hello, i'm lucy hockings with "bbc world news." our top stories. objects are spotted in the sea by rescue teams searching for the missing airasia plane, but it's not yet known if they're from the aircraft. the italian navy says all people onboard a ferry that caught fire in the adriatic sea should be rescued by night fall. the greek parliament fails to elect a new president, paving the way for a snap general election. and it's a year since they were arrested in egypt. we speak to the parents of the jailed al jazeera journalists.

the search teams looking for the missing airasia air passenger plane say they have spotted the first potential signs of wreckage. an indonesian helicopter has seen two oily spots in the search area and an australian search plane has spotted objects hundreds of miles away but it is still too early to know whether either sighting is connected to the missing aircraft. the search is centered here in the java sea, that's off the coast of sumatra. the plane's last known position. and these boxes that you can see here is the total search area divided into several sections. the plane was flying from surabaya airport in indonesia to singapore. it's a flight which should have taken just two hours. in the last hour, indonesia's vice president gave us this update. >> there are certain ship operations in the area and 50

airplane and helicopter operations. of course in the sea, especially -- instructions for all our people to do the best and find the planes and the passenger, of course. >> the indonesian authorities have held some briefings for those who had relatives or friends on flight 8501. the bbc has spoken to the father of the plane's pilot, and he explained that he only saw his son a week ago at the funeral of another of his children. >> translator: i want my son to come back alive and well but if that's not meant to be if god doesn't want that it's in the hands of fate.

my son, he's not alone on the plane. if this is god's will then so be it. >> let's take you live now to our correspondent in jakarta. just give us an update what is happening in terms of the search operation. >> well, lucy just in the last hour we've had an indonesian service reporter of the bbc's indonesian service onboard an indonesian military aircraft that was scouring the java seas earlier today for any sign of that missing airline, that missing airplane. what she was able to tell us butt the time she spent on this aircraft is that search and rescue teams spotted two oil slicks in the area where it's thought the pilot last had contact with air traffic control in jakarta. now, this is just off the coast of the island in the java sea. as of yet, it's unconfirmed whether these oil slicks have

anything to do with the missing airplane. now, we heard from the indonesian vice president just a few moments ago in this program. he was talking about how there is a huge effort to try and find any sign of this airplane. he spoke about the ships and the airplanes, the aircraft that have gone out into this area to try and find any signs of what could have happened there. he also added, in fact, in a later briefing that they're trying to mobilize as many people on the ground in the area to get as much information as they can. they've even asked fishermen in the area to come back and report any details about what they might have seen during the last 36 hours that this plane has been missing. we also understand that the indonesian president joko widodo is currently at the headquarters of the search and rescue agency here in central jakarta, and he is due to make some sort of press briefing or press announcement, we understand. it's not clear what he's going to say in that.

but what we do know is that authorities in indonesia are not sparing any efforts to find out what has happened to this missing airplane. >> thanks for the update from jakarta jakarta. in light of what is feared to happen, you might be worried about how safe air travel is at the moment. despite several high-profile losses of life many experts feel that we've been through the safest ever period in aviation history. although there have been 761 deaths in 2014 compared to 265 in 2013 that rise comes after a long downward trend. malaysia airlines suffered two disasters. you'll remember in march 2014 when mh370 disappeared en route in kuala lumpur to beijing. no trace of that plane has yet been found. and it was in july that malaysia airlines flight 17 was shot down over ukraine, killing all 298 people on birthday. just a few days later, a

transasia airways flight crashed in taiwan. 48 out of the 58 people on board died. a day later, all 116 people onboard air algerie flight were killed when that flight went down. air travel is still extremely safe. the accident rate was 0.24 out of one million departures. less than one accident for every four million flights. the head of the aerospace and defense joins me now from singapore. thank you very much for being with us. do you have a theory as to what has happened to this airasia flight? >> absolutely. you rightly said aviation is still a safe industry. still there are accidents. it's a very tragic incident for

the families, for the airlines, as for the stake holders around this industry. so we have to wait and watch and see how the rescue team are beginning to react on this. >> do you think this is a case of bad weather somehow affecting that flight? >> it would be completely speculation at this moment but considering the communication between the cockpit crew and air traffic controller it looks like this is a weather incident and we have to wait and watch until until. >> is there any concern about air traffic control in the asia pacific region in southeast asia particularly? because there had been some concerns raised with mh370 as well, in terms of communication with those controllers.

>> not only air traffic control, but also the black box, how black box can be in the satellites. and the aircraft flying around the globes. >> are you confident that everything is being done right now to look for the missing airasia flight that all resources have been deployed? >> the incidents are very different. but the government is trying to coordinate between the different

countries to make sure that they find the evidence as soon as possible. the communication between the countries' leaderships and managing the passengers' families is good enough. >> thank you very much for joining us. we're going to take you live actually now to jakarta. joko widodo the country's new president. he has been taking a very personal interest in what is happening with the airasia flight. this is him right now giving a press conference just talking about the government's involvement in the search operation, the government and the army as well in what is being done as night draws in in indonesia. a spokesman for the italian navy has told the bbc they're confident that all the passengers and crew still stranded on a smoldering ferry off the greek coast will be rescued by nightfall.

340 people had already been rescued, and 138 are still trapped onboard. it ran into trouble near the island of corfu. here is the latest. >> reporter: rescued ferry passengers some with dehydration and hypothermia arrived overnight on dry land for their journey to hospital. this morning, a ship with 49 survivors, the first major group to reach land has docked. nearly 500 people were onboard the norman atlantic traveling from greece to italy, when the fire began on the lower deck yesterday morning. the blaze spread fast. this was a double disaster, as chop choppy waters were onboard to get those to safety. one onboard is nicolas channing

williams who was thought to have been rescued with his greek fiancee. >> this morning we have learned that regina has been rescued and she is now in hospital being checked over but nicolas is absolutely still on the ship. >> while hundreds of passengers are safe hundreds more are still on the norman atlantic having endured a second night of smoke and freezing temperatures. some 24 hours after their ordeal begun. still waiting for help to arrive. >> we have some news to bring you on that greek ferry. we have heard from the coast guard who says the death toll from the ferry fire has risen to five. so 138 people still trapped onboard. the death toll stands at five. i got the latest from athens and from the journalist.

>> he has estimated at the speed that the rescue is going, it's going to take around eight to nine hours. the first boat has docked and running footage of passengers coming off that boat. they managed to speak to somebody who was on that boat after she was admitted to italian hospital and she just confirmed what the reports have been saying so far. scenes of chaos, very disorganized. her story is that they were actually supposed to travel with a different bet. she's done this a few times. they said it compared to the boat they were supposed to have traveled on. it was a lot shabbier. it was an older boat. so they weren't very happy with that. >> what sort of stories are we hearing from this terrible night that they've endured? presumably now it's daylight.

things will be a little easier for them onboard. they'll be warmer at least. >> yeah. well onboard, the situation can'ts to be pretty much the same as it was. the only change is that now some crew from the rescue teams have been dropped on to the ship so i'm hoping that means blankets, water, some sort of supplies for the people because up until last night, they had gone nearly 18 hours without anything. no water no blankets. no way to heat the boat. >> we know what's beginning to happen to the boat where they'll actually take it to? >> yes, the bet is being towed to italy. we haven't had many updates about the towing operation.

there was a lot of to and froing. the decision was made by the italian authorities to take the boat to rabizi instead. at the speed that the bet is being towed, it's going to take very long, so the rescue operation is entirely by air and it's still under way. >> the latest there from athens and the coast grd. just to remind you of that break news, now confirming that five people have been killed. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come we speak to the parents of the al jazeera journalists who were arrested in egypt a year ago.

you drop 40 grand on a new set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you. guess what: your insurance company will only give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates.

this is "bbc world news." i'm lucy hockings. thanks for joining us. oily patches in the sea have been spotted by rescue teams looking for the missing airasia plane. it's too earl tloi sayy to say if the sightings are connected. italian officials say all people onboard a ferry that caught fire

by night fall. five people have now died. italy's prime minister matteo renzi is in rome right now. he is giving a planned end of year address to the media. it's likely he'll mention, of course, that operation in the adriatic. he has also been tweeting about it, talking about the helicopters bringing people to shore. let's have a listen. >> the italians who are saving people, and frankly, it's very impressive. and i look to the various messages and i was thinking of how dedicated these people were and also, you know that there were other interventions at sea, and of course, it's a very difficult and painful situation and i'd like to express my concerns to the people.

so our men really have carried out this work with a lot of passion and have managed to avoid an appalling situation. and i am very grateful and i'd like to express my gratitude in the name of all italians, whatever their political opinion is. during the day, of course, more information will be given by the ministers, who have responsibility with regard to the military and the ports, so they were responsible for these rescue operations and they will have a press conference at the end of the afternoon to give you all the details with regards to the operation, so about 60 people on the list, on the embarkation list. perhaps there are discrepancies,

that can happen from time to time, there could be some other people, possibly some illegal immigrants as well. because otherwise you can't understand the difference, the differential. but anyway, there will be a press conference that the ministers will hold. and i would just like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the families of the victims, and at the same time, to thank our people who really have carried out some extraordinary work. believe me when this evening, half past 2:00, there was the message came that we were in contact with our people and they were talking about abandoning the ship.

well, our people have been extraordinarily dedicated, especially taking into consideration the situation. so my opinions -- i don't think will be of interest to you today. and i don't think that i should talk about, in fact, my attitude as far as the senate is concerned at the moment, but the senate respond in an extraordinary way. there are some extraordinary reforms taking place at the moment. thank you for allowing me to say about the various acts and legislation. but i hope that you appreciate this gesture, and i believe however that the government that

i am going to preside will have all the institutional desires and the political will to collaborate and to deal with you to see which reforms can actually be updated and what period of time. finally, i would just like to say that in 2014, i get the impression that there's a change which is really quite an extraordinary change. the rhythm of politics has changed. the justice system, social -- >> matteo renzi moving on to domestic issues there. but it was interesting, he was pointing out the coast guard's response to the greek ferry crisis. the greek authorities now saying the death toll from that ferry stranded in the adriatic, after a fire broke out on sunday, has now risen to five. matteo renzi just paying tribute to the italian coast guard who have been heavily involved in

getting people off that ferry and back to land. we've heard in the past hour or so that greece is going to head to early elections in the new year after parliament failed to elect a new president. you can hear the applause. that break out as the result was being read out. the government's candidate failed to win the 180 votes needed to secure the vote in the third and final round. the government now has ten days to dissolve parliament and declare early elections. let's bring you some other news now, starting in south korea, which has offered to restart high-level talks with north korea next month. the south korean unification minister said he hoped pyongyang would respond to his offer to discuss mutual concerns, including a reunion of families separated during the korean war more than 60 years ago. 37 children whose parents were killed in the recent israeli-gaza conflict have been stopped by hamas from visiting

israel. the children, aged between 12 and 15, were on a trip organized by peace activists. they returned back at the crossing. more than 2,000 people, mostly palestinians, died in the 50-day conflict in july and august. this monday is the first anniversary of the arrest in egypt of three al jazeera journalists. they were charged with broadcasting false news and aiding a terrorist organization. the journalists deny these charges, saying they were only doing their job. >> a verdict that was shocking and painful to many people. the three men were given prison sentences, ranging between seven and ten years. with the new year comes an

appeal session that ushers in hope for the three journalists and their families. >> we are confident that the appeal will acknowledge the fact that peter and his colleagues have been entirely and wrongfully convicted and sentenced and jailed. >> we are now driving by the complex where the journalists are held. security measures are very tight, so we cannot film outside. there are hope that the three men may walk out of this notorious place sooner than expected after a recent reconciliation deal between egypt and qatar. earlier this month, he met with an envoy in cairo. saudi arabia was the mediator. it appears to be that mediation efforts brought this.

one of the channels known for its criticism of the egyptian regime. qatar is softening its tone. egypt may also make some changes. the family is cautiously optimistic. >> it's mixed feeling. hope and fear. fear because when we imagine about this seven years, which cannot be because innocent men, so why we keep thinking of seven years, we are dreaming that we can get him with us the next year. it was a very tough year on me and his parents and definitely on him. i believe that there is no reason for him to stay in prison any more. >> reporter: their future could be decided by the judge. but politics may have the final

word. >> don't forget, you can get a hold of me on twitter. i'm @lucyhockingsbbc. do stay with us.

♪ (vo) love does not come first. first comes...nice meeting you. first comes...getting everything right. first comes...getting it a little wrong. love does not come first. first comes like. m so glad we could be here for larry.

hello, i'm lucy hockings with "bbc world news." our top stories. search teams looking for the missing airasia plane find oily patches and objects in the sea, but they can't confirm they're linked to the aircraft. officials say at least five people have been killed in the fire onboard a car ferry traveling from greece to italy. >> translator: possibly there's a discrepancy between the list and the people onboard. that can happen from time to time, that there could be some other people