the fireworks here in central london and a reminder of the security threat. 100,000 people will pack the viewing areas over the next six hours to see in 2017 in style. the un security council unanimously endorses the ceasefire in syria brokered by russia and turkey. britian‘s olympic and paralympic stars are recognised in the new year's honours. with a knighthood for andy murray. with a knighthood for andy murrayli feel with a knighthood for andy murray.” feel more still like andy murray. it feels obviously more normal to me. but obviously it is a big honour, i'm happy with that. it's a nice way to finish or start the new year. and why you'll have to wait a second longer to welcome in the new year. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. celebrations have begun around the world to welcome in 2017. this was the scene in sydney earlier, where officials say it was the city's biggest ever fireworks display. about 1.5 million people have been celebrating by the opera house. and in hong kong a few hours ago, a similarly elaborate display as the sky along the waterfront lit up with thous

central london and a reminder of the security threat. 100,000 people will pack the viewing areas over the next six hours to see in 2017 in style. the un security council unanimously endorses the ceasefire in syria brokered by russia and turkey. britian's olympic and paralympic stars are recognised in the new year's honours. with a knighthood for andy murray.”

. 0ur correspondentjonathan blake is in central london for us. any sign that the security measures have put people off there? no, not so far. the crowds are really building here on the embankment in central london now. 100,000 or so people are expected to fill the viewing areas here and on the bridges across the river thames as the countdown to midnight begins. the extra police on duty in central london tonight, many of them are armed, a part of the security operation, there have been road closures in place throughout the afternoon and extra barriers are up. the fireworks display itself is of course the main attraction. it sta rts course the main attraction. it starts as big ben chimes midnight. the london eye will be the centre piece of that. there are lee barges on the thames and there will be 12,000 fireworks in total creating 50,000 individual explosions all set synchronised to a specially chosen soundtrack which we are told will reflect some of the music artist who is died in 2016, so expect david bowie, and prince to feature, among others. london now has established itself as

attacks in berlin and nice. concrete barriers have been placed in central london to stop any potential attack, and thousands of extra police are on duty, as our correspondent helena lee reports. three, two, one... sydney, australia, one of the first major cities to welcome in 2017, the harbour bridge the focus of their spectacular display. soon after, it was hong kong's turn, and this was their party. in london, they're preparing for the night's celebrations. the met police says it has not had any specific intelligence to point to an attack, but they have looked at what happened in berlin and nice and adjusted their plans. as in the past, there will be officers with firearms, but the key thing is to strike the balance, and none of us wa nts to strike the balance, and none of us wants to disrupt the enjoyment all of us want to have on new year's eve. we can't allow the bad guys to spoil our way of life. in other european cities, including berlin, security has been stepped up. in her new year's eve address, the german chancellor, angela merkel, acknowledged the threat of a country faces.

. there will be something like 3,000 police on duty in central london alone and there will be stewards as well. there will also be more armed officers on patrol around london than in previous years. many more areas too where vehicles are banned. greater manchester police and other forces say they have also stepped up crowd protection measures after the berlin attack. in other cities too across europe and the world, security has been stepped up. this is new york, those celebrating there will see a very visible police presence. in berlin, it's a similar picture — concrete barriers to stop another potential truck attack. in her new year's eve address the german chancellor, angela merkel, promised to do everything possible to improve security. translation: the biggest test without a doubt is islamist terrorism, which has had germany in its sights for many years. in 2016 it attacked us in two places and at the christmas market here in berlin. back in london, around 100,000 tickets have been sold for tonight's fireworks display. the police say they hope those out tonight will be reassured by

— and in central london partygoers are being urged to be vigilant as they enjoy the annual fireworks celebrations. our correspondent frankie mccamley is at the met police headquarters in central london to see how they've been preparing. we are in the special operations room for the metropolitan police, which on new year's eve will be a hive of activity, not only will you have hired the great cruise but also ambulance crews and police officers —— monitoring the screens around us making sure london is as safe as it can be forgiven. joining me now is superintendent phil langworthy. thanks forjoining us. you are expecting more than 100,000 people, how long have you been planning this? we spent a long time carefully planning this operation with our partners, the mayor 's office, the city council and many others to make sure people can come into central london on new year's eve and have a fantastic time. security is a big thing and will be on the minds of people following the events in berlin, what extra measures have you put in place this year? we want people to feel reassur

officers will be on duty across central london tonight as crowds gather to celebrate the new year. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures. now one bbc news, the travel show. it has gone from being one of the poorest countries in the world to relative prosperity today, and a reputation as a beacon of responsible tourism. the republic of botswana has been on quite a journey in its 50 years of independence. and i am on a personal mission to explore how people here have shared this land with such a diversity of wildlife for millennia. and if tourism can help maintain that delicate balance. the big day, the 50th anniversary, draws ever nearer, and rehearsals are well under way. half a century of independence is a big dealfor the people of botswana, who have seen their country overcome some major hurdles. we had few schools. the only schools that were there were run by missionaries. it has been a journey where one could say we were starting from nothing. and there have been some serious crises. at one point, the country had the w

correspondents. jonathan blake is in central london for us and andrew black is in edinburgh. first to jonathan blake is in central london. jonathan, 100,000 people expected to attend celebrations where you are about are people nervous? well, they don't seem to be. the extra policing and extra security that you heard about in the report there which is in central london tonight is reassuring to most people, i think, tonight is reassuring to most people, ithink, who tonight is reassuring to most people, i think, who have turned out to see the fireworks, but it is also a reminder of the security threat that this event and events around the world face tonight. the operation as a huge feat. there are 3000 stewards on duty tonight, in addition to the 3000 or so metropolitan police officers, some of them aren't, who are on duty around the city. most of the central london area was closed off after around two o'clock this afternoon. after several hours, there has been no traffic through the city at all. that is just one part of this operation. 100,000 people will be packing out the ease of v

council and many others, to make sure people can come to central london on new year's and have a fantastic time. and when they come, to give us extra time, as there will be a search regime in place. something like 3,000 police officers on duty in central london alone, and there'll be stewards as well. the police federation says there will also be more armed officers on patrol in london this year than in previous years, and more areas where vehicles will be banned. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures in the wake of the berlin attack. germany's chancellor, angela merkel, says islamist terrorism is the biggest threat facing her country. in a new year message, she refers to the truck attack on a christmas market in berlin, in which 12 people died. translation: the biggest test, without a doubt, is islamist terrorism, which has had germany in its sights for many years. in 2016, it attacked us, and a few days ago at the christmas market here in berlin. and, yes, it is especially bitter and repugnant if terror attacks are carr

westminster city council and the mayor's office and many others, to make sure people coming to central london on new years eve have a fantastic time. and when they come to give us extra time because there will be a search regime in place. there's something like 3,000 police officers on duty in central london alone and stewards as well. meanwhile, the german chancellor angela merkel has said that islamist terrorism is the biggest challenge facing her country. in her new year message, mrs merkel referred to the deadly truck attack in berlin earlier this month by a tunisian asylum seeker. damian mcguiness joins us from berlin. tell us a little more about what she said. she referred to the three attacks we have seen this year, saying that what was particularly propulsive for her was they were committed by people who were pretending to be refugees. what is interesting is that she stood by her migration policy because she said it was right and proper that germany had helped people who legitimately needed help, people fleeing from syria because she said when you look at pictures of the bombings in alep

duty across central london tonight as crowds gather to celebrate the new year. scotland yard says extra resources have been brought in to keep people safe following the terror attacks in berlin and nice earlier this year. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures. we spent a long time planning this operation. westminster city council and the mayor ‘s office. making sure people have good time. there will be a surge regime in place. something like 3000 police officers in duty in central london alone and stewards as well. donald trump has praised russia's president putin for his decision not to engage in a row about the expulsion of diplomats. in a tweet, the us president—elect said he always knew the russian leader was "very smart". president 0bama has ordered 35 russian diplomats to leave the country after accusing moscow of interfering in november's presidential election. the man credited with discovering the beatles has died at the age of 86. allan williams was the owner of a liverpool music club and arranged the band's f

3,000 police officers on duty in central london alone, and there will be stewards as well. the queen's new year's honours list is dominated by britian‘s 0lympic and paralympic stars, including lee pearson, mo farah and andy murray. from me and the rest of the new year's eve team in the newsroom, a very happy new year. time to cross to the bbc sport centre now for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. the headlines this evening. a premier league record, 13 wins in a row. it's unlucky for stoke as chelsea go nine points clear. 15 in a row for celtic. the old firm victory puts them firmly in control of the spl. and the chiefs end 2016 with a stunning comeback. two tries in the last nine minutes put exeter third in rugby union's premiership. there are seven matches in the premier league today, and chelsea have set a record. they have matched arsenal's record of 13 wins in a row in the same premier league season. they extended their lead at the top of the table with a 11—2 win at home to stoke. it was 2—2 with 25 minutes left to play, but a second from willian and and a l

3,000 police officers will be on duty across central london tonight as crowds gather to celebrate the new year. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures. scotland yard says extra resources have been brought in to keep people safe following the terror attacks in berlin and nice earlier this year. the metropolitan police say there is no specific intelligence about an attack in london but it has been looking at the tragic events in berlin and nice and has adjusted its plans for a new year's eve accordingly. some 3000 officers will be on the streets of the capital as pa rt be on the streets of the capital as part of the package of measures to maintain security. we carefully planned this operation with partners including the office of the mayor, westminster council and others to make sure people can come into london and have a fantastic time. when they come, give us extra time because there will be a search regime in place. there will be 3000 officers on duty in central london alone and there will be stewards as well. the police feder

disruption. mark davies is from the post office and he's in our central london studio. thank you forjoining us. a busy and important time of the year. what impact of the strokes going to have? as you said in your report, the strikes in post offices will potentially impact on the 300 branches we directly owned and managed as a business. there are still 11,300 branches across the uk which will not be affected by the strike action and it will be business as usual for customers using those branches. i can update you that of the 300 branches that potentially could be affected by the strike action, the latest figures i've just strike action, the latest figures i'vejust had in is that 190 of those are open for business today. that is a moving picture. we will update you throughout the day. and we will update customers. it looks as if the impact in those 300 branches will be minimal for customers. that's good news for them. we will do everything we can to minimise disruption for customers. this is an important time of year as people are sending their christmas cards and parcels. are the

decide to head out. around 3,000 police officers will be on duty across central london tonight as crowds gather to celebrate the new year. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures. scotland yard says extra resources have been brought in to keep people safe following the terror attacks in berlin and nice earlier this year. we spent a long time carefully planning this operation with our partners including the mayor ‘s office, westminster city council and others to make sure people can into central london and fantastic time. there will be a search regime in place. something like 3000 police officers on duty in central london alone and there will be stewards as well. meanwhile, the german chancellor angela merkel has said that islamist terrorism is the biggest challenge facing her country. in her new year message, mrs merkel referred to the deadly truck attack in berlin earlier this month by a tunisian asylum seeker. damian mcguiness joins us from berlin. we know that security has been stepped up there. what is the atmosphere l

will be taken seriously. 0ur correspondent lisa hampele is at victoria station in central london. bid has been called the christmas of discontent. —— it has. absolutely. there have been continual announcements here all morning. the boards behind me have been flashing with cancelled or delayed. the southern trains website is saying many trains are cancelled 01’ is saying many trains are cancelled or delayed. the majority, in fact. there will be difficultjourneys again tonight. and the strike is continuing tomorrow. that is coupled with the continuing ban on overtime by drivers of the union aslef. but it isn't just the by drivers of the union aslef. but it isn'tjust the trains, it is a week of strikes. we have the biggest strike from the post office with 3000 people walking out today of the crown post offices. they are the ones on the high street. royal mail says there was not a lot of perfect. there are concerns they will be joined on wednesday and thursday by collea g u es joined on wednesday and thursday by colleagues who keep post offices supplied with cash. —— a lot of ef

3,000 police officers will be on duty across central london tonight as crowds gather to celebrate the new year. scotland yard says extra resources have been brought in to keep people safe following the terror attacks in berlin and nice earlier this year. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures. 40% of councils in england have no procedures in place to prosecute people who misuse disabled parking permits. new analysis of official figures found blue badges could be used fraudulently without fear of being fined in 61 local authorities. the finding has been described as "staggering" by a disability charity. those are the main stories this morning. we have been talking about the sporting champions who have a new yea rs sporting champions who have a new years now. really end. whatever else has been going on, at the euros as well. hull city are off the bottom of the premier league but they missed out on a first league win in nearly two months after a late everton equaliser at the k—com. the tigers went ahead but were pegged back then

in central london alone, and there will be stewards as well. the queen's new year's honours list is dominated by britian‘s 0lympic and paralympic stars, including lee pearson, mo farah and andy murray. the islamic state group in iraq said it carried out the attack. at least 28 people have been killed by two explosions at a crowded market in baghdad. now on bbc news, there was the vote to leave the european union, the resignation of one prime minister and the arrival of another. adam fleming looks back on a tumultuous year in british politics in review 2016: the year in politics. music: "0 come all ye faithful". ever feel you need to get away from it all? especially when ten years‘ worth of politics has been squeezed into just one. i believe that this thursday can be our country's independence day. applause. i do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination. tomorrow is going to be a very historic day, i believe that. i think it will be brexit plus plus plus, does that make sense? my pitch is very simple, i'm theresa

correspondent daniel boettcher is outside the conciliation service acas in central london. what can you tell us about any progress at the dogs? at the moment we don't know whether there has been any progress. there might be strikes on christmas day and boxing day involving some ba cabin crew. just over 2500 are members of the unite union. talk set between united and ba, air, but such welcoming the fight talks are taking place. british airways has put out a statement this morning in which it said it was planning to run a full schedule on christmas day and boxing day despite proposed industrial action. the german saying we are making sure that this attempt to ruin christmas for thousands of our customers fails. the company says over the weekend it has been working on detailed contingency plans. this dispute is about pay and conditions. the unite union says people on these contracts are promised, at least it is advertised that the salaries will be between 21000 and £25,000. the union says actually they start at just over £2000 with £3 an hour flying time on top of that. so unite says th

. lets talk edward lucas, joining us from central london. if america was expecting retaliation, moscow has laura bicker gave more details about donald trump's latest tweet. this is a president—elect heaping praise on the russian leader who just 2a hours ago, the current president had said we should be alarmed by the actions of the russian government. yesterday president obama announced all these sanctions and said russia should pay, and condemned to russia for interfering in us democracy. that condemnation has yet to come from donald trump but what we're seeing here is him heaping praise on vladimir putin instead. perhaps the nonresponse by vladimir putin in response to president obama's sanctions is exactly getting the reaction from donald trump that vladimir putin had hoped for. because this is perhaps the new relationship you just heard from steve rosenberg, that vladimir putin might want. net speak to dmitri bakic, analyst at the russian news agency sputnik. yesterday when we first heard about the sanctions and expulsions, we heard about countermeasures coming from russia that wo

across central london tonight as crowds gather to celebrate the new year. greater manchester police and other forces say they've also stepped up crowd protection measures. scotland yard says extra resources have been brought in to keep people safe following the terror attacks in berlin and nice earlier this year. donald trump has praised russia's president putin for his decision not to engage in a row about the expulsion of diplomats. in a tweet, the us president—elect said he always knew the russian leader was " president 0bama has ordered 35 russian diplomats to leave the country after accusing moscow of interfering in november's presidential election. from midnight tonight, anyone who owns an air gun in scotland will need a licence. the legislation was introduced after a toddler was killed by an air—gun pellet in glasgow in 2005. people in england and wales can own the weapons without any kind of documentation. it's the time of year for charts and lists and best—ofs, so we thought we'd take this opportunity to share our most popular clip from the bbc breakfast social—medi

stuff ring. 0ur correspondent lisa hampele is at victoria station in central london. we arejust we are just hearing a tannoy messaged in fact telling us once again that they are very sorry here to be telling passengers about delays and many cancellations on southern rail once again. this is a two—day strike, this time, today passengers had a very difficult time getting in to london, and this evening it is likely to be even worse, with the strike continuing tomorrow, and that is coupled with the strike from aslef, the ongoing strike which is continuing to cause problems, and then of course it is the busiest day, busiest week of the yearfor the busiest day, busiest week of the year for postal workers and they have 3000 staff who are in an ongoing dispute and as you have just been saying 50 crown post offices, the main post offices on the high street, are now closed, according to the post office, but the union says that many more may still be disrupted. so that strike is going to go on because of pension changes, job security and closures, and they will bejoined on job security and clos

, greater london? anything but! the fog is a problem again overnight tonight, it could only get worse. central, southern and eastern parts of england see the worst of it. the bc local radio should keep you up—to—date if you are on the move. frog across these areas, denton places. —— fog across these areas. a north—westerly breeze, temperatures up 10 degrees or so breeze, temperatures up 10 degrees orso in breeze, temperatures up 10 degrees or so in aberdeen, glasgow and belfast. into the morning, a fair bit of fog in eastern parts of england, poor visibility is, slow on the roads. you have low cloud, a great start to the day here. brighter in parts of northern england. in scotland, and north—west of scotland, cloudy, breezy and rain. it can be heavy, a slow—moving weather front, and in rain. it can be heavy, a slow—moving weatherfront, and in northern ireland, it's largely dry bed breezy and fairly cloudy. —— dry and breezy. this weather front comes into northern ireland and further south, it stays grey in most areas. in the afternoon, most places at nine or 10 deg

resignalling scheme on the network's history will close the line between cardiff central and the valleys, and several stations including paddington and london will either be partially or completely shut for several days. our transport correspondent has more. it is going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on, and it all starts late tonight, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this was the m6 today. and it is a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here is sta nsted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver, as part of our railway upgrade programme, and some of that work just can't be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. and so christmas is the best time to do it, because it's one of the quietest times of year. 2a,000 engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. well, one of the biggerjobs they are doing this christmas is to open up and test these new lines between the concrete blocks there. critically, t

is quite a way from central london, you need to take the tube out a year. there are still people turning up at paddington station in london. i was down earlier this morning. a steady trickle of people, mostly foreign people trying to get to the throw. the heathrow express is closed with all other trains out of paddington. elsewhere, the railways don't look too bad. services will" early tonight. the last train from newcastle to london is at 5:26pm. if you miss those, you will be waiting for a few days. the real problems are in scotland. we will see in a moment how bad the wind cider and how bad they are expecting it to be on boxing day. it heard all day yesterday and even today there have been ferries cancelled. flights are going ahead today. many of them were cancelled yesterday to the highlands and islands. norris links cherries to 0rkney and shetland see if you do not have to travel today, please, do not. and number of services in the north—west of scotland have been cancelled. that the picture at home, what about people who want to get away from the uk? we have had soared by

will close the line between cardiff central, bridgend, newportand close the line between cardiff central, bridgend, newport and the valleys. services around manchester will be affected by the work there, and paddington station in london will close to another crossroad line to be completed. roads are expected to be completed. roads are expected to be completed. roads are expected to be busy and britain's airports are predicting the busiest festive travel getaway car. syriza transport correspondent. who's going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the road this year, this is the m6 today and it is a popular time to fly way for the holidays. here's stansted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver as part of our railway upgrade programme and some of that workjust can't be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. so christmas is the best time to do it because it's one of the quietest times of year.

correspondent daniel boettcher is outside the conciliation service acas in central london where talks are taking place to try to resolve the row at british airways. what has been said they are today? here, nothing at all. we do not know at the moment what the progress, if any which has been made here at the talks, but there has been a war of words through statements issued to the media. ba employs about 16,000 cabin crew and what this dispute is about is a group of those who are on what is known as mixed fleet contracts, they fly both short—haul and long haul routes, these people who have joined since 2010. british airways have said in a statement today that it is planning to run a full schedule on christmas day and boxing day despite the proposed action. it says the company has been working on detailed contingency plans and alex cruise, the ceo and chairman says he is making sure this attempt to ruin christmas for thousands of customers fails. we urge unite to abandon this strike which is serving only to cause anxiety amongst our mixed fleet cabin crew colleagues. the company

—signalling scheme in the network's history will close a line between cardiff central and the valleys. and several stations — including paddington in london — will be either partially or completely shut for several days. our transport correspondent richard westcott is in paddington now, so no trains coming in or out of there from midnight tonight. no, absolutely. loads of people rushing past with suitcases trying to get on the last trains, they are shutting paddington for six days. network rail always chooses the holidays to do the big disruptive engineering work because it says the trains are only half full. that is when they say it affects the fewest number of people. but it also means every christmas thousands of people get disrupted. it's going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on, and it all starts late tonight, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this was the m6 today. and it's a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here's stansted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we h

year that russia finally comes in from the cold? lets talk edward lucas, joining us from central london. if america was expecting retaliation, moscow has wrong—footed them 7 expecting retaliation, moscow has wrong-footed them? indeed, this was not the reaction president obama was expecting, but he put mr putin in quite a difficult position and president trump in even more difficult one. the evidence is rather strong that russia was involved in this attack on the american political system. mr trump will have to deal with that. he has dismissed the allegations so far. he will have all his intelligence agencies reiterating this is very serious. he will have the republicans in the senate, overwhelmingly sceptical about mr putin, worried about what was going on. mr putin will be hoping for a reset in american and russian relations as steve rosenberg said in a report. it will actually be more difficult. it is more difficult, president—elect trump in a difficult position. does he seem quite unpatriotic, disregard what the american intelligence agencies are saying, or does he risk ma

london. joining me now from central london is germany's ambassador to the uk, dr peter ammon thank you very much. good evening to everyone. i have been inundated with m essa 9 es everyone. i have been inundated with m essa g es of everyone. i have been inundated with messages of sympathy. your foreign secretary came to us personally. i am very grateful to the attitude and the reaction of the british public and government. it was quite clear with that interview with the mayor that berlin is not a city in panic although it's certainly a city in grief. i think it's quite remarkable. the motto at the moment is an english one, stiff upper lip. there is no panic and there is also nobody falling into the trap of the populist voices that somehow try to equate immigration or refugees with terrorists. these populist voices are very loud. it is often a trap. we more realise outside of the country down inside the country, so it's very important that this point was made clear. that said, there are those that say that the chancellor's decision to open the door to nearly 1 million refugees and asylum

conciliation service acas in central london where talks are taking place to try and resolve the row at british airways. a season of strikes. how are those discussions going? have you heard about what is going on behind those doors? no, we understand the talks are still going on. we don't know what progress, if any, is being made, but at the same time, there is a warof made, but at the same time, there is a war of words being carried out through statements that have been released to the media. this is about some ba cabin crews. the company employs about 16,000, for and half thousand are on what is known as mixed fleet contracts, so they fly both long and short haul. 0f mixed fleet contracts, so they fly both long and short haul. of those, just over two and a half thousand are at unite members. the talks between unite and ba. this morning, british airways released a statement saying it was going to run a full schedule on christmas day and boxing day, despite the proposed action. it said they had been working on contingency plans to make that happen and the british airways ceo and chairma

daniel boettcher is at the old bailey in central london for us now. tell us more about this case. tell us more about this caselj tell us more about this case. i am actually outside the royal courts of justice, and the judgment today follows a hearing at the court of protection in manchester three weeks ago, which was considering these issues and considering the application by paul briggs‘ wife, lindsey, that life—sustaining treatment should be withdrawn, and thejudge, mrjustice charles, said in hisjudgment thejudge, mrjustice charles, said in his judgment today that the case raised issues of life and death, and vitally important principles and strongly held views. he went on to say in the statement, the life of paul briggs does confer benefit and has value, this means that this case raises fundamental issues relating to the protection of persons who are extremely vulnerable and who have not previously made and now cannot make decisions for themselves, but thejudge ruled that make decisions for themselves, but the judge ruled that this life—sustaining treatment should be wit

moment but police tell us that south central ambulance services attended a property in oxfordshire north—west of london. this happened at about 0xfordshire north—west of london. this happened at about 20 minutes past two in the afternoon on christmas day. they found george michael dead there. police say they are treating the death as unexplained but at this stage there are no suspicious circumstances. we had a statement in from the star's publicist saying that it is with great sadness we confirm that george michael passed away at home over the christmas period. the family asked for their privacy to be respected at this difficult time. it goes on to say there will be no further comment at this stage because of the timing, i guess, we will not guess, get much more information now until daylight. but because of the news machine, as it is, tributes have been coming in thick and fast. have you got some we can look at? we will hear in a moment from elton john who can look at? we will hear in a moment from eltonjohn who is leading the tributes but a number of his contemporaries, remem

holiday, including a big re—signalling scheme that will close the line between cardiff central, bridgend, newport and the valleys. services around manchester will be affected while paddington station in london will close to allow the crossrail line to be completed. roads are expected to be busy and britain's airports predict the busiest festive travel getaway ever. our transport correspondent richard westcott reports. it's going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on and it all starts late tonight, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this is the m6 today. it's a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here's stansted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver as part of our railway upgrade programme and some of that workjust can't be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. so christmas is the best time to do it because it's one of the quietest times of year. 211,000 engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. one of

star dp pete evan balter, and jane gull‘s my feral heart, with a brilliant central performance by newcomer stephen brandon. my favourite film of 2016 was the spine—chilling british production under the shadow, from iran—born london—based writer—director ba bak anvari. the uk's entry for the foreign language film 0scar, under the shadow, was set in tehran, shot injordan and filmed in farsi. there are nods to roman polansky and the guilermo del toro but anvari's superbly creepy chiller conjures an atmosphere, which is uniquely its own. with very strong performances by narges rashidi and avin manshadi as the mother and daughter terrorised by falling bombs, religious zealots and marauding djinn spirits, under the shadow is a film you simply must not miss, believe me, it will take your breath away. films like under the shadow and notes on blindness found their audiences, thanks in large part to the efforts of the uk's still thriving independent cinema circuit, the real heart of the movies. if you're lucky enough to have a local arthouse cinema, then make sure you make the most

monetary policy, no signal yet from britain, really, the central bank in the uk or the central bank in europe, that interest rates are going to rise anytime soon, and certainly not quickly. so the equities run has been very powerful. of course, a lot of those equities in the ftse, the london market, are companies that are global. the profits are in dollars. and so, as sterling falls, their profits actually — yes, their actual profits are then sparked upwards. so you get to a situation where those equities are doing rather well. so you have this sort of clash. equities positive, sterling having a tough time. you touched on europe, the european project. how is it looking, going into 2017? again, brexit is important, but i wouldn't suggest it is the most important thing going on in europe in 2017. you have elections in the netherlands, you have elections in france, you have elections in germany, and each of those elections will be a big test about the kind of europe that the voters in europe want. a reformed europe. they still have higher levels of unemployment, problems with growth. wh

close the line between cardiff central and the valleys. and several stations, including paddington in london, will be either partially or completely shut for several days. our transport correspondent, richard westcott, reports. it is going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on, and it all starts late tonight, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this was the m6 today. and it is a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here is sta nsted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver, as part of our railway upgrade programme, and some of that work just can't be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. and so christmas is the best time to do it, because it's one of the quietest times of year. 211,000 engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. well, one of the biggerjobs they are doing this christmas is to open up and test these new lines between the concrete blocks there. critically, they unblock a bottleneck between th

—signalling scheme in the network's history will close the line between cardiff central and the valleys. and several stations — including paddington in london — will be either partially or completely shut for several days. 0ur transport correspondent richard westcott has sent this report from paddington where trains will stop at midnight tonight. this was the m6 today. and it's a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here is stansted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works we have to deliver as part of our upgrade programme and some of that workjust cannot be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. ‘s christmas is the best time to do because it's one of the quietest times of year. 24,000 engineers will work on 200 sites across britain. 0ne work on 200 sites across britain. one of the biggerjobs they are doing this christmas is to open up and test these new lines between the concrete blocks there. critically, they and blocked a bottle net between trains from heathrow into paddington station. it will hit servic

history will close the line between cardiff central, bridgend, newport and the valleys. services around manchester will be affected by work there, while paddington station in london will close to allow the crossrail line to be completed. roads are also expected to be busy and britain's airports are predicting the busiest festive travel getaway ever. our transport correspondent richard westcott reports. it's going to be the biggest rail upgrade ever taken on and it all sta rts upgrade ever taken on and it all starts late tonight, hitting services across south wales, london and manchester. the lack of trains will make the roads busier. this is the m6 today. it's a popular time to fly away for the holidays. here's sta nsted. fly away for the holidays. here's stansted. so why do they always pick christmas to close the railways? we have a huge programme of works that we have to deliver as part of our railway upgrade programme and some of that work just can't be railway upgrade programme and some of that workjust can't be done on a live railway. we have to shut the railway. so christmas is th

the post office and joins us from central london the union said the strike will cause chaos. what do you think? it will be minimal impact for customers as a result of this strike and as you said in the introduction, most of the vast majority of post offices around the country, 11,300 browse branches will be working today, tomorrow, the rest of the business week. they are working hard to their customers and it is an important time for them. 50,000 people across the post offers network working. business as usual this time of year. the strike is regrettable. we wish you weren't happening but we are absolutely clear that the impact will be minimal. mail deliveries will be minimal. mail deliveries will not be impacted by the strike action at all and we will be doing everything we can to minimise customer inconvenience. and on that point about impact. you rightly said there that the crown post offices, they represent about 3% of the network. in terms of traffic, the union is saying that 20% go through the crown post offices. therefore the crown post offices. therefore the impact sounds lik