hope in gaza — the un's children's agency has reunited 63 children with their guardians, who were separated during the war. and coming up — london's annual new year's day parade gets under way in a few hours. we join one group's rehearsal. hello, i'm nicky schiller. welcome to the programme and a happy new year. across the world, people have been celebrating the start of 2025. right now it's just turned midnight in the us state of alaska and in parts of french polynesia. and an hour ago the west coast of america entered the new year — these pictures are from las vegas in nevada where the world—famous strip with all those hotels and casinos was lit up with fireworks.

it's one of the last big displays to welcome in 2025. despite ongoing conflicts and tensions around the world, the new year is always a moment for optimism and celebration — and lots and lots of fireworks. greg mckenzie has been looking at the pictures. five, four, three... ..two, one. big ben chimes the biggest show in europe. tens of thousands of people lined the river thames to bring in the new year and watch a spectacular 12 minutes of fireworks. well, 100,000 people managed to get tickets to experience the fireworks show and many have told me here tonight that it was a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. happy new year! absolutely mind blowing. what a... greatest city in the world. beautiful, beautiful. i thought it was fantastic.

it's one of the best fireworks displays we've seen. and we have some pretty good ones up in scotland, too. well, they didn't have them this year. i know, which is quite sad. so we're glad we came down here. bad weather across large parts of the uk meant edinburgh's outdoor hogmanay events had to be cancelled. it's a real shame, but never mind. and we're from wellington, which is actually known for its wind. and we're sort of thinking this isn't quite as windy as even we know it. celebrations have continued around the globe. this was the scene on the champs—elysees in paris. and germany, whose celebrations this year took place at berlin's iconic brandenburg gate. the uae saw the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa, come to life in dubai. three, two, one... while over in sydney, robbie williams helped bring in the new year

celebrations there. from one of the first to celebrate 2025, new zealand... ..to the last nations across north and south america, where new york city saw in their new year a short time ago. greg mckenzie, bbc news. amid the celebrations, there is concern about what the new year holds in store, with conflicts raging in the middle east, ukraine, sudan and the democratic republic of congo. in his new year address, ukrainian leader volodymyr zelensky said his country will do all it can to end the war with moscow in 2025 and halt what he called russian aggression. standing in front of the iconic mother ukraine monument in kyiv, he also said that ukraine would need to fight next year to bolster its position both militarily, and ahead of any talks to end russia's

three—year invasion. translation: may 2025 become our year, the year of ukraine. - we know peace will not be gifted to us. but we will do everything to stop russia and end the war. this is what each of us dreams of. behind each of us stands mother ukraine. she deserves to live in peace. i wish this for all of us. president zelensky. years of gas supplies from russia to europe — sent via ukraine — have come to an end, marking an end of an era in the european union. the route has been in place for more than a0 years, but ukraine's president zelensky, refused to allow further transits which he said were fuelling the russian war machine. the eu has had a year to prepare for the change and the european commission says the impact will be limited. let's speak to our central europe correspondent nick thorpe. how big a deal is this?

any cutting of gas supplies as you can see on a cold winter's day like this is really emotionally important and strategically important and financially important, in practical terms it is the end of a five year contract between a ukrainian gas company and gazprom of russia, that pipeline about three hours ago ceased to receive gas, that was passing a0 million cubic metres of gas a day through to slovakia initially and then on to countries like austria, hungary and italy. the european union says it has plenty of other suppliers. notably the united states which now supplies a great deal of gas to the eu but also norway, qatar, other countries sending liquid gas to europe. but strategically and symbolically, it is the end of an era because for decades, as you said,

actually since 196a, russia has supplied europe, initially used in europe but then western europe with large amounts through many pipelines of cheap gas. now there is only one left supplying 5% of europe's needs, that turk stream pipeline coming up through the balkans. i assume the concern is because now they are having to go to other suppliers, the cost will rise because this has been cheap coming from russia through ukraine.— cheap coming from russia through ukraine. that's right. obviously _ through ukraine. that's right. obviously the _ through ukraine. that's right. obviously the cheapest - through ukraine. that's right. obviously the cheapest way . through ukraine. that's right. | obviously the cheapest way to supply gas is through pipelines rather than to compress it, to cool it to —16 celsius, it is difficult to turn it back into gas and put it into pipelines again which is what is now happening. europe depends for 80% of its gas supplies on imports from other places in the world and so the price is up. fourtimes, europeans pay

for micro times more for their gas, whether that's household or industrial gas, heating gas, then the united states and that affects european competitiveness as it tries to compete with china, the united states and other countries. nick thorpe live in west hungary, thank you very much. let's stay with the issue of energy prices. the average energy bill for households across england, scotland and wales has increased today. bills have risen by an average of 1.2% after the regulator raised its price cap in response to wholesale prices. on average, that's £21 a year than £21 a year more than under the previous cap. the rise is 10% lower than a year ago, and 57% less than during the energy crisis, which was fuelled by russia's invasion of ukraine. but it comes as millions of pensioners are facing a winter with less support, after the government decided to scrap winter fuel payments for those who do not receive pension credit or other benefits.

with me in the studio is financial advisor emmanuel asuquo. thank you forjoining us. explain to our viewers what the price cap is. explain to our viewers what the price cap is-_ price cap is. the price cap was brou:ht price cap is. the price cap was brought in _ price cap is. the price cap was brought in to _ price cap is. the price cap was brought in to just _ price cap is. the price cap was brought in to just cap - price cap is. the price cap was brought in to just cap how- price cap is. the price cap was i brought in to just cap how much can be charged, and we talk about gas and electricity. and so it is just the units, it's not the amount. if you use more it's going to cost more, if you use less it will cost less. 0n use less it will cost less. on average for the average household they say it is around 1700 so this new increase means an extra £21 for the average user. like i said, it is the average so if you use more it could be more than £21, someone like myself who has a big family will pay more than that but for people who use less it could be lower. irate but for people who use less it could be lower.— could be lower. we say it is not as much _ could be lower. we say it is not as much as _ could be lower. we say it is not as much as the - could be lower. we say it is| not as much as the previous increase but of course when the energy crisis was on we had government support, each of us got money into our energy accounts, and of course a lot of people may have been on a fixed deal that has now ended. yes so we are seeing people on

fixed deals where the price might be up, and we're also seeing we don't have the government support like you said, the cost of living being higher general, the cost of things, when we look at the whether it is colder. this is the coldest season right now so although maybe it wasn't as cold over the last few months we expect it to be cold and now so people will be using it and it will be a big expense. the question _ it will be a big expense. the question is. _ it will be a big expense. the question is, are _ it will be a big expense. the question is, are we - it will be a big expense. the question is, are we likely to see further rises, do you think? ., , , ., ., think? probably from what we are seeing _ think? probably from what we are seeing and _ think? probably from what we are seeing and with _ think? probably from what we are seeing and with the - think? probably from what we j are seeing and with the report we have just heard, are seeing and with the report we havejust heard, yes, it will cost more to get the actual gas and electricity to us, it will cost more.- actual gas and electricity to us, it will cost more. what is our us, it will cost more. what is your advice _ us, it will cost more. what is your advice if _ us, it will cost more. what is your advice if someone - us, it will cost more. what is your advice if someone is - your advice if someone is looking at the different deals that are on offer? is it a time to look at fixing for a couple of years? what would your advice be to someone who is looking from going off that general tariff that companies have may be onto a fixed deal? right now there is more competition so it is a good time for people to actually go to a comparison website and look at what price they can get. look at what price they can net. �* ,

look at what price they can . et, �* , . ., ., get. and if they can get a better deal. _ get. and if they can get a better deal. some - get. and if they can get a better deal. some of - get. and if they can get a better deal. some of the | get. and if they can get a - better deal. some of the deals we are seeing are people saving anywhere between £50 after £200 or £300 for the year so it is something worth doing and it's really easy to do. if you have a statement, you can use it, the details are on there and it can be done within a few minutes. can be done within a few minutes-— can be done within a few minutes. ~ ., ., minutes. we are into the new year so we — minutes. we are into the new year so we have _ minutes. we are into the new year so we have talked - minutes. we are into the new year so we have talked about| year so we have talked about fuel prices. is there anything else we need to worry about in terms of bills going up? irate terms of bills going up? we have seen _ terms of bills going up? we have seen the _ terms of bills going up? - have seen the bus fare, transport has gone up, so that is going to cost more to work. we have seen inflation go up, we have seen interest rates have come down but we are still seeing inflation go up so we are seeing the cost of food and living, so it's a really important time for people to really analyse their outgoings, the costs, and really understand how much it costs to live the lifestyle you are living now and what changes do you have to make.— living now and what changes do you have to make. emanuel, good advice, you have to make. emanuel, good advice. thank _ you have to make. emanuel, good advice, thank you _ you have to make. emanuel, good advice, thank you for _ you have to make. emanuel, good advice, thank you for coming - advice, thank you for coming into the studio today. i just want to bring you a line of breaking news we are just getting in. the number of migrants arriving in the uk in 202a

after crossing the english channel in small boats was up by a quarter on the previous year, figures show. some 36,816 people made thejourney in 202a, a jump of 25% from 2023, according to provisionalfigures from the home office. the total is down 20% on the record a5,77a arrivals in 2022, however. home secretary yvette cooper last month said the government had a moral responsibility to tackle channel crossings but refused to set a deadline on when a target to see the numbers fall "sharply" would be met. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to the middle east now. since the start of the war in gaza,

an estimated 17,000 children have been left alone or separated from the adults who should care for them. some are too young to even say their names. in a chaotic situation amid bombings and mass displacement, the un's children's agency unicef, has managed to reunite 63 children with their parents or guardians. with more, here's our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. smiles now, but the children of the al—masri family have survived horrors. an israeli bombing killed jamal�*s parents and his cousin's mum and sisters. after they were rescued, like thousands of children in war—torn gaza, they were alone. we followed their difficult journey to be reunited with their grandma. translation: it's indescribable howjoyful i am, but my joy - is mixed with sadness. they came back without their parents. three months into what israel says is a new offensive to target hamas, the very north of gaza

is now in ruins. the bereaved cousins fled with distant relatives who were filmed for us, saying a painful farewell. staff from the un children's agency had israeli permission to take the al—masri children south. covering a short distance involves a long drive and a labourious process, which unicef has managed in just a few dozen cases. those children who are on their own, or who are with adults that aren't related to them, or even with extended family are even more vulnerable than than other children, which is why we have made these reunifications a priority. aunts and uncles celebrate the children's arrival. it's been over a year since they last saw them. for now, their home will be a tent in this displaced people's

camp near khan younis. in these desperate circumstances, their grandmother tries to be a mother to them all. translation: when night comes, they are afraid. even if i hold them, they are scared. they say, "there's a plane, there's a strike." their mental health is not good. may god help me to raise them. as they play, it's more secure for the cousins here. but nowhere in gaza is truly safe. kauthar al—masri says she hopes for a ceasefire and for her grandchildren to rebuild their lives, not to become part of a lost generation. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. one person whose decisions might have an impact on the middle east is donald trump. his inauguration as us president is on january 20th — that's only a few weeks away. his policy decisions will affect millions. as he arrived for his new year's eve party at mar—a—lago, he spoke to reporters

about his hopes for 2025. a great year. i think we're going to do fantastically well as a country. we're going to bring it back. it has to be brought back. people are not respecting our country very much and they're going to respect us a lot. i think a lot of progress has been made over the last five weeks. to talk more about what the trump presidency means for the middle east and what the year ahead could look like for the region, let's speak to talal mohammad in kuwait, an associate fellow at the royal united services institute. thank you forjoining us. let's start with donald trump. what do you think his presidency will mean for the middle east? i think basically stepping forward from the end of the biden presidency which was seen what you might call a lame duck

and taking a more proactive role. trump does not want to see boots on the ground in syria, he would want to take a proactive step with the iran nuclear deal, carrying on from the back foot of iran and hezbollah in the region and strengthening israel's presence and security basically. haifa strengthening israel's presence and security basically.— and security basically. how key is that? we _ and security basically. how key is that? we have _ and security basically. how key is that? we have heard - and security basically. how key is that? we have heard him - and security basically. how key| is that? we have heard him talk about iran and what he does with iran, because it is central to a lot of the issues in that region.— in that region. the iranians signalled — in that region. the iranians signalled they _ in that region. the iranians signalled they would - in that region. the iranians signalled they would like . in that region. the iranians| signalled they would like to have a dialogue with the united states. we have seen rumours of the iranian ambassador to the united nations meeting a us counterpart. we have seen that the iranians press has been talking about the moderates coming in, talking about a dialogue with the united states, sending letters and hoping there would be messages through back channels through 0man through back channels through oman and switzerland. so the iranians are keen to talk about

the moment, particularly after the moment, particularly after the recent events in syria and with hezbollah and israel. fin with hezbollah and israel. on israel with hezbollah and israel. on israel and _ with hezbollah and israel. 0n israel and the war in gaza, do you think that we will get a ceasefire? a few weeks ago there was talk of maybe being a ceasefire around christmas but that didn't happen, just as we have heard previously there were hopes of a ceasefire. do you think there is any chance of it in the new year? i you think there is any chance of it in the new year?- of it in the new year? i think it's difficult _ of it in the new year? i think it's difficult to _ of it in the new year? i think it's difficult to predict, - of it in the new year? i think it's difficult to predict, to - it's difficult to predict, to be honest, however, we can see that post—assad it will open the door for israel to expand its military operations in the region. this might basically be moment to bring other players in, for example turkey. turkey signalled to the uae recently that it signalled to the uae recently thatitis signalled to the uae recently that it is willing to make an overture and discuss a ceasefire with israel. we could see egypt coming on board. this will take a collective approach. it's not up to, i think, israel by itself and

egypt or hamas or qatar alone, i think it will take a collective approach on the middle east with the trump administration sitting down with israel and ironing out a ceasefire. with israel and ironing out a ceasefire-— ceasefire. you mention are 5 ria ceasefire. you mention are syria and — ceasefire. you mention are syria and the _ ceasefire. you mention are syria and the fall _ ceasefire. you mention are syria and the fall of - ceasefire. you mention are i syria and the fall of president assad. how difficult is it going to be to keep syria together with the current rebel group that has taken power? well, this could go in one of three main scenarios, either we would have prolonged chaos or a fragmentation basically on a federal system, you have the turks in the north, you have israel coming in, you have basically the kurds with the united states, and what the hts has signalled is that they want to unify syria. however, let's remember that this rebel group is composed of six infections with another 3a factions coming

into play —— six main factions. they may not all agree on a common scenario when it comes to syria. international players are there and will find the gulf states wary after fighting the muslim brotherhood and the islamist since the arab spring. hts, al—jolani has signalled to saudi arabia that they could have a role in syria, they could have a role in the reconstruction of syria and thank them for their role during the 1a year struggle they had. however, i think things would be much more complicated than that. although iran has left syria after being there for a very long time. although russia is gradually being pushed out of there, i think that the last battle hasn't been fought yet. i think people will either come to try and have a stake in the game, or they will try to basically dampen down and try to hinder

any islamisation or any radicalisation of syria. talal mohammad, thank you for your insights on the prospects ahead for the middle east this year. thank you. let's get some of the day's other news now. air accident investigators in south korea say they've extracted initial data from the cockpit voice recorder, one of the black boxes from thejeju air passenger plane which crashed on sunday. but investigators are still considering how best to get into the flight data recorder, which is missing a crucial connector. 179 people died when the boeing 737 crashed at muan airport. some of the toughest laws on the use of tobacco have come into force in the italian city of milan. smokers will be fined if they light up on city streets or crowded public areas as officials seek to improve air quality in one of europe's most polluted cities. ivory coast has announced french troops will no longer be deployed in the country. until now it was home to france's biggest remaining

contingent of troops in west africa. senegal has said it will also end military cooperation by the end of 2025. the celebrations into the new year continue in london as the annual new year's day parade takes place later in the capital. despite weather concerns, the event organisers are confident it will all go ahead. 0ur reporter meghan 0wen joined some of those taking part in the parade earlier this morning. you are watching the kilgore college rangerettes, and they are some of the 8,000 performers who've come from 26 countries around the world to take part in today's london's new year's parade. now, they are bracing the rain, they are bracing the wind. there are weather warnings in place. but the parade is still set to go ahead, even though it is a little bit blustery now. the parade route will start around here in piccadilly. it will be three kilometres and will be ending up in westminster. well, i'mjoined by the captain, alyssa, thank you forjoining us.

yes, ma'am. this is the liveliest new year's day morning i've had for a while. just tell us a bit about the group. so the kilgore college rangerettes are a precision dance team. we were the first drill team ever, and so we were made in the 19a0s, and we've just been high kicking ever since. amazing. and we've been seeing some of the high kicking this morning. it's too early, in my opinion. but anyway, so, is this your first time performing at the parade? yes, this is my first time performing here at a london parade, but we have done the macy's day parade back in the states, and we do a bunch of local parades as well. so how does it feel to be here in london taking part in the new year's day parade? it is just amazing to be over here, just to see all the different cultures and be able to bring our red, white and blue over here to europe. well, we're very happy to have you here. so, just talk to us about what you've got in store. so you're starting at midday. how long will you be in the parade and just talk about the route? so the route, i believe, is about three miles. and so we're just going to be doing our routine throughout the whole time and just hoping that we can stay warm.

and what's your usual new year's plans? what does the group do in texas? so the group, usually we just hang out with our family. it is our time off during the holidays, so we alljust spend time with ourfamily and have a good year. great, amazing. and what is so special about, or what are you hoping to bring to london from texas? we want to bring our tradition, our high kicks and just show everyone what we can do. amazing. and the thing you're most looking forward to in this parade? oh, the thing i'm looking forward most to isjust to be on national television. well, that's happening right now. alyssa, thank you so much. we will leave you to it. but, yeah, just a taste of some of the acts. now, the parade is featuring performers from all over the united states, from mexico, from so many countries, 26 countries. we've got college bands, we've got athletes, we've got cheerleaders. so it's set to be an amazing parade and clearly

a little bit blustery at the moment. 0rganisers say they are watching the weather as, of course, we've seen from the london fireworks display last night. but from what we're seeing this morning, everyone is raring to go. meghan 0wen reporting. i'm a little disappointed she didn't have a go at doing that. you can get more on all of the new year's celebrations on the bbc news website and app, we have a live page up and running. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. despite the improving weather picture for some today the impact of the rain that has fallen so far will be felt all the way through into the afternoon. the clearest skies are on the way from the north, although away from shower clouds and colder air but it is this band of cloud here which has been producing the heaviest of the rain. if i take you to the southern half of the country through the afternoon, the heavy rain becoming confined to southernmost counties, on its own line of

pretty intense rain and gusty winds for a time but clear conditions develop into north wales, north midlands and north woods. to the northern half of the country it's a different story, a bit of sunshine here and there, but a batch of rain and there, but a batch of rain and sleet and hail is now pushing its way out of southern scotland into northern ireland and northern england this afternoon and frequent snow showers in the north of scotland where temperatures will drop, just a few degrees above freezing by the end of the afternoon, it even further south are good five or 6 degrees cooler than we started the day as the cool air pushes him. the heavy rain this evening just on the south bank will gradually ease away, it takes a lot longer for the channel islands before that rain departs, we have all have wintry showers around the coasts, snow showers in north—eastern scotland and some areas with clear skies and it will be cold and frosty, a widespread frost with some ice around into the morning. as for thursday it looks like it will be a sunny day, so for your commute back to work if you return on thursday, lovely day for many, snow showers in northern scotland, northern

ireland and down some eastern coasts of england, one or two into north wales but the vast majority, thursday will be a sunny day but a day in which temperature struggle to get above freezing and with an added wind chill making it feel closer to around —1, —6. that cold air still in place on friday. these weather fronts cold air still in place on friday. these weatherfronts in the cold air a sign that we will see batches of cloud and showers pushing southwards. rain and sleet mainly for northern ireland, north wales and western england, further snow showers in north—eastern scotland. 0ne snow showers in north—eastern scotland. one or two in eastern england. another day of sunny spells on friday and feeling that chill. temperature struggling to get above freezing in parts of northern england and scotland especially. with the cold air in place we could see mist and fog into saturday morning, the wind slighter by this stage, some wintry showers in the north of scotland still but watch what happens beyond saturday where this next weather system pushes in as it hits the cold air, we could see some snow across parts of the uk on sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukraine's president zelensky says his country will do "all it can" to end the war this year,

and halt what he called russian aggression. russian gas supplied to europe via ukraine has come to an end. the route has been in place for more than a0 years, but president zelensky refused to renew transit contracts with russia. gas and electricity bills are due to raise. only a few weeks away from donald trump's inauguration, the president—elect says more people "will respect" the us under his presidency. hope in gaza — the un s children s agency has reunited 63 children with their guardians, who were separated during the war. an estimated 17,000 children have been left alone or separated from the adults who should care for them. now on bbc news, talking movies: review of 202a.