you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am. these are the main stories this morning: gatwick‘s runway reopens with over 700 planes scheduled for departure and arrival today — the transport secretary insists travellers 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. yes, as the runway reopens at gatwick, thousands of passengers remain stranded as the airport tries to cope with the huge backlog of cancelled flights from yesterday. 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. ole gunnar solskjaer has spoken to the media for the first time since being appointed manchester united's caretaker manager.

the first game, think about getting my principles into the boys. get the players to understand how i want them to play, how we want to play as a team. and a builderfrom lincolnshire wins seventy six million pounds on the lottery — after finding the winning ticket in the visor of his van six weeks after the draw. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. 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. chi chi izundu has this report. earlier this morning the runway was opened, meaning flights arriving and departing, although limited. more than 126,000 passengers were scheduled to be part of 765 flights today. but more than 100 of those

have have to be cancelled. 0fficials have have to be cancelled. 0fficials have warned travellers that disrupt and will continue into the weekend. ifear and will continue into the weekend. i fear there will be continued disruption into the weekend but we have a plan to have 110,000 passengers travel to gatwick airport today. we have seen some cancellations, so if passengers could check the website for their flight, could check the website for their flight, that will be very necessary. could this be the job that has caused all the problems? police are still looking for it and whoever has been operating it. they confirmed they have military style technology in place to minimise any further disruption. one of the things we have to learn from this is what the existing technology can do. what else needs to be done. but there is not a straightforward, commercial off—the—shelf solution to solve all problems. the message is still to check and check again, do not come to gatwick unless your flight has

been confirmed. navtej johal is at gatwick airport. good morning. painta picture good morning. paint a picture for us of how things are looking right now in terms of arrivals and departures? good morning. as you can see behind me, plenty of passengers coming in today. the key difference is that a lot of them are coming in expectation rather than hope of a flight, expectation rather than hope of a flight, because the key difference between this morning and yesterday has been the sight and sound of aircraft landing and taking off. we understand the first flights to arrive at gatwick this morning what is at 6:13am. it was from shanghai. a few minutes later, the first flight a few minutes later, the first flight since wednesday evening took off for a lapland. a big difference compared to yesterday when we saw no flight compared to yesterday when we saw no flight activity. the skies above gatwick were very quiet. 765 flights

are scheduled for today. we expect at least 100 of them will be cancelled, and that is on top of the backlog of around the same number of flights from yesterday. 140,000 passengers expected to be affected overall today. a significant portion from yesterday. thousands of passengers are still stranded. i spoke to one mayan a short while ago and was expecting to be in antigua today. —— one man. he has been getting updates from his airline telling him to hang on, to keep waiting, that he will be moved onto the next flight. now he will be leaving on christmas day. he will be flying on christmas day to antigua. he has missed most of the christmas period, the run—up to christmas, already. today is one of the busiest travelling days of the year. the final friday ahead of the final

weekend before christmas. this disruption will be continuing throughout the weekend. however, the airport has said it expects things to go back to a level of normal by the end of saturday. by the end of tomorrow they are expecting things should be roughly back to normal. by sunday they are expecting it to be their busiest day overall. the advice, however, is to continue checking the status of your flight with your airline before arriving here. don't come here until you have checked. some passengers we spoke to earlier this morning were coming here, checked in and then they were being brought to stansted, heathrow or as being brought to stansted, heathrow oras far being brought to stansted, heathrow or as far away is birmingham. check the status of your flight before arriving. around 100 fly tabbing cancelled here today. thank you. —— have been cancelled. tony long is a former sniper who spent 25 years in the met‘s specialist firearms unit. he says it's not as simple as just shooting a drone out of the sky... a firearm is not a suitable weapon

for taking down a drone at a distance. this looks like it is a fairly substantial drone operating at quite a substantial distance. a good man or woman behind a rifle can quite easily hit a man sized stationary target other thousand metres. but trying to hit a small drone in the air, that sniper bullet can travel at least five kilometres. if you miss it or if you hate it, but bullet has to arrive somewhere. if you are in the middle of the desert, that is fine. if you are in the middle of south—east london, predominantly built—up residential area, albeit around an airport, that bullet has to land somewhere. a sniper bullet is not feasible. either to hit a tour because of the back drop issues. if it is at lower

heights, there are specific shotgun rounds that can take out drones at a reasonable height. in fact, i work for a company that is actually pushing hard to sell that to the police now. but actually, we have heard mention of the military technology. that is the way forward. electronic countermeasures. the problem with that is that in doing so, you can have a really bad effect on general clinic isn't in the vicinity anywhere. so, mobile phones probably won't work. probably more important technical functions may cease if you deploy that type of technology. if you need to bring it down, you need to bring it down and thatis down, you need to bring it down and that is what you have to do. are there rounds designed to effectively entangle a drone by casting a net around it? yes, there are. i listened with interest and i

had the transport minister said this was unique. the security industry have been looking at this technology, realising this was a potential issue, for nearly a decade. ijust went potential issue, for nearly a decade. i just went to a security fair, exhibition in london several weeks ago. at least half a dozen companies were promoting anti—drone technology. some of it is ballistic. it would fire projectiles that would entrap or ensnare the device. 0thers we re entrap or ensnare the device. 0thers were electronic. they would block signals and effectively take over control of the drone. but they are very expensive. the reality is that the police and government agencies have known about this for some considerable time that there has been a great deal of reluctance to invest in technology, to make it available. the industry is ahead of

the government, is that what you are saying? dunne it has been for some considerable time. it is not an easy task. as with all technology, the more difficult the task, the more expensive it is going to be. more difficult the task, the more expensive it is going to belj more difficult the task, the more expensive it is going to be. i know several police forces have looked at the technology. with all the cutbacks they cant afford to spend the money. is that something that will have to be recalculated by government, whether they give police forces in areas where there are airports, the budget dubai this technology? you would like to think so, wouldn't you ? technology? you would like to think so, wouldn't you? i don't know how much this will cost. we must be talking millions of millions of pounds. when you look at it on that scale, investing tens of thousands of pounds on a device that would bring down a drone safely and electronically, then it is peanuts.

that was tony long. a former sniper with the met specialist firearms unit. several government departments, including the ministry of defence, justice and transport, are involved in this investigation and assisting the police. let's speak to colonel richard kemp — who's a former commander with the british army. good to have you with us. the government says a range of measures are being used at gatwick this morning to allow us to operate, including some which are military measures. can you give us including some which are military measures. can you give us an including some which are military measures. can you give us an insight please into what they might be? clearly, the key things in a situation like this are twofold. first of all to be able to identify and detect the drone and preferably its operators, but certainly the drone or drones. and secondly, to have the capability of stopping it. bringing it down to the ground and stopping it continuing to be a threat. those things are electronic capabilities that have existed for a

long time. as we have seen today when gatwick has been reopened, the capability of dealing with this has been there all along. when we hear the phrase additional mitigating measures, does that mean the army is using drone technology at the moment? dele macro is actually the royal air force that is involved, not the army. no, i don't think it necessarily does. they have some capabilities. the military capabilities. the military capabilities for a case like this would tend to be most brutal and broad brushed and potentially would cause a lot of collateral harm. i suspect although they could be in use, i suspect it is more likely to be some kind of civilian iced capability that is being used. but i don't know exactly. i do know that obviously when you disrupt or attempt to take control of a threat like this over a large area,

veigneau are going to be generating powerful signals to that. that would have a collateral effect. —— then of course you are going to be generating powerful signals. it has to be done quite carefully. the transport secretary this morning has described the incident as unprecedented. while previous drone incursions at airports in the uk have been minor by comparison, should the response have been swifter in your opinion? yes, it should. it actually appears to be quite a concerning situation where we have got a thread that was identified many years ago now, when drones first started to be commercially available. —— threat. nothing much seems to have been done. this thing seems to have been made up as they went along. i am not in any way decrying the excellent work done by the police and by the

aviation authority, and they raf as well. but they should have been a plan. there doesn't seem to be a plan. there doesn't seem to be a plan. we have had days of destruction which could have been avoided because clearly the technology exists. it is now being used. they would not be allowing aircraft to fly out of gatwick and into gatwick unless they were confident the drone was not going to present a threat. and they haven't, as far as we know, got hold of the drone or the drone operators. the threat is still there. these are things that have been available and should have been deployed. they should have been deployed. they should have been deployed. they should have been deployed at gatwick and all other airports for some time. we have heard of some of this technology that is out there in the industry. whose responsibility was it to pay for that? should it be the government? should it be the airport authorities? i don't know who would

have paid for it. i would guess the actual paying for the equipment would come down to the airport authorities. it is really the responsibility of the government to do this. if something comes out of the blue and you don't anticipate, fine, you can expect things to be improvised. but they have known about this thread for years. it is the government that has failed, i think, to generate the measures and put them in place, and produced the plans that are necessary to prevent this disruption. it is notjust disruption, it is notjust huge inconvenience to a lot of people. it is also the massive economic impact and great embarrassment for our country as well. that could have been avoided had the government got a grip. there are a number of agencies involved. ultimately i would say it comes down to the home secretary and the transport secretary, not just the secretary and the transport secretary, notjust the current ones but their predecessors, over several

yea rs, but their predecessors, over several years, who have not addressed this. briefly, so long as the person or the people behind this go on apprehended, there is a danger, there is a threat. let's talk about there is a threat. let's talk about the sustainability of military involvement. in the short term, yes, presumably that is fine. but in the medium to longer term, unsustainable perhaps? i don't think there needs to be military involvement in the short or long—term. this can be easily dealt with by private organisations, by the police or the civil aviation authority. but not by the armed forces. there is not a role for the armed forces. i do think we don't know anything about these people. we don't know who they are or what they want. it may be this is part of a longer term plan. they want another go at another airport. we are likely to see copycat attacks, i think. it is a problem that will not go away and something we need to continue to

defend against. i don't think it requires the armed forces to do so. colonel richard kemp, thank you very much for your thoughts on this story. we heard from the transport secretary earlier saying airports are facing a new kind of threat. let's speak to andy mcdonald, the shadow transport secretary. the transport secretary calling it a new kind of threat but we have heard from a number of people today that this has been a thread that has been known about for a while and there is technology out there to deal with it but perhaps the airports and police services don't have immediate access to that. what needs to change? well, i think we need a government that listens to warnings about risk when

they are presented. this has been known about for a number of years when we had something called a vehicle technology and aviation bill before parliament before the 2017 snap election. that was the very issue i was trying to progress in the course of that bill. i had many a meeting with government ministers to press the case for addressing the risks posed by drones. and we were promised consultations and codes of conduct. and here we are in this situation. there is a limit to regulation and codes of conduct and what they can achieve. but the risk of this very type of attack has been known about. we have seen incursions at gatwick over a number of years. who knows if they were preparatory incursions waiting for this concerted attack? those incursions we re concerted attack? those incursions were relatively minor and didn't cause any harm, thank goodness. would it have been wise expenditure

referred government to lay out huge amounts of money, presumably millions of millions of pounds, on this technology, given that previous incursions have been minor?m this technology, given that previous incursions have been minor? if you look at those issues and say, that tells you something about what is possible. we live in a world of cyber security attacks. this is much more crude than that. you have to have the responses ready. quite clearly, by engagement, perhaps with the military, i don't know. but the threat for now seems to have been dissipated by the implementation of technologies. i am saying, why on earth were we not in a state of preparedness and a readiness to deal with this issue much more quickly? it was known about and there are technologies available to deal with it. the government has been asleep on this issue. i have to say the

dreaded b ward, brexit, it means oxygen has been sucked out of parliament and whitehall concentrating on that, and they are missing the day—to—day bread and butter issues that impact on our economy. this is a vital piece of infrastructure. they have not taken full reconnaissance —— full cognizance of the risks. should this also be the responsibility in some pa rt also be the responsibility in some part of the operators of the various airports? it is both. but it is the responsibility of government to ensure those plans are in place. they are the custodians of our economy and our security. it is up to government to ensure measures are in place to ensure this kind of disrupting cannot happen. there are issues that impact upon airports all the time. but this is something that

the time. but this is something that the government should have prepared for. at gatwick and other airports it should have the necessary technologies available and in place to deal with it. quite clearly, they have been deployed today. why were they not made available much more quickly? that is the question everybody is asking today. it is a com plete everybody is asking today. it is a complete failure of government. thank you for your time. and we want to know what you think about this story, you can tweet us using the hashtag bbc newsroomlive, or text us at 61124. the us defence secretary, jim 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 2,000 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 troops 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'd been to some of his recently departed appointees. he thanked the general for his service, as well as his efforts to buy military equipment. general mattis' departure worried those who had seen 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 that it sends to our troops, and for the indication of what his view is of

the commander in chief. 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. 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. memorial services will take place shortly 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. lorna gordon is there for us. tell us more about how lockerbie is

marking this anniversary? this morning, small, loki acts of remembrance have been taking place throughout this time in the streets we re throughout this time in the streets were the debris fell to earth. 11 people lost their lives when the nose cone came down. here, in a few minutes, a service of commemoration to remember the 270 who died. 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 come 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. with me is david wilson, who lives

in lockerbie, a teacher. a teacher at the time of the bombing of pan am flight 103. what at the time of the bombing of pan am flight 103. what are your memories of that night? after the initial confusion and noise and flames and everything, there was a sort of very subdued stillness that fell over the place. people standing around talking to one another. there was no panic or chaos or xiaoting. very subdued. how quickly did it become obvious, the scale of what had happened? in the context of the town itself, may be about an hour. of course, what we didn't know was part of the aircraft were elsewhere as well as the bits that landed in lockerbie. this is a small town. its population swelled very quickly because of a large police investigation, a large recovery operation. was it hard for the

tented cup? i think in a functional sent it was. the media in particular, they occupied a lot of space in the town centre. although this sounds trivial, it was sometimes quite hard to get along the pavement. and people, in a very immediate way, sort of resented that. but in broad and general terms theyjust got on because you have to do. the scale of this tragedy is still so hard to comprehensive. 270 people losing their lives. and people losing their lives. and people from the town itself. did you know them? how did it impact your life? i had some teaching colleagues who lived in sherwood crescent. 0ne of the things i did was headed for sherwood and i met a couple of the families walking back, away from their homes. they're feeling of the

time was that they were 0k, they we re time was that they were 0k, they were fine. that was what counted. 0ur were fine. that was what counted. our children new —— new. it was reassuring to be able to go back and said, i have seen your friends and they are ok. does a time ever managed to move on from something like this? —— town. managed to move on from something like this? -- town. lockerbie is not a tourist town. it is a working time. every day is different. 0ver the years new housing areas have been built, new industries have come in. some industries have closed, people have passed away, others have come in. it is normal everyday. this is where we are now. thank you for taking the time to speak to us ahead of the service of commemoration that takes place shortly. a new normal, as we heard there. but such kindness shown in this time, such compassion, such humanity, to the victims of those

who died, who over the years have come here seeking comfort and a nswe rs. lorna, thank you very much for that. the 30th anniversary of the lockerbie tragedy. pro—independence protesters are blocking roads in some parts of catalonia as spanish ministers prepare to hold a cabinet meeting in barcelona. the decision to move the meeting was aimed at reducing tensions, months after catalan leaders were jailed for trying to break away from spain. 0ur reporter, guy hedgecoe, is in barcelona. in fact, it has done the opposite. it has increased tensions? yes, it has. the spanish government had initially seen this as a way of perhaps trying to launch a charm offensive in catalonia, two win over pro—independence catalans and prove the spanish government was interested in the problems of ordinary catalans. but the problem is this cabinet meeting today has taken place on the first anniversary

ofan taken place on the first anniversary of an election in catalonia that was called by the spanish government, the previous spanish comment, just after it had introduced direct rule. they don't see this as a constructive visit either spanish prime minister but as an invasion and that is why we are seeing these demonstrations across barcelona and across the region today. are there any across the region today. are there a ny efforts across the region today. are there any efforts to come to any sort of conclusion between the two sides on a way ahead? last night the prime minister met here in barcelona with the catalan president. they had a meeting in barcelona. it was a cordial meeting, there was no real breakthrough in terms of the long—term. nobly was expecting a serious solution to come out of it. there was a feeling it was a

constructive meeting and they will meet again in january. constructive meeting and they will meet again injanuary. 0n the other hand the catalan government has called this visit a provocation. he isa called this visit a provocation. he is a very difficult position. he has been criticised very harshly by unionist politicians back in madrid for coming to barcelona and four meeting with the catalan president, for trying to reach out to catalans. so he is ina for trying to reach out to catalans. so he is in a difficult position trying to improve the atmosphere here in catalonia but at the same time receiving a lot of criticism from both sides as he does so. thank you very much for that. a self—employed builder has been revealed as the winner of the £76 million euromillions jackpot, which went unclaimed for six weeks. andrew clark, who's 51 and from boston in lincolnshire, has netted the 12th biggest win ever in the uk. now it's time for a

look at the weather. a busy weekend on the roads ahead of christmas. the weather is not looking too bad for the weekend. saturday the nicest day to travel. for today it's quite grey and cloudy for many of us. this was the scene earlier this morning in worcestershire. we had some rain across northern england this morning and parts of northern ireland. that rain is easing. a few showers across scotla nd rain is easing. a few showers across scotland and fear the site —— south a few bright spells developing. temperatures quite mild. in northern

parts per temperatures more around five to 8 degrees. if you are heading out this evening and tonight they will be some heavy showers across england and where is and some of those could be quite heavy. clear spells in between. i saturday a lot of those showers clearing away so mostly dry with a sunny spells. by sunday rain will move a crossing the none wales. try the further north you are. that rain will gradually slip away towards the south. hello this is bbc newsroom live with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: gatwick‘s runway reopens with over seven hundred planes scheduled for departure and arrival today. the transport secretary insists travellers will be safe. clearly there are a range of measures which are there today which will give passengers confidence they

are safe to fly. thousands of passengers remain stranded at gatwick as police continue their search for those responsible for the chaos. 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 a builderfrom lincolnshire wins seventy six million pounds on the lottery after finding the winning ticket in the visor of his van six weeks after the draw. let's get the sports news now. good morning. manchester united's new interim manager, 0le gunnar solskaer, has held his first press conference in thejob ahead of his first game in charge tomorrow at cadiff city, the only other club, he's managed in the premier league. 0ur sports correspondent david 0rnsteinjoins me now. we know he's honoured to be

in the job, but it's already down to the nitty gritty with a busy christmas schedule. how will he approach it? he says he wants to immediately get his principles into the players and get them to understand you want them to play. then they will focus on results and points. he says united have come back from many difficult situations and with five games in 14 get days it's all hands to the pump. in his own career 366 appearances for manchester united and 150 of them as a substitute. 126 goals and 33 of them the last 15 minutes of matches. so 0le gunnar solskae wants the whole squad to contribute. when you are at manchester united there are a set of demands and one of them is for every player to contribute.

nobody has been on the bench more than me. you never know, you might command and make an impact, grab your chance when you get it. they all will get chance. and they need to perform because manchester united are 11 points off the champions league spot. did he allude to that date january transfer window and what they might be doing in that period. he will play a role in any decisions are made but that is more for the hierarchy. there are reports that united will have a transfer budget of around £50 million but 0le gunnar solskae's priority is lifting spirits and getting the team reconnected with their fans and getting the most out of star players. he has urged his players to players. he has urged his players to play with kerridge and express themselves and take risks and to be themselves and take risks and to be the kids who love to play football.

i will have an impact of course but the job now is to get to know the players and observe them. see the qualities that we got. i have seen more or less every game from norway when i've had time. i need to get to know the players. the club will do the recruitment and scouting and ensure they got their targets. my job is to get these players enjoying football. looking at the longer term, 0le gunnar solskae says many managers would love to management just united and he is among them so he has not ruled himself out of taking thejob he has not ruled himself out of taking the job on a permanent basis. it will be their fourth permanent appointment injust it will be their fourth permanent appointment in just six years since sir alex ferguson retired. ben stokes can still be a role model

despite pleading guilty to bringing the game into disrespute. that's according to the england and wales cricket board chief executive tom harrison. stokes was stripped of his role as vice—captain of the test side but since being cleared of a charge of affray, the durham all—rounder has re—asserted himself as one of england's most important players. i think he's been through a year that will serve as a reminder of how quickly things can go wrong. if you allow them. i also think the culture around the team with protecting going forward. i hope that's the case. i know there is a lot of work owing on. ben is a leader and a team player. he has got great people around him and great support structures. i am sure he

around him and great support structures. lam sure he has around him and great support structures. i am sure he has learned his lesson. that's all the sport for now. more from the bbc sport centre in the next hour. drivers are warned to expect heavy traffic on the roads today, as millions begin the christmas getaway. nearly three million extra journeys are predicted to take place today with traffic expected to peak on boxing day when almost seven 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. is it easy already? it is. behind me you can see all the live breakdown is currently happening across the uk. today is frantic friday. it's the busiest day of travel for christmas itself. that is expected

to be around 2.8 million extra journeys on the roads today. the worst congested areas will be the 40 southbound were road users could be delayed for up to two hours or more. the rac have issued guidelines telling us where the worst times are to travel. today the worst times to travel is between 11:30am and 6pm. and specifically that on bm 40 southbound between warwickshire and 0xford. 0n southbound between warwickshire and 0xford. on saturday the worst time to travellers between 10:30am to 4pm. 0n to travellers between 10:30am to 4pm. on sunday between 4pm and 6pm for christmas eve and for christmas eve between 11pm and for christmas eve between 11pm and 1pm.joining me and for christmas eve between 11pm and 1pm. joining me now is matt dalloway from the rac. it's a busy few days on the roads to say the least. what advice do you have? it's

going to be very busy. we have loads of brilliant data and yes it's going to be busy. the biggest advices plan your journey. everyone to be busy. the biggest advices plan yourjourney. everyone is in a hurry to see friends and family but please think about when you're going to travel. it's going to be busy until 6pm tonight so if you can avoid that do it and go later. think about getting your car ready. check your oil levels and your screen wash and your tyres. be as safe as you can. lots of good advice there. there will be an extra 2.8 million journeys on the roads today but it could be worse on boxing day. everyone is trying to get all the christmas presents ten so they will be delivery drivers up until christmas eve. it's milder than last year. we had snow around the midlands last year. it will be busy

but we have lots of brilliant people here to help. we know the m 40 southbound is extra busy today. are there any other roads to avoid in there any other roads to avoid in the next few days? we have the m6 north and south bank which will get congested this evening and through the weekend. the m5 southbound, i'm sure the m25 will have some challenges as well. think about when you drive and how you drive and plan your journey carefully. you drive and how you drive and plan yourjourney carefully. what could really impact the traffic on the roads during this time? the weather. let's hope it stays pretty mild. obviously the big sales events. after christmas people will be in a rush to get a bargain. those other things to think about. it looks like the key message here is to plan your journey in advance and drive carefully. 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. our 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 the 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 ?0 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 basket is by 12%. accept 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 ?0 million less to public health in england next year. catherine burns, bbc news. 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 established by the party has decided he had been " respectful and tolera nt". at the time, the tory chairman brandon lewis and theresa may 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. russia says it will launch an investigation into whether the bbc world news channel and bbc websites comply with the country's laws. the russian government says it's responding to an announcement by the broadcasting watchdog ofcom yesterday that the moscow—backed tv channel, russia today which broadcasts here in the uk was in breach of impartiality rules. in response to ofcom's ruling, president vladimir putin's spokesman said some bbc reports were politically motivated, questioning its coverage of russia and moscow's actions in syria. in a moment we'll have

all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news: gatwick‘s runway reopens with over seven hundred planes scheduled for departure and arrival today, but thousands of passengers remain stranded at the airport. 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‘. in the business news: britain's balance of payments shortfall was its biggest in two years in the three months to september. the difference between money flowing in and out of the uk was negative to the tune of £26.5bn, according to the office for national statistics. the shortfall was driven

largely by higher profits from british companies flowing to foreign investors. the government is calling for businesses that trade with the eu need to prepare for the possibility of a no—deal brexit, describing it as "a call to action now". later today, hmrc is due to publish an update to its advice on how firms should prepare for a no—deal scenario. production of cars in the uk tumbled by almost 20% in november compared with a year earlier, according to the industry's trade body. the society of motor manufacturers and traders blamed weaker demand in the uk and in export markets. uk consumer confidence has ended 2018 on five—year low, according to data from gfk. the index measures how brits feel about the outlook for their personal finances and the wider economic situation and declined by a point in december to minus 14. we spoke to director at gfk, joe staton.

first of all, explain to me why exactly we have seen consumer confidence dropping like this? this isa confidence dropping like this? this is a pretty reliable survey and something the markets looked at closely. down to a five—year low. it's easy to point the finger at brexit uncertainty and say nobody expected this uncertainty to be a prolonged as it has been. but in actual fact there is prolonged as it has been. but in actualfact there is more going on. the seeds were sown a while ago. pay is growing at its fastest rate for ten yea rs is growing at its fastest rate for ten years but if you look back over the last decade it hasn't kept pace on the whole with the cost of living which means if you strip out inflation levels of income is below where it was ahead of the financial crisis. adding a bit of room in the

stock market and a subdued house prices and the feel—good factors have gone away so it's not surprising we are feeling perhaps a little bit cautious and more hesitant than we have done some time. if we are more cautious and more hesitant how does that impact the wider economy? this is terrible news for retailers particularly those who bank on about other many of the festive period. it has much wider implications than that. spending on holidays to restaurants to hair cut spending on holidays to restaurants to haircutand spending on holidays to restaurants to hair cut and consumer spending makes up two thirds of our economy. it has been driving growth of the last two years so frankly if that support is starting to diminish you have to be concerned about the prospects for the economy as a whole. the bank of england turned its growth forecast yesterday. if we are not spending the economy is not growing and that means when you look at what lies ahead in terms of next

year it is a less secure base. a look at some other business stories making the headlines: former nissan chairman carlos ghosn has been re—arrested on fresh charges, japanese media report, dashing any hopes he could be released on bail. mr ghosn has spent the last month in prison, accused of misusing funds and hiding £63m of income. business investment has now declined for three quarters in a row, figures show, its worst run since the economic downturn of 2008 to 2009. the office for national statistics said investment fell by 1.1% in thejuly to september period compared with the previous quarter. however, separate ons figures showed government borrowing fell in november. the london market down by a third of

a percent. that's all the business news. 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. plants have been on the planet for hundreds of millions of years, but we're still discovering more of them, some in the most unlikely of places. this tiny herb was found clinging to the edge of a waterfall in sierra leone. the scientist who found it sent a specimen to kew for identification. it's got unique characteristics that are unlike any other plant in that particular family. and that, straight away, indicated to me that we had come across something very unique. the plant now bears his name, but under threat from development, its future looks bleak, and that's the case for many plants which could have hidden potential. it's important that we discover

these new species to science, work out their conservation risk and manage them for their survival. if they become extinct, we lose opportunities to discover new medicinal applications, new foods, new fibres that humanity is going to need. scientist here at kew have helped discover more than 100 new plants this year alone. it's only by naming and cataloguing plants that they can understand the richness of the plant world and how to save what's left. this cola plant from cameroon is thought to be a new species, and botanical artist lucy smith is bringing it back to life on the page. by recording the plants of the world in all their incredible shape and form, botanists hope to highlight the plight of the species that are vanishing before our eyes. helen briggs, bbc news. a non—profit organisation

is providing animal—assisted therapy to those living in special care facilities, nursing homes and hospices in johannesburg. the visits by volunteers and their pets provide comfort to patients who interact with them. nomsa maseko reports sushi, jack and murphy preparing for their big day. the furry friends take their jobs very seriously, administering cuteness and cuddles. they come bearing christmas presents. the therapy dogs are visiting patients at a frail care centre here in johannesburg. say hi. yes, good boy. and a paw. where's your paw? yes. paws for people is an organisation which offers animal assisted therapy and operates in several parts of south africa. this woman has been staying here at this home for several decades. i 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 here, this might be the only visit they get during this christmas period, so the therapy dogs are brought here to bring about that christmas cheer. as christmas nears, this is the last visit to this home and residents here have formed a special bond with the dogs and many look forward to more cuddles in the new year. we have an update from gatwick airport. they said earlier more than

700 planes were scheduled for arrival and departure but now they say it is a tendency to seven flights scheduled for today. they have news of cancellations. 64 departures expected to be cancelled and 91 arrivals being cancelled as well. now let's take a look at the weather. it's been a great start to the day but across the north of scotland and southern areas of england and that of brightness coming through. that is hampshire at the moment. a little bit of blue skies. that rain is fizzling away from earlier so it's try at the moment than it was this morning. there will still be a few showers across northern england and across northern ireland this afternoon. a few showers to scotland as well. in the south, it's going to

be mild with temperatures around 12 to 14 degrees. in northern england and northern ireland and scotland, temperatures around five to seven celsius. if you are heading out tonight there will be some heavy showers moving from west to east across england and wales and a few clear spells in between. temperatures in scotland could get close to freezing. otherwise it will bea close to freezing. otherwise it will be a relatively mild night. we start off on saturday with a small ridge off on saturday with a small ridge of high pressure just off on saturday with a small ridge of high pressurejust nudging its way in there. that will give us settled feel to saturday. a few showers in north—west england but for most of us on saturday if you're travelling it's going to be tried. some sunshine and bright spells and temperatures up to around 11 or 12. if you are travelling on sunday that when we will see rain moving in.

it's going to be a rather wet start to the day the maturing in and wales. that rain will gradually move its way further south so if —— some sunshine across scotland and a bit writer and drive the northern parts of england. remaining quite cloudy. the rain still in the far south. into christmas week we start of christmas eve with some rain across the far south but by christmas day this area of high pressure will become established. there could be some rain in the far north—west of scotla nd some rain in the far north—west of scotland and endeavour west of northern ireland but no snow and mostly dry but quite cloudy. you're watching bbc newsroom live — these are today's main stories: gatwick‘s runway reopens, but already more than 150 flights scheduled for departure and arrival are cancelled — the transport secretary insists travellers 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. thousands of passengers remained stranded at gatwick as police continued their search for those responsible for the chaos. 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. 30 years after lockerbie, memorial services are being held in scotland to remember the 270 people who were killed. and a builderfrom lincolnshire wins £76 million on the lottery, after finding the winning ticket in the visor of his van six weeks after the draw. good morning.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm anita mcveigh. 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, 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. 837 flights were scheduled to leave or depart today. 91 arrivals and 64 departures have been cancelled and passengers are advised to check if their flight is affected. chi chi izundu has this report. earlier this morning

the runway was opened, meaning flights arriving and departing, although limited. more than 126,000 passengers were scheduled to be part of 765 flights today. but more than 100 of those have had to be cancelled. officials have warned travellers that disruption will continue into the weekend. i fear there will be continued disruption into the weekend, but we have a plan to have 110,000 passengers travel to gatwick airport today. we have seen some cancellations, so if passengers should check the website for theirflight, that will be very necessary. could this be the drone that has caused all the problems? police are still looking for it and whoever has been operating it. they confirmed they have military style technology in place to minimise any further disruption. one of the things we have to learn

from this is what the existing technology can do. what else needs to be done. but there is not a straightforward, commercial off—the—shelf solution to solve all problems. the message is still to check and check again, do not come to gatwick unless your flight has been confirmed. greg mckenzie is at gatwick airport. some updated figures in the last few minutes. remind us of what those are? that's right. more than 800 scheduled flights today. of those, about 150 have been cancelled. we are told that number could rise. the airport resumes service at about 7:30am after it shut the runway due to the drones that were flying

within the airspace. flying a drone within the airspace. flying a drone within the airspace of an airport is a criminal offence, and it carries a five—year sentence. i have been speaking to passengers all morning. many simply frustrated. they want to know if they are flying out today. they say many airlines not giving the information. they are getting to the information. they are getting to the airport only to be told their flights are scheduled from other airports around the uk, including luton, birmingham, stansted and others. these guys, where are you flying? we are flying to accra in ghana via a connecting flight. we are flying with a portuguese airline. but our flight is cancelled. who are you flying with? we are flying with a portuguese airline. we have had no information whatsoever. they say they can't give us any refunds. they can't

reschedule. we have been here since 6am and we are frustrated. will you go home? we have no other choice. we have to go home. they said if we book another flight ourselves, we don't get refunded for what we just booked, only the initial amount. that is significantly booked, only the initial amount. that is significa ntly lower booked, only the initial amount. that is significantly lower than what we will be paying now if we go to book. it's deplorable to treat your customers like this. we have come here to fly out. i have a wedding to go to. i can't go. i have to see my grandma, she is elderly. i can't do that. they haven't given us any information. the first time we got some information that the flight was cancelled when we came to the luggage bay. they never came at any pointed to contact us. now they are saying we are not even going to get our money back if we are going to book another flight. how is this the way to treat customers? it's ridiculous. it's embarrassing. we're

used to delays at airports, whether that be snow or ash clouds. to hear that be snow or ash clouds. to hear that there are delays and cancellations because of drones, what do you make of that?” cancellations because of drones, what do you make of that? i can understand that. it's dangerous. for us the main issue is the travel insurance companies may not cover the cost because drones is not something that they know about. that is the main issue for us.|j something that they know about. that is the main issue for us. i am shocked by how the portuguese airline is treating us. it is not good enough. treat your customers with more respect. it has been disappointing. thank you very much. you just heard it there. some of the passengers. the civil aviation authority issued a statement yesterday basically saying the airlines are not liable to compensate passengers for these cancellations because these are exceptional circumstances. many passengers have said the airlines have basically being allowed off the

hookin have basically being allowed off the hook in terms of compensation. —— been allowed off the hook. thank you very much, greg mckenzie. we will be back soon. we are going to go to lockerbie now for the 30th anniversary of the downing of pan am flight 103. anniversary of the downing of pan am flight103. it is anniversary of the downing of pan am flight 103. it is being commemorated with a silence. eternal god in our remembering, we hope and pray that we and others will have learned from the past how as individuals and communities we can best honour the memory is of all those names etched on the stone here and in other places. we stand together in the silence and peace of

this place, in an act of remembrance, offering ourselves as agents of peace and reconciliation and promising to build communities where love ca ntwell and and promising to build communities where love cantwell and where all are welcome. —— can do well. eternal god, wrapped in your arms, mage one of us know your love and the love of this community and find in the torch and care of others, and in your promises, the christmas hope, that this is not worth things end but where they continue in your love. in all of this grant grace to

the living, raced to the departed, peace and concorde to the queen. —— rest to the departed. and all the people of the world. amen. we will now proceed to the laying of wreaths. the first wreath will be laid by her majesty's lord lieutenant for dumfriesshire, fiona armstrong. bagpipes play. the lord advocate, the right

admirable james rowe, member of parliament for dumfriesshire and secretary of state for scotland, the right reverend —— the right honourable david mundell. the chair of lockerbie and district community council, jan andrews. the member of the scottish parliament for dumfriesshire, oliver mundell. and the principal officer of the us consulate, general edinburgh. —— in edinburgh, ellen wong. you are watching this memorial

service in lockerbie on the 30th anniversary of the bombing of pan am flight 103, anniversary of the bombing of pan am flight 103, which had departed from heathrow and was travelling to new york when it came down over the scottish town, killing 11 people in lockerbie itself. along with 259 passengers and crew on board the plane. the first wreath you saw bin laden was laid by the lord lieutenant for dumfriesshire, who read a message of prayer from the queen to those marking what her majesty called the solemn anniversary. —— the first wreath you saw being laid. scottish secretary

david mundell, who is from the town, has also laid a wreath. you are seeing representatives from youth groups in the area laying wreaths as well. and also laying reefs at this service will be former students from syracuse university. many of the stu d e nts syracuse university. many of the students were on board the pan am flight. students were on board the pan am flight. december 21, 1988, students were on board the pan am flight. december21, 1988, it students were on board the pan am flight. december 21, 1988, it was blown up over the town. memorial services are also being held in the united states to commemorate this university as well. but the focus very much here on lockerbie itself. the us memorials include one at

syracuse university. and around 500 people are expected to gather at arlington national cemetery in virginia as well, where a cairn made from lockerbie stone stands in memory of those who died. as does this memorial in scotland itself. so, just a few more groups of people laying these wreaths today on the 30th anniversary. they include representatives of the emergency services and first responders. the

scottish ambulance service, police scotland, scottish fire and rescue, the glasgow veterans association, the glasgow veterans association, the search and rescue dog association and galloway mountain rescue. the representatives of victims and theirfamilies. and as you just heard, this penultimate group poignantly will consist of the families of the victims. all 270 who died on that night, exactly 30 years ago. names being pointed out to children,

of course, who will never have had the opportunity to know these relatives. any other individuals or groups who wish to lay a wreath... the of the bagpipes providing a poignant backdrop to this memorial. —— the sound of the bagpipes. the 30th

anniversary memorial of the bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie. the time is 16 minutes past 12. let's recut the headlines. gatwick‘s runway reopens with over 700 planes scheduled for departure and arrival today, but thousands of passengers remain stranded at the airport. 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. sport now. here's hugh. hello, good afternoon. manchester united's new interim manager, ole gunnar solskjaer, has held his first press co nfe re nce . gunnar solskjaer, has held his first press conference. it comes ahead of

his first game in charge at cardiff city tomorrow. that is the only other club he has managed in the premier league. despite taking character relegation, solskjaer feels he has learned, especially from his former manager, sir alex ferguson. he has been my main tour. but i didn't understand barely on that he would be my mentor because i was just sitting towards the last maybe, ever since my injury in 2003, at least, i was making all the notes how he, what he did at different, certain situations. and of course i have already been in touch with him. there is no one better to get some advice from. ben stokes can still be advice from. ben stokes can still be a role model despite pleading guilty to bringing the game into disrepute. that is according to the england and wales cricket board chief executive, tom harrison. stokes was stripped of his role of vice captain of the test side but since been cleared of a charge of affray, the durham

all—rounder has reasserted himself as one of england's most important players. i think he has 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 team, i know there is a lot of work going on. ben is a leader in that team. he has got great people around him. he has got good support structures. i am sure he has learned a lesson. england's test captain joe a lesson. england's test captainjoe root has beenin england's test captainjoe root has been in action on his debut in the big bash league for sydney thunder in canberra. he may be disappointed though. he made just 18 in canberra. he may be disappointed though. he madejust 18 months before losing his wicked to adam zampa, who also took the scalp of jos buttler for 20. sydney zampa, who also took the scalp of jos buttlerfor 20. sydney thunder finished on 181—5. rain hit

melbourne's reply. they ended 15 ru ns melbourne's reply. they ended 15 runs short. six time olympic sprint champion allyson felix has revealed he has given birth to her daughter eight weeks prematurely. the american sprinter says her baby has beenin american sprinter says her baby has been ina american sprinter says her baby has been in a neonatal intensive care unit centre berth on the 28th of november. but is said to be doing well. in an emotional video posted on social media, she describes the journey of pregnancy, with footage of her daughter at the end, who she has described as her little fighter. that is all these board for now. we are back with more at about 1:30pm. thank you. president trump has tweeted his praise for his defence secretaryjim mattis, who has announced he is stepping down. mr trump said he would be retiring with distinction. it comes though, after general mattis delivered an openly critical assessment of the president's international policies, and suggested he should appoint someone whose views were better aligned with mr trump's. the resignation letter was issued just a day after president trump

announced he was withdrawing us troops from syria. 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 troops 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'd been to some of his recently departed appointees. he thanked the general for his service, as well as his efforts

to buy military equipment. general mattis' departure worried those who had seen 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 that it sends to our troops, and for the indication of what his view is of the commander in chief. his resignation is the first over a major 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 bit. there have been decision spent by this president along the way that he likely disagreed with. but the decision to remove troops from syria where they were playing a significant role, this was something he 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. 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. 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. russia says it will launch an investigation into whether the bbc world news channel and bbc websites comply with the country's laws. the russian government says it's responding to an announcement by the broadcasting watchdog ofcom yesterday, that the moscow—backed tv channel, russia today, which broadcasts here in the uk,

was in breach of impartiality rules. in response to ofcom's ruling, president vladimir putin's spokesman said some bbc reports were politically motivated, questioning its coverage of russia and moscow's actions in syria. 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, established by the party, has decided he had been " respectful and tolera nt". at the time, the tory chairman brandon lewis and theresa may 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. pro—independence protesters are blocking roads in some parts of catalonia as spanish ministers prepare to hold a cabinet meeting in barcelona.

the decision to move the meeting was aimed at reducing tensions, months after catalan leaders were jailed for trying to break away from spain. it is thought and he madrid protest will grow during the day. —— andy madrid protests. guy hedgecoe is in barcelona. that decision is causing a lot of tension rather than easing tension. how troublesome are these protests? i think they are being as big and as intense as many people had expected. there was a lot of hype ahead of today and this cabinet meeting by pedro sanchez and his ministers. we we re pedro sanchez and his ministers. we were expecting to see a lot of demonstrations and protests, particularly around the building where the cabinet meeting is taking place, and where the spokeswoman for

the government has been holding a press co nfe re nce the government has been holding a press conference just now. this had been billed as a pretty big day. and i think many pro—independence cata la ns i think many pro—independence catala ns have i think many pro—independence catalans have turned out onto the streets. we are expecting to see these demonstrations continue probably throughout the day. what effo rts probably throughout the day. what efforts are going on on both sides to try and find a way forward, to find some accommodation of these very opposing views? the spanish prime minister met last night with the catalan president, quim torra, in barcelona. there were some hopes that may lead to a breakthrough. in the end it didn't really. it was more of a symbolic meeting. it was quite cordial. they agreed to meet again injanuary. quite cordial. they agreed to meet again in january. they quite cordial. they agreed to meet again injanuary. they agreed there was a big problem in catalonia. they didn't agree on much else beyond that. it seems a start in terms of trying to mend this relationship between madrid and catalonia. but

there are some on the issues on which they don't agree. the biggest of all this the fact the spanish government does not want to allow a scotla nd government does not want to allow a scotland style referendum on independence in catalonia, and that is what the cat alone —— catalan government is pressing for. you can see the light images on your screen of those protests. people calling for independence for catalonia will stop they are expected to grow throughout the day. a self—employed builder has been revealed as the winner of the 76—million pound euromillions jackpot which went unclaimed for six weeks. andrew clark from boston, lincolnshire said that he drove around for six weeks unaware the winning ticket was tucked into the visor of his white van. he was was finally persuaded to check his stash of lottery tickets by his partner trish fairhurst and her niece.he made a claim for the prize — the 12th biggest win ever in the uk — last week.

quite the christmas present. now it's time for a look at the weather. it's a bit of a mixed picture today. it's a bit of a mixed picture today. it has been a pretty great story for many. outbreaks of showery rain. not everywhere. there are some glimpses of sunshine. this is the view in gosport. a bit of sunshine. more brightness in southern parts of england and wales into this afternoon. quite windy conditions. winds of 40 mph. plenty of showers working in from the west. a contrast in temperatures. it is mild in the south, 12 to 14 degrees. more typical of the time of the year across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, with temperatures six to eight celsius. as we move into the latter part of

this afternoon and this evening, you can see those showers pushing in. particularly heavy showers for a time for wales, the midlands, northern england. more showers for northern ireland and the west of scotland. it looks like most about showery rain eases away tomorrow. sunny spells, some isolated showers. more rain in the south at least on sunday. it does look like things should dry up and stay mild as we head towards christmas. hello, this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines: gatwick‘s runway reopens but already more than a hundred and fifty flights scheduled for departure and arrival are cancelled. the transport secretary insists travellers will be safe. clearly there are a range of measures which are there today to give passengers confidence 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 officer calls for a tax on unhealthy

food high in sugar and salt, accusing the food industry of ‘failing the public‘. thirty years after lockerbie, memorial services are held in scotland to remember the 270 people who were killed. 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. the civil aviation authority says

this is an extraordinary event and so it‘s not the airline‘s fault. they are not forced to pay you compensation. but you have some other options. if you are delayed you are entitled to what‘s called reasonable expenses so maybe food or a hotel. but make sure you keep the receipt because you will need to those to claim the money back. let‘s not forget the tens of thousands of people affected by the chaos and delays over the last few days. we‘re joined now by rob and clair holland from hampshire — they are currently stranded in new york with two their children. they were due to fly back yesterday but their flight was cancelled. does that mean you will be spending christmas in new york? we will be spending it atjfk airport. christmas in new york? we will be spending it at jfk airport. where are you now? the airline has had us

up are you now? the airline has had us up in hotel last night atjfk but it was for one night only suffer the rest of the time we have to make our own way and pay for our own accommodation and food. you are there with two of your children. we are. but the rest of your family are back home and you were hoping to spend christmas with them. we were. we were supposed to land on the 21st but when we tried booking, once we‘d heard about the destruction, we contacted the airline and the focus on hold for an hour and a half only to cut us off. we tried again and got through and they said the earliest flights were on the 25th landing on the 26th. is there any possibility of you travelling with anyone else? if we want to travel with anyone else they will not cover

the costs so they will only allow us to book on their flights. we did look on the internet earlier this morning and norwegian to have flights flying home earlier than the 25th but because our ticket isn‘t a premium ticket they won‘t put us on. we offered to pay for the upgrade if they would match our half but they said they would not do it. so they‘re going to fly with empty seats going back to the uk and they confirmed they were going to do that. you are obviously not happy with that situation and very upset you will be with the rest of your family for christmas. we are. every day was to be at home with their family at christmas. we are no different. we understand it‘s nothing to do with the airline company and its not their fault but we are going to be several thousand

pounds out—of—pocket and we understand people are less fortunate than us and can‘t afford to book new accommodation and pay for food and things do for the next five days. obviously you have been watching the news from here at home closely. what day you make of what‘s been happening at gatwick airport over the last 24 or 36 hours and the government response to it? to be fairwe government response to it? to be fair we have been trying to watch as many newsfeeds as we can but the information we are getting is very limited. the airline is not telling us anything and the bbc website has been updated but we don‘t really know what‘s going on. i cant believe, it‘s quite a major incident to shut gatwick for 24 hours per to ta ke to shut gatwick for 24 hours per to take five days to get us back to the uk seems quite extreme. take five days to get us back to the

uk seems quite extremelj take five days to get us back to the uk seems quite extreme. i don't know if you want to say anything at this point that if you are happy to rob speaks both of you but give us your thoughts on the situation. it'sjust horrible. we are lucky, we've had our holiday and we got to see new york. i know a lot of people are trying to get on their holiday. it's not all by being in new york christmas but it's not the way you wa nt christmas but it's not the way you want to do it. we've had no communication. i'm a nurse at the hospital and my colleagues have had to cover christmas eve because i'm not going to be there to work my day shift there. it's the knock—on effect it has notjust on us is a family but on the wider audience. there is definitely a domino effect. you have been watching and reading what you can about the news from home. do you think this should have

been sorted out soon? it's unprecedented. yes is my answer but i understand safety is paramount. i would rather be travelling into an airport knowing you're going to land safely. i guess you just have to go with what been decided. but i would rather be home for christmas. because it‘s unprecedented, nobody seems to know what to do. things we re seems to know what to do. things were being made upon the goal to try and combat this event. thank you so much for talking to us. we are sorry to hear it doesn‘t look like you‘re going to be with your family for christmas but we hope your unscheduled christmas in new york is a good one. thank you very much. several government departments, including the ministry of defence, justice and transport, are currently assisting the police with their investigations. let‘s speak to michael ellis. the minister for tourism joins me now from northampton.

i don‘t know if you heard rob holland, stuck in new york at the moment, saying because it was unprecedented nobody quite knew what to do. it‘s a fair comment isn‘t it? this is unprecedented so clearly it‘s a very serious if you wait and amber has been cross governmental work on it. the airport has done a good job and its cooperation with the units involved, we‘ve got saudi police, a number of police agencies and other security agencies involved. tourism is incredibly important to our economy. tens of billions of pounds a year and tens of millions of visitors a year to this country and many millions going outbound tourism as well. aviation is of course keen to the tourism industry and therefore fundamental

to our economy. so this type of attack on our systems is badly affected. we understand this is unprecedented and we‘re working across government to make sure we do everything we can so that it doesn‘t happen again. colonel richard kemp said earlier the way this had been handled and the fact the second easiest is put in the uk had been put out of action for this length of time was a great embarrassment for our country. whatever is going on today involving military capabilities to allow —— planes to fly, capabilities to allow —— planes to fly, why didn‘t it happen yesterday? we have wonderful military in this country and they don‘t routinely of course involve themselves in domestic arrangements. the ministry of defence said the military is only used for emergency use. mitigating

measures are now in place. but this is an president of situation. lots of people are making a strenuous effort but why didn‘t this military effort but why didn‘t this military effort happen yesterday or sooner? the reality is that multiple agencies have been working on this. the police have large numbers of personnel involved. gatwick airport have done a good job in this matter. but we are dealing with delays for tens of thousands of people and we have to work as efficiently as possible. the airlines have been working hard to ensure they can divert flights and get their operations as functional as possible in the turf —— difficult circumstances. i can understand the frustration of passengers who have

been delayed. they know the people responsible for this or the person responsible for this or the person responsible is the perpetrator of the drones that have caused this destruction. the legal sanctions are severe. this call —— were causing this type of public nuisance and for endangering aircraft. all efforts are being made to establish who is responsible for this appalling act of disruption. can you tell us if the police do have any leads in their search for whoever is responsible and secondly will the government now provide whatever budget is necessary to have the sort of trolling jamming technology or other technology we now can deal with situations like this ready for use to stop this happening again? the technology, the actual capabilities of dealing with drones being operated maliciously is still

in the developmental stage. but the department for transport has already done a lot of work in this area and their navigation order was passed through parliament sometime ago which has increased the penalties and dealt with restrictions about flying drones around it feels and airports. the government has been working on this but this is an unprecedented attack on this sector. you have said that but whoever is responsible for this, their criminal and malicious intent is not going to respect laws or regulations. what about the tech apology, even though it might not be entirely proven, what about the technology that could deal with this because this situation can‘t happen again. deal with this because this situation can't happen again. we wa nt to situation can't happen again. we want to do everything we can to stop it from happening again and i can

assure you that across government people will be looking at whether the technology is there and what utilisation we can make of the technology to try and help mitigate these possibilities. are there any leads on the perpetrator?” these possibilities. are there any leads on the perpetrator? i can't discuss police operations but i know there are a large number of police resources dealing with this matter and it has been given a high priority as you can imagine. i can totally understand the frustration and we have a very important part of our economy and they are working ha rd to our economy and they are working hard to mitigate what‘s happened. thank you for your time today. england‘s chief medical officer has accused the food industry of failing the public, by not doing enough to cut salt and sugar in its products. professor dame sally davies said companies should face taxes on unhealthy food if they fail to improve. our 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 the 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 ?0 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 basket is by 12%. accept 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 ?0 million less to public health in england next year. catherine burns, bbc news. a man in texas is very lucky to be alive, although he was badly burned after a crash east of houston. he was dragged out of his flaming vehicle by two officers who are now winning widespread praise for what they did. chambers county sheriff‘s office has released bodycam footage showing how the rescue unfolded. the bbc‘s freya cole has the story. without a second of hesitation the

police officer sprints towards the burning vehicle to save life. flames bellow from the wreckage calling thick smoke and intense heat but despite the precarious conditions the officer finds the driver unconscious and trapped inside. give me your arms. his partner arrives just in time. they battle the growing flames and managed to drag the man through the car window but the man through the car window but the danger isn‘t over. the lower half of the driver ‘s body is well alight and spreading fast. the quick thinking of managed to put the man ina thinking of managed to put the man in a nearby ditch filled with water to extinguish the flames. police

check with witnesses if there was anything that anyone else inside the vehicle. is there anybody else? i don‘t think so. the victim suffered more than 60% burns and is in a but sta ble more than 60% burns and is in a but stable condition. while his saviours downplay their actions they say they just were doing theirjob. the headlines on bbc news: gatwick‘s runway reopens with over seven hundred planes scheduled for departure and arrival today, but thousands of passengers remain stranded at the airport. 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‘.

it‘s being called the "turnbull and fry effect" and it‘s led to a rise in the number of men being treated for prostate cancer. former bbc breakfast presenter bill turnbull and the actor stephen fry both spoke out this year about their own experiences and helped raise awareness of the disease. graham satchell has been catching up with bill and introducing him to one of the men he inspired to get tested. come on, then. come on. you have a few days where you‘re in shock, and then you have a few weeks which are pretty dark. on this day, when people are watching this on television, there will be hundreds of people in britain who will get a diagnosis. hundreds. and all i can say to them is hold tight, and things will...

they won‘t get better, but it won‘t be quite as dark as it is now. come on. bill turnbull was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer just over a year ago. ..husband, of course, was just marvellous... at around the same time, stephen fry was also diagnosed. because cancer, in the end, that is a word thatjust rings in your head — i‘ve got cancer. both of them encouraged men who have symptoms, particularly going to the toilet more over the night, to go to the doctor to get tested. men are so much worse going to the doctor than women are, that we somehow — in the same way that we don‘t ask for directions. we just don‘t like it. we don't want to waste the doctor's time, we don't want to waste our time, we don't like going to the surgery. why would we do that? naturally, we're reluctant to go. now, of course, i'm a season—ticket holder in my local surgery.

and people i haven't seen for 40 years got in touch. bill has had love and support from his wife, sesi, his three children, and from hundreds of well—wishers. may the healing properties of your bees work their magic, and restore you to the dance, to the music of time. it's lovely. his message urging other men to get checked has had a remarkable impact. ijust happened to have bbc breakfast on in the background, and the news story came up about bill turnbull. some of the symptoms were discussed, that are typical of that sort of cancer, and that kind of rang a few alarm bells for me, because dad had sort of mentioned in passing, ooh, you know, i'm a bit tired, i keep having to get up. so i said, can i phone the gp? and he said, well, if you do it, yeah. so i phoned the gp the same day. lisa‘s dad, carl, was diagnosed

with stage three prostate cancer. he has been having radiotherapy at the royal preston hospital. i'm very stubborn, and i wasn't sure it was something other than old age coming on. however, hearing about it, it followed on from there. so how are we doing today? i'm fine. one in eight men will get prostate cancer. it is the third—biggest cancer killer in the uk. the number of men getting treatment has risen this year by more than a third. the head of the nhs in england has called it the turnbull—fry effect. do you prefer fry—turnbull effect or turnbull—fry effect? i'm prepared to give bill the primary billing, as we say in acting. so billboard—wise, obviously stephen should get bigger billing, because he's the great man that he is. i thought bill was terrific. i thought he was brave, i thought he was rational, i thought he was wise —

i mean, everything that is admirable, really. i just thought, terrific, that's what people need to see. and it's clear that it has made a difference. i suppose a formal acknowledgement of the impact we've had is extraordinary. and it's — i suppose it brought home to me just what it had actually meant, so that's great. carl‘s treatment has gone well. there is every chance he will be given the all—clear. we brought carl and lisa to london to meet bill. hi, bill. hi, how are you? nice to meet you. he's my dad, and i love him very much, and it was heartbreaking when we got the diagnosis. thank you so much. yes, thank you. i think it was a really brave thing that you did, because it's something very personal, something very devastating to you and your family.

i think we just feel hugely indebted to you, so... yeah. i don‘t think you should, but thank you. i appreciate it. thanks very much. it was just something i thought was the right thing to do at the time. it is very heart—warming when people get in touch, and i think, well, i have done at least one useful thing in my life. bill‘s cancer is incurable. but he has been told, with the right care, he may have another ten years. he remains upbeat and positive about the future. that was graham satchell reporting. 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. plants have been on the planet

for hundreds of millions of years, but we‘re still discovering more of them, some in the most unlikely of places. this tiny herb was found clinging to the edge of a waterfall in sierra leone. the scientist who found it sent a specimen to kew for identification. it‘s got unique characteristics that are unlike any other plant in that particular family. and that, straight away, indicated to me that we had come across something very unique. the plant now bears his name, but under threat from development, its future looks bleak, and that‘s the case for many plants which could have hidden potential. it‘s important that we discover these new species to science, work out their conservation risk and manage them for their survival. if they become extinct, we lose opportunities to discover new medicinal applications, new foods, new fibres that humanity is going to need.

scientist here at kew have helped discover more than 100 new plants this year alone. it‘s only by naming and cataloguing plants that they can understand the richness of the plant world and how to save what‘s left. this cola plant from cameroon is thought to be a new species, and botanical artist lucy smith is bringing it back to life on the page. by recording the plants of the world in all their incredible shape and form, botanists hope to highlight the plight of the species that are vanishing before our eyes. helen briggs, bbc news. 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. in a moment it‘s time

for the 1.00pm news. but first it‘s time for a look at the weather. it has been a bit of a grey start today and as we head through today we are expecting quite a bit of cloud and some drizzly rain. this picture comes from norfolk. you can see the shower clouds there. what we have got is this area of low pressure which is heading its way from west to east. that rain we saw this morning across parts of northern england and northern ireland, we‘ve got more showers coming in from the west as we head into the evening particularly across wales and northern england. it is still quite windy through this evening and tonight across the southern half of england. the most of us it will be a frost free start

on saturday morning but cold another touch of frost across the north—east of scotland. heading into tomorrow, we have low sitting to the north of the uk but a small ridge of high pressure building in the south. so a mixed picture tomorrow. for most of us it should be largely try with sunshine but you will see a scattering of science just showers on that north—westerly breeze particularly affecting northern ireland and the north—west of scotland. further south—east most of us should stay dry with spells of sunshine. temperatures around seven to 12 degrees. quite mild in the south. moving into sunday and we have the next area of low pressure from june from the west. a soggy start to send a particularly across in london wales. some of that rain into southern scotland and parts of northern ireland as well but the further north you are you will stay largely dried on sunday. the rain

lingering the longest further south. temperatures only around six to eight in scotland and northern ireland but further south could see 1213 degrees. moving ahead into christmas week, christmas eve could be down first thing the big area of high pressure building and moving ahead on to christmas day we should see largely try settled weather. this is your christmas outlook. driver most, some patchy frost and fog and mostly cloudy. back in business — gatwick airport reopens after more than 30 hours of chaos. most flights are now running as normal, after the army was deployed to protect the runway from drones. but many passengers still face the misery of knock on delays and cancellations. and british families stranded abroad have spent thousands to make sure they get home for christmas. it‘s cost us about £7,000 to rebook the flights so we‘re hoping the insurance will pay up. but who knows? we‘ll be live with our reporter at gatwick airport reporter

at gatwick airport. also this lunchtime. donald trump‘s defence secretary resigns — after the president announces he‘s pulling us troops out of syria. the new boss at old trafford — ole gunnar solskjaer has this message for his players at manchester united.