and astronomers prepare to get a glimpse of a dazzling star system that hasn't been visible to the naked eye for eight decades. hello, i'm lukwesa burak. high winds and extreme weather has forced the cancellation of edinburgh's world famous hogmanay celebrations on new year's eve. tens of thousands of tickets had already been sold. but organisers say high winds and extreme weather mean they've been unable to continue with preparations for the outdoor events both today and tomorrow. among the events called off, a concert by the rock band texas and the traditional midnight fireworks display to see in 2025. rain, snow and strong winds will hit

large parts of the uk this week, with a series of weather warnings coming into force between today and thursday. an amber alert for rain has been issued for parts of scotland on new year's eve, and stormy conditions are expected to spread to the rest of the uk. catriona renton reports from edinburgh. music. this is what people from all over the world come to edinburgh to experience. this was hogmanay last year, and preparations were taking place today for the famous street party and concert due to be headlined by texas and spectacular fireworks. that was until this afternoon, when organisers announced they had to cancel on safety grounds after the met office if you get for wind and rain. a spokesperson said....

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of the area tomorrow. the worst of the weather is do to have passed through scotland by new year's day, but there are yellow warnings for wind and rain for the south of england. our correspondent in edinburgh, lisa summers, gave us this update. i mean, this is a huge event for the city. over the years that they've been hosting it, it's really kind of put edinburgh and scotland on the international map as a place to come to to celebrate the new year. now, we were expecting around 16,000 people to gather in prince's street tomorrow night to bring in 2025. you mentioned the concert in the gardens was due to take place as well as a big fireworks display that would be at the castle and was going to last six minutes. organisers have said because of the bad weather we've had today and the extreme weather they're expecting tomorrow, they've been unable to continue with the plans to get everything set up. and for that reason, they've had to make the difficult decision to cancel the event. it's quite early on to do that. we've had the street party

cancelled in years gone by — twice in fact, in 2003 and 2006 — because of bad weather. but that all happened quite late in the day, so it was quite a surprise to hear this afternoon, especially with the weather actually not too bad at the moment, that they'd made the decision to cancel all of the outdoor events. but i think given we're expecting quite terrible weather conditions tomorrow morning, it may well be that the organisers just want to give people time to plan something different and not come to the city or travel to the city if the weather is going to be really poor tomorrow morning. in south korea, families of the victims of the nation's worst aviation disaster in decades are calling for more support from the government. all but two of the 181 people on board died as thejeju air plane crashed after landing at muan international airport. south korea's acting president has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire airline operation system. our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie is at the scene and sent this report.

shouting. the bereaved are at breaking point. these outbursts come every few minutes. a day on from the crash, they're still at the airport, waiting to be reunited with their loved ones' bodies. "why have only five bodies been released," this woman yells. "you are useless." a police official spares her no details. "they're too badly damaged," he says. "forensic teams are still piecing them together." it's disturbing to hear. and for shin gyu—ho, it's even worse. his two teenage grandsons haven't even been identified. translation: i've been sitting here all day, hoping for news. i i'm so frustrated. i feel like i'm waiting without an end. the plane was carrying koreans back from christmas holidays in thailand when it landed at speed, without its wheels down.

as it crashed, every passenger was killed stop investigators as it crashed, every passenger was killed. investigators are now trying to work out why the landing gear seemed to fail, but the flight recorder is damaged. it'll take time to decipher the data. so, today, the attention has turned to what happened on the runway. when the plane made its emergency landing, it was still intact, but because it couldn't stop, it then overshot the runway here. and we now know that it hit this concrete and orange structure that has been raised up on this grassy mound. this is a guidance system that is supposed to help planes land, but this is the point at which the plane exploded into this fireball and fractured into many pieces. and aviation experts are now questioning why this was positioned in this way, so raised up and so close to the end of the runway. the acting president has ordered an investigation of the country's entire aviation industry. without answers, the families

don't know who to blame. for now, the only place they can direct their anger is at the forensic teams, who are still searching, yet to complete the gruelling, an unenviable task. jean mackenzie, bbc news, muan airport. a state funeral is to be held for former us presidentjimmy carter on the 9th of january. he died yesterday at the age of 100. he served one term as president from 1977—1981 and was later awarded the nobel peace prize. this is the scene in washington, dc, where flags are flying at half—mast. apologies, we will bring you those images later. while a makeshift memorial has been set up at the carter presidential center in his home state of georgia. world leaders have been paying tributes to him. among them, king charles, who said he felt "great sadness" at president carter's passing and described him as

a "committed public servant". i'm joined now by professor laura ellyn smith, who's a presidential historian and an assistant teaching professor at arizona state university. hello, professor. welcome to the programme. just thinking now about what is going to happen next and some of the protocols we can expect over the next few days up until the state funeral, what will be in planning and scheduled in terms of presidential protocol? weill. planning and scheduled in terms of presidential protocol?— planning and scheduled in terms of presidential protocol? well, we saw president joe _ presidential protocol? well, we saw president joe biden _ presidential protocol? well, we saw president joe biden come _ presidential protocol? well, we saw president joe biden come out, - presidential protocol? well, we saw president joe biden come out, and. presidentjoe biden come out, and i'm asleep he halted his vacation to make an address. he also made a statement before the address, and he made quite a moving, emotional statement as he is wont to do, talking about how statement as he is wont to do, talking about hoinmmy carter... obviously he had known him he was the first, i think, even elected

government on the democrat side to come out forjimmy carter's campaign all those years ago, so he's known it for 50 plus years. had talked about how kind jimmy carter was at the passing of his son the due to brain cancer, so they honestly had a close personal relationship. some he made that statement and we have seen other ex presidents, too, obviously bill clinton now the oldest living ex—president. we have seen barack obama and donald trump also make a statement, a noncontroversial statement, a noncontroversial statement at that, i might add. so we do see sort of the presidents club as it were coming together for this moment of celebrating a life well lived. , , ., ., ~' this moment of celebrating a life well lived. , , ., ., ~ ., this moment of celebrating a life well lived. , ., , this moment of celebrating a life welllived. , ., , ,, well lived. just looking at his us foreian well lived. just looking at his us foreign policy- — well lived. just looking at his us foreign policy. we _ well lived. just looking at his us foreign policy. we were - well lived. just looking at his us foreign policy. we were hearing| well lived. just looking at his us i foreign policy. we were hearing so much about what he did during his one term. a lot of his achievements, though, were carried on and completed by president reagan. this is the completed by president reagan. ti 3 is the interesting thing is that

obviously gerald ford completed richard nixon's term as it were, taking over after nixon resigned after watergate, and gerald ford was the first president to really sorta begin to move away from the top, move away from that frilly nest that nixon builds up with the soviet union to cool the tensions of the cold war and start to emphasise human rights. jimmy carter picks it up human rights. jimmy carter picks it up and takes it to a whole new level, really prioritising human rights and foreign policy to varied success, but what it does is it really highlights the contradiction in american foreign policy of the time. this idea that america was supporting autocrats and dictators as long as they were not communists at the height of the cold war, very controversial places like latin america for example. so this push in that sort of deterioration that it led to with relations between the us and russia, it leads to reagan and his emphasis in of course famous quote of calling rush of the evil empire in his first term, very

heightened rhetoric. so obviously there is still massive debate among historians as to which president should truly get credit for ending the cold war. they all contributed in their own various ways, but carter was certainly saddled with multiple crises both domestic and foreign during his one term. professor smith, that you very much for your time. professor smith, that you very much foryourtime. mr; professor smith, that you very much for your time-— for your time. my pleasure, thank ou. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has announced one of the largest prisoner exchanges since full—scale war began with russia nearly three years ago. 189 ukrainian troops are being returned home from captivity, and 150 russian soldiers are being returned in the deal, which was brokered by the united arab emirates. let's speak to our correspondent will vernon, who's in northern ukraine. you are of the location where the prisoners what happened. what was it like? we

prisoners what happened. what was it like? ~ , , , . , , like? we 'ust witnessed incredibly movinu like? we just witnessed incredibly moving scenes — like? we just witnessed incredibly moving scenes here _ like? we just witnessed incredibly moving scenes here is _ like? we just witnessed incredibly moving scenes here is the - like? we just witnessed incredibly moving scenes here is the buses i like? we just witnessed incredibly i moving scenes here is the buses with those 189 released to pulled up outside this hospital here. they had onlyjust been taken out of russian territory, and the emotion of these men who came out of the buses draped in ukrainian flags and also the family members they were waiting here to greet them really was overwhelming. there were lots of tears, shouts ofjoy, hugs and kisses and many of the men made phone calls to their families back home to say they were ok, they were out. many of them of course have beenin out. many of them of course have been in captivity for a very long time, more than 2.5 years in many cases. so the emotion here was really incredible. the other thing that was particularly touching was there are a lot of for members here of ukrainian soldiers who were still either missing or in captivity, and they were showing photographs of their loved ones to those who would just been released saying have you seen my husband, my son, do you know

anything about them? so it really was quite an extraordinary seem to behold. i was quite an extraordinary seem to behold. ., , ., was quite an extraordinary seem to behold. ., i. _, behold. i wonder if you could give us a sense _ behold. i wonder if you could give us a sense more _ behold. i wonder if you could give us a sense more broadly - behold. i wonder if you could give us a sense more broadly over - behold. i wonder if you could give us a sense more broadly over the | behold. i wonder if you could give - us a sense more broadly over the war is that at the moment?— is that at the moment? well, the war is that at the moment? well, the war is auoin is that at the moment? well, the war is going badly — is that at the moment? well, the war is going badly for— is that at the moment? well, the war is going badly for ukraine. _ is that at the moment? well, the war is going badly for ukraine. despite i is going badly for ukraine. despite thejubilant scenes we is going badly for ukraine. despite the jubilant scenes we saw here earlier, the mood is pretty gloomy at the moment here. interestingly some ukrainian officials here were telling us that the negotiations with russia over these prisoner exchanges like the one that happened today, it was one of the biggest since the war started, those negotiations are becoming much more difficult because moscow is less when to negotiate because it's advancing on the battlefield. ukraine has a serious shortage of men and for the front line, is losing territory. ukrainians feel that the west is losing interest, to. so 2025 is looking to be a particularly uncertain and worrying yearfor ukrainians. {lilia

particularly uncertain and worrying year for ukrainians.— particularly uncertain and worrying year for ukrainians. ok, thank you very much — year for ukrainians. ok, thank you very much indeed. _ in his final weeks in office, presidentjoe biden announced nearly $6 billion in additional military and budget aid for ukraine. of that, $2.5 billion is designated for security assistance, whilst $3.1; billion will help repair critical infrastructure damaged by intensified russian attacks. it's the final disbursement under the 2024 ukraine security supplemental appropriations act. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

five people have been charged in argentina in connection with the death of the former one direction star liam payne. the 31—year—old died after taking drugs and falling from a third—floor balcony at a hotel in buenos aires in october. the hotel's manager,

receptionist and a friend of the singer have been charged with manslaughter. two others who worked at the hotel have been charged with supplying drugs. our correspondent tom symonds has more. that final night, liam payne was intoxicated by drugs — vulnerable, defenceless — according to this new and detailed statement about events at the buenos aires hotel. prosecutors say staff were aware of his condition, but took him to his room, later found trashed, and left him. investigators believe liam payne fell from the balcony while trying to find the exit. they say there's enough evidence to support a type of manslaughter charge. the businessman rogalia roger nores, liam payne's friend and driver in argentina, abandoned him to his fate, they say. two hotel staff, gilda martin and esteban grassi, acted recklessly by allowing the singer to be taken to his room. another hotel worker, ezequiel pereira, and a waiter, braian paiz, are accused

of selling him cocaine. these charges follow a major investigation. police gathered hundreds of hours of cctv footage, phone messages and hotel records. before, liam payne described how his life on tour had left him struggling with addiction. when we were in the band, the best way to secure us because of how big it got was just lock us in our rooms. and, of course, what's in the room? a mini bar. so at a certain point, i thought, "i'm going to have a party for one," and thatjust seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life. one direction have sold millions of albums worldwide. liam payne's death has left his fans distraught. the argentine judge overseeing the case has said no—one involved wanted him to lose his life, but their actions had put it at risk. tom symonds, bbc news. the head of the united nations has warned in his new year message that the world is facing "climate breakdown". antonio guterres called for action

to cut emissions and switch to renewable energy. the world meteorological organization says climate change played out on an almost daily basis in 2024 with extreme weather events including floods, cyclones and droughts. let's hear some of what mr guterres had to say. in 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future. it is essential, and it is possible. i see hope in activists, young and old, raising their voices for progress. i see hope in humanitarian heroes overcoming enormous obstacles to support the most vulnerable people. i see hope in developing countries fighting for financial and climate justice. i see hope in the scientists and innovators breaking new ground for humanity. and i saw hope in september when world leaders came together

to adopt the pact for the future. our climate reporter esme stallard told us more about the importance of mentioning climate in the message from the united nations chief. it was mentioned last year in his new year speech, because 2023 broke the record for the hottest year. now, we don't yet have the data for the 2024, but based on the last 11 months of data that we do have, we expect this to break the record for the hottest year yet again. and i think it's very clear in guterres' message that he wants to make clear that this is notjust impacting in terms of extreme weather, but actually impacting on the un achieving some of its other goals and outcomes. remember, antonio guterres is the secretary—general for the un as a whole, and so they have many priorities, not just climate change. they have priorities about education, health care, gender equality. him referencing in this speech climate change is because he wants

to make clear that actually those goals are also under threat if we don't tackle climate change. we know women are disproportionately impacted by climate change. we know previously that during the typhoon season that happened this year, children had to be taken out of school due to extreme flooding. that affects their education. so even though climate change isjust one goal that the un has to tackle as an issue, it does have a knock—on impact on other areas. whether this speech will drive change, it's very difficult. we saw at the cop conference, the annual un climate conference in november, that countries couldn't come together on some of the key issues, particularly how they will deal with fossil fuels. even though the evidence is quite clear that climate change is potentially getting worse, that temperatures are increasing, we're not quite seeing if that is enough to spur action when it comes to countries getting together on that global level. astronomers are eagerly awaiting a celestial event that only happens about every 80 years. it involves a star system called t corona borealis, or t cor borfor short. researchers across the globe will be looking to the skies to catch a glimpse of it,

with the hopes it'll allow them to study this star in more detail than ever before. let's speak to jane clarke, who is the vice—chair at cardiff astronomical society. hello and welcome to the programme. we saved 80 years, if it was really 80 years it would not be until 2026, would it? ~ ~ would it? well, i think that's riuht. would it? well, i think that's right- it's — would it? well, i think that's right. it's approximate. i would it? well, i think that's right. it's approximate. the | would it? well, i think that's - right. it's approximate. the trouble is that forecasting these things is like forecasting the weather on steroids because around the earth, we have got all these wonderful weather satellites and things and loads and loads of data. this thing is 30,000 light years away. we've got none of that out there. {lilia is 30,000 light years away. we've got none of that out there. ok, now this is a dead _ got none of that out there. ok, now this is a dead star, _ got none of that out there. ok, now this is a dead star, basically. - this is a dead star, basically. so how is it that it's going to come back to life? how is it that it's going to come back to life ?_ how is it that it's going to come back to life? almost, is a pair of stars. back to life? almost, is a pair of stars- most _ back to life? almost, is a pair of stars. most stars _ back to life? almost, is a pair of stars. most stars are _ back to life? almost, is a pair of stars. most stars are in - back to life? almost, is a pair of stars. most stars are in fact i stars. most stars are in fact double stars. most stars are in fact double

stars. the sun is unusual in that regard. of these double stars, one is you say is a dead star, no nuclear reactions going on. is you say is a dead star, n