our top stories, memorials take place to mark the tenth anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami which killed almost a quarter of a million people. we hear from those who lived through it. >> translator: i thought there was nothing left. that no one had survived. only me. i walked through the bodies and then found my brother. >> i'm live in southern thailand where the official commemorative service for the victims of the tsunami are now drawing to a close. a court orders the release

of a 16 year old arrested for allegedly insulting the turkish president following an outcry over the teenager's detention. a year before myanmar's general election, we speak to aung san suu kyl. special prayer services and memorials have been taking place across southeast asia to commemorating the tenth anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami. in southern thailand, relatives are japanese victims placed flowers at the memorial and remembrance wall many westerners on holiday lost their lives in december of 2004. their families and friends placed wreaths on the sand and threw flowers in the water. thai relatives created a

memorial with photos of their lost loved ones. commemorations were also held in sri lanka and indonesia. >> reporter: welcome to southern thailand where here these memorial services, the official memorial service that has been taking place for the last hour and a half is drawing to a close. you may be able to make out behind me an illuminated giant police boat which has very much become a symbol of the tragedy that befell this region ten years ago. it was picked up and tossed a mile inland by that giant tsunami wave. it waves several tons and symbolizes the helplessness of many here when that tsunami struck. we've been hearing from the prime minister. he gave an address here at this official commemoration ceremony and the deputy prime minister and a couple of officials from the united nations as well who were keen to stress there is now

in place a much better early warning system covering the southern indian ocean and that perhaps if there was a similar tragedy to affect this region would help minimize the loss of life. of course ten years ago, close to a quarter of a million people perished as a result of that earthquake triggered beneath the island in indonesia and causing the ripple effect of giant tsunami waves, some as high as 20 meters. well, one of the worst affected areas of course was indonesia. 160,000 people died there and the earthquake that took place triggered those waves that hit particularly battering the area of aceh and the capital banda aceh was literally laid to waste. our correspondent has been there and has been looking at some of

the services that have ten place to remember those who died. >> a solemn ceremony, a show of gratitude, aceh is saying thanks to the world. the indonesian vice president is telling everyone here representatives of the donor countries, aid organizations and members of the aceh community about how this disaster has brought a tremendous support and this event is really for the people of aceh to express their gratitude. it's also a chance to remember those who perished. >> translator: it's a time when we learn how to resolve a problem. it taught us how to solve a complicated problem by uniting us. >> reporter: more than $7 billion of international aid helped rebuild aceh from ruins. delegates from donor countries have come to see how the money has been spent. at the time of the tsunami,

foreigners couldn't visit here because of a long running separatist conflict but these scenes of devastation led to a peace deal. no one could continue fighting after surviving this. today aceh is a very different place. in this village aid agencies have rebuilt homes that were flattened ten years ago. this man lost a sister and both his parents. now he builds doors and windows for people's homes. thanks to training from an aid agency. something good came out of the disaster he told me. it got him his job and he's counting his blessings. this is a community reborn. still no one can ever forget what happened ten years ago but there are signs that many here are moving on. >> reporter: back here, the band is playing out all of the

delegates and local people who have been here at this memorial, special memorial ceremony and the police boat is still lit behind me. you can see perhaps and make out the floral tributes that have been left beside it. this was the official remembrance ceremony for those who died here in thailand but in fact there have been ceremonies taking place across the day. the first actually began at 10:19 this morning. that's the exact time the tsunami struck a decade ago. this is a day of mourning and prayer. here in thailand, tribute is paid to thousands who died exactly ten years ago. victims of one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history. it happened on a clear day just like this. shoe those in its path had no chance. the wall of water that hit the

shore here was 30 feet high. of the 8,000 or so people who died here in thailand, around 5,000 were tourists. >> we were still asleep when the first wave came in. >> reporter: this man was in a beach chalet with his girlfriend, nova, when the wave hit. >> i woke up to the room shaking. it was getting more and more violent and then the wave just slammed into the bungalow and took them all down with those inside it. that was the last time i saw nova. >> reporter: the whole area that was washed away has now been rebuilt. in the event of a similar tragedy, there is confidence a better early warning system for tsunamis would save lives and greater public awareness of the destructive power of the sea. >> even recently, for example, at the beach here they have sirens and they have a very close link with the authorities

so everyone is now working together in a way they didn't do before to make sure that the warnings reach the end of the chain and secondly, the fear factor is there. everyone knows the tsunami. >> reporter: the mental scars will take much longer to heal than repairing the physical damage caused by the tsunami. several nations reflect on their loss, the hope is that a decade on lessons have been learned. >> reporter: one person managed to survive that tsunami wave when it hit this area ten years ago. dorothy wilkinson joins me now. thanks very much indeed for being with us. it's good to have you here. just take me back to that day. >> 26th 2004, i arrived a couple days before with my partner,

tom, and his parents. we were just sitting on the beach that morning the 26th. everything was normal. things changed. obviously not knowing what it was, we had no idea and within a couple minutes we sat there staring and then panic took a grip of the beach and everyone started running. unfortunately the wave struck us. there was no way of actually outrunning it or escaping it. i think at the end of the day it came in quite fast. quite powerful. it changed a lot of lives including mine. >> reporter: what happened to your partner and his parents? >> they all three perished. we're fortunate to have them returned to us. i did survive.

don't know how but i did. yeah. it was a tough day. a tough year. >> reporter: of course. what's it been like for you hearing tributes that have been paid here. >> it's strong and very positive. it's good to hear, you know, a community here. i feel a part of it. coming back, i've done volunteering before here so in the years after i came back and have done that to put something back to the community. they lost a lot more than i did. today felt right. it's been done very nicely. very fitting. >> reporter: i have spoken to a number of survivors who have all said to be honest with you that they have come back and volunteered and they wanted to help and put something back

here. >> maybe it's a natural response to having that survival, being a survivor and know there's a reason to do something and a reason why we're here and sometimes giving back makes me feel better. it certainly does. and i'm not shocked to hear that. >> did you manage to recover the bodies of your loved ones? >> we did. three months later. i'm very blessed with that. and the family is very blessed with that. but i still come back here and feel closer to them here than i do at home because this is where we were together. they were a loving family. very happy. loved the sunshine. loved beaches. so again i just feel very at home here. >> reporter: there are hundreds of families who haven't been reunited with those people that they presume have died as a result of the tsunami. >> i feel for them.

you know, i'm blessed by having them returned. i wouldn't like to think for a minute what it's like to not have that loved one returned because you'll always have that thought. but i'm sure somewhere they will find from this ceremony a little bit of comfort. they're not alone. >> reporter: of course the big question is have lessons been learned as a result of what happened? a better early warning system to try to -- these things could happen any time. scientists don't know when an earthquake is going to happen under the sea. if they're given enough warning, they can raise the alarm in time for people in the region around to get out of the way of tsunamis. >> i suppose that's yet to be seen. hopefully we won't have to see if it's going to happen and there won't be another but looking around me after ten days and changes i've seen here,

there have been changes and i think for the better. there's a lot more education going on about it especially for tourists. >> i'm afraid we've lost connection to our colleague there. he was talking to one of the survivors of that devastating tsunami ten years ago today. you can find much more on the anniversary of the tsunami on our website. you can find the latest on the commemoration ceremonies and striking pictures of the devastation after the disaster hit and what those places look like now. that's at bbc.com/news. let's get other news now. users of sony's playstation and microsoft's xbox have been reporting problems connecting to the game's networks. a hackers group called lizard squad has claimed responsibility for the problems.

sony issued a statement saying it was aware of the issue and was investigating it. activists say that 40 civilians have been killed by syrian government air strikes in areas controlled by islamic state in the northeast of the country. the government dropped makeshift barrel bombs over two towns north of aleppo on thursday and early friday. they claim that the government has launched an unprecedented number of air raids over syria in the past three days. afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. those are the words of president obama in praising the efforts of u.s. forces in afghanistan who are preparing to pull out. the vast majority of american combat troops will leave the country by the end of next week. in a christmas day speech, president obama marks the end of

more than a decade of combat in afghanistan by highlighting america's contribution. after an outcry over his detention, a court in turkey ordered the release of a 16-year-old high school student arrested for insulting the president. the teenager accused the president and his ruling a.k. party of corruption during a speech at a rally. with me now, we have a reporter from our turkish service. what is this boy accused of going? >> he is accused of insulting the president in a speech he gave during a student protest three days ago he made clear references to the corruption allegations that surfaced last year in which the president and his close family was alleged to

be involved. he particularly said we don't regard this person, meaning the president, as the president of turkish republic. we regard him as the thief, he said, living in this illegal palace that he built. this was regarded as an insult. insulting the president is a crime. he was arrested yesterday but due to public outcry, he's released today. having said that, we have to mention he's still facing charges. the case is not dismissed. if he's found guilty, he may face up to four years in prison. >> there's been a lot of criticism of president erdogan and the grip he has on the country and free speech. this evidence of that? >> by the opposition, this is

regarded as another case of free speech, suppression of free speech. in the last ten days, we have seen that journalists who have reported on the corruption allegations have been arrested as well. although these instances especially things regarding to corruption issues, reports or speeches made regarding corruption issues, are not taken very easily and softly by the government or the president. for instance, after this 16-year-old boy was arrested, the prime minister said, well, we have an article as such and no one should say such things, insult the president as such but as i have said, the opposition takes these things very seriously and regards them as suppression of freedom of speech, which they think is a very serious issue in turkey.

>> really interesting to get your analysis on that. stay with us on bbc world news. still lots more to come. >> a very british tradition. we explore the appeal of the pa pa pan pantomime and ask how to make the perfect show. we love it. hershey's is mine, yours, our chocolate.

make the best entertainment part of your holidays. catch all the hottest handpicked titles on the winter watchlist, only with xfinity from comcast. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines, memorial services are being held across asia for the victims of the indian ocean tsunami on the tenth anniversary of the disaster. users of microsoft and sony game consoles report technical problems amid claims hackers have disabled their online services. it's now less than a year before myanmar votes in a

general election. for the first time in 25 years, democracy campaigner, former political prisoner and now politician, aung san suu kyi will take part. >> reporter: your constituency, 2 1/2 years ago you were elected here and shortly after the sanctions were lifted and myanmar, berma's isolation from the rest of the world came to an end. now that reforms seem to have stalled, do you regret that decision to join parliament? >> no. no. because i didn't join parliament because i expected something from it. i thought it would give us an opportunity to contribute something to the development of the country and also of course if you believe in democracy, you do have to try to do your best to strengthen the legislature. >> how successful do you think that's been? it's been a struggle at times, hasn't it? >> i think life is a struggle. it's always a struggle.

i'm relatively satisfied what we've been able to achieve in the legislature taking into consideration that we're only 46 out of 600 and we haven't done too badly. >> reporter: the constitution bars you from becoming president here. with less than a year to go before the general election, is the dream of becoming president over for you? >> first of all, that's not my dream. my dream is the kind of country i would like to see. that's what i dream of and not about sitting in a presidential suite or anything like that. in any case, i always say you should never say you lost a battle until you have fought it to the best of your ability. >> reporter: you're not ruling out the possibility that some sort of deal could be done. >> i don't like to think of it as a deal. i like to think is that the people's right to choose the president they want is important. this is what we're working to. it's not about my becoming president or anybody else

becoming president but about the people in a position to choose whichever person they might wish to choose. it may be me or somebody else. >> reporter: you talked before about the reform process here being stalled. how do you go about persuading the burmese army to allow more change to take place? >> it's not just me. it's the people who have to persuade them. i think influence of the people is something you cannot ignore. people tend to think that under dictatorship the ordinary public has no power. no influence. this is true at a certain level. i think the power of the people is something you can never make away with because they're there and very much the majority. if you start some kind of reform, however limited, you give the people a chance to air their views and that's great progress.

here in the u.k., pantomime is a big christmas tradition. >> at the top of my list when i sit down to write everything is the word adventure. a pantomime has to be an adventure no matter what comic route yeeines are in it. it has to have at least 60% of the ones they see in front of them. they have got to feel involved in the story. >> i'm here to help you see all will be well. >> as soon as we got it in place, i start writing so it can begin february and march time given that i currently write ten

pantomimes scripts a year. some of the stars that we've had, so many that they never thought would do pantomime. >> tlinda gray is the latest frm "dallas." >> i'm the fairy godmother. what could be better? of course sometimes she may creep in. she wants center stage at all times. i have to keep her at bay. >> be a dear. find a pumpkin and some mice to make a coach and horses. >> nice. >> you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. stay with us here on bbc world news. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts?

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our top stories, memorials take place to mark the tenth anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami which killed almost a quarter of a million people. we hear from those who lived through it. >> translator: i thought there was nothing left. that no one had survived. only me. i walked through the bodies and found my brother. >> the official commemorative service for those victims of the tsunami is now drawing to a close. >> in other news, a court orders the release of a 16 year old arrested for allegedly insulting the turkish president following outcry over the teenager's detention.