you're watching bbc news at 9am with me annita mcveigh — the headlines. gatwick‘s runway reopens for a limited number of flights — after drones cause chaos for tens of thousands of passengers. more than 20 police units continue to search for the drone operator. the transport secretary insists passengers will be safe. clearly there are a range of measures, which are there today, which should give passengers confidence that they are safe to fly. but the message coming out of gatwick airport still is, if your flight gatwick airport still is, if your flight has not been confirmed, do not come to gatwick airport until it has. in other news — us defence secretary james mattis resigns — a day after president trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria. england's chief medical officer calls for a tax on unhealthy food high in sugar and salt, accusing the food industry of failing the public. and ole gunnar solskaer has spoken to the media for the first time since being appointed manchester united's caretaker manager.

good morning — and welcome to the bbc news at 9am. gatwick airport has re—opened its runway — and is planning to operate most scheduled flights today — but passengers are being warned to expect delays and further cancellations. dozens of sightings of a drone over the airfield led to the cancellation of all flights yesterday. this morning, the transport minister chris grayling said military technology was being deployed by the army to safeguard gatwick — but that the drone operator remained at large. since wednesday evening there have been 50 reported sightings close to the runway. 765 flights were scheduled to leave or depart today —

but passengers are being advised to check if their flight is affected. 126,000 passengers have been caught up in the chaos — although some airlines have managed to reschedule flights from other airports. 0ur corrspondent chi chi izundu is at gatwick airport. chi chi, bring us up to speed on arrivals and departures and what is the best advice for passengers today? well, as you said, the runway was opened earlier this morning. the first flight came in from shanghai at around 6am this morning and the first flight to depart went to lapland of all places. a very popular destination, as you can imagine, at this time of year. gatwick have been saying, and really insisting for passengers not to come to the airport unless your flight has been confirmed with your airline. you have to check. a number

of passengers are still taking their chance, they are trying to see whether they can get on any flight. 765 flights were scheduled to depart from this airport today but at least 100 of them have been cancelled, and thatis 100 of them have been cancelled, and that is due to the of all of the cancellations from yesterday's flights. what we do know is over night there were further sightings of the drone, at least until about 10pm last night which was the last sighting of the drone. police say they have not caught who has been operating it and still do not know the make or model boat, like you say, they have put mitigating circumstances in and around the airport to limit any more disruption to gatwick airport. this is what chris grayling, the transport secretary, said earlier today. it's a different kind of disruption. i mean, certainly there's no evidence that it is terror—related in the conventional sense, not linked, as far as we're aware, to an international terrorist group. but it's clearly a kind of disruptive activity that we've not seen before.

this kind of incident is unprecedented anywhere in the world, the disruption of an airport in this way. we're going to have to learn very quickly from what's happened. i plan to convene discussions with other airports around the uk very quickly indeed, so that they know what's happened, they understand what lessons need to be learned and we've put in place every measure we possibly can, to ensure that this can't happen again. so, the problem now that passengers are facing is that it is notjust this airport that is being affected. a lot of passengers are being told to check in here at gatwick and then being ferried to other airports like heathrow, stansted, being ferried to other airports like heathrow, sta nsted, we being ferried to other airports like heathrow, stansted, we even spoke to some passengers who have been coached to birmingham to try and catch their flights because everything has been knocked out of kilter. we did speak to the chief operating officer of gatwick earlier today. his name is chris woodroofe and this is what he had to say about the disruption that is happening across this airport. we have support from a number of government agencies

and the military and with those additional mitigating measures it has given me the confidence to be able to reopen our airport and we are now having departures and arriving flights and we are processing passengers at gatwick airport once again for the first time since 9pm on wednesday evening. i'd just like to reiterate my apology again to all those passengers whose travel has been disrupted and i fear there is going to be continued disruption into the weekend. but we have a plan to have 110,000 passengers travel out of gatwick airport today. we have seen some cancellations, so if passengers could check the website for their flight information, that would be really very necessary. but nothing has changed? the drone is still out there as far as we are aware? the police have not apprehended the criminal who has been operating this drone. what has changed is there are a number of mitigating measures in place by a number of government agencies and the military to ensure that i have the confidence to be able to reopen my airport.

what passengers have been telling us here is they find it embarrassing that the emergency services and the airport haven't got a quicker handle on this drone, such a small device has disrupted so many lives in the busiest travelling period of the year. gatwick are still reiterating, please check their website and also check with your airline because if your airline has not confirmed your flight your airline has not confirmed your flight there is no point in coming to congest the airport. 126,000 passengers were expected to fly on 765 flights scheduled to take off from gatwick airport. but at least 100 of those flights had been cancelled. there will be delays and they are notjust going to be for today. we have been advised that those delays will knock on into the weekend at the very earliest. again, police have not managed to apprehend

orfind the person police have not managed to apprehend or find the person operating the drone or the drone itself. but we have been made aware that they have put into place military style technology to try and make sure that this drone, or drones, do not continue to cause any further disruption to any air passenger travel today. chi chi, thank you for the update, the latest from gatwick, chi chi izundu there. the police operation at gatwick is obviously a huge operation — also involving armed police and snipers who were seen on the airfield yesterday. we can now speak to tony long — a former sniper who spent 25 years in the met‘s specialist firearms unit. good morning and thank you for your time this morning. good morning. yesterday morning when we talked about this at the police said they would not be attempting to shoot this drone, or these drones, down because of safety concerns but by last night it was being reported as an option that was being considered. could a firearms officer bring a drone down in that way? well, the

reality is that a firearm is not a suitable weapon for taking down a drone at distance. i don't know... this looks like it is a fairly substantial drone operating at some substantial drone operating at some substantial distance. the word sniper keeps getting used. a good man behind a rifle or a woman behind a rifle could quite easily hit a man —sized stationary target at 1000 metres. but trying to hit a small drone, a comparatively small target, thatis drone, a comparatively small target, that is in the air, that sniper bullet can travel for at least five kilometres, so if you miss it, or evenif kilometres, so if you miss it, or even if you hit it, that bullet has got to arrive somewhere so if you are in the middle of the desert that's fine, but if you are in south—east london in a predominantly built up residential area, albeit around an airport, that bullet has got to land somewhere, and so a sniper bulletjust isn't feasible, either to hit it, or because of the backdrop issues. if it is at lower heights there are specific shotgun

rounds that can take out drones at a reasonable height, and in fact i work for a company that is pushing ha rd to work for a company that is pushing hard to sell that in to the police now. but actually, we have heard mention of military technology. that is really the way forward, you need electronic countermeasures that can block the signals to that drone. the problem with that is, in doing so you can have a really bad effect on general communications in the vicinity. so, mobile phones probably won't work. 0ther vicinity. so, mobile phones probably won't work. other more important technical functions might cease won't work. other more important technicalfunctions might cease if you deploy that type of technology. but if you need to bring it down you need to bring it down and that is what you will have to do. are there rounds designed to effectively entangle the drone by casting a net around it? yes, there are. i listened with interest when we heard the transport minister saying this

was unique. the security industry have been looking at this technology, realising that this was a pension —— potential issue for a decade now. ijust went a pension —— potential issue for a decade now. i just went to an exhibition in london only a matter of weeks ago, and there were at least half a dozen companies they are promoting anti—drone technology. some of it was ballistic. it would fire nets or projectiles that would then entrap or ensnare the device. 0thers then entrap or ensnare the device. others were electronic. electronic countermeasures that would block signals and effectively take over control of the drone. but they are very expensive and the reality is that the police, in places like airports and government agencies, have known about this for quite some some done at considerable time but there has been reluctance to invest in the technology and buy it and haveit in the technology and buy it and have it available. but the industry is ahead of the government on this, is ahead of the government on this, is what you are saying? well, it has

been for some considerable time. it is not an easy task and as with all technology and difficult tasks the more expensive it will be. i know at least several police forces that have looked at the technology and gone, it is too rich for our blood, with all the cutbacks we simply cannot afford to spend money on that type of technology. do you think thatis type of technology. do you think that is something that will have to be recalculated by government, whether they give police forces in areas where there are airports the budget to buy this type of technology? you'd like to think so, wouldn't you, because i don't know how much the disruption will cost. we must be talking, you know, millions and millions of pounds of disruption. so, you know, when you look at it on that scale, investing tens of thousands of pounds on a device that will bring down a drone safely and electronically, then, you know, it's peanuts. tony,

interesting to talk to you, tony long, former sniper with the met‘s special firearms unit. thank you. we can now speak to doug maclean — a former air traffic control manager — who is national air traffic services. good morning, doug. how complexity task will it be to deal with this backlog at gatwick when you obviously have all of today's schedule to deal with also?” obviously have all of today's schedule to deal with also? i would think gatwick are pretty used to dealing with a back—up of traffic after disruption, if you think of the sort of things we have had before with heavy snow, particularly where operations get backed up. there is a sophisticated system across europe which will deal with that. but i'm sure there is something in the controllers‘ minds at gatwick which will be a bit of hesitancy because of the situation.

i don‘t know what the reassurances are that this is not going to recur today. but i would hope they are very strong and the staff have the confidence to resume operations as soon as they can. that's an interesting point you raise, the mindset of the air traffic controllers at gatwick as they direct flights to land and take off, and, you know, and passengers travelling today feel assured they will be able to do so safely? absolutely. the whole network of air traffic control and aviation in general works on safety. so, although there will be a little bit of, perhaps, reassurance needed, once that is given and once the system is up and running then everybody will be concentrating on theirjobs and hopefully the security side will be dealt with by other people. just going back then

to how gatwick is going to deal with this backlog. let‘s look at that in more detail. 0bviously this backlog. let‘s look at that in more detail. obviously there will not be much spare capacity on other flights, given that it is christmas time. there is coordination going on with other airports to try to deal with other airports to try to deal with some flights. what else will be going on to try to help those many tens of thousands of passengers who we re tens of thousands of passengers who were trying to get away over the last 2a hours or so? were trying to get away over the last 24 hours or so? gatwick is quite an amazing airport, the busiest single runway operation, commercial operation, in the world. what the airport manages to do on one runway is quite amazing. so it‘s very useful, moving some of their operations to stansted for the day and we heard last night there was more capacity being created by allowing night flights at certain airports. and around europe there is

airports. and around europe there is a network in place that will actually deliver a very steady flow to gatwick airport at whatever rate the airport can deal with. ok, good to talk to you, doug, get your thoughts on how the airport will deal with that today. former air traffic controller doug maclean. we‘ll just show you the current situation on flight radar — here you can see planes leaving the airport. 0nly only four plains, much quieter than it would be normally come around this time yesterday if you saw flight radar there were no planes in the sky and it was very unusual and comparisons with heathrow were drawn which had lots of those plain symbols. the skies around gatwick we re symbols. the skies around gatwick were quite —— plane symbols. some activity around gatwick today for

those people trying to leave or get into the country. the time is 9:16am. these are the headlines on bbc news, that is our top story, gatwick‘s runway reopens for a limited number of flights after drones caused chaos for tens of thousands of passengers. police are continuing to search for the drone operator. us defence secretary james mattis resigns — a day after president trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria. england‘s chief medical officer calls for a tax on unhealthy food high in sugar and salt, accusing the food industry of failing the public. and in sport, there‘s no place like home. 0le gunnar solskjaer says it is an honourand home. 0le gunnar solskjaer says it is an honour and a privilege to be the new manchester united interim manager. he‘s been meeting the press for the first time this morning. we will hear from for the first time this morning. we will hearfrom him within for the first time this morning. we will hear from him within the hour. england and wales cricket board dharma cricket board chief says ben stokes dharma cricket board chief says ben sto kes ca n dharma cricket board chief says ben stokes can still be a role model despite his part in a fight outside a bristol nightclub in september

2017. stokes was cleared of affray in august. and a miracle, that‘s how formula 3 racing driver sophia florsch described her survival and recovery from a crash at 170 mph. we will hear from from a crash at 170 mph. we will hearfrom her also at from a crash at 170 mph. we will hear from her also at around 9:40am. i will be back with more on those stories. thank you very much, mike, see you soon. the us defence secretaryjim mattis has become the latest senior figure within the trump administration to resign from his post, citing policy differences with the president. it follows a decision by mr trump to withdraw the remaining two thousand us troops from syria — a decision opposed by military officials. kim gittleson reports. i, james norman mattis. .. generaljim 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.

but president trump‘s decision to withdraw us forces from syria was a step too far. in a letter announcing his decision, general mattis said he opposed president trump‘s 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 of course, was kinder to mr mattis than he had been to some of his recently departed appointees. he thanked the general for his service and is ever for his service and his efforts to buy military equipment. general mattis‘s departure worried those who saw him as a check on president trump‘s more questionable foreign policy decisions. i am shaken by the resignation of general mattis for what it means to our country, for the message it sends to our troops, and for the indication of what his view is of the commander in chief. 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. us media reports say the trump administration is planning to withdraw thousands of troops from afghanistan. it‘s thought that about 7,000 troops, which is roughly half the remaining us military presence in the country — could go home within months. the reports come a day after president trump announced the country‘s military withdrawal from syria. a man has been charged with the murder of a mother of five who has been missing from her home in kent. ben lacomba, who is 38 and from new ash green, is charged with killing sarah wellgreen, who was last seen at the start of october. police are yet to find her body. memorial services will take place later to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the lockerbie bombing. 270 people died when a pan—am flight was blown up in mid—air over the scottish town, four days before christmas in 1988. in the years since the tragedy, many relatives of those who died

have visited the site, seeking comfort and answers, as our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. 30 years ago, terror came to the small scottish town of lockerbie. pan am flight 103, flying at 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 after the relatives and the memories of those who died. among them — nicole boulanger — an american student returning home for christmas. her body was never recovered, but her personal possessions and clothes were amongst those collected and carefully washed by volunteers

to return to those bereaved. sometimes we get guardian angels in life and that certainly is an example of the love, the dedication, and the caring of a group of people in another country who did not know our children, but 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 gordon, bbc news, lockerbie. the time is 9:21am. drivers are warned to expect heavy traffic on the roads today, as millions begin the christmas getaway. nearly 3 million extra journeys are predicted to take place today with traffic expected to peak on boxing day when almost 7 million individual trips will be made.

so, let‘s find outjust how bad things might get on the roads today. 0ur reporter monika plaha is in walsall at the rac headquarters. taking a look at all of the cameras they have, what is the best advice for today? good morning from the rac centre here in walsall. behind me you can see a snapshot of all the current breakdown is that the team are dealing with across the uk today. todayis dealing with across the uk today. today is set to be frantic friday. why? because it is the busiest day of travel before christmas day itself. there is set to be an extra 2.8 million extra journeys on the road today, people making their festive getaway, and the most congested area will be the m40 southbound where road users could be in delays for up to two hours or more. the rac have issued guidelines

telling us when is best to avoid those roads. so, today, the worst time to travel is between 11:30am and 6pm. that is specifically on the m40 southbound. 0n and 6pm. that is specifically on the m40 southbound. on saturday the worst time to travel is between 10:30am until 4pm. worst time to travel is between 10:30am until4pm. 0n worst time to travel is between 10:30am until 4pm. on sunday between 4pm and 6pm and on christmas eve between 11am and 1pm. joining me now is matt dalloway from the rac. good morning. good morning. a busy few days of travel so what advice would you give? the best bit of advice is to plan yourjourney, it is a great time of year when everyone is in a hurry to see their friends and loved ones but take time to think about what time you will travel to avoid delays, children in cars isn‘t a great mix if you are stuck in traffic. check your car, is the tyre

tread proper, are the oil levels and screen wash levels 0k and leave your phone alone in the car, put it away, be safe on the road first and foremost because it is a lovely time of the year and you don‘t want to spoil it. of course, safety is obviously really important. an extra 2.8 millionjourneys obviously really important. an extra 2.8 million journeys will be obviously really important. an extra 2.8 millionjourneys will be made on the roads today. but for boxing that it is set to be even worse, isn‘t it? remember this time last year, we we re it? remember this time last year, we were in three inches of snow and the traffic situation was different. this year it is milder so people more likely to get in the cars and the lovely boxing day sales and white van man between now and christmas doing last—minute deliveries so the roads could be busier. again, think about your journey and stay safe and plan it as much as you can. today we know that the m40 southbound is very busy. are there any roads that would recommend avoiding in the next few days? the classic roads, right outside here of

our hq, the m6will get busy in the next few hours, the m5gets busy southbound and the m25 will have some challenges over the next few days. those roads are unavoidable because they are major commuter areas, however, as i said earlier, pick your time to travel and plan it carefully. what else could impact the traffic on the roads? as we mentioned earlier, the weather can be part of that. and also things like sales. you mentioned boxing day. clearly there is usually a big crush to get into the bargain is after christmas day. so, those are the sort of things that can influence road networks. it looks like the key mantra is to plan your journey in advance and prepare yourself for some delays. monika plaha, thank you very much, in walsall at the rac‘s headquarters. good luck if you are on the roads and i hope the journeys are not too difficult. england‘s chief medical officer has accused the food industry of failing the public, by not doing enough to cut salt and sugar in their products.

professor dame sally davies said companies should face taxes on unhealthy food if they fail to improve. 0ur health correspondent, catherine burns reports. the warning is clear — at the moment, society is balanced in a way so it is easier to make unhealthy choices and we need to tip the scales the other way. half of all deaths in england are due to four reasons — bad diet, smoking, drinking too much, and a lack of exercise. the chief medical officer says we can turn this around, but only if food companies take action. we know industry are not doing enough to make our food healthy. there‘s too much sugar, too much salt, so far they are failing on this. so if they don‘t get to it and deliver, we will need government to put in place taxes. and then i have a dream that we could use the taxes raised to subsidise fresh fruit and vegetables for all of us. the government has already

introduced a tax on sugary drinks, that came in in april and had raised more than £150 million by the end of october. but many companies changed their recipes to cut sugar and so avoid paying the tax. the food and drink federation says its members are making good progress, cutting sugar in the average shopping baskets by 12%. it accepts that there is more work to be done, but argues that taxing unhealthy food is not the way to do it. meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the government has allocated £240 million less to public health in england next year. catherine burns, bbc news. ben reynolds is the deputy chief executive of the sustain, food and farming charity who want good food to be made more affordable, accessible and attractive. good to have you with us. do you

agree with dame sally that the food industry isn‘t doing enough, as she claims, on cutting sugar and salt in food? what is clear looking at some of the reports that have come out in the last few years is where there is most progress is where there is a level playing field for business, where there are mandatory targets rather than voluntary. so it is no surprise you are seeing 10% or 11% drop in sugar in terms of soft drinks and much lower reductions in other areas where there are not those mandatory standards. so, mandatory is the way to go rather than voluntary in your opinion?” think certainly we should try volu nta ry think certainly we should try volu ntary first think certainly we should try voluntary first but where it doesn‘t work you need to have those threats hanging over. what was really, really interesting looking at the chief medical 0fficer‘s report, she comes out with this every year, is her wish list to santa. what is really interesting to look at is over the last few years, that wish list sooner or later comes true. you look at some of the different recommendations, there are some stocking fillers, the small but perfectly formed ones like

increasing the breadth of the sugary drinks tax to include milky drinks. this is on the horizon anyway. looking at the bigger things she is proposing, more powers and money for public health. as your report showed, at the same time, yesterday we saw £240 million dropped in terms of the public health spending. so clearly, some of these bigger wishes will be much harder to achieve. dame sally is calling the herself the chief nanny in her own words but there has been kicked back at criticism of her and talk of a nanny state. but if she wasn‘t saying this she wouldn‘t be doing herjob. state. but if she wasn‘t saying this she wouldn't be doing herjob. quite right, government and officials, this is theirjob, to govern, this is what we employ them and elect them to do and it would be a dereliction of duty if she didn‘t. as individuals it is ourjob to decide what we eat and whether or not we take this advice. when we introduce you and sustain and said that the charity wants good food to be more affordable, accessible and

attractive. how do you do that? how do you persuade people to move away from those favourite snacks, the sugary and salty treats, to that sort of food ? sugary and salty treats, to that sort of food? it is a really important point. when you look at the recommendations in the report, one of them is around making food which is high in fat, salt and sugar, making that more expensive. the only way to persuade the public this is the route we should be going down is to be clear about where the money will go. 0ne down is to be clear about where the money will go. one of the things missing in the report was a commitment by government calling on that to be ring fenced in future yea rs of that to be ring fenced in future years of the sugary drinks tax money to make sure it is going to those good causes and there is no commitment to that at the moment and this is where the public will find it very hard to buy into these sorts of measures if they are not seeing the benefits on the other side. where that money should go towards increasing eligibility for free school meals to make sure those people on a lower income are able to access and afford healthier food. you very much support the idea of

the tax on producers of higher salt, higher sugar type foods and that money being used to support these sorts of initiatives? i think it deserves investigation. the soft drinks tasks is a relatively straightforward thing. —— soft drinks tax. nobody needs sugary drinks. when you look at other products and food types it is more complex which is why we need more research into the evidence about where certain interventions would actually work. good to talk to you, ben reynolds from sustain. thank you. let‘s take a quick look at gatwick. there is a flight coming into land. that will be music to the areas of the operators of the airport, and of course, the passengers who are hoping that they will be able to make some progress with their journeys today. will be able to make some progress with theirjourneys today. we saw flight radar a few moments ago, a long way to go, a few planes in the sky but things are moving. in a

moment we have the weather forecast but we can now hear what victoria derbyshire has coming up on her programme at 10am. all the latest from gatwick as flights start to get under way. do you back the decision to resume flights despite the drone operator and the drone not being located yet? and to look ahead to the christmas number one, which will be announced this afternoon. #we this afternoon. # we bought this city on sausage rolls #we rolls # we built this city ? # we built this city ? # that dad in nottingham is in competition with ariana grande. we will talk to him at 10:30am alongside a sunderland supporter who is also in the running. it‘s our last programme of this year, so this morning, do let us know your own breaking news of 2018. what has happened in your life, your work on your home, your family? happened in your life, your work on your home, yourfamily? send me an e—mail. see you at 10am. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with simon king good morning. an unpleasant start to

the day for england and wales. misty and murky conditions, some outbreaks of rain in northern areas through this morning. it will stay showery across northern ireland, through much of northern england and southern scotland. to the north of scotland, dry and bright and eventually there will be some sunny spells developing across southern parts. quite mild today. temperature is about 12—14d. meanwhile, we have that rain and in the north of scotland, temperature is more like 7-8. scotland, temperature is more like 7—8. quite blustery conditions as well. the chicken across southern areas. through this evening, this line of showers move eastwards. many of these showers will start to fizzle away as we go through the early hours of saturday morning. saturday itself looking quite dry. there will be some sunny spells. more rain spreading to southern areas by sunday. bye—bye. hello this is bbc news.

the headlines: gatwick‘s runway reopens ‘for a limited number‘ of flights, after drones cause chaos for tens of thousands of passengers. the transport secretary insists passengers flying today will be safe. clearly there are a range of measures, which are there today, which should give passengers confidence that they are safe to fly. us defence secretary james mattis resigns, a day after president trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria. england‘s chief medical 0fficer calls for a tax on unhealthy food high in sugar and salt, accusing the food industry of ‘failing the public‘. let‘s bring you some live pictures now from barcelona. of pro—independence demonstrators in catalonia. let‘s try and get those to you. there we go. these

demonstrators have blocked a number of roads in the region in protest of the spanish government holding a cabinet meeting in barcelona, the regional capital. you may know that today coincides with the anniversary of elections imposed on the region last year by the previous spanish government. madrid, of course, asserted its control after the cata la n asserted its control after the catalan regional authorities declared independence. that followed a referendum that had been ruled illegal by the courts. so, pro—independence demonstrators in catalonia marking the anniversary of that today, with these protests blocking a number of roads in the region. these images live, as you can see, from barcelona. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. gatwick is dominating. it has reopened its runway this morning after drones caused it to shut down for nearly 36 hours.

120,000 passengers have had their journeys disrupted. airport officials say police haven‘t yet found the operator of the drones, but extra security measures from the government and military had given them "confidence to reopen". richard gill is the managing director of a company that makes drone defence systems. he told bbc breakfast why stopping the drone has proved so difficult. they‘re very difficult to detect because they‘re small. they can be controlled from a very long distance, even drones you can buy on the high street can be very capable. but with this incident at gatwick, it looks like it was quite sophisticated, with the number of drones that have been flown, multiple drones at multiple times during the day and night. so, it becomes a massive challenge for the police and the security services, to track down the operator and stop the drone. and how do you then do it? there are different options, you‘ve developed one option? yes, that‘s right. there are a number of different options you can do. drones generally rely on a radio signal between the drone in the sky and its operator on the ground. that seems to be the most easy point of attack for drone defence systems like my own.

disrupt that connection? that‘s exactly right. break that connection and it forces the drone to behave in a way that you want it to behave and stops the criminalfrom doing what they want. i suppose the question is — do the police here in the uk, as far as you know, have the technology? so, the police are still waiting for some legislation to come into force, to allow them to deploy jamming technology more effectively. they do have powers within the police act to allow them to interrupt signals that drones use. i think we need to look at that in a bit more detail, to stop incidents like this happening again. there has been a lot of reaction on twitter, labour mp ben bradshaw tweeted: "why can‘t these damnable drones ruining so many people‘s holiday & travel plans just be shot down?" we heard from a sniper this morning saying that probably wouldn‘t be safe and would be difficult with a

relatively small moving target. also on twitter, author david videcette said: "drone guns are the way forward for airports, not running around trying to locate the individual drone operators as they are at gatwick." and in the last hour, gatwick airport confirmed: "gatwick‘s runway is currently available and a limited number of aircraft are scheduled for departure and arrival." sticking with gatwick, let‘s have a look at some of the top stories you‘re reading on the bbc website this morning. that is at number one. gatwick ru nway that is at number one. gatwick runway reopens after drone chaos you can see the image, a queue of people around one of the airport plasma christmas trees, probably not feeling very christmassy at the moment because of the chief operating officer of gatwick is quoted in that story. you can click ona link quoted in that story. you can click on a link there to take you to live updates on what is happening at the airport. also, the assistant chief co nsta ble of airport. also, the assistant chief constable of sussex police quoted, as well.

then, let‘s just take a look at another one of the stories are most read, nothing to do with gatwick but an interesting story for of the angel who secretly pays patient stories. a man in nigeria, a wealthy businessman, who arrives at hospital, checks on lists of patients who are well enough to go home but can‘t afford to pay their medical bills and has been paying for some of them, paying those bills for some of them, paying those bills for some of them, paying those bills for some of them, so they can be discharged. the us defence secretary, james mattis, has announced his resignation — a day after president trump said he was withdrawing america‘s remaining troops from syria. in his resignation letter, general mattis spoke of his belief in the importance of american alliances, and hinted that president trump might not share his point of view. speaking on bbc world this morning, jonathan schanzer, senior vice president of the foundation for defence of democracies, gave his assessment of the resignation. this is a man who‘s endured quite a bit.

there have been decisions that have been made by this president along the way that he likely disagreed with, but the decision to remove 2000 troops from syria, when they were playing a significant role not only in combating isis, but also in holding off the iranians as they try to establish a land bridge across the levant. a decision that would effectively spurn our kurdish allies, our israeli allies, jordanian allies. this was just something that mattis could not stand. although, there are trump loyalists, aren‘t there, and many, many people who voted for him, who voted for america first and will be glad to see american troops out of harm‘s way? well, i think that‘s right, but i think the fact we were able to draw down so many troops in the middle east and to have such a small contingent based there, in syria, i think effectively vindicated the president‘s perspective on the use of military power. this was not a significant deployment. it was a small one, proving that we did not need to have large wars in order to have a major

american presence. i think the president‘s foreign policy right now is beginning to trouble a lot of people who were perhaps willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. i would say chief among those are the so—called iran hawks. i would include myself to be one of those, and we looked at 12 different points raised by mike pompeo, the demands that he was making, the secretary of state was making of iran. a lot of that had to do with iran‘s regional interference, its support for terrorism and the like. with the president‘s decision to withdraw from syria, i think those points have been eviscerated. there‘s very little that the us can effectively demand from the iranians right now. it calls into question the entire strategy on sanctions, the decision to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal of 2015. none of this seems to be holding up. so there is a lot of concern right now in washington, even among those who‘d given him the benefit of the doubt, and that obviously includes some of his senior advisers. those that refused to listen — that he refused to listen to when they were giving him their advice. let‘s go back to the bbc

website and have a look at some more of the most popular stories today one. we are going to look at one from the most watched list, at number two. it is that weekend before christmas, let‘s talk about pantomimes. many of you might be going this weekend. this story says can this curious british custom charm the us? it might not be curious to us, i guess it might be to us audiences. it‘s talking about the pantomime jack it might be to us audiences. it‘s talking about the pantomimejack and the beanstalk, which has come to new york. in this story, they chat to americans and ask them what they think of this very british christmas tradition. if you are going to a pa nto tradition. if you are going to a panto this weekend, have lots of fun! that‘s it for today‘s morning briefing. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s mike bushell. good morning everyone. good morning.

the new manchester united manager, in the short term at least ole gunnar solskaer, has been talking to the press for the first time. it‘s ahead of his first game in charge tomorrow evening at the only other club, he‘s managed in the premier league... cardiff city — it didn‘t go well for the norwegian there, but united is where he made his name as a striker, and not surprisingly it feels like home. ididn‘t i didn‘t think twice and they called to sigh me as a player and obviously this is more of an honour and privilege to be helping the club for a few months, i have to say first that you know, when you get a job like this and they ask you to sign for six months, you say, i‘m happy to help out. and, of course, myjob now is for the next six months to do as well as i can. and move the club forwards as well as i can, and then i understand ? there are so many managers that would love to be managers that would love to be manager of manchester united, so, of course, i‘m one of them, but it‘s not something that we‘ve talked about. they are going to do a

process now for the next six months. your time at cardiff city didn‘t go as you would have hoped. did you learn from that, are you better now asa learn from that, are you better now as a coach, manager? what would you say to the fans who are concerned? definitely. i sat down and i was thinking, i‘m getting old, my grey hairs are coming. i‘ve had about 300-400 hairs are coming. i‘ve had about 300—400 games as a first—team manager now, and that period in cardiff, of course, was a huge step for me. i‘ve learnt a lot. i‘ve evaluated, reflected on it. i made a few mistakes. but if you don‘t make mistakes, you are not going to learn. unfortunately, yeah, i made a few of them. that, then again, they are in the premier league now, so maybe ? i don‘t think they are too unhappy about it now. laughter still looks so young, doesn‘t he, despite what he‘s saying! the last days of mourinho‘s reign are again in the spot

light in the papers again today. the sun have the headline ‘pay up‘, claiming that alexis sanchez had a wager with team—mates, that mourinho would get the sack. ‘he goes or we go‘ is the headline in the daily express, claiming that a group of players, went to manchester united bosses, with an ultimatum, about their futures at the club. something a bit different inside the sun, they suggest that david beckham is in talks, about being the first footballer in space! ben stokes can still be a role model despite his part in a fight outside a bristol nightclub in september 2017, says england and wales cricket board chief executive tom harrison. stokes was stripped of his role as vice—captain of the test side but, since the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him, has re—affirmed himself as one of england‘s most important players. i think he‘s been through a year that will serve as a constant

reminder of how quickly things can go wrong, if you allow them. i also think that the culture around the tea m think that the culture around the team will protect him going forward. i hope that‘s the case. i know there‘s a lot of work going on. ben isa there‘s a lot of work going on. ben is a leader in that team. he has got great people around him. he‘s got great people around him. he‘s got great support structures, and i‘m sure he‘s learned a lesson. great support structures, and i‘m sure he's learned a lesson. ben stokes is cleared of affray in august. england test captain joe root, has been in action on his big bash league debut, for sydney thunder in canberra this morning. he might be a little disppointed though, as he madejust 18 runs before losing his wicket to adam zampa, who also took the scalp of england vice—captain, jos buttler for 20. sydney thunder are currently 137 for four. there‘s radio commentary on five live sports extra right now. the formula 3 driver sophia floe—resch, says she still hopes to one day, become the first female, formula 1, world champion. that‘s despite fracturing her spine in this 170 mile an hour crash last month, flying

into the photographers stand, where a marshall and photographer were also injured. the 18—year—old has told the bbc, a "miracle", helped her survive, and that she took a selfie, with herfather in hospital, to reassure her family, she was ok after the accident, at the macau grand prix. it was quite bad for all of them, because the video looks horrible. that was also one of my first thoughts, to tell the team over the radio, ok, i‘m ok, please tell the family but it didn‘t work. when i was in hospital, we were doing a selfie to my mum and my sister that i was selfie to my mum and my sister that iwas ok selfie to my mum and my sister that i was ok with my dad. probably it‘s a miracle, but that‘s probably the reason why i am happy and, yeah, normal. for me, it‘sjust to be happy and continue to be positive. looking forward to racing again in 2019. here‘s what has been ctahcing our eye on social media.

six—time olympic champion allyson felix, has revealed that she has given birth to her daughter prematurely. the american sprinter says that her baby has been in a neo—natal intensive, care unit since her birth, on the 28th of november. but is said to be doing well. in an emotional video she posted on social media, felix describes the journey of her pregnacy, with footage of daughter camryn, at the end, whom she has described as ‘my little fighter‘. lots of sport to look forward to this weekend and it all starts tonight, with wolves hosting league leaders liverpool in the premier league. you can hear all the action from molineux on bbc radio 5live from 8 o‘clock this evening. that‘s all the sport for now. more from the bbc sport centre at 11:15. thank you very much for that, see you later. the headlines on bbc news... gatwick‘s runway reopens ‘for a limited number‘ of flights — after drones cause chaos for tens of thousands of passengers. police continue to search for the drone operator. us defence secretary james mattis resigns, a day after president trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria. england‘s chief medical

officer calls for a tax on unhealthy food high in sugar and salt, accusing the food industry of ‘failing the public‘. let‘s return to the drone disruption at gatwick now. the cancellations over the past few days has meant major disruption for thousands of people planning to travel, but what rights do they have and what obligations do the airlines have to their customers? ben thompson has been having a look. if you‘re caught up in the chaos at gatwick, what exactly are your rights? well, your first port of call should be your airline. if they‘ve cancelled your flight, you‘re entitled to a full refund or to rebook on another flight — if those flights are available. but the civil aviation authority says this is an extraordinary event, and so it‘s not the airlines‘ fault. they‘re not forced to pay you compensation. but, you have some other options.

if you‘re delayed, then you are entitled to what‘s called "reasonable expenses". so maybe food or a hotel, but make sure you keep the receipts, because you‘ll need those to claim the money back. so, if you are expecting to fly from gatwick today or over the weekend — what‘s the latest? with me is emma brennan who is from the association of british travel agents. thank you very much for coming along. let‘s talk first of all about if you are going to gatwick today and hoping to get away, what is the advice for passengers hoping to travel? well, it's good to see the airport has been able to reopen and that flights are now operating. it is worth people bearing in mind that it isa is worth people bearing in mind that it is a limited number of flights that are departing and arriving, so it‘s really important they do check with their airline and do check with their travel company before heading off to the airport, to make sure

that their flight is actually going. also worth people recognising that alternative arrangements have been made. some flights might be going from other airports. we are just seeing some live images from gatwick now. i beg your pardon, from the last three minutes, not live, of one aircraft taking off. so we are seeing activity at the airport continuing this morning. that as the ru nway continuing this morning. that as the runway reopens. you were making a good point a few moments ago to me that you should bring any essentials that you should bring any essentials that you should bring any essentials that you need in your hand luggage, in case you do get stuck for longer than you anticipate? absolutely. this is still very much a fluid situation and people should expect further disruptions and potentially even cancellations as well. so do make sure you have any essentials with you in your hand luggage, whether that is next for the children or any nappies you might need, but also important things like medication and phone charges as well. let‘s just develop a little bit about what ben was discussing in

terms of what passengers can expect in terms of refunds, if not compensation? yes, basically you can get a refund if you‘ve booked a flight get a refund if you‘ve booked a flight directly with an airline, you are entitled to a refund or you might have the option to rebook. if you have booked a package holiday and that has been cancelled and that can‘t go ahead, you can get a refund for the whole of the package holiday, so you are not incurring any other costs. but there is in any additional compensation, no money on top of this refund, because this is classed as something that is beyond the control of the airline. what is the control of the airline. what is the situation with insurance? most insurers say these are extraordinary circumstances and my pay—out? depends what your travel policy says and they do vary quite a bit. we recommend people have a look at any booking conditions for other travel services they have got. if you booked a flight and then booked a hotel or some other sort of accommodation separately, see what the booking conditions are around

that hotel. a complex task to get everything back on schedule, after so much disruption? yes, there's been a lot of disruption, quite an unprecedented situation for an airport to be closed and for such a long time but we know people have been able to get on the move. trying to ta ke been able to get on the move. trying to take flights from other airports, as well. and there are in fact we have live images from gatwick. a british airways plane there on the move. so things are moving. it is good to see. if you are desperate to get away or perhaps our travelling later today and keeping your fingers crossed that your flight will be going or perhaps you are waiting for loved ones to arrive back in the uk and hoping that they will be able to make it as planned. of course, we will keep a very close eye on the situation for you here on the bbc news channel. emma brennan, thank you very much. more than a hundred new species of plant and fungi were discovered by the royal botanic gardens at kew in the last year.

the discoveries include carnivorous pitcher plants, and exotic orchids. scientists say some could lead to new types of medicines or crops, as helen briggs reports. apologies, some trouble bringing that report to you. let‘s move onto another story. the number of cars produced in the uk has fallen sharply in november, nearly 20% fewer ca rs sharply in november, nearly 20% fewer cars were made than in the same month in 2017 the stop the society of motor manufacturers and traders said the substantial decline followed recent trends of weaker demand, both at home and in european and asian markets. just over 129,000 ca rs we re and asian markets. just over 129,000 cars were built in november. borisjohnson is understood to have been cleared of breaking the tories‘ code of conduct with comments he made about women wearing burkas. he had written that they looked liked "letter boxes" or "bank robbers" in a telegraph column

in which he argued against a ban on full—face veils. it prompted dozens of complaints but it is understood an independent panel said he had been "respectful and tolerant". tory chairman brandon lewis and theresa may had called on him to apologise. the conservative party has been accused of not doing enough to tackle anti—muslim prejudice in its ranks, despite an initiative to boost tolerance and diversity. australia‘s largest city is recovering from a series of storms which saw hailstones the size of tennis balls. unusually large blocks of ice smashed through car windshields in sydney and created dangerous conditions on the famous harbour. hail is fairly common in new south wales, although it hasn‘t been seen on this scale since 1999 — when it caused almost a billion pounds worth of damage. quite incredible. it‘s time for a look at the weather with simon king. hopefully no hailstones in that

forecast? absolutely not. that was incredible, the hail in australia in the last few days. some of the pictures i saw of that words are like jellyfish or ufos. quite incredible is that nothing is extreme as that across the uk over the next few days. but it has been a rather grey start to the davis that we have had some outbreaks of rain affected northern parts of england and across northern ireland throughout this morning. this is the radar imagery from earlier. it is easing slightly. it will turn into more showery rain as we go through the day and into the afternoon. a few showers across wales and south—west of england but across southern areas, it will become largely driver stop there will be some brighter spells developing and actually quite mild across southern areas. temperatures getting up to 12-14 areas. temperatures getting up to 12—14 does not mean while, we have the cloud and the rain in northern parts, 7 degrees here. some sunny spells in scotland, highs of five

celsius bust up tonight, if you are out and about, some showers will move their way through. some could be on the heavy side. bear that in mind. there will be simpler spells as well into saturday morning. a touch of frost possible in the far north—east of scotland. elsewhere, we will see temperatures about 6-9dc, we will see temperatures about 6—9dc, just holding those milder conditions southern areas. during saturday, we have this ridge of high pressure just dominating the weather across the uk for some that will bring us some fairly quiet conditions on saturday. we will see some showers across scotland, northern ireland, north—western parts of england, but most of us, if you‘re travelling on saturday, it is not looking too bad. plenty of dry weather and plenty of sunshine and temperatures getting to about 9—12. by temperatures getting to about 9—12. by sunday, however, this weather system will move in from the south—west. that will introduce rain across england and wales. so, sunday not a great day. that rain will move its way southwards. it will linger

in southern areas into the afternoon. but the northern england, scotla nd afternoon. but the northern england, scotland and northern ireland, there will be some sunshine throughout the day. not bad here. temperatures 6—7, but again, on the mild side in the south, 12—13. that takes us into christmas week. on christmas eve, there will still be some rain in southern areas that you see this big area of high pressure developing across the uk. this takes us into christmas day. there could be a few weather fronts moving their way into western parts. that could bring some outbreaks of rain that actually, for most on christmas day, no snow, there won‘t be a white christmas. mostly dry, lots of cloud, the best of any brightness will be in the north—east of england and up into the north—east of scotland. that is all for me, bye—bye. we‘re nearly there, it‘s the friday before xmas — it‘s 10am, i‘m victoria derbyshire. after chaos for almost 36 hours, a small number of flights have started taking off again

from gatwick airport, despite the rogue drone operator evading capture and their device not being located. the transport secretary insists passengers are safe. there‘s no evidence that it is terror—related in the conventional sense, not linked, as far as we are aware, to an international terrorist group. this kind of incident is unprecedented anywhere in the world, the disruption of an airport in this way. but clearly there are a range of measures which are there today which should give passengers confidence that they are safe to fly. we‘ll have the latest. do you back the decision to reopen the runway? could the sunderland supporter behind this track be the christmas umber one. # and if you could see me