this is bbc news. the headlines. nearly 200 people are known to have died after a tropical storm triggers flash floods and landslides in the southern philippines. a man has appeared at york magistrates‘ court charged with the murder ofjodie willsher at an aldi supermarket in skipton. london zoo is to reopen tomorrow after a major fire in which an aardvark and four meerkats are thought to have died. theresa may pays tribute to british troops at home and abroad in a christmas message. and in california, the deadly wild fire that has destroyed hundreds of homes is now the largest in state history. the thomas blaze has scorched an area greater than new york city, brussels and paris combined. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

nearly 200 people have died after a tropical storm struck the southern philippines. the country's second largest island — mindanao — bore the brunt of the storm, which caused flash floods and landslides. one village has been completely buried. andy moore reports. clinging to the neck of his rescuer, a young boy is carried across the floodwaters. there was little sign of official help here, just villagers doing their best to rescue each other with fragile ropes. in a country used to devastating storms, this took many by surprise. the authorities said too many people had ignored warnings to leave coastal areas and river banks. many of the casualties were on the main southern island, mindanao. this man said houses were getting flooded but people couldn't escape, so they got caught in the strong currents and swept away. many places were hit by landslides. flimsy houses were buried beneath tonnes of debris. the red cross is helping

coordinate the relief effort. we have already provided water and food, and we have been distributing non—food items, blankets, mosquito nets and hygiene kits for those who are in the evacuation centres to alleviate the suffering of many of the folks there. the philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons every year. this particular storm is not over yet. it's now heading towards the popular tourist island of palawan. as it passes over warm, tropical waters, its winds are set to grow again in strength. andy moore, bbc news. we will find out how this story and many in tomorrow's front pages. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are the evening

standard columnist rosamund urwin and the women's editor of the telegraph claire cohen. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman working at an aldi supermarket in north yorkshire. neville hord, who's 44, was remanded in custody by magistrates in york. jodie willsher was stabbed to death in skipton on thursday. 0ur correspondent sarah walton sent this report. arriving at york magistrates‘ court, 44—year—old neville hord appeared in the dock charged with murder. he is accused of attacking 30—year—old jodie willsher at the aldi store in skipton where she was working on thursday afternoon. she suffered serious injuries and died in the store. there were no relatives in court this morning, and mr hord, dressed in a blue t—shirt and grey shorts, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address. he didn't enter a plea and was remanded in custody.

in a statement, mrs willsher's husband malcolm said his wife always had an amazing smile on herface and was a doting mother and loving wife. at the store where mrs willsher worked, colleagues have described her as much loved and popular. staff returned to the store tonight, but the store remains closed. people have been arriving to leave flowers and messages for mrs willsher, a popular member of staff. 0ne regular shopper delivered a card for the workers who lost a loved colleague. people who shop here shop regularly, and they know the staff. the staff are so good. the manager is always so helpful. it just hurts people. mr hord will next appear at leeds crown court on the 28th of december. sarah walton, bbc news, york. london zoo has been closed today after a fire in the early hours of the morning.

a number of staff were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and shock. 70 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze as adina campbell reports. rising flames and large plumes of smoke were captured on social media just before dawn. the fire started in the animal adventure cafe and then spread to a nearby shop. at its height, more than 70 firefighters dealt with the fire and brought it under control just after 9am. one person was taken to hospital and eight others were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and minor injuries. this is quite a complex site, and we've had to put certain cordons in place for people's safety, because the building has been so seriously damaged. vets at the zoo confirmed that a nine—year—old aardvark called misha died in the fire. four missing meerkats are also thought to have been killed. we are all really upset by this incident, because this is one of our most loved animals in the zoo, misha and the meerkats

are also held in great affection by all of us who work here and by those who love london zoo. for those who turned up today, it wasn't the christmas visit they had hoped for. we travelled down from nottingham today. that must be disappointing. it is a bit, but as long as the animals are ok. we are very disappointed, we came from a long way, from brazil, to see it. and it's closed. and sad. poor animals. some of the staff who live on site here were called to the scene immediately and started moving the animals to safety. today, the zoo has been closed. it would normally have been a very busy day, being so close to christmas. tonight, staff have confirmed that the zoo will be open tomorrow. three quarters of the cafe and shop has been affected by the fire, as well as half the roof. the cause is still unclear. adina campbell, bbc news.

the bbc understands the government is considering introducing tighter regulations on woodburning stoves. ministers are expected to launch a consultation in the new year on how to tackle increasing problems with air pollution caused by the popularity of woodburners in homes. dennis milligan from the stove industry alliance who explains how the more modern designs are already having an effect gone down and the reason for that is woodburning stoves are now efficient in terms of how they burn the wood and produce fewer emissions than open fire or a stove produced ten years ago. s0 a better design, is it? better design, better technology.

so, particularly it comes from the incomplete combustion of wood and the stoves that are made today burn the wood much better and produce fewer emissions. compared with say an open fire, particularly? yes. what we found or what was found in the research is that in london, for example, 70% of the wood that is burned there is burned on open fires. that's the worst way to burn wood because the emissions are greater. what more are you doing as an industry to try to combat this problem? well, eco—design is the european—wide legislation designed to reduce emissions and it's due to come into force in 2022 for woodburning stoves but the sia decided to introduce those stoves now ahead of the legislation so we can maximise the reduction in emissions and we are now looking at the next cut we can make in terms of emissions from stoves. but 2022 — the uk won't be in the eu, aren't you off the hook?

well, no, i understand they're bringing the legislation in through the repeal bill. basically they signed up to it and they're putting it into effect. we have moved ahead in that we are introducing the stoves now, we call them eco—design ready because that means the stoves are ready to meet the new lower limits for emissions. the benefit is that — fewer emissions than open fire and 80% fewer emissions on a stove manufactured ten years ago so they're a significant drop in the emission levels. coming up in a moment we'rejoined by viewers on bbc one for a round—up of all the day's news. more than 180 people are killed as a tropical storm batters the philippines. flash floods bring devastation to the south of the country.

tens of thousands are forced to leave their homes. a man appears in court accused of murdering a worker at an aldi supermarket in front of shoppers. and california's deadly wildfires, now the biggest in the state's history. good evening. the authorities in the philippines say more than one hundred and eighty people have been killed in floods and landslides triggered by a major tropical storm. scores of people are missing and tens of thousands have been forced to leave their homes. the country's second largest island — mindanao — was worst affected. local officials say many residents had ignored warnings to leave vulnerable coastal areas. 0ur correspondent andy moore has the latest. clinging to the neck of his rescuer,

a young boy is carried across the floodwaters. there was little sign of official help here, just villagers doing their best to rescue each other with fragile ropes. in a country used to devastating storms, this took many by surprise. the authorities said too many people had ignored warnings to leave coastal areas and river banks. many of the casualties were on the main southern island, mindanao. this man said houses were getting flooded but people couldn't escape, so they got caught in the strong currents and swept away. many places were hit by landslides. flimsy houses were buried beneath tonnes of debris. the red cross is helping coordinate the relief effort. we have already provided water and food, and we have been distributing non—food items, blankets, mosquito nets and hygiene kits for those who are in the evacuation centres to alleviate the suffering

of many of the folks there. the philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons every year. this particular storm is not over yet. it's now heading towards the popular tourist island of palawan. as it passes over warm, tropical waters, its winds are set to grow again in strength. andy moore, bbc news. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman working at an aldi supermarket in north yorkshire. neville hord, who's 44, was remanded in custody by magistrates in york. jodie willsher was stabbed to death in skipton on thursday. 0ur correspondent sarah walton sent this report. arriving at york magistrates‘ court, 44—year—old neville hord appeared in the dock charged with murder. he is accused of attacking 30—year—old jodie willsher at the aldi store in skipton where she was working on thursday afternoon.

she suffered serious injuries and died in the store. there were no relatives in court this morning, and mr hord, dressed in a blue t—shirt and grey shorts, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address. he didn‘t enter a plea and was remanded in custody. in a statement, mrs willsher‘s husband malcolm said his wife always had an amazing smile on herface and was a doting mother and loving wife. at the store where mrs willsher worked, colleagues have described her as much loved and popular. staff returned to the store tonight, but the store remains closed. people have been arriving to leave flowers and messages for mrs willsher, a popular member of staff. 0ne regular shopper delivered a card for the workers who lost a loved colleague. people who shop here shop regularly, and they know the staff. the staff are so good.

the manager is always so helpful. it just hurts people. mr hord will next appear at leeds crown court on the 28th of december. sarah walton, bbc news, york. london zoo has been closed today after a fire in the early hours of the morning. a number of staff were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and shock, as the blaze was brought under control by 70 firefighters. adina campbell reports. rising flames and large plumes of smoke were captured on social media just before dawn. the fire started in the animal adventure cafe and then spread to a nearby shop. at its height, more than 70 firefighters dealt with the fire and brought it under control just after 9am. one person was taken to hospital and eight others were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and minor injuries. this is quite a complex site, and we‘ve had to put certain cordons

in place for people‘s safety, because the building has been so seriously damaged. vets at the zoo confirmed that a nine—year—old aardvark called misha died in the fire. four missing meerkats are also thought to have been killed. we are all really upset by this incident, because this is one of our most loved animals in the zoo, misha and the meerkats are also held in great affection by all of us who work here and by those who love london zoo. for those who turned up today, it wasn‘t the christmas visit they had hoped for. we travelled down from nottingham today. that must be disappointing. it is a bit, but as long as the animals are ok. we are very disappointed, we came from a long way, from brazil, to see it. and it's closed. and sad. poor animals. some of the staff who live on site

here were called to the scene immediately and started moving the animals to safety. today, the zoo has been closed. it would normally have been a very busy day, being so close to christmas. tonight, staff have confirmed that the zoo will be open tomorrow. three quarters of the cafe and shop has been affected by the fire, as well as half the roof. the cause is still unclear. adina campbell, bbc news. the government is considering a new system of road charging for heavy goods lorries. drivers would be charged per mile, in a move that replaced some existing taxes. there are no plans for a similar system for private cars. california‘s deadly wildfire has now become the largest in the state‘s recorded history. the blaze which has been burning for more than two weeks has scorched an area greater than new york city, brussels and paris combined. among those tackling the flames are thousands of prisoners, some of whom have been given a new sense of purpose by the work, as our correspondent

james cook reports. it‘s pretty challenging. sometimes we‘re right there, right next to the fire. compared to being in prison and being here, it's completely different. here you feel free. you're out in the world. the biggest change for me is mental, because i‘ve never pushed myself as hard, ever in life. california has 4,000 inmate firefighters, men and women. cutting firebreaks is risky work, two have died this year. but there are rewards too in reduced sentences and a sense of purpose. after being in this programme, ifeel like i‘ve been rehabilitated and ifeel like i can go out there and achieve anything i want to because i‘ve done this. this is so hard. we were allowed inside this

prison camp in malibu. there are no walls or fences here. violent or volatile prisoners are not allowed to join the programme. with a job like this, there is only time to think about the work. latoya najar is serving four years for causing the death of her seven—year—old son in a drunken car crash. the attraction for me was because of my crime, i could come out here and do something positive. it‘s challenging mentally to get over something. i‘m never going to get over it, but to try to ease my mind and this has helped. with california facing more frequent and more destructive fires, some critics call this slave labour. but the project is voluntary, it may reduce re—offending and it provides some measure of redemption. everyone is like, "we love you firefighters." we all wave back and we wave to the kids.

it‘s amazing, yes. the work may be exhausting, it may be dangerous, but in the words of one prisoner, "it‘s better than twiddling yourthumbs injail." james cook, bbc news, in southern california. the charity crisis at christmas opened its centres to four and a half thousand homeless people today. crisis is warning that that the number of what it describes as ‘hidden rough sleepers‘ could increase by almost 50 per cent over the next decade. 0ur correspondent anisa kadri went to meet some of those seeking help. i would like to get my hat fixed if possible. it may look like like a trip to the tailors, but this is a free service for homeless people who need to get clothing and accessories fixed. and it is part of crisis at christmas, offering people without a home, warmth, company and support over the festive period.

i have been sleeping rough and then a crisis guy got me into a night shelter and the shelters are very good, but it is more christmassy here. it is a bigger wide open space, there is more movement, there are more people and you have a bigger choice of people to associate with. all day, volunteers have been here providing hot food and hot drinks to the people who have been coming to this centre for crisis at christmas. and over the next few days, the charity expects more than 4000 people to walk through its doors at centres like this around the country. it is a chance for staff to meet people who have been sleeping rough and give them support over christmas. 11,000 volunteers are taking part over the next few days as crisis warns of a growing homelessness problem. i volunteer because i don't celebrate christmas myself, so it's nice to do something on a day when i wouldn't be that busy anyway and volunteering with crisis. it is a lot of fun and it feels

like i'm helping a lot of people. i think the best of the volunteers. i think they are doing a greatjob, beautifuljob, brilliantjob, thanks to them, there are nice people around me, i‘m very happy. as long as i am not on the street, i‘ve got a roof, i‘ve got nice food, have got a nice dinner, but it is not all about food and sleep, you know. it is all about the chance to be myself and i hope that this is going to be my last year and that next year will be better. but for now it is just about making life a little bit easier for homeless people over the christmas period. anisa kadri, bbc news. leon bernicoff, one of the stars of the tv show gogglebox has died at the age of 83. the retired teacher and his wife june were one of the first couples to join the channel a programme, when it launched in 2013. the broadcaster said he died in hospital after a short illness. with all the sport — here‘s 0lly foster at the bbc sport centre.

good evening, it‘s been a really busy day in the premier league, nine games and 25 goals are coming up on match of the day after the news... but i‘ve got the results for you now... if you want them manchester city have stretched their lead at the top of the table to 13 points , their a—nil win against bournemouth was their 17th in a row in the league. sergio aguero scored twice. second placed manchester united slipped up at leicester. it finished 2—all with the foxes harry maguire equalising in the 94th minute. in the other results, brighton beat watford 1—0. spurs won 3—0 at burnley thanks to a harry kane hat—trick. everton—chelsea was goalless. southampton drew 1—1 against huddersfield. there was a much needed win for stoke against west brom. swansea are still bottom after a 1—1 draw against palace and newcastle are out of the bottom three after winning 3—2 at west ham. celtic are eight points clear at the top of the scottish premiership after beating second placed aberdeen 3—0. that gave rangers the opportunity to jump up to second but they lost 2—1 to kilmarnock.

one of their former players, kris boyd, scored both the killie goals. there were also wins for hibs and partick. the games at motherwell and stjohnstone were drawn. the reigning champions exeter chiefs have opened up a big lead in the rugby union premiership. they ran in four tries against northampton saints. will chudley with the first of them at franklin‘s gardens. the 35—14 bonus point win see them move 11 clear of wasps who also won today, as did sale and newcastle. glasgow have lost for the first time in the pro14 this season. fourteen man edinburgh came from behind to win 18—17 with a chris dean try in the final minute at murrayfield. elsewhere, connacht had a big win against ulster. horse racing now has a mini—break, but will return with eight meetings up and down the country on boxing day. not that the work stops, especially for the grooms. here‘s our sports correspondentjoe wilson. the unsung human heroes of christmas

board. for thousands of grooms like jacob and lily, christmas day will always be another working day. start off anywhere between 5:00 and 6:30. i muck out five horses. we love the animals and myself and lily we have a goal of eventually one day riding. my dream would be to bea one day riding. my dream would be to be a professionaljockey. boxing day is very important for british horse racing because there are eight meetings around the country. in total in britain there are 111,000 racehorses in training and all of them need that day care and attention from a professional. it is what ken dooley did. he died in 0ctober looking after a horse at kempton race course. the fundraising paid in his honour reflected the shock at his death and respect for

his life. racing relies on the greens, the greens, the boss at this ya rd greens, the greens, the boss at this yard knows it. it is cold weather. i did it myself for years and i know what it is like. it is where i started as a lad and it is hard work for not a lot of money. this is the reward, on an icy hillsides, grooms riding out, exercising the horses and imagining winners that may come their way on this and future boxing days. joe wilson, bbc news, gloucestershire. don‘t forget the bbc sport website with much more on all those stories but that‘s all your sport for now. you can see more on all of today‘s stories on the bbc news channel. that‘s all from me. goodnight. good evening. it will remain mild in

the run—up to christmas but we still had sunshine today. this was late in the day in durham. 0f had sunshine today. this was late in the day in durham. of course we had some fog as well and where we had this clear skies through the day the gaps will be filled in by low level fog overnight and hill fog in southern and western areas and also under this rain southern and western areas and also underthis rain in southern and western areas and also under this rain in the north and west. that rain driving in across scotla nd west. that rain driving in across scotland and turning heavy and persistent, it‘s likely to last to tomorrow. behind it, it could turn chilly later in the night. for most we are in this south—westerly atla ntic we are in this south—westerly atlantic air flow which at any time of the year is a mild direction. high pressure close to the south is keeping things dry for the most part. but drizzly. nuisance value drizzle more than anything else, just damp, wind screen wipers on and off really. low level fog is a possibility early on christmas eve. it can take until mid—morning to clear at this time of year. dry

weather still on the cards. not so for northern ireland or scotland, instead we have that band of rain and a strong wind driving it in. we are concerned we will see around 40-60 are concerned we will see around 40—60 millimetres of rain for the likes of the highlands and argyll. could lead to localised flooding. brightening up and turning chilly to the north of that. again with more breeze elsewhere we will see more holes in the cloud across the likes of north—east wales, the midlands and to the north—east of england but again for the south and around the coasts a lot of low cloud, drizzly rain and hillfog. coasts a lot of low cloud, drizzly rain and hill fog. christmas eve evening, that rain persists to the north, intensifying again. by christmas day it‘s likely it will sink further south. there is some uncertainty on the detail of how far south that rain will come, you can see that strong westerly ahead of it maintaining cloudy mild conditions but colder air behind. so, with that colder air digging but colder air behind. so, with that colderairdigging in but colder air behind. so, with that colder air digging in behind as it sta rts colder air digging in behind as it starts to clear out of the way that

weather system and that cold air sweeps southwards across the country there is a potential that rain will turn to snow. especially in the north. through christmas night and boxing day we could see snow in the north and showers following it. looks like a brighter but colder day for boxing day. more on the website.