this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump says the us killed iran's top military commander, qassem soleimani, to stop a war, not to start one. in a televised address, mr trump said the us had killed the number one terrorist in the world. he said soleimani had been plotting imminent attacks. the iranian government said it would retaliate against what it called an act of international terrorism by the united states, at a time and place of its choosing. many world leaders have said the killing of general soleimani could lead to serious consequences for regional and global security.

new south wales‘ fire commissioner has warned saturday will be a long and difficult day for everybody, as bushfires continue to burn out of control. there's been a similar warning from the fire chief in victoria as australia faces possibly its worst day yet in a summer of wildfires. now on bbc news from facial recognition to space travel, the click team look at the top tech of the past year. this week, spotting a base, a ticket to space, and a drag race. it can only be the finest tech from click in 2019.

hello, welcome, and a very happy new year to you. gosh, 2020 always sounded like the future, didn't it?! now that it's here, i'd guess it's not. we are going to get stuck into the new year next week but first we're going to take you on a trip back through 2019. it was the year that we celebrated our 1000th show with an interactive episode online, where you could choose your own path through. imagine if everything that you watched was interactive, and if you watched was interactive, and if you could change your experiences depending on your mood, desires, or even how much time you had. if you go online to the address that is on—screen 110w go online to the address that is on—screen now you will find a special version of this programme thatis special version of this programme

that is interactive. you get to choose which tech stories you hear about and choose which tech stories you hear aboutand in choose which tech stories you hear about and in how much detail. as you watch, you are given options to dive deeper or to look at things from a different perspective or who may be skipped on entirely. i tried out nestor‘s next moon buggy. by the way, we are on a slight incline right now. and we visited taiwan to see how green technology was helping to clean up the environment. i think 2019 was a year when many of us regarded technology with a healthy degree of scepticism. instead of just openly welcoming tech advances, we worried about data privacy, about the management of social media sites, and about online security. it was a year when the police around the world stepped up their use of facial recognition technology and while, yes it could help track down criminals, as the police here in the uk discovered, big brother is not everyone‘s cup of tea. police

cameras in an e. london st, everyone gets scanned. if you refuse, here's what can happen. don't push me! this man didn't want to be caught by the police cameras so he covered his face. police stopped him, photographed him anyway, an argument followed. what's your suspicion? i would do the same! hi would do the same. it's just would do the same! hi would do the same. it'sjust grounds to... no it doesn't! the police said this was disorderly behaviour, so they gave him afine. disorderly behaviour, so they gave him a fine. a walk past like that, it's a cold day as well. and police office rs it's a cold day as well. and police officers asked me to come to them. got my back up, i said to him,

(bleep) or off, basically. idon't wa nt (bleep) or off, basically. idon't want my face shown. they want to cover my face, i will cover my face. got a £90 fine, look at that. thanks, lads! £90. well done. he was caught up in the last of ten trails. there were three arrests from facial recognition on this test day alone but the trails have proved controversial. opponents claim they are taking place in a legal vacuum. there is nothing in uk law that has the words facial recognition. there is no legal basis of the police to be using facial recognition. there are no legal limitations on how they can use it, no policy, no regulation. is a free for all. absolutely, they technology is there for body worn or smaller devices to be fitted with facial recognition technology as is cctv, so absolutely

we will look at that again, the right safeguards and the right reviews and learning has to be put around that. and it turns out that morning was timely, because a few months later it emerged that facial recognition technology was being used to identify members of the public without their knowledge or consent at the london kings cross station. and, it was with the help of london's metropolitan police. the owners of that area and the police have both since apologised and the scheme was scrapped, but there is still no laws in the uk specifically relating to how facial recognition cameras should be used. now, what is your top technology of 2019? the one that we think really came of age this year, really started to take off was electric cars. for the first time, if you were thinking of getting a new car you probably at least considered getting an all electric one. so, we did a whole

show on them. and to prove how quick they can go, we raced one against a lamborghini. now, both cars are in their fastest set ups, and whatever happens today, we recommend you don't try this at home. we have several safety measures in operation, first of alljohnny is a professional racing operator, he does this day in day out to scare the living daylights out of the members of the public. in the passenger seat will be mark, ensuring fair play and probably screaming his head off, and who can we get to give one of the finest sports because a run for money? it's only top gear‘s the stig! sports because a run for money? it's only top gear's the stig! 0h, sports because a run for money? it's only top gear's the stig! oh, i'm sorry, that stig wasn't available, is it ok that hi am standing in? drivers, start your engines!

ready... 0h! laughter idid break laughter i did break a laughter i did breaka bit laughter i did break a bit early but i have so clearly won. i'm no expert but that was no contest. wow! and i can tell you that lara hasn't stopped bragging about that ever since. 2019 was the year when many more manufacturers joined the electric party. infrastructure, decent driving ranges and guarantees on battery life all added to the mood music and so dan simmons went to the frankfurt motor show to catch the

electric buzz. there was really only one big question for the big execs at the world's biggest motor show. why are they ten years behind tesla and offering us an all electric car? we are not each time the fastest or the earliest, but if we come, become very strong. tesla is a company that has been solely focused on electric vehicle production, you have to give them credit for blazing the trail. electric may only represent 3% of all new car sales last year but vw have taken a close look at them and reckon the future. these cool designs actually for the feature. each car manufacturer brings out some concept ideas. interestingly on the volkswagen stand they were all electric. the real car they were

launching was the ids. a sort of electric golf. with a 205— 340 mile range depending on the exact model, with prices starting from a competitive 30,000 euros. and a first from vw. they will guarantee the battery for eight years, meaning that if it loses more than a quarter of its full charge when new, they will replace it. audi hasn't done much in the way of electric for the last ten years either although now they have the. sorry, that's another concept because now, they have this. they have started with the popular stale family suv, but at more than £70,000, can many families afford it? i think there is this perception in the market that they have to pay more for the electric version of the same size vehicle than they would for gas or diesel. i think what you are going to see is at least at audi we are going into a lot lower

segments in order to make electrification much more affordable. there are not many families that could afford 30,000 euros for a car. sure there are! but surely somethings will never lose the role of a combustion engine stopping when land rover decided to make the defendant electric, you know there is a trend going on. it also updates its own software over the air. and then, there were the sports cars. the tycoon is pushes first electric car and hf, 0—62 in zero point two seconds, and a guarantee on that battery. ok, it's hundred but that's a 12 k saving on its petrol performance equivalent, the 9/11 actual turbo. i have a

feeling that it's that vw that will turn out to be super competitive is an entry model for most. that was dan playing with the everyday and the not so everyday. now, from electric to self—driving cars. for the past couple of years or so they have been tested on the roads of arizona, usa. but in 2018, things went badly wrong when one of them failed to stop and killed a pedestrian. last year, i've visited the state to find out how the locals felt about living with autonomous vehicles. in chandler, there is the same mix of excitement and concern about self—driving cars that we have seen everywhere. the difference is, for these people, it is happening right in front of them, right now. it is big money saying, hey listen, this is cool, this is new, i'm sure

you will like this because you see it and it's fascinating but at the same time you are costing people theirjobs and people who are taking ca re of theirjobs and people who are taking care of their families. this is something you would see on tv when you something you would see on tv when you we re a something you would see on tv when you were a kid and old 905 movies of self—driving car5 you were a kid and old 905 movies of self—driving ca rs and you were a kid and old 905 movies of self—driving cars and the fact that it is actually here at our fingertips, i think it is incredible. lyft drivers are going to lose theirjob5, and not only will they lose theirjob5, a promise you they are going to try to figure out a way to make machines create the5e out a way to make machines create these cars, so they are not even going to let humans create the cars. toa going to let humans create the cars. to a trust a machine with my children's lives? i... i don't know if they could do that or not. and last year, the fears of the community became a reality. but, the number of accidents involving self—driving cars is very low, for the millions of miles of testing

that have taken place. testing continues, both in the states and elsewhere around the world, but most experts agree that we are still quite a few years away from seeing the widespread use of cars that can safely drive themselves. not least because the legal framework to allow it is still being thrashed out. now, another big development in tech this year has been the long—awaited arrival of 5g. has it changed your life yet? amongst other things, 5g promises to connect everything, all of the time. and when my say everything, i mean... everything. in this idyllic patch of british countryside, the birds are cheerfully singing and the cows are peacefully grazing. but look closer

and you will see there is something very different about these cows, linking them to a unique experiment. this dairy farm in somerset is one of the first test beds for 5g in the uk. the cows are wearing sensors and all of the data is being sent to the cloud and the back to the farmer who can make decisions based on this data. almost every task on this farm can be automated. these cows a re this farm can be automated. these cows are queueing up in this system chooses how many times a day and what two coming times want to be milked. the robber picks up how much milked. the robber picks up how much milk is coming from each of the cows others and controls the sensitivity of the milking as well. the cows here, go as they please with little human interaction their movements. so what of these cows has just taken itself a massage. sg so what of these cows has just taken itself a massage. 56 could change the life of cows forever. and from

one minor miracle to the promise of another now, space travel for ordinary folk. like us! last autumn, mark was invited to new mexico in the united states to see the world's first commercial spaceport. fire! fire! it's a little after 7am and i'm heading into the desert in new mexico, about 20 miles past a place called truth or consequences. thank you very much. the only way that you could get to space today is with the russians and they are currently charging another around $80 million per ticket.

spaceport america is the new home of virgin galactic, the company founded by billy nessa richard branson to ta ke by billy nessa richard branson to take paying customers on 90 minute flights to the edge of space. the spaceport‘s exterior is the product ofa dish spaceport‘s exterior is the product of a dish architects also eventually, five spaceships and to make carrier and aircraft will reside in the hangup. passengers will also receive three days training here before blasting off into the two upper atmosphere. you are go for launch. is also home to mission control where all flight operations are monitored from and this is the very first time a tv crew has been allowed to film inside this room. wins a holding once exterior at ten knots and 30... this room. wins a holding once exterior at ten knots and 30. .. when do you think virgin galactic is going to be putting paying customers into space. what is the day, when is

going to happen? right now according to our current projections, we think we can start operation next year. the world of course has bigger problems to solve than just trying to get us off it and in 2019, green issues and sustainability came to the fore. extiction rebellion gratitude bogue and the uk's commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050. last year i met up with the first scientist to suggest that as well as stopping emitting greenhouse gases, we might be able to use technology to pull them back out of the atmosphere. it's called the artificial tree. the air passes through these filters which are made ofa through these filters which are made of a very special material because the c02 of a very special material because the co2 actually clings to this material as the air passes over it.

once these filters are saturated with carbon dioxide, this whole thing moves down into a container of water where this particular material releases the co2 into the sealed container and then congratulations, you captured yourself some co2 from the air. this is the brainchild of clouse, here at the aptly named negative emission centre at arizona state university. i realise very early on that this is a waste management problem. we are dumping c02 management problem. we are dumping co2 into the atmosphere and itjust stays there. it was very clear to me in the early 90s that sometime in the 21st century, will have to stop omitting. he was the first scientist backin omitting. he was the first scientist back in 1999 to publish a scientific paper suggesting that carbon capture from the air was a feasible way of combating climate change. and once you've captured the carbon, the next problem is what you can to do if it? we can use the co2 to create drinks,

beer or soda or whatever. we can also use co2 for fuel production. there are also currently studies ongoing to see if we can somehow use the c02 ongoing to see if we can somehow use the co2 as a building material. ongoing to see if we can somehow use the c02 as a building material. yet, in the future, we maybe able to lock c02 in the future, we maybe able to lock co2 into concrete. climate change is getting ever more urgent and so the work to combat it is getting ever more important. isn't that right alexa. yes it is spencer. you been quite popular over the list de mccluskey haven't you? quite popular over the list de mccluskey haven't you ?|j quite popular over the list de mccluskey haven't you? i have haven't i spencer. 22 everything. i'm always listening to you spencer. not so good are reacting to other types of sounds like alarms or dogs barking. i'm sure, maybe, i, arm. yes, thanks alexa. paul carter, earlier in the year went to see a british company that is teaching

voice assistance some new tricks. these waveforms that i can see here on the screen at representations of what is coming off the microphone is in there. and in the middle, is the actual dog bark threshold that the system is listening for and when it identifies them, you should hear it activate. hey marty, i can hear barking. a5 it is late in your home alone, i'm going to let your owner. turn on the lights and play some jazz because i know how much you like itnice! but dogs, as good as they are, only the beginning. the space you can be used to record an enormous range of sounds ranging from the dramatic... the more low— key. there is no shortcuts of this sort of thing. you literally have to have the data sets. we had to go and collect all of that data so we have

the world's largest collection of audio data, 15 million audio event files that help us train that technology itself. and of course, we couldn't leave without taking a sledgehammer to some windows. smashing! now lara has been extremely busy over the past year and we asked her to pick a highlights from 2019, she chose this next film. like many of us, she has been worried about how the bigger tech companies are using our data to target us with ads, decide what we see on social media or even possibly influence how we might vote. in the summer, she joined to influence how we might vote. in the summer, shejoined to make of pot, paratoo production crew and a unique theatre experience to make us all think twice. we've been instructed to go toa think twice. we've been instructed to go to a pub near london bridge where we delivered a message. we need you, sarah needs you. keep your phone to hand and await further instructions. gosh. are you sarah?

yes. do you knowjust? yes. we are told about a secret mind shifting experience where we give up our memories. memory deletion basically. and you don't remember because it is a procedure that you had done. and you don't remember because it is a procedure that you had donelj went behind the scenes with one of the creator still and what is actually going on here. we get sent their name and e—mailfrom our ticketing provider. we can run and it data enrichment on the person. it was nuts if pull up things like —related people, personal e—mail address, getup, anything that could be relevant, even if we don't exactly know how it is relevant. from that point, we can start curating the imagery which makes sense to show them. i'm looking for the dossier they collated on you. as the dossier they collated on you. as the show unfolds, tension builds until the big reveal. the dossier on you concocted from your online life.

i have no idea what we're going to find in these files. what is this, wow! wow! my old boss from years ago. i'm really careful about not putting anything personal online yet still, what they found surprised me. my still, what they found surprised me. my first thought was that if you put my name into a search engine, you would find far more relevant and meaningful information on the pictures that i hear. that is true but at the same time, you were kind of know where it came from and it would lose a little bit of mystery. take the memory stick out and delete information on sales. get rid of it all! everybody out! now, you need to go. go! give me the memory sticks! because if i don't have them he will. has been a pretty intense experience but the thing that is really left with me is that i really want to hold onto my data. the show has really stuck with me yet a few weeks

on, has my behaviour changed? of course not, i really want my online life to be easy so i'm still handing over my data left right and centre but maybe i'm just yet to be struck by what that means in the real world. that was lara, i wonder whether she is contemplating less datasharing for her new year's resolutions. those were the big moments and the big themes from 2019. who knows what 2020 will bring. to get an idea, next week, we re bring. to get an idea, next week, were going to be at the world's biggest tech expo ces in las vegas. we hope you can be there with us. on—site, described as non—stop. we will see you then.

despite some early morning rain in the south—west and gale force —— south—east. winds in the northern isles, for many it was a better day and more sunshine for many that we have seen this year. we can see this from the weather watch picture that has been sent in from cambridgeshire, not a cloud in the sky. there was the early morning clouds that eased away. clear skies behind and just some showery clouds from the far north. with those clear skies continuing overnight, it means a chilly start to our saturday morning. low single figures in the south—east, a touch of light frost in sheltered rural parts as well. saturday shaping up to be a reasonable day. as high pressure builds from the south, across the top of the high we have those weak weather fronts and always a bit more of a breeze with the isobars squeezing together here. generally speaking, it is not

looking like a bad weekend at all. sheltered eastern areas perhaps the best of the brightness. some sunshine across eastern scotland and england. the cloud thick enough in the west for a spot or two of drizzle and into the far north—west with that weather fronts not too far away. maybe some persistent showery rains and strengthening winds here. temperatures at around 8—10 degrees and that is down from what we've seen of late but still not too bad really for this time of year. as you move out of saturday and into sunday, a high—pressure system starting to drift off into the near continent. again these weather fronts creeping in across the top of the high and again those isobars still a feature. the winds will strengthen and start to swing around to more of a south—westerly direction on sunday. again, always the risk of more clouds along the west facing coasts. persistent drizzle and rain in the far north—west but again sheltered south and off eastern

areas seeing some sunshine and temperatures at around 9—12 degrees as the high. as we move out of sunday and into the start of the new working week, we have to look high up into the atmosphere. yes, the jet stream. it looks like it may turn into quite a powerfuljet and that is going to be responsible for driving areas of low pressure across the uk. it does look as though we are set for an unsettled spell of weather at the start of the new working week. a long weather front to sweep through only to be replaced by another. it does look like it's going to be wet and increasingly windy with plenty of isobars on the chart. potentially on tuesday quite a stormy spell with gales likely and some of that rain quite heavy.

on this data.

welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: president trump defends the killing of iran's top military commander in an airstrike. the us says general qasem soleimani was actively plotting an attack, and their decision saved hundreds of american lives. we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war. as iran vows revenge, tens of thousands of iranians take to the streets in protest. in other news: safe at last, relief as the australian navy rescues a thousand people who'd been trapped on the coast by bush fires.