Police are investigating after the father of Sara Sharif was reportedly assaulted in prison weeks after being jailed for the 10-year-old’s murder.
Urfan Sharif is said to have been attacked at Belmarsh Prison on New Year’s Day by two other inmates in a cell, the Sun newspaper reported.
Sharif reportedly suffered cuts to his face, and it is understood he received medical treatment inside the prison. The weapon alleged to have been used in the assault was part of a tuna can.
Sharif, 43, and Sara’s stepmother were sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted at the Old Bailey last month of killing Sara at their home in Woking, Surrey.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an assault on a prisoner at HMP Belmarsh on 1 January.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate.”
Belmarsh is a Category A jail in south-east London housing some of the UK’s most dangerous prisoners.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an allegation that a prisoner was assaulted at HMP Belmarsh on 1 January.
“The victim, a 43-year-old man, suffered non-life threatening injuries.”
Sara was hooded, burned and beaten during a “campaign of torture” that lasted two years before her body was found at the family home in August 2023.
Urfan Sharif was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison for murder, while his wife Beinash Batool, 30, received a minimum of 33 years.
Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing her death.
The three fled to Islamabad, Pakistan, with Sara’s five siblings, the day before her body was found, prompting an international manhunt.
They hid out there for four weeks before returning to the UK, where they were arrested.
A killer whale, which captured the world’s attention in 2018 when it was spotted pushing the dead body of its newborn calf for 17 days, appears to be grieving again.
The whale, known as Tahlequah, has lost another calf and is again pushing the body, according to the Center for Whale Research.
Tahlequah has this time been spotted off the coast of Washington state in the US.
Killer whales have been known to carry dead calves for a week but scientists in 2018 said Tahlequah had set a “record”.
The Center for Whale Research said the death of any calf was a “tremendous loss” but added that the death of Tahlequah’s newborn was “particularly devastating” given its history.
The centre, which studies the Southern Resident killer whale and works on its conservation, said Tahlequah had now lost two out of four documented calves – both of which were female.
Both Canada and the US list Southern Resident killer whales as endangered.
The whales depend on Chinook salmon – which have been in dramatic decline in recent years – for food.
Failures to reproduce are linked to nutrition and access to these salmon, according to research from the University of Washington.
Whales can travel an average of 120km (75 miles) a day.
The 2018 sighting of Tahlequah pushing a dead calf happened when it was off the shores of Victoria, British Columbia.
Pro-Yoon Suk Yeol supporters at his resdience in Seoul
After a dramatic six-hour long standoff with security, South Korean police have called off an attempt to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The 150 officers involved found themselves helplessly outnumbered – first by the large number of pro-Yoon supporters who had gathered outside his residence before sunrise, and then by a human wall of security staff inside the property.
Police were trying to carry out an arrest warrant issued earlier this week after Yoon ignored three summonses for him to appear for questioning.
The politician is currently under investigation for abusing his power and inciting an insurrection when he tried to impose martial law in early December.
Dozens of police vans lined the street outside Yoon’s residence in central Seoul early on Friday morning, before the arrest team – made up of police officers and members of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) – began moving towards the building at about 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT).
The operation started out with a 20-strong team, but quickly multiplied to some 150 people. Even then, they were outnumbered.
While about half of the team was able to get inside, they were locked for hours in a standoff with presidential security officers – who are still responsible for protecting Yoon, despite him being stripped of his powers – and a military unit responsible for protecting the city of Seoul.
At one point Yoon’s security team engaged in a “confrontation” with the investigating officers, an official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told news agency AFP.
“We’ve determined that the arrest is practically impossible,” said the CIO, which has been investigating Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration last month.
If they had been successful, Yoon would have become the first sitting president to be arrested in South Korea’s history.
Yoon’s “refusal of the legal process” is “deeply regrettable”, the CIO said, adding that next steps will be decided after a review.
Getty Images
Anti-corruption investigators leave the residence of President Yoon Suk Yeol
Yoon’s supporters, who have been camped out in front of the presidential residence for days, cheered in song and dance as the suspension was announced. “We won!” they chanted. Some carried “Stop the Steal” signs – an echo of the call used by US President Donald Trump’s supporters after he lost the 2020 election.
The CIO said that concern for the safety of the team on the ground was a factor in their decision to call off the attempted arrest.
The presidential security service has said they will hold the CIO and police accountable for trespassing, adding that the team had injured some of their staff members.
What’s next?
This development is not unexpected, given Yoon’s defiance throughout the investigation process.
Experts say that as a former chief prosecutor, Yoon is well aware of the legal loopholes available for his defence.
Investigators have until 6 January to arrest him before the current warrant expires.
This means they may attempt to arrest Yoon again over the weekend, although this could be logistically challenging as the crowds are likely to swell.
They can also apply for a new warrant and try to detain him again.
Before the attempt was stood down, Yoon’s security team told the news agency they had been “in negotiation” with the investigators who sought to access the president.
Police have opened a criminal case against the chief of Yoon’s security service and his deputy, and summoned them for questioning, according to Yonhap.
Yoon’s legal team was also seen entering the residence slightly past noon local time.
His lawyer Yoon Gab-keun earlier said they would take legal action over the arrest warrant, arguing that investigators lacked the authority to detain him.
Getty Images
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at an event in 2023
Meanwhile, Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, has criticised Yoon for not upholding his promise to take legal and political responsibility for his botched martial law attempt.
“[It was] a complete lie,” Park said, urging the CIO to attempt to arrest Yoon again today.
The CIO, which has only been operating for four years, was created in response to public anger over former president Park Geun-hye and her excesses. She was impeached by parliament in December 2016, and removed from office three months after.
The extent of the CIO’s jurisdiction, however, has been challenged by other agencies – and its failure to deal with Yoon could be seen as an embarrassing loss.
Weeks of chaos
South Korea has been in political chaos since the martial law attempt on 3 December, with wide rifts opening in parliament between Yoon loyalists and those seeking to unseat him.
Days and nights of protest culminated in the opposition-dominated parliament voting to impeach Yoon on 14 December, their second attempt to do so after the majority of his ruling party members boycotted the first vote.
Two weeks later, parliament voted to impeach his replacement, acting president Han Duck-soo – the first time an acting president had been impeached since South Korea became a democracy.
Han was supposed to lead the country out of its political turmoil, but opposition MPs argued that he was refusing demands to complete Yoon’s impeachment process.
On Friday, prosecutors also indicted on insurrection charges army chief Park An-su, who was named martial law commander during the brief declaration, and special forces commander Kwak Jong-geun, according to Seoul-based news outlet Yonhap.
Two people have died and 18 others were injured after a small plane crashed into a commercial building in southern California, officials say.
Ten people were taken to hospital with injuries, the Fullerton Police Department said in a post on X on Thursday afternoon. Eight others were treated for injuries and released at the scene.
The single-engine Van’s RV-10 crashed at 14:15PST (20:15GMT), according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Officials have provided no further details about how the crash occurred. It is unclear whether the two people who died were workers or were on board the plane.
Police say they are evacuating buildings in the area, and are asking the public to stay away from the crash site.
Congressman Lou Correa, who represents the area of Orange County, about 25 miles (40km) south of Los Angeles, said that the building that was struck is a furniture manufacturing business.
In a post on X, Correa said that at least a dozen of the victims are factory workers.
Aerial photos of the scene show parts of the plane inside the building. The crash also sparked a fire which was extinguished by fire crews.
Security footage recorded from a building across the street shows a fiery explosion, according to local news outlets.
“People are just shaken over the situation,” witness Mark Anderson told KRCA-TV.
“It was just a large boom, and then one of the people went out and said, ‘Oh my gosh, the building’s on fire.’”
The area where the plane crashed is near the Fullerton Municipal Airport, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Disneyland.
The plane appears to have been turning back to the airport shortly after takeoff, according to KRCA-TV.
Around 100 people were ultimately evacuated from the Michael Nicholas Designs furniture factory, according to the Orange County Register newspaper.
Juanita Ramirez, an employee, told the newspaper that she heard a loud bang before seeing a large ball of fire flying towards her.
“It felt like a dream,” she said.
This is the second plane to crash in the area in the past two months, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
On 25 November, another plane crashed into a tree roughly one block away from this most recent crash. No majorinjures were reported in that crash.
The Duchess of Sussex has announced a new show on Netflix – which the streaming service describes as a lifestyle show that blends “practical how-to’s and candid conversation”.
With Love, Meghan premieres on 15 January and includes eight 30-minute episodes featuring appearances from celebrities such as actress Mindy Kaling and former Suits star Abigail Spencer.
In the trailer released on Thursday, Meghan garnishes a cake with raspberries and harvests honey in California, where she lives with her husband Prince Harry and two children.
She posted the trailer on her new Instagram account, writing: “I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it.”
The news comes a day after the duchess returned to Instagram under the account @meghan.
Her first post showed her dressed in white, running on an overcast beach, to write 2025 in the sand, before dashing past the camera laughing.
Her second post shared the trailer for her upcoming show.
In it, she is seen making food in a home kitchen, shopping for flowers, and laughing and eating with friends.
“I’m going to share some little tips and tricks… and how you incorporate these practices every day,” Meghan says in the trailer’s voiceover.
“We’re not in the pursuit of perfection… we’re in the pursuit of joy,” she continues.
In one scene with others, Kaling says “this is probably one of the most glamorous moments of my life,” making Meghan burst into laughter.
Chefs Roy Choi and Alice Waters are also among the guests in the series.
“Everyone’s invited to create wonder in every moment,” the text of the trailer says.
Meghan’s husband Prince Harry even makes a brief appearance, with the two embracing as they hold drinks on a sunny outdoor patio. One of the couple’s dogs, Guy, also has a starring role.
Meghan, formerly an actress, married Prince Harry in 2018. The couple stepped down as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California.
Since then, the pair have started a production company and charitable foundation, and pursued various ventures, including another Netflix show, called Harry & Meghan, about their relationship.
In April, the couple’s media company Archewell said two new series were in production, one celebrating “the joys of cooking & gardening, entertaining, and friendship” (now known to be With Love, Meghan), and another exploring the world of professional polo which aired in December.
Meghan also previously hosted a Spotify podcast Archetypes about stereotypes against women, and launched a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard in 2024.
The names of around 425,000 people suspected of collaborating with the Nazis during the German occupation of the Netherlands have been published online for the first time.
The names represent individuals who were investigated through a special legal system established towards the end of World War 2. Of them, more than 150,000 faced some form of punishment.
The full records of these investigations were previously only accessible by visiting the Dutch National Archives in The Hague.
The Huygens Institute, which helped digitise the archive, says this is a major barrier for people wishing to research the Netherlands’ occupation, which lasted from its invasion in 1940 to 1945.
“This archive contains important stories for both present and future generations,” the Huygens Institute says.
“From children who want to know what their father did in the war, to historians researching the grey areas of collaboration.”
The archive contains files on war criminals, the approximately 20,000 Dutch people who enlisted in the German armed forces, and alleged members of the National Socialist Movement (NSB) – the Dutch Nazi party.
But it also contains the names of people who were found to be innocent.
This is because the archive is comprised of files from the Special Jurisdiction, which from 1944 investigated suspected collaborators.
The online database only contains the names of suspects – as well as the date and place of their birth – which are only searchable using specific personal details.
It does not specify whether a particular person was found guilty, or what form of collaboration they were suspected of.
But it will tell users what file to request to see this information if they visit the National Archives. People accessing the physical files must declare a legitimate interest in viewing them.
There has been some concern in the Netherlands about personal information pertaining to a sensitive period of history being made freely available – prompting the information published online to be initially limited.
“I am afraid that there will be very nasty reactions,” Rinke Smedinga, whose father was an NSB member and worked at Camp Westerbork, from which people were deported to concentration camps, told Dutch online publication DIT.
“You have to anticipate that. You should not just let it happen, as a kind of social experiment.”
Tom De Smet, the director of the National Archives, told DIT that relatives of both collaborators and victims of the occupation had to be taken into account.
But he added: “Collaboration is still a major trauma. It is not talked about. We hope that when the archives are opened, the taboo will be broken.”
In a letter to parliament on 19 December, Culture Minister Eppo Bruins wrote: “Openness of archives is crucial for facing the effects of [the Netherlands’] difficult shared past and to process it as a society.”
How much information made available online would be limited given privacy concerns, and those visiting the archive in person will not be allowed to make copies, he said. Bruins has expressed a wish to change the law to allow more information to be disclosed publicly.
The online database’s website says that people who might still be alive are not listed online.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has threatened to cut financial support for more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees as a dispute with Ukraine over Russian gas supplies escalates.
On 1 January, Kyiv shut off a pipeline that for decades was used to supply Central Europe with Russian natural gas.
Slovakia had been the main entry point and the country now stands to lose millions of euros in transit fees.
The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) estimated last month that there were 130,530 Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia out of 6,813,900 globally.
Fico – who in December made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin – described Kyiv’s move as “sabotage”.
The prime minister of the EU state said he would propose halting electricity exports to Ukraine and also “sharply reducing” financial support for Ukrainians who have found shelter in Slovakia.
He said there was no risk of Slovakia itself suffering from gas shortages, as it had already made alternative arrangements.
But Fico added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to turn off the taps would deprive Slovakia of 500m euros (£415m; $518m) in transit fees from other countries.
He said his party was ready to debate “halting supplies of electricity” and the “significant lowering of support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia”.
“The only alternative for a sovereign Slovakia is renewal of transit or demanding compensation mechanisms that will replace the loss in public finances,” he added.
Last month Zelensky accused Fico of helping Putin to “fund the war and weaken Ukraine”.
“Fico is dragging Slovakia into Russia’s attempts to cause more suffering for Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian president had said.
Poland has offered to support Kyiv in case Slovakia cuts off its electricity exports – supplies that are crucial to Ukraine, whose power plants come under regular attack from Russia.
Poland’s government called Ukraine’s shutdown of Russian gas supplies “another victory” against Moscow while the European Commission said the EU had prepared for the change and most states could cope.
Moldova, which is not in the EU, is already suffering shortages.
Russia can still send gas to Hungary, Turkey and Serbia through the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea.
Former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg is to step down from his current job as president of global affairs at social media giant Meta.
In a post on Meta’s Facebook on Thursday, Sir Nick, a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he was departing the company after nearly seven years.
He will be replaced by his current deputy and Republican Joe Kaplan, who previously served as deputy chief of staff in the White House during President George W Bush’s administration, and is known for handling the company’s relations with Republicans.
He added that he would spend “a few months handing over the reins” and representing Facebook at international gatherings before moving on to “new adventures”.
Sir Nick’s resignation comes just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The president-elect has repeatedly accused Meta and other platforms of censorship and silencing conservative speech.
His relations with Mr Zuckerberg have been particularly strained, after Facebook and Instagram suspended the former president’s accounts for two years in 2021, after they said he praised those engaged in violence at the Capitol on 6 January.
More recently, Trump threatened to imprison Mr Zuckerberg if he interfered in the 2024 election, and even called Facebook an “enemy of the people” in March.
However tensions appear to be thawing between the two, with the pair dining at Trump’s Florida estate in Mar-a-Lago since the US election.
Mr Zuckerberg also congratulated him on his victory and donated $1m (£786,000) to an inauguration fund.
Sir Nick’s departure is seen by some analysts as a nod to the changing of the guard in Washington.
He joined Facebook in 2018, after losing his seat as an MP in 2017. He was later promoted to president of global affairs, a prominent position at Meta.
He was instrumental in launching Meta’s oversight board, a panel of experts that makes decisions and advises Mr Zuckerberg on policies around content moderation, privacy, and other issues.
Sir Nick has been open about his views on Trump’s close ally, Elon Musk, describing him as a political puppet master, claiming he has turned X, formerly Twitter, into a “one-man hyper-partisan hobby horse”.
The former Liberal Democrat leader moved to Silicon Valley initially but returned to London in 2022.
In his statement, he said he was moving on to “new adventures” with “immense gratitude and pride” at what he had been part of.
He said: “My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between ‘big tech’ and the societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and norms affecting the sector.
“I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics – worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe.”
He added: “I am simply thrilled that my deputy, Joel Kaplan, will now become Meta’s chief global affairs officer…He is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time!”
Watch: What we know about the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas
The man who drove a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas was an active-duty US special forces soldier and shot himself dead before the blast, officials have said.
Las Vegas police have identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the driver of the vehicle, which he rented more than 800 miles away and drove to the Nevada hotel on the morning of the blast.
Mr Livelsberger’s cause of death was suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Clark County Coroner’s office.
Seven people were injured when the vehicle – filled with fuel canisters and firework mortars – exploded on New Year’s Day. Officials said all injuries were minor.
Mr Livelsberger drove the Cybertruck to the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the detonation, police have said. Parked in front of the hotel near a glass entrance, the vehicle started to smoke, then exploded.
Las Vegas authorities said the Cybertruck helped contain the explosion, sending it vertical rather than outward. The nearby glass doors and windows of the hotel did not shatter in the blast.
Authorities said they have yet to determine any motive behind the incident.
“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after,” Sheriff McMahill said during Thursday’s press conference.
The sheriff said investigators recovered a military ID, a passport, two semi-automatic pistols, fireworks, an iPhone, a smart watch and several credit cards in Mr Livelsberger’s name from the charred vehicle.
The body in the vehicle was burnt beyond recognition and was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday.
Watch: Las Vegas police say driver in Tesla Cybertruck explosion likely US soldier
Mr McMahill said they found two tattoos on the driver’s remains matching ones Livelsberger had.
The Colorado Springs native rented the Cybertruck on 28 December in Denver.
Police were able to track his movements using a number of photographs on the drive from Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada, along with Tesla’s charging technology that helped map where he stopped along the route. He was the only one seen driving the vehicle.
Mr McMahill said there are several parallels – but no definitive link – between the suspects in the incident in Las Vegas and a truck attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead, which both took place on New Year’s Day.
Both suspects served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, though there is no record they served in same unit or were there at the same time. They also both served in Afghanistan in 2009, but there is no evidence they were in the same region or unit.
Both also used rental company Turo for the vehicles involved in the incidents, Mr McMahill said.
“We don’t believe there’s any further threat from this subject or anybody associated to him here in Las Vegas,” he said.
Watch: Tesla Cybertruck in flames after explosion outside Trump hotel
Mr Livelsberger had decades of experience with the US military, having served in both the Army and National Guard. He was a decorated Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant.
He was serving in Germany but on approved leave at the time of the incident.
Mr Livelsberger’s father told the BBC’s news partner CBS that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.
He said he last spoke to his son at Christmas and that everything seemed normal.
There have been calls for protests ahead of the start of the new term on Sunday
There is concern growing in Syria that the new Islamist-led authorities have already decided on changes to the school curriculum, without the input of the rest of society.
The Facebook page of the transitional government’s education ministry has posted the new curriculum for all age groups, which will take on a more Islamic slant, as well as dropping any reference to the Assad era across all subjects.
The phrase “Defending the nation” has been replaced by “Defending Allah”, among other changes.
The Education Minister, Nazir al-Qadri, downplayed the move, saying the curriculum is essentially unchanged and will remain so until specialised committees have been set up to review and revise it.
Other proposed changes include Evolution and the Big Bang theory being dropped from science teaching.
References to the gods worshipped in Syria before Islam, as well as images of their statues, are also being dropped.
The significance of the great Syrian heroine Queen Zenobia, who once ruled Palmyra in the Roman era, seems to have been downplayed.
The Assad era has essentially been excised from the curriculum, including poems celebrating both Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, in Arabic language courses.
In a statement, al-Qadri said the only instructions he had issued were related to the removal of content that he described as glorifying the “defunct Assad regime” and the instatement of the Syrian revolutionary flag in all textbooks.
The minister also said that “inaccuracies” in the Islamic education curriculum had been corrected.
Reuters
The education minister said the curriculum would remain essentially unchanged until specialised committees had reviewed it
The changes have been welcomed by some Syrians.
But the move has set off alarm bells among resurgent civil society activists, many of whom have returned to Syria for the first time in many years.
They fear it is a sign that their voices – and those of groups and communities across the country – may not be listened to as the country develops under its new leadership.
There have already been calls for protests ahead of the start of the new school term on Sunday.
Activists want to make clear their opposition to any moves by the transitional government to bring in changes to the education system – or any other state institution – without the participation of all sections of Syrian society.
The new authorities have made much of the fact that they are to hold a National Dialogue Conference.
Officials have been holding meetings with many different communities – from Christians to Kurds, to artists and intellectuals.
The message has been that they want to create a new Syria with the involvement of all sections of society so that all will have a stake in the country’s future.
But activists believe the unilateral changes in the school curriculum undercut such promises and want to make a stand right from the start for the values of freedom and inclusion that the removal of Bashar al-Assad has now made possible.
There have been calls for protests ahead of the start of the new term on Sunday
There is concern growing in Syria that the new Islamist-led authorities have already decided on changes to the school curriculum, without the input of the rest of society.
The Facebook page of the transitional government’s education ministry has posted the new curriculum for all age groups, which will take on a more Islamic slant, as well as dropping any reference to the Assad era across all subjects.
The phrase “Defending the nation” has been replaced by “Defending Allah”, among other changes.
The Education Minister, Nazir al-Qadri, downplayed the move, saying the curriculum is essentially unchanged and will remain so until specialised committees have been set up to review and revise it.
Other proposed changes include Evolution and the Big Bang theory being dropped from science teaching.
References to the gods worshipped in Syria before Islam, as well as images of their statues, are also being dropped.
The significance of the great Syrian heroine Queen Zenobia, who once ruled Palmyra in the Roman era, seems to have been downplayed.
The Assad era has essentially been excised from the curriculum, including poems celebrating both Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, in Arabic language courses.
In a statement, al-Qadri said the only instructions he had issued were related to the removal of content that he described as glorifying the “defunct Assad regime” and the instatement of the Syrian revolutionary flag in all textbooks.
The minister also said that “inaccuracies” in the Islamic education curriculum had been corrected.
Reuters
The education minister said the curriculum would remain essentially unchanged until specialised committees had reviewed it
The changes have been welcomed by some Syrians.
But the move has set off alarm bells among resurgent civil society activists, many of whom have returned to Syria for the first time in many years.
They fear it is a sign that their voices – and those of groups and communities across the country – may not be listened to as the country develops under its new leadership.
There have already been calls for protests ahead of the start of the new school term on Sunday.
Activists want to make clear their opposition to any moves by the transitional government to bring in changes to the education system – or any other state institution – without the participation of all sections of Syrian society.
The new authorities have made much of the fact that they are to hold a National Dialogue Conference.
Officials have been holding meetings with many different communities – from Christians to Kurds, to artists and intellectuals.
The message has been that they want to create a new Syria with the involvement of all sections of society so that all will have a stake in the country’s future.
But activists believe the unilateral changes in the school curriculum undercut such promises and want to make a stand right from the start for the values of freedom and inclusion that the removal of Bashar al-Assad has now made possible.
Freezing weather is expected to hit the eastern US in the coming days as the polar vortex moves.
Temperatures are expected to remain below average for the south-east and East Coast through the first half of January. The Gulf of Mexico and Florida could also experience temperatures below freezing.
Meteorologists are predicting heavy snow for the Great Lakes region and into the Appalachians, as well as bitterly cold wind chills.
The polar vortex is an area of cold air that circulates around the Arctic. That area can shift and expand, bringing lower temperatures further south than usual.
Modelling by the independent forecaster Atmospheric and Environmental Research shows the polar vortex expanding over the US in the first two weeks of the new year.
The forecaster says this will bring below-normal temperatures into the eastern US during the second week of January.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warns that “the coldest air of the season to date and dangerous wind chills are likely across many areas of the south-east”.
NWS predicts that lows could reach -8C (18F) in parts of Texas and -4C in Georgia on Tuesday night.
Temperatures will be far colder in the north, with northern Minnesota expected to dip to -25C at the same time.
Beyond then, exact temperatures are hard to forecast – but the NWS expects the coldest weather to occur towards the end of the second week of January.
Heavy snow is anticipated to extend from the Great Lakes region into central and eastern parts of the US around then, but snow could reach as far south as Texas.
The NWS says that while significant accumulations of snow are not expected for the south-east, “these regions are often ill-equipped to handle snowy conditions, resulting in potentially higher impacts”.
It predicts an average of close to two inches of snowfall for the period.
In 2022, a powerful Arctic winter storm caused several deaths and widespread disruption across the US, leaving 1.5 million properties without power. The storm also caused oil production to temporarily cease at a dozen facilities on the Gulf coast.
While northern parts of the US are accustomed to cold winters with lots of snow, winds from the Canadian Arctic could bring hazardous wind chills of -29C to -34C. This can cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.
A drunken police officer in Zambia freed 13 suspects from custody so that they could go and celebrate the new year, officials say.
Detective inspector Titus Phiri was arrested after releasing the suspects from Leonard Cheelo police station in the capital, Lusaka, before running away himself.
The 13 detainees were accused of crimes such as assault, robbery and burglary.
They are all currently on the run and a manhunt has been launched to find them.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said that Mr Phiri, “in a state of intoxication, forcibly seized cell keys” from constable Serah Banda on New Year’s Eve.
“Subsequently, detective inspector Phiri unlocked both the male and female cells and instructed the suspects to leave, stating they were free to cross over into the new year,” he said.
“Out of the 15 suspects in custody, 13 escaped. Following the incident, the officer fled the scene.”
Mr Phiri has not yet commented on the allegations.
Reacting to the incident, former presidential spokesperson and lawyer Dickson Jere wrote on Facebook: “I keep laughing each time I picture the scenario – comical! But then, I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”
On New Year’s Eve in 1997, the late, controversial High Court Judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, some of whom were deemed dangerous by the police.
Mr Chanda was annoyed that the suspects had been arrested as long ago as 1992, but had not yet appeared in court.
Dandy Krazy, one of Zambia’s most popular musicians, has died from injuries caused by a road collision on New Year’s Eve.
The 47-year-old – real name Wesley Chibambo – was travelling in Zambia’s Kapiri Mposhi region when his car collided with a truck and a second car.
Three people died at the scene. Dandy Krazy passed away in the early hours of Thursday despite being transported to the University Teaching Hospital in capital city Lusaka for emergency surgery.
President Hakainde Hichilema was among those who paid tribute to the musician, calling him an “extraordinary artist”.
“His music and charisma touched lives far and wide, crossing all boundaries and bringing people together,” Hichilema wrote in a Facebook post.
Dandy Krazy’s daughter, Comfort, said: “Daddy you have answered the Lord’s call on Shanice’s birthday, your third born. Even in death, we will always love you Papa. I have no time to question God but agree to his will but Lord, your will hurts.”
Dandy Krazy was known for using music as a tool for political commentary.
His song Donchi Kubeba is credited with helping the Patriotic Front (PF) win the 2011 elections, ending the Movement for Multiparty Democracy’s 20-year run in power.
The song, whose title means Don’t Tell Them, lamented the unequal distribution of wealth and lack of opportunities in the country.
Former President Michael Sata, from the PF, later bestowed Dandy Krazy with the Grand Commander of the Order of Freedom.
His other songs include the hit Chintelelwe. Dandy Krazy also popularised tracks he featured on, such as Chipuba Chandi by Indi K and Temperature by Uniq.
In mourning Dandy Krazy, politician and lawyer Sakwiba Sikota wrote on his Facebook page: “There is no doubt that Dandy Crazy was a giant in the Zambian musical industry. His innovation and natural charm touched many.
He praised Dandy Krazy’s “social and political commentaries”, comparing them to artists like Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and John Lennon.
The government has announced it will assist with funeral expenses for Dandy Krazy and the others who died in the collision.
These footprints were made 166 million years ago as a dinosaur walked across a lagoon
The UK’s biggest ever dinosaur trackway site has been discovered in a quarry in Oxfordshire.
About 200 huge footprints, which were made 166 million years ago, criss-cross the limestone floor.
They reveal the comings and goings of two different types of dinosaurs that are thought to be a long-necked sauropod called Cetiosaurus and the smaller meat-eating Megalosaurus.
The longest trackways are 150m in length, but they could extend much further as only part of the quarry has been excavated.
“This is one of the most impressive track sites I’ve ever seen, in terms of scale, in terms of the size of the tracks,” said Prof Kirsty Edgar, a micropalaeontologist from the University of Birmingham.
“You can step back in time and get an idea of what it would have been like, these massive creatures just roaming around, going about their own business.”
Emma Nicholls/Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Scientists think these distinctive three-toed prints were made by a Megalosaurus
The tracks were first spotted by Gary Johnson, a worker at Dewars Farm Quarry, while he was driving a digger.
“I was basically clearing the clay, and I hit a hump, and I thought it’s just an abnormality in the ground,” he said, pointing to a ridge where some mud has been pushed up as a dinosaur’s foot pressed down into the earth.
“But then it got to another, 3m along, and it was a hump again. And then it went another 3m – hump again.”
Another trackway site had been found nearby in the 1990s, so he realised the regular bumps and dips could be dinosaur footprints.
“I thought I’m the first person to see them. And it was so surreal – a bit of a tingling moment, really,” he told BBC News.
Kevin Church/BBC
Gary Johnson spotted the tracks while he was working at the quarry
This summer, more than 100 scientists, students and volunteers joined an excavation at the quarry which features on the new series of Digging for Britain.
The team found five different trackways.
Four of them were made by sauropods, plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on four legs. Their footprints look a bit like an elephant’s – only much much bigger – these beasts reached up to 18m in length.
Another track is thought to have been created by a Megalosaurus.
“It’s almost like a caricature of a dinosaur footprint”, explained Dr Emma Nicholls, a vertebrate palaeontologist from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
“It’s what we call a tridactyl print. It’s got these three toes that are very, very clear in the print.”
The carnivorous creatures, which walked on two legs, were agile hunters, she said.
“The whole animal would have been 6-9m in length. They were the largest predatory dinosaurs that we know of in the Jurassic period in Britain.”
Mark Witton
The dinosaurs left their mark as they walked across a tropical lagoon
The environment they lived in was covered by a warm, shallow lagoon and the dinosaurs left their prints as they ambled across the mud.
“Something must have happened to preserve these in the fossil record,” said Prof Richard Butler, a palaeobiologist from the University of Birmingham.
“We don’t know exactly what, but it might be that there was a storm event that came in, deposited a load of sediments on top of the footprints, and meant that they were preserved rather than just being washed away.”
The team studied the trackways in detail during the dig. As well as making casts of the tracks, they took more than 20,000 photographs to create 3D models of both the complete site and individual footprints.
“The really lovely thing about a dinosaur footprint, particularly if you have a trackway, is that it is a snapshot in the life of the animal,” Prof Butler explained.
“You can learn things about how that animal moved. You can learn exactly what the environment that it was living in was like. So tracks give us a whole different set of information that you can’t get from the bone fossil record.”
Kevin Church/BBC
The trackways form a prehistoric crossroads
Kevin Church/BBC
The excavation took place over the summer
Kevin Church/BBC
Some of the trackways extend 150m and may go even further into the quarry
One area of the site even reveals where the paths of a sauropod and megalosaurus once crossed.
The prints are so beautifully preserved that the team have been able to work out which animal passed through first – they believe it was the sauropod, because the front edge of its large, round footprint is slightly squashed down by the three-toed megalosaurus walking on top of it.
“Knowing that this one individual dinosaur walked across this surface and left exactly that print is so exhilarating,” said Dr Duncan Murdock from Oxford University.
“You can sort of imagine it making its way through, pulling its legs out of the mud as it was going.”
The future fate of the trackways hasn’t yet been decided but the scientists are working with Smiths Bletchington, who operate the quarry, and Natural England on options for preserving the site for the future.
They believe there could be more footprints, these echoes of our prehistoric past, just waiting to be discovered.
The excavation is featured on Digging for Britain on BBC Two at 20:00 on Wednesday 8 January. The full series will be available on BBC iPlayer on 7 January.
Parts of northern England and Scotland, including in Northumberland, have already seen snowfall this week
Temperatures have dropped as colder arctic air spreads across the UK, with amber cold weather health alerts in place ahead of a weekend of snow forecast for much of the country.
Met Office yellow warnings for snow and ice havebeen issued for much of England and Wales and parts of Scotland over the course of three days, with cold conditions forecast to continue into Monday.
Separate warnings for ice are in force on Thursday and Friday after much of the UKwas lashed by strong winds and heavy rain, which led to widespread flooding across the north-west of England.
A number of flood warnings and alerts stay in placein north-west England as a major clean-up operation continues after hundreds were evacuated from their homes.
Colder conditions bring to an end a run of unseasonably mild weather over the festive period, which saw highs of between 11C and 13C on Christmas Day.
Temperatures are set to be around 5C below the early January average, with a wind chill making it feel even colder.
Amber cold health alerts cover the whole of England but are not in place for the rest of the UK.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issues the alerts when temperatures are likely to affect people’s wellbeing, in particular those who are elderly or have health conditions.
The alerts provide early warning to healthcare providers, and suggest actions such as actively monitoring individuals at a high risk, and checking that people most vulnerable to cold-related illnesses have visitor or phone call arrangements in place.
A yellow warning for ice is in place across north-west England, western Scotland and Northern Ireland until Friday morning as temperatures drop through the night.
Western Wales is also covered by a yellow ice warning from this evening until 10:00 GMT on Friday.
The Met Office also warns of snow in north-east Scotland, including the Orkney and Shetland Islands, into Friday.
Over the weekend, conditions will remain cold.
On Saturday from noon until midnight,a yellow warning for snow and ice is in place covering all of England apart from the south-west, and the majority of Wales
A separate yellow warning for snow covers Scotland from midnight on Sunday until 12:00 GMT on Monday
Saturday is likely to be the coldest day as most areas will see top temperatures of around -1C to 2C
While we are now in a chillier spell with wintry showers and potential for significant snow over the weekend for some, this is nothing unusual for winter in the UK
Age UK’s director Caroline Abrahams said the cold weather would bring the government’s decision to limit winter fuel payments “into sharp relief”, and added that the charity had already been contacted by people “worrying about what to do”.
She urged older people “to do everything they can to stay warm” including risking spending more on their heating. Ms Abrahams added that energy companies had “an obligation to help” those struggling and there may be support from local councils too.
The prime minister previously said it was important to protect pensioners who most needed the allowance, but many did not need it because they were “relatively wealthy”. The cut aims to save £1.5bn a year.
ht247 / BBC Weather Watchers
Snow has already settled on the ground in parts of Scotland
As a weather system approaches the UK late on Saturday, rain will bump into the colder Arctic air and turn to snow.
Snow will temporarily fall in parts of southern England before quickly turning back to rain on Saturday night with milder air moving in.
For Wales, the Midlands and northern England there could be as much as 5cm of snow falling to low levels and for a time, freezing rain which brings icy conditions.
As much as 20 to 30cm (8 to 12ins) of accumulating snow is possible over higher ground in parts of Wales and the Pennines. Strengthening wind blizzards and drifting snow could lead to depths of snow up to 40cm over these areas too.
There is potential for travel disruption, power cuts and some rural communities being cut off.
By Sunday and overnight into Monday, the focus of heavy snow will transfer to Scotland with an additional Met Office yellow warning in force suggesting 2-3cm of snow at low levels and as much as 20cm over higher ground.
This weather set up, where you have cold air sitting across the UK with a rain-bearing weather system from the Atlantic moving through, is a tricky one for forecasters.
How much snow and the exact locations where it will fall can be difficult to pin down more than a day ahead, leading to uncertainties in the forecast.
Snow is expected across the Midlands, Wales and northern England over the weekend
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said on Thursday that no fresh postcodes had been triggered for cold weather payments.
Payments of £25 are made to eligible households when an area’s average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0C or below for seven consecutive days.
Many Britons had their new year’s celebrations accompanied by heavy rain and extensive flooding, including in Greater Manchester where a major incident was declared on New Year’s Day.
Emergency services stood down the major incident on Thursday afternoon, having evacuated nearly 1,000 people during the previous 36 hours. Flood warnings remain in place and evacuation centres have opened.
In Cheshire, the banks of the Bridgewater Canal collapsed with water pouring into surrounding fields at Little Bollington, prompting road closures and property evacuations.
The cold weather is a sharp change from December which was the fifth warmest on record, according to Met Office figures released on Thursday.
This was the general trend across the whole of 2024, which it confirmed was the fourth hottest year for the UK.
“With 2024 joining the top 10 warmest years for the UK’s annual temperature series, once again this is a clear illustration that our climate is changing, right now, and we continue to head up this warming curve,” said Met Office Senior Scientist Mike Kendon.
A warming climate also brought more rain to the country – the 2023-2024 winter was the wettest ever for England and Wales, bringing with it a record number of named storms.
The Palestinian Authority says it has suspended broadcasting by the prominent Arab channel Al Jazeera in parts of the occupied West Bank, citing incitement and bias.
Qatari-owned Al Jazeera expressed shock and denounced the decision as “an attempt to hide the truth about events in the occupied territories”.
It links the closure to news coverage of the recent major crackdown by Palestinian security forces on armed Islamist groups in Jenin refugee camp where at least 11 people have been killed.
Al Jazeera, which is widely watched by Palestinians particularly for its exhaustive coverage of the Gaza war, has already been stopped in Arabic and English in Israel.
For the second time in months, Al Jazeera has broadcast the scene from within its own office in Ramallah as security forces enter and order it to close. Last year, it was Israeli soldiers who raided and this time, Palestinian police went in.
On Wednesday evening, a uniformed officer was shown handing an official order to an Al Jazeera correspondent who reads and signs it.
Fatah, the Palestinian faction which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA), has accused the Al Jazeera network of sowing division in “our Arab homeland in general and in Palestine in particular”. Al Jazeera insists it is impartial.
The PA, which cooperates with Israel on security, is increasingly unpopular with the Palestinian public and has little control over Jenin’s urban refugee camp, historically seen as a stronghold for armed groups.
Since early December, its forces have been fighting members of the Jenin Battalion, most of whom are affiliated with Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose 7 October 2023 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.
Analysts say that the PA is trying to reassert its authority in the West Bank and prove its potential value to the incoming Trump administration. They suggest it may also want to show its ability to take a role in the future governance of Gaza.
However, ongoing events have drawn condemnation from many Palestinians.
“Al Jazeera has successfully maintained its professionalism throughout its coverage of the unfolding events in Jenin,” it said in a statement earlier this week.
According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, Al Jazeera network has been deemed in violation of Palestinian laws and regulations and its operations suspended temporarily. The stoppage order applies to all work by its journalists and staff.
The network is accused of broadcasting “inciting materials” and “misleading reports” that “provoke strife and interfere in Palestinian internal affairs,” Wafa said.
Israel’s parliament voted to close Al Jazeera in Israel last May saying it threatened national security. Israeli police then raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera for broadcasting and some of its equipment was confiscated. The channel’s Arabic staff relocated to the West Bank.
In September, Israeli troops ordered the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah in the West Bank to close for 45 days claiming it was being used to support terrorist activities.
Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have often accused Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Israel has also accused Al Jazeera staff in Gaza of belonging to the Islamist group. In July, the Israeli military killed Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza City, claiming he was a member of Hamas’ s armed wing. Al Jazeera strongly rejects all the allegations.
There is also a long history of hostility between Al Jazeera and the PA, with some PA officials accusing it of showing support for Hamas, a political rival of Fatah.
In 2011, Al Jazeera’s publication of the so-called Palestine Papers, a leak of confidential files detailing years of negotiations between Israel and Palestinian teams, embarrassed PA officials who accused the network of distortion. The documents purported to show offers of major concessions to Israel.
Some Palestinian journalists have criticised the PA decision to bar Al Jazeera saying it comes against a background of an increasingly authoritarian crackdown on dissent. The Foreign Press Association expressed “grave concern” over the action saying that it “raises serious questions about press freedom and democratic values in the region.”
An eight-year-old boy has been found alive after surviving five days in a game park inhabited by lions and elephants in northern Zimbabwe, according to a member of parliament.
The ordeal began when Tinotenda Pudu wandered 23 km (14 miles) from home into the “perilous” Matusadona Game Park, said Mashonaland West MP Mutsa Murombedzi on X.
He spent five days “sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits”, she said.
Matusadona game park has about 40 lions. At one point, it had one of the highest lion population densities in Africa, according to African Parks.
The Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority confirmed the incident to the BBC but did not share any further details.
Murombedzi said the boy used his knowledge of the wild and survival skills to stay alive.
Tinotenda survived his ordeal by eating wild fruit. He also dug small wells into dry riverbeds with a stick to access drinking water – a skill taught in the drought-prone area.
Members of the local Nyaminyami community started a search party and beat drums each day to try and guide him back home.
But ultimately, it was park rangers who managed to find him.
On his fifth day in the wild, Tinotenda heard a ranger’s car and ran toward it, narrowly missing it, the MP said.
Luckily, the rangers returned, spotted “fresh little human footprints,” and searched the area until they found him.
“This was probably his last chance of being rescued after 5 days in the wilderness,” said the MP.
The park is over 1,470 sq km (570 sq miles) and is home to zebras, elephants, hippos, lions, and antelope.
Across social media, people have been praising the young boy for his resilience.
“This is beyond human comprehension,” one person wrote on X.
Another user wrote: “He’s going to have one hell of a story to tell when he gets back to school.”
Navy personnel from Devon and Cornwall were dispatched to watch Russian vessels sailing near the British coast.
The Royal Navy said Devonport-based HMS Somerset’s crew was recalled on Christmas Day before it sailed two days later as RFS Soobrazitelny and her two support ships MV Sparta II and MV General Skobelev sailed across the English Channel.
Airborne support was provided during the mission by the Type 23 frigate’s Merlin helicopter, which was provided by 814 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Culdrose, the navy added.
A navy spokesperson said the shadowing operation lasted five days and ended on New Year’s Eve.
HMS Somerset’s commanding officer Cdr Joel Roberts said the crew, consisting of nearly 200 people, was always prepared to protect the UK, even during holiday periods.
“As the UK is an island nation, at all times of the year the Royal Navy maintains units at very high readiness to conduct operations in support of the UK’s national objectives,” he said.
Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard, who is MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said the crew involved had shown great “professionalism” during the operation.
“I would like to thank the crew of HMS Somerset for their dedication after readying themselves for action at short notice during the Christmas period, and promptly setting sail from Devonport to keep the UK safe,” he said.
A skull from shortly after the period Romans occupied Britain
From the end of the Roman occupation through the Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions – a new way of testing DNA in ancient bones could force a rethink of key moments in Britain’s early history, say researchers.
Scientists could already track big alterations in DNA that occur over thousands or millions of years, helping us learn, for example, how early humans evolved from ape-like creatures.
Now researchers can identify subtler changes over just hundreds of years, providing clues as to how people migrated and interacted with locals.
They are using the new method to analyse human remains found in Britain, including from the time when Romans were replaced by an Anglo-Saxon elite from Europe.
Prof Peter Heather, from Kings College London, who is working on the project with the developers of the new DNA technique at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said the new technique could be “revolutionary”.
While the project will analyse the DNA of more than 1,000 ancient human remains of people who lived in Britain during the past 4,500 years, researchers have homed in on the time after the Romans left as a particularly interesting era to study.
What happened in this period more than 1,500 years ago is unclear from written and archeological records. Historians are divided in their views about the scale and nature of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, whether it was large or small, hostile or co-operative.
“It is one of the most contested and therefore one of the most exciting things to work on in the whole of British history,” according to Prof Heather.
“[The new method] will allow us to see the type of relations that are being found with the native population,” he said. “Are they co-operative, is there interbreeding, are the locals able to make their way into the elite?”
They are optimistic about the success of the technique, known as Twigstats, after testing it on human remains found in mainland Europe between the years 1 and 1,000 CE.
Much of what they gleaned from the DNA about the spread of the Vikings into Scandinavia tallied with historical records.
This result, published in the journal Nature, confirmed the method worked while showing how powerful it could be at shedding new light on accepted facts when findings didn’t match what was written in the history books.
“That was the moment we got really excited,” said Dr Leo Speidel, who developed the technique with his group leader Dr Pontus Skoglund. “We could see that this could really change how much we can find out about human history.”
Researchers extracting tiny bones from the ear of a skull fragment of a person that lived more than 1,500 years ago in Yorkshire
The problem the researchers were trying to overcome is that a human’s genetic code is extremely long – consisting of 3 billion separate chemical units.
Spotting the small genetic changes in that code which occur over a few generations, for example, as a result of new arrivals interbreeding with the local population, is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The researchers solved the problem by, as it were, taking away the haystack and leaving the needle in plain sight – they found a way to identify the older genetic changes, disregard them and look only at the most recent alterations.
They combed the genetic data of thousands of human remains from an online scientific database, then calculated how closely they were related to each other, which chunks of DNA were inherited from which groups and when.
This created a family tree with older changes appearing in earlier branches, and more recent changes showing up in newer ‘twigs’, hence the name Twigstats.
Francis Crick Institute
Archaeologists carefully sifting through bones at an Anglo-Saxon burial site in Poulton in Cheshire which will be analysed using the new technique
Each of the people whose remains will be studied have their own tales to tell and soon scientists and historians will be able to hear their stories, said Dr Skoglund.
“We want to understand many different epochs in European and British history, from the Roman period, when the Anglo-Saxons arrived, through the Viking period and see how this shapes the ancestry and diversity of this part of the World,” he said.
As well as showing up interbreeding with different populations, embedded in the ancient DNA are hugely important details on how people coped with key historical moments, such epidemics, shifts in diet, urbanisation, and industrialisation.
The spread of the Vikings – one of the key European migrations researchers are studying using the new method
The technique can potentially be applied to any part of the world for which there are a large collection of well preserved human remains.
Prof Heather wants to use it to investigate what he describes as one of European history’s biggest mysteries: why central and eastern Europe changed from being Germanic speaking to Slavic speaking, 1,500 years ago.
“Historical sources show what was the case before and what was the case after, but there is nothing about what happened in between,” he said.
Follow Pallab on Blue Sky and X
The new series of Digging for Britain, featuring one of the Anglo-Saxon burial sites, Poulton Farm, will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from 7th January 2025.
The suspect has been named as Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42
Fifteen people were killed and at least 35 injured after a man apparently inspired by the Islamic State group(IS) drove into large crowds in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Here’s what we know so far about what happened and the perpetrator.
How did the attack unfold?
Webcam appears to show police running to New Orleans attack scene
At 03:15 local time on New Year’s Day, a pick-up truck rammed into crowds gathered on Bourbon Street in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter.
CCTV footage shows a white, Ford F-150 Lightning vehicle driving on to the pavement to get around a police car before hitting pedestrians.
Police described the act as “very intentional”, adding that the attacker – identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar – was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” said New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick.
Jabbar was also armed and fired on law enforcement, injuring two officers. He was then killed by police gunfire.
Whit Davis, from Shreveport, Louisiana, told the BBC that he was held in a bar with a large group in the aftermath of the attack while police secured the scene.
When they left, they “were walking past dead and injured bodies all over the street”, he said.
Who was Shamsud-Din Jabbar?
The FBI has named the assailant as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran and US citizen from Texas.
A flag associated with IS was found in the vehicle he was driving and the FBI said it was investigating what affiliations Jabbar may have had with terrorist groups.
President Joe Biden said the FBI had briefed him on the attack. The suspect uploaded videos to social media “mere hours before the attack” indicating that he was inspired by IS and expressing a “desire to kill”, Biden said.
Suspected improvised explosive devices were also found in the area.
More on the New Orleans attack
A long gun with a “suppressive device” on it – acting as a silencer – was also recovered.
According to a now-removed LinkedIn profile, Jabbar had worked in various roles in the US Army, including in human resources and IT, before he was discharged. He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
In a YouTube video posted in 2020, Jabbar said his time in the military had taught him “the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously, dotting i’s and crossing t’s to make sure that things go off without a hitch”.
He studied at Georgia State University from 2015 to 2017, graduating with a degree in computer information systems.
He was married twice. His first marriage ended in 2012 and his second lasted from 2017 to 2022.
He also appears to have worked in real estate, holding a licence that expired in 2021. He had a criminal record, relating to traffic offences and theft.
The pick-up truck he was driving was electric and believed to have been rented in Texas via an appcalled Turo.
Are there additional suspects?
The FBI said they believed the suspect had help in carrying out his attack, particularly in placing suspected explosive devices.
CBS, the BBC’s US partner, reports that law enforcement has not yet released evidence of those accomplices.
Earlier reports said authorities were reviewing video footage, but CBS reported that the footage had been determined to only show bystanders.
Who were the victims?
Michelle Bech
Former Princeton University football star Martin “Tiger” Bech was among those killed
Police say it appears that the victims were mainly locals from New Orleans, even though many tourists were visiting for New Year celebrations and the now-postponed Sugar Bowl, part of the American football college play-offs.
Among the dead is former Princeton University football star Martin “Tiger” Bech, according to the college’s athletics department.
“He was a ‘Tiger’ in every way – a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend,” Bob Surace, head football coach, said in a statement.
Aspiring nurse Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux‘s death was confirmed by her mother, Melissa, on social media.
She told local media that the 19-year-old had snuck out with a cousin and friend, who both survived the attack.
Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, was identified in a post on Facebook shared by his former high school, which said that he was killed in a “senseless act of violence”.
Store manager and father of two Reggie Hunter, 37, was described by his cousin Shirell Robinson Jackson as “full of life”.
Ms Jackson told CBS that Reggie had been with another cousin, who was injured in the attack.
Nicole Perez worked at a deli store and was mother to a four-month-old son. Her friend and boss, Kimberly Usher Fall, said Nicole was a dedicated, smart and “good-hearted person”.
Audio-visual technician Matthew Tenedorio, 25, had a “laid-back spirit and infectious laughter” that brought joy to those around him, according to a fundraiser his family set up in his name.
Kareem Badawi, a University of Alabama student, was identified by his school. On Facebook, the university’s president Stuart Bell writes that he grieves “alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heart-breaking loss”.
Where did this happen?
Bourbon Street is a well-known nightlife and tourist hotspot that is filled with restaurants, bars and clubs with live music.
It is within New Orleans’ French Quarter, a lively area that attracts tourists and locals, especially to celebrate New Year.
It was established by the French in 1718, and the original grid of streets designed back then is at the heart of what draws visitors to the city.
Every year, upwards of a million people flock to its famous Mardi Gras carnival and parade in the spring, famous for the strings of colourful beads worn by party-goers.
Bollard repairs
Questions have been raised about whether repairs to the city’s bollard system – introduced to block vehicles’ access in the middle of busy pedestrian streets – may have been a factor in the attack.
The vice president of the New Orleans City Council told the BBC’s Newsday programme that the use of the short, vertical posts was part of wider efforts to try and prevent potential attacks in the wake of 9/11.
However, JP Morrell said that the system was in the process of being repaired ahead of February’s Super Bowl when the attack happened.
According to a notice on the city’s website, work to replace the old bollards on Bourbon Street with “new removable stainless-steel” ones began in November.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the intersection the truck sped through was actively under construction or said if the replacement project created a vulnerability.
This fictional 2025 couple, along with the man’s ‘VR headset’, featured in the Tomorrow’s World episode in 1995.
In 1995, the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World programme decided to predict what the world would look like 30 years later, in 2025.
The show, which is no longer broadcast, featured one of the most famous scientists of the age, Prof Stephen Hawking, who predicted: “By 2025 we can expect big changes.”
The programme team agreed, suggesting a raft of world-shaking innovations from hologram surgery to space junk gel.
So, with the help of some experts – and the benefit of three decades of hindsight – let’s take a look at how much of today’s world that Tomorrow’s World successfully anticipated.
The ‘Cyberspace Riots’ of 2005
The programme predicted there would be riots after financial markets “succumb to viral terrorism”.
In 1995, the world wide web was really taking off – a development Tomorrow’s World thought would bring future trouble.
They predicted “business barons” and banks would take control of the internet by 2000, establishing a “supernet” which they restricted access to.
That, in turn, would prompt hacks, viruses and even riots.
Tomorrow’s World in 1995 predicted riots would happen after the creation of the “supernet”
Verdict – The internet has remained – mostly – open, and there have been no riots but there is little doubt the actions of hackers have caused misery for many people.
One thing the programme didn’t predict was the role of the nation state hackers like North Korea, expertly told in the BBC’s Lazarus Heist podcast.
Cybersecurity is hugely important for governments and companies, and people who are suspicious of banks have championed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Asteroid mining and space junk gel
Tomorrow’s World predicted the rise of asteroid mining, and the death of an astronaut from space junk
The programme speculated space mining would become a lucrative industry, with companies excavating asteroids near Earth for precious metals.
The show also suggested space junk would become such a problem it would not be safe for astronauts. The answer – a gigantic foam gel to slow down debris.
Verdict –Well, there is no super foam gel and the problem of space junk is an acute one. There is also no space mining industry – but that could change.
Futurist Tom Cheesewright is an optimist about mining beyond our planet.
“The potential riches are unfathomable and the technology is entirely within our grasp,” he said.
The super surgeons and their robots
Tomorrow’s World thought patients would be operated on by robots that were remotely operated by a surgeon from a far-off location
Tomorrow’s World predicted by 2004, a law would be passed for all UK hospitals to publish a league table of surgeon success rates. The top surgeons would become so popular, and so well paid, it would make no sense for them to travel to patients.
Instead, patient holograms would be sent to them and the surgeon would operate using “spacial gloves”. At the patient’s end, a robot would perfectly mimic the movements of the surgeon.
Verdict – They didn’t get it exactly right but robots are helping with surgeries.
A smart speaker with a floating head
Alexa? Siri? Google? Not quite.
The programme featured a man of the future (wearing a fetching VR headset), his wife and a young girl in what appears to be modern-day London.
In one section, the floating head of a woman comes out of a “smart speaker” to tell the man it has been a year since his holiday to “Indo Disney.” She encourages him to take another holiday via a “shuttle to Bangalore” – which would only take 40 minutes.
Verdict – Ultra-fast travel feels as far away as ever, but holograms, smart speakers and VR headsets are becoming ever more prevalent.
Banking using a microchip in your arm
How do you feel about withdrawing some money using a chip implanted in your arm?
Elsewhere in the programme, we were given a vision of the future of banking.
It featured a woman going to a bank, complaining there were no humans, and then withdrawing 100 “Euro marks.” The bank gives her the money after scanning a chip in her arm.
Verdict – Banking has indeed become more and more automated. And though paying via microchips inside the human body is a reality, other technologies – mainly fingerprint and face scanning – are much more widely used.
In 1995, Tomorrow’s World offered a vision of self-driving cars and the failure of electric vehicles by 2025
Memories from the presenters
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Monty Don is a familiar face to many who enjoy gardening programmes
Gardeners’ World star Monty Don was one of the presenters on that Tomorrow’s World programme 30 years ago. His segment predicted a huge restoration of British woodlands thanks to genetic engineering and multi-storey agri facilities, leading to the return of animals including the brown bear.
Reflecting on it now, he told BBC News that his part of the programme was “utopian” and “naive”.
Looking towards the next 30 years, he is pleased the current generation of young people are “much more sensitive to climate change” and thinks people will be growing more of their own food by 2055.
He added: “Tomorrow’s World was by definition geared towards the way that mankind could change and improve the world, whereas what we have really learnt since then is that mankind has a habit of making things worse, particularly environmentally, and we have to work with nature rather than try modify and control it.”
Monty Don talking about the reintroduction of brown bears in the 1995 programme.
Vivienne Parry was another presenter on the prediction show, and fronted a section about medicine.
She fondly remembers filming it – and the rather limited visual effects of the day. “I had to stay absolutely still. I had a set of glasses on with a little camera attached. They were stuck on my face via a big blob of black sticky stuff.
“It was this fantastically hot day, and this black stuff started to leak down my face and I couldn’t move. Someone from make-up came along with a long cane with cotton wool on the end to get it off.”
Vivienne has been involved with Genomics England since 2013, and highlights that some of the predictions from the 1995 Tomorrow’s World about genomic sequencing have come true, as she works on a research study to help diagnose and treat genetic conditions.
Can you see the black blob? While filming this sequence, Vivienne Parry and the make-up team had to get creative
So what could the world look like in 2055?
Futurist Tracey Follows thought the 1995 programme got a lot of big ideas right, but missed two of the biggest themes of the last 30 years – the spread of big tech and social media.
By 2055, she thinks many people will be “cognitively connected” – a hive mind of humans and technology via servers, which will help in the sharing of ideas.
“Brainstorming will literally be brainstorming, where you can share ideas by thinking them.”
Tom Cheesewright thinks two of the most exciting prospects for the next 30 years will be materials science and bioengineering.
In materials, the creation of devices that are even stronger, lighter and thinner could change the world, while bioengineering – married with tight regulation – has the power to transform medicine and tackle “some of the biggest challenges humanity faces – decarbonisation, clean water, food”.
So what do you think the world will look like in 30 years?
Whatever your answers, it would be wise to listen to what Prof Hawking said to Tomorrow’s World three decades ago.
“Some of these changes are very exciting, and some are alarming. The one thing that we can be sure of is that it will be very different, and probably not what we expect.”
Chinese car maker BYD saw its sales jump at the end of last year, as it competes with Tesla to be the world’s best-selling electric vehicle (EV) maker of 2024.
The company says it sold 207,734 EVs in December, taking its annual total to 1.76 million, as subsidies and discounts helped attract customers.
It comes as Tesla is due to announce its own quarterly sales figures later on Thursday.
The US electric car maker maintained a slim lead in EV sales over BYD in the previous quarter but the Shenzhen-based firm has been narrowing the gap.
BYD’s total vehicle sales jumped more than 41% in 2024, year-on-year. The surge was powered mainly by sales of its hybrid cars.
The company has benefited from a rise in car sales in its home market, as intense competition drove down prices and government subsidies encouraged consumers to replace their old cars with EVs or other more fuel efficient options.
BYD sells 90% of its cars in China, where its been extending its lead over foreign brands like Volkswagen and Toyota.
The rise of BYD and other Chinese EV makers contrasts with the challenges faced by some legacy car makers, which have been struggling in major Western markets.
Last month, Honda and Nissan confirmed that they were holding merger talks, as the two Japanese firms seek to fight back against competition from the Chinese car industry.
Also in December, Volkswagen announced it had reached a deal with the IG Metall trade union which will avert plant closures in Germany and avoid immediate compulsory redundancies.
The German motor industry giant had previously warned it might have to shutter plants in the country for the first time in a bid to cut costs.
Earlier in the month, the boss of car making giant Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, quit with immediate effect following a boardroom clash.
His abrupt exit from the company – which owns brands including Vauxhall, Jeep, Fiat, Peugeot and Chrysler – came two months after Stellantis issued a profit warning.
In the third quarter of 2024, BYD saw its revenues soar, beating Tesla’s for the first time.
It posted more than 200bn yuan ($28.2bn, £21.8bn) in revenues between July and September – a 24% jump from the same period last year, and more than Elon Musk’s company whose quarterly revenue was $25.2bn.
However, Tesla still sold more electric vehicle (EVs) than BYD.
Chinese car makers have been trying to boost sales of their EVs outside the country but have faced pushback in some major markets.
In October, European Union tariffs of up to 45.3% on imports of Chinese-made EVs came into force across the bloc.
The US has also imposed a 100% duty on EVs from China and President-elect Donald Trump is expected to impose further tariffs on imports.
Meanwhile, BYD has been expanding its foothold in emerging economies.
Last month, it faced a setback in Brazil – its largest overseas market – with authorities halting the construction of a BYD factory, saying workers lived in conditions comparable to “slavery”.
BYD said it had cut ties with the construction firm involved and remained committed to a “full compliance with Brazilian legislation”.
