i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 11.003m: three, two, one! go new horizons! nasa scientists wait to find out whether their space probe new horizons has successfully flown past the most distant object ever explored. the robotic craft was due to fly past the icy mass of ultima thule four billion miles from earth a few hours ago. we set a record. never before has a spacecraft explored anything so far away. counter—terror police are continuing to question a man suspected of stabbing three people at manchester's victoria station. the world welcomes in 2019 — london celebrated the new year with a specatacular display of fireworks. in edinburgh, home of hogmanay, the city's castle was lit up by fireworks as thousands attended

a concert headlined by franz ferdinand. this party is one of the biggest parties in the world. new year is celebrated all across the globe and people celebrate in all sorts of ways, but i don't think anywhere does it quite like hogmanay. i will be looking back at a turbulent and fractious year in politics, dominated by brexit, brexit and brexit. that is distributed to thousands 18, the yearin distributed to thousands 18, the year in politics. the american space agency, nasa, is waiting for a signal from its new horizons probe, which has aimed to fly past the most distant object ever explored in our solar system.

the robotic craft was due to fly past a huge body of ice and dust called ultima thule, but it is some 6.5 billion kilometres from earth, so it will take over six hours for new horizons to get a radio message, and any pictures, home. here's our science correspondentjonathan amos. far beyond the big planets, like saturn and neptune, far beyond even the dwarf planet pluto, the new horizons spacecraft has been chasing down a mysterious, icy world known as ultima thule. and, atjust after 5:30am gmt this morning, the probe should have whipped by its target, flashing its cameras and gathering all sorts of scientific data. researchers believe the deep—frozen, 30—kilometre—wide object can tell

them new things about how the solar system formed, 4.6 billion years ago. ultima appeared as a tiny blob in the pictures taken on approach. the new ones, when they arrive, should be very detailed. but patience is required. the vast distance radio signals must travel to get home mean the images will take fully 20 months to download. the great thing about such a slow data transmission rate is that it's almost a gift that keeps on giving. every week or so, we'll get new images back from the spacecraft, and we're going to learn new things for the next two years, out through most of 2020, of what ultima thule looked like during the fly—by. new horizons will continue to push deeper and deeper into space. with plenty of fuel and power, scientists say it could keep working until the 20305. by that stage, it could be leaving the solar system, on its way to nearby stars. so where exactly is the lump of ice and dust known as ultima thule? 0ur science editor, david shukman,

has this explanation. to explain what this mission is all about, let's use our virtual studio and start at the middle of our solar system. 0rbiting closest to the sun are the four small rocky planets, including earth, and then further out there are four much larger planets. the best known of these is saturn with its famous rings. right on the margin is tiny pluto, three billion miles away, but it turns out pluto is just one part of a massive outer zone we only started discovering in the last 20 years or so. thousands of tiny worlds and lumps of rock and ice, known as the kaiper belt. these are objects left over after the planets were formed. one of these is known as ultima thule and until now we have only had this artist's impression on it. but after racing from earth on a 13 yearjourney,

nasa's new horizons spacecraft, the most distant exploration in human history. let's speak now to monica grady who is professor of planetary and space science at the open university. we are going to find out so much about this little rocky object, what ican about this little rocky object, what i can tell us about the solar system, really exciting. something that caught my eye when i was reading up on this was that this has been described as a piece of cosmic

history. what can that sense can it tell us about the solar system and its development. the whole of the solar system formed more at the same time from a single cloud of gas and dust. a lot of the gas became the sun, a lot became the rocky planets. there were lots of bits left over. these were the bits right at the edge of our planetary system that became the hyper belt. these are original bits of dust and ice and they haven't been changed in the way that the bits of dust that maybe a change. it is primitive material. a lot of ice in there, and there are is the stuff in there that life came from, so very exciting. we hope we might get some theatre backstage later this afternoon, perhaps some images, which would be very exciting

about is the case. it will take quite a while to understand all the information coming from the temp two, isn't it? yes, in 2015 new horizons past pluto, scientists are still trying to interpret that information. with the data coming back so slowly from ultima thule, it will keep people occupied for several years to come. each time a discovery is made, hypotheses have to be revised, and you have to take on board other information, so it is a co nsta nt on board other information, so it is a constant learning process, which is fantastic. did you use the word species in your previous adverse or didi species in your previous adverse or did i miss hugely? gas species, not animal species or anything like that! different types of molecules!

it is good to clarify! tell us more about why this was chosen, ultima thule, as the object of this exercise. well, although there are hundreds of thousands of these bodies out there in the hyper belt, they are a long way apart. they are so they are a long way apart. they are so small and so little light reflects from them we don't know where most of them are, so what is the question of, 0k, where most of them are, so what is the question of, ok, let's have a look and see what is there. we knew what the orbit of it was once we went past pluto, so the thought was how can we change the orbit of new horizons to go somewhere handy, and ultima thule was handy. it has been

discovered by the hubble telescope, so we discovered by the hubble telescope, so we knew it was day. that is why the spacecraft was guided there. good to have your expertise, as ever. good to have your expertise, as ever. counter—terrorism police are leading an investigation into the stabbing of three people at victoria station in manchester. two passengers and a british transport police officer have been treated for knife wounds. this morning, the home secretary said his thoughts are with the three victims, including a brave police officer. a suspect has been arrested. the station has, in the past half—hour, been reopened. will batchelor reports. move away now! move! a new year, but an increasingly familiar sight — one man, armed with a knife, bringing violence and fear to uk cities. this was the scene at manchester victoria station just before 9pm yesterday. the man being restrained by police officers had allegedly stabbed two people, a man and woman aged in their 50s, as they waited on the platform. a british transport police

officer who went to help was stabbed in the shoulder. all three suffered injuries described as serious but not life—threatening. i don't want to say it's this or it's that... bbcjournalist sam clack was waiting for his tram home when he saw the attack. it's new year's eve, people have had a drink. they've probably — it's just a fight, it'll fizzle out in the next few seconds. but then, ijust heard the guy shout — as part of a sentence he shouted "allah", and then i thought, hmm, that doesn't sound good. but, at the point i was just edging towards the tracks to jump onto the tracks, he was pepper sprayed, he was tasered. theyjust kind of swarmed on him, brought him down. greater manchester police said that, while there was no evidence of a wider threat, the investigation is being led by

counter—terrorism officers. manchester victoria is just yards away from the city's arena, where, in may 2017, a suicide bomber murdered 22 people as they left a concert. the station was closed overnight as officers maintained a high profile. will batchelor, bbc news. a small van has ploughed into pedestrians celebrating the new year in tokyo. nine people were injured, including one seriously, when the attacker struck shortly after midnight. the street where the incident took place was sealed—off to traffic and was packed with people heading to a shrine for new year's prayers. the man driving the car fled the scene, but was later arrested and charged with attempted murder. two uk border force boats have been redeployed from overseas to patrol the english channel in response to recent migrant crossings. it is not yet known how long it will take the boats to reach uk waters. the home secretary, sajid javid, says the operation will protect human life, as well as borders.

since november, more than 230 migrants have attempted to cross the english channel illegally in small boats. the amount of plastic waste predicted to reach landfill in the uk last year after china banned imports of waste has failed to materialise. research by the bbc‘s reality check team found that waste diverted from china has been shared out between other nations. 0ur environment analyst roger harrabin has more. china was the world's waste eater. the uk was exporting 500,000 tons of plastic a year to be recycled there. when it closed its ports to foreign rubbish, there were fears that plastic waste would build up in the uk. but instead, britain's waste has been brought here to indonesia, where some of it gets dumped. the other main nations accepting british plastic are malaysia, turkey and poland. malaysia is now suffering from dumping of low—value

waste, and its government is considering a ban on rubbish imports. the real concern is that we're causing environmental damage in other countries, where they've accepted what china's said no to, but they don't have proper, modern facilities to deal with it, and it's ending up in the environment. so why doesn't the british government build its own waste recycling? ministers say they are trying to cut down on waste, but they say international shipments are an acceptable way to trade an often valuable resource. roger harrabin, bbc news. samantha harding is the litter programme director for the campaign to protect rural england. you just saw her in roger's report. she told me that the key to improving plastic recycling was better collection systems. the waste that we were standing over to china in the first place is such low quality, and that is why china

said we don't really want this any more. there is the question of saying, well, we shouldn't really be looking for other markets to send poor quality with two, at this point china has given us the opportunity to ask the question why is the wisdom we are sending their such poor quality? that is partly because we have such bad collection systems. ) quality, union waste that can easily be recycled for further use? yes, exactly. 0ften easily be recycled for further use? yes, exactly. often it is being collected in a way that means it has become contaminated. you have paper mixed in with bass, for example. it is difficult at that point for the processors that we have here and overseas to turn that into any kind of meaningful product. that is why we have seen this plastic waste mountain that we were fearing, a lot of that has been sent for incineration which, of course, is not we should be doing at all. ultimately, clearly the answer isn't

sending waste other countries. it is about number one not producing so much waste in the first place and, number two, by better collection methods and better recycling. let's talk about the first of those points, not producing the waste in the first place. what is your campaign doing on that front? one of the things we have worked with a lot of other ngos on is the carrier bag charge. it has been hugely successful. in terms of producing the products that we use and reducing waste, in england we have stopped using 15 billion plastic bags since the charge came in in 2015, which i think shows the clear direction of travel for us as consumers that we are really happy to embrace some of these changes that have been introduced. a new energy price cap has come into force in england, scotland and wales. the industry regulator, 0fgem, estimates the cap will save 11 million people an average of £76 a year. consumer groups are warning that it could cut the number of cheap deals available.

northern ireland has a separate energy regulator and already has a price cap. the headlines on bbc news: nasa scientists wait to find out whether their space probe, new horizons, has successfully flown past the most distant object ever explored — icy mass of ultima too—lee four billion miles from earth. counter—terror police are continuing to question a man suspected of stabbing three people at manchester's victoria station. billions of people around the world have welcomed the start of the new year. 2019 was ushered in with spectacular fireworks displays and concerts across the uk. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good morning.

andy murray says he doesn't know how much longer he'll be able to play at the top level. last year was virtually a write—off following hip surgery and, though he made a winning start to 2019 at the brisbane international today, he revealed just how hard his rehabilitation has been. ben croucher reports. you feel 2019 to be make or break for andy murray as he makes yet another comeback. 0f for andy murray as he makes yet another comeback. of his body letting question? the early evidence against australian outsider james clapper suggested so. the familiar merry mannerisms were back, like winning point you probably don't expect him to. this helped him back onto the eighth game, and this one helped him win it. he has made it! i'm any more of these does he have in the locker? the they slugged it

out ina in the locker? the they slugged it out in a tight second. when all else failed, duckworth plumped for power, murray opted for finesse. it was the scot‘s approach that proved more effectual. murray made the most of this comeback at the tournament where he has never lost. murray has had to use his protected ranking to take part in brisbane. he has slipped down to 240 in the rankings and the former world number one, who is now 31, just about kept his emotions in check after today's win. it has been a hard 18 months with a lot of ups and downs. it has been tough to get back on the court competing again. i am happy i am competing here again. i will try to enjoy it as much as i can. try to enjoy playing tennis as long as i can. i do not know how much longer it is going to last but we will see. the british number onejohanna konta

has been talking up her chances this year after switching coaches and she has made a really impressive start. she's also playing in brisbane and she beat former us open winner and world number six sloane stephens in straight sets. konta is just inside the world top a0 after a patchy 2018. geraint thomas and chris froome are both going to focus on the tour de france this year. froome won't defend his giro d'italia title as he chases a record—equalling fifth tour title in france. fellow team sky rider thomas won the tour for the first time last year, despite froome being team leader. maybe if i hadn't have wondered in 2018 i maybe if i hadn't have wondered in 2018 i might maybe if i hadn't have wondered in 2018 i might have looked at the giro d'italia as well type programme, but having won the tour, having number one on my back, i would be sad not

to go back to, really. there's a full fixture list in the championship, league 1 and league 2, but just three games in the premier league. everton host leicester, arsenal are home to fulham and tottenham can move back to second in the table if they win at cardiff. they had a surprise defeat to wolves at home on saturday so maurizio pochettino will be hoping for a response from his players, but cardiff have pulled thmselves out of the relegation zone with four points from their last two games, so will be no pushovers. we've as good a chance as five or six other teams. there are teams that didn't think they would be there. there are more pressure on them than us. we have improved so much since the start of the season, i can't tell you. they have really taken it on board and we are competing. that is what we have to do in the remainder of the season. it is a long season. tottenham, they'll be trying to bounce back i imagine on tuesday. but they are all difficult games. that's all the sport for now.

people around the world have been saying goodbye to 2018 and welcoming in 2019 with a bang. in london, an estimated 100,000 people gathered to listen to big ben's customary bongs mark the start of the new year. 0ur reporter ben ando joined the crowds. big ben bongs. silenced by repairs for much of 2018, to herald 2019, big ben was back. london's now—traditional new year fireworks drew thousands to the banks of the river thames. and the theme this year, according to the mayor of london, sadiq khan, was that london is open, and europeans are welcome. with more than 100,000 tickets sold, this is the largest annual fireworks display in europe. it involves eight tons of fireworks, fired from 348 separate positions. the whole sky was

glowing, and it was... i don't know, it was — we see it always on the tv, and it was one of the best fireworks displays that has happened. princes street in edinburgh was the focus of the scottish hogmanay celebrations. four, three, two, one! around 60,000 people gathered to watch the fireworks and the concert, headlined by the group franz ferdinand. this party is one of the biggest parties in the world. new year is celebrated all across the globe and people celebrate in all sorts of ways, but i don't think anywhere does it quite like hogmanay in edinburgh, you know? just look around you, it's completely amazing. auckland, closest to the international dateline, is the first of the world's great cities to usher in the new year.

in sydney, more than a million turned out to watch, despite huge thunderstorms just hours earlier. across asia, from north korea, to hong kong, to russia, music and fireworks. in dubai, the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa, became a tower of light. across europe, in paris, athens and berlin, the festivities continued. but in new york, the good mood was not matched by the weather, as 2019 arrived with a downpour. ben ando, bbc news. theresa may, has used her new year message to suggest that britain "can turn a corner" if parliament backs her brexit deal. mps are due to vote on the prime minister's withdrawal agreement this month, after a vote on the deal was postponed because of fears it would not get the support of the commons. in 2019, the uk will start a new chapter. the brexit deal i have negotiated

delivers on the will of the british people, giving us control over our borders, money and laws. it is good forjobs, protects our security and works for the whole united kingdom. in the next few weeks, mps will have an important decision to make. if parliament backs the deal, britain can turn a corner. the referendum in 2016 was divisive, but we all want the best for our country. 2019 can be the year we put our differences aside and move forward together. into a stronger relationship with our european neighbours and out into the world as a globally trading nation. important though brexit is it is not the only issue that counts. when each of us looks back on 2019 it will be the personal milestones that stand out. starting a new school, college or apprenticeship, getting a job, starting a business,

earning a pay rise, buying a house, getting married or starting a family. these are the things that matter most and by agreeing a good brexit deal we can focus our energies on those things. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, has given a new year address in which he says the country is still commited to giving up nuclear weapons and that he is prepared to meet again "at any time" with us president donald trump. there's been little progress on north korea's denuclearisation since the two leaders held their historic meeting on the issue injune. laura bicker reports. this new year offers a tantalising prospect for north koreans. for decades, this country has long for

peace. but a year of talks between the north, south and the united states m ea ns the north, south and the united states means that some are now daring to hope that 2019 is the year that dream is achieved. translation: i think kim jong un is hesitant right now. just a few miles away, the capital celebrated the new year with more than usual flair. the north's leaderboards also upbeat and rewarded those watching his speech from washington and seoul by renewing his commitment to denuclearisation. translation: we have proclaimed we would no longer make nuclear weapons, use them or spread them. then came the warning. i am always ready to sit down again with the us

president at any time and will make effo rts president at any time and will make efforts to produce the outcome but the international community would welcome, but if the gs miscalculates our people's patients, or gives more pressure, we would have no option to explore and to protect sovereignty. the deal reached in singapore in june was so big that neither side can agree on what was agreed. north korea believes it is held the bedside of the bargain by not testing any new missiles and one testing any new missiles and one test site, but since then, talks have stalled between the two sides. kim jong—un pointed to the hope and optimism in both south and north korea but it can forgejapan towards peace. his message to the united states as we can have that relationship, but the ball is now in the trump administration's court, and unless they act, 2019 might not

be as peaceful as everyone here hopes. 20 years ago today, a new currency began trading on financial markets — the euro. there were celebrations when the currency was launched back in 1999. back then, there were 11 countries in it and a further eight have joined since. it operated alongside national currencies until 2002, when the actual notes and coins were issued. one of the singers with the american 70s band dr hook, ray sawyer, has died at the age of 81. he was known for his trademark hat and eye patch, which he wore after losing his right eye in a road accident. the group's hits included sylvia's mother and when you're in love with a beautiful woman. now it's time for a look at the weather. a decent day out there for a new

year's walk, run or cycle. 0ne a decent day out there for a new year's walk, run or cycle. one to activated jarrett in the north and east of scotland, the string counties of england and the remnant ofa counties of england and the remnant of a weather front in the side. it will be mostly dry, but temperatures will be mostly dry, but temperatures will be mostly dry, but temperatures will be down on recent days with those temperatures in single figures. in central, western areas tonight, clear skies, light figures. in central, western areas tonight, clearskies, light winds and a widespread frost. even in city centres. it could get down to —6 in central scotland. heading back to work tomorrow, and you will have to grab the ice scraper on the way in. still a little bit more cloud to the far north of scotland and eastern counties of england, one or two coastal showers can't be ruled out, but for the vast majority it is a dry and sunny weather state with temperature sticking in single

figures. we continued up into the rest of the week, thursday and friday with frosty mornings, but some fine days, too. hello this is bbc news. i'm anita mcveigh. the headlines: nasa scientists wait to find out whether their space probe, new horizons, has successfully flown past ultima thule, the most distant object ever explored. counter—terror police are continuing to question a man suspected of stabbing three people at manchester's victoria station. billions of people around the world have welcomed the start of the new year. 2019 was ushered in with spectacular fireworks displays and concerts across the uk. the amount of plastic waste predicted to reach landfill in the uk last year — after china banned imports of waste