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. a year before myanmar votes

in a general election, we speak exclusive to the democracy campaign campaigner. special prayer services and memorials have been taking place across southeast asia to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami. in southern thailand, relatives of japanese victims place the flowers at the memorial and remembrance wall. many westerners on holiday also lost their lives in december 2004. their families and friends placed wreaths on the sands and threw flowers in the water. thai relatives createded ed d a memorial with photos their lost ones.

we go to the thai resort of khao lak. >> reporter: welcome to southern thailand where here the 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 is very much a symbol of the tragedy that befell this region ten years ago. it was picked up and tossed about a mile inland by that giant tsunami wave. it weighs several months. it very much symbolizes the helplessness of many here when that tsunami struck. we've been hearing from the prime minister. he gave an address at this official commemoration ceremony and a deputy prime minister and a couple officials from the united nations who were keen to stress that 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 it would help minimize the loss of life. ten years ago close to a quarter of a million people parrii peri. some waves were as high as 20 meters. well, one of the worst affected areas of course was in indonesia. 160,000 people died there. the earthquake that took place triggered those waves that hit battering the area of aceh and banda aceh was laid to waste. our correspondent is there looking at the services that

have took place. >> aceh is saying thanks to the world. the indonesia vice president is telling everyone 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 but also a chance to remember those who perished. >> translator: it's a time when we learn how to resolve a problem and lessons taught us how to solve a complicated problem by uniting as one. >> 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. these scenes of devastation finally led to a peace deal. no one could continue fighting

after surviving this. today aceh is a different place in this village, aid agencies have rebuilt homes that were flattened ten years ago. this man lost his sister and both 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 a 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. >> back here, the band is playing out all of the delegates and local people who have been at this memorial, and the police

boat is still lit behind me and you can make out the floral tributes that have been left beside it. this was the official remembrance ceremony for those who died in thailand but there have been ceremonies taking place across the day. the first began at 10:19 this morning. that's the exact time that the tsunami struck a decade ago. this is a day of mourning and prayer. here in thailand, they pay tribute to thousands that died ten years ago. victims of one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history. it happened on a clear day just like this. 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 that 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. just getting more and more violent and then the wave slammed into the bungalow, the row of bungalows and took them down with those inside it. that's the last time i saw nova. >> reporter: the whole area that's washed away has been rebuilt. in the event of a similar tragedy, there's confidence that a better early warning system 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 close link with the authorities. everyone is working together in a way they didn't do before to make sure warnings reach the end of the chain and secondly the

fear factor is there and everyone knows 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 a decade on lessons have been learned. >> reporter: one person managed to survive the 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, yeah, here 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 a couple minutes that we sat there staring and then panic took a hold of the beach and everyone started just 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. changed our lives. including mine. >> what happened to your partner and his parents? >> unfortunately they all three perished. we're fortunate to have them returned to us. i did survive. don't know how. i did. yeah. it was a tough day. it was a tough year.

>> whats th has it been like heg the tributes here and seeing the floral tributes. >> it's very strong and very positive. very, very positive. it's good to hear. there's a big community here. i feel very part of it. coming back i've done volunteering before here. so in the years after i came back and done that and to put something back to the community and they lost more than i did. today has felt very, very right. it's been done very nicely. very fitting. >> it's interesting. 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 knowing there's got to be a reason to do something.

there's a reason why we're here. sometimes giving back makes me feel that. i'm not shocked to hear that. >> i hope you don't mind me asking, did you manage to recover the bodies of your loved ones? >> we did. we recovered all three three months later. i'm very blessed with that. and their family is very blessed with that. i still come back here and feel closer to them here than i do at home. this is where we were together. they were a lovely family. loved the sunshine. loved the beaches. again, i just feel very at home here. >> because of course 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 want like to think for a minute what it's like to not

have that loved one returned because you're always going to have that thought. i'm sure somewhere they will find from this same a little bit of comfort. they're not alone. >> of course the big question have lessons been learned as a result of what happened? a better early warning system to try to -- these things could happen any time. the scientists don't know when an earthquake is going to happen under the sea. if they are 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 years and the changes i've seen in the surrounding areas, there have been changes 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 xbox have reported troubles getting connected to the networks. a hacking group has claimed responsibility for the issues. sony is aware of it and investigating it. syrian 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 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 barack obama marked the end of more than an end 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 presid t president. with me now, a reporter from our turkish service. what can you tell me about what this boy is accused of doing. >> he's accused of insulting the president in a speech he gave during a student protest three days ago and made references to the corruption allegations that surfaced last year in which the president and his close family was mentioned to be -- alleged to be involved and he particularly said we don't regard this person, meaning the president, as president of the

turkish republic but we regard him as a thief in the illegal palace he built. this was regarded as an insult and insulting the president is a crime. he was arrested yesterday. but due to the public outcry, he was 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 might face up to four years in prison. >> there's been a lot of criticism of president erdogan and the grip on the country in terms of free speech. is this evidence of that? >> this is by the opposition 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. all of these incidents, especially things regarding 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. >> cinderella, go to the ball. >> a very british tradition. we explore the appeal of the pantomime and ask how to write the perfect show. this is a pip.

it's part of a hershey's bar.

we break it. we bite it. we sneak it. we smoosh it. we savor it. we love it. hershey's is mine, yours, our chocolate. this is bbc world news. 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.

and now aung san su kyi will take part. >> reporter: your constituency, 2 1/2 years ago you were elected here and shortly after the isolation from 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 reasonably satisfied about what we were 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. 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. >> it doesn't worry me. 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.

>> hear my call. let cinderella go to the ball. >> at the top of my list when i sit to write anything is the word adventure. a pantomime has to be an adventure no matter what comic routines are in or love songs are in it, it has to have at least 60%. they have got to feel involved in the story. >> i'm here to help you see all will be well. >> as soon as we have a cast in place, i start writing. it really can begin february, march time given that i currently write ten pantomime scripts a year. some of the stars that we've had, who would have thought the

hoff would do it. jenny, susan, louie. the big new one is linda gray from "dallas." >> i'm playing the fairy godmother. what could be better? what would be better? to go from sue ellen ewing to a fairy godmother. sometimes sue ellen might creep in. she wants center stage at all timesi times. i have to keep her at bay. >> be a dear. find a pumpkin and some mice to make a coach and horses. >> nice. very nice. >> you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. stay with us here on bbc world news. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches?

24/7 it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things? feel that in your muscles? yeah... i do... try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates.

thanks. ♪ [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable global commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. great job. (mandarin) ♪

cut it out. >>see you tomorrow. ♪ ♪ wellllll... ♪ earlyfit ♪ latefit ♪ risefit ♪ fallfit ♪ ballfit ♪ wallfit ♪ pingfit ♪ pongfit ♪ pingfit ♪ pongfit ♪ rowfit ♪ throwfit ♪ slowfit ♪ olliefit ♪ oopsfit ♪ otisfit ♪ thiswayfit ♪ thatwayfit ♪ daddyfit ♪ pappyfit ♪ datefit ♪ weightfit ♪ goalfit ♪ gooooooalfit ♪ stepfit ♪ stairfit ♪ smartfit ♪ heartfit ♪ spinfit ♪ bikefit ♪ hikefit ♪ yikesfit ♪ wheeeeefit ♪ wowfit ♪ whoafit ♪ findyourfit ♪ it's all fitbit

postman: morning, love. woman: morning! yes! hiya. all right?