the channel migrant crossings — the home secretary questions whether they are genuine asylum seekers. on a patrol boat in dover, sajid javid said those attempting the riskyjourney to england should be claiming asylum in france instead. if you are a genuine asylum seeker, then why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in? after the home secretary declared the crossing a major incident last week, we'll be asking how serious the problem really is. also tonight... an ice world four billion miles from earth — nasa releases images of the most distant object in our solar system ever to be explored. a return to work and a kick in the wallet, say passenger groups, as railfares rise again. the singer struggling to make ends meet after being diagnosed with cancer — charities call on the government to do more to help those facing financial problems. and the 10—year—old maths genius in south africa who's become something of an internet sensation. 78 times 550. coming up on

sportsday. .. can manchester 78 times 550. coming up on sportsday... can manchester united clinch a fourth straight win under ole gunnar solskjaer? they were at newcastle in one of six premier league games this evening. good evening. the home secretary, sajid javid, has been criticised by refugee groups after he questioned whether migrants using small boats to try to cross the channel were genuine asylum seekers. more than 530 have attempted the dangerous crossing in the past year — most of them since october. today the home secretary during a visit to dover,

suggested migrants should lodge their asylum applications in france and not wait until they reached britain. our correspondent duncan kennedy reports from dover. the home secretary today heading out of dover to see for himself the border force operation in the channel. sajid javid spent half an hour on board in the kind of calm conditions that many migrants use to make their crossing. but mrjavid questioned whether those coming were actually fleeing persecution. if you are a genuine asylum seeker then why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in? because you know, france is not a country where anyone would argue it is not safe in any way whatsoever. but some migrant support groups say those comments from the home secretary are deeply concerning. and that these people should be treated as genuine. they also say that although more

than 200 have landed since november, the numbers are minuscule in comparison to those trying to cross the mediterranean. my feeling is that it's been blown out of proportion. in the grand scheme of things these are small numbers of people arriving from northern france. and they have their reasons for wanting to come to the uk. but although migrant numbers remain small, we flew along the kent coast today to see just how difficult it is to patrol the english channel. this cutter will soon be one of three operating here after the home secretary ordered two more to be brought back from the med. but with so many potential landing points, migrants' dinghies are still difficult to detect. in fact, the whole of the kent coastline is more than 200 miles long, and this recent surge of migrants since november has seen landings everywhere from ramsgate to lympne, a shoreline distance

of more than a0 miles. there haven't been any migrants spotted making the crossing in the past 48 hours. it's not clear why, but few expect the flow to stop. a limited but determined group of people trying to make britain their home. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in kent. the migrant crossings were described as a major incident by the home secretary last week, as he cut short his family holiday. so how much of a problem is it? our home editor mark easton is here to give his assessment. while there are real concerns at the risks these migrants are running and the criminal gangs who are exploiting desperate people, in terms of a threat to the uk, a major incident, as the home secretary has described it, the numbers are really quite small. in the whole of 2018, 312 people in

small boats were intercepted by the uk border force trying to enter britain. the national crime agency makes the point that many more than that are intercepted trying to get into the uk illegally at conventional ports, hidden in lorries and vans sometimes specially converted by organised criminal gangs and people traffickers. to give you some idea, in 2016, officials stopped 56,000 people trying to cross the channel clandestinely. and we know that in the year to last september, 28,000 people applied for asylum in the uk. now, that actually is still far below the number which applied back in 2002, when it was 84,000. and it is also far below the applications comparable eu countries typically receive. in the year to lastjune, germany saw almost 168,000 applicants, france 108,000, italy 102,000 and greece saw 40% more applicants than the uk. more applicants than the uk, with a fifth of our population. indeed, of the 28 current eu

countries, the uk comes 17th in terms of asylum applications per head. so, while the sight of small dinghies trying to evade the border force patrols may make people feel deeply uneasy, the impact on our country must be described as marginal at most. nasa has released images of the most distant object in our solar system ever to be explored, four billion miles away from earth. taken by the new horizons probe, the images show the mysterious, icy world known as ultima thule. it's hoped that information and data gathered from the distant world will help explain how planets were formed. as our science editor david shukman explains. go ahead, power... power is green... mission control, running through checks which confirm this incredible adventure has worked. flying right

beside the most distant world ever explored. we have a healthy spacecraft... relief explored. we have a healthy spacecraft. . . relief that explored. we have a healthy spacecraft... relief that decades of planning are paying off. scientists are proud of giving us a view never possible before. science to help us understand the origins of our solar system... understand the origins of our solar system. . . what understand the origins of our solar system... what this spacecraft and this team accomplished was unprecedented. here's where we were just a couple of days ago. this was humanity's best image of ultima thule. well, that image is so 2018! me to ultima thule! they've discovered a strange shape which the scientists think look like a snowman. scientists think look like a snowman. they've even produced this image to make the point. it is a

rock left over from the birth of the solar system. back when the mission was launched, hardly anything was known about the outer reaches of the solar system, it was an extraordinary gamble just trying to get there. it's almost impossible to grasp how far this spacecraft new horizons has travelled but 13 years ago it began a long trek across the solar system, leaving earth back in january 2006 to fly past the planets including mars, jupiter, saturn, and then in 2015, it made it all the way out to pluto, 3 billion miles away, before racing on for another billion miles to ultima thule, reaching it on new year's day, skimming past but still able to capture the images we are now starting to see. there's a lot that is surprisingly about this tiny world. made up of two pieces of rock joined together. tiny world. made up of two pieces of rockjoined together. this may be the first glimpse of how the planets we re the first glimpse of how the planets were eventually built, one binding

to another over millions of years. this shape informs our models of planetary formation. you can see that they're planetary formation. you can see that they‘ re clearly two planetary formation. you can see that they're clearly two separate objects that have come together, so it's pretty exciting to see that. when it flew past pluto, new horizons revealed a world more active than had been expected just 110w active than had been expected just now it has revealed something even more profound, a snapshot of what it took to make planets like our own. david shukman, bbc news. rail passengers across britain have returned to work today, faced with fare rises which have added more than £100 to some annual season tickets. the fare hikes, which affect england, scotland and wales, come after a year of chaos on the railways, caused by strikes, extreme weather and timetable changes. fares have increased by an average of 3.1% in england and wales. in scotland, the figure is almost 3%. passenger groups and opposition parties have condemned the rise, but the transport secretary chris grayling has laid the blame

with rail unions. tom burridge is at paddington station in central london. well, sophie, in recent years, rail fa res have well, sophie, in recent years, rail fares have risen at a much faster rate overall than most people is wages. but this increase is particularly contentious given the fa ct particularly contentious given the fact that 2018 was not a good year for so many passengers, many of whom have been questioning today why they should pay more with the service they've received in recent months which they say has not been value for money. just got on the train to cardiff, return — disgusted by the prize, £4.10. it's an awful lot for a couple of miles. i am commuting from hertfordshire and noticed it was £26, rather than £25 and it has got to the stage now that rather than coming into london, i willjust work from home more. i regularly travel to glasgow and the price has gone up but the service has not changed. it is public transport and if the public cannot afford it,

what good is public transport that is unaffordable. it is passengers in the north of england who sometimes did not know when a train would arrive last year who feel angry, as well as commuters on govia thames link. listen to what andy pays annually to commute to london. the season ticket is £4800 including the underground. new timetables were also botched here last spring. i'm really disappointed. we have a clear recommendation from the transport select committee that passengers who are caught up in the timetabling chaos should have their fares frozen, not increased. the 3% rise means an annual season ticket from bradford to leeds will cost £32 more. someone commuting from reading into london will pay an extra £140. figures show the railway generated

£19 billion in one year and nearly 10 billion of that came from tickets. the government put in almost £7 billion. the total amount spent was around £19 billion. train companies spent £11 billion on wages and trains and nearly £7 billion was spent by network rail which is responsible for maintaining tracks and stations. the government says it is happy for fares to rise in line with a lower index of inflation if the unions agree that rail workers' wages should also go up at a lower rate. i don't want to see fares go up any more than they have to. but costs are rising fast and the biggest factor is wage increases. i'd like to see the unions and the labour party accept that wage rises should be lower

and as a result fare rises should be lower. our fares are already the highest in europe. it is a tax on commuters and people who have to use the railway because there is no other way of getting around. in the long term itjust drives some people away from public transport. that's not good. the rmt union says it is scandalous that the government is blaming rail workers. train companies say 98% of tickets goes back into running the railways so other money can upgrade the network. the governance as in september it will launch a new rail card for 16—year—olds and 17—year—olds but the bigger picture is that the train companies, network rail and the government, must get their act together this year to win back some of the trust in the railways which was lost last year. a police sergeant who was injured in a suspected terror attack in manchester on new year's eve has

said "instinct took over". sergeant lee valentine was one of three people injured in the knife attack at victoria station. greater manchester police have said they're "increasingly confident" the man who carried out the attack acted alone. our correspondent fiona trott is at victoria station for us. sophie, sergeant lee valentine was stabbed in the shoulder and is now recovering at home. his chief co nsta ble recovering at home. his chief constable has described him and his collea g u es constable has described him and his colleagues as heroes, and here's why. we had no idea what we were running towards when we heard the screams, running towards when we heard the screams, said lee valentine. when we saw the man wielding a knife, instinct took over. a couple in their 50s were also stabbed hand man is due to be released from hospital $0011 is due to be released from hospital soon and his partner will continue to be treated for stomach and facial injuries. we know that the 25—year—old man who was arrested on suspicion of adapted murder was detained under the mental health act. today greater manchester police

said he was likely to remain in a secure mental facility for several months. the suspect‘s family have released a statement saying their thoughts and prayers were with those who were injured and it was important for the police investigation to take its course and for any speculation to be avoided. tonight, greater manchester police say they're continuing to examine computers and phones as part of their investigation. they're also trying to establish if anybody else encouraged the attacker. sophie. by the time they are 10 years old, children in britain have eaten their way through an entire childhood's worth of sugar. that's according to research by public health england which is urging parents to take action and cut back on their children‘ s sugar intake — to tackle obesity. children over the age of four should have no more than the equivalent of five to seven cubes a day depending on their age — that's the recommended amount. but in reality they're consuming almost double that — an average of around 13 cubes a day. our correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. putting away the christmas treats.

cara says her boys have a healthy diet, but she hasn't completely banned them from eating sugary snacks. but today's report says that by the time children are ten, they have consumed the recommended sugar intake for an 18—year—old, and that has shocked her. it's frightening. it is the hidden sugar that's probably doing it because you're not, you are not scrutinising every product your child is eating. you have to be strict because if they could open the cupboard now, there's biscuits in the cupboard and they will ask. so they had some yesterday. we don't stop them, but they know they can only have one or two, and not every single day. public health england is warning that families need to look more closely at what they're buying and cut back on sugar by choosing healthier versions of the food they eat. cutting that breakfast cereal down to a lower sugar breakfast cereal will save 50 cubes of sugar.

these things add up and you can make a real change to your child's diet and to their health in the future. so what is the main source of sugar in children's diets? well, 6% comes from yoghurt. 8% from breakfast cereals. but 10% still comes from fizzy drinks and the main culprit are these. 14% comes from children eating chocolate and sweets. there's already a levy on sugary soft drinks, but now public health england have said if manufacturers don't reduce sugar enough in food, there might be a case for a so—called pudding tax on puddings, yoghurts, cereals and chocolate. but the food industry says it will not work. it has also addressed the issue of sugar being added to baby food. the government wants to look at baby food.

the industry is working with them to do that. there is a wide range of baby foods available. some are sweet and some are not. we need to see what the size of the issue is and then the industry will respond. just how to help people cut back on sugar is still being heavily debated. but what is clear from those eating it is just how irresistible it can be. you can stop yourself, can you? what do you say to yourself? just don't look at it. once i look at it, i eat it. once you look at it, you eat it? yeah. only... depends if it's mine. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. ethiopia is undergoing a rapid transformation — and it's being driven largely by a 42 year old man — a former soldier — elected as prime minister less than a year ago. abiy ahmed now leads a coalition that had suppressed dissent for decades and he has told the bbc that there'll be no turning back on the historic changes he has already ushered in since last april. political prisoners have been released, corruption is finally being confronted and

a long—running war with neighbouring eritrea has come to an end at last. our africa editor fergal keane reports now on ethiopia's age of change. they've never seen anything like him. africa's youngest leader and most daring reformer. abiy ahmed emerged from the one—party state, but he's rewriting the script of how leaders behave here. we are very happy, really. it's like a renaissance, this man told me. after decades of political and ethnic division, abiy ahmed is promising healing. his pace is relentless. we travelled with him as he sold his vision — to villagers, to factory workers, to medical students. you should be part of the reform, he said.

use your words and knowledge, don't fight. the country he took over nine months ago had thousands of political prisoners. all are now free. a 20—year conflict with neighbouring eritrea was ended. the presidency, chiefjustice and half the cabinet posts are allocated to women. birtukan mideksa was a political prisoner and exile. abiy asked her to come home and run elections. thousands, if not millions of people, paid to see this kind of change in this country. to have the former opposition leader, a former dissident to lead an institution with significant independence of action, you know, it means a lot. but change has opened up challenges. ethiopia is a complex ethnic mosaic, with more than 80 different groups,

and clashes between some have led to the displacement of millions. at this displaced camp, we met ethnic somalis who had fled fighting with their neighbours from the oromo group. this old woman told us six of her nine grandchildren were killed in the violence. translation: they slaughtered our men and killed our children. that is why we came here, looking for peace. by far the greatest threat is here to the north, in tigray. under the old authoritatian regime, the minority tigrayans dominated government. now dozens of their leaders are accused of human rights abuses and corruption. the tigrayan elite is feeling threatened. you cannot take chances in this country, because what we are talking about is the difference between transforming the entire nation and in fact spreading disaster. that's not much of a choice.

abiy! like many reformers before him, abiy is finding that the most dangerous moment for any autocracy is when it starts to change. prime minister, fergal keane from bbc. can i ask you, are you the man to unite ethiopia? of course i am. no doubt about it. it was a day for the praise singers, not questioning journalists. but i did catch up with abiy again. he's a consummate politician. he greeted me with the traditional kiss the cheek, and this invitation to the international community. they can come and see us. we are enjoying peace, development, unity in this country. they can come and learn from us how to live together. and there will be no turning

back on your reforms? no. thank you very much, sir. thank you. from helipad to airport, he's a man making up for lost decades. you can see the extraordinary popularity of prime minister abiy, and that's right across ethnic groups. but don't underestimate the challenges that he faces in trying to unite a divided country. fergal keane, bbc news, ethiopia. let's take a look at some of today's other news. police in lincolnshire have begun a murder investigation after three people were found dead after a fire at a house near boston. emergency crews were called to the property in kirton in the early hours of new year's day. detectives say they believe they know the identities of the victims and aren't looking for anyone else in connection with the fire. a woman has died after falling more than 150 metres, around 500 feet, from ben nevis on new year's day. the bristol university student was climbing with three others

when she plunged to her death. she is the second person to have died on britain's highest peak in recent weeks. shares in apple have fallen. in a letter to investors, apple's ceo tim cook blamed a challenging commercial environment in china which has seen lower—than—expected revenue from sales of new iphones. charities are calling on the government to do more to help cancer patients who are in financial crisis. research by macmillan cancer support suggests the majority of people living with cancer are on average £570 a month worse off as a result of their diagnosis. many people stop or cut down on work, which of course means their income goes down. there can also be extra costs such as trips to the hospital, higher heating bills and more help needed around the home. the government says it is rolling out a "recovery package" to support people with cancer, and over 300,000 people will benefit every year by 2020.

our north of england correspondent judith moritz reports. # given all my love, babe. # what more can i do... #. jeff southworth used to belt out the tunes, singing and compering on the blackpool pub and club circuit. but in 2012, jeff was diagnosed with face cancer. his top jaw and lip were removed. nowjeff can't sing and finds speaking difficult. the cancer has cost him his livelihood. life has been really tough. jeff's wife sue works full—time to support them both. they found it especially hard to make ends meet during his treatment. i used to sit down at night

and just think, what am i going to do tomorrow? how am i going to sort this out? phoning there and robbing peter to pay paul. i needed to keep him warm because he was freezing. so we kept in one room. we had no money at the end. it's notjustjeff and sue who know the cost of cancer. 18 months of cancer treatment, 18 months of fighting financially. it didn't let up until she died. in stirlingshire, tina morrison lost her daughter lisa to cervical cancer. during treatment, lisa stopped work and couldn't keep up with card and loan payments. you could just see the fear in herface opening it. her car had to be returned and tina says lenders showed little sympathy. they have to look at people as people, as human beings and what they're dealing with. it's all very well saying, oh, they have taken out a loan, they've taken out an agreement.

yes, but nobody looks ahead to think what if i get cancer one day and i can't pay this back? cancer doesn't wait until you've saved up enough cash for it... macmillan cancer support say the introduction of the new universal credit benefit system has made things more difficult, partly because payments are made less frequently than before. if you've got a terminal condition, you know, you can't afford to wait five weeks. you need the money now. and there are something like 26,500 people who are worrying about whether they are going to need to reapply, whether that means extra hoops to jump through when actually, theyjust want to get on with dealing with their condition and the treatment and living their lives. back in blackpool, the southworths say they've battled with benefits. they say that after treatmentjeff was reassessed and told he no longer qualified. i remember in the evening the interview, the assessment, jeff cried. he sobbed. and he said, i can't talk, i can't communicate how i feel. and she just said, well, i can understand you now. how did that make you feel?

horrible. i felt low. really, really low. did it feel fair? no. you've been through a journey. support and understanding has come from fellow cancer patient chris. you were one of the first people that we helped. his charity gave a phone tojeff, who needed to text, but couldn't afford a mobile. chris says cancer survivors are often left behind financially. we've got more and more than ever people living with cancer. and we've got less and less opportunity for those people, so we're saying look, it's great, we are keeping you alive. but actually, yeah, 0k, but let me have a fair go at it. you know, i've got one disability as it is. the government introduced a recovery package for cancer patients in 2015 and says that by 2020 it will help 300,000 people a year. as forjeff and sue,

who were teenage sweethearts, they say that now theirs is a simple life, living without luxury, but lucky thatjeff is still living at all. judith roberts, bbc news, blackpool. judith moritz, bbc news, blackpool. a 10—year—old boy in south africa is causing a stir in the world of maths. sibahle zwane has an extraordinary ability to work out huge sums in his head. now his mental arithmetic is turning him into something of a social media sensation. pumza fihlani has been to meet him. welcome to maths. class is in session. at this farm school the pupils are hard at work perfecting their maths skills. but there's one who stands out. meet sibahle zwane, called the human calculator, he's just ten years old. anyone who knows the answer? sibahle? 540. translation: i'm the best at maths in the whole school.

when people see me, they ask me to do sums for them to test how good i am. and they are surprised when i get the answers right. some people even give me money for doing difficult numbers. i give that money to my mother, and that makes me happy. he was discovered when a local policeman filmed him. 250 x11? 2,750. at home, his mother may not be able to help him with his homework, but she is his biggest fan. we always dream big, most of the time. with me, i wish everything that could go well for him. i want him to explore. he loves challenges. 78... and so we put him to the test.