this is the briefing. i'm ben bland. our top story: a second day of misery for passengers at london's gatwick airport. police say they're considering shooting down the drone which has grounded nearly a thousand flights. us defence secretaryjim mattis says he'll quit hisjob — pointing to serious policy differences with president trump. and 30 years after the lockerbie bombing, scotland and the us pay tribute to the victims of pan am flight 103. in business, jailed car boss carlos ghosn won't now be released on bail — as he faces new financial misconduct allegations. he's vowing to clear his name in court. also coming up in the business briefing, the market gloom deepens as the us faces a shutdown of government services amid a spending deadlock in washington — we'll bring you all the details. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know

in global news, business, and sport. will get the lights on. it is an early start. talking about early starts... is it true the smartest and successful regularly wake up before 4am? a report says that may be the most productive time of the day. minimal distractions from children and work and no one emailing or texting you mean you can get much more done. do you agree? tell us what you think — just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. british police are now considering shooting down the drone which has been causing chaos at london gatwick airport since wednesday evening. while thousands of would—be passengers wait in frustration, there've been at least 50 drone sightings in the past 2a hours. gatwick has stayed closed overnight, but restrictions at other airports have been lifted, allowing more planes in and out of the uk.

chi chi izundu has the latest. one of the uk's busiest airports during one of its busiest periods. overnight nearly empty. it is coming over your head. could this be the very device causing the problem? at least one drone spotted in and around the airfield and number of times means nothing is allowed to land or take off. police and the army are still trying to find the drone or drones and, more importantly, who is flying it. they have said shooting down is now a possibility and are appealing for the public to send any videos are pictures —— or pictures they have of it because they still don't know it's make or model. it is pretty clear that this is a fairly large

drone, not the classic plastic garden drone you will see. this is a commercial sized drone that is clearly being operated deliberately ina way clearly being operated deliberately in a way that every time gatwick tries to reopen the drone to reappear. this is quite clearly a deliberate act and a very clear message to whoever is doing this, there is a five—year sentence for this kind of action and anybody who does this should expect to go to jailfor many does this should expect to go to jail for many years. on thursday, more than 750 flights were affected and tens of thousands of people stranded, and a similar number could be affected today. it has cost us about £7,000 to read book the flights. we are hoping the insurance will pay up. but who knows? for some guy or whoever it is to fly some unlicensed, illegal contraption around the airport isjust unlicensed, illegal contraption around the airport is just crazy. and when it comes to claiming compensation, that could prove difficult as the civil aviation authority has said it considers this extraordinary circumstances, which means a loans are not obliged to

pgy- means a loans are not obliged to pay. this is what passengers who have to gatwick have been greeted by, a board that largely serve cancelled. they have told us that they find it embarrassing that authority still haven't managed to track down and put a stop to the drone that is causing them christmas despair. although the problems have stemmed from gatwick, there has been a knock—on effect on other airports across the uk, flights have been diverted to airports like glasgow, liverpool, manchester, and cardiff. and tickets for eurostar trains to paris and brussels have sold at last. but the message is do not go to gatwick if your flight has not been confirmed. chi chi izundu, bbc news. will be keeping across developments there at london gatwick airport and there at london gatwick airport and the effect it is having on place —— we will be keeping. if there are any significant developments we will bring them throughout the briefing on bbc news. moving on now. jim mattis has resigned as us defence secretary. he is the latest in a string of senior trump administration

officials to stand down. his abrupt decision came the day after president trump announced he was withdrawing us troops from syria. kim gittleson reports. iamjames i am james norman i amjames norman matters... general jim mattis had long justified his decision to work under a mercurial president as a necessary one that gave him power to protect american troops abroad. our president's decision to withdraw troops from syria was a step too far. —— president trump off in a letter announcing his decision, he said he opposed president trump uzbek signature policy america first and that he had concerns about the white house's ambiguous relationship with russia and china. for his part, president trump in a tweet was kinder to mr matters than he had been to some of his recently appointed appointees. we thank the generalfor his service appointed appointees. we thank the general for his service and is ever

to buy military equipment. the general‘s departure worried those who saw him as a check on president trump off more questionable foreign policy decisions. i am shaken baby resignation of general mattis —— by the resignation. for the message it sends to our troops. and for the indication of what his view is of the commander in chief. general mattis's resignation is the first over a national security issue by a leading cabinet member since 1980. it is also a stinging rebuke to president trump. this is a man who has endured quite a day. there have been decisions that had been made by this present a long way that he likely disagreed with, but the decision to remove 2000 troops from syria where they were playing a significant role, this was something that mattis could not stand. so today, once more in washington, a familiar guessing game will begin over who will be willing to next

work for a president who has repeatedly ignored the advice of some of his closest advisers. kim gittleson, bbc news. an update on our top story. the disruption at london's gatwick airport. this loan from the airport within the last hour. they are currently working with airlines and traffic controllers, air traffic controllers, to introduce a limited number of flights over the coming hours. they continue advising passengers to check the status of flights before making their way to the airport. so if you are due to fly to date into or out of london gatwick airport check the status of your flights, but they say this developments, they are currently working with airlines and air traffic controllers to introduce a limited number of flights over the coming hours. any more development, we will bring this to you on the briefing. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. president putin has accused the british political establishment of "disrespecting" the public — by not wanting to implement

the result of the brexit vote. at his end of year news conference, the russian president suggested democracy would be undermined if theresa may did not see brexit through. he also praised donald trump's move to withdraw us troops from syria. according to media reports in france, a french extremist linked to the men who attacked the charlie hebdo magazine offices in 2015 is now in police custody. t's reported that peter cherif — also known as abu hamza — was arrested in djibouti earlier this week and is now awaiting extradition. a court in new york has refused to dismiss criminal charges against the disgraced hollywood producer, harvey weinstein. he denies multiple allegations of sexual assault and his lawyers argued that police had acted improperly. but the judge ruled there was ample evidence to proceed to trial. let's turn to business now — and us stock markets have fallen further on the fear that many federal government services

could have to be shut down at midnig tonight. in the last few hours the house of representatives passed a spending bill that included $5 billion of funding for president trump's wall on the border with mexico. the president has refused to sign any bill without it. democrats though have insisted that it's a "non—starter" — and it's unlikely to be approved by the senate. if no agreement is reached before a deadline of midnight tonight, services including law enforcement and airport security will run out of money and face being shut down. with me isjoel kibazo, who is a partner atjk associates and a former director of communications at africa development bank. this is one of those shutdowns that comes around every so often. they usually go to the bring an then do a deal. that's right. president trump has always said of himself that he isa has always said of himself that he is a dealmaker. i think that is what he is trying to do. the other thing

to note is the effect it has had on markets is that it is uncertainty, markets is that it is uncertainty, markets don't like uncertainty. that is why it is weighing heavily, along with other news that has come in. the other thing to note is that this bill contains almost $8 billion of funding for those states that have been hit by natural disasters in recent months. that could also go if this bill is not passed in the senate. i think there will be a loss of haggling. the last went to make is that president trump had said that mexico would pay for this wall and now he has turned to internal resources . and now he has turned to internal resources. so i think there is some discussion around that very point. he made his pledge during the election and now is having to change things around and get the money from congress. i think there will be a partial shutdown, but i think there will be negotiations in the end. thank you very much for that. we will go into more detail in the newspaper review in about half—an—hour or so. we will see you soon. memorial services will be held in scotland and the us to remember the 270 people killed

when pan am flight 103 exploded 30 years ago. people will lay wreaths in lockerbie — the dumfries and galloway town — where the wreckage of the plane came came down on the night of december 21 1988. lorna gordon reports. 30 years ago terror came to the small scottish town of lockerbie. pan am flight 103 flying out 31,000 feet came apart after a bomb on board exploded. debris rained down on the countryside and town below. 11 people in lockerbie died that night, their homes obliterated. all 259 people on board the new york bound flight also lost their lives. with kindness and compassion, the people of lockerbie looked up to be relatives and the memories of those who died. among them the coal, an american student returning home for christmas. her body was never

recovered, but her personal possessions and close were among those collected and carefully watched by volunteers to return to those breed —— nicole. watched by volunteers to return to those breed -- nicole. sometimes we get guardian angels in life and it certainly is an example of the love, dedication come and caring of a group of people in another country who did not know our children, but who did not know our children, but who knew how much this would mean to theirfamilies. who knew how much this would mean to their families. today, commemorations will take place here in lockerbie. relatives of the victims of this atrocityjoining members of the community who assisted in the aftermath, remembering those who died in the worst terrorist attack committed in the uk. lorna lord and, bbc news, lockerbie. hungary's presidentjanos ader has signed a controversial overtime law, despite appeals from protestors to return it to parliament. protests against the law, which began a week ago in budapest, are spreading to provincial cities. nick thorpe sent this report. in the wintry industrial landscape of hungary,

the city of kecskemet is now inseparable from this company, mercedes. some of their employees, under the banner of the metal workers‘s union, took part in this protest. participants marched to the city centre. the government dubbed 2018 the "year of the family". the protesters say the new law will harm their families by forcing them to work six days a week. i find it very pleasant that even right—wing parties, centrist parties and left—wing parties, are fighting together now against the government. i find this very pleasant, and i think that this united front might be the key to break down the government's power. as an employer, i say this is rubbish. this law is rubbish. this law is against anything, life, family, the kids, the family, so it is not good, not good for me. throughout this week,

the protests have been spreading throughout hungary to more than a dozen provincial cities, including here in kecskemet in the centre of the country. the faces of the protests are pretty similar, mostly workers, young people, but also employers who are protesting against this over time law. we have just heard in the last few minutes that the president of hungary has gone ahead and signed the law, rather than returning it to parliament. the government insists this bill has a sweet centre. the deal is fully in line with all european regulations in all respects, and we believe it is going to be beneficial for employees but also employees, as a matter of fact, and for the hungarian economy. nothing is compulsory, everything is on a voluntary basis. back in mercedesville, the people under the christmas trees don't believe him. this is turning into a patriotic protest against a government

which claims it represents the national interest. nick thorpe, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news, still to come: harnessing the power of pooches. how four—legged, furry friends are bringing christmas cheer to patients in south africa. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict, conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border

was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. hello. you're watching the briefing. i'm ben bland. our headlines: passengers at london's gatwick airport are facing a second day of delays. police say they're considering shooting down the drone that's grounded nearly 1000 flights. the us defense secretaryjim mattis is to quit his job. the news comes just a day

after president trump said he planned to withdraw us troops from syria. a town in the north of thailand became famous around the world this summer because of a story about 13 boys who got trapped in a cave. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head went back to the cave and the community around it. this is a par with up entrance of the cave, party took took many many times during the long rescue operation in june july. up times during the long rescue operation injunejuly. up to that point, not many people ever came here. look at it now. we have got people swarming in to visit every day purely because of that rescue. it has really put this place on the map. as in c, they have put a big date up here on front of the cave

entrance. this is where the boys went in. —— as you can see. i remember going in there and seeing their bicycles locked up against the railing at the very beginning of the rescue, when we did not even know if they were live at that point. and of course, it is where the boys were brought out. this whole area was sealed off during the rescue and there were hundreds of divers and volunteers, there were water pumps spinning water out, no—one can actually visit the cave but clearly this place has become a major tourist attraction there are plans tourist attraction there are plans to build much more infrastructure here. it has been great good for the local economy. now you see loads of food stalls outside, lots of people in this area say they are making a lot more money from it, and as you can see, it is something of a place for people to come and think of auction. over here is a shrine to the lady of the mountain. it has a lwa ys the lady of the mountain. it has always been a significant shrine that we are just getting a lot more

people here. so in many ways, this extraordinary rescue has notjust had a huge impact on the people directly involved, the boys and all those rescuers, but it is having a very big impact on this entire area. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. we begin in the vatican city, where pope francis will deliver his christmas message to the curia, the administrative branch of the holy see. after that in moscow, the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov will meet palestinian foreign minister, riyad al—maliki, to discuss a middle eastern peace settlement. and then in paris, the french senate is set to examine the economic and social emergency measures announced by president emmanuel macron in response to the previous weeks of protests. time now to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your friday sport briefing... premier league leaders liverpool are away to wolves later. ole gunnar solskjaer is due to speak

to the media for the first time since taking over at manchester united. and real madrid prepare for a third consecutive fifa club world cup final. let's start in the english premier league, shall we? and jurgen klopp's liverpool are away to wolves later this friday. the merseyside club are top of the table by a single point and are the only unbeaten side in the top division. they haven't won the title since 1990, but go into the important christmas and new year period at the top after beating rivals —— but the wolves boss is confident the home support will lift his team. no, it will be there, for sure. always supporting the team. a noisy mob, that is what we want and we expect. ole gunnar solskjaer is due to meet the press for the first time later on friday as caretaker manager

of manchester united. solskjaer takes over from jose mourinho — who was sacked on tuesday — and the norwegian will be in charge until the end of the season, with his first match away to cardiff city on saturday. real madrid were back to the training field on thursday, after progressing to the fifa club world cup final courtesy of a gareth bale hat—trick. the welsh international, who scored his three goals in an 11 minute spell either side of half time in the 3—1win over kashima antlers, didn't train fully in abu dhabi ahead of the final against al ain on saturday. the tottenham manager mauricio pochettino is reported to be manchester united's number one target to become manager on a full—time basis next season, but that question wasn't allowed at his news conference on thursday. anything to do with manchester united, we've had 48 hours ago, these inane conversations. i am not prepared, the manager is asking, i am not prepared to have another press co nfe re nce am not prepared to have another press conference dominated by this. well, your men was he on tuesday not

the same questions, so not prepared to have it again, so would ask you to have it again, so would ask you to move on. no. no, no, no, iam sorry... i have said... austria's marcell hirscher won for the ninth time in ten world cup slalom races on home snow in saalbach—hinterglemm to extend his lead for the overall world cup title. hirscher took the 63rd victory of his career — making him the most successful austrian skier of all time. only ingemar stenmark and lindsey vonn have won more, and hirscher finished over a third of a second ahead of switzerland's loic meillard, with norway's henrik kristoffersen back in third. the harlem globetrotters paid a special visit to deaf and hard of hearing schoolchildren this week to show off not only their basketball, but more importantly, their language skills. chris hyche chose not to use a sign language interpreter and instead spoke directly to the students using sign language

at the mill neck manor school for the deaf in new york state. american hyche had grown up in a hearing impaired household and has spoken to both his parents using sign language his whole life. the globetrotters have been visiting the school to help prevent bullying in schools and promote their program to deal with it. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team, that is your friday sport briefing. paws for people, a non—profit organisation, is providing animal assisted therapy to those living in special care facilities, nursing homes and hospices injohannesburg. the visits by volunteers and their pets provide comfort and joy to patients who interact with them. the bbc‘s nomsa maseko went along with them and filed this report. from —— sushi, jack and murphy preparing for their big day. the furry friends

ta ke for their big day. the furry friends take theirjobs very seriously, administering cuteness and couples. they come bearing christmas presents. the therapy dogs are visiting patients at a frail care centre here in johannesburg. say hi. yes, good boy. end date paw. where is your paw? yes. paws for people is an organisation which offers the animal assisted therapy and operates in several parts of south africa. —— and a paw. this woman has been staying here at this home for several decades. this woman has been staying here at this home for several decadeslj have been here for 15 years and i'm just the happiest. you look forward to every visit? for sure, they are just the best. i can't wait for them to get here. for some of the patient‘s ear, this might be the only visit they get during this christmas period, so the therapy

dogs are brought here to bring about that steer. as christmas nears, this is the last visit to this home and residents here have formed a special bond with the dogs may look forward to more couples in the year. —— that christmas cheer. just before we go, let me update your situation at london gatwick airport. the airport saying that it continues to advise passengers to check the status a polite before making their way to the airport. this is due to all that chaos caused by the drone. they currently working with air traffic controllers to introduce a limited number of flights over the coming hours. we will bring you more details on that as we get them here on bbc news. this is the briefing, is newsbriefing is next. —— business

briefing. hello there. on thursday, most of the showers were across western areas, many eastern areas did manage to dodge them and actually had a fine end to the day. the next frontal system being simply mild airto start the next frontal system being simply mild air to start this morning. a tangle weather fronts across the weather map for friday. this will be struggling parts to make central parts of the country so although conditions will improve across parts of england and wales into the afternoon and some sunshine around, some cloud and many outbreaks for southern scotland, northern ireland. 11 to 14 southern scotland, northern ireland. 11 to 1a celsius for the afternoon, whereas further north of that weather front, temperatures nearing normalfor weather front, temperatures nearing normal for the weather front, temperatures nearing normalfor the time of weather front, temperatures nearing normal for the time of year with one or two showers but also some sunny spells in scotland. those things will pick up further at the end of the day, gusting to maybe a050 miles

an hour in cornwall, devon, and into the english channel. this rigid high pressure which will bring some high pressure which will bring some high pressure for saturday, this weather feature will bring us a span of rain and strong winds for sunday. so this is the picture saturday, largely dry but spells of sunshine around, a westerly breeze and the north—westerly breeze feeding showers into the north—west of the country. again, cooler temperatures to the north. it could be quite mild in the south, temperatures ten to 12 degrees. increasing cloud breeze in the south—east, outbreaks of rain initially to england and wales, some of it could be quite heavy as well and could also bring very mild air with that as well. it could be quite chilly again under clear skies. a very wet start to england and wales, outbreaks of rain will start to clear away eastwards into the afternoon, a little bit driver could stay quite cloudy and damp across

the south. the best of the sunshine across the northern half of the country, where will see at normal temperatures. as we head on into christmas eve, could see this weather front bring further rain to southern england as a big area of high pressure establishes itself across the uk, but it is likely that things will settle down as we head on into business day with just a few showers over the north—west of scotland. it could start off chile inafew scotland. it could start off chile in a few places with some patchy frost and fog, otherwise dry and settled with some sunshine. this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. jailed auto boss carlos ghosn won't be released on bail — as he faces new financial misconduct allegations. he's vowing to clear his name in court. plus — a christmas shutdown looms for the us government, as president trump refuses to sign a funding bill unless congress pays for his border wall. and on the markets, those fears of a shutdown of the government

adding to the gloom on wall street. the tech—heavy nasdaq index heading for its first year of losses since 2011. it‘s down almost 20% from its peak— which would put it in bear market territory.