hello. happy new year to you all. across the world, people have been celebrating the start of 2025. it'sjust gone midnight on the island of pago pago in american samoa which has a population of around 3,000 people. it was hawaii an hour ago meaning the whole of the us is now in 2025. the world famous strip in las vegas in nevada hosted one of the last major fireworks displays of the new year. this was the scene as they partied. 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. greg mckenzie, bbc news. some breaking news... new orleans police say there may be "multiple casualties" including deaths amid reports a car plowed into people on bourbon street. it happened during new years celebrations. that particular area of the city is popular with tourists. we do not have a lot of details but our us partner cbs reporter for the locals station in new orleans is reporting that the truck crashed into a crowd and then a driver got out and started firing a weapon and police returned fire. that report is saying that multiple people were on the ground of injuries. that is coming from our us partner cbs�*s local

station in a new orleans, but the new orleans police is telling them that initial reports that a car may have ploughed into a group of people and injuries are un—known but there are reported fatalities. we will try and get more information but there has been an incident around the new year celebrations in new orleans in the united states and we will bring you more details on that as we get it. amid the celebrations, there is concern about what the new year holds in store, with conflicts raging in the middle east, sudan, the democratic republic of congo and ukraine. in the early hours of new year's day, russia launched a drone strike on the ukrainian capital kyiv, reportedly killing one person and damaging buildings in two districts, according to officials. the attack came as president zelensky gave an end—of—year address in which he said his country will do all it can to end the war with moscow in 2025 and halt what he called russian aggression.

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. 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. earlier, i spoke to our central europe correspondent, nick thorpe on the impact these changes will have. well, obviously any discussion

of gas, any cutting of gas supplies as you can see on a cold winter's day like this is very emotionally important. it is also strategically important and financially important. in practical terms, it is the end of a five—year contract between naftogaz of ukraine and gazprom of russia, that pipeline about three hours ago ceased to receive gas, that was passing about 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 1964, russia has supplied europe, initially eastern 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's the turkstream pipeline coming up through the balkans. staying with energy... 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 more a year 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. emmanuel asuquo is a financial adviser. he explained what the price cap is. so the price cap was brought in tojust cap how much can be

charged for the units when we talk about gas and electricity. and so it is just the units, not the amount. if you use more it's going to cost you more, if you use less it will cost you less. on average for the average household they say it is around 1,700, so this new increase means an extra £21 for the average user. like i said, it is for the average so if you use more it could be more than £21. someone like myself, i have a big family, i will pay more than that, but for people who use less, it could be lower. i want to take you back to our breaking news out of new orleans. these are the live 0rleans. these are the live pictures out of the city and you can see a massive amount of police activity, because the police activity, because the police there say that there may be multiple casualties including deaths. this is a major car ploughed into people on baldwin street and if you have ever been to new orleans,

you will know that this area is hugely popular with tourists and it is the new year to a lot of tourists will have gone to new orderlies along with the local people. it had been busy in the early hours of news day and it is just another 5am in the early hours of news day and it isjust another 5am in the morning and a huge police presence. 0ur the morning and a huge police presence. our us partner, their local reporter said that witnesses told us that a truck ploughed into the street at high street and then up driver got out and firing a weapon with police returning fire. we cannot confirm that but this is what witnesses have been telling cbs. they were but this is what witnesses have been telling cbs. they were what i did see multiple people on the ground with injuries, so the word from the new orleans police's spokesman said that initial reports that show that a car may have ploughed into a group of people. injuries are unknown but they are reported

fatalities. 0f unknown but they are reported fatalities. of course, the picture is unclear at the moment but you can see the amount of police that are in that area after this incident and as i said, it comes as the whole world is celebrating the new year and this area will have been packed with people. we will keep an eye on those pictures and any more information that we get, we will bring it to you here on bbc news. the boats have been getting bigger, with more and more people dangerously packed on to them, risking their lives the number of migrants arriving in the uk in 2024 after crossing the english channel in small boats was up by a quarter on the previous year, figures show. 2024 was also the deadliest year on record for the crossings, as simon jones reports. the boats have been getting bigger, with more and more people dangerously packed on to them, risking their lives in the world's busiest shipping lane with the goal

of reaching the uk. this was christmas day, when more than 450 migrants made the crossing. to see that many people, they were sitting all around the edge, all down through the middle. they had their feet, some of them, dragging in the water. so it was massively overloaded. and we actually stopped our engines and sort of sat with... sat in that position, just watching that, just to make sure that nothing, you know, had sort of gone wrong because that was in the middle of the shipping lane as well. in 2024, a total of 36,816 people reached the uk on small boats. that represents an increase of 25% on 2023, though it's a fall of 20% on 2022. the mantra of the conservative government,. stopping the boats — has been replaced by the labour government with a promise to smash the

gangs organising the crossings. labour has accused the conservatives of leaving an appalling legacy of broken border security. the tories say that labour's decision to scrap the plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda means there is no effective deterrent to bring numbers down. last year was the deadliest on record for crossings. the french authorities say more than 75 people lost their lives. at least three people died on sunday when their boat got into difficulty off the coast of northern france. what the government needs to do is not just try and smash the gangs through enforcement activity, it needs to continue to do that, but also critically put in place legal routes so that people fleeing the war in sudan, for example, or tyrannical rule in afghanistan, are able to come here safely without having to take dangerous crossings. the numbers making thejourneys this way across the channel are far smaller than legal migration figures, are far smaller than legal migration figures. the home office said, "we all want to end dangerous small boat crossings which threaten lives and undermine our border security." simon jones, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

hgppy happy new year if you have just joined us. let'sjoin the sport. hello. kicking off 2025 will be arsenal who continue their pursuit of liverpool who top the table at the halfway stage, when they face brentford later in what is the only game in the premier league today. we have to continue to be like a hammer. be there every day, every day, every day. and i mean, if somebody wins all the matches, congratulate him and let's go to the next season. but if they don't, which in the history it hasn't happened, we will be there. the team is evolving and

adapting to new circumstances i know we have another one, which is more games of lesser players. is more games of lesser maven-— is more games of lesser -la ers. , , ., ., players. just the one game in the english — players. just the one game in the english top _ players. just the one game in the english top flight - players. just the one game in the english top flight today. i the novak djokovic—nick kyrgios doubles partnership is over for now. the pair who teamed up at the brisbane international were beaten in the second round by nikola mektic and michael venus. kyrgios and djokovic famously didn't get along which made it something of a surprise to see them teaming up here. but both are using the event as a warm up for the australia 0pen which starts on january 12th. world number two iga swiatek steered poland into the united cup quarterfinals with 2—1win over the czech republic. they had lost the men's singles but swiatek always looked like levelling things against karolina muchova. and after winning that tie 6—3, 6—4, she then went on to help hubert hurkacz make amends for losing to tomas machac, overcoming him and muchova in the mixed doubles. and great britain are

taking on australia in the united cup. and in a weird twist of fate, britain's katie boulter has gone up against her fiance alex de minaur. the teams shook hands beforehand. boulter and de minaur shared a little kiss, which was cheered by the crowd in sydney, having recently announced their engagement. boulter beat 0livia gedecki. and de minaur beat billy harris. he is now playing the mixed doubles but his wife to be has not opted to play it. very excited to start the new year like that. i lost a lot of sleep over the thought of playing against my fiance. this might serve as a bit of new year's inspiration — kenya's beatrice chebet has become the first woman

to run 5,000 metres in under 14 minutes. she smashed the women's world record in barcelona finishing in it 13 minutes and 54 seconds. she has history, she won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the paris 0lympics last year, and now has this record to boot. what a time. and in the nba, lebronjames continues to make history, becoming the first player to play an nba game in his teens and his fourties, continuing to showcase his remarkable longevity james, who turned 40 on monday, celebrated the milestone with 23 points against his former team, the cleveland cavaliers, but was unable to lead the los angeles lakers to victory, losing 122 to 110. another slice of history for you... and if you're a fan of sports stats, here's one from this man. victor wembanyama has become the first player in nba history with 300 points, 100 rebounds, 50 blocks, 50 assists and 40 3—pointers in a single month.

he closed out a historic month with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 26 minutes as the san antonio spurs rolled to a 122—86 victory over the los angeles clippers on tuesday. starting the year in style. that's all from me. back to you, nikki. thanks very much. i just want to remind you of our breaking news this hour, coming out of new orleans in the united states. these are pictures from the scene and it is because police there say there may be multiple casualties including deaths amid reports that a car ploughed into people on the very famous bourbon street in the centre of new orleans. it would have been very busy with people because it was the early hours of new year's day to a lot of people would have been

out celebrating the new year. 0ur out celebrating the new year. our us partner cbs has had a reporter at is seen talking to witnesses and they told her that a truck crash into a crowd on the street at high speed and a driver got out and started firing a weapon with a police returning fire. that is what witnesses have been telling cbs but the reporter saw multiple people on the ground with injuries. she was also talking about how all the emergency services were there and we can see the police activity there in the last half an hour but there were a lot of ambulance dispatch to the scene after this report of this incident and the police were out in force. it is 20 minutes past 5am in new orleans so the early hours. this is in the french quarter if you have ever been to new 0rlea ns quarter if you have ever been to new orleans and one of those

popular areas which is usually packed with people and it being years eve into the early hours of new year's day. it especially busy. we are working to get more information by sea new orleans police say there may be multiple casualties. we have a live page up and running on the bbc news website where we will put the latest details that we have about what is happening in new orleans so as i said, they are saying multiple people are on the ground with injuries according to eyewitnesses. we will keep you updated here on bbc news. they have successfully extracted data from the crash in south korea. there are trying to work out how best to

get in the data, which is missing type of missing a crucial connector. some of the toughest law and the use of tobacco has come to force on the telly city of milan. smokers will be fined if they light up a public crowded areas as they seek to improve air quality is in one of europe was my completed to cities. —— back in the italian city of milan. london's blustery weather has delayed the annual new year's day parade. this was due to start in less than an hour. it's also reduced the number of floats that can take part. bit of delay because of the winds. 3 bit of delay because of the winds. �* , ., ., , winds. a bit to out here, but has not put _ winds. a bit to out here, but has not put off— winds. a bit to out here, but has not put off the _ winds. a bit to out here, but has not put off the crowds i winds. a bit to out here, but i has not put off the crowds who are studied together at the moment. —— a bit bleak out here. they have delayed the start. the winter man is

picking up, a school and is expected in the middle of london —— the wind is picking up. they're trying to avoid the strong gust of wind. there will be around 8000 performers taking part in the parade from 26 countries around the world and has not put all of them off because this morning, we caught up because this morning, we caught up with some of them and it had not dampened the spirits including the college arranges who we spoke to. you are watching the kilgore college ranges and they are some of the 8000 are performers who come from a 26 countries around the world to take part in today's landing new year's parade. there are weather warnings in place but the parade is still set to go ahead. it is a little bit blustery, or though. the parade will start around here in piccadilly and will be three kilometres and will be ending

up kilometres and will be ending up in westminster. i am joined by the captain, listen. thank you forjoining us. this is the liveliest new year's day morning that i have had for a while. to tell us a little bit about the group. we while. to tell us a little bit about the group.— about the group. we are positioned _ about the group. we are positioned us _ about the group. we are positioned us team - about the group. we are positioned us team and | about the group. we are i positioned us team and we about the group. we are - positioned us team and we were the first— positioned us team and we were the first real _ positioned us team and we were the first real team _ positioned us team and we were the first real team ever, - positioned us team and we were the first real team ever, made l the first real team ever, made in the — the first real team ever, made in the 19405 _ the first real team ever, made in the 1940s and _ the first real team ever, made in the 1940s and we've - the first real team ever, made in the 1940s and we've been i in the 1940s and we've been hiking — in the 1940s and we've been hiking it _ in the 1940s and we've been hiking it every— in the 1940s and we've been hiking it every since. - in the 1940s and we've been hiking it every since. you. hiking it every since. you missing _ hiking it every since. you missing some _ hiking it every since. you missing some of- hiking it every since. you missing some of the - hiking it every since. youj missing some of the hike hearing this morning. too early in my opinion 1556 00:2