good afternoon. more than a thousand people — including the monty python star michael palin, the model twiggy and the england football captain harry kane — have been recognised in the new year honours list. as well as high profile figures, hundreds of ordinary people have been recognised for their public service and bravery — including one of the british divers who helped rescue a group of thai schoolboys trapped in flooded caves. lizo mzimba has the details. michael palin says he is immensely grateful to receive a knighthood for services to travel, culture and geography. i've done lots of things in my life, none of which i felt were totally worthy of such recognition. but maybe the cumulative effect is one of some kind of achievement. the world's top fashion cover girl... leading fashion figure lesley lawson, better known as twiggy, has been honoured for her work in the arts, charity and fashion. i didn't expect it. it was completely out of the blue, a shock. but the nicest shock in the world. who wouldn't want to be dame twiggy!

british divers involved in this year's thai cave rescue have received awards for their bravery and expertise. some of our team received letters a little while ago, we were asked if we would be prepared to accept some awards, which we very graciously said thank you for. it's nice for the team to be recognised. following the world cup, england football manager gareth southgate becomes an obe. captain harry kane, an mbe. he paid tribute to his team—mates. i am extremely thankful for all my team—mates, all my coaches in the england team, the tottenham team. without them i wouldn't be scoring the goals and wouldn't be getting these type of accolades. so yes, very proud and very thankful to them. as in previous years, the majority of honours have gone to people who aren't in the public eye and who never expected this kind of recognition.

andrea aviet campaigns against domestic abuse. until the day i die, i'm going to continue with this cause. but definitely getting an award like this means the world to me because, you know, it just shows others. britain's longest serving lollipop lady, beryl quantrill from cleethorpes, has also been honoured with the british empire medal. it was on my birthday when i got the letter. i was over the moon! and i couldn't wait to tell my son when he came in. i never thought i'd get an award. anything. i just thought they were going to say goodbye to me, and that was it. she's been helping children cross for more than 50 years, just one of the often unsung heroes being honoured. lizo mzimba, bbc news. the government's immigration minister is visiting dover, following criticism of the government's response to an increase in the number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. more than 200 people have arrived since the start of november. our reporter caroline davies is in dover. why has she come? we heard from

sajid javid yesterday that he declared this to be a state of a major incident and that is because in the last couple of months we've had a rise in the number of migrants crossing the channel. we understand sajid javid has received briefings from the border force and sajid javid has received briefings from the borderforce and national crime agency and immigration officials put up 220 migrants in the course of two months is made a huge number especially by the standards of some eu countries but there is concern that every person taking this journey, that the concern that every person taking thisjourney, that the risk concern that every person taking this journey, that the risk of poses to their lives. according to some people about the reasons for this upsurge in the number of people making the journey, some suggested people smugglers have been using brexit as a selling tactic to try to persuade people to make the journey

now rather than delay until afterwards. and also the comparatively mild december weather may have encouraged people to make the journey. but even may have encouraged people to make thejourney. but even if may have encouraged people to make the journey. but even if there is mild weather this is an incredibly dangerous route to take, one of the major shipping routes of the world and one of the easiest. and it is still incredibly dangerous to take this particular path. a major concern now is to dissuade anyone considering doing this from risking their own lives. thank you very much. the department for transport has spent more than £100 million on extra capacity on ferries to ensure the delivery of critical goods in the event of a no—deal brexit. the ships have been chartered to ease congestion at dover, and allow more lorries through other ports. the department for transport described the move as "a small but importa nt" element of its no—deal planning. a woman has appeared in court accused of murdering her toddler twins. the children, a boy and a girl who were almost two years old, were pronounced dead after they were discovered at their home in margate, early on thursday morning.

samantha ford who is 37, appeared at canterbury magistrates‘ court. she's been remanded in custody until monday. the chief constable of sussex police has apologised to a couple who were arrested then released, following the recent chaos at gatwick airport, caused by drone sightings. giles york defended his force's handling of the incident. he insisted there had been a drone after a senior officer suggested the reported sightings might not have been credible. the egyptian authorities say they've killed a0 people they describe as terrorists in giza and north sinai. the raids come a day after an attack on a tourist bus on its way to the pyramids, in which three vietnamese people and their tour guide were killed. laura westbrook reports. this is the aftermath of the explosion. the force of the blast shattered windows, leaving just a blackened shell. the bus, carrying mostly vietnamese tourists, had been travelling to the pyramids in giza.

investigators at the scene say an improvised explosive device was hidden beside a wall and went off as the bus drove past. prime minister mostafa madbouly visited the injured in hospital. translation: we're in touch with the vietnamese authorities. we offer our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in this incident. he also told local media the bus deviated from the planned route approved by security forces. the pyramids of giza are egypt's most famous landmark, with buses filled with tourists travelling there from cairo every day. tourism is a lifeline for egypt, and only recently started to recover. this latest attack will have many on edge as the country prepares for more christmas celebrations next month. laura westbrook, bbc news. an army officer has become the first briton to trek

unaided across antarctica. it took captain lou rudd 56 days to cover the 925 miles. he was inspired to attempt the adventure after the death of his friend and colleague, henry worsely, along the same route. the father—of—three from hereford said it was tough — but he was in good health. with all the sport now, here's holly hamilton at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. let's start in scotland with a big old firm derby at the top of the premiership. celtic three points ahead of rangers going into this one, it's coming up to half time at ibrox and rangers have taken a deserved lead. they've dominated the first half, and have been rewarded through ryanjack‘s goal. 1—0 the score — you can follow it live on the bbc sport website. still to come, plenty of festive premier league football for you this afternoon. six matches including liverpool against arsenal, a tie that normally entertains, as craig templeton reports.

this is what it looks like when you lead the premier league by six points. liverpool face arsenal this evening in again that the numbers tell us should be full of action. in the last five years the game has produced more goals than any other fixture between the top six. that is 34 fixture between the top six. that is 3a injust the fixture between the top six. that is 3a in just the last ten league meetings. arsenal are without a window in their last five visits to anfield. but the gunners have the top goal—scorer in the division, a player thatjurgen klopp top goal—scorer in the division, a player that jurgen klopp knows top goal—scorer in the division, a player thatjurgen klopp knows all about after he signed him at borussia dortmund. really an outstanding player and a funny guy. and obviously a proper goal—scorer. he's always relaxed in front of the goal. liverpool have a few goal scorers their own and the arsenal

manager believes they cannot be easily swept aside. there may be now in the best moment but for us it is also a big challenge and also a good test to know who we are. if arsenal become the first team to beat liverpool this season it will certainly tighten the title race, heading into 2019. a host of sporting names have been honoured in the queen's new years list, leading the way is alastair cook. the former england captain's been knighted. he's the first cricketer to be given the honour in more than a decade, after a record—breaking career that culminated in a century in his final test this summer. also knighted is the former england rugby captain, bill beaumont. it isa it is a great honour to have and when i look at the sports knighthoods, these are guys that you

absolutely respect and obviously the danger involved in sport as well. when i embarked on my rugby career locally here who would have thought in 50 years from when i first started to play that here i would be as the recipient of a knighthood. honours too for the manager and captain who played such a key part in a memorable summer for england at the world cup. gareth southgate has been given an 0be, whilst harry kane gets an mbe. it is quite surreal. it has been for five years in this team and it is another thing that i'm very proud of to have the honour and it has been a great year for club and country. like i say it is hard to put into words. there was a big shock at the pdc world darts championship. reigning champion rob cross knocked out by world number 90 luke humphries. cross was two sets to nil up

at ally pally, but humphries won the next four to book a quarter—final against michael smith. the former england cricket captain andrew strauss has paid tribute to his wife ruth, who has died at the age of 46. she had been receiving treatment for a rare form of lung cancer, but died in her native melbourne overnight. strauss stepped down from his role as england team director earlier this year to support his wife and children. that's all the sport for now. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 6.10pm. bye for now. you're with the bbc news channel.

new images of the volcano which erupted last week triggering a tsunami in indonesia show the event was so powerful that it destroyed two thirds of its height and volume. more than 400 people were killed when giant waves crashed into coastal towns on the islands of sumatra and java and more than 150 are still missing. jonathan amos reports. there is little doubt now that the cause of the tsunami was a sudden catastrophic failure of the western flank of anak krakatau. europe's sentinel and terrasar radar satellites have been able to pierce the ash and cloud in the area to allow researchers to see what remains of the volcanic cone, and make some initial measurements — and the data is sobering. what was once a volcano reaching 340 metres high is now little more than 100 metres tall. something in the order of 160 million cubic metres of rock and ash have gone, says indonesia's centre

of volcanology and geological hazard mitigation. not all of this would have entered the sunda strait in one go, but it certainly explains the volume of sea water that must have been displaced to generate so destructive a set of waves at nearby coasts. jonathan amos, bbc news. early this morning, a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern philippines, prompting a new tsunami alert. the quake hit about 200 kilometres east off davao city on mindanao island at a depth of about 60 kilometres. the pacific tsunami warning centre says tsunami waves are possible along the coasts of the philippines and indonesia. let's get more now on our main story. more than 1,000 people have been recognised in the new year honours list, including some of the emergency workers who responded to the terror attacks in manchester and london in 2017. also honoured were the british divers who helped rescue a team of young footballers from a cave in thailand. leading figures from the worlds of showbusiness, sport

and fashion are on the list, including a damehood for twiggy, and broadcaster michael palin becomes a ‘sir‘. i'm very surprised, because i've done a lot of things in my life, none of which i felt were totally worthy of such recognition. but maybe the cumulative effect is one of some kind of achievement. i didn't expect it. it was completely out of the blue, a shock. but the nicest shock in the world. who wouldn't want to be dame twiggy? just some of the recipients. joining me now is the knife crime campaigner and former boxer, mark prince, whose son kiyan was stabbed to death in 2006. he was included in this year's honours list, and will receive an 0be for his work. thanks for being with us. you didn't set out for this to happen. no, it is insane when i look at my life and the direction it has gone in and to

know that there is some direction in the pain and i have now use that to be able to direct young people and help them to be able to find the purpose through their struggles, what they are going through. how important is this recognition, not just for you but for the campaigning work you're doing? it's very important. we wanted to get this campaign outand important. we wanted to get this campaign out and we have been sitting around and thinking about how we can make an impact to really do something about knife crime. we got so many young people dying, so many parents suffering, communities impacted terribly, so we felt that because our talks have such a great impactand because our talks have such a great impact and young people, young men, young women are telling us how they wa nt to young women are telling us how they want to change and we want to support them through this, we thought why don't we go throughout london and throughout all the schools and reach more young people, so we schools and reach more young people, so we put something together, 88,000 people but we can impact in the 39 week academic year, and we are just

looking for the support, the backing from influential people, the public to be able to help us to do this. we have worked out the cost and it is just awesome. so you are hoping that this award which will give you publicity for the work that you are doing will actually put you in touch with the people who can help you to do this? that's right, because really this isn't about me. it is wonderful having an 0p but how can i use this to serve my community? how cani use this to serve my community? how can i use this to reach more young people? this is what my son would expect for me and this is what i need to be convertible. —— wonderful having a 0be. need to be convertible. —— wonderful having a obe. remind me of the circumstances in which you lost kiyan, because it is important in illustrating the nature of this problem and why it has become such a big issue particularly in london. problem and why it has become such a big issue particularly in londonm isa big issue particularly in londonm is a terrible story because my son was doing so great. he was a top striker for queens was doing so great. he was a top strikerfor queens park was doing so great. he was a top striker for queens park rangers and she was just striker for queens park rangers and she wasjust coming striker for queens park rangers and she was just coming out of school and he saw a fight breaking out like you do at school and it cost him his life to go up. to try to intervene. to go up ina

life to go up. to try to intervene. to go up in a peaceable fashion, it cost him his life. what kind of society are we living in when we can go to school and other young people are carrying knives and feel that thatis are carrying knives and feel that that is an option that they can have two tackle the issues? what do you say then to those young people... we have all heard this argument and i have all heard this argument and i have heard it directly from youngsters themselves to say, look, iamon youngsters themselves to say, look, i am on the carrying a knife because iam i am on the carrying a knife because i am frightened somebody else will have a nice. i am going to carry a knife to protect myself defensively. and it sounds plausible, doesn't it? but if you look at the statistics and you look at the stories of the many young people who carry knives, i don't hear a success stories of how they were able to be happily get away and defend themselves because they had a knife. the reality is thatis they had a knife. the reality is that is alive. that is something they believe in their head and we try to change that mindset for them to understand carrying a knife only leads to destruction of your life and the lives of so many other young people and people in your community. this is a wonderful end for the year

to mark the campaign, to pay some tribute to kiyan, and i think as you said, to mark the support you have had and the love hewitt had from family and friends and indeed from kiyan's friends who lost him you did 12 years ago now. it has not been a good year in terms of the number of deaths. it has been a terrible year in terms of attacks and death on individuals. why do think that is? because we are not listening. people are speaking, speaking, speaking. there is more money being pushed in different areas, but we are not actually doing. we are not actually listening to the problems. we are not supporting families. we are not giving young people opportunities. and this is what we want to do this. we wa nt and this is what we want to do this. we want to use this opportunity with the 0be to create more opportunities. we want to galvanise people, build cohesion is so people can people, build cohesion is so people ca n start people, build cohesion is so people can start working together for the better good of the people. we need books like this in schools. harry potter is great but how is the magic going to really help young people to

bring about the magic that they really need to enlighten their lives and lead them to the great potential? you had better tell us what the book is. it is called rinse off piece. it is written by myself and one other person and we put this together and it really impact the lives and tackles the issues that young people face, being homeless at 15. i went through a tough time through my journey to 15. i went through a tough time through myjourney to become number one in the world as a heavyweight champion and i have shared some of this insight, how young people can change their mind set and go from this street mentality to a successful mindset that is needed to be able to reach their goals. well, you have certainly done that. back to summer tour coming you have certainly done that. back to summertourcoming in you have certainly done that. back to summer tour coming in and talking to summer tour coming in and talking to us about the award. an army officer has become the first british person to trek solo unaided across antarctica. captain lou rudd finished his mammoth 925—mile journey yesterday after 56 days. he's only the second person in history to complete the expedition without any assistance. he undertook the challenge in memory of fellow explorer and close

friend henry worsley, who died from exhaustion just 30 miles short of completing the record solo crossing in 2016. speaking to me a little earlier captain rudd said he was surpried how quickly he completed the challange. i've actually managed to complete it quite a bit faster than i expected. i set off with 75 days of food and equipment for the crossing, but managed to make it across in 56, so i'm elated. what was the hardest part? the early phase, actually. the beginning of thejourney. i was dragging my sledge behind me and it had everything i needed in it to survive for the two—month crossing. it was about 140 kilograms. i experienced really soft snow at the beginning and progress was really slow and it was at that time i was thinking that actually probably i wasn't going to make it and the

journey was just impossible. it was really difficult going. how did you keep your morale up? thinking a lot about... i mean, i was doing this for an army charity and fundraising for them, so i was doing it for a great cause, but also i was carrying henry worsley‘s family crest flag and his wifejoanna very kindly gave that to me which he was also carrying, and i really wanted to make sure this time that the flag made it all the way across and completed the crossing. it is an added poignancy to be able to commemorate your friend in this way, but were you worried at all about the risk to your own life? yes, i mean, it is obviously a task and an extremely hostile environment. you have that awareness in the back of your mind that one small mistake can have grave consequences down here.

but i've got a lot of experience down here. i trekked to the south pole with henry in 2011 and i was confident that i had the skills and experience to complete the trip. those who have had the fortune to visit antarctica describe it asa truly magical place, but also quite a frightening one for you on your own. what sort of contact did you have with the outside world doing the journey? very limited communication. there was a company that obviously flew me in and dropped me off at the start point. they were monitoring my progress with a tracking beacon. and satellite phone calls throughout. and i managed to phone home probably once every couple of weeks and managed to speak to the family on christmas day as well, so that was great at keeping morale up.

women are bearing the brunt of job losses brought on by a combination of increased automation and austerity measures. that's according to a new report by the rsa. the charity also found that almost 400,000 jobs held by women in the public sector, banking and retail have been lost since 2011, while best paid newjobs are going to men. it's been confirmed that administrators have been brought in to run the music retailer hmv, which has collapsed after suffering poor sales. the store's owners say high business rates and changes in consumer behaviour are to blame. the retailer employs more than 2,000 staff across the uk. administrators from kpmg say they'll try to keep all 125 stores open while they're looking for a buyer. siberia may be the last place you'd expect to be a high—tech hub,

but with cheap power, conditions in the remote russian region are ideal for crypto—currency mining. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford travelled to irkutsk to find out more. when there, she discovered some surprising characters involved in mining for the virtual currency bitcoins — russian grandmothers. meet marina — a babushka who mines for bitcoins on her siberian porch. "here's the machines that make a noise and make me money," she tells me. as those machines whirr and mine for virtual currency, marina has been converting that to real cash to top up her pension. it's no wonder she takes care of the things, she's travelled all over europe on the money. translation: they said to me, "marina, why don't you buy some mining machines?"

i said "ok", and i don't regret it. the machines paid for themselves in eight or nine months. and marina's been putting the hot air from the machines to good use. "you can dry the washing here and make dry tomatoes, like in italy," she says. "the dried pumpkin is pretty tasty too." and she's not the only miner in irkutsk. you might not immediately think of siberia as a high—tech hub, but the conditions here are ideal for mining bitcoins. there's cheap power from a hydroelectric plant just up the river here, and there's the harsh climate itself — it can drop to —40 here in the depths of winter — perfect for cooling all those mining machines. that's why when yuri's karaoke bar was struggling, his family got into bitcoins in a big way. they are cryptocurrency pioneers here.

that includes yuri's mother, valeria. irkutsk, it's a crypto capital of russia. for this business, you don't need to be a great specialist because it's an easy system. you only put your computers on electricity and the internet. valeria's miner is here at the family farm. there are gaps in the racks now, where clients removed their machines when the bitcoin's value crashed, but valeria hasn't abandoned her dream. translation: i want some money i've earned myself, and i want a lot of money. when the bitcoin is worthi million, like my son say, then i'll be able to leave my grandchildren a very large inheritance. it is a dream drawn big here, of a new gold rush, this one for virtual cash, and the babushkas of siberia are leading the charge.

sarah rainsford, bbc news, irkutsk. virgin trains is deploying staff wearing pink hi—viz vests who are trained in conflict resolution to deal with football fans using its services. the scheme has been trialled since the start of the season, and is now being rolled out on a more permanent basis. the company says it chose pink because it's known to have a calming effect on crowds. royal mail has apologised after a stamp design it planned to issue, commemorating the d—day landings in france 75 years ago, showed the wrong image. the design in fact showed us troops landing in what was dutch new guinea, today's indonesia, thousands of kilometres from france. the stamp was supposed to show the normandy landings and was due to be released as part of a best of british collection. could release it as a best of dutch new guinea collection. time for a look at the weather

with helen willetts. hello, it's brightening up from the north behind the weather front that has brought drizzle through the morning. behind the weather front, it looks like mostly dry weather will prevail, notjust today but indeed for much of the rest of 2018. any rain we have will be light and patchy, mostly in the north. this is today's rain courtesy of low pressure. we also have a weakening weather front sinking southwards, so it is bringing drizzle to southern parts of england and wales, but that is all but dying out. the rain is leaving scotland and the northern isles and then the sky is brighter in the afternoon. drierfor most. the winds will take a little longer to ease down. they have been blustery this morning. but again, nothing exceptional for december.

they will take the edge off temperatures, which have been high for the time of year. they will remain in double figures — 11—13 in southern areas, because of all that cloud around. we should see brightness in northern ireland as well as northern england and north wales. but as we go through the rest of the afternoon, you can see the next weather front approaching off towards the west. it should hold at bay until evening time for northern ireland. these are our temperatures. through this evening and overnight, it will turn chilly quite quickly in eastern areas with a touch of frost and possibly patchy fog if you're travelling. 0vernight, that will lift temperatures and deposit fog on the hilltops. by morning, very mild across southern and western areas and, for many, grey and damp and misty again. although the rain clears, we keep a lot of cloud on sunday. the best chance of brightness will be the eastern side of the hills. across the east of wales, north—east england and scotland. still relatively mild. the breeze picks up and becomes a gale later across the north on new year's eve on monday, bringing the next weather front in and more rain here, but for most parts, by day, it looks brighter and we should see more sunshine. on new year's eve on monday, bringing the next weather front in and more rain here, but for most parts, by day, it looks brighter and we should see more sunshine.

with more cloud, that should hold into the evening. again, we are in december, so i would not go out without a coat, but it does look mostly dry, if rather cloudy. as we go into the start of 2019, the high drifts away to the west and allows a northerly, much colder wind across the uk.