today at 5pm — police ask for help from the army to track down the drone operators who've brought chaos to gatwick airport. britain's second busiest airport remains at a standstill — as the authorities try to hunt down those responsible. the armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn't something that we would usually deploy, but we are there to assist and do everything we can so that we are in a position to open the airport at the least possible opportunity. flights have been cancelled until at least 7pm this evening. it's meant misery for ten of thousands of travellers and the knock—on disruption could last for days. we'll have the latest from the airport, and talking to both a commercial drone operator and airline industry experts. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm... a sharp rise in the number homeless people dying in england and wales — up by a quarter in the last five years.

arsenal say they have identified the fan who threw a bottle at tottenham's dele alli last night — and that they're "embarrassed" by what happened. and more than a third of vintage scotch whiskies tested at a specialist laboratory are found to be fake. its 5pm, our top story. police have asked the army for help in tracking down whoever has been flying drones over gatwick, leading to a day of chaos at britain's second biggest airport. after a fresh drone sighting a few hours ago — gatwick‘s runway will be closed until at least 7pm this evening, meaning all flights are suspended — at one of the busiest times of the year. it's expected over 100,000

passengers will have been affected by the closure throughout the day. around a50 departures and arrival flights have been cancelled so far, with flights diverted to as far away as paris and amsterdam. and this afternoon, senior officials from across government are meeting to discuss how to deal with the crisis. gatwick has apologised to travellers but said safety was its "foremost priority." a massive police operation is in place to hunt down the operators of the two drones, which they say are being flown deliberately around gatwick in what appears to be an act of commercial sabotage. 0ur news correspondent navtej johal is at gatwick for us now. it has been 20 hours now since this incident began and the key fact remain the same. fight the main

grounded, passengers remain frustrated, the runway is closed. in the last hour gatwick airport told us the last hour gatwick airport told us there are 72,000 passengers who have had flights to or from here cancelled and tomorrow is expected to be even busier. it could not have come at a worse time. five days before christmas. 0ne come at a worse time. five days before christmas. one of the busiest periods of the year for people to be troubling. the christmas getaway at a standstill. since 9pm last night these have been the scenes at the uk's second busiest airport. a bbc employee inside the airportjob is how busy it is. this is the beginning of the queue at gatwick airport. i'm going to walk round and see how long it takes to get to the end of the queue. flights have been suspended since last night. at least

one drone, possibly two, was spotted above the airfield. people were passing out in the terminal where it is hot. it is a bit of a shame. you would think an airport of this size would think an airport of this size would have some sort of contingency plan to cope with a drone. would have some sort of contingency plan to cope with a dronei would have some sort of contingency plan to cope with a drone. i imagine there would be better security in place and to see action. amid the confusion police boarded planes to be assured passengers. sightings of the drone continued throughout the morning at the airport apologised for the destruction. the last time it was spotted was around lunchtime. this is deliberately seeking to affect the many tens of thousands of passengers who wanted to flight from gatwick. this close to the christmas period. 20 police teams, including a police helicopter, are currently on

the hunt for the operator of the drone. they don't believe the incident is terror related but still deliberate and unprecedented. there has been an incident two but only minor ones weather had been a sighting. that person has been dealt with and the airport open. nothing like this, to this extent. assistance and support from the armed forces and we will be deploying the armed forces to give them the help they need to be able to deal with the situation of guns at patrick airport. it goes to demonstrate how our our the mac armed forces are always there ready to support the civilian authorities. passengers, some of whom are stranded in paris and amsterdam, the situation may dire, but the airlines are still obliged to complete their journey. people will get involved in slightly long and convoluted janet and it must be stressed that the

airline cancels your flight is responsible for getting you to your destination as swiftly as possible, evenif destination as swiftly as possible, even if they have to pay money to another airline to do it. as pie to continue to be diverted, delayed or cancelled, at least staff and passengers are trying their best to keep each other‘s spirits up. asi as i mentioned, police have now made a formal request for military assistance, underlining the seriousness of this incident. meanwhile, the advice from the airport remains the same as it has throughout most of today which is to check the status of your flight before troubling here. don't come here unless you have checked what is going on with your plight first. we understand that flight are expected to be cancelled until at least 7pm although that has not been confirmed

officially by the airport. in the last hour british airways at gatwick has released a statement saying it is offering a range of refund and reebok options on its website. there remains plenty of anger, frustration and disappointment among passengers. the have had their christmas plans ruined. 0ne passenger described the scene as carnage. thank you very much. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster for us now. quite an unusual crisis for government ministers to deal with? absolutely, especially at this time of year. 0fficial absolutely, especially at this time of year. official to track officials from various government departments have been meeting this afternoon in the cabinet office. the department for transport meeting with police and some other groups to make sure

that they can share information and that they can share information and that there is a decent picture build up that there is a decent picture build up of what everybody is doing in this situation. we also had it confirmed in the last while from the secretary gavin williamson that the army will be helping sussex police as they continue with their investigation. mr williamson said that he wants to make sure that the airport can be opened as soon as possible, although he also concedes this is not a normal set of circumstances. earlier this afternoon we heard from the prime minister about the latest abutments. i feel for all those passengers whose travel plans have been disrupted by this drone activity and the action that has to be taken in response. the action that has to be taken in response. obviously, this time of year this is particularly difficult for people. we already passed legislation in relation to the use of drone so it is now, as is clear, the activity is illegal and those who are caught in danger and

aircraft can face up to five years in prison. that is legislation we have already introduced and we are consulting on further aspects of this, including further police powers but we will continue to work with a quick authorities and the police. in order to bring this to a close so people can get on to the trouble they were expecting over the christmas period. within the last 30 minutes we have had an e—mail statement from the transport secretary chris grayling. he said that drones being used are substantial, that this is and ongoing incident that is very serious. he said the government will do everything it can to support police, echoing what the defence secretary said about the army being deployed to help with investigations. chris grayling, transport secretary, also said those

involved should face the maximum possible custodial sentence for the damage done. but officials from various government departments will continue to talk this afternoon. they will try to figure out what happens next. we can speak now tim jeans, chairman of newquay airport, where passengers have also been affected. tim's also former managing director of ryanair and monarch airlines... a huge experience in the industry. did you ever think you would see an airport the size of gatwick shut down because of drones? never before has this happened. there has been drone activity in really all across the but is generally miscreant use, ican the but is generally miscreant use, i can describe it such. the incidents are passed in a few minutes, hours at most. this is unprecedented and brings a problem with drones that we have known about into a completely different

dimension and clearly had will have to get together and time work out what contingencies are to be put in place of this sort of episode doesn't cause a level of disruption we seen today. as you say, we have known about drones and they're capable it is for a long time. a lot of the passengers at batley carr angry because they say there should be more security in place to stop these drones flying so close to the ru nway these drones flying so close to the runway and shut the whole airport down. they are about to be frustrated. particularly at this time of year, but never before have we seen what looks like a concerted effort to disrupt air travel. previously this has been mischief making that we have seen with drones. what we are seeing today appears to be a concerted effort to disrupt the operations at gatwick and clearly now we are going to have to ta ke and clearly now we are going to have to take eight complete the different

approach to drone activity because it can cause the level of disruption we have seen today. what would that mean? have you got any ideas of how any airport improve their security against drones? it is going to be very difficult because there is no question that we will have to take a new approach. how that is going to be, whether that is permanent and increased security around the perimeter of the airport... but let's not forget that some drones can be controlled from ugly. previously the culprits would have been within 200 yards of the drug itself. these drones might be controlled from hundreds of miles away and so the level of response is going to have to be cognisant of the fa ct going to have to be cognisant of the fact that people are controlling these things and may not be adjacent to the drone of the airfield. it is a very difficult situation that we

face and one that is completely unprecedented. thank you, tim. so how is it that drones — only recently on the mass market — can create such havoc at our airports? our technology correspondent chris fox has been finding out. a nightmare situation for pilots and passengers, a drone striking a plane at high altitude and top speed. this experiment from the university of dayton shows a worst—case and unlikely scenario but there have been several near misses with drones coming in with a few feet of commercial aircraft so the industry doesn't take any chances. with the drone collision against something like an a320 you risk killing hundreds of people. it's not the first time

an airport has been closed for this reason. previous incidents have been dealt with within a matter of minutes, not ours. now the police say the disruption is deliberate. the price of drones has fallen dramatically. they are now available in catalogues and toy shops and in the uk you don't need to register your purchase. although it is illegal to fly within a kilometre or about 1,000 yards of an airport, those wishing to cause disruption can easily flout those rules. it is an asymmetric threat and we need to deal with it effectively. the people responsible for the security of airport and things need to invest to make sure they have good strength and depth in terms of the security of people operating from airports. drone manufacturers can building

geo—fencing which stops it flying near an airport, although that can be easy to overcome. they could use a signaljammer stopping the remote control communicating with the drone but that won't work if it is flying along a preprogrammed path. now companies are developing counter drone technology, like this net deployed from another aircraft. and aviation giant boeing has shown off this drone—busting laser which makes it catch fire. the rules in the uk are expected to tighten in 2019 with the introduction of a drone register, but the problems at gatwick today show this is not something legislation alone will fix. breaking news on this rory from easyj et. breaking news on this rory from easyjet. they are saying that at

this stage there is no indication of when gatwick may reopen and as a result they have cancelled all flights due to operate to from catterick today. they are also saying that they expect disruption to continue until tomorrow. they are advising all customers flying to and from gatwick tomorrow to check the status of their flight on their flight status of their flight on their flight tracker at their website. that is the latest from easyjet. pretty gloomy prognosis from them. as we understand it police are still trying to track down the individual or individuals behind this incident. let's speak now to carys kaiser — a commercial drone operator. i'd you surprised that someone has

done this? i am surprised because most drones, the batteries will only last between 15 and 20 minutes so these drones were flying for a long period of time so that does sound like they have been modified. what do you think? we're been talking about possible security measures at airports like gatwick could take in the future to stop it happening again. what do you think? there is drone technology available called drone technology available called drone disruption which disrupts the signal between... it stops the drone flying into the airport. as i previously said on the feature you had before, there is geo— fencing thatis had before, there is geo— fencing that is in the majority of drones. i can take one close to the airport but it wouldn't take off because this software inside it is not

allowing me to make it an airborne. so there have differently been some modification of it has been hacked or maybe it has been built from scratch. if you can modify that kind of technology, that isn't a very effective security tool? no, but i would say there is this technology where we can scan for finding out where we can scan for finding out where they are being controlled from. but there is also a company called drone defence. they can put things around prisons and football rounds, so why can't airports be secured in that way? do you think airports have been a bit slow to get their act together in terms of anti—drone defences? their act together in terms of anti-drone defences? yes, i probably would say yes. if the technology is there. you have to look at the economic impact. but only the inconvenience for the passengers,

but also the drone technology, it could be minor fractured but also the drone technology, it could be minorfractured so maybe the airport need to put money into that technology so it can be utilised across the whole of the uk and perhaps worldwide. we have seen and perhaps worldwide. we have seen a huge increase in the number of drones that there are, the number of people flying drones. yes, but the majority of people, whether they are hobbyists or professionals, they are operating under the drone cold and also whatever they are legally bound to buy the operations manual. these people are operating... they are bringing those into disrepute and it isa bringing those into disrepute and it is a great hobby for people but also professionally drones are given a great economic boost to humanitarian uses, search and rescue, mapping, construction. not just uses, search and rescue, mapping, construction. notjust video and photography. so you have all of

those areas growing but all of this impact this sort of growing industry through the negativity, because the average person on the street doesn't realise that most drone operators are legal and law—abiding citizens and we don't want to see this activity at all and we find it warrant. thank you. a commercial dog operator beats the based in the peak district. komal sanhotra has been stranded at gatwick since eight‘oclock yesterday evening with herfamily and young son — who are hoping to fly to lanzarote. tell us what is the latest situation quick at how much longer will you be there? we haven't really been updated by the airport. every time we go and ask they tell us to ask again in one hour. it is quite

frustrating. i know they are tying to put safety first which is understandable but i have a 15—month—old baby. at the moment he is very tired and it is quite hard at the moment to keep spirits up. so you have been there for how long now? since this morning. 7am. we checked in our luggage straightaway including my son's essentials. we're been sitting here waiting for around ten hours now. it sounds like there are no fight until 7pm this evening at the earliest. maybe tomorrow even. are you going to possibly stay the night? at the moment it is still unsure. ideally not because of the little one. all the parents are in munich a share in and what we get told... of

munich a share in and what we get told... of the league we can fly out tonight if everything is ok. we have tonight if everything is ok. we have to wait and see for more updates. what do you think about the people who of course this disruption by applying these drones and shutting down the whole of gatwick airport? it is just terrible. you have so many families at risk of being stranded overnight. there are a lot of children here. it isjust stranded overnight. there are a lot of children here. it is just tiring and have caused so many delays. i don't know why anyone would do such a thing. what about the airport? do you think they should have done more to defend against drones? yes. we haven't been updated at all. i think they could have full stop i know this hasn't happened before so they are unsure what to do. we are just

waiting and have no idea. we are really tired. i think they could have done a lot more in hindsight. 0k thank you. we arejust we are just hearing a bit more from gatwick airport. this is their latest statement. they say it is closed until 7pm tonight. around 126,000 passengers on 753 flights would be expected to fly tomorrow normally. the airport advises to check flight information before travelling to gatwick, saying to... they are working with police to ensure transport access stays open tomorrow. that is the latest from gatwick airport. clearly still a state of flux the blood there are d eftly state of flux the blood there are deftly no flights until 7pm and we

will probably get another update around then from gatwick. the number of homeless people in england and wales who die has increased by nearly a quarter over five years to almost 600, according to official estimates. it's the first research of its kind carried out by the office for national statistics. life expectancy for the homeless is nearly half that for people in stable housing, with homeless men and women dying on average at the age of 1m. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. matthew died in a public toilet. martin hyde was tragically murdered while sleeping rough. david was holding down a full—time job but living in a small vehicle and died in the fire. at this charity in stockport, they have long remembered those who died homeless. they were friends who cared for them, helped them and in many cases attended their funerals. when homeless people pass away they leave friends and associates behind and people

are loved and missed. mark is a regular visitor to the charity. a few months ago he fell out with his brother, and was rough sleeping in manchester. the 31—year—old was hooked on drugs, and died. he was asleep in an alleyway or on a bench or something with a blanket. somebody thought he was sleeping but he was dead. this recent vigil in manchester remembered some of those who had died homeless. the north west of england has the highest levels of death. more than 2,600 people died homeless in england and wales in the last five years and the number of deaths has increased almost 25% in that time. alcohol, drugs and suicide account forjust over half of all deaths of homeless people where as it is only 3% in the general population,

that is a big difference and producing that information will help decision—makers take the right interventions to help prevent that from happening. this is how they are trying to prevent rough sleepers in nottingham from dying. most mornings, outreach workers will walk the streets with a qualified nurse offering medical help from bandages to taking blood samples. does being on the street shorten lives? absolutely, without any doubt. the average age of dying on the street if you are homeless is something between a0 and a7, roughly half of the general population, and those folks will die of chronic long—term medical conditions you attribute to the elderly. what is your health like? on this morning she comes across chris who is blind in one eye and is getting radiotherapy as he has pancreatic cancer.

do you worry about dying out here? i do. i've got children and stuff, and i haven't seen my parents for 18 years because i get no benefits. i always send them a card saying i'm doing really well and all of this but basically i lied. more than £1 billion is being spent tackling all forms of homelessness, and deaths are being properly investigated. amy varle is a social housing strategist from manchester who was formerly homeless at 16. she's in our salford studio. you know exactly what these people are going through. what i'd feelings when you see these statistics about how many more homeless people and

dying? it horrifies me. i will be com pletely dying? it horrifies me. i will be completely honest. it keeps me awake at night. i have worked for a number of years trying to bring you solutions, humane and compassionate solutions, humane and compassionate solutions which centre around getting people off the streets and into sustainable, suitable housing and getting them access to be the intensive and buried support that they may need to make that situation work in the long term. so to seek these figures continuing to increase and we are continuing to see unnecessary deaths on our streets and very tragic deaths on our streets, for me it is very upsetting. but it does inspire me to keep working hard and keep pushing on in search of the solution. why do you think there are so many more homeless people question mark why are so many dying? i think we have an increase in homelessness because we are still in the midst of an

affordable housing crisis. when we look at access to housing, particularly for vulnerable people and groups, it is really difficult. this is having a knock—on effect. you have people on the streets with very acute needs and very varied and high needs and you just don't have the services and support for these people to access in a long—term fashion. not in a way that will work for them. we are almost seeing an influx of homelessness and now we not moving these people on out of homelessness and are still having people coming through and being homeless. we need a solution and start working with these entrenched rough sleepers. people who are being there for a long time and have difficult problems to overcome. we need to work with them intensively and get them off the streets because people are dying on the streets. it is barbaric. it is so sad. we need

to work together as a society to make this a different situation entirely. work together as a society, but who specifically should be doing more? governments, councils, charities? we all have a responsibility to look after one another. i get frustrated with bureaucracy and red tape with local authorities and government and central government and had they could work. there are solutions readily available but we have to go through lots of red tape and there are through lots of red tape and there a re lots of through lots of red tape and there are lots of different ways of getting access to these solutions. it is never easy for a person and to get one person out of homelessness ta kes a get one person out of homelessness takes a valiant effort from lots of different people and organisations. we need a better way of working together. the resort is i there, i do think we have access to lots of

amazing volunteers and charities and we have got local authorities. we have got lots of businesses getting involved now as well. corporate companies are asking how they can help. if we dipped into each other‘s resources and collaborated that is where the answer begins to lie for me. it is about collaboration and looking at how we can do things differently. what we are doing now is simply not working. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. let's get more on our top story. all flights in and out of britain's second busiest airport, gatwick, have been suspended after drones were seen flying over the airfield. flights are currently cancelled until at least 7pm tonight. easyj et easyjet put out a statement saying, we are making every effort to get people to their destination at this important time of year. but the

ru nway important time of year. but the runway remains close, all flights are currently suspended. they say there is no indication of when the airport might open, so they have cancelled all flights due to operate to and from london gatwick for today. even though technically the airport is only closed until seven o'clock comic easyjet are saying they have cancelled all flights for today. we should be hearing from the transport secretary in a minute. first, doug maclean is a former air traffic controller in our glasgow newsroom. what do you make of this? it is an extraordinary situation, that a couple of people flying a couple of drones can bring britain's second busiest airport to a standstill. yes, it is. we have seen over a number of years this situation build—up. in 2010 a number

of incidents were reported and none of incidents were reported and none of them were classified as serious. in 2017 we had 92 and 28 of them had a risk of collision. this year we are heading for another record, in excess of 120 already. that is why the authorities are taking this very seriously. but the type of disruption that has happened that gatwick is unprecedented. these drones, if there are more than one, for them to have been coordinated and to be appearing and disappearing, is obviously posing the authorities a great deal of trouble and they are trying to trace them. to be clear, a drone can cause catastrophic damage to an aircraft. absolutely. there was an incident in mexico a few weeks ago where it was one of theirfirst mexico a few weeks ago where it was one of their first serious collisions between an aircraft and a drone. the pictures of that collision are really dramatic in the

sense that the nose cone of the aircraft was very badly damaged. there have been another few incidents around the world so far, in quebec and other places, so, yes, the fears of the aviation community are that with the number of incidents increasing, with the number of drones increasing, then ultimately we will have a very serious incident. we have been talking to our other guests already about what more airports can do to defend themselves against these sort of drones. it appears to be a kind of drones. it appears to be a kind of commercial sabotage that has gone on in gatwick today. it is an interesting and apt description, commercial sabotage. it is very unusual, it appears to be coordinated and you have to ask who or what organisation would benefit from causing such chaos. this is

quite different from the incidents we have seen before, which have been either casual or reckless, silly, stupid flights of drones with amateurs. this appears to be something entirely different and i am not at all surprised now that we have been notified, and the ministry of defence have been brought in. they have been brought in because the police are having difficulty tracking down whoever is responsible. yes, and it is not surprising. although drones tend to operate, and the ones involved in incidents so far ten to operate within sight of the operators so you have a radio signal controlling it, and that should be relatively easy to trace. with these drones it may not be the case. these drones may actually have been a fly on preprogrammed routes and may not be transmitted to buy an operator on

the ground. so it is as difficult as you could get, but there are detection equipment available, there is detection equipment available to track small items like drones and ultimately they are going back to somewhere where they will be recovered or there will be evidence from them. doug maclean, thank you very much. a former air traffic control manager in our glasgow newsroom. the transport secretary chris grayling has been discussing what happened at gatwick today. clearly the situation is very u nfortu nate for clearly the situation is very unfortunate for passengers. it was a huge police effort supported by the civil ayshea —— the civil aviation authority and my department to make every effort to catch the perpetrator. we are making every effort to get passengers into the uk

and out of the uk as quickly as possible. what do you know about what is causing this disruption?m isa what is causing this disruption?m is a fairly large drone, not the classic, plastic garden drone, it is a commercial drone that is being operated deliberately in a way so that every time gatwick tries to open the runway it is operated again. there is a five—yearjail sentence for this kind of action and anybody who does this should expect to go to jailfor anybody who does this should expect to go to jail for many years. is there any indication as to why someone would want to do this? no suggestion of motive and there is no suggestion of motive and there is no suggestion this is a terror attack? it is clearly somebody who wants to disrupt gatwick airport and there is an intense police operation supported by the met and the counterterrorism police, but there is no evidence of a terrorist link

at the moment. there are thousands of people stranded at gatwick tried to get out of the country. what can the government do to help them? we are looking at all measures we can to ease the pressure on passengers to ease the pressure on passengers to get them away. we are going to temporarily lift the night flight restrictions of other airport is so more planes can get in and out of the country. apologies to the residents affected, but that will be a temporary measure and it is one of the things we are doing to make sure passengers can get away quickly. which are will that affect? how long will it be? it will be london airports, and only tonight. we will review the situation tomorrow, but we are looking at that this evening to get people away. what reassurance are you offering people who are stranded at the moment and are worried about getting home for christmas? this is hugely u nfortu nate

christmas? this is hugely unfortunate and it has not been experienced in this country before. we have known for a while that drones are a problem. we will do everything we can to help those passengers get away and we will do everything we can to help get gatwick open and we will try everything we can to make sure that if gatwick is not open quickly, we can get them away from other airports. there are questions about the licensing of drones and some people will be wondering how something can shut down an airport can be flown so near to an airport. will you be looking at the rules ain? will you be looking at the rules again? we have already changed the rules, it is illegal to fly one ear and airport, people will get long jail sentences. we will go further now and we might have age limits for flying them, but this situation means it is currently an illegal act and it carries a long jail sentence. people should expect to go to jail for a long time. how confident are

you that this disruption will be over soon? are you new to catching whoever is responsible? there is a huge amount of effort going on with up—to—date technology and we have brought special technology into gatwick to track this down. at the end of the day it will be for the airport and the air traffic control monitors to decide when the airport is safe to open, working in conjunction with the airlines. we have to leave it to the aviation professionals to say it is safe to fly and in the meantime we will do everything we can to ease the situation for passengers. that is chris grayling, the transport secretary. gatwick is closed until at least seven o'clock this evening and easyjet are cancelling all their flights for the day. that is the latest. easyjet saying at this stage there is no indication when the airport will reopen and they are cancelling their flights for the day. let's have a look at some other

news. there's been strong criticism of president trump's decision to withdraw us troops from syria. mr trump made the announcement yesterday, claiming that the so called islamic state group had been defeated. but many republicans including florida senator marco rubio have disputed that claim. the decision to withdraw an american presence in syria is a colossal, in my mind, mistake, a grave error that's going to have significant repercussions in the years and months to come, and there's three reasons why and it's complicated. the first is isis is not defeated — they are most certainly degraded. isis is already converting into an insurgency and now they're going to become an even more powerful one. let's have a look at the situation on the ground in syria. the syrian government, supported by their russian allies, have control of most of the country. rebels only have idlib province and areas in the north—west, next to the turkish border.

the kurdish forces are among those opposing the regime of president assad and helped drive islamic state out of its capital raqqa and now control much of the north of syria. islamic state has been reduced to a few small patches of territory. political risk analyst shwan zulal is with me to discuss this further. thank you for being with us. what do you make of president trump's decision to pull those troops out? the decision is not surprising in itself because we knew something was coming. early in the year in march when turkish troops went into the west of the country in the north west, the american troops stood by while the kurdish forces were trying to defend their positions in the city and they did nothing. the

kurdish democratic forces and the why p&g were expected at some point that the us would slowly pull back. but the way the announcement was made and the speed of it is surprising. most people on the ground are fairly shocked at the speed that president trump announced it. nobody really knows the detail, how this will happen or how it will be phased out. as we speak the fight in syria against isis is ongoing. today there were over 70 strikes in iraq against isis. when he says isis has been defeated, that is not true in your view? no, the president today contradicted himself and said, let others fight against isis in syria. it is definitely not defeated because if we look in iraq at the moment, is strikes around 70 to 80

deadly strikes are made within a month and this is done by researchers on the ground. although iraq announced the defeat of is last year, it is slowly regrouping. although the attacks are small, they are more coordinated and they are going more for coordination rather than the size of the attacks they used to do. president trump is saying this is not america's fight, they cannot be the world's policeman. the kurds embraced their role as a partner with a global coalition to fight isis. they are expecting a bit more from the us, although history in some ways has repeated itself, the kurds have been betrayed twice in the last decade and probably twice this decade. what will happen now is if the troops withdraw, the situation will not be

as bad as some might think, but if the air support is withdrawn on the kurdish forces in northern syria, then the situation for the kurds first and foremost will be very difficult. now turkey is threatening to come in around ten kilometres within the northern border in syria and if turkey comes in, what we will see is the kurdish troops fighting is in the south with a global coalition against them withdrawing their forces and going coalition against them withdrawing theirforces and going north coalition against them withdrawing their forces and going north and isis will use those pockets, especially in the areas where there are oilfields. isis in the especially in the areas where there are oil fields. isis in the early days were getting their finances from them. if is gets those hands on those oilfields, we have seen what they are capable of in the fast. thank you very much for coming in to discuss all of that with us. thank you very much for coming in to discuss all of that with us. mps begin their christmas holidays today with cabinet divisions over brexit spilling into the open.

work and pensions secretary amber rudd said another referendum was a "plausible" way forward if mps rejected theresa may's withdrawal deal. but the leader of the commons andrea leadsom said that would be "unacceptable" and argued instead for what's being called a "managed no deal". 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. at westminster, it looks like theresa may's cabinet are having a traditional christmas — you know, when everyone gathers round the table in good spirits but then things get a little tense, disagreements begin, and long—bitten lips give way to loosened tongues. this is how the prime minister described the prospect of another eu referendum on monday. finally, let us not break faith with the british people by trying to stage another referendum. another vote which would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics. these days, half a week is a long time in politics. here's a rather different tone from one of her cabinet ministers. i have said that i don't

want a people's vote ora referendum in general, but if parliament absolutely failed to reach a consensus, i could see there would be a plausible argument for it. hang on a minute — her cabinet colleague didn't like that. well, it's not government policy, and i myself think that it would undermine the biggest democratic exercise ever. there is cabinet unity up to a point. they all say they want to get theresa may's deal through parliament when it comes to the vote in mid—january, but because the prime minister has made it clear she won't be leading her party into the next general election, some of her top team seem to be emboldened to put forward their own alternatives in case her dealfalls. andrea leadsom talked about her own plan b, the prospect of no deal with the eu. in the event that we cannot agree to this deal, there could be a further deal which looks at a more minimalist approach but enables us to leave with some kind of deal and some kind of implementation period that avoids a cliff edge,

that avoids uncertainty for businesses and travellers. but the international trade secretary struck a different note when asked about no—deal in the commons. of course, if the house decides that we are not to come to an agreement with the european union, then there will be adverse consequences. are we going to have a second referendum? the prime minister met her polish counterpart to talk about life after brexit. she is hoping her plan will prevail, and that the various alternatives will look less attractive by comparison. if that strategy fails, well, perhaps plan b could be to hope for a christmas miracle. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. a former labour minister has resigned his membership of the party over the handling of antisemitism allegations. ivan lewis, who was a minister under tony blair and gordon brown and shadow minister under ed miliband, has strongly critcised the party's leaderjeremy corbyn.

he said mr corbyn was ‘unwilling to condemn those who hatred to condemn those whose hatred of israel becomesjew hatred. the murder of two scandinavian women in morocco is being investigated as a terror attack, according to officials in denmark. 2a—year—old louisa vesterager jespersen from denmark, and 28—year—old maren ueland from norway, were found with fatal knife injuries to their necks. denmark's intelligence agency said it was investigating a video circulating online, which appears to show one of the women being murdered. it's thought that the pair travelled to morocco together for a month—long holiday at the beginning of december. they had been hiking in an area near imil, close to north africa's highest mountain peak mount toubkal, an area popular with hikers and climbers. four men have been arrested in connection with the deaths and danish police believe they may be islamist militants. three men were arrested today in marrakesh and another man was arrested on monday a few hours after the women's bodies were found.

at least one of the suspects has been linked to an islamic extremist group. the danish prime minister, lars lokke rasmussen, said danes would not allow the killings to compromise the country's open society and way of life. translation: there are still dark powers that with violence will kill our values, threaten our society and the way we live our life. that makes me angry. but it also makes me determined that we must never give in and must never yield. so let me make one thing completely clear, we danes will not compromise with our open society and our life. these are values which are rooted in us, they are values which we must protect. a court in new york has refused to dismiss sexual assault charges against the disgraced hollywood mogul harvey weinstein. lawyers for mr weinstein argued the case had been irreparably tainted by allegations that police acted improperly during

the investigation that led to his arrest. but the judge ruled that the criminal case against the film producer should proceed. harvey weinstein, who denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex, is facing five counts of assault against two women, including rape. photographs taken by one of the british victims of a seaplane crash in sydney on new year's eve last year have helped experts investigating the tragedy. businessman richard cousins died alongside his two sons, his fiancee and her 11—year—old daughter. the canadian pilot also died. authorities are yet to release their findings on what caused the crash. hywel griffith reports. today's report has helped us understand a lot more detail as to what happened, but very little in terms of findings and why it happened. we know that on new year's eve last year, richard cousins, his two sons, his fiancee and her daughter all boarded the seaplane a few

miles north of sydney, all planning to take a sightseeing tour to bring them down to the harbour here. their pilot, gareth morgan, had carried out similarjourneys several times that day using the plane. there were no known mechanical faults, but within a few minutes of taking off, the plane veered off path and it came down, we understand from an eyewitness, almost vertically, nose first into the water, and sank upside down. the investigators were able to find a digital camera on—board which they believe belonged to one of the passengers sat beside the pilot in the cockpit, and vitally, they were able to recover pictures taken that show the exact flight path. they've even recreated it with police pilots in order to understand what may have happened. they also recovered a phone that helped them from a photo understand who was sat where within the plane. but in all the investigation now, in almost 12 months, they still haven't put forward a theory as to what exactly went wrong.

they've looked in detail at the pilot's health. he was said to have been well the day before and in a good mood. but they will investigate further his health records. they'll also look again at the plane's contents. there was no black box or voice recorder on—board. that's not required for a plane of this size, so we may never know what was said before that plane plummeted into the water. however, we expect a final report with some findings in the next six months. retail sales jumped more than expected in november, despite warnings from retailers that it was one of the worst on record. figures from the office for national statistics said sales rose 1.a% from october, despite economists' forecasts of just 0.3% following two months of decline. sales were helped by black friday promotions. more money should be spent on changing the layout of our town centres, an independent report into the state of the high street has recommended.

an expert panel, chaired by the owner of timpson's, says local authorities across england don't have enough money and central government needs to contribute more. sirjohn timpson says town centres should be turned into communities and meeting places. this isn't just about shopping. it's about community, about creating a hub, and that includes lots of other things, whether its medical, social services, whether it's entertainment for all these other things, and housing. because it's pretty obvious if you go around, there are probably about twice as many shops as we need in this country, and we're short of housing. there's a pretty obvious message there. and the other thing is, i think in this digital age, we do need social contact. that's part of being human, meeting together. and if we want our children to have a place where they are going to meet, then every community needs to create its hub and do that by putting things together in a way that's attractive.

scientists who carried out a lengthy study of a number of rare scotch whiskies found that more than a third of the bottles' contents were fake. the research, at a carbon dating laboratory, established that 21 out of 55 whiskies were not what they claimed to be. at least one of them didn't even qualify as whisky. james shaw has been finding out more. vintage whiskies can cost thousands of pounds. these bottles may look like the real thing, but they are not what they seem. scientists at the scottish universities environmental research centre spent nine months testing allegedly vintage whiskies and made some surprising discoveries. we tested 55 bottles of single malt scotch whisky, out of which 21 have proved to be fake. we've come across bottles that were meant to be from the 1850s, and clearly they weren't. when they dated out, the liquid was dated to around the 1980s. the team used radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the age of the whiskies

they were testing. the technique is based on radiocarbon dating. we have to take a sample through the cork as carefully as we can, probably about a millilitre or so. we then have to distil the ethanol, the alcohol, from the sample. we then convert that ethanol through to solid carbon, and in the carbon is measured in a mass spectrometer, which we can then relate to the age of the whisky. because of the potential money to be made, the business of creating fake rare whiskies has become highly sophisticated. this is a closure that's been made to look like it is turn—of—the—century, because it's a driven cork with a lead capsule on top of it. we do find that a number of these bottles will have a blend in them when it's meant to be a malt. we find that there is what we think are just cheaper versions of the whisky that is

meant to be in there. this is a serious problem for the growing market in rare whiskies, but the team who carried out these tests may have found a way to reassure enthusiasts that what they're buying really is the genuine article. james shaw, bbc news, glasgow. here's ben rich with the forecast things calming down slowly but surely in the run—up to christmas, but we have had some pretty hefty downpours today. the satellite picture shows you what is coming tonight. this will bring further outbreaks of rain. head that some shower clouds in place and they will tend to ease away for a time this evening and then we will see some dry weather and clear spells. but the rain works its way in from the south—west and by the end of the night it will have reached northern england and parts of northern ireland. chile in north east scotla nd ireland. chile in north east scotland and we could see a touch of

frost. tomorrow is dominated by this lumbering frontal system. it stretches along way west. this will pipeline is way in across central parts of the uk during the day. for northern ireland, northern england and southern and central parts of scotla nd and southern and central parts of scotland will see clouds and rain throughout the day. in the south some sunshine will emerge, but mild at 1a for plymouth and london. under the patchy rain it will feel quite cool the patchy rain it will feel quite cool, eight in belfast and not much better in scotland. light winds in the north, particularly windy as we go into friday evening with further showers to come. then we head into the weekend, a big travel weekend. this area of high pressure looks a long way away, but it will exert its influence in our direction. saturday is not a bad looking day. there is a

chance of shower, particularly in the north—west of the uk, but temperatures about where they should be at this time of the year. on sunday a bit of rain to come at first across the southern half of the country. much of that will clear, although some will linger in the south coast and parts of wales. quite a range of temperatures again, mild in the south and cooler further north. 0n mild in the south and cooler further north. on christmas eve there is a chance of rain in the south, but then this front breaks apart because high—pressure exert its influence and we keep that as we head on into christmas day. whilst there could be forked and patchy frost to start off, the forecast for christmas day is not too bad. there will be some brea ks is not too bad. there will be some breaks in the cloud with a bit of brightness. christmas chaos — tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at gatwick and the disruption will go on for days.

it's all been caused by at least one drone flying over the runway — the police are searching for the perpetrator with the help of the army. passengers flying out of gatwick are left with nowhere to go with family christmas plans disrupted or cancelled. we didn't even get out of the plane, they didn't let us out or nothing. we were stuck on the plane for eight hours. with a baby? with a baby and we now have no luggage, which has all our christmas presents in. flights are cancelled until 7:00pm tonight at the earliest. we'll bring you the very latest. also tonight: a dramatic rise in the number of homeless people dying on the streets. he was asleep in like an alleyway on a bench or something with a blanket. someone thought he was just sleeping, but he was actually dead.