this is bbc news. the headlines at 1.00pm@ police say they're treating the stabbing of three people at victoria station in manchester last night as a terror investigation. we are working to piece together the details of what happened and to identify the man who was arrested. go new horizons! nasa scientists wait to find out three, two, one! 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. the world welcomes in 2019 — london celebrated the new year with a specatacular display of fireworks. and 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. eight revellers in the french city of rennes were rescued from a new year's eve ordeal, after becoming trapped on a funfair ride more than 50 metres in the air. in witness, we look back at five extraordinary stories, including the bulgarian vet who helped to save the country's dancing bears. that's in half—an—hour's time here on bbc news. good afternoon.

police have launched a terror investigation after an incident at manchester's victoria railway station last night in which three people, including a police officer, were stabbed. a 25—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. in the last hour, the chief constable of greater manchester police described the incident as an ‘horrific attack‘. the victims‘ injuries have been described as serious but not life threatening. our correspondent danny savage has been giving us the latest from greater manchester police headquarters. we have been hearing from the officers involved in the investigation. one thing is clear

from what they are saying, they are treating this as a terrorist attack. it‘s new year‘s eve, people have had a drink, they probably, it‘s just, it‘s just a fight, it will fizzle out in the next few seconds. but then ijust heard a guy shout as part of a sentence, allah, and i thought, that doesn‘t sound good. the point i was just edging towards the tracks to jump onto the tracks he was pepper sprayed, he was tasered, they kind of swarmed on him, brought him down. three people were stabbed, one of them was a police officer, the other two were a man and woman in their 50s. the injuries are serious

but not life—threatening. a short time later the man was taken away from manchester victoria station by police, shouting god is greatest in arabic. this morning the chief constable of greater manchester police said it is being treated as a terrorist incident. we are treating this as a terrorist investigation. which is being led by counterterrorism officers with support from greater manchester police. we are working throughout the night to piece together the details of what happened and to identify the man who was arrested. manchester victoria station was closed overnight, it has now reopened, but this was obviously a very alarming and frightening incident for people there at the time. the latest is that a property is being searched and if cheetham hill

area of manchester at the moment. they believe they know who the individual is, he is 25 years old, from the local area. they have searched a property in cheetham hill. they say there is nothing to suggest that others are involved and they are keeping an open mind over motivation. they have good quality cctv from the station that shows how the events unfolded. what the man was shouting and why he may have carried out the attack, that could be shortened by the cctv footage. manchester station is right beside manchester station is right beside manchester arena, with a suicide attack happened in 2017 were 22 people died. officers believe the occasion is a factor into what happened here last night, but their enquiries are ongoing. happened here last night, but their enquiries are ongoing. 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. three, two, one, go, new horizons! 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 2030s. 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? our 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. orbiting 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. with such vast distances involved, it will be a real breakthrough for space research if images from the new horizons probe do reveal new data about the outer reaches of our solar system, as professor monica grady from the open university explained to me earlier. it is a really great start, going as far beyond as we have ever gone before with a spacecraft to look at a body. we are going to find out so much about this little rocky object — how much of it is rock, how much of it is ice, what can it tell us about the solar system? it is really exciting. something that caught my eye when i was reading up on this is that this has been described as "a piece of cosmic history". what can it tell us about the solar system and its development? the whole of the solar system formed more or less at the same time

from a single cloud of gas and dust. a lot of the gas became the sun, a lot of the dust became the rock and planets, but there were some bits that were left over. these are the bits right at the edge of our planetary system that became the kuiper belt. these are original bits of dust and ice from which the solar system was made and they have not been changed in the way the dust has made the earth has changed. it is primitive material, a lot of ice in there, a lot of volatile species, which are the stuff that life came from. it really really is exciting. we have heard that we might get some of the first data back later this afternoon, perhaps some images, which would be very exciting, if that is the case, but it will take quite a while to really understand all of the information coming from new horizons, isn‘t it? yes.

in 2015, new horizons passed pluto and scientists are still trying to interpret the data they got from pluto, so with the data coming back so slowly from ultima thule, then, yeah, it is going to keep people occupied for several years to come. each time a discovery is made, hypotheses have to be revised, you have to take on board other information, so it is a constant learning process, which is fantastic. did you use the word ‘species‘ in your previous answer when you talked about the information coming back or did i mishear you? sorry, did i say what? the word ‘species‘ in the previous answer. yes, just gas species, not animal species or anything like that, just different types of molecules! it is good to clarify! sorry! tell us about why this was chosen, ultima thule,

as the object of this exercise, if you like? well, although there are hundreds and thousands of these bodies out there in the kuiper belt, they are all a long, long way apart and they are so small and so dim, so little light reflects from them, we don‘t know where most of them are, so it is a question of, ok, let‘s have a look and see what is there. we knew what the trajectory, the orbit of new horizons was after it went past pluto, so it is a question of, how can we change that orbit to go somewhere handy? ultima thule was handy. it has been observed by the hubble space telescope, but only as a few tiny blobs on a pixel, so it is going to be there. it was known to be there. that is

how the spacecraft was guided there. warnings from the recycling industry that the uk would struggle to cope with plastic waste after china stopped importing it a year ago have failed to materialise, according to bbc research. for many years, two—thirds of britain‘s waste sent abroad went to china and hong kong. but the bbc has found that other countries have stepped in to take britain‘s waste. 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. a new energy price cap has come into force in england, scotland and wales. the industry regulator, ofgem, 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: police say they‘re treating the stabbing of three people

at victoria station in manchester last night as a terror investigation. 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 thule four billion miles from earth miles from earth. 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. the first premier league of the year is underway at goodison park. everton are playing leicester, 10th against eighth. no goals in nine games so far. —— in

that game so far. —— in that game so far. next up at 3pm, arsenal play lowly fulham and finally, at 5.30pm, spurs will look to move back up to second in the table with a win, but cardiff are on a good run they‘ve picked up four points from their last two matches. 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. 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. he beat the australian james duckworth in straight sets in the first round of the brisbane international today but revealed just how hard his rehabilitation has been. 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 one johanna 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 beat the former us open winner and world number 6 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 isn‘t going to defend his giro d‘italia title in may, conserving his energy for a tilt at a record—equalling fifth tour

title in france injuly. that means he‘ll go head to head with fellow team sky rider thomas, who won the tour for the first time last year despite froome being team leader. having won the tour with number one on my back, it would be sad not to go back to it and not go back 100% as well. i think the year will be geared around that. and certainly getting to the point of my careerand and certainly getting to the point of my career and i were a think about what kind of legacy i want to leave behind. ifi

about what kind of legacy i want to leave behind. if i can target the tour de france and win it for the fifth time, only four people have ever done that, so tojoin, to be the fifth, would be incredible. england all—rounder tom curran played a starring role in his side‘s latest win in the big bash — the t20 tournament in australia. he was pick of the bowlers for the sydney sixers, as they beat the brisbane heat, taking three wickets before hitting the winning runs. they reached their target of 165 with three balls to spare, to win by five wickets. that‘s all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that‘s bbc.co.uk/sport. still no goals between everton and leicester. we will be back with more sport later. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, has called for an end to what he called the "divisions of recent years." in his new year sermon, he says the uk is "wonderfully more

diverse" than it used to be, yet people are disagreeing on many things and are struggling to disagree well. our religon editor, martin bashir, reports. can i make you a cup of coffee? for his new year‘s message the archbishop of canterbury, justin wells, didn‘t venture far. this is the kitchen at his london residence in lambeth palace. a home that he shares each year with around 20 young people who commit themselves to ten months of prayer, study and community service. they have an extraordinary range of backgrounds, cultures and opinions. they live together, cook together, volunteer with charities together, and, because they are human, they clash together. named after a benedictine monk who became archbishop of canterbury at the end of the 11th century, the community of st anselm is an attempt to challenge whatjustin welby says is increasing division and rancour in british society. we disagree on many things and we are struggling

with how to disagree well. turn on the television, read the news, and you see a lot that could tempt you to despair. quoting the gospel ofjohn, the archbishop said thatjesus chose a community of conflict, hope over despair, and he says that we should do the same in 2019. hope lies in our capacity to approach this new year in a spirit of openness towards each other. that will involve choosing to see ourselves as neighbours, as fellow citizens, as communities, each with something to contribute. and he acknowledged how challenging this will be in the current political climate. with the struggles and divisions of recent years, that will not be easy. but that difficult work is part of the joy and blessing

of being a community. whether it is the 20 people here or millions of us, i wish all of us a happy, and more importantly hope filled, new year. 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. our 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. but for some revellers in france a trip to the funfair turned into a traumatic ordeal as eight people ended up seeing in the new year stuck high above the city of rennes in brittany. a warning — there is some flashing in these images. a helicopter was called in to help rescue the three adults and five

teenagers from the 52 metre high bombermaxxx ride, which had suffered a technical fault and stopped at around 8.30pm. the eight people, the youngestjust 13—years—old, were left high in the air with their feet dangling in what was to become a nine—hour ordealfor some of them. initial attempts to reach those trapped using ladders failed, before a rescuer was winched down by the helicopter. they were evacuated one by one with the last person finally getting off the ride at around 6.00am. the ride‘s owner said a new part had broken. london is continuing its new year celebrations throughout the day with a special parade which began at midday in trafalgar square. the spectacle features performers from 26 nations around the world. our correspondent graham satchell met some of the dancers participating earlier. welcome to trafalgar square, where preparation are well

underway for this year‘s new year‘s day parade in london. you are watching dancers from various different countries in south america. i am going to have a chat with fernando montana. good morning. you are looking forward to taking part in the parade today? of course. we want to celebrate. the theme is that london welcomes the world. does it feel like that today? of course. we are so excited to be sharing our traditions and our colours. the best city to be in today is london. fernando, have a great day. happy new year. we are going to introduce you to another part of the parade today. here are of the cherokee indians who have come all the way from north carolina,

who are going to do a war dance. i will have it explained to me by the chief, richard. good morning. what are we about to see? the lead warrior is setting a challenge down, the other warriors are saying they have his back as they go into battle. they will now tell their war story through dance. this is a warning to other tribes, to anyone else around that these guys mean business when they come to war. how does it feel to be in london today? amazing. wonderful. talk me through some of the costumes. this looks like a british army uniform to me. the cherokee travelled to london in 1762 as emissaries representing the tribe and got to meet the king. the cherokee were allied with england and it is where you see the british coats, the soldiers‘ coats. thank you very much.

have a great day. so, the cherokee indians, who are pretty scary, just finishing off their dance and they will be a key part of the parade today. there will be 10,000 participants in the parade. that was graham satchell, reporting from trafalgar square in london. north korea has again signalled that it‘s committed to removing nuclear weapons from the korean peninsula and would like to strengthen relations with the united states. in his annual new year‘s message, the country‘s leader, kimjong—un, said he was ready to hold to further meetings with president trump. but he also warned that he could change direction if the us didn‘t lift sanctions. it‘s notjust a new year but a new leadership in brazil as jair bolsonaro is inaugurated as the country‘s president in the coming hours.

the far right politician swept to power on an anti—crime, as jair bolsonaro is inaugurated as the country‘s president the far right politician swept to power on an anti—crime, anti—corruption promise but took aim at minority groups in a campaign that earned him the nickname the trump of the tropics. our south america correspondent katy watson is in brasilia and sent us this update. well, as you can see, everybody here is getting ready. it is four hours before the ceremony starts, six hours before he gives his first speech to the nation as president. it has been pouring with rain but that hasn‘t stopped people coming. people have turned up in the colours of the brazilian flag, but also the colours of mr bolsonaro‘s campaign. a lot of mr bolsonaro supporters, also benjamin netanyahu, and many

latin american leaders. madeira road from venezuela isn‘t invited, the cuban leader, too. this far right president is clear that the left is not welcome here. despite that, there are celebrations starting. you can hear the music behind me. people are gathering, waiting for the ceremony. what is the mr bolsonaro presidency going to look like, will be as controversial as his has suggested? well, his campaign was full of rhetoric, sexist, homophobic, racist rhetoric that got many people nervous about what that would mean for his presidency, whether he would rule for all of brazil. whether he will turn that dunwoody comes into power, he said he would be willing for all of brazil, but a lot of people are