this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at midday. two people are arrested in connection with the drone sightings which brought gatwick airport to a standstill. passengers are still suffering delays and cancellations — but the airport aims to run a "full schedule" of flights today. a row over the money for donald trump's border wall results in a partial shutdown of the us government. a british warship arrives in the black sea in response to russia's seizure last month of three ukrainian navy vessels and their crew. also coming up this hour, transforming the lives of hundreds of babies while still in the womb. surgery for unborn babies with spinal defects is to be made routinely available on the nhs in england. and in half an hour, a festive edition of click brings us the latest from the world of technology and gadgets. good afternoon.

police have arrested two people in connection with the illegal use of drones — which has caused huge disruption to flights into and out of gatwick airport. sussex police say a man and a woman are in custody — but that investigations are continuing. flights were suspended for a third day yesterday because of a new drone sighting, before operators were assured the military measures put in place made it safe for the runway to re—open. gatwick airport says it aims to run: "a full schedule" today operating 757 flights, carrying over 124,000 passengers. the airport say passengers should expect some delays and cancellations as they continue to recover operations following the three days of disruption. munaza rafiq has more.

after hundreds of cancelled flights, this was the reaction when passengers heard that they were up and running again. it came after the airport was closed forjust over an hour after the sighting of another drone. they told us that the flight was cancelled and that we had to collect our luggage. after unprecedented disruption, flights had resumed just after six on friday morning. many woke up after a night on the airport's floor. virginia goncalves from cornwell is seriously ill and spent the night in an airport chair. it's horrible. it goes against your human rights, isn't it? i have stage four cancer, widespread to the bones. for god sake! last night, sussex police said they had arrested two people suspected of involvement in the illegal use of drones. meanwhile, flights have continued throughout the night

at the country's second busiest airport as it attempts to deal with a severe backlog of passengers. munaza rafiq, bbc news. 0ur correspondentjenny kumah has the latest from gatwick airport. well, inside the terminals, it's looking pretty busy. things are looking normal, though. there's some frustration amongst passengers because of some of the delays they are facing. there is one flight coming in from barbados. it is delayed by over 2a hours. the message from the the airport here is to check the status of your flight before you travel because there are some cancellations and some delays. since the disruption of the drone flights midweek, there have been three days of disruptions. some 150,000 passengers have been disrupted. around 1000 flights have been affected. and yesterday there was the prospect of even further disruption when around five o'clock, there was a further sighting of a drone. this led to the suspension

of flights of around 90 minutes. 11 inbound flights were diverted to other airports and there were some delays to some flights. the message, though, from the airport and from the police is that they do have measures in place to make the airfield safe and the airport says that it is hoping to run a full schedule today, that they are hoping to run around 750 flights and transport around 120,000 passengers. earlier i asked philip ingram — a former british army intelligence 0fficer — if he was surprised that a drone caused so much chaos so quickly. the airport authorities have one priority, passenger safety. in terms

of those operations to medicate the effects, as their technology that will allow that to happen or is it to shut the stable door after the horses bolted in this case? most airports have procedures in place. 0ur airports are tested monthly with drones flying into airspace and the procedures and finding them. this was unprecedented. this was a deliberate attack to disrupt. and it did disruptair deliberate attack to disrupt. and it did disrupt air traffic in and out of gatwick. now we have this president, we can see what it can do, will it focus minds in government and in transport circles, to try and ensure that are airport is not put in this position again. potentially once one person has done

this, other malicious people might wa nt to this, other malicious people might want to repeat this activity in other airports around the world? this level aircraft society, they will manage risk registers, this will manage risk registers, this will come very high in it. i was in a conference at the end of november and we discussed drone threats around airports and there's actual scenario was not part of the main room discussions. the new threat as they are, it is light and it will be mitigated against. i am interested here that. despite conferences of this kind, no one had thought this could happen? they thought it could happen but it is one of those... you look at all the different events that could happen and you look at them all slightly and least lightly and you look at the ones that will cause most destruction and ones that will cause least disruption. this fell into the category of... why would anyone do it unless it was a terrorist attack. a random

individual, possibly to scrum full —— disgruntled employees, their only motivation is to disrupt, is very difficult to defend against. we do not know the circumstances and that is an example you have offered. there could be lots of other explanations. in terms of their military response, it is probably pub talk, you will have heard a lot of it around in the last couple of days, why do they not shoot the so—and—so thing down? days, why do they not shoot the so-and-so thing down? what goes up must go down. that is the same with drones and bullets. you do not want bits of ordinance flying around in an airport situation in built—up areas where you cannot control where they will land. they are very difficult to shoot down. the military have brought in a series of capabilities which would light of it external indicators to identify

where the roads were coming from and potentially disrupt them. but more an identification on the tracking capability. fill a thing from talking to me earlier. —— philip ingram. a partial shutdown of the us government has come into effect after congress adjourned without reaching an agreement on a revised spending bill. president trump had demanded the legislation include 5.7 billion dollars for the mexican border wall — but with a threshold of 60% needed in the upper house — it failed to gain support in the senate. 0ur north america correspondent, david willis, explained what's likely to happen next. both houses of congress are set to reconvene in the morning at noon and they will presumably start all over again to try to find an agreement. white house representatives, including the incoming chief of staff, mick mulvaney, and the president's son—in—law, jared kushner, have been on capitol hill. they spent about five hours

at congress throughout the day, basically shuttling backwards and forwards between senate, republicans and democrats, trying to get beyond this impasse, but with both sides fairly entrenched it's looking increasingly unlikely there will be some sort of solution to this any time now. president trump, though, did put out a video on his twitter feed this evening and he said in that that he thought — or hoped — that the shutdown would not last long, in his words. david willis reporting. a man and a woman — both aged 19 — have died in a car crash in lincolnshire. police were called to the lincoln bypass in the early hours of this morning. police are questioning a man, who's 26, on suspection of drink driving. a sixth consecutive saturday of protests by the yellow vest movement is beginning in france. in paris, which has seen violence in recent weekends,

some demonstrators are gathering at champs elysee and other locations in the city. the number of people turning out has fallen recently, in part because of concessions made by president emmanuel macron. a tenth person has died after a driver crashed into the back of a lorry at a yellow vest roadblock near the southern city of perpignan. a british warship has arrived in the black sea in response to russia's seizure of three ukrainian navy vessels and their crew last month. the defence secretary, gavin williamson, says the presence of the royal navy will send a strong message to moscow. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan beale has more. these are the increasingly volatile and contested waters of the black sea. and navigating his way through them, britain's defence secretary steering a ukrainian gunboat. just a month ago, russia seized three sister boats nearby off the coast of crimea, land now also occupied by russia. but he's here to visit a royal navy warship docked in ukraine's port of odessa —

hms echo, a lightly armed service vessel, or what moscow calls a spy ship. it's meant to send a clear message. what we are saying to russia, what we are saying to president putin, they cannot continue to act with no regard or care for international laws or international norms. this is why he's intervened. in november, a ukrainian tug boat was rammed by a russian vessel. shots were fired at the accompanying flotilla, blocked from entering the narrow kerch strait. to do what we can do, working with you to ensure your loved ones are back home with you. 2a ukrainian sailors are still being held, these their anxious relatives waiting for news. the uk's defence secretary listened to their pleas for help — they've even sent a letter to the queen.

viktor has not seen his wounded son, vassil, since he was captured. he says, "i feel pain, i feel helpless. we are looking for the support of britain to get them released." the presence of this royal navy warship here in odessa is to provide ukraine with reassurance in the face of what they see as russian aggression but britain is not looking for a confrontation with russia, and this warship is not expected to sail through the kerch strait. does anyone else want one? the defence secretary insists this is not a provocation, but a show of solidarity. the crew of hms echo will be here for christmas. it's quite a long stint, isn't it? and other british warships will be returning next year. jonathan beale, bbc news, 0dessa. let's return to our top story, the

gatwick airport problems caused by drones and a few more details have emerged about the people being arrested by police investigating that. they are 47—year—old man and 45 good old woman, both residents of crawley they were arrested in the town of endangering safety of operations or passengers. they have been remanded in custody until their court appearance taking place this morning. we have had sussex police statement in which, as part of ongoing investigations of the criminal use of drones which has disrupted flights in and out of gatwick airport, sussex police made two arrests just after ten o'clock last night, that's friday. 0ur investigations are still ongoing and effo rts investigations are still ongoing and

efforts that the airport continue to mitigate further incursions of drones. they are continuing to urge the public and passengers to be vigilant about the presence of drones and in the activity that may be caused by them and those responsible for that. 47—year—old will although man and 54—year—old womanjust ten will although man and 54—year—old woman just ten o'clock last night in crawley. four stowaways found on a cargo ship in the thames estuary have been detained under the immigration act, after the vessel's crew was threatened. the grande tema left nigeria 11 days ago. the group are thought to have armed themselves with iron bars, forcing crew members to retreat to the bridge of the ship. no one was injured. home ownership among 25 to 34—year—olds has risen for the first time in three decades, according to new research by the resolution foundation. the think tank, which focuses on people with lower incomes, warned that first—time buyers still face barriers to getting on the housing ladder. our business correspondent joe miller has more. back in the 1980s, around half of young brits owned a home.

but in the decade since, the number of first—time buyers under 35 has dropped dramatically to just 25%. but there's some good news at last. a small rise of almost 3% in those able to get on the property ladder. the resolution foundation which crunched the numbers says tweaks to stamp duty and longer mortgages helped but it's the banks which made the biggest difference. after the financial crisis, lenders to the decision to rein in credit and take less risk. now they're taking a bit more and being a bit more generous with first—time buyers in terms of the loans that they give them. also, house price growth has slowed really significantly over the past few years. the foundation says the recent rise equates to 190,000 more young families who have their own home this christmas. but the good tidings are not evenly spread. while yorkshire and the humber, scotland and the north west of england saw strong growth,

the number of under 35s owning property declined in the northeast and east midlands. and there's no popping of champagne corks just yet. the think tank says renting is still the norm for the overwhelming majority of young people. joe miller, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... two people are arrested in connection with the drone sightings which brought gatwick to a standstill — the airport aims to run a ‘full schedule' of flights today. a row over the money for donald trump's border wall results in a partial shutdown of the us government. a british warship arrives in the black sea in response to russia's seizure last month of three ukrainian navy vessels and their crew. surgery to repair the spinal cord of unborn babies is to become routinely available on the nhs from next spring. nhs england says the procedure, carried out during pregnancy, will help to correct spina bifida — when the bones of the spine don't

form properly and the spinal cord is left exposed. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. i might not go too much deeper, because we might need membranes in a second. this hospital in belgium has trained british doctors to carry out surgery to repair spinal defects during pregnancy. now families won't need to go abroad for treatment. thank you very much. hands crossed. spina bifida develops during pregnancy when the bones of the spine don't form properly. this can cause a bulge from which spinal fluid leaks out. the condition can cause a range of lifelong health issues such as paralysis, bladder and bowel problems, and affect brain development. the delicate surgery happens at around 26 weeks pregnancy. the womb is opened and the baby's nerve tissues are pushed back into the spinal cord, which is then closed. the pregnancy continues for another three months.

this must be my baby! hello! this is baby ayesha from belgium meeting the british surgeon who corrected her spina bifida when she was in the womb. doctors expect she will walk normally. two pregnant women in the uk have had the surgery this year. now it will be routinely available in england. a combined team at london's university college and great 0rmond street hospitals hope to treat 10—20 babies each year. fergus walsh, bbc news. gina lavisjoined us earlier. she was 24 weeks pregnant when she went to belgium in 2014 to have the surgery performed on her unborn daughter, frankie — who is now 4 years old. she told us more about her difficult journey when we initially got the diagnosis was devastating news as well. it was something you do not want anyone to

go through. what did you understand about spina bifida at that stage did you not know anything about it?- that stage we did not know much about it other than it was a problem with this mine and she would not walk. which is a horrible thought to be told when you're carrying your child with all the hope you have. at what point did doctors say to you this may be an option? we found out at 19 weeks and it was probably about 20 weeks that we found out at the hospital that the surgery could be an option for orders. this is in plymouth where you are talking to us from. this surgery could not be done there? no, it had never been done in there? no, it had never been done in the uk which we had not realised that their time. so we had to go to belgium to have the surgery. you ended up having to pay there is, did you? no, we ended up getting funding from the nhs. they funded the majority of the surgery and we

funded the rest of it. but that would have involved travelling. it mitigated the effect. can you explain about that. we would be told that she would be lucky if she could sit unaided. the surgery she is able to walk short distances and use her wheelchair the rest of the time. it has been really good for her. wheelchair the rest of the time. it has been really good for herlj expect mum to think, it is, to have that stress on top of being pregnant and they might think it is better to wait and deal with the situation once the baby was born. what was the advice you had about that. most of the surgery is done much later on. yes. normally the surgery is done once the baby is born. it was done very early on, having been done at 24 weeks. what would be your advice to other mums and dads in that

situation, because that science writing, an operation on your unborn child. —— frightening. writing, an operation on your unborn child. -- frightening. when it could be done after words. it is frightening. it is not for everyone. it is not a cure and it is not easy. the best thing is to be fully informed and have all the options available to you to have that choice. being a parent of a child with allergies can be a scary prospect and over the christmas period it can present extra challenges. this autumn an inquest into the death of teenager natasha ednan—laperouse, who suffered a reaction after eating a baguette from pret a manger, thrust the issue into the spotlight. 0ur weather presenter matt taylor, who has two daughters with severe allergies, went to meet natasha's parents. you like this, do you? yeah, ido. like all families, we are looking forward to christmas, the kids especially excited as well. they've got santa coming, there's the presents, also the food, to a certain extent,

but with us as a family that comes with huge, huge challenges. i have loads of allergies. i'm allergic to dairy, egg, legumes, lentils, and peas. i also have some allergies, i'm allergic to peanuts. # it's beginning to look a lot like christmas... brilliant. look at all that! daddy, what are those? you are constantly thinking about what you are feeding them, what they are eating and up comes even more of a challenge at christmas time, especially when there's parties involved, they go out to other places, to other friends. gosh, that's got everything in it, nope. it is just one mistake that could be the difference between life and basically death. hello, lovely to see you. thank you for meeting me. i am meeting the parents of natasha ednan—laperouse. natasha was just 15 when she died in 2016, after having an allergic reaction after eating a baguette from pret a manger. christmas for us isn'tjust

christmas, it's also her birthday, and we will be celebrating that without her and then christmas day... it'lljust never be the same, really, because we find it too difficult to be here on christmas day because she's missing. it is just so palpable that she's not here. natasha's parents are trying to change the labelling of food in restaurants and take—aways. it'll be called natasha's law. do you think natasha's law would help to change things out there and to make us more confident to eat out as a family in future? most definitely. it has to, that's the whole point. companies who have not had to take allergies seriously or allergens and food seriously will now be required to and if they don't, then they will be in trouble. we will not stop until it is done, basically, because i think that is the legacy we would like for natasha. now, more importantly

for those that are living, to protect those that are living so they do not come into that terrible situation that we had as a family. i was incredibly humbled to meet natasha's parents, they have been through a huge, a huge amount of distress and heartache but yet are turning that to try and help other families in the future, to stop them going to the same heartache and loss that they have. # sure it's christmas...# right, here we go. what do you reckon to them? it has been quite a challenge so far, bringing two daughters up with allergies but i hope that things will change top a certain extent, that they can go out, enjoy christmas, just like any other family. they are allergen—free, let's see, are they tasty? all: merry christmas, everyone! and a merry christmas to the taylor

family, too. nhs england has invested £300, 000 to fund dozens of so—called "drunk tanks", with the sole aim of taking the pressure off hospitals and emergency services during the festive season. our correspondent chi chi izundu spent the night with westminster council in london to see what measures they've put in place. a little too much christmas spirit, a hangover for the nhs. on a friday and saturday night, up to 70% of visits to a&e are alcohol—related. and a solution could be drunk tanks — or alcohol recovery services — on the streets, helping those in need. nhs england have invested £300,000 in drunk tanks in a bid to ease the pressure on hospitals and emergency services over the festive period. this one in central london's soho is bolstered by angels — volunteers who make sure those who have had a little too much get the help they need. kitted out with water, flip—flops and sick bags, they've even set up a triage area

to treat the more serious cases, like matthew's partner. unfortunately, especially at this time of year, people do have too much christmas spirit and end up needing some help, whether it be alcohol or other substances, orjust getting too carried away and maybe having a fight and getting hurt. so having someone that's there to look after people, making sure they are having a good time and they can get home safely, i think it is actually invaluable. drunk tanks are already being used in problem areas across england. a report into whether they are genuinely easing pressure on front—line staff is not expected until next year. and, whilst emergency staff want partygoers to have a good time, they want the festive cheer to be less of a stumble home. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. today definitely the theatre

day of our two days this weekend. some showers were western scotland this afternoon, a few strays elsewhere, but generally a good day everywhere. if you're heading out this evening, it is a fine story on the whole but into the small hours of sunday, rain pile into the south west. here is sunday's picture, weather fronts coming to sit in the southern half of the uk, scotland will get the best of the fine and if any sunny weather through sunday. through the south, more cloud around on the plus side it will be mild to you once again. this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley.

two people are arrested in connection with the drone sightings which brought gatwick airport to a standstill. passengers are still suffering delays and cancellations — but the airport aims to run a "full schedule" of flights today. a row over the money for donald trump's border wall results in a partial shutdown of the us government. a british warship arrives in the black sea in response to russia's seizure last month of three ukrainian navy vessels and their crew. surgery for unborn babies with spinal defects is to be made routinely available on the nhs in england. sport now. let's go to the sports centre and lizzie is with us. they're four points clear of manchester city, who play today. despite christmas being a busy time

for a furball, city's manager says that can help him keep his squad happy with more match time. the last month, everyone plays and plays lots of minutes. it is the only way to sustain. to get the people fresh, we needed to do that. by february we will die. you know, until the end of january, it is incredible the amount of games we have. february and march we will breathe a little bit. so the attention now turns to manchester city. a win today against crystal palace will reduce that gap tojust a point.

manchester united take on cardiff this evening as 0le gunnar solskjaer starts his era as interim manager. midfielder ashley young has been speaking to former united strike dion dublin. why do you think it is not clipped? there is much talent. it is about the confidence. the talent in the squad is unbelievable. you need to have that discipline and character and heart and desire and willing mentality. when you work at a club like theirs, that comes in abundance. for me, even being at my age, i am a winner. a lot of people will tell you when i come out of the training pitch, ifi have lost, it hurts. it is like i am not a nice person to be around when i lose. here are the rest of the day's fixtures. arsenal taking on a struggling burnley. there's a big night of uk boxing tonight with the english heavyweights dillian whyte and dereck chisora