mankind. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm: over the moon — china celebrates the historic landing of a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. if our lunar exploration is successful, we can make bigger contributions to mankind. and improve china's ability and technology. and improve china's ability and technology. a happy click—mas for retailer next — but a sharp rise in online sales for the festive period came as trading at its shops declined. taking a bite out of apple — the tech giant blames a slowing market in china as sales fall, and its share price drops sharply. the trial begins in saudi arabia of the people allegedly involved in the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport with holly hamilton. i'll be looking ahead to deny and the biggest game of the season suva.

it is manchester city versus liverpool, with a job that they could be a deciding moment in the race for the premier league title. darren. once you break the card, you get the risk of some frost and for which could happen in some areas tonight. i'll have the details later on. also coming up: even with all our gadgets, we're using less electricity. with consumption at its lowest levels since the 1980s. we'll tell you why. hello, everyone. this is afternoon live — i'm simon mcoy. the space race is back on — and as of today, china could be leading it. the first images transmitted from the surface of the far side of the moon are significant notjust because of what they show from the deepest crater on the moon —

but also because the mission puts china at least on a par with the achievements of the united states and russia. and it's notjust the landing itself but the communications that made it possible that mark this mission as historic. our china correspondent john sudworth reports. commence landing, the control room says. and then comes the extraordinary sight — the first close—up images of the far side of the moon ever recorded. after a few more tense moments, chang'e—li safely touches down inside the moon's largest and deepest crater. it's all gone according to plan, this scientist tells chinese state tv. the landing was the most important part. although the far side of the moon always faces away from earth, orbiting spacecraft have photographed its surface.

but no attempt has been made to land on it until now. this animation shows how the probe‘s thrusters were fired to slow it, before its sensors guide it gently to the surface. a surface far more rugged and obstacle—strewn than the moon's nearside. another major challenge has included the need for a relay satellite to carry radio signals from the far side back to earth. well, the moon has already sunk below this smoggy beijing skyline, so there is, unfortunately, no chance tonight for people to gaze at it in wonder. not that they had much warning, mind you. the landing attempt was accompanied by an almost complete news blackout, giving you a sense of the sensitive propaganda value of this huge leap forward in china's space race ambitions and the perceived cost of failure. china plans to follow this mission

with another that will bring mineral samples back to earth and, eventually a reported, plan for a lunar base capable of supporting humans. translation: if our lunar exploration is a success, we can make bigger contributions to mankind and improve china's ability and technology. so i don't think our exploration will stop. it will only go deeper, further, and we will invest more. for now, chang'e—a‘s lunar explorer will begin examining the surface of its landing spot. the moon's deepest crater is expected to offer important insights into the formation of our solar system. but, beyond the science, china has just signalled that it's a space power to be taken seriously. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. let's discuss this further with the space journalist sarah cruddas,

who is here in the studio. in my direction, i send them on par with america and russia. you don't think it does? you have to remember, if years ago, america online is human beings or the moon. while this isa human beings or the moon. while this is a significant achievement, it is not on par with the significance and risk of sending human beings, minding them on the surface and returning them safely. but it is still significant. we have technology on our phones that surpasses what they had on the apollo missions. what does this tell us apollo missions. what does this tell us about the far side of the men that we don't already know? buzz

aldrin, the second human talk on women, often refutes the idea of our phones have more power. we know so little about where reaching from, why we exist and what else is out there. the idea of going to do deepest creature on the moon to understand more about the formation of the men, possibly a collection of a young there was a mars sized object. also find out more about the technology and we can build on this. it's something which is the next step in china is very ambitious space programme. china was languishing on the chairman mao in the 19 six days and 70s, now they have opened up science and technology innovation, looking at sending human beings to the moon. perhaps the first woman to walk on the men will be chinese. this is a

huge step in terms of chinese innovation and technology. a lot of people have asked questions about this. one which repeats itself is why does but side of the moon look so why does but side of the moon look so different? it is because women is locked. both the earth and the men are spinning. the gravitational force, the minimum spend around its axis at the same rate it actually orbits around the earth. like you andi orbits around the earth. like you and i are facing one another, it's kind of the same situation as the men. the far side is exposed to space. the one 5 billion years ago, it would have been bombarded with loads of raw material when the silver system was more active. that has taken the brunt of the force of

oui’ has taken the brunt of the force of our solar system. they look com pletely our solar system. they look completely different. the new site is also tidily walked with us. there are many theories that a beano base is the obvious next age. what would bea is the obvious next age. what would be a base for another mission to mars. there is space exploration are not going? the ultimate goal is to send you a human being to mars. we have to remember, in terms of space explanation, and the ies s, which is oui’ explanation, and the ies s, which is our only race in space should be given a nobel prize. the other countries which don't get along on a working together. once the international space station comes to the end of its life span is to have a mean knowledge, which would be a base on the mend which would enable us base on the mend which would enable us to test out technology before sending humans to mars in the next 30 to 40

sending humans to mars in the next 30 to a0 years. we could see even a base in the next a0 years of what we need collaboration. we can't compare anything with apollo, we want to see countries working together. at the moment, china is not working with the us but that can change in the future. whereas apollo was the columbus moment of space exploration, we are now in the mayflower period. in terms of data, ideas, we can't even imagine a manufacturing. aiming this will be also a business exploration. most importantly, we will look back on earth and the two entries left here on earth. it is the reason that we explore space. it's about as, and answering fundamental questions about us as a species and helping to protect planet earth. thank you mac and a reminder: at 3:30pm this afternoon on bbc news — our science editor david shukman takes your questions on what this

means for the future of space exploration. to get involved, you can text your questions to 6112a, email to askthis@bbc.co.uk — or on twitter @bbcsimonmccoy shares in the clothes retailer next, have risen after it reported better than expected sales in the christmas period. they were up 1.5% overall with, in particular, a sharp rise in online sales. it's prompted next‘s chief executive to describe the general health of the consumer economy as, "not bad at all." our business corresondent emma simpson reports. the celebrations are over. a new year and time for a fresh start. retailers are also taking stock and starting to produce their all—important christmas trading updates. first up — next. although sales at its shops were down 9%, this was more than made up by online sales which were up by 15%. but next did trim how much it expected to make in annual profits. i think this is a pretty resilient performance from next.

it's managing the shift online well and i'm sure it's picking up competitors' sales because it's so efficient online. it's managed its margins really well, and its profit, because it hasn't been slashing prices like the rest of the high street. what does this tell us about how christmas went for the rest of the high street? i think we will see a mixed performance across other retailers. some will do very well and some will fall well below that standard. like other retailers, november was a bit of a wash—out for next but christmas was saved by strong sales in the last few weeks of december. according to its boss, brexit uncertainty is making consumers a little bit more cautious, but he says we are still spending. at this retail park in nottingham we asked shoppers if they had spent more this year? more. i think every year i spend more and more, as my son gets older and older.

i thought, it's christmas and my kids deserve more. i've just bought what they wanted. probably more, to be fair. a hell of a lot more. and i have a baby now, so more is her. many retailers have had to offer huge discounts to get us to part with our cash, but at what cost to their profits? there won't be much to celebrate this christmas for retail after one of its most challenging years. the we will know how other household names have fared in the coming days. emma simpson, bbc news. meanwhile — apple's share price has suffered a fall, after the technology giant warned investors its latest sales figures will be lower than expected. the company's chief executive, tim cook, blamed a sharper than expected slowdown in china, and customers not upgrading iphones as quickly as before. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones is here. whole a? and it was a bombshell when

keeping cook released this quite a lengthy letter. i think it's been 15 yea rs lengthy letter. i think it's been 15 years since they issued any guidance of this kind. i think he had to do it because they have figures coming in and they released an estimate backin in and they released an estimate back in september for this quarter, which people already thought was a bit low. quite often, they release low estimate and alight outperforming them. this time, it's the other way round. they are going to make £5 billion less in revenue this last quarter than they expected. still turning over issues out of money but obviously really worried about what is going on in china. let's talk about what is going on in china. there is the economic decline they say is happening in china. the other issue, others say, is politics. the chinese

are getting fed up with america put are getting fed up with america put a clue when it comes to arrests when it comes to recently, the huawei executive, and the consumers are taken up an apple? absolutely. this sort of brand nationalism has been around in china for a while, buying chinese. brands like huawei, model popular in us but very popular at home in china. that has been exacerbated by this trade war, by harsh words said on either side. apple is caught in the crossfire. people are looking at other phones and thinking, they can get something equivalent and their eyes for an awful lot cheaper and with as chinese brand on it. other us technology companies are worried about this. the trade association put out a statement saying that we have to sort this trade war because

we will all suffer. isn't the bottom line is we all have the phones that we wa nt line is we all have the phones that we want to do and there is no pod in the team ? we want to do and there is no pod in the team? they are amazing machines. when you think that we are all walking around with these incredible supercomputers in our pockets looking do incredible things. each year, apple comes along with something new and it's a bit difficult to see how it is different from the previous one. the software is advancing and they are doing more with them but convincing people that you really need this years apple ten sas you really need this years apple ten s as opposed to last year ‘s model, when you look identical and appear to do the same thing — that is getting harder. thank you for joining us. two men have been arrested on suspicion of arranging the "illegal movement of migrants" across the english channel. more than 200 people have reached the uk in small boats since november. the national crime agency said the 33—year—old iranian

and 2a—year—old briton were held in salford yesterday. the environment secretary, michael gove, has told farmers that theresa may's brexit deal will provide certainty for them if it's approved by mps. speaking at the oxford farming conference, he admitted the agreement wasn't perfect — but said leaving without a deal would cause farmers "considerable turbulence." the national farmers union is calling for a new law to ensure there is no lowering of food standards after brexit. phil mackie reports. farmers face uncertainty over brexit, just like everyone else. they worry about who will pick the crops and work machinery, if there are tougher immigration rules, and fear cheap imports could undercut british goods and mean poorer quality food on the supermarket shelves. this is what it's all about — the best of british produce grown and raised to the very highest of standards. michael gove today told farmers that there will be opportunities once britain has left the eu, but he also warned of the dangers if we leave — in less than three months — without a deal. the turbulence that would be generated by our departure without

a deal would be considerable. nobody can be blythe or blase about the real impact on the food producers in this country of leaving without a deal. that is just one of the reasons i hope my colleagues in parliament support the prime minister's deal. it isn't perfect, but we should never make the perfect the enemy of the good. the national farmers union fears disruption and delays at borders, if a deal is not reached, and has urged the government to do more to ensure stability. consumer groups fear shortages and price hikes, especially on imported foods. exporters are worried their goods will not make it to their markets. i think there are 11,000 trucks that come in to dover every single day with just food and drink. so it is a critical route and we need to make sure that we agree this in an orderly manner, otherwise it will lead to friction and challenges for getting food across here. we saw it last year in the snow. it doesn't take much to take food off the shelves, and that creates absolute meltdown. the government has announced a pilot

scheme to allow several thousand seasonal agricultural workers to continue to come here after brexit, but said, in the long—term, farmers must adapt and use new technology. i am a dairy farmer in the south—east of scotland. i'm milking cows using robots — we have done for a number of years. going forward, for the productivity and efficiency in agriculture, it will be imperative that we have access to and utilise technology to the best of our abilities. for years, we have enjoyed the best produce from around the world at relatively cheap prices. whether that will be the case in april may depend on the deal that is done. phil mackie, bbc news, oxford. you're watching afternoon live — these are our headlines: over the moon — china celebrates the historic landing of a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. a happy "click—mas" for retailer next — but a sharp rise in online sales for the festive period came as trading at its shops declined. taking a bite out of apple — the tech giant blames a slowing market in china as sales fall,

and its share price drops sharply. and in sport: a top—of—thetable showdown in the premier league — manchester city against liverpool could be the title race's decisive moment. city may be third for the moment butjurgen klopp says they're still the best team in the world. british number one kyle edmund has withdrawn from next week's sydney international after picking up a knee injury. the event would've been his final tournament before the australian open later this month. and england announce their elite players squad, including 28 names set to make up the world's first—ever full—time professional women's rugby xv side. i'll be back with more on those stories after half past. a court in saudi arabia has begun the trial of 11 people allegedly involved in the murder of the journalist, jamal khashoggi. the killing sparked outrage around the world, and it led to unprecedented, western criticism of the kingdom. prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for five of the men.

our security correspondent frank gardner is here. the? it has been announced. it is certainly true that some who allegedly threw in two planes from reality to use until today part in this operation. the saudi prosecutors are demanding immediate penalty for five of them. saudi trials are notoriously opaque. they have been criticised for this by human rights organisations. often, people aren't told what the charges are until the last limits. sometimes they don't have lawyers with them and there have been horrendous stories of people being woken up on a date of execution and being dragged off to be executed. this is

such a high—profile case that i think the saudis will try very hard to make sure it's by the letter and they have no lawyers with them. they have asked for more time to study the indictment, which they have been given. they are saying this could be the moment of truth but someone gave the moment of truth but someone gave the order? it hard to prove that. we, the media, have a dog really a heart into this and certainly, western intelligence agencies have given the impression that they are pretty certain that the order came from trumpism mohammed bin salman. the saudis deny that and there is no smoking gun. there is no audio recordings with his voice saying anything. in my experience working in the gulf, there is no such thing as rogue operations as the saudis claim in this case. nothing gets donein claim in this case. nothing gets done in the gulf without sign off

from above. there is a strong suspicion, set on the nus, he had knowledge of some kind of operation. certainly, he was irritated by jamaal khashoggi who was a critic of his. but that is not the same as saying she ordered the murder. i think crown prince mohammed bin salman is caught totally miss cokanasiga. he has underestimated the international reaction to this. he has been locking people for months. look at the ritz—carlton, a mass arrests of people shaking down for money without charge. basically mass kidnapping of dozens of people but it was wildly popular inside saudi arabia because these were

people who probably made a lot of money in various ways. in this case, the hand of his employees are being seen as the hand of his employees are being seen as going far too far. it is the grisly nature of the murder, we are told about audio tapes of all these different versions. was he strangled, really gruesome stuff. stories of his dismembered limbs being dissolved in acid and so on to stop it too much for most people do stunning and western governments don't want to be seen to be too closely associated with trumpism hammered bends, to stop will be learning the truth from this trial? i'm certain the turkish version of what happened will be very different from what emerges from this trial. there's continuing deadlock in washington, after president trump and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement on ending the partial shutdown of the us government. the democrats have promised to put forward proposals to end the dispute when they take control of the house

of representatives later today. the president is showing no sign of backing down from his demand for $5 billion to build a wall along the us—mexico border. if our north america correspondent laura joins us ifjoins us from washington now. it is this a day that president trump will be dreading because things will change from mulholland don't they? they absolutely do. welcome to the year of divided government in washington, dc. for the first two years of his presidency, donald trump had a relatively little oversight. no democrats take over the house of legislators and have the power of oversight. they will control key committees and will be able to call witnesses, they will be able to investigate everything from the president's business dealings to his policies, like the controversial separation of farming as the us

border. yes, this is the day things change in washington, also, it may be the day that things stay the same. we end a 15 of this partial shutdown. the president is standing firm he wants money for his wall. there are bills being put forward what they do not contain funding for the border wall. but impious continues. the chairs of the congressional committees change and they have powers that have not been used against president until now, but avoid the power subpoena. how would the belief about that? the chair of the committee has said he wa nts to chair of the committee has said he wants to look into whether there was any money wandering in the current campaign. remembered that special counsel robert mueller is looking into things between the drum campaign and russia. but wider issues to do with the president and his businesses, this is something we

have intelligence committee would like to look into now that it is under democratic control. they say theissue under democratic control. they say the issue of whether the president took foreign money in his past is directly relevant to his role now as head of the executive branch. things are going to change. that could be stonewalling if the president is asked to produce his tax returns, for example. money less, the power of subpoena by the power to call persons and papers will be very relevant to the president right now. thank you mike time for a look at the weather. happy new year. what the weather like? we are on to vaccinate. there was none the business and the new year, where has it gone? it coming, isn't

it? no. nothing much happening because high pressure is in charge. the snow has gone elsewhere, in the unit. this was austria yesterday. germany hasn't had much but oscar has had a lot. the combination of snow and wind blowing meant that he will have to walk backwards in order to go forwards. we also had a white out on the slopes as well. a lot of the scheme was cancelled. we have lots of strong winds coming in from the baltic. was of destruction and transport problems. lots of snow also in estonia. it's been really cold, the wind has been blown making it feel even colder. i know you get a very cross, but i'm just saying, on various websites, that is a

suggestion that it's coming our way. at the moment, it's going all the way down into the mediterranean bringing snow showers and snowstorms. a lot of wet weather for the eastern side of the mediterranean. for the uk, the weather is pretty quiet. cloudy skies for many places. this was aberdeen shire will air on. lovely day but cold. we had temperatures right down to 10.5 degrees in aberdeen shire last night. that's the coded it has been so far. if you're too good even colder, you must change the position of the high pressure. we had a high pressure right through christmas and new year period setting more to the south of the uk, aircoming period setting more to the south of the uk, air coming infrom the atlantic, mild and cloudy with no sunshine. the miserable weather, notes now. live up to scandinavia,

thatis notes now. live up to scandinavia, that is not happening just yet. something that we need to look at towards the end of the month. no guarantees on that. but nothing next week? doesn't look like it now. this is the extent of the cloud that we have today. there are the breaks in our venetia after the cold start. clouds are selling. those are the temperatures. you don't have to drop very far to get a frost overnight. we need the cloud to fend and a break—up and it looks like it will cost wales, eventually southern england and we will see a list and fog performing as well. temperatures are widely expected to fall below freezing. it won't be as good in the north—east of scotland, a bit more cloud. the mildest weather continues

across north—western scotland and northern ireland will be still have this atlantic influenced meaning more cloud. cloudy skies for this pa rt more cloud. cloudy skies for this part of the uk, moving into northern england to perhaps. there is a bit chance of seeing some sunshine, u nless chance of seeing some sunshine, unless you're stuck under this fall. even with sunshine, it's critical— three or a degrees. into the weekend, potentially another frosty start. before the east you are in the uk, the more that mist and fog mailing into the morning. cloud is into western areas. those temperatures are five to 6 degrees which is near normalfor this time of year. a weather front bringing that cloud and patchy rain into the north—west later. it topples down but only so far, a returning one front coming in from the atlantic. a different air mass comes in behind that so we will get more sunshine in

scotla nd that so we will get more sunshine in scotland and for a while in northern ireland before it closed over. likely to see more cloud, potential for some mist and fog but on the whole, cloudy and a little milder. next week looks much more unsettled, much when the analyst fog. potential some deals and some rain. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. china makes history

by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. the touchdown of the un—crewed probe is being seen as a major milestone in space exploration. next has reported a sharp rise in online sales over the christmas period, but says trading at its stores declined. the retailer expects an annual profit of £723 millon — that's a million less than its previous forecast. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors. the tech giant says it's been caught offguard by china's slowing economy. 11 individuals have gone on trial over the murder of saudi journalist journalist jamal khashoggi. it has begun in the saudi capital, riyadh. state media report is reporting that prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for five of the defendants. there is a game of football tonight.

a huge game? it feels early to talk about a title decider. it could be decisive. if we look at how things stand, liverpool... they're seven points ahead of city after their pretty dreadful december — three defeats in four league games — so pep guadiola knows if they lose tonight, it will take a huge liverpool collapse during the rest a win for liverpool would effectively mean they would have to lose at least three of their last 17 games. and that's assuming city go undefeated. earlier, we spoke to former liverpool defender stephen warnock who told us nothing is set in stone just yet. i think the game will be cagey, but i think errors will happen

because of what is at stake. you're talking about the best players in the world on the pitch and such a high level, but something has to break at some point. manchester city have to come out and try win the game so it will leave gaps for liverpool to exploit. but we know manchester city are more than capable of causing an upset, i say an upset, but causing an upset towards the liverpool defence and cause liverpool's defence problems. also worth bearing in mind is that liverpool's fixture list looks quite favourable. after tonight, they'll have only three of the top six left to play, with two of those games — against chelsea and tottenham — at anfield. but the pressure is on. the two managers. pep guardiola and jurgen klopp. they have respect for each other? for both klopp and guardiola, history is at stake here. guardiola could become the first city manager —

and the first from any club for a decade — to retain the premier league title. and he's already alluded to the impact that losing tonight might have on manchester city's title ambitions if they lose. as for klopp, it's been 29 years since liverpool won the premier league. there's also added pressure on him to win anything this season after losing in the finals in the league cup, europa league and champions league. both are well aware of what's at stake — and what each other is capable of. klopp has described city as the best team in the world. but who is under more pressure? well, pep guardiola thinks it's liverpool. they are the best team in europe, with their consistency and the way they control the game. it is a good chance. we will focus on what we have to do to win the game. people talk about what happens if we lose.

we will try, it is a football game. what you have to do? craig bellamy has temporarily stepped down from his role as cardiff city u18s coach following the club's decision to investigate a bullying claim against him. the investigation follows reports of a complaint about the former wales striker‘s alleged treatment of a young player, who has since left the club. bellamy denies the allegations. england have announced their elite players squad which will make up the world's first ever full—time professional women's rugby xv side. 28 full—time 15s contracts have been handed out in the 35—woman squad. core experienced stars like katy daley—mclean will lead the group that also includes six uncapped players. england's six nations campaign begins on feburary first in dublin against ireland. tennis and british number one kyle edmund has withdrawn from next week's sydney international after picking up a knee injury. the event was set to be his final tournament before the first grand slam of the year — the australian open, which starts

in melbourne on the 1ath of january. the world number 1a says he will do "everything he can" to be fit for it. that's all the sport for now. holly, thank you. a breathalyser test that could revolutionise cancer diagnosis is being tested in the uk. the device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients. scientists hope it will lead to a simpler, cheaper method of spotting the disease early. let's speak to dr michael porter, who is a lecturer in molecular genetics at the university of central lancashire. good afternoon. how does it work?m isa good afternoon. how does it work?m is a very simple premise. we have known for over 100 years that one compound, that we discovered over 1000 volatile organic compounds appear in your breath and they are

produced by the metabolic process of the energy producing process of the body. a cancer cell has different energy requirements and therefore produces a different spectrum of these. what this test is doing is trying to find differences between cancer cells. it is a trial, but between cancer cells and ordinary cells and if we find those differences, we will jump cells and if we find those differences, we willjump leaps and bounds ahead in the diagnosis of cancer. there have been similar stories before and the issue is the accuracy of these tests. how accurate can they be? there is a potentialfor them to be extremely accurate and certainly the early stages of these trials will look at cancers of the oesophagus and stomach. you will be close to where the breath is coming

from. the danger comes, where do you set the levels of these volatile organic compounds, when do you decide there is a potential cancer? because there is the possibility of what we call false positives. if you think there is a cancer but it is not really a cancer because you set the level to low and you have invasive tests and surgery for something that was not there. the alternative is you put the levels too high and you get a false negative, and in a false negative, you end up missing potentially dangerous cancers. that also sets a precedent because these would be tests in a gp surgery and there is a potential people will say, well the test says i am ok, i am ok. they will ignore all other warning signs.

it can only form part of a good diagnostic regime. you will have heard stories of dogs who can sniff out cancer, when people are killed the dog alerted them. is that a myth? our dogs onto something this technology is also finding? absolutely. not being a dog, i cannot tell you what they are smelling but there is evidence animals are able to detect cancer. it is likely to be the volatile organic compounds they pick up on. there are likely to be changes in cancer cells. it will be in the breath and if we can see the same differences the dogs notice, and all they are doing is noticing changes, potentially we can do the work of dogs more accurately and detect cancer at an early stage and the earlier you detect it, the better.

at the moment, for cancer of the oesophagus, 12% of people will be dead within ten years. if it has not been detected early enough. your eyes flashed with excitement when you thought about the implications of this, if it does work and it is a game changer, or could be?m of this, if it does work and it is a game changer, or could be? it is a massive game changer. you are suddenly, with an early detection method, these things could be in gp surgeries, an easy test. it would be put in line with things like blood tests, to back up the process. you would not have invasive procedures such as the endoscopy, which take time and money. and we have long cancer waiting lists and this would cut the waiting list drastically,

and therefore increase the survival rates, because people would be detected earlier and people are more likely to come forward and query whether they have cancer, if the testis whether they have cancer, if the test is simple and easy and quick and does not involve going into hospital. it would be a game changer and would save worldwide potentially millions of lives. but, only if it works. it looks like it will work but it is at the early stage. there is always that if, at the moment, anyway. thank you. it's being reported that north korea's ambassador to italy has gone into hiding with his wife. they're reported to be seeking asylum there but italy's foreign ministry told the bbc it had no record of such a request. laura bicker is in seoulfor us, and she sent this update. an intriguing case, this. jo song—gil was last seen leaving the ambassador's residence in rome back in november, with his wife. and officials in seoul say he has not been heard from or seen since. it comes amid unconfirmed reports he was asking for protection

from the italian authorities to try to seek asylum in a third country. when it comes to defectors seeking asylum, north korea takes a very dim view. in fact, pyongyang, in the past, has accused defectors of being traitors to the country and to its people. and those who have managed to safely leave the secretive state have told us that the consequences for family members left behind can be severe. but we understand that mrjo may not have simply just been an ambassador. according to the last diplomat to defect, who was the deputy ambassador in london, he says he worked alongside mrjo and thatjo song—gil was responsible for trying to get luxury goods to north korea. and, he claims, that mrjo may have some knowledge

of north korea's nuclear plans. as you can imagine, this is the kind of intelligence that the united states might well want to get hold of. but where is he right now? we're not exactly sure and we may never find out what has happened tojo song—gil and his family until the country that he is in has determined that he is safe. the amount of electricity we're using is at its lowest level since the 1980s — thanks in large part to the humble low energy lightbulb and modern energy saving appliances. according to research by environmental analysts, new product standards — which force manufacturers to use less electricity in their goods — have proved more important in tackling carbon emissions than wind and solar power. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. install low—energy lighting and you make a negligible effect on cutting carbon emissions at overheating the planet. butjoin with millions of others to change your light bulbs and, with a collective twist

of the wrist, you're making a small but significant dent in the uk's demand for energy. the same can be said for new appliances like washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers. all forced by eu product standards to do the same job whilst using less power and creating fewer carbon emissions. even sucking up the dust from your carpet uses much less energy than before, if you've got a new vacuum cleaner. that's thanks to efficiency standards. before the product standards were introduced, there was a lot of fear—mongering about how we would have dirtier homes and weaker hoovers and other appliances, but what actually happened, because of design innovations, we have cleaner homes and the energy use has reduced as expected, saving us money. product standards for cleaners is a cinderella subject. it's glamorous wind and solar power that grab all the headlines. today's report shows, last year, they generated a third

of the uk's electricity — that's a record. but the report says efficiency measures, coupled with other factors, have contributed slightly more than renewables to cutting carbon emissions. the regulation on efficiency standards for appliances has a huge impact. if you replace your current fridge with a modern a++ rated one you could save half the energy that uses quite easily. so i think what those standards have done is let each of us do our own little bit, which altogether has added up to a huge impact. of course, improving electrical efficiency won't on its own solve the massive issue of climate change — that will need sweeping changes right across society. but it seems that, for today at least, humble energy efficiency can take its place in the sun. roger harrabin, bbc news. jamie roberston is here — in a moment he will be telling us what's hot and what's not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live china makes history by successfully

landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors and led to its share price dropping sharply. the tech giant says the core problem is china's slowing economy. 11 individuals have gone on trial over the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi has begun in the saudi capital, riyadh, according to state media. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. apple has rattled investors across the market with news that its sales have been slowing. apple has been blaming its slowdown on economic weakness in china. and that in turn has had a knock—on effect on shares in other luxury companies with big chinese markets, including burberry and mulberry. a tale of two christmases for the retailer next. it's reported a sharp rise in online sales over the christmas period, while trading at its stores declined. uk firms are being squeezed

by labour shortages, rising prices and a slowdown in sales. more companies than ever before are finding it hard to recruit staff according to the british chambers of commerce so what has happened to apple? it is tariffs in china, a slowdown in the china economy. they are also saying it has something to do with people repairing phones more often and not buying new ones holding on to old ones longer. the share price fell eight and half percent before the market open today but because apple is so big and has been a dominant force in the american market, a feature of the rise since 2009, the rise in this market, that,

as it starts to tremble, as it were, other stocks, particularly chip—makers, also right across the market, people get nervous. when did you last your phone? about two years ago. i am very slow on technology, anyway. i have not updated one for ages but the new ones do not offer enough to say, i really want that and that is the problem? the extras you get each time are less and less. what else can your phone do? i want to talk about the shutdown. apple, the story of the markets, but the shutdown affects everybody? day 13 of partial government shutdown which means eight agencies in the us are not functioning, and have not

been functioning for over two weeks. there were federal holidays that spilt over this time, but now that the year has begun and people are focusing on the fact there are parts of the government not functioning, including the parks department and the irs, which is in charge of collecting taxes. where do we stand? you have the democrats that proposed a solution. they suggested, why don't wejust a solution. they suggested, why don't we just fund, seven of the eight agencies, the real big problem is the department of homeland security and this has to do with the border wall. they say why not debate just that? the president rejected the offer because he wants the $5 billion for the border wall. we are again engaged in a stalemate in washington. do you see any evidence

of this day—to—day? do things just not happen around you as an ordinary citizen? i heard stories about going to national parks and you can get in free but the place is overflowing with litter because nobody is clearing it away. there are different departments. the impact it has on people is very different. in new york, we see the governor has been funding some of the parks to try to keep things open, but there are departments that are not functioning. one story i heard was the mayor's —— the marriage department, that you cannot get a marriage license. that said, if you wa nted marriage license. that said, if you wanted to get a divorce, that was still working. laughter. iam not still working. laughter. i am not sure we should be laughing! i'm not sure what that says about

society. we could look at the markets. apple shares down 9.5%, looking unpleasant. gold is interesting with a six—month high it hit yesterday. people talking about it going past 1300 and reason is with so little return in so many areas, bonds, stocks, worries about geopolitical movements, people think, well, gold might be a good investment. that is why it is going up. the pound against the euro, not much change. i will talk to you later, thank you. ever fancied unleashing your anger in a contained environment — perhaps on someone else's car? you can in amsterdam, where a scrapyard is allowing people to experiment with what it calls destruction therapy. anna holligan went to try it out. the anger of being in trafficjams

over and over again. i think it is good to smash cars, thinking about that. i love working with cars, but never tore one apart like this — gives them a good opportunity to see what it is like to actually break one. basically, we are a consulting firm and we deal with the frustrations of people every day. it is good at getting rid of our anger. and do you normally express your anger in a kind of violent, destructive way? no, not really. usually, iam pretty cool and collected. well, actually, to be completely honest, it kind of scares me. now it is cars, next time,

it can be something else. i do believe car smash is a great way to have some anger release, instead of doing it on the streets or in a way where it is illegal, you can do it in the scrap yard in a legal way. it is different if friends or a workgroup, for example, does that just one time, but it is still kind of tricky because they might like it and then they might want to go and express their anger in this way, and then you are actually giving yourself the message that this is ok, instead of learning other constructive ways, for example, to calm yourself down, to regulate your emotions, to be mindful of what is happening, to take a break when you are actually breaking things. it's harder than expected, but it's more satisfying than i expected.

so i think that is a good balance. yes, so would i. let's look at the weather. last night temperatures just above freezing thanks to the cloud but in aberdeenshire with clear skies tem pters aberdeenshire with clear skies tempters got 2—10 one half degrees, the coldest this winter. at least we have had some sunshine here. we have seen have had some sunshine here. we have seen cold air elsewhere across europe into central and eastern parts, diving down on the strong wind into the mediterranean and there is more snow to come here. no snow in the uk. high pressure dominates. within the area of high pressure we have pockets of cold air and how low temperatures get

overnight depends on how much cloud there is going to be. we have seen that in the country today. it is cold with temperatures not having far to fall overnight. we should see cloud breaking across wales, the midlands and southern england. and we will find fog forming. a cold night across the southern half of the uk. still frost in the north—east of scotland but not as cold as last night. the highest temperatures across western scotland and northern ireland, where it is likely to stay cloudy into friday. cloud thinner elsewhere. if you're stuck under the fog all day, it will feel quite cold. outside of that, sunshine in other parts of england and wales with temperatures up to a degrees. another cold night on friday night into saturday. frost in a few places and fog that will be

slow to clear on saturday. the weather is slow—moving. the wind is light which does not stir things up but signs of change in the north—west with a band of cloud and perhaps light rain and drizzle, coming on the weather front. that will sliding across the northern half of the uk before stopping across southern half of the uk before stopping across southern areas half of the uk before stopping across southern areas and keeping the cloud going here during the second half of the weekend. more sunshine across scotland and perhaps northern ireland, perhaps also northern england, but further south, a good deal of cloud. some sunshine across scotland and temperatures up to seven, maybe ten further south. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 3pm: over the moon — china celebrates the historic landing of a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. if our lunar exploration is a success, we can make bigger contributions to mankind and improve china's ability and technology. taking a bite out of apple —

the tech giant blames a slowing market in china as sales fall — and its share price drops sharply. the environment secretary warns that a no—deal brexit would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. the trial begins in saudi arabia of the people allegedly involved in the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport. it is manchester city versus liverpool, with a job that they could be a deciding moment in the race for the premier league title. thanks holly, and we'll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. darren has all the weather. last night was the coded it has been all winter. we could be in for the same again tonight. parts of england

and noes, a fog around which would linger into tomorrow. all have all the details later on. also coming up: new satellite images show the scale of the dramatic collapse of the indonesian volcano that led to a devastating tsunami. a hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. a i'm simon mccoy. the space race is back on — and as of today, china could be leading it. the first images transmitted from the surface of the far side of the moon are significant notjust because of what they show from the deepest crater on the moon — but also because the mission puts china more at the forefront of space exploration. and it's notjust the landing itself — but the communications that made it possible — that mark this mission as historic. our china correspondent john sudworth reports. commence landing, the control room says. and then comes the extraordinary sight — the first close—up

images of the far side of the moon ever recorded. after a few more tense moments, chang'e—a safely touches down inside the moon's largest and deepest crater. it's all gone according to plan, this scientist tells chinese state tv. the landing was the most important part. although the far side of the moon always faces away from earth, orbiting spacecraft have photographed its surface. but no attempt has been made to land on it until now. this animation shows how the probe's thrusters were fired to slow it, before its sensors guide it gently to the surface. a surface far more rugged and obstacle—strewn than the moon's nearside. another major challenge has included

the need for a relay satellite to carry radio signals from the far side back to earth. well, the moon has already sunk below this smoggy beijing skyline, so there is, unfortunately, no chance tonight for people to gaze at it in wonder. not that they had much warning, mind you. the landing attempt was accompanied by an almost complete news blackout, giving you a sense of the sensitive propaganda value of this huge leap forward in china's space race ambitions and the perceived cost of failure. china plans to follow this mission with another that will bring mineral samples back to earth and, eventually a reported, plan for a lunar base capable of supporting humans. translation: if our lunar exploration is a success, we can make bigger contributions to mankind and improve china's ability and technology. so i don't think our

exploration will stop. it will only go deeper, further, and we will invest more. for now, chang'e—a‘s lunar explorer will begin examining the surface of its landing spot. the moon's deepest crater is expected to offer important insights into the formation of our solar system. but, beyond the science, china has just signalled that it's a space power to be taken seriously. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. dr dave clements from the department of physics at imperial college london is here. little pick—up on night because i started by seeing the space race is back on. just how significant is this? this is a signpost that makes public what those others working and

space has seen for quite a few years now without that is that china is a growing power in space exploration. they have had missions that show that they are doing stuff and they are partners with the european space agency and the various nations. this really nails their colours to be massed so that people can see, much more publicly, that china is and coming within the space business. why is the far side of the minister difficult? it's up as much about getting the information back as the information itself, isn't it? it is never visible so you never have a direct line of sight from the effort because you have the whole bulk of the men in the way. a lot of people question, does the moon spending? women underspend but at a rate that

it matches its orbital period around the earth. so, the same side of the moon is always pointing at the error. it spinning but at the same rate that it's orbiting. so, the far side of the moon, but not dark because it sees the sun. it has the same day length as the near of the moon. it's unknown territory, especially at the level of being able to get down into detail studies on the surface. we know from pictures, it looks very different to the side that we offer longer with. why is that. it has a very different geological history from the nearside of the moon. there is a lot more cratering there, the surface as a lot older. for example, that won

chang'e—a has landed end. that is very useful, it is essentially doing job logical excavations before you get there. but that the geological excavations. see what's happening underneath the surface. so, what next? concentrate on the moon, maybe put a base there? or is it a bigger plan of the mars? i'm not privy to what the chinese space agency are applying. they are clearly very interested in the moon. there are future plans for more explorers, collecting samples, they come back to earth. how? another rocket. it will want off and come back home. that will be the first samples from the men that can be looked at in a lather since apollo, which is quite

a big thing. there are plans in china for putting people on the moon, whether it's a landing or long—term base. some of these bearings on chang'e—a are looking at things like the radiation environment on the moon, how dangerous that is typical. they have silkworms, potatoes, some other plans, all in a sealed environment and never see whether the silkworm eggs will hatch, whether the plans germinate in low gravity conditions. for scientists like you, this is a really big day. we have had a couple of really good days with this and new horizons said yes, it is a very interesting. there is great potential on the far side of the thank you for radio astronomy. you have the whole moon shooting you from the radio noise of the hour. if you want to do very sensitive

expense, you need to get rid of that. he do that either actively, which is being done with current odds over the reins on the earth or you do good by putting large chunk of rock, called the moon, the plot at all. thank you forjoining us. and a reminder: at 3:30pm this afternoon on bbc news — our science editor david shukman takes your questions on what this means for the future of space exploration. shares in the clothes retailer next, have risen after it reported better than expected sales in the christmas period. they were up 1.5% overall with, in particular, a sharp rise in online sales. it's prompted next‘s chief executive to describe the general health of the consumer economy as, "not bad at all." our business corresondent emma simpson reports. the celebrations are over. a new year and time for a fresh start. retailers are also taking stock and starting to produce their all—important christmas trading updates. first up — next. although sales at its shops

were down 9%, this was more than made up by online sales which were up by 15%. but next did trim how much it expected to make in annual profits. i think this is a pretty resilient performance from next. it's managing the shift online well and i'm sure it's picking up competitors' sales because it's so efficient online. it's managed its margins really well, and its profit, because it hasn't been slashing prices like the rest of the high street. what does this tell us about how christmas went for the rest of the high street? i think we will see a mixed performance across other retailers. some will do very well and some will fall well below that standard. like other retailers, november was a bit of a wash—out for next but christmas was saved by strong sales in the last few weeks of december. according to its boss, brexit uncertainty is making

consumers a little bit more cautious, but he says we are still spending. at this retail park in nottingham we asked shoppers if they had spent more this year? more. i think every year i spend more and more, as my son gets older and older. i thought, it's christmas and my kids deserve more. i've just bought what they wanted. probably more, to be fair. a hell of a lot more. and i have a baby now, so more is her. many retailers have had to offer huge discounts to get us to part with our cash, but at what cost to their profits? there won't be much to celebrate this christmas for retail after one of its most challenging years. we will know how other household names have fared in the coming days. emma simpson, bbc news. meanwhile — apple's share price has suffered a fall, after the technology giant warned investors its latest sales figures will be lower than expected. the company's chief executive tim cook blamed a sharper

than expected slowdown in china, and customers not upgrading iphones as quickly as before. a little earlier i spoke to our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones — i started by asking him how worrying this profit warning is. it was a bombshell when tim cook released this quite lengthy letter to investors last night. i think it's been 15 years since they issued any guidance of this kind. i think he had to do it because they have figures coming in and he'd released an estimate back in september for this quarter, which people already thought was a bit low. quite often, they release low estimates and delight in outperforming them. this time, it's the other way round. they are going to make £5 billion less in revenue this year, this last quarter, than they expected. still turning over huge amounts of money but obviously really worried about what is going on in china. let's talk about what is going on in china. there is the economic decline

they say is happening in china. the other issue playing a part, some suggest, is politics. the chinese are getting fed up with america, particularly with recent arrests of the the huawei chief executive, and the chinese consumers are taking that out on apple? absolutely. i've just been speaking to an analyst in shanghai who says that this sort of brand of nationalism has been around for a while in china, you know, buying chinese. brands like huawei, not very popular in the west, but very popular at home in china. that has been exacerbated by this trade war, by harsh words said on either side. apple is caught in the crossfire. people are looking at their phones and thinking, they can get something equivalent, in their eyes, for an awful lot cheaper and with a chinese brand on it. that's a real problem which won't go away in a hurry. other us technology companies are worried about this.

there are trade associations putting out statements saying, we have to sort this trade war because we will all suffer from it. isn't the bottom line is we all have the phones that do what we want them to and there's no point in upgrading them? we have got quite blase about them. they are amazing machines. when you think that we are all walking around with these incredible supercomputers in our pockets that do extraordinary things. each year, when apple comes along with something new, it's a bit difficult to see how it is different from the previous one. the software is advancing and they are doing more with them, but convincing people that you really need this year's apple 10s, as opposed to last year's apple 10, when they look identical and appear to do the same thing — that is getting harder. it's being reported that north korea's ambassador to italy has gone into hiding with his wife. they're reported to be seeking

asylum there but italy's foreign ministry told the bbc it had no record of such a request. laura bicker is in seoulfor us, and she has this update. an intriguing case, this. jo song—gil was last seen leaving the ambassador's residence in rome back in november, with his wife. and officials in seoul say he has not been heard from or seen since. it comes amid unconfirmed reports he was asking for protection from the italian authorities to try to seek asylum in a third country. when it comes to defectors seeking asylum, north korea takes a very dim view. in fact, pyongyang, in the past, has accused defectors of being traitors to the country and to its people. and those who have managed to safely leave the secretive state have told us that the consequences for family members left behind can be severe. but we understand that mrjo may not have simplyjust been an ambassador.

according to the last diplomat to defect, who was the deputy ambassador in london, he says he worked alongside mrjo and that mrjo was responsible for trying to get luxury goods to north korea. and, he claims, that mrjo may have some knowledge of north korea's nuclear plans. as you can imagine, this is the kind of intelligence that the united states might well want to get hold of. but where is he right now? we're not exactly sure and we may never find out what has happened to mrjo and his family until the country that he is in has determined that he is safe. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: china makes history by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors and led to its share

price dropping sharply. the tech giant says the core problem is china's slowing economy. the environment secretary warns that a no—deal brexit would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. a top—of—the—table showdown in the premier league — manchester city against liverpool could be the title race's decisive moment. city may be third for the moment butjurgen klopp says they're still the best team in the world. british number one kyle edmund has withdrawn from next week's sydney international after picking up a knee injury. the event would've been his final tournament before the australian open later this month. and england announce their elite players squad, including 28 names, set to make up the world's first—ever full—time professional women's rugby xv side. a court in saudi arabia has begun the trial of 11 people allegedly

involved in the murder of the journalist, jamal cashog—gee. the killing sparked outrage around the world, and it led to unprecedented, western criticism of the kingdom. prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty this for five of the men. our security correspondent frank gardner explained more. it is fair to assume that some who allegedly flew in two planes from riyadh to istanbul today part in this operation. ina the saudi prosecutors are demanding immediate penalty for five of them. saudi trials are notoriously opaque. they have been criticised for this by human rights organisations. often, people aren't told what the charges are until the last minute. sometimes they don't have lawyers with them and there have been horrendous stories of on the day of execution

and being dragged off to be publicly executed. this is such a high—profile case that i think the saudis will try very hard to make lawyers with them. they have asked for more time to study the indictment, which they have been given. they are saying this could be the moment of truth but someone gave the order? it's hard to prove that. we, the media, have a dug really a hard into this and certainly, western intelligence agencies have given the impression that they are mohammed bin salman. the saudis deny that and there is no smoking gun. there is no audio or video recordings with his voice saying anything. in my experience working in the gulf, there is no such thing as rogue operations — as the saudis claim in this case.

nothing gets done in the gulf without sign off from above. there is a strong suspicion, in the west, he had knowledge of some kind of operation. certainly, he was irritated by jamaal khashoggi, who was a critic of his. but that is not the same as saying he ordered the murder. versus the solo is rational and wondered to quickly? the 5th i think crown prince mohammed bin salman is caught totally m iscalculated he has underestimated the international reaction to this. he has been locking people for months. look at the ritz—carlton, a mass arrests of 200 people shaken down for money without charge. basically extrajudicial kidnapping

and detention of dozens of people but it was wildly popular inside saudi arabia because these were people who probably made a lot of money in various ways. in this case, the hand of his employees are being seen as going far too far. it was the grisly nature of the murder. we are told about audio tapes and all these different versions. really gruesome stuff. it's too much for most people do stunning and western governments and

don't want to be seen to be too closely associated with the crown prince i'm certain the turkish version of what happened will be very different from what emerges from this trial. there's continuing deadlock in washington, after president trump and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement on ending the partial shutdown of the us government. the democrats have promised to put forward proposals to end the dispute when they take control of the house of representatives later today. the president is showing no sign of backing down from his demand for $5 billion to build a wall along the us—mexico border. laura trevelyan's been speaking to me from washington welcome to the era of divided government in washington, dc. for the first two years of his presidency, donald trump had relatively little oversight. but now democrats take over the house of representatives and have the power of oversight. they will control key committees and will be able to call witnesses, they will be able to investigate everything from the president's business dealings to his policies, like the controversial separation of families at the us border. yes, this is the day things change in washington, also, it may be the day that things stay the same.

we are now in day 13 of this partial shutdown. the president is standing firm, he wants money for his wall. in the new government today by putting forward bills. those bills being put forward do not contain funding for the border wall. the chairs of the congressional committees change and they have powers that have not been used against president until now, but the power subpoena. how worried will he be about that? the chair of the committee has said he wants to look into whether there was any money laundering in the trump campaign. remember that special counsel robert mueller is looking into things between the trump campaign and russia. but wider issues to do with the president and his businesses,

this is something we have intelligence committee would like to look into now that it is under democratic control. they say the issue of whether the president took foreign money in his past is directly relevant to his role now as head of the executive branch. so, things are going to change. there could be stonewalling if the president is asked to produce his tax returns, for example. he likely won't. tthe power of subpoena by the power to call persons and papers will be very relevant to the president right now. two men have been arrested on suspicion of arranging the "illegal movement of migrants" across the english channel. more than 200 people have reached the uk in small boats since november. the national crime agency said the 33—year—old iranian and 2a—year—old briton were held in salford yesterday. hospitals in england seem to have coped better with winter this year, figures released by the nhs suggest. data released for the festive period show fewer a&e closures than last year. ambulance delays were also down — but in the past two weeks, 3,500 ambulance patients were left waiting for at least an hour before

being seen by hospital staff. the environment secretary, michael gove, has told farmers that theresa may's brexit deal will provide certainty for them if it's approved by mps. speaking at the oxford farming conference, he admitted the agreement wasn't perfect — but said leaving without a deal would cause farmers "considerable turbulence." the national farmers union is calling for a new law to ensure there is no lowering of food standards after brexit. phil mackie reports. farmers face uncertainty over brexit, just like everyone else. they worry about who will pick the crops and work machinery, if there are tougher immigration rules, and fear cheap imports could undercut british goods and mean poorer quality food on the supermarket shelves. this is what it's all about — the best of british produce grown and raised to the very highest of standards. michael gove today told farmers that there will be opportunities once britain has left the eu, but he also warned of the dangers if we leave,

in less than three months, without a deal. the turbulence that would be generated by our departure without a deal would be considerable. nobody can be blythe or blase about the real impact on the food producers in this country of leaving without a deal. that is just one of the reasons i hope my colleagues in parliament support the prime minister's deal. it isn't perfect, but we should never make the perfect the enemy of the good. the national farmers union fears disruption and delays at borders, if a deal is not reached, and has urged the government to do more to ensure stability. consumer groups fear shortages and price hikes, especially on imported foods. this exporters are worried their goods will not make it to their markets. i think there are 11,000 trucks that come in to dover every single day with just food and drink. so it is a critical route and we need to make sure that we agree this in an orderly manner, otherwise it will lead to friction and challenges for getting food across here. we saw it last year in the snow.

it doesn't take much to take food off the shelves, and that creates absolute meltdown. the government has announced a pilot scheme to allow several thousand seasonal agricultural workers to continue to come here is after brexit, but said, in the long—term, farmers must adapt and use new technology. i am a dairy farmer in the south—east of scotland. i'm milking cows using robots — we have done for a number of years. going forward, for the productivity and efficiency in agriculture, it will be imperative that we have access to and utilise technology to the best of our abilities. for years, we have enjoyed the best produce from around the world at relatively cheap prices. whether that will be the case in april may depend on the deal that is done. phil mackie, bbc news, oxford. the scale of the dramatic collapse of the indonesian volcano that led to a devastating tsunami is becoming clear as new satelite photographs have been released showing the aftermath. these pictures, ta ken a week after the disaster, show how a new bay has formed

where the volcano slipped into the sea in a colossal landslide. while this photo, taken a week before the explosion, shows how the volcano used to look still intact. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. ita it a cool picture of mozilla today. overnight, the cloud is likely to thin and break about more across parts of england. that means some mist and fog patches forming as well. it called a for was part of the uk. still some pockets of frost in the north—east of scotland after research and of the day. still some cloud over western scotland and northern ireland super rugby commander and night. some cloud coming across the far north of

england but farther south, a little bit of sunshine at times. you're stuck behind a bitter fog could linger. three or a degrees, even with sunshine. a little less code as you move farther north. over the weekend, more sunshine will arrive in the uk this weekend. still cloudy but mostly dry. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. china makes history by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. the touch down of the un—crewed probe is being seen as a major milestone in space exploration. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors. the tech giant says it's been caught offguard by china's slowing economy. the environment secretary warns that a no—deal brexit would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. 11 individuals have gone on trial over the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi which has begun in the saudi capital, riyadh. state media report is reporting that

prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for five of the defendants. in a few minutes — your questions answered about china's historic moon landing. that's in bbc ask this. sport now. holly. a huge game tonight. we often say that but now we mean it. it is stilljanuary, so it feels early to be talking about this title decider, the way people refer to this match, but the way things stand, this game will be decisive. let's take a look at how things look at the minute in the league. liverpool are six clear of tottenham — also still in contention of course.. but they're seven points ahead of city after their pretty dreadful december — three defeats in four league games — so pep guardiola knows if they lose tonight. it will take a huge liverpool collapse during the rest

of the season to give city any hope of a second successive title. a win for liverpool would effectively mean they would have to lose at least three of their last 17 games. and that's assuming city go undefeated. we focus on the managers as much as players these days and forjurgen klopp and pep guardiola, big games, but huge respect between the men. something we have seen from both sides. history is at stake here. guardiola could become the first city manager — and the first from any club for a decade — to retain the premier league title. and he's already alluded to the impact losing tonight might have on manchester city's title ambitions. as for klopp, it's been 29 years since liverpool won the premier league. there's also added pressure on him to win something this season after losing in the finals in the league cup, europa league and champions league. both are well aware of what's at stake — and what each other is capable of.

klopp has described city has the best team in the world — but who is under more pressure — well, pep guardiola thinks it's liverpool. it is different pressure. we have to handle it. what the players and people expect, all the time we will be at the top. we are manchester city, we're not liverpool, manchester united, we manchester city. in that situation, it is usual for that club, all that history. to achieve what we have achieved in the last decade, it is nice to still be there. full commentary of manchester city v liverpool on radio 5 live tonight — their coverage starts at 6:30. you can also follow the match via the bbc sport website and app. craig bellamy has temporarily stepped down from his role as cardiff city u18s coach following the club's

decision to investigate a bullying claim against him. the investigation follows reports of a complaint about the former wales striker‘s alleged treatment of a young player, who has since left the club. bellamy denies the allegations. england have announced their elite players squad, which will make up the world's first—ever fulltime professional women's rugby xv side. 28 full—time 15s contracts have been handed out in the 35—woman squad. core experienced stars like katy daley—mclean will lead the group that also includes six uncapped players. england's six nations campaign begins on feburary1st in dublin against ireland. british super—middleweight fighters james degale and chris eubankjr will meet at the 02 on february 23rd. the fight will be a non—title contest. at a press conference in london today, former ibf world champion degale suggested the clash with eubank is a "retirement fight" because it will be "game over" for the loser. he also called his opponent

"limited", while eubankjunior claimed degale is in for a painful lesson next month. tennis, and british number one kyle edmund has withdrawn from next week's sydney international after picking up a knee injury. the event was set to be his final tournament before the first grand slam of the year — the australian open, which starts in melbourne on the 1ath of january. the world number 1a says he will do "everything he can" to be fit for it. staying with tennis, and earlier we told you how britian's katie boulter and cameron norrie beat serena williams and frances tiafoe in the mixed doubles at the hopman cup. while gb had already been eliminated, the victory clearly meant a great deal to boulter, who's the world number 97. she posted this onto twitter earlier, saying what a privilege to share a court with serena willams — she was one of the reasons i got into tennis." that's all the sport for now.

as china makes history by landing on the far side of the moon, you've been sending us in your questions on what this means for the future of space exploration. with me is our science editor, david shukman. also i'm joined by professor monica grady who is a professor of planetary and space science at the open university via webcam from milton keynes. i will go straight into the questions and this is for you monica. vince says howell can they communicate with the lander when the rest of the moon is in the way?‘ very good question and the chinese have thought of that. in may they launched a previous mission to the moon, that put a satellite in orbit.

there has been a communications satellite since june so there has been a communications satellite sincejune so it can relay signals back. it has a line of sight to the rover and the earth. that is how they are doing it. david, i have a question from david heathcote who says there appears to be minimal resources ready for taking but what might the chinese do with them? which options make economic sense? i put that to you because you have been to china and founder. five years ago i had an interview with the senior chinese space scientist and am prompted he started talking about the value of natural resources on the moon and they would think about mining and bringing them back to earth and i was shocked at this idea. at the moment it would be economically impossible. there is no technology that can do this, but it seems to be in the front of their minds. whether this mission itself

directly leads to any kind of future mining, probably not, but is it perhaps part of the journey that may eventually in decades ahead lead that way? i think it possible. monaco, you were shaking your head. ami monaco, you were shaking your head. am i allowed to chime in? yes. what sort of minerals are they looking at? they will not be thinking of diamonds, gold, cold. none of those are on the move. any type of resources , are on the move. any type of resources, you are thinking about hydrogen, which is in the surface of the moon, which can be there as a fuel. i think the chinese, as are europe and russia, are looking towards building a habitation on the moon in the next decade, and they will use perhaps the soil to build

habitations from, using the hydrogen in the soil as a fuel. monica might agree that the prospect of water ice exploited on the moon gives everybody a potential fuelling station to go to the moon, top up the fuel tanks and go on to mars. huge relief here because you are knotting about! yes i agree entirely. it has only been the past yea rs we have entirely. it has only been the past years we have realised there are permanently shadowed regions on the moon that could have rich deposits of ice and those can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen to use for fuel and that is something the european space agency will explore in collaboration with the russian space agency. they are designing

mission is to go there starting in 2021, 22, so not long, specifically to look at the south pole of the moon. a point i made earlier, the space race is back on. where does this put china? is it on a par with the us and russia and you have the european space agency and somewhere out there, india is coming up, as well. and do not forget japan. nasa, the americans have no planned lunar exploration, no plans to send astronauts to the moon. they are focusing on developing the next generation international space station, something they will call the deep space gateway,, a stepping stone to human exploration of the moon and beyond, but not for a decade or so. there is a global

exploration programme that china has signed up to and it is the space nations who are in this together, so that if china build something on the moon, it will have the right size bolts for european nuts. you will not find suddenly your square pins have to fit into a round pin socket, that sort of thing. everything is being designed and considered on a global scale, so the chinese have a fantastic programme. they have another mission launching with the intention of bringing samples back from the moon by the end of the year so from the moon by the end of the year so it is all systems go for the chinese. what is fascinating is what i guess is an internal debate in china about the degree of collaboration. we have seen examples of good and bad in the past za hours. total secrecy about the mission until it was successful.

what would've happened if it crashed this morning, we probably would not have heard about it until a nasa spacecraft spotted it. there was a german instrument on the lander on the moon, so they have two pathways they can pick. since the chinese space programme is dominated by the military, i do not know it will automatically be choosing the international collaboration route. there is a sense of space being sexy again and governments know how to harness the public enthusiasm. the professor i interviewed five years ago and monica did not like his conclusions, but his quote was that having a lunar programme is a symbol of national power. with china you do very much see kudos. of national power. with china you do very much see kudoslj of national power. with china you do very much see kudos. i have to interru pts very much see kudos. i have to interrupts because monica wants to agree with you and i want to hear that! yes, we do not go very much

for national pride in britain. we are stiff upper lip type thing, but national pride is a very big driver in china. and also injapan and the states. i think we can learn from that. we take huge pride i think in people like tim peake and helen sharman, our astronauts, and fantastic examples of what we can do when we are part of a larger programme. when we are part of the european space agency. we cannot do things ourselves. i have a question from andrew browne who says the image of the far side of the moon shows fewer craters, why? surely the far side would be struck more by wandering objects? we call it the far side of the moon because we do

not see it, because it orbits at the same rate, spins on its axis at the same rate, spins on its axis at the same rate, spins on its axis at the same rate it orbits ask, so we only ever see one said, but that does not mean both sides of the moon are exposed to outer space, they are. there are huge amounts of craters on both sides. what the far side missing is the great big lakes, the la kes missing is the great big lakes, the lakes of magma on the near side. once we start exploring, we have not explored in huge detail the far side of the moon, only by orbiting spacecraft. once we look at materials that have come back from the far side, that will tell us whether the moon is the same all the way through, which we suspect, but

there are interesting differences. it is striking listening to monaco, leading preparatory scientist, there is so much we do not know about the moon even now, despite 12 americans walking on the surface and all the other missions. there is a huge amount we do not know and this mission might start to answer. amount we do not know and this mission might start to answerlj have a question from frank, he said when the lander‘s rockets fired, how much today pollute and alter the landing sites? we have seen movies when a huge dust billows out from underneath. does that happen? it depends how loose the soil is that there will be dust. we have somebody investigating that in our laboratory. hydrazine is a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen, which is the fuel and when the rockets fire, it is implanted into the soil. we have been looking to see how much is

implanted and how it changes the surface. it is a relatively small radius around the spacecraft. we have seen pictures of spacecraft on mars, and orbiting spacecraft that has taken pictures of curiosity, where it landed, and you can see the darker areas where things had been disturbed. it is not changing vast swathes of the landscape, just a small region around where the craft lands. this question, when will man, maybe woman, go back to the moon and why have we not been back? i will come to you in a moment! i deliberately put this to david

furness. why have we not been back since 1972 and how did they navigate landing this time and why is the far side... it is that when are we going to step foot again? the apollo programme ended on 17 and they had three more planned but the public got bored and congress fed up, it was costing a lot. the russians had planned that never really properly came together. since then, there has been no determined effort to get people back to the moon. i think not just because of what has happened today, i think it would be reasonable to put a bit of money on the next boots on the moon, will be the next boots on the moon, will be the chinese. they are doing everything to create the right conditions with bigger and bigger rockets and bolder and bolder ventures. i think it is a goal they have set themselves so i would say the chinese. professor, the chance

of it being a chinese woman?m could well be, yes, i agree with david. the chinese are putting a lot of resources into it. part of the reason the apollo programme ended was the public were not interested any more. it is like, what are they doing there? roving around and we can see grey stuff. it was not terrific and exciting. what were they going for? what were they doing? if we have a programme of astronauts going somewhere to do something, notjust for the astronauts going somewhere to do something, not just for the sake astronauts going somewhere to do something, notjust for the sake of doing it, but to do experiments, to build habitation, to see what it is like to live and work on another planet trade body, i think there will be continuing interest. i agree that it will be continuing interest. i agree thatitis will be continuing interest. i agree that it is more likely to be the

chinese than the americans, but you never know. monica grady, thank you so never know. monica grady, thank you so much for your time. and david, thank you, as well. the amount of electricity we're using is at its lowest level since the 1980s — thanks in large part to the humble low energy light bulb, and modern energy saving appliances. according to research by environmental analysts, new product standards — which force manufacturers to use less electricity in their goods — have proved more important in tackling carbon emissions than wind and solar power. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. install low—energy lighting and you make a negligible effect on cutting carbon emissions that are overheating the planet. butjoin with millions of others to change your light bulbs and, with a collective twist of the wrist, you're making a small but significant dent in the uk's demand for energy. the same can be said for new appliances, like washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers.

all forced by eu product standards to do the same job whilst using less power and creating fewer carbon emissions. even sucking up the dust from your carpet uses much less energy than before, if you've got a new vacuum cleaner. that's thanks to efficiency standards. before the product standards were introduced, there was a lot of fear—mongering about how we would have dirtier homes and weaker hoovers and other appliances, but what actually happened, because of design innovations, we have cleaner homes but the energy use has reduced as expected, saving us all money. but product standards for cleaners is a cinderella subject. it's glamorous wind and solar power that grab all the headlines. today's report shows, last year, they generated a third of the uk's electricity — that's a record. but the report says efficiency measures, coupled with other factors, have contributed slightly more than renewables to cutting carbon emissions. the regulation on efficiency standards for appliances

has a huge impact. if you replace your current fridge with a modern a++ rated one, you could save half the energy that uses quite easily. so i think what those standards have done is let each of us do our own little bit, which altogether has added up to a huge impact. of course, improving electrical efficiency won't on its own solve the massive issue of climate change — that will need sweeping changes right across society. but it seems that, for today at least, humble energy efficiency can take its place in the sun. roger harrabin, bbc news. jamie robertson is here. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live china makes history by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. the environment secretary warns that a no—deal brexit would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. a tale of two christmases

for the retailer next. it's reported a sharp rise in online sales over the christmas period, while trading at its stores declined. apple has rattled investors across the market with news that its sales have been slowing. apple has been blaming its slowdown on economic weakness in china. and that in turn has had a knock—on effect on shares in other luxury companies with big chinese markets, including burberry and mulberry. uk firms are being squeezed by labour shortages, rising prices and a slowdown in sales. more companies than ever before are finding it hard to recruit staff according to the british chambers of commerce. a lot of figures out from the music industry. what do they tell us? vinyl. it is an obsession of mine. we have a meeting every morning to discuss what is coming up and i say

what is happening to vinyl? there was a plateau. we have had a big search. not every movement is a trend. we could be getting to a plateau. only increase by1.5%. getting to a plateau. only increase by 1.5%. what the figures do not ta ke by 1.5%. what the figures do not take into account, they come from the bpi, what they don't take into account is sales of old vinyl, which is big. when you look at amazon, ebay and individual record shops. there is a lot going on, it is not just a dull market where it increased a little bit, there is second hand stuff going on. it is a vibrant market second hand stuff going on. it is a vibra nt market but second hand stuff going on. it is a vibrant market but not growing in the way it used to be. people say to psychological, you see it is final and it makes you think it is final and it makes you think it will sound different but if you

doa it will sound different but if you do a blind tasting, as it were, between vinyl and cd, cd comes through. really? maybe you get to an age where quality does not matter. the big story is streaming which has dominated the industry. it has taken something like three quarters. let's talk to gennaro castaldo, director of communications, bpi. the big story is the streaming. that dominates. final has plateaued and sales of cds have plummeted. two thirds of a stream. just a year ago that figure was half the country. we can see that picking up. the success of smart speakers has accelerated that. it is notjust younger people but older fans have got to grips

with it. it has a complimentary relationship with physical formats. you touched on the decline of the cd, but it is resilient. and vinyl. we have seen growth slowdown but thatis we have seen growth slowdown but that is perhaps because we are reaching production capacity. and there was not a massive blockbuster last year on the scale of an ed sheeran album so like fur like it is challenging. we are optimistic for vinyl and the ecosystem of music led by streaming. the industry producing a vast number, streaming, 90 billion streams. in the uk. it might dominate the volume of tunes coming through the airwaves, does it dominate the income, is that where people make income now? i'm pleased to say that is now the case and in

recent yea rs to say that is now the case and in recent years people who value quality and the connectivity of the good streaming service, they are paying between 15 and £19 a month. and this brings money to artists and revenue to labels who spend half their income on finding new talent and developing it. it is important to have that lifeblood. i want to talk about brexit. this is a british success story i don't know your organisation and individual musicians say they are worried about brexit. what is it that worries you? ona brexit. what is it that worries you? on a basic level, the entry of goods into the country, export of goods, making sure there are no blocks that will damage trade. last year we were responsible for £a00 million in exports. that is physical stuff when

you say the market is streaming. does it affect that? less so and the other big opportunity were we to proceed with brexit, music along with other entertainment is like an international calling card for the uk, so if we are looking to develop trade relations around the world, everybody has heard of people like ed sheeran. we punch above our weight when it comes to music and that can help the country. thank you. do you know what number one was last year? george ezra's album. i thought i would drop that in. now the weather. hello there. the cloud will be breaking overnight which means to bridges could be down

to —a, five. pockets of frost in the north—east of scotland. still the cloud across western scotland and northern ireland. here it will be mild both day and night. some cloud coming in across the far north of england. heading further south, little did of sunshine at times. stuck under the fog that could linger all day. a little less cold as you move further north. over the weekend, we start to see more sunshine arriving across the north of the uk and further south, early fog but mostly dry. hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at a. over the moon, china celebrates the historic landing of a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. translation: if our lunar

explanation is a success, we can make bigger contributions to mankind and improve china's ability in technology. taking a bite out of apple — the tech giant blames a slowing market in china as sales fall and its share price drops sharply. the environment secretary warns that a "no—deal brexit" would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. the new us congress will be sworn in later, ushering in a new era of divided government. all the sport. liverpool and manchester city fans will be starting to feel the nerves now, said to be the biggest game of the season so far, the two sides will meet at the etihad stadium this evening, many calling it the title decider. we will have more on that at half past four. and with the weather forecast, darren at half past four. and with the weatherforecast, darren is good at half past four. and with the weather forecast, darren is good to go. -10 one half degrees last night in the north—east of scotland, the coldest it has been all winter. cold tonight, not as cold, there will be frost around, but really cold

further east across europe and we will take a look at that later on. thank you. also coming up: new satellite images show the scale of the dramatic collapse of the indonesian volcano that led to a devastating tsunami. hello everyone. this is afternoon live. the space race is back on — and as of today, china could be leading it. the first images transmitted from the surface of the far side of the moon are significant notjust because of what they show from the deepest crater on the moon but also because the mission puts china more at the forefront of space exploration. and it's notjust the landing itself but the communications that made it possible, that mark this mission as historic. our china correspondent john sudworth reports. commence landing, the control room says.

and then comes the extraordinary sight — the first close—up images of the far side of the moon ever recorded. after a few more tense moments, chang'e—a safely touches down inside the moon's largest and deepest crater. it's all gone according to plan, this scientist tells chinese state tv. the landing was the most important part. although the far side of the moon always faces away from earth, orbiting spacecraft have photographed its surface. but no attempt has been made to land on it until now. this animation shows how the probe's thrusters were fired to slow it, before its sensors guide it gently to the surface. a surface far more rugged and obstacle—strewn than the moon's nearside. another major challenge has included the need for a relay satellite to carry radio signals from the far side back to earth. well, the moon has already sunk

below this smoggy beijing skyline, so there is, unfortunately, no chance tonight for people to gaze at it in wonder. not that they had much warning, mind you. the landing attempt was accompanied by an almost complete news blackout, giving you a sense of the sensitive propaganda value of this huge leap forward in china's space race ambitions and the perceived cost of failure. china plans to follow this mission with another that will bring mineral samples back to earth and, eventually a reported, plan for a lunar base capable of supporting humans. translation: if our lunar exploration is a success, we can make bigger contributions to mankind and improve china's ability and technology. so i don't think our exploration will stop. it will only go deeper, further, and we will invest more. for now, chang'e—a‘s lunar explorer

will begin examining the surface of its landing spot. the moon's deepest crater is expected to offer important insights into the formation of our solar system. but, beyond the science, china has just signalled that it's a space power to be taken seriously. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. earlier i spoke to dr dave clements from the department of physics at imperial college london. i started by asking him why all of this matters so much. this is really a signpost that makes public those of us who work in space have been seen developing for quite a few years: china is a growing

power in space, they have already had three other missions to the moon, chang'e one, two and three and that shows they are doing stuff and they are partners on various missions including herschel, the one i worked on, and so this really nailed their colours to the mast, so that people can see, much more publicly than has been visible before, that china is up and coming within the space business. the far side of the moon, why is it so difficult, it is as much about getting information back as the mission itself. the far side of the moon is never visible from earth, no direct line of sight from wherever you are on the far side of the moon back to the earth because you have the bulk of the moon in the way. lot of people question, does the moon spin? the moon spins but it spins at a rate that matches its orbital period around the earth. the same side of the moon is always

pointing towards the earth, so it goes around like that. so, it is spinning but it is spinning at the same rate it is orbiting. so, the far side of the moon, what some people, especially pink floyd fans... well...! laughter doc dog it is not dark, does see the sun, it has the same day length as the nearside of the moon, it is a two—week day, to weeknight. ——... it is not dark. it is terra incognito, especially in terms of detailed studies on the surface. we know even from pictures that it is very different from the side with which we are familiar. very different geological history from the nearside of the moon. a lot more cratering, the surface is older, and there are some very the surface is older, and there are some very big craters there, for instance, the one that chang'e four has landed in, and so that is very

useful, it is essentially doing geological excavations before we get there. the asteroid has hit the moon, produced the crater, produced a big hole, so you have a big place you can look inside the moon to see what is happening underneath the surface. what next, is it to concentrate on the moon, put a base there, is this still part of a bigger plan to get us to mars?” there, is this still part of a bigger plan to get us to mars? i am not privy to what the chinese space agency may be planning, there are more plans, for future agency may be planning, there are more plans, forfuture landers. we will return the samples back to earth, they have said. with another rocket, they have said, that this lander will have, that will be launched off and that will be the first samples from the moon that you can look at in a laboratory since apollo, which is quite a big thing. obviously, there are plans in china for putting people on the moon,

whether it is a landing or whether it isa whether it is a landing or whether it is a more long—term base. some of the experiments on change four are looking at things like the radiation environment, how dangerous that is to people, and there is a little biology experiment, they have silkworms and potatoes and other pla nts silkworms and potatoes and other plants in a sealed environment and they will see whether silkworm eggs hatch, whether plants germinate. in low gravity conditions. for scientists like you, this is a big day. we have had a couple of really big days with this and new horizons. very interesting. there is great potential on the far side of the moon for astronomy, potential on the far side of the moon forastronomy, radio potential on the far side of the moon for astronomy, radio astronomy, because you have the whole of the moon there, shielding you from the radio noise of the earth. very loud, if you want to do sensitive observations, some of my colleagues at imperial, you either do that

actively, which is what is being done with current observatories, or you do it with an extremely large chunk of rock, called the moon, in the way, to blot it out(!) apple's share price has suffered a fall, after the technology giant warned investors its latest sales figures will be lower than expected. the company's chief executive tim cook blamed a sharper than expected slowdown in china, and customers not upgrading iphones as quickly as before. a little earlier i spoke to our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones. i started by asking him how worrying this profit warning is. it was a bombshell when suddenly, tim cook released this lengthy letter to investors last night. i think it's 50 years since they issued any kind of guidance of this kind. and i think he had to do it, because they'd got figures coming in. he'd released an estimate back in september for this quarter, which people already thought was a bit low. quite often, they release low estimates and then delight in outperforming them. this time, the other way round. they are going to make £5 billion less in revenue this year, this last quarter,

than they expected. still turning over huge amounts of money, but obviously worried by what is going on in china. let's talk about china, because there is the economic decline, which they say is happening in china, and there is another issue which some are suggesting may be blamed in part here, which is the politics. the chinese are getting fed up with america, particularly when it comes to the arrests recently of the huawei chief executive, and the chinese consumers have taken that out on apple. absolutely. i have been speaking to an analyst in shanghai who said that this sort of brand nationalism has been around for a while in china, buying chinese brands like huawei, not popular in the west, very popular at home in china. so they have been flocking to buy them. and that has been exacerbated by this trade war, by the harsh words said on either side. and apple is caught in the crossfire. people are looking at their phones and thinking, for one thing, they can get something equivalent,

in their eyes, an awful lot cheaper and with a chinese brand on it. so, that's a real problem that will not go away in a hurry. and other uk and us technology companies are worried about this. there was a trade association statement saying we have to sort this trade war out because we are all going to suffer from it. isn't the bottom line that we have all got the phones that do what we want them to do and there is not much point upgrading them any more? we have got quite blase about them. they are amazing machines! you were talking about the advances since the millennium. when you think that we are all walking around with these incredible supercomputers in our pockets that do extraordinary things, but each year when apple comes along with something new, it's a bit difficult to see how it's different from the previous one. the software is advancing and they are doing more with them and they hope to make more from the services on them,

but convincing people that you really need this year's apple xs as opposed to last year's apple x, when they look identical and pretty much do the same thing, that's getting harder. there's continuing deadlock in washington, after president trump and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement on ending the partial shutdown of the us government. the democrats have promised to put forward proposals to end the dispute when they take control of the house of representatives later today. the president is showing no sign of backing down from his demand for $5 billion to build a wall along the us—mexico border. our north america correspondent laura trevelyan joins us from washington now. newhouse majority leader, nancy pelosi, says, no wall! she says there is no money for it. -- the new senate majority leader. new members of the new congress are assembling,

this is the face of the 160 congress, this is some of the incoming democratic freshman members of congress, the most diverse congress in the history of america. and, the democrats position on the wall is that they elected this class of muslim americans, asian americans, buddhists, and people elected this class of incoming democrats because they did not want the president's wall, they wanted a more diverse america, not one that stops immigrants from coming in. politics of the new incoming congress are key to understanding the shutdown. president saying that he was elected and i promise to build the wall, the democrats have said, you had two years to get the money, you did not get it, we will not give it to you. who blinks first? without somebody making a compromise somewhere along the way, this shutdown could drag on and on and now, federal workers are working without pay checks at airports across the country, for example, so

the crunch point is coming very soon but it is hard to know who will give. he may not be blinking first, but he seems to be sweating a bit, things change for him today, particularly, looking at the congressional committee, they now have powers, looking into things that he perhaps would rather they did not...! that he perhaps would rather they did not. . .! that's right, congressional committees have power of subpoena and in the house of representatives they are controlled by democrats and democrats have indicated they want to investigate everything from the policy of separating families at the us border to the finances of the trump organisation and whether there was any money—laundering, and the incoming speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, is not close the door on impeachment proceedings against the president, if the special counsel, robert mueller, investigating ties between the trump campaign and russia, find something that rises to the impeachment threshold, that is high crimes and misdemeanours. turbulent time ahead in washington, the first order of business, how to end the

government shutdown? right now still not clear how and when that will happen. quick word about robert mueller, because everyone has been saying, any moment now, there doesn't appear to be a smoking gun, and at some point, something has got to give. i don't think any of us have the faintest idea what robert mueller is up to, he has been very much a leak free zone, he keeps mueller is up to, he has been very much a leakfree zone, he keeps his own counsel, as you would expect the special counsel to, speaks through his indictments, telling a story to the american people through the indictments we have seen so far, when he will wrap up his investigation, what his next move will be, we do not know, there is much speculation that the next person who possibly might face something from robert mueller is roger stone, something of an informal adviser to the trump campaign, grandjury has informal adviser to the trump campaign, grand jury has been running since last summer looking through various matters to do with roger stone, he himself has predicted he could be indicted.

whether, when, if that happens, we will have to wait and see, much like the government shutdown. happy new year; it is going to be a long one! you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: china makes history by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors and led to its share price dropping sharply. the tech giant says the core problem is china's slowing economy. the environment secretary warns that a "no—deal brexit" would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. in sport, top of the table showdown in the premier league, manchester city against liverpool, could be the title race's decisive moment, city may be third butjurgen klopp says they are still the best team in the world. british number one kyle edmund has withdrawn from next week's sydney international after picking up a knee injury, the event would have been his final tournament

before the australian open, which ta kes pla ce before the australian open, which takes place later this month. england announced their elite player squad, including 28 names set to make up the worlds first ever professional women's 15 side. i will be back with more on all those stories at a:30pm. the environment secretary michael gove has told farmers that theresa may's brexit deal will provide certainty for them if it's approved by mps. speaking at the oxford farming conference, he admitted the agreement wasn't perfect — but said leaving without a deal would cause farmers "considerable turbulence". the national farmers union is calling for a new law to ensure there is no lowering of food standards after brexit.

phil mackie reports. farmers face uncertainty over brexit, just like everyone else. they worry about who will pick the crops and work machinery, if there are tougher immigration rules, and fear cheap imports could undercut british goods and mean poorer quality food on the supermarket shelves. this is what it's all about — the best of british produce grown and raised to the very highest of standards. michael gove today told farmers that there will be opportunities once britain has left the eu, but he also warned of the dangers if we leave — in less than three months — without a deal. the turbulence that would be generated by our departure without a deal would be considerable. nobody can be blythe or blase about the real impact on the food producers in this country of leaving without a deal. that is just one of the reasons i hope my colleagues in parliament to support the prime minister's deal. it isn't perfect, but we should never make the perfect the enemy of the good. —— blithe. the national farmers union fears disruption and delays at borders, if a deal is not reached, and has urged the government to do more to ensure stability. consumer groups fear shortages and price hikes, especially on imported foods. exporters are worried their goods will not make it to their markets. i think there are 11,000 trucks that come in to dover every single day with just food and drink.

so it is a critical route and we need to make sure that we agree this in an orderly manner, otherwise it will lead to friction and challenges for getting food across here. we saw it last year in the snow. it doesn't take much to take food off the shelves, and that creates absolute meltdown. the government has announced a pilot scheme to allow several thousand seasonal agricultural workers to continue to come here after brexit, but said, in the long—term, farmers must adapt and use new technology. i am a dairy farm in the south—east of scotland. i'm milking cows using robots — we have done for a number of years. going forward, for the productivity and efficiency in agriculture, it will be imperative that we have access to and utilise technology to the best of our abilities. for years, we have enjoyed the best produce from around the world at relatively cheap prices. whether that will be the case in april may depend on the deal that is done. phil mackie, bbc news, oxford. shares in the clothes retailer next have risen

after it reported better—than—expected sales in the christmas period. they were up 1.5% overall, with in particular, a sharp rise in online sales. it's prompted next‘s chief executive to describe the general health of the consumer economy as, "not bad at all". our business corresondent emma simpson reports. the celebrations are over. a new year and time for a fresh start. retailers are also taking stock and starting to produce their all—important christmas trading updates. first up — next. although sales at its shops were down 9%, this was more than made up by online sales, which were up by 15%. but next did trim how much it expected to make in annual profits. i think this is a pretty resilient performance from next. it's managing the shift online well and i'm sure it's picking up competitors' sales because it's so efficient online. it's managed its margins really well, and its profit, because it hasn't been slashing prices like the rest of the high street.

what does this tell us about how christmas went for the rest of the high street? i think we will probably see a mixed performance across other retailers. some will do well and some will fall well below that standard. like other retailers, november was a bit of a wash—out for next. its christmas was saved by stronger sales in the last few weeks of december. according to its boss, brexit uncertainty is making consumers a little bit more cautious. but he says we are still spending. at this retail park in nottingham, we asked shoppers if they had spent more this year. more. i think every year i spend more and more, as my son gets older and older. i thought, it's christmas and my kids deserve more. i've just bought what they wanted. probably more, to be fair. a hell of a lot more. i have a baby now, so more is her! many retailers have had to offer huge discounts

to get us to part with our cash — but at what cost to their profits? there won't be much to celebrate this christmas for retail, after one of its most challenging years. we will know how other household names have fared in the coming days. emma simpson, bbc news. a us citizen, arrested in moscow on suspicion of spying, has been charged with espionage. paul whelan, a former marine, was detained on friday. his family have said he's innocent, and was in moscow only for a friend's wedding. mr whelan's lawyer says he remains in good spirits, and that he's asked the courts for his client to be released on bail. whelan is currently located in moscow's lefortovo prison following his arrest by officers of russia's federal security service. a court in saudi arabia has begun the trial of 11 people allegedly involved in the murder of the journalist, jamal khashoggi.

—— a court in saudi arabia has begun the trial of 11 people allegedly involved in the murder of the journalist, jamal khashoggi. the killing sparked outrage around the world, and it led to unprecedented, western criticism of the kingdom. prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for five of the men. our security correspondent frank gardner explained more. it is fairto it is fair to assume that some will be amongst those who allegedly flew in two planes from riyadh to istanbul to take part in this operation, we simply don't know yet. the saudi prosecutors are demanding the death penalty in the case of five of them, that is something they announced back in november. saudi trials are notoriously opaque, they have been heavily criticised for this by human rights organisations because often people are not told until the last minute exactly what the charges are, sometimes they don't get lawyers with them. there has been some really horrendous stories of people being woken up on the day of execution and dragged off to be publicly executed. in this particular case, this is such a high—profile i think the saudis are trying very hard to make sure it is

by the letter, and they had their lawyers with them, they ask for more time to study the indictment, which they have been given. this is all very well, they say this could be the moment of truth, someone gave the moment of truth, someone gave the order... yes, it is hard to prove that, because we, the media, have all dug hard into this and certainly, western intelligence agencies have given the impression that they are pretty certain the order came from crown prince mohammed bill sam arnold, but behind that, there is no smoking gun. —— crown prince mohammad bin salman. there is no audio recording of his voice saying, do away with him. in my experience in the gulf, i spent a lot of years working there, there is no such thing as a rogue operator, people do not do things without orders from above, nothing gets done in the gulf without sign off from above. there is a strong suspicion, certainly in the west, that he had

some knowledge of some kind of operation and certainly he was irritated by jamal khashoggi, operation and certainly he was irritated byjamal khashoggi, who was a critic of his, that is not the same as saying he ordered the murder. does this trial suggest that somewhere murder. does this trial suggest that somewhere someone murder. does this trial suggest that somewhere someone is rattled by this reaction. the saudi leadership, the crown prince, not the king, he is far removed from this. the crown prince has totally miscalculated and underestimated the international reaction there would be to this. he has been locking people up for months, look at the ritz—carlton, that was a mass arrest of 200 people, shaken down for money, without charge. there is a com pletely without charge. there is a completely extrajudicial kidnapping, and detention, illegally, really, in international law. and that was of dozens international law. and that was of d oze ns of international law. and that was of dozens of people. it was largely popular inside arabia because these are people who have made a lot of money in various ways so it was

relatively popular but in this case, the hand of his employees seem to have gone so far and it was the grisly nature of the murder of jamal khashoggi, an audio tape of all these different versions, was he injected, strangled, dismembered... turkish media talking about a bone saw brought by the hit team, gruesome stuff. and allegedly dismembered limbs dissolved in acid, and so on. it is too much for most people to stomach and western governments do not want to be seen too closely associated with crown prince mohammad bin salman. will we learn the truth from this trial? i'm certain the turkish version, which is where it happen, that will be very different from what emerges from the trial. a man arrested as part of the investigation into the murder of a security guard at a new year's eve party in park lane central london is the son of the banned radical cleric abu hamza. imran mostafa kamel, who is 26,

has appeared in court charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or danger, and possession of a firearm when prohibited for life. scotland yard says the charges are not directly connected to the death of 33—year—old tudor simionov or the other persons injured in the attack. —— 30—year—old. three other people, two men and a woman, also suffered stab wounds. their injuries are not life—threatening. no firearm was discharged during the incident. time for a look at the weather... you have been showing that picture all day. no, just for this programme... pretty dull. it is, thatis programme... pretty dull. it is, that is the point, it is a dull picture... my apologies to the viewer... keep sending them in please, this is the sort of guys we have had across many parts of the country today, quite cold, grey,

overcast, dull, a hint of sunshine in the distance, this is the sort of weather that we have right the way through the festive period, pretty good for anyone travelling, no problems at all. no snow, further east across europe, these flags are flying in austria, they are showing it is windy, very windy, gales and severe gales, big problems for people wanting to walk forwards...! you have to walk backwards. i assume not everybody does that... there are some people not walking backwards. wind has really been howling, coming down from the north, bringing with ita down from the north, bringing with it a lot of snow, and in estonia, wind has been coming down from the baltic, very big waves causing problems on the transport, particularly ferries. even travelling inland. it has been snowy and cold, wind has been blowing. and

thatis and cold, wind has been blowing. and that is what you expect at this time of the year, northerly wind, this is the baltic, estonia somewhere over there. where exactly? all the snow storm is coming down... very warm weather. that is what we have had, high pressure, through the festive period, in one shape or another, one position or another. festive period, in one shape or another, one position oranother. it has not been too cold, having said that, it was —10.5 in aberdeenshire, la st that, it was —10.5 in aberdeenshire, last night. -10.5. that .5 is crucial... ! we have had some sunshine, one of the few parts that has had sunshine but it has been cold. i know you get angry when i talk about what they say on twitter... when you said this a couple of hours ago, idid when you said this a couple of hours ago, i did not get angry. lots of people saying it will be snowing and we are back to similar scenes...

doesn't look like it will happen at the moment... not from my sources, my sources tell me that the weather at the beginning of next week is going to turn windy, it is coming in from the atlantic and then around tuesday, wednesday, just briefly, northerly wind but not that cold, not the beast from the east or even the beast from the north(!) it is just a northerly wind, and then high pressure will come in. that does not indicate widespread snow or widespread severe weather. that is the clip i need to show next wednesday. no, because i am back here next wednesday! hopefully your back will be better, you will not be picking up any more towels from the floor. shall we have a forecast? we will look at what has been happening on the satellite picture, this is the extent of the cloud we have had today, most of the country struggling with a lot of cloud, thinner in wales and the south—west

and across parts of east anglia, breaks in the north—east of scotland. what we expect overnight, what we are hoping overnight, the cloud to continue to thin and break up, notjust in wales cloud to continue to thin and break up, not just in wales and cloud to continue to thin and break up, notjust in wales and the south—west but across lincolnshire, the south—east, eventually the midlands as well. cloud breaks up, and bridges drop away. a lot more blue. widespread frost, across a good part of england and wales. away from the far north. fog patches around, still have the window of clearer skies, temperatures will not be as low as they were last night. some fog in the morning, could linger all day, probably around central southern england, around the m3, ma, m5, that area, affecting people travelling tomorrow and if you are stuck there it will be cold, even with sunshine elsewhere, more than we have had today, three or a degrees, miles across scotland, northern ireland particularly in the west. cold start, more widely on

saturday morning, again, mist and fog. not shifting easily at all, cold day, dry everywhere, cloud coming into the north—west, that is actually on a very weak weather front. and that will topple so far into the uk, and then stops, because it is dragged back. more on that into the beginning of next week. behind the cold front, change of air mass. temperatures may be a bit higher, but all that is coming in from the atla ntic but all that is coming in from the atlantic at the start of next week with stronger winds, before we briefly get that cold northerly wind for tuesday and perhaps into wednesday. i will see you later. this is bbc news —

our latest headlines... china makes history by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. the touchdown of the un—crewed probe is being seen as a major milestone in space exploration. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors. the tech giant says it's been caught off—guard by china's slowing economy. the environment secretary warns that a no—deal brexit would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. 11 individuals have gone on trial over the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi in the saudi capital, riyadh. state media are reporting that prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for five of the defendants. sport now on afternoon live with holly hamilton. all eyes are on the etihad stadium this evening as manchester city host liverpool in the premier league in what's being called a title decider... that's right, and already people are

talking about this being a premier league decider. it might feel a bit soon to start talking about a premier league decider. most us haven't even taken down the christmas tree but here we are in a position where many feel the winner of tonight's game between manchester city and liverpool could or should go on to win the league... there are seven points between them at the moment — but can liverpool extend their lead at the top with a win tonight? well, let's head over to the etihad right now where our correspondent david ornstein is there for us... david, is it a bit early to be talking about calling this a decider? we don't like to get too excited, do we? we are all getting carried away and why not‘s it should bea carried away and why not‘s it should be a fantastic match. however, there isa be a fantastic match. however, there is a long way to run in this title race. if you cast your minds back to 201a, as late as the 20th of april, the last time liverpool challenged for the title, they were nine points clear of manchester city that late in the season. 21 days later, man city were crowned champions. but this is a far better liverpool side

and if they win tonight to extend their lead over manchester city to ten points, don't forget, tottenham are in the title race as well, six points back. many feel that will be an insurmountable deficit. that is because liverpool are so strong. they are on a nine match winning streak. they have a strong defence, marshalled by van dyke. they have the three pronged attack of mohamed salah, roberto firmino and sadia manet. they have been prolific this season. they have been the standout tea m season. they have been the standout team in the premier league. but man city will not be lying down. also welcoming fernandinho back, the crucial linchpin for them. possibly also kevin o'brien. they have a real say in the race. they are bidding to become first team to claim the title in the decade and there will not down without a fight. guardiola could make history to win the season again this year. klopp could make history as well. that will not be

farfrom either of their history as well. that will not be far from either of their minds this evening. it's a tantalising battle not only between the teams on the field, but also the managers. no manager has a better record of a pep guardiola than juergen klopp. klopp's first trip here in the premier league in 2015 was victorious, but that is the only time liverpool have won the etihad in their last nine meetings. but man city's recent record against liverpool is not good at all. if we cast our minds back to the october meeting at anfield, we were all expecting goals and it was 0—0, riyad mahrez missing a penalty. pep guardiola has never in his managerial career lost successive league games at home, so he will wa nt to league games at home, so he will want to avoid that the night. he will also want to stamp his authority back on this title race. many say he is the best manager in world football and he will want to live up to that. this should be an intriguing battle. if liverpool win, it could be their title in waiting.

but manchester city will be well up for it. we expect things to get busier behind you as the night progresses. but for now, david ornstein, from the etihad. full commentary of manchester city v liverpool on radio 5 live tonight — their coverage starts at 6:30. you can also follow the match via the bbc sport website and app. the england women's rugby captain says the creation of a full time professional rugby 15 side is a game changerfor the sport. world cup winner hunter and katy daley—mclean are among the 28 players to be awarded full—time contracts for 2019 with six uncapped players also named in the squad. england will begin their six nations campaign against ireland next month. for those young girls picking a ball up for those young girls picking a ball up and going actually, that is a real dream and ambition to be a professional rugby player, you have got people coming out of university who are still studying their degrees, where their first

employment is as a professional by employment is as a professional rugby player. that is game changing for everyone involved now and eve ryo ne for everyone involved now and everyone involved in the future. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. now on afternoon live, let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. in southampton, laura trant has investigated the situation of children with special educational needs and has found out that thousands of these children don't get the help they require. laura hasjoined us to give more detail about her findings. and annabel tiffin is in salford to tell us more about a graphic design graduate who clips artwork into the coats of horses. first to laura. you have been speaking to schools and parents about the current issue

is the education system is facing, particularly special needs provision. what have you found? particularly special needs provision. what have you found ?|j have provision. what have you found?” have been looking at the provision of special needs education and how it is affected by budgets and funding. head teachers i have spoken to have told me about the deficits they are running and the impact of cuts. they have all said that if it continues, it means redundancies. nine out of ten children with a special educational need are taught in mainstream schools. but is that a lwa ys in mainstream schools. but is that always the best environment for them? i met always the best environment for them ? i met 1a—year—old always the best environment for them? i met 1a—year—old isaac and his mum nicola. they are from hampshire. isaac has autism. he is ata hampshire. isaac has autism. he is at a mainstream school even though it is recognised by the local authority that he recognises special needs provision, but there are no places available because it is not suitable for his needs. mornings at school are all he can manage. this was isaac's response when i asked if he enjoyed them. i don't know how to answer if i enjoy it or not. i don't think that's

how school works. how does it work for you? it really doesn't. you could take all the reasons... and... just... put them there, lots of reasons. they either can't meet his needs or they have no spaces, or they can't meet his needs and they have no spaces. and what do you think about that? um, i think that isaac is legally entitled to an education that suits his needs, and i think somebody somewhere should be doing something about it. that was isaac's mum, who has given up that was isaac's mum, who has given up her career so she can look after isaac in the afternoons. she said somebody should do something about it. what do schools and head teachers say about this? the school leaderunion says there is a crisis in supporting children with special

educational needs in schools. they have done a survey about special needs provision. the key findings we re needs provision. the key findings were that 9a% of respondents find it harder to resource support, and 73% said it was because of cuts to mainstream school. moving away from hampshire into west sussex, the head teacher of oak grove college, a special need secondary school, told me that he recognises this problem across the country. why? because funding cuts being made to special needs schools mean more children like isaac stay in mainstream education. as you would expect, support groups are concerned. the hampshire parent kera network is a charity working to represent the views of pa rents charity working to represent the views of parents like nicola who have children with additional needs. they explained to me the more children will not be an education despite the local authorities doing their best, because they are just too financially stretched. in terms of what the department for education has said, they were given 12 weeks'

notice about my report. i made repeated requests for an interview, but neither the education secretary damien heinz nor the schools minister nick gibb would be interviewed to respond to the issues. laura, plenty more on south today tonight. thank you. let's go to and about now. horse clipping, but this is an ordinary horse clipping, is it? it's not. i'm sure you have seen the young men who have the tramlines cut into their hair. i suppose it is like that, but on a much larger scale. this is a real art. the woman behind it is called melody hames. as you said, she was a graduate of graphic design. she does these intricate pieces of artwork by clipping into the coats of horses. she creates all sorts of designs. her muse and model is romeo, the pogba of the equine world. he is

sporting a conservative look at the moment, just a festive reindeer. but there has been one called native american dream horse, one with a game of thrones theme. you can only imagine what is on that. melody set up imagine what is on that. melody set up her brand five years ago by clipping this horse because my coat. she now does it all over the world and instructs others on how to do it. but she began when she was only nine because she had a horse that was a connemara cushing's pony, which means it doesn't shed its hair, so it needed clipping all year round. then she began to be noticed by others, who asked her to do their ponies. it has now turned into a fulljob for her. she trained as a graphic designer, so she does this really carefully. she spent six weeks researching the design and then drawing it all out on paper. then she does it by hand, doing what she calls free clipping over about two days. i asked what happens if he makes a mistake, because you can't

exactly grow the hair back. but she said you can cover it up. horses of course do not stand still, which can make it tricky. but she said she tends to keep them quiet by giving them a bag of hay. i'm not sure about this. some people will say this is a bit cruel, isn't it, clipping artwork into animals' coats ? clipping artwork into animals' coats? they don't get a say. that is true, and when i first heard the story, that did cross my mind as well. melody says she hasn't had any comments like that. no one has accused her of being cruel. she uses her own pony romeo to showcase a lot of her designs. she said she only clipped him once a year when the hair has grown back. and when she ta kes hair has grown back. and when she takes him out, if it is cold, she cove rs takes him out, if it is cold, she covers him with a blanket, because i lot of the hair is obviously short. it can take up to ten hours to keep the designs onto the ponies, but she does it over a number of days. she says if they get bored, she. and

come back another day. and she feeds them a lot of hay. a lot of horse owners like to keep their horses because they say it will keep them cool because they say it will keep them cool. it means they dry quicker and don't get killed. i am no expert on this, so i am going to let melody explained. ifi if i was to write him now for an hour and he got hot, he will cool down straightaway because the sweat will evaporate. horses are the same as people. they are the only mammal that sweats the same as people. it evaporates through the skin. so if we re m ove evaporates through the skin. so if we remove that for, they cool down quicker. but then we have a duty of ca re quicker. but then we have a duty of care to make sure the horses can keep warm when we are not riding them. some of these designs are beautiful, i have to say. her next project is on romeo again in september. she is inviting people to come to her sta bles inviting people to come to her stables in barry and learn how to do it themselves. i don't know if that

is any use to you, simon? maybe a new hairdo for the autumn. thank you very much. she says it cools them down more quickly, but it is about to go to minor something out there. apparently, she puts romeo in pyjamas. 0h, apparently, she puts romeo in pyjamas. oh, my word, it gets worse! let's leave it there. thank you very much, annabel tiffin. if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them via the bbc iplayer. we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at a.30 on afternoon live. she did say she put him in pyjamas, i don't know. the amount of electricity we're using is at its lowest level since the 1980s — thanks in large part to the humble low energy light bulb and modern energy saving appliances. according to research by environmental analysts,

new product standards which force manufacturers to use less electricity in their goods have proved more important in tackling carbon emissions than wind and solar power. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. install low—energy lighting, and you make a negligible effect on cutting the carbon emissions that are overheating the planet. butjoin with millions of others to change your light bulbs and, with a collective twist of the wrist, you're making a small but significant dent in the uk's demand for energy. the same can be said for new appliances like washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers, all forced by eu product standards to do the same job whilst using less power and creating fewer carbon emissions. even sucking up the dust from your carpet uses much less energy than before if you've got a new vacuum cleaner. that's thanks to efficiency standards. before the product standards were introduced, there was a lot of fear—mongering about how we would have dirtier homes and weaker hoovers

and other appliances, but what actually happened, because of design innovations, we have cleaner homes and the energy use has reduced as expected, saving us money. but product standards for cleaners is a cinderella subject. it's glamorous wind and solar power that grab all the headlines. today's report shows that last year, they generated a third of the uk's electricity — that's a record. but the report says efficiency measures, coupled with other factors, have contributed slightly more than renewables to cutting carbon emissions. the regulation on efficiency standards for appliances has a huge impact. if you replace your current fridge with a modern a++ rated one, you could save half the energy that uses quite easily. so i think what those standards have done is let each of us do our own little bit, which altogether has added up to a huge impact. of course, improving electrical efficiency won't on its own solve the massive issue of climate change — that will need sweeping changes right across society.

but it seems that, for today at least, humble energy efficiency can take its place in the sun. roger harrabin, bbc news. jamie robertson is here — in a moment he will be telling us what's hot and what's not in the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. china makes history by successfully landing a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon. a £a billion profit warning from apple has panicked investors and led to its share price dropping sharply. the tech giant says the core problem is china's slowing economy. the environment secretary warns that a no—deal brexit would cause "considerable turbulence" for farmers. here's your business headlines on afternoon live... apple has rattled investors across the market with news that its sales have been slowing. apple has been blaming its slowdown on economic weakness in china. and that in turn has had a knock—on effect on shares in other luxury companies with big chinese markets including burberry and mulberry.

a tale of two christmases for the retailer next. it's reported a sharp rise in online sales over the christmas period, while trading at its stores declined. uk firms are being squeezed by labour shortages, rising prices and a slowdown in sales. more companies than ever before are finding it hard to recruit staff, according to the british chambers of commerce. gold — you mentioned earlier was on the up. why? it's always worrying when you see gold going up. the main reason is as a disaster hedge. when you think things are going badly wrong, you go towards gold as a safe haven asset. i think it is because there are worries about a general slowdown in the us and the fact that they think interest rates will not go up much higher in america. it means things

area bit higher in america. it means things are a bit worrying and that growth can't be counted on. it's a feeling also that gold has gone down a long way and it is coming up. at the moment, it isjust way and it is coming up. at the moment, it is just below $1300 an ounce, possibly going up to 1380. and you see gold go up, this is a bit worrying. we had figures from next day, a mixed picture. it is a common picture at the moment, online sales going up. but in the stores, sales going up. but in the stores, sales are going down. it had a bad november, but it came back in the christmas sales. that is similar to what we saw with john lewis figures. we will get morejohn lewis figures next week, but they had a similar picture. next, on the other hand, seems to be riding out the storm hitting the rest of the retail sector at the moment. numbers are out from the entertainment industry which show that for the first time, gaming is now worth more than videos

and music combined? absolutely. it is the youngest industry in entertainment, and yet it is now the biggest. and we are good at this in this country? we love it. something like £3.8 billion came from gaming. one of the reasons seems to be that it has really caught the digital wave. it is extremely well suited to being online. you can download, you can do mobile gaming, you can do real—time streaming gaming. all those things work well for the gaming world and it is expanding fast. and it has a very wide customer base of a lot of ages, not just the teenagers in their room on their own. it is now much more of a social environment. you have public gaming, where people can come and watch people gaming. it is more of a spectator sport in some areas. we can talk now to lawrence gosling.

from an investor's point of view, how do you get on board with this? it is going so fast. one of the easiest ways is with some of the us companies who are exposed to gaming. there is a statistic that says more people will watch a gaming in a couple of years' time that will watch the whole of the final of the national basketball association in the us. there are hundreds of millions of people, particularly in asia, playing and you can play it as an investor through the companies which are making the games and hosting and televising some of these tournaments that you were talking about. in a marginally connected way, next is doing nicely online, whereas of course, the bricks and mortar businesses are not exactly struggling, but it is falling away. it is. as you said earlier, the online side of their sales was up over 11%. sales through the stores we re over 11%. sales through the stores were down 8%. so one roughly offsets

the other. so as the chief executive pointed out this morning that it is not as simple as that because the cost of implementing the online sales is reasonably expensive, and he gave some guidance going forward for this year to expect an overall small drop in profits. but given where next was a year ago, when it was very unloved, the last 12 months have been a lot better. and going from the most modern investments to one of the oldest investments, gold. do you think it is right that we should be worried about the rising price of gold? it tells us that investors are worried about future growth. there is always the school of thought that says people go towards gold when they perceive armageddon. we are not there, but a lot of the economic signs are a bit negative and there is a lot of politics around, whether it's the trade was between the us and china or some of the things going on in individual countries such as italy. so if you are an optimist like i am,

the rise of gold is something to be concerned about. but if you were clever enough to put money in a year ago, you are up a couple of dollars an ounce already, so you have been a prudent investor. better than the stock market. thanks very much. lawrence gosling there from what investment magazine. $1300 is the target for gold that people are looking at. it has been a good investment. and the pound has been pretty weak against the dollar. it hasn't changed much in the last few days. we have had a brexit free couple of weeks. i was going to mention it, but thought i would pull back. ok,

jamie, thank you. that's it from your afternoon live team tonight. now a look at the weather. in aberdeenshire last night, with clear skies, temperatures got below freezing. at least they have had some sunshine today, one of the few parts of the country which have seen sunshine. it is cold in parts of europe, with temperatures diving in the mediterranean and there is more snow to come here. no snow across the uk. high pressure is dominating our weather. we have still got pockets of cold air within the areas of high pressure. how low the temperature go overnight depends how much cloud there is going to be. we have seen a lot of that over most of the country today. quite cold as well, so temperatures do not have far to fall overnight. and as well

as temperatures dropping away, we we re as temperatures dropping away, we were a sea as temperatures dropping away, we were a sea mist and fog forming. so it isa were a sea mist and fog forming. so it is a colder night more widely across the southern half of the uk. frost in the north—east of scotland, not as cold as it was last night. it is likely to stay cloudy overnight in northern ireland. the cloud is a bit thinner elsewhere. if you are stuck under the fungal day in central and southern england, it will feel really quite cold —— if you are stuck under the fog all day. another chilly night to come on friday night into saturday morning. frost in quite a few places. the mist and fog will be slow to clear again on saturday. the weather is slow—moving at the moment. the winds are light, which is not helping stir things up. but there are signs of change coming to the north—west, with a bit of light rain and

drizzle. that will sliding across the northern half of the uk before stopping across southern areas and keeping the cloud going here during the second half of the weekend. a slight change of air mass means more sunshine across scotland and perhaps northern ireland and perhaps northern england. further south, we still have the misty, foggy area and a good deal of cloud around. some sunshine across scotland. today at five — a major step forward in space exploration as china celebrates landing the first spacecraft on the far side of the moon. the unmanned chang'e—a probe touched down inside the moon's largest and deepest crater earlier today. pictures from the surface

of the moon have already been sent back to earth, as scientists begin to analyse the unexplored region. translation: if our lunar exploration is a success we can make bigger contributions to mankind and improve china's ability at technology. we'll talk to a space race commentator and a lunar expert. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. the son of the banned radical cleric abu hamza is arrested as part of the investigation into the murder of a security guard at a new year's eve party in park lane.