you are watching bbc news. the top stories. rail passengers face a hike in fares of more than 3% despite a year of delays and cancellations gci’oss year of delays and cancellations across the network. health experts warning that children are experiencing a minimum income of sugarfor an adult experiencing a minimum income of sugar for an adult by the time they reach the age of ten. the home secretary is questioning whether people who are trying to cross the channel are genuine asylum seekers. a police sergeant injured in a suspected terror attack in manchester on zed says that instinct took over when he ran towards the attacker. six people have been killed when a commuter train crashed into a bridge in denmark. in a moment, sportsday. first, let's see what else is coming up. as nasa reveals the first high—resolution photos from the icy world known as ultima thule, we speak to a

planetary scientist about what it looks like. health experts suggest a tax on sugar consumption. we speak to an expert. and we look at the front pages. my guests will be katie boulter from the spectator. that's at10:40pm and 11:40pm. boulter from the spectator. that's at 10:1i0pm and 11:40pm. now it sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. iam i am holly hamilton. can ole gunnar solskjaer make it four out of four as manchester united travel to newcastle this evening? in need of a lift — bottom of the table huddersfield are up against another relegation rival burnley. and andy murray's latest comeback tournament is over as the former world number one crashes out of the second round of the brisbane international. also coming up in the programme.

try january — how british triathlon is trying to get all of us to get out there and give multisport a "tri". hello and welcome to sportsday. where we start with a look ahead to this evening's premier league action — and for manchester united, the chance to make it a perfect 12 points from 12. they head to rafa benitez‘s newcastle hoping to maintain their recent good run under ole gunnar solskjaer, who's enjoyed three straight wins since taking the reins at old trafford. that makes him part of a rather exclusive club — his predecessorjose mourinho was the last, also winning his first three league matches in charge, but lost his fourth.

only sir matt busby, who chalked up four successive wins, has had a better start. a record solskjaer will be looking to equal this evening. both managers spoke after their matches at the weekend. iam thinking i am thinking about the next game and the next game, onto the next one and the next game, onto the next one and let's see where it brings us. one thing is results but you don't a lwa ys one thing is results but you don't always get the points that maybe you deserve. it's about the performances, playing the right way. as long as we play the right way and dominate games, more often than not we will get enough points in the end. all the top sides are difficult. we played today with the same intensity and we can compete against anyone. sometimes you make a mistake in one situation and it makes a difference. in these performances we can compete and we can win. the teams have arrived at st james‘ park.

that game kicks off at 8 o'clock. ian dennis is there and commentating forfive live. there's no doubting that ghana has made an immediate impact as the united caretaker manager —— ole gunna solksjaer. there is an uplift connected with old trafford, a smile in how they play. look at paul pogba, four golds and three assists under the reign of solksjaer. they will want clean sheets, only two this season, on a par with fulham fc. in the corresponding fixture, newcastle won 1-0 corresponding fixture, newcastle won 1—0 and rafa benitez as a manager against manchester united has a good track record, winning his last four home games. newcastle last season,

chelsea before that and twice with liverpool. newcastle need the three points because at home this season they've been poor, suffering seven defeats. rail billeting to change that in the second half of the season. that in the second half of the season. i'll bejoined by alan shearer and there will be commentary from 7pm. —— bale building to change that. —— bale be looking and that match will see both teams looking to turn around their poor seasons in the premier league. the hosts are in desperate need of three points having found themselves four points adrift at the foot of the table. former huddersfield town goalkeeper matt glennon is commentating on the game for radio leeds. he's as they will be hoping for big changes in the new year. seven defeats in a row, not a great festive period. glad to see the back of it. three points against burnley

will get them off to a good start. looking at the table, that result and the weekend leaves them four points adrift at the bottom. victory for burnley would mean there is an eight—point gap between those two teams. how important is a win? definitely important not to be beaten. new players coming in over the next couple of days which will give the place a lift and hopefully the bounce it needs. tonight is about scoring goals, winning the game and giving the fans something to cheer about. slim pickings over the last seven games at least. especiallyjohn smith, the goals haven't been coming. tonight is a massive game, i can't stress how important it is to get something, give the crowd a lift. that is something they've been struggling with over the last month, scoring goals. today we hear they are close to signing crystal palace midfielder jason puncheon. the chairman has said he will be fairly active over

the january transfer window. is that needed? yes, that has been a massive lift. the chairman has been quiet about what's going to happen in the tra nsfer about what's going to happen in the transfer window. needing to come out and put fears to rest, they are going to spend money, not going down sleepwalking. so there will be a buzz, thinking that quality coming m, buzz, thinking that quality coming in, andjason buzz, thinking that quality coming in, and jason puncheon is who they need. quality in the premier league and people who can score goals and he can do that. facing burnley, coming off victory over west ham. they will come into the game with a different attitude, a lot of confidence. yeah, they are still a tea m confidence. yeah, they are still a team who concede a lot of goals. they haven't been playing well before that west ham game. they know that three points for them takes them away from the relegation zone, further away from huddersfield. i'll be just as nervous. thank you for

joining us. no problem. tonight you can keep up with all of the premier league action and listen to commentary of newcastle versus manchester united alongside the final score graphics and vidiprinter. to watch just click on 5 live final score on bbc iplayer, the bbc sport app or via the red button, from 7 o'clock. and highlights of all the games are on match of the day at 10:45 this evening. well, tomorrow night, it's the big one. the league leaders against the defending champions as liverpool travel to the etihad to face manchester city. seven points separate the two, with pep guardiola's side in third following back to back defeats in december. despite that, jurgen klopp has labeled city the best in the world and remain the team to beat this season. we are in a really good position in that group of challengers. that's it. that was the first achievement. people are really happy that it looks like it could be something.

so far it's already special. if they are smart, they will enjoy it until the last match play it until the last match day and then we will see what it brought. everyone asking about what's going to happen if we lose. we are going to happen if we lose. we are going to try to make our game, to win, to be there and fight as much as possible, our chance to fight for the premier league. chelsea have signed the usa international christian pulisic from borussia dortmund for £58 million, but they'll loan him back to the german club until the end of the season. pulisic is 20, and started his youth career at brackley town. he's scored nine goals in 23 games for his country. he was linked with liverpool

and arsenal in this transfer window but he opted for chelsea, saying "it's a privilege to have signed for such a legendary club." that 58 million is the biggest transfer fee paid for an american player. steve bruce has been named as the new manager of championship side sheffield wednesday. he'll take charge from the first of february, with assistants steve agnew and stephen clemence taking control until then. he replaces dutchmanjos luhukay, who was dismissed by wednesday in december after less than a year in charge. also coming up in the programme. we talked to chris woakes about a big yearfor him and the england cricket team. and why we should all be giving multisports 85, as mike busheu be giving multisports 85, as mike bushell signs up to tri january. 2019 began well for andy murray, his first tournament since september started with a comfortable win

in the first round of the brisbane international. but the former world number one has crashed out — beaten by russia's daniil medvedev prompting concern over his fitness ahead of the australian open in less than two weeks time. miriam walker—khan reports. new year, new murray? it seemed so after day one. but, it all went wrong on day two of the year — and, his second day of the brisbane international. murray's meeting with a much tougher opponent, unsurprisingly, ended that winning momentum. russia's daniil medvedev, currently ranked 16th in the world... compared to murray's 240th. it began, full of pace and power... not easy for someone who recently admitted he's still experiencing "some pain" in his hip. it's in a "better place" though, he says, than it was this time last year in the build—up to the australian open. and that'll be murray's next challenge, in just under two weeks. whether it is issues with your game,

if you aren't serving as well, not moving as well, the better players exploit that. like i said, he's a top player and is able to do that. i need to try and find a way of working out how to get around some of the things i struggle with a bit now. but the scotsman eventually lost control and was overpowered by medverev, who won 7—5 6—2. as out of character as it is for him to be knocked out in the second round, it might be something he'll have to start getting used to. miriam walker—khan, bbc news. there was also bad news for britain's number one kyle edmund. he was on the wrong end of an upset losing to the japanese qualifier yasuta ka uchiyama in straight sets. and britain's women's number one johanna konta is also out. after that impressive win yesterday over the world number six, sloane stephens,

she was beaten in straight sets by isla tomljanovic of australia. it's a huge year for england's cricketers — a home world cup followed by an ashes series against australia. but before that a tour of the west indies. one of the men who will be involved in all of that is chris woakes who had a rare christmas at home. yeah it was lovely, actually. a nice time to spend at home, having been in sri lanka for such a long period of time. such a nice thing to be at home for christmas. we don't normally get that. you had a next person in the house this year? that's right, six months old, little leila has arrived. a different christmas. she didn't know what was going on. it was good fun.|j christmas. she didn't know what was going on. it was good fun. i love of your england team—mates are playing in the t20, the big bash in australia. jos buttler made 55 for

syd ney australia. jos buttler made 55 for sydney against perth. is it good for england that they are playing these tournaments? yes, it shows how well we've played over the last two years to have guys from england playing in australia. five or ten years, they wouldn't have had english players in their tournaments because it would be seen as a weakness. now to have so be seen as a weakness. now to have so many playing in the australian competition is fantastic for us as a side and for us as individuals. how big a help is it, t20 cricket, preparing for the 50 over world cup? any white ball cricket going into the world cup is important. any exposure we can get to other tournaments around the world, the big bash, the ipl, is good for our quys big bash, the ipl, is good for our guys to have that exposure. it can only benefit us as a side. looking ahead to the world cup, england are one of the favourites. what does it

ta ke to one of the favourites. what does it take to win the competition. we've got to plate so millie good cricket, —— we got to play some really good cricket, not only in it but finding some for leading up to it. we've played well over the last couple of yea rs played well over the last couple of years but that doesn't win the world cup. australia will be strong as ever. they've had a not so good world months but they will be strong. we've got to play good cricket. we have a slight advantage but also expectation on our shoulders, which hopefully we can deal with well. as long as we played cricket we've played for the last couple of we have a good chance. you're going to the caribbean in just over a week. yes, the 11th we fly out. how important is it that the test team build on a good performance there? lee mentioned, the win in sri lanka was big for us, winning in those conditions was fantastic. now going to the

caribbean will be a different test. we've played some good stuff over the last six months with the test tea m the last six months with the test team so hopefully that can continue and joe team so hopefully that can continue andjoe can team so hopefully that can continue and joe can continue to take the tea m and joe can continue to take the team forward. the you fancy opening the batting? i don't, to be honest. people have mentioned it but i'm by no means good enough. the women's test tea m no means good enough. the women's test team are struggling with the ashes in mind as well. how close an idea have on their fortunes against india? we always keep an ion teams around the world. you always keep an eye on the results elsewhere. the india series with south africa looks really tight, it's always good to see what is going on. australia are likely to see the return of the smith after the ball tampering scandal. how much of an edge does it give? —— the return of steve myth. i'm sure the english will have their say and they will give him a hard

time, as we get when we go to australia. he's a world—class performer and whether he's had a year out, he'll be world class. there's no doubt he makes that side a better side. we'll have to do our research on his batting qualities and i'm sure we'll do the best to make sure he has a quiet series. chris woakes. for many of us, the start of a new year sees us taking on new challenges and nothing says challenge more than a triathlon. now, british triathlon is looking to get even more of us swimming, cycling and running as part of ‘tri january‘ — the aim, to get people to do the multisport activity under their own steam. we threw mike bushell in at the deep end to find out more. back in training after learning to dance on strictly, triathlete lauren steadman who's hpoing her newfound fame will help more of us enjoy the benefits of her sport. of course i was completely out of my depth trying to keep up with a three times world champion in the pool, but this isn't about that, as i can take as long

as i want and just do it a few metres at a time if i choose. people always get afraid of the swim leg and always find it is hardest. it is just repetition. and i believe learning to float. if you get rid of that fear of going under the water, and just learning to float, you can break it down. someone trying to do just that is lauren mahon, who hasn't swum since she was eight when she fell into the deep end of a pool. after battling cancer and helping to change attitudes towards it on the you, me and the big c podcast, lauren is now ready to tackle this january challenge. no time like the present. after having cancer, ifeel like, if i can beat cancer and get through that, i can overcome my fear. and i'm in the deep end of a pool, albeit with the noodle, but i can get under the water now. and encouraged by myself and her you, me and the big c colleague, deborah james, lauren managed to complete half a length of the pool. for someone who is a complete non—swimmer, like an absolute amateur at this, to get in the water and give it a go, if i can do it, anyone can do it, you know,

you don't have to be, like, an olympian. i live which with stage four cancer, so exercise is a massive part of making me feel better. and it is a really well—known correlation in terms of exercise not only reduces kind of anxiety, itjust also makes me feel better and cope with the side—effects of my treatment. and, actually, even if you don't want to get your feet wet, too cold, maybe, you think forswimming, you can do your water kilometres, your swimming kilometres on a rowing machine, and it is warm in here, lauren, i can tell you what. getting warmer. it is all about breaking down the barriers really. loads of us as fans can admire the likes of lauren and the brownlee brothers, can cheer them on from the sofa but i think to myself, i haven't got the training. we are not athletes, we get embarrassed showing up in public. but this, this tri jan, helps people to do it in their own time in their own space to have fun just when they want to, when they can.

i want to share my passion for the triathlon, because i can go out with my dad on my bike, i can run with my housemate, i can swim with my friends' kids, it is just a beautiful sport. she is not alone. the number of people entering some kind of triathlon event has gone up by 75% over the last ten years. that is 40,000 newcomers, half of them have been women. now this campaign aims to widen the net further. you no longer have to attend an event to complete your 15, 25 or 50 kilometre target over the course of this month. we know that these days it is a changing world and people need to be able to do sport and activity when it works for them.