this is bbc news, i'm sally bundock with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. new york rings in 2021 with a spectacular fireworks display, but for the first time in 114 years, spectators are not allowed into times square for the celebrations. instead, the tradition is going virtual because of concerns over covid—19. we will have the other headlines for you and a moment, including, of course : a new year and a new era for the uk, as it leaves its partnership with the european union, bringing an end to a relationship that lasted nearly half a century.

but this is times square right 110w. all decisions will be made in the house of commons through a system of transparency and accountability. in europe, most leaders believe the union, and the united kingdom, will be worse off as a result of brexit, a sentiment echoed on the streets. big shame that it's had to go down like that. i think it's a pity. nearly 56,000 daily cases of coronavirus are recorded in the past 2a hours in the uk, the highest on record, putting the health service under extreme pressure.

lets go live to new york, times square, which isjust seeing in a brand new year. you can see there are pictures of some revellers in times square, it isa revellers in times square, it is a much lower key scene this year, because of course of the coronavirus pandemic, so there isa coronavirus pandemic, so there is a heavy police presence as they manage crowds and times square this year. instead of thousands and thousands of tourists coming in from all over the world, only a smaller number of invited guests have been asked to take part in this event, so have a listen and as they see and 2021. # in new york, new york... # i want to wa ke york, new york... # i want to wake up in a city that never

sleeps.

so there you have it, the us marking the beginning of a new year, 2021, happy new year to all. of course, new york at one point was the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states, so people with fresh hope for a better 2021. later in the programme we will see how other cities around the world have elevated the new year, ina world have elevated the new year, in a very different way of course, with restrictions in place because of the global pandemic. as 2021 begins, the uk has entered a new era in its relationship

with the european union. the brexit transition period expired at 11pm last night, and the new agreement between brussels and westminster will now govern trade across the english channel. but the british government has admitted all may not at first run smoothly. and the rupture with europe will bring significant and lasting change to travel, security, migration and bureaucracy. jessica parker has the latest. big ben, marking the hour last night. boris johnson described it as an amazing moment for the country, and is one that some will regard with huge optimism, others with deep regret. but for brexit supporters, a long fought because coming to fruition. all decisions will be made in the house of commons through a system of trends in the and accountability. are

used to say to my constituents, i will give you £100 if you can name me any of the members of the european parliament that represent you. i haven't lost a penny. the last ship leaving dover before the new rules act and. the uk left the eu last january but it was yesterday evening that the transition period ended and largely brought that departure into effect. new border checks are coming in, changes has. u nfortu nately coming in, changes has. unfortunately because of the late negotiation of the deal, many of the actual details of how these checks will be done and what the documentation looks like have still not really reached those who are going to be working under them and still worse, those who are going to enforce them. on new year's day there is expected to be relatively little freight traffic, the immediate impact of brexit in some areas may be less obvious than others. nevertheless, significant changes are here, whether on trade, travel, immigration or securities. civil servants of

my generation spent the last a0 yea rs my generation spent the last a0 years trying to remove obstacles years trying to remove o bsta cles to years trying to remove obstacles to working, living, travelling to europe. and tonight, those obstacles, many of them are coming back. life will get more difficult, more expensive, more cumbersome dealing with europe. muted new year celebrations across the uk last night and while coronavirus continues for now to shut down much of society, this change brought by brexit may well become more apparent in the months ahead. this was the reaction of some people on the streets of brussels to the uk's departure. it is a shame — a big shame — that it had to go down like that. i think so, too. i think that it is absolutely nonsense that they go away from europe. i kind of feel sad about it. yeah, i do not know what they are doing, what our relationship is going to be in the future so how we can go to england, you know, because i simply

would need a passport now. yeah, it's a bit of a shame that we will not be able to travel or go to england as easily as we could have done before. i think it isjust a shame, really, because it was so easy to go, to exchange, with all the people there. i respect the british people's decision but at the same time, i think it is a pity. most eu leaders believe the european union — and the united kingdom — will be worse off as a result of brexit. 0ur europe editor katya adler is in brussels. well, i would say as europe editor, from the eu point of view, there is a lot of relief that the brexit process is over — you know, those endless tense negotiations, that ever—present threat of no—deal. first of all, the no—deal

brexit before the divorce deal, which was then finally signed last year, and then no—deal once again, really right up until the last point now with the new trade and co—operation deal. but where there's relief at the end of the process, there's still a lot of regret about brexit itself. the eu believes that brexit leaves it, the european union, and the united kingdom a lot weaker. but as i say, the eu said that it respects the 2016 vote to leave the european union, even though it regrets it. in these negotiations, the eu had to recognise that national sovereignty was a huge issue priority for the government, just as the eu's priority was protecting the single market. and david frost and his team, michel barnier and his team, they worked really hard to try and square the circle of these two very different priorities

in these negotiations and both sides then said they felt at the end that a fair deal had been struck that respected those priorities. and how is that? well, of course, originally, the eu wanted the uk to sign up to a new rulebook, if you like, to agree to keep to brussels regulations in order to get this very privileged access, if you like, to its single market. but david frost and team, the prime minister said no, we're not going to leave as a member of the european union to sign up to this new brussels rulebook, thatjust does not work for us. so what this new deal does is it says, 0k, well, if either side diverges — so breaks away from the agreed principles, sort of competition rules if you like, so when it comes to environmental regulations and costs, labour regulations, for example, or government subsidy, so state aid. and then the other side, if they feel this allows unfair competition, can go to an arbitration panel —

there's all sorts of different mechanisms in this deal — and say, look, we want to impose tariffs as a result. so that is possible in this trade deal. so if the uk does go its own way when it comes to those kind of regulations, the eu can put tariffs on those areas of trade and it feels that it has protected its single market as a result. uk sovereignty respected and the eu single market protection respected as well. that is the theory. but the eu goes in to this feeling quite defensive because it feels the government will want to pull away and will want to diverge and the eu will want to protect, so this could be quite a difficult path the two sides are pursuing together, but this is where we are so the eu regrets the uk's decision, respects the uk decision, it says, and hopes that the two sides will remain friendly. we will have more on that, of course, throughout this

programme in the back half we will be looking at the key issues for businesses, some of the practicalities they are facing now with this new relationship forged. but now, let's look at what is happening in the uk in terms of coronavirus. the uk has recorded nearly 56,000 daily cases of coronavirus, the highest on record. it comes as several hospitals in london and the south—east say they're under extreme pressure, with some seriously ill patients being moved to hospitals in other parts of the country. 0ur health correspondent katharine da costa reports. like several major hospitals in the capital, university college london has had to rapidly increase critical cap capacity to cope with a surge and covid-19 to cope with a surge and covid—19 patients. is caring for more than 200 numbers rising by the day. staff can't a lwa ys rising by the day. staff can't always provide 1—to—1 care. what we are having to now do is stretch those ratios, so intensive care nurses are

looking after two, three, at some places in the peak they we re some places in the peak they were looking after four or five patients at a time and that puts a phenomenal amount of stress on the team. pressure to, at south end hospitals not bea to, at south end hospitals not be a shortage of staff saw the trust declare a major incident on wednesday. some patients have had to be transferred to cambridge, another sign of the unprecedented pressure hot dogs are under. staff are already stretched. they themselves are suffering from the effect of covid-19 suffering from the effect of covid—19 through being ill themselves and being work and having to self isolate because of exposure, so there is a real risk of health services becoming overwhelmed because of lack of staff and and an an adequate number of beds and the pressure eve ryo ne adequate number of beds and the pressure everyone is under at the moment. so what does declaring a major incident mean? government money to reopen mothballed wards and community hospitals. people sent to other hospitals in the

regional further afield and the fire brigade could drive ambulances. that is something being considered in bucs after the council and hospital trust also declared a major incident this week. we are trying to actually look at the ways in which we can persuade people to use other alternatives other than coming into the hospital, the a&e department and also we are looking at ways in which we can deploy resources across from other departments such as the council into hospital stopping from the hospital's point of view they are looking at cancelling some of their nonurgent operations to actually free up resource for covid-19 actually free up resource for covid—19 patients. some hospitals in the south—east are now so hospitals in the south—east are now so stretched, patients arriving at a&e are being treated and ambulances. 0thers are having to be sent across england for treatment and some health leaders are wanting we have yet to see the impact of mixing over christmas. what we are going to see are these numbers really increasing because we know that there is a real lag between people being infected with covid and the

symptoms coming up, so typically it can be a two week journey from someone realising that they have been infected to perhaps being hospitalised, so the pressure is going to continue to mount and it is going to be quite a nailbiting journey for the nhs. it's a tough start to the new year. for many, the rollout of vaccines can't come soon enough. katharine da costa, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we are going to take a look at new year celebrations around the world the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we'll be in france, and again, it'll be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go.

george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. just good? no, fantastic! that's better! bells toll this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the uk has left its partnership with the european union, bringing an end to a relationship that lasted nearly half a century. new york is the latest major world city to see in the new year in subdued fashion because of the pandemic.

more now on brexit. the end of the transition period means that british citizens will have to get used to a new set of rules when they go to the eu. so what are the key new rules? 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris takes us through them. so, with the transition period at an end, we're moving into a new era. brexit actually happened nearly a year ago, but the practical effects only start now and a lot of the initial attention is going to be on borders. for traders, one really important thing stays the same — no tariffs or taxes on goods crossing between britain and the eu, which is a big relief for many. but there is loads of new bureaucracy, forms to fill in and checks to be done on customs, product standards, food safety and so on. and if lorries don't have the right paperwork, they won't be allowed across. the government has decided to delay checks on goods coming into the uk for six months.

but going into the eu, they start straight away. as for travellers, well, because of covid restrictions, most of us aren't going to be able to travel to europe for a while anyway now we're outside the single market, but that's temporary. in the longer term, the big change is that free movement of people is over. so eu citizens lose the automatic right to live, work and retire in the uk in the future, and uk citizens lose the same rights in europe. you won't need a visa for short—term travel like holidays, but you can't stay in most european countries for more than 90 days in every 180—day period. then there are practical issues. if you have an ehic health insurance card, it will remain valid until it expires. the government is setting up a new uk scheme but it doesn't exist yet, so you might need to get travel insurance. you won't need an international driving permit unless you only have a paper version of the uk licence, but you will need to get a green card to prove you have the right vehicle insurance.

and if you want to take your pet to europe, you'll need an animal health certificate from a vet. now, services. there's going to be a lot of change for what is a substantial part of the uk economy. there's not a huge amount in the deal about financial services, beyond an agreement to keep talking about it, so the exact conditions on which uk companies can operate in europe aren't yet clear. in terms of access, there's better news for uk lawyers who want to work in europe than for uk accountants, but there's no longer any automatic recognition of professional qualifications, which is going to make it a lot harder for some people to sell services across the border. and finally, northern ireland is going to have a different relationship with the eu than the rest of the uk. in order to keep the land border open, northern ireland is staying in the eu single market for goods, which means companies in belfast won't face new bureaucracy trading with the eu.

but it also means the european court ofjustice still has a role in northern ireland — which doesn't please many brexiteers — and there will be new bureaucracy and checks down the irish sea for trade within the uk between great britain and northern ireland. so there's a lot of change — we haven't even talked about fishing or competition rights — but a lot in the new agreement is unresolved still, so if you think that talking and negotiation isjust going to stop, think again. chris morris explaining an awful lot there and as i said, we will have more in the business coverage. the new year is being welcomed in starkly different circumstances. where coronavirus is the overriding concern, streets are empty of the usual crowds. but in other parts of the world, it's fireworks and celebrations as usual. here's paul hawkins with a round—up.

fireworks pop hello, 2021. the famous copacabana beach in rio de janeiro. last year, three million people rang in the new year. this year, the beach party was cancelled with only nearby residents allowed access and public firework displays cancelled. big ben bongs an hour after leaving the eu behind, the uk left 2020 behind. these were fireworks, covid—style — some live, some pre—recorded. but strictly no crowds and no parties. the message — stay at home. it's been very strange because obviously, as obviously i am used to, like, the fireworks, the big crowds but it has been very, like, quiet and there's police everywhere so it is just, like, it is not like the usual. in scotland, they opted for this — not fireflies, but hogmanay drones — 500 foot in the air, perfectly synchronised

at 25mph. in france, they had music maestrojohn in france, they had music maestro john michelle in france, they had music maestrojohn michelle playing live in his future will in a virtual notre—dame cathedral. reality however was somewhat different. announcement in french translation: it is too bad because especially in this neighbourhood, we're used to having a great atmosphere and we don't see that today. it's too bad. fireworks pop in the netherlands and in germany some private fireworks despite the government introducing a temporary ban on them. fireworks pop australians also stayed indoors — their fireworks were cut

to seven minutes — while the uae did it like this. and in the place where coronavirus began, it was new year like usual. the chinese reaping the rewards of tough lockdowns and a zero—tolerance approach. no more social distancing. instead, socialising and parties. remember that? paul hawkins, bbc news. yes, we do remember that and let's hope for that to return in the yearahead. the entertainment industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. but the film business is hoping a slate of blockbuster movies will lure people back into cinemas in 2021. gail maclellan reports. if we don't do this, there will be nothing left to save. he's back in april... well, maybe. the studios have been hesitant to announce opening dates

for any of the massive blockbusters they have up their sleeves. movie theatres struggled throughout 2020, with takings down 80% on the previous year. two—thirds of cinemas in the united states and canada remain closed — the biggest market for hollywood films. the studios plan to send theatres a line—up of big budget movies that were yanked from the 2020 schedule. so we're up against a master thief, assassin. who is he? they are hoping that audiences will be drawn away from live—streaming options by the large screen theatre experience, but the schedules have been repeatedly shuffled as they try to judge when the pandemic will fade. the new year might see comedies, animated films and a raft of very famous faces — well, actually not a raft, a boat with a murderer on board. and there are great hopes for a new version

of an ‘80s classic. but the optimism is guarded as covid infections continue to rise, and the roll—out of vaccines said to take many months. —— of vaccines set to take many months. gail maclellan, bbc news. so many expectations for this year, aren't there, given 2020 and the year that was. so we shall talk some more in the next half hour about the new relationship between the uk and the european union. what does it mean for businesses in particular? what does it mean for financial services in the uk which, of course, is a huge contributor to economic growth. a very important part of the uk connelly. negotiations are still ongoing when it comes to financial services —— uk economy. all that and more to come in a few minutes so don't

go anywhere! stay with us here on bbc news. i will see you in a moment. hello there, a very happy new year to you. what a cold start it is as well for the first of january, 2021. we've got widespread frost this morning, some ice to watch out for, a bit of sunshine as well, but we'll also have a weather front bringing thicker cloud with some wintry showers. now, this is the weather front which will bring cloudier skies to england and wales. a northerly wind continuing to feed through wintry showers, particularly into northern scotland. but, like i mentioned, there will be sunshine around. watch out for some icy stretches first thing this morning across the south—west of england. there'll be some patches of freezing fog as well in the midlands and the south—east. this may tend to lift but stay in low cloud. there will be some spots of light rain at time, perhaps some sleet and snow over the high ground. probably the best of the dry and bright weather will be across scotland and northern ireland. that is away from northern coasts, where we're likely to see further snow showers. another cold day to come,

maybe not as cold as it has been, but still a—7 degrees is below the seasonal average. now, as we head on through tonight, it looks like the cloud and the showers push southwards. further showers will affect coastal areas, but many inland areas will see clear skies, lighter winds, so it's going to be another very cold night. a widespread frost in places, also some icy stretches to watch out for. so, into the first part of the weekend, we hold on to high pressure to the west of us, lower pressure to the east, so we maintain this northerly airflow. that'll continue to feed showers into coastal areas. wintry showers, that is, certainly over any higher ground. but inland areas should tend to stay dry with good spells of sunshine. but it's going to be another cold day on saturday — temperatures range from around freezing to five or six degrees closer to the coasts. as we head on to part two of the weekend, we start to see a slight shift in wind direction. higher pressure to the north, low pressure to the near continent. that'll start to feed in a north—easterly wind across the country, and that'll drive showers into north sea

coasts, a few of them pushing inland as well, and they will be wintry, especially over the higher ground, so probably the best of any dry and bright weather will be across southern, northern and western areas. and again, another cold day to come. when you factor in the stronger north—easterly breeze, it could feel quite raw. that breeze just picks up further as we head on into next week. a stronger easterly, which will feed in thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain at times, particularly across southern and eastern parts of england. and you'll notice it will stay quite cold, particularly when you factor in the strong easterly wind.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines

for viewers in the uk and around the world. time now for the latest business headlines. today the uk officially has left the eu's single market and customs union. but, is business ready for the move having had just days to prepare for the extra paperwork and checks? how are european businesses viewing the future? given both sides have largely said the deal is fair, what sort of long—term relationship can we expect? and we hearfrom a cheese maker in wales who says her business will flourish as she no longer needs to deal with eu red tape. more now on our top