this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm. more disruption at gatwick, flights have now resumed following an earlier suspension, caused by a suspected drone sighting in the area. we're left here, i can't go and see my grandma, i can't go to the wedding and you know it's not acceptable, it's deplorable. donald trump threatens a "very long" government shutdown if democrats don't fund his long—promised border wall. 30 years on from the explosion of pan am flight 103, people gather in lockerbie to remember the 270 people who died. the two towns separated by thousands of cancellations on the one train line between them. and roll over ariana grande,

the race for this year's christmas noi has been won by ladbaby, with a song about sausage rolls. coming up on bbc news, we look back at this summers world cup in russia, a brilliant tournament that had it all. the glory of the french of course, there were german tears, some fabulous goals and of course england's odyssey, getting so close to the moscow final. that's reviewed 2018 football fever, coming up at half past. good evening. flights at gatwick airport have resumed again after a temporary stoppage following reports of a drone in the area this evening. earlier hundreds of flights managed to get away though there is still major disruption

at the airport, which is unlikely to be fully back on track until tomorrow evening. police have been searching for the person or the group operating the drone that has caused so much chaos and misery for more than a hundred thousand passengers. so far the police say only they have identified persons of interest. duncan kennedy reports. first light, and the firstjets finally touch down at gatwick, some 37 hours after this unprecedented shutdown began. inside, fatigue and frustration made hard bedfellows for those who couldn't get to a hotel, or those who couldn't afford one. among them, virginia goncalves from cornwall, who's seriously ill, but who spent the night propped up in an airport chair. it's horrible. it goes against your human rights, isn't it?

i have stage—4 cancer, it's spread to the bones. for god's sake. the airport said tonight that flights had again been suspended because of a further suspected sighting of a drone. already, people like lucie howard—philbin from staffordshire say that their flights won't be leaving until sunday. how would you summarise this experience? it's horrendous, it's a nightmare. it's just... how about garron stevens and ian tetterfrom london, whose flight was cancelled this morning, meaning they'll now miss a family wedding in ghana? they are throwing us to the wolves, basically. we're left here, i can't see my grandma, i can't go to the wedding. it's not acceptable, it's deplorable, it's not good enough at all. their airline's gesture of apology — this this bag of chocolate. but what about compensation?

well, the insurance industry says people should first contact their airline. they say airlines are not obliged to pay compensation, but say any costs incurred and general travel disruption will be covered by most people's travel insurance. my message to our passengers would be my apology for all of the disruption they have seen, to expect to see continued disruption into the weekend, to check with airlines to make sure their flight is travelling, to expect some disruption, and i'm going to have to continue to ask for their patience through this period. the squeeze at gatwick today fed the crush at st pancras. this was the queue for the eurostar trains to paris and brussels. but others did head to gatwick, hoping their flight would emerge from the chaos. so, they said just go there and see what happens. i wish! but i don't know. foreign flights into gatwick are also trying to catch up. this family were caught in rome.

the fact is, with two children, i wanted to get back to see my family, that's the sad part about it. but we'll get there. 0ne voice of optimism after a testing few days of pandemonium. and duncan gave us this update from gatwick on the resumption of flights this evening. this has been another extraordinary development in three days of extraordinary developments here at britain's second busiest airport. the latest emergency began just over an hour ago when gatwick announced they were suspending flights yet again because of what they described as a suspected drone sighting. just in the past few minutes they have come back to us and said that the emergency suspension has not been ended and there flights can be resumed. in the statement they said this was a cautionary measure, as safety remains our main priority. and the gatwick statement goes on to say the military measures that we have in place at the airports have provided us with reassurance necessary

so that it is safe to reopen our airfield. these are the unspecified military measures the output in place over the last 2a hours to try and stop these drones taking off from around the airport perimeterfence. it had been nearly 2a hours since the last drone sighting until two nights and the authorities were hoping the flights in the airport was getting back to normal and indeed it has been with something like six or 700 flights getting away today. it doesn't mean to say there weren't delays and frustrations, there were all day long with many passengers being delayed by hours and hours, some by a couple of days because of the huge backlog in getting back to normal. but things have been progressive, flights have been going, about a dozen flights were cancelled and diverted because of tonights new emergency and one suspects other flights will now come in and planes on the ground

will start taking off but again it's going to take them well into the weekend to rectify all these problems and that may be affected is a bit more by this latest emergency which has come to an end passengers should still continue to phone their airlines before travelling to gatwick and to know their plane that will get off on time and we are told tonight they should still expect some delays at least until saturday and possibly into sunday as well. as we've been saying, police are still searching for those responsible for closing down the uk's second largest airport. the police say it's a difficult job and they're asking the public for help. tom symonds has more. the latest glimpse of what might be the rogue drone. police haven't seen it up close. until tonight's suspected sighting, it hadn't been spotted above gatwick since 10pm last night. the vulnerability of this major international airport

is now stark. result, the government is under pressure. this is an entirely new kind of threat and we are going to have to move very quickly. one of the things i intend to do very quickly indeed is convene discussions across all of our airports. there are some systems beginning to be introduced in some airports around the world that could have an impact on this, but there is no single, simple solution off the shelf, deliverable very quickly. we have had to assemble a variety of different measures around that airport to make sure it is safe. the police won't say what systems they are using to protect gatwick airport, which isjust over there. some are high—tech, others, well, less so. this officer has been placed here as a spotter, looking for incoming drones. he is one of a number dotted all around the airport. we've been told systems capable of bringing them down with nets have been offered to gatwick airport. another system in operation, according to one senior source, is similar to this. it can jam radio frequencies used by the drones within a defined area. but the police admit it took some time to respond.

there are always some measures in place. the additions to those took some time to request and to arrive here at gatwick airport. what sort of time? there are always some measures in place. the additions to those took some time to request and to arrive here at gatwick airport. what sort of time? yeah, were talking hours, rather than days but coordinating that, deploying that, getting that set up at gatwick has taken some time and we have learnt from that. the pilots' union also has concerns about the current rules, which banned drones within a kilometre of an airport. the pilots say that is not enough. well a kilometre out, you'd be at 200 feet so that is only half the height you are allowed to fly a drone at, officially, under the current government numbers and regulations. so, if you are a drone flyer you actually think you're allowed to fly your drone very near an aeroplane and you are not. police say they have got a lot of information and what they describe as persons of interest.

they want to hear from people who might have seemed drones taking off and landing, and they are continuing to watch the skies for incoming threats. tom symons, bbc news, gatwick airport. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:35pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are michael booker, who's the deputy editor at the daily express, and the daily mirror columnist, susie boniface. essex police say they are dealing with a "complex" incident in the thames estuary after a group of stowaways were found on a container ship. the italian vessel was seen circling in the estuary off the coast of essex and kent — it had left nigeria ten days ago. the owners of the vessel said four stowaways had threatened the ship's staff. but police say they're not treating the incident as either a hostage, piracy or terror—related situation, and there are no reports of anyone being harmed.

donald trump has lost another key member of staff, the defence secretary james mattis has resigned following the president's sudden announcement that he will withdraw us troops from syria. it's a decision that has caused concern among nato allies and dismayed many republicans. general mattis is understood to oppose the move. there are also reports that the number of american troops in afghanistan is about to be halved. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has the latest. generaljames mattis is going, but not quietly. the president announced last night he was retiring. but make no mistake, this is a resignation. the defence secretary, making clear that he disagrees with donald trump's isolationism, his attacks on nato, his failure to criticise china and russia sufficiently. and his searing letter concludes, because you have the right to have a defence secretary whose views are better aligned with yours

on these and other subjects, i believe it is right for me to step down from my position. the last straw was the president unilaterally announcing the withdrawal of us troops from syria, with no consultation or coordination, against the advice of all of his national security staff. it's also emerged that america is to pull 7,000 troops out of afghanistan, to the horror of america's allies. and concern has been expressed across the board. secretary mattis was one of the few symbols, the few items of strength and stability in this administration. everything that indicates stability, everything that indicates strength, everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration. and even the ultra—loyal senate majority leader, the republican mitch mcconnell, broke ranks. but at the white house,

they are playing down the impact of his departure. they agree to disagree at times, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody. he was laying out the reasons he was stepping down from his post, and beyond that, think it is absurd to try to question the fact that they worked together for two full years. for an administration well used to disruption, the year is ending with maximum turmoil. in the past couple of months, the chief of staff has gone, the attorney general, the interior secretary and the un ambassador. the stock market is plunging, and today, barring a miracle, the government will shut down in a row over border funding. today is the shortest day. in the white house, it probably feels like one of the longest. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. general mattis' resignation comes amid wider impending

chaos in washington, donald trump has threatened a "very long" government shutdown if democrats do not vote through funding in the senate for his long—promised us—mexico border wall. the government will begin a partial shutdown at midnight if no budget deal is reached. it is totally up to the democrats, totally up to the democrats as to whether or not we have a shutdown. it is possible we will have a shutdown, i would say the chances are probably very good because i don't think democrats care as much about maybe this issue, but this is a very big issue. it is an issue of pride, it is an issue of safety, it is an issue of, least importantly, dollars. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue sent us this update. at the moment the senate is going through the process of trying to decide whether or not to vote on a bill that went through the house

yesterday, this build contains $5 billion for the wall, plus another 8 billion for the wall, plus another 8 billion for the wall, plus another 8 billion for disaster relief which was hoped by republicans would sweeten the pill, democrats have done nothing of the kind, in the senate bill republicans would need to get 60 votes which means getting a whole bunch of democrats onside to get that kind of process through, that kind of measure through, it's not going to happen. a lot of people have left town, and they're going through the motions quite frankly andi through the motions quite frankly and i think the likelihood is that there will be this partial shutdown at midnight tonight and you're looking at 100,000 federal employees who will be affected, just over half of those are in emergency role. they will have to go to work, they are people like the security at airports, border patrol, that kind of thing. they will have to go to work without being paid and the rest of those 380,000 people will be sent

home on leave with not getting paid as well at least not getting paid now. so, that's quite a nice christmas present for a whole bunch of federal employees. potentially, quite serious consequences for the way the country is run and that the centre of this, is president trump insisting that democrats and others must approve a budget which includes this money for the wall. that's right, at various points the president has said he will own and is shutdown, at various points today he said it will be done to the democrats to blame for the shutdown. these shutdowns, this one is a partial one, the people, the wider country one feel it that much, obviously those who aren't getting paid will be late but, this is something that can only be resolved in the sense if he agrees to sign something, if he signs a clean

continuing resolution which is an extension of funding for these few departments that don't have budgets, at the moment, if he signed that it will be a massive u—turn on his part. that's the only potential game in town, he will not do that at least not today. he may do that in a week's time, when you see all the politics is working out because the big game with all these things is cool loses out politically, who looks like they're getting the blame from inside the country for the shutdown. there's a lot of stuff with kids not being able to get into national parks or the air and space museum and stuff like that during their winter holidays then the dynamics might change. the other thing to remember of course is the 3rd of january, after the thing to remember of course is the 3rd ofjanuary, after the midterms the democrats control the house at that stage and he definitely won't get a $5 billion funding measure for

a walk at that stage. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here at least temporarily the new face of manchester united has been facing the world's media today. the former united star hosted his first press c0 nfe re nce former united star hosted his first press conference since being appointed as caretaker manager after jose mourinho was sacked on tuesday. the bbc sports editor dan roan was there. as a manchester united player, he won everything there was to win. but having returned as ca reta ker to win. but having returned as caretaker manager, the former striker knows he only has a few months to stake his claim for the job on a permanent basis. my job now is for the next six months to do as well as i can and move the club forward as well as i can and i understand this so many managers that would love to be manager of man

utd so of course i'm one of them but it's not something we've talked about, they are going to do a process now for the next six months. jose mourinho was sacked this week with united 19 points behind league leaders and having fallen out with some of his star players. he has been managing molder in his native norway for the last three years and while his appointment may have surprised some, he's received backing from the man in the opposing dugout tomorrow. they're looking at somebody that has been there, he is a hero, a legend. the —— the young lads they have got, i would think he can't believe his luck really, it's an amazing opportunity for him. the only other premier league managerial experience with cardiff city, he lasted less than nine months and was sacked after mayo —— litigation. did you learn from that, are you better now? yes of course, it was a huge step for me and i've learned a lot,

i've evaluated and reflected on it and i'd made a few mistakes, but if you do make mistakes you're not going to learn. for more than a decade, he was a winner, a fan favourite but now he must prove himself again. he will be aiming to close his 19 point gap to the top of premier league but what can he expect from his players? his former team—mate speaking to radio 55 gave a pretty scathing assessment of the current squad. people said he has been falling out with players, he would find out with bears, that's the name of the game, players turn up the name of the game, players turn up and there aren't trained properly and for some of them, shame on some of those players, i'm not his biggest fan, don't get me wrong but i can't tolerate footballers who hide behind their agents, their pals

in the media. bit of a joke really. there's one game underway in the premier league tonight. a win for liverpool at wolves would guarantee them to be top of the table on christmas day. victory for liverpool would put them 4 points ahead of manchester city, who play crystal palace tomorrow. a win for wolves would put them into sixth, above manchester united. there was an angry confrontation between dillian whyte and dereck chisora as they weighed in ahead of their heavyweight fight on saturday. both fighters came inatjust over 17 and a half stone, but after the face off there were verbal disagreements between them, which continued back stage. two years ago whyte came out on top on points when these two first met. the winner of the rematch at the 02 could set up a potential title bout next year. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website.

that's bbc dot c0 dot uk slash sport it's 30 years ago today that pan—am flight 103 was blown up in mid—air over the market town of lockerbie. wreaths have been laid and a silence held at a memorial service in honour of the 270 people who lost their lives. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. bagpipes play 0n the shortest day, lockerbie remembered its longest night, remembered the 270 people who lost their lives in the deadliest terror attack the uk has ever suffered. this, a day of dignified remembrance of those who died. among the passengers on the pan—am flight, helga mosey. she was 19 and every year her parents travel to lockerbie to remember a life cut short.

we miss our daughter, and we wonder how she would have done, what her musical career would have been like. would we have been grandparents to her children? we don't know. we still remember her as she was, lively. and be thankful we had her for so long. 19 years isn't long, but they were happy years. the only person to be convicted of the bombing, the libyan man, abdelbaset al—megrahi died after being released from a scottish prison on compassionate grounds. his family has lodged a new attempt to appeal against his conviction. there is also an ongoing criminal investigation, with two other libyans are identified a suspect. for some, like jim swire who lost his daughter flora in the attack, there are still unanswered questions. overwhelmingly, the awful thing about lockerbie was the needless death of 270 innocent people, who could have been protected had the government of the day taken appropriate steps.

having said that, the refusal of our government, and the american government, of course, to come out with what they know about the truth, has been a terrible added burden to many. 30 years ago lockerbie became tied to tragedy and in the decades since, with kindness, humanity and compassion, the people here have offered comfort to the victims' families, remembrance and respect. this year many train passengers have had to endure delays, cancellations and changing timetables. but spare a thought for the inhabitants of 0rmskirk and preston. figures?obtained?by bbc news show that northern rail has cancelled more?than 2,000 services since may on the one line between the two towns. the boss of northern has told us the situation for all? its passengers will improve, after?scores? of services were suspended? in the?autumn. if it doesn't, ?the mayor of greater manchester,

andy burnham says the company should be stripped of its franchise. 0ur?transport correspondent, tom burridge, reports. is this the worst rail line in britain? it's been for a year now, a year ofjust not knowing when it's going to turn up. people are worried about theirjobs. when you're always late and it's not your fault. and there are people who had written warnings. in one week last month, not a single train ran. for us passengers, we feel kind of abandoned, forgotten, and generally treated as second—class passengers by this rail company. the fact that i've got to tell work that i'm going to be late for work, or i'm not going to be able to make it that day, and because i get paid hourly, i lose those hours. the line, run by northern, links 0rmskirk to preston, two large towns in the north west of england, with places in between. this is the main way out of the village, the lifeline of the village. 0ur figures show that a third

of all services on this line simply didn't run in the last six months. it's symptomatic of how rail passengers in the north of england have been badly let down. i know that the service we offered in parts of 2018 has just not been acceptable. myself and the team are fully committed to getting that right, and we are seeing that incremental improvement. the improvement hasn't come in the last few months, has it? it's coming now, and we're starting to see a stabilisation of the timetable. are you fit to run this franchise? northern are absolutely fit, and i'm absolutely committed to delivering the franchise and the commitments we've got. next year, we're starting to see more capacity, new trains being introduced on the system. the mayor of greater manchester isn't so sure. i think they should be given a clear notice. things have to improve, certainly by the very latest at the may timetable change next year. and if they don't, they should be stripped of the franchise. back in 0rmskirk, a familiar story. it's gotten even better —

15 minutes late. for some, this isn't just about trains. if you haven't got a good public transport system and a good rail system in the area, people will not bring money in to invest in the area, to expand. they'll move somewhere else. northern rail says trains were damaged by autumn leaves and so services were moved off this line elsewhere. the government says it's reviewing the performance of rail companies in the north of england. if there has been a breach of any franchise agreement, measures will be taken. tom burridge, bbc news, in west lancashire. 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 sushl sushi, jack, and murphy preparing for their big day. the furry friends

ta ke for their big day. the furry friends take theirjobs very seriously. administering cuteness and cardinals. they come bearing christmas presents. there —— the therapy dogs are visiting patients at centre here injohannesburg. saihi! good boy! and nepal. where is your paw? yes! pause for people is an organisation which offers animal assisted therapy and operates in several parts of south africa. christo has been staying here at the cheshire home for decades. christo has been staying here at the cheshire home for decadeslj christo has been staying here at the cheshire home for decades. i have been here 30 odd years and i'm just the happiest. d look forward to every visit? for sure. they are the best. can't wait for them to get here. for some of the patients here, this might be their 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 of the year to this home. and residents here have formed a special bond with the dogs and they look forward to more cardinals in the new year. after beating off competition from the likes of stars such as ariana grande, a dad who blogs about his experience of parenthood has made the christmas number one with a homage to the humble sausage roll. #we # we built this city! sa ntiwiwattha naphong we built # we built this city! santiwiwatthanaphong we built this city on sausage roll! #, on babe. #, on babe. #we #, on babe. # we built this city on sausage roll. ladbaby — real name mark hoyle, together with his wife and two sons made the single for charity. they're donating all of the profits from their single to the trussel trust, which runs foodbanks across the country.

and here's the moment mark hoyle found out his song had reached number one. which means this year official number one is that baby, we built this city. hello. hello mate, how is it going? you must be having the strangest day. i'm having the strangest day. i'm having the strangest year, i don't know what's going on but it's unbelievable isn't it? . you've done it. ican't going on but it's unbelievable isn't it? . you've done it. i can't thank people enough, thank you to everybody that's downloaded and streamed and bootlegged it, no matter where you listen to it, thank you so much for sharing it and reading the word and raising so much money for the amazing charity.