejune afternoon temperatures have been rising in britain since 1900. and that trend is likely to continue. so we‘ll have to make fundamental changes to our own lives. for example, scientists say we can‘t continue eating as much beef and lamb as we do currently. and the burning of fuel by passenger jets contributes a great deal to global warming. but electric planes such as this one can‘t carry enough passengers far enough. schemes to capture carbon emissions from factories and bury them are still in their infancy. and at a time when we‘re losing the world‘s forests, scientists say we urgently need to find new and better ways of sucking out the excess carbon

dioxide that‘s already in the atmosphere. but scientists are going full steam ahead in other areas. currently, trains give off emissions that are not good for our health or the environment. but this train in germany runs on hydrogen. and as my colleague roger harrabin shows, it‘s an ultraclean fuel. this is the emission from the exhaust. you can‘t smell it. i‘m told you can‘t taste it. that‘s because it‘s water. pure water. battery—powered trains have been trialled in britain, but they don‘t go very far on a single charge — around 30 miles. but one 15—minute fill—up with hydrogen drives this train for 600 miles. hydrogen trains made in germany are likely to be used in the uk by the early 2020s. single—use plastics

came to the forefront as a new environmental menace. the problem is, when we throw away our bottles and bags, they last for hundreds of years. it‘s thought that last year, 8 million tonnes found its way into the sea, killing tens of thousands of birds, fish and other marine life. a crisis of plastic waste in indonesia. it‘s become so acute that the army has been called in to help. my colleague david shukman was there. this river has a reputation for being the most polluted anywhere in the world. and you can see why. there‘s plastic everywhere. and add to that a very high level of industrial chemicals as well. so clearing up is a huge challenge, but the president of indonesia wants this water to be drinkable in seven years‘ time. rivers and canals are clogged with dense masses of bottles, bags and other plastic packaging. officials say they‘re engaged in a constant battle against waste. it accumulates just as quickly as they clear it. the commander of a military unit in the city of bandung described it as our biggest enemy.

but there was some good news on plastic. this is a 600—metre—long tube that‘s been made for a project in san francisco called 0cean cleanup. it floats across the sea and scoops up millions of pieces of plastic that would otherwise have harmed sea life. and there was another type of pollution that‘s also affecting undersea creatures. a new study suggests that the long—term viability of more than half the different killer whales around the globe is now in question because of the dumping of chemicals called pcbs.

some populations, such as those around the uk, the strait of gibraltar, off brazil, japan and california, are almost certainly doomed. there were some remarkable developments in medicine. we saw ai systems that can diagnose scans for heart disease and lung cancer much better than the best doctors. scientists in london have grown a bioengineered oesophagus. now look closely, and you can see it contracting like a real muscle. the research could eventually be used to treat children born with damaged digestive systems. a british company has unveiled a new robotic surgery system which is expected to operate on patients for the first time next year. but this man‘s story was the most dramatic development of the year. david mzee‘s doctor said

he‘d never walk again. now he‘s able to travel more than half a mile. it‘s because of an implant that amplifies electrical signals from his brain to his legs. this is david training with his implant a year ago. "stim on" means it‘s turned on. when it‘s turned off, he can‘t move. back on, and he continues to walk. to me, it means a lot. i think you‘ve got to try to do the impossible, to make the possible possible. i‘m surprised over and over again when we really get there. it‘s a lot of fun, and it feels very good. david had his implant surgically inserted by one of switzerland‘s leading neurosurgeons. he was paralysed for seven years, a chronic case. i've been working in neuroscience now for a long time, and i know that when you have a spinal cord injury, after a while, if there is no progress, it will remain like this. so what i noticed him for the first time is a change, even in a chronic state. and that's, for me, something completely new. 2018 was also a great year for discoveries in the pure sciences. and one of the most intriguing stories was the abolition of the kilogram —

at least as we know it. this is a copy of a platinum iridium alloy stored in paris. it‘s the standard by which all other kilograms in the world are measured. but there‘s a problem. over the years, its weight has changed. the vote was unanimous. yes. there were cheers to greet the demise of the block of metal that has been the kilogram. currently, it‘s described by the weight of a platinum—based ingot locked away in a safe in paris. from may, it‘ll be defined by a system that involves measuring an electric current. it‘ll be more accurate and never need changing again. but some will miss that little piece of precious metal that‘s defined our system of measurement for 130 years. i‘m a little bit sad that the kilogram is being redefined, but it‘s important, and it‘s going to work a lot better after. but changing it to the new system, it‘s a really, really exciting time. it was another great year for the science nobel prizes. for medicine, the award

was for a new way to fight cancer. the chemistry prize was for the development of better drugs that mimic the body‘s own immune system to combat diseases. one of the winners was britain‘s professor gregory winter. the physics award was for advancements in laser physics which has benefited eye surgery. the winners were donna strickland from canada and arthur ashkin from the us. dr strickland is only the third woman to win the nobel prize for physics. well, that is surprising, isn't it? i think that's the story that people want to talk about that, why should it take 60 years? there's so many women out there doing fantastic research, so why does it take so long to get recognised? at cern, the difficulties women face in reaching senior positions was highlighted just a day before she received the award. professor alessandro strumia was suspended from the research centre after bbc news reported that he told young women there that they weren‘t as good at the subject as men. drjessica wade was among those

at the meeting who were angry and upset by his comments. i think it‘s damaging because it tells a whole generation of young scientists who are working in string theory, high energy physics and physics more broadly, that senior people in authority think that women are inferior and shouldn‘t be trying out for these positions and shouldn‘t be doing it, and have been there due to tokenism. in march, we said farewell to the world‘s best—known and most—loved scientist. we shall give thanks for stephen hawking's remarkable gifts. we have entrusted our brother, stephen, to god's mercy. professor hawking was laid to rest in westminster abbey alongside another giant of science, sir isaac newton. a message from stephen hawking — with a specially written composition by vangelis — was beamed, fittingly, across the universe — towards the nearest black hole. i am very aware of the preciousness of time. seize the moment.

act now. i have spent my life travelling across the universe inside my mind. we are all time travellers, journeying together into the future. but let‘s work together to make that future a place we want to visit. be brave, be determined, overcome the odds. it can be done. in 2018, there was a big shift in ideas about the emergence of our species. this human jawbone has rewritten the story of how we spread across the globe.

it was found alongside stone tools in northern israel and was part of a community. scientists were shocked when they discovered it was more than 100,000 years older than when they thought humans left africa in large numbers. theories about how modern humans first evolved and spread may now have to be changed. the previous view was that our species began to leave africa 100,000 years ago. but the new discovery in israel suggests it was actually much earlier, possibly 250,000 years ago. that means our species may have lived alongside other kinds of more primitive humans, who lived outside of africa at the time. and that contact may have helped to shape our culture and the way we look. and there was a new way of conserving trees.

species of plants are preserved in seed banks like this one. but it hasn‘t been possible to do that with trees until now. here, they found a way to isolate, then freeze, an embryonic part of it. my colleague helen briggs discovered that when it‘s thawed out, it can grow into a new tree. this baby oak tree has come out of the deep freeze and is starting to grow. trees in a test tube could be the answer to protecting our forests in the long—term. there was good news for many animals this year, including penguins. such as the ones here at london zoo. 0ne species, the adelie, was thought to be in decline, until scientists discovered one and a half million of them crammed on a rock at the northernmost point of the antarctic peninsula. researchers first noticed the penguins when large patches of their poo showed up in satellite images. the animals are crammed onto a rocky archipelago called the danger islands. as the name implies, the islands are notoriously difficult to reach. even in antarctica‘s summer, the ocean surrounding the archipelago is filled with a kind of thick sea ice that ships try to avoid. and another animal took my colleague victoria gill by surprise

when she was on the isle of mull. this is a special protected site for golden eagles, and there are four nesting pairs, which is why david's brought us here. we have the scope, the binoculars. we have the long lens. so, we'll just keep our fingers crossed, because it is a big country. there's a golden eagle up here now! oh, my word! going along the ridge. oh, wow! the majestic king of birds is under threat in some areas, but there‘s hope that this species can be protected now that their genetic code has been unlocked. by knowing their dna, conservationists can learn more about their health, ecology and how to select the best birds to move around. and here‘s another animal that scientists gave a helping hand to. five southern koalas have been flown halfway around the world as part of plans to create a back—up population of the species away from their native australia.

although not an endangered species, they‘re considered to be vulnerable. scientists in the uk will be looking for ways to help them thrive, away from the threats of disease such as chlamydia. they‘re now settling in to their new home at longleat safari park in wiltshire. here, at another wildlife reserve in merseyside, researchers are testing a new conservation system that films the animals from the air. although they could see the animals from their heat signatures, they couldn‘t always tell what they were. the drone could spot far more animals from the air, but the problem was that the researchers couldn‘t tell what they were, especially if they are far away. what they needed was a system that could identify them from the heat they gave off. astronomers use software that automatically searches for galaxies

that are millions of billions of miles away, and identify their age and size from their colour. by adapting the technology to sift through the data gathered from the drone, it can be used to identify different kinds of animals. compare this elephant‘s hotspots with that of a rhino‘s. conservationists will, for the first time, have an accurate way of counting animals under the tree tops. this will help them assess how various conservation efforts are working. so, a great year for science in 2018. but also dire warnings about the future of our planet. there were, however, encouraging signs that science can help us beat such overwhelming odds. next year looks as if it‘ll be just as exciting for science. it‘ll see the climax of a bold japanese mission to an asteroid. it‘s less than a kilometre across and relatively close to earth. the spacecraft has been circling it since the summer and has recently

dropped a lander and two box—shaped rovers onto it. in january, it will touch the surface, fire a pellet to dislodge rocks and then hoover them up. and later in the year, it‘ll fire a missile at it, which will make a large crater and reveal what lies underneath. ..two, one! launch! the research vessel named after sir david attenborough will begin work in the arctic next spring. its hull has been specially designed to break through the thick sea ice, enabling it to explore parts of the polar environment that are hard to reach. the spacecraft that discovered pluto has a heart—shaped mark on its surface will make a return visit later in january. we‘ll see the first ever picture of a giant black hole at the centre of a galaxy far, far away. spacex and boeing will both send spacecrafts to dock with the international space station and test to see if they can be used to send astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.

and the highlight could be the celebration of arguably humanity‘s greatest achievement. that's one small step for man. 0ne giant leap for mankind. that looks beautiful from here, neil. it‘ll be 50 years since neil armstrong and buzz aldrin set foot on the moon. because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. and as you talk to us from the sea of tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth. what a year in science it‘s going to be! good evening.

all quiet, really, to close out the year of 2018. today, largely dry, the brightest spots, scotland, northern ireland, and for an hour or so around lunchtime in the south—east we had a window of sunshine. the emphasis with the cloudy conditions, that continues through the night to night for all of us. —— tonight. at the same time we will see rain pushing through scotland, it may push this into the north of england by dawn tomorrow, but the temperatures hold up, cloud acting like a blanket, not a cold start to saturday, could be cloudy one. the reason for this at the moment — we are under the influence of high pressure, which is sitting

to the south of us. the wind swinging round in a clockwise direction, that means it's dragging up the warm air from the south—west. hence why it is mild to close out the year. quite a windy start in the far north, as the rain promptly eases away, but gusts of wind, 40, 50 mph, for a time, at least, but the rain is rattling through at quite a pace. the wind will ease down. then it is a relatively quiet story, some cloud around, a breezy afternoon, mostly dry, showers will be through few and far between and temperatures will peak at ten to 13 degrees. so, as we close out saturday and move into sunday, we will keep some cloud, some wet weather brushes with the edges, and as that clears through, we could see those skies clear, temperatures in sheltered eastern areas potentially falling away. so, a chillier start to sunday morning, low single figures here,

further west, looks as though it stays pretty cloudy and mild and looks as though the further west, always run the risk of a little more in the way of mist and fog. sheltered areas after that chilly start may well see the best of the sunshine for the second half of the weekend. temperatures are fairly uniform, ten to 13 degrees. as we move out to sunday into monday, new year's eve, if you have plans, you will be pleased to hear that it will be business as usual, this high pressure stays with us. likely to stay dry, particularly cloudy for most of us. great news if you will be out and about, celebrating. a cloudy story for most, and dry. enjoy. this is bbc news i‘m martine croxall. the headlines at 8:00. the rising number of migrants trying to cross the english channel is declared a major incident by the home secretary. a tourist bus is hit by a roadside bomb near the giza pyramids in egypt killing two people. following an explosion in leicester in february, three men are found guilty of murdering five people. the music retailer hmv is being put into administration placing more

than 2,000 jobs at risk. and in half an hour, i‘ll be looking back at a turbulent 12 months in our high streets. that‘s review 2018: the retail year with me, emma simpson.