this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at five. police investigating drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex, following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley. meanwhile, the airport has so far run a full service today — but passengers continue to suffer delays and cancellations. is durable. it goes against your human rights, ithaca? —— it is horrible. it goes against your human rights, doesn't it? a row over the money for donald trump's border wall results in a partial shutdown of the us government. retailers pin their hopes on super saturday to boost christmas shopping sales in what's been described as unprecedented levels of discounting after a disappointing year for the high street. 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. a 47—year—old man and a 54—year—old

woman from crawley police investigating the three days of chaos at gatwick caused by drones are questioning a 47—year—old man and a 54—year—old woman from crawley in west sussex. this afternoon police have been searching a property in crawley. flights are running today, but there are still knock—on delays after hundreds of services were cancelled. repeated sightings of drones led to the runway being shut for long periods — with around a thousand flights being cancelled or diverted — and more than 100,000 passengers left stranded. the airport is open but delays are still expected because of the backlog

in cancelled services. gatwick airport says it aims to run: "a full schedule" today — operating 757 flights — carrying over 124,000 passengers. well, jenny kumah is at gatwick and a short while ago i asked her how the airport was coping. at the moment as i said only six flights have been cancelled. there have been some delays. in the meantime a bit more detail has emerged about those two people who have been arrested. a 47—year—old man and a 54—year—old woman who were both said to be from crawley have been arrested in connection with the illegal drone activity. police say the investigations are ongoing, and they would like to hear from anyone who has relevant information. gatwick airports they that they are

taking measures to ensure —— gatwick airport saviour taking measures to ensure flight can keep on running, and this afternoon there has been good news for around 900 stranded transatlantic travellers. norwegian has chartered a plane carrying around a50 people, and it will be leaving this evening for new york and returning in the early hours of the morning. very quickly, is it still very obvious that there is a visible police presence at the airport? within the terminal itself, there is no visible police presence, but it is very busy. lots of travellers coming here today. as he heard in the report, some are a little anxious as to whether their flights would be going ahead. the advice from the airport is to check the status of your flight before travelling, because there can still be because of the backlog a slight

amount of delay and cancellation. retailers hoping for a last—minute rush of christmas shoppers — on what is dubbed "super saturday" — may be disappointed, amid indications that trading may have peaked before this weekend. footfall reportedly rose by over 10% this thursday and friday — according to retail data analyst springboard. friday is typically the busiest day as people tend to use saturday to travel. i've been getting the thoughts of consumer and retail expert, kate hardcastle. last saturday was challenging for the high street. this is for a lot of different reasons. we knows this black friday discounting period has affected the christmas calendar. in the run—up to christmas retailers would normally be doing so well, making good profit and enjoying the christmas period, but since black friday and the challenge of online, a lot of retailers have moved into a discount period from november and they are keeping that discount period, so it is a challenge to get people back into stores.

the reason we tend to see increased footfall this weekend is, it tends to be people who have left it to the last minute. thhat might be for lots of different reasons, including cashflow. they might have onlyjust been paid and have the cash to buy presents and food. all the same, it is not going to be the same as christmas ever was on the high street. footfall will generally dip because we are spending 20% of our cash online. how do retailers balance the fact that many shoppers nowjust buy a token present and save their hard earned cash for the post—boxing day sales ? this is right. not only have we got sales averaging a0%, 50%, expected to rise to 60% on christmas eve, we have sensible adults buying a token gift, or even an experience. the amount of vouchers

that we buy for experiences, everything from an afternoon tea to a spa experience, has risen over the past few years, and people are going out for a meal and buying a small gift. it is difficult to buy something you know is going to be discounted in a few days. a lot of adults are talking about gifting after the big day so that they can get more for their cash. we have got verry savvy consumers. this has led to big challenges for retailers, not just off—line, but also, as we've heard with the fashion chain asos, online challenges as well. we are just not buying as much stuff as we used to. there has been reports of huge reductions in prices, up to 90% at sports direct, i believe it is. but we are very much in the age now where consumers expect a bargain,

whether at christmas. looking ahead to 2019, what is your forecast for the sector which has been described as stricken? i'm afraid this is going to be a christmas that is so challenging. some have described it as it's going to be carnage. big day for results is 10th of january, brands like marks and spencer and debenhams will be telling us how they have done over this periodm and i am looking at that with very little hope. this is notjust about online, but the fact that they are not buying as much, also we do not commit to the plans were used to, to the brnads were used to, there is not loyalty anymore. brands are finding traditional high street stores expensive to run. we have a retail economy that is not healthy. i can only see one way, which is we are going to see less retailers out there, a smaller town and city centre, with fewer stores but more social offerings,

and the rise of online shopping still over the next few years. january 2019, quite a dull month in terms of the challenges we have heard from retailers. but there are green shoots, brands that are doing well and have had good christmases. they tend to be at the discount side. it is that middle that has been eroded. a partial shutdown of the us government has come into effect after congress and president trump failed to resolve their differences over the budget. mrtrump, who has to sign off any deal refused to approve a short—term funding deal which has cross—party support in congress, because it doesn't allocate the $5 billion needed to build a wall along the us border with mexico. 0ur washington correspondent, chris buckler has been explaining exactly what this means. the christmas holidays are about to

begin but with about 800,000 federal workers not knowing if or when they will get paid, some of them being told, in fact about half being told not to come into work and the other half being told to work, but does not know when that paycheck will come through. ultimately the christmas holidays are having to be suspended here for a while. the president had planned to go to the mar—a—lago in florida, his resort that he will traditionally goes to and instead however he is still in the white house and as you mentioned the white house and as you mentioned the senate is about to these discussions to try to find a compromise over this whole issue of the border wall. it is something of a battle, something the president has said time and time again that he will campaign for, but inside congress there does seem to be something of a resistance to all of this, not least for the democrats. democrats and republicans have been talking about potentially $1.6 billion for border security, that is a sum that falls well short of the $5 billion by donald trump is asking

for, and at this stage we have stalemates and in fact that means a government shutdown which means that 800,000 workers will be affected at this period whenever they should be preparing to spend a bit of money and also take a bit of a break. what does this actually mean in everyday life for americans? there is no doubt that for a lot of people it is simply about those federal employees who now do not know whether or not they will get a paycheck. that is they will get a paycheck. that is the important thing for them. in practical terms we are looking at buildings not being clean, we are looking at nonessential services being affected, for example our national parks that would nationally be asked normally be open, there the potential of some being closed, there are states moving in to try and ensure that doesn't happen. even big, iconic buildings like the empire state building we are seeing the new york state moving in to ensure that it remains open. but in practical terms, let's be honest. it'll be about the money for those

federal employees. i will be the biggest concern for them. if they do not know they will get a paycheck that there are political risks within all of this for both democrats and president trump, because they are blaming each other for the shutdown, and ultimately who finally carries that blame could well find that they see the effect at the ballot box. as you have said this was a campaign promise for president trump. what is the likelihood that in order to reopen government forfull likelihood that in order to reopen government for full business, this is just government for full business, this isjust a government for full business, this is just a partial shutdown, government for full business, this isjust a partial shutdown, what government for full business, this is just a partial shutdown, what is the likely that he is going to have to have been in his wall? as i mentioned, it is a three—way negotiation. i don't think there's any chance that president trump will abandon the idea of a border wall, but there will be some in the administration who will be very aware that there are these political risks for the president, and so they are having this three—way negotiation, trying to satisfy republicans, democrats and the president. he's already staying at the white house, it gives you a

sense that he is taking this seriously. the vice president has already arrived at the white house to try and lead to some of these negotiations to try and pick this —— ta ke negotiations to try and pick this —— take this to a place where they can come to some sort of a compromise, but should get the impression that president trump wants to say that he will in some respects at least as far as the public is concerned when this is, and fundamentally that will mean for him trying to move this figure from $1.6 billion, at least closer to $5 billion. exactly whether or not every site is prepared to compromise is something we're not quite sure. 0ne republican suggested this morning that if there is no deal today, then this could well stretch into january, and i will be days of a shutdown and days of effect on people. this case of funding for the wall is just going to get even more complicated, isn't it? because comejanuary to get even more complicated, isn't it? because come january the democrats control the house. yes, and that is a major issue for the president. and it might be one of the things that leads him to push

this at this stage whenever he has a house of representatives that does have a republican majority of the senate is always going to be more complicated, and that is partly because for these kind of funding bills they need 60%, 60 out of 100 that a senators, so while republicans have the majority they still need some democrats support. the senate is always point to be the blocking point for some of these issues, but with a house of representatives led by the democrats and with the democrats perhaps having a louder voice there, you can imagine that these battles for the border wall are not over, and will not be over for border wall are not over, and will not be overfor some border wall are not over, and will not be over for some time to come. that was our correspondent chris buckland speaking to me earlier today —— chris butler. that is the senate, it has reconvened as chris mentioned in his peace there. following on from yesterday evening, continuing those discussions over the budget and hopefully coming to some sort of compromise. we have just hopefully coming to some sort of

compromise. we havejust been hearing from mitch mcconnell, he was speaking at the podium there, and he is the leader of the us senate majority, the us senate majority leader. in other news as well, we understand that there has been a further resignation from president trump's administration. the special envoy for the global coalition to defeat islamic state has submitted his resignation. this took place on friday, so, yesterday. confirmed by a state department official, and the reason for his resignation as we understand is that because he objected to president donald trump's decision to pull out us troops, us ground troops from syria. that decision also of course leading to the resignation of the us defence secretaryjim mattis. we are following events very closely that

are taking place in the senate at the moment and our correspondent bringing us all the latest developments on the closer, the partial closure of us government. the time is 5:15pm. two teenagers have been killed in a road crash involving a suspected drink—driver. two cars collided on the lincoln bypass just before 1am this morning. the occupants of a white citroen, were pronounced dead at the scene following the collision with a blue ford mondeo. police are questioning a man suspected of drink driving. the headlines on bbc news. police investigating the drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex, following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley. meanwhile the airport has so far run a full service today — but passengers continue to suffer delays and cancellations. a row over the money for donald trump's border wall —— results in a partial shutdown of the us government. surgery to repair the spinal cord

in unborn babies is to become routinely available on the nhs from next spring. nhs england says carrying out the procedure during pregnancy — will help correct spina bifida — a condition where bones don't form properly, leaving the spinal cord exposed. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has more. i might not go too much deeper, frank, 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. a sixth consecutive saturday a protest by the yellow vest movement

is beginning in france. in paris which has seen violent in recent weekends some demonstrators are gathering along other locations in the city, a number of people turning out has fallen recently in part because of concessions made by president emmanuel macron. a tenth person has also died after a driver crashed into the back of a truck at a yellow vest robot yesterday. —— yellow vest roadblock yesterday. those protests have been running over the last few hours. rail workers at two companies are staging fresh strikes today in the long—running dispute over guards on trains. members of the rail maritime and transport union on south western railway and ari bow trail north have walked out for 2a hours —— areva. northern said very few of its services would run after five o'clock this afternoon, and southwestern set a reduced service would be in operation. a british warship has arrived in the black sea in response to russia's

seizure of three ukrainian net —— 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 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 straight. 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 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. 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 tay—ma 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. homeownership among 25—3a —year—old

has risen for the first time in three decades. that is according to new research by the resolution foundation, a think tank which focuses on people with lower incomes, warned that first—time buyers still face barriers to get on the housing ladder. 0ur buyers still face barriers to get on the housing ladder. our business correspondentjoe miller has more. there is good news at last. a small rise of almost 3% in those able to get on the proper leap —— property ladder, the resolution foundation which crunched the numbers says twea ks to sta m p which crunched the numbers says tweaks to stamp duty and longer mortgages helped, but it is the banks which made the biggest difference. after the financial crisis, lenders took the decision to rain in credit and take less risks and now they're taking a bit more and now they're taking a bit more and being a bit more generous with

first—time buyers in terms of loans they give them. also, house price growth has slowed significantly over the past two years stop by the foundation says the recent rise equally to 190,000 more young families who have their own home this christmas. but the good tidings are not evenly spread. while you're sure in scotland in the northwest of england saw strong growth, the number of under 35 discerning property —— owning property declined in the northeast and east midlands, and there is 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. nhs england has invested £300,000 to fund dozens of so—called drunk tanks, but the sole aim of taking the pressure off of hospitals and emergency services. during the festive season. 0ur correspondent spent last night with westminster council in london to see what measures they have put in place.

a little too much christmas spirit, a hangoverfor the a little too much christmas spirit, a hangover for the nhs a little too much christmas spirit, a hangoverfor the nhs will stop on a hangoverfor the nhs will stop on a friday and saturday night up to 70% of visits to amd are alcohol—related. 70% of visits to amd are alcohol-related. we find a lot of people will go out drinking and have not made any arrangements on how to get home, and they're stuck at four o'clock in the morning in temperatures of —5 wearing jeans and a t—shirt, sobbing down the phone saying i'm getting hypothermia and i cannot get home, please help me. and a solution could be drunk tanks, or alcohol recovery services on the streets, helping those in need. nhs england has 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. have the more water. kitted

out with water, flip—flops and sick bags they have even set up a triage area to treat the more serious cases, like matthews partner. especially at this time of year people do have too much christmas spirit and end up needing some help. whether it be alcohol orjust getting too carried away and maybe having fights and getting her to maybe having someone who is there to look after people making sure they're having a good time and can get home safely i think it's invaluable. supervised areas where revelers who have overindulged have already been used in places like manchester, newcastle, exeter, northampton and blackpool. reports into whether drunk tanks are genuinely easing pressure on front line staff is not expected until next year, and whilst emergency stop wa nt next year, and whilst emergency stop want pa rtygoers to next year, and whilst emergency stop want partygoers to have a good time, they won the festive cheer to be less of a stumble home. —— they want the festive cheer. a rare albino orangutan has been

released into the wild in indonesia nearly two years after being rescued from captivity. the world's only albino orangutan was rescued in borneo in april of last year when she was five years old and suffering from stress, dehydration and a parasite infection. a conservation tea m parasite infection. a conservation team will be keeping an eye on her for the next six months to make sure that she stays safe and healthy. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas hello. today is probably the better pa rt hello. today is probably the better part of the weekend for most parts of the country. sunshine and a few scattered showers around. as with a picture taken earlier on in the day by one of our weather watchers, blue sky around there. through the remainder of this weekend there will still be sunshine on and off for equally a bit of rain at times, particularly on sunday across the southern half of the uk. the best of the weather tomorrow will be found further north. back to the year and now, what we have is a small ridge

of high pressure in charge of our weather today, weeding out of debt fast in the atlantic in the wings, low pressure which will be driving tomorrow's barely soggy weather for most of us. to the rest of the afternoon into the cv most showers will be across the northwest of scotland, they will push the north easing for a while to tonight and largely dry first half of the night particularly across central and eastern areas but you'll notice the rain working in from the west during the second half of tonight. a soggy start to sunday morning for northern ireland, wales, northwest england, central and southern england too. cold in scotland and northeast england with temperature frost first in the morning and the old foggy patch too. tomorrow will be very different than today because we have these fronts moving in the west, bringing the cloud and rain too, still mild in the south, certainly you will wake up to quite a lot of wet weather across the bulk of england, wales and northern ireland. some of the rate in the south fairly light and patchy for a time, more persistent rain further north the heavy showers working into southwest england once again during the afternoon. scotland will see the best of the dry, bright weather with plenty of sunshine, especially north

of the central belt. temperatures around 6—8d in the north, 12 or 13 still very mild for a time of year further south. heading on through into christmas eve now and we will start to see high pressure building, still this very stubborn front lingering in southwest on christmas eve on monday bringing a brave the rain to —— parts of southern england, subletting one, south wales also. largely dry for the rest of the country and there'll be sunshine, but mist and fog patches in prone spots during the warning could be quite slow to clear, lingering nearly all day for some of us lingering nearly all day for some of us to where you do see those misty foggy patches lingering temperatures a degree are true above freezing but it'll be mild orfurther south. with high—pressure stealth in charge for christmas day is looking largely dry, some patchy frost and fog and some fairly cloudy skies too. goodbye. police investigating the drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex, following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley meanwhile the airport has so far run a full service today — but passengers continue to suffer delays and cancellations. a row over the money for donald trump's border wall results in a partial shutdown

of the us government retailers pin their hopes on ‘super saturday‘ to boost christmas shopping sales — in what's been described as unprecedented levels of discounting, atfer a disappointing year for the high street surgery for unborn babies with spinal defects is to be made routinely available on the nhs in england sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jeanette. there's only one place to start this evening and that's at the etihad stadium where defending premier league champions manchester city have fallen to a shock 3—2 defeat to crystal palace. city took the lead through ilkay gundogan, at that point you could have got odds of 168 to one on palace to win the match. but, they staged a remarkable comeback. jeff schlupp equalised and then

andros townsend produced a stunning volley to give palace an unlikely lead before half time, remarkably they extended that with a luka milivojevic after half time, kevin de bruyne pulled one back but it wasn't enough, manchester city pick up their first home defeat this season and are now four points behind league leaders liverpool we had more chances, but sometimes, three times and three golds we tried and we have to go to leicester and... you don't produce a performance by waving a magic wand, a lot of work goes into getting that schrock sure that we had and i was delighted that

we have the discipline and concentration, our focus was excellent. there was another shock at stamford bridge where jamie vardy scored the only goal of the match as leicester beat chelsea, chelsea stay fourth — ahead of arsenal only on goal difference we'll come to the rest of the premier league results in a moment but 0le gunnar solskjaer is in charge of manchester united for the first time this evening, solsjkaer was appointed caretaker manager afterjose mourinho was sacked last tuesday. this is solskjaer now lining up as manchester united manager ahead of kick off. and he does it in the stadium where he was also a premier league manager four years ago at cardiff city. the match has just kicked off and it's 0—0. earlier fifth place arsenal came back from their defeat at southampton last weekend to beat burnley 3—1 at the emirates, a result that leaves sean dyche's side in the relegation zone, jo currie reports. looking to put a bleak week behind

them and close the gap on the top four back in the team as captain. deborah trade a pick up some much—needed points before heading into christmas. and there afternoon offered action—packed start, joe had to be alert to deny ainsley, and close of the other end. but it was not long before they find a breakthrough, putting home to put firmly and us then. —— in a span. after the half—time break, they started shooting past heart, but the la ptop started shooting past heart, but the laptop in the game, taking him at the top of the table for the 12th of the top of the table for the 12th of the season. but burnley were not done yet, ashley scoring the first away goal since the start of

november, but that was extinguished in injury time as they pushed for an equaliser, arsenal countered and scored from close range to get his manager an early christmas present. today, we can enjoy it. and then monday we will continue working. burn least difficult season continues —— burnley‘s. very confusing for different reasons, for the fans and the players, then shown that we have to get results. that's the most important thing because our performance was made defensive, but we got nothing. here's the rest of today's premier league scores. bournemouth beat brighton, southampton have chalked up their second win in a row under new manager ralph hassenhuttl. they won 3—1 at huddersfield, newcastle and fulham drew nil nil, while watford won 2—0 at west ham celtic are three poinst

clear at the top of the scottish premiership after a comfortable 3, nil win at home to dundee. here's confirmation of saturday's results, aberdeen are up to second after a 2 nil win at home to hearts, kilmarnock drop down to fourth after being held one—all at hamilton. hibs and livingston drew one all, struggling st mirren had a welcome win at motherwell, big afternoon in the rugby. exeter ended saracens 22 unbeaten run in the premiership — with a 31—13 victory at sandy park. two 0wen farrell penalties gave sarries an early lead but luke cowan—dickie's try and a gareth steenson penalty saw exeter start a devestating assault — james burford was watching separating beast two sites would

need a rallying cry, the last five yea rs, need a rallying cry, the last five years, teaches both of them. thriving on the start of the diversity, just how many points is his marksmanship worth? this was a lwa ys his marksmanship worth? this was always going to be physical, asserting early dominance, more reminiscent of a battlefield. and this being the top two, there is not a moments rest. the chiefs charge and try. setting the tone, deciding on sheer strength alone, but visitors simply could not deal with their power. while very well work, would not change the outcome of this battle. still reeling from last season's defeat in the final, they delivered a moment of their own. beaten for the first time in eight months. two other games in the premiership this afternoon, leicester tigers beat harlequins 35—2a, while sale beat bristol 27—10 in the pro 1a 0spreys ended

scarlets' impressive run of ten consecutive derby victories with a 19—12 win at the liberty stadium. there were 1a points from the boot of sam davies and luke morgan's seventh try of the season ensured they reclaimed the bragging rights from their west wales rivals william whitaker took victory at the world cup jump—off at the 0lympia horseshow today. the englishman, riding utamaro d ecaussines, finished the course in a time of 37.02 seconds which proved to be too fast for the other riders in one of showjumpings biggest competitions. williams brother michael finished fourth. had been coming here ever since i

was two at three years old, ever since i was young, it was the thing that spurred me on. every did it go up, because i want to win the world cup in cricket‘s big bash in australia the sydney sixers beat the perth scorchers by 17 runs in front of a home crowd. it was a tight match, but this stunning catch from sixers skipper daniel hughes to remove william bosisto just when the scorchers were looking to stamp their authority on the match proved to be a turning point. england internationalsjoe denly and tom curran both played for the sixers but strugged to really make an impact on the match. as manchester and london prepare to host a big night of uk boxing — there's a fight going—on outside the ring over the scheduling clash which puts two high—profile events — both on pay—per—view tv — at the same time. in one corner, derek chisora and dillian white are preparing for a heavyweight grudge match, in the other, josh warrington makes the first defence of his ibf featherweight title against carl frampton adam wild reports.

boxing rivalries often run deep. it is what makes the sport a spectacle. now fans are being asked to pick a side. the much anticipated rematch while on the same night in manchester, carl frampton fights josh warrington for a walk title, both televised in both asking fans to pay £20 for the privilege. having two lights on, it means boxing fans will have to get one or the other or both. it is not a good thing. that appears to be the view for many, a conflict faced by fans becoming a war of words between promoters. it's disrespectful, yeah 500,000 fans and

251 march one in 250,000 watch the other both have lost to its 50,000 fans, it is stupid. this is a terrible thing, but it is what it is. we are not here to disrupt people or block people, the diskette on with our business. paper review is big business, his last fight was bought an estimated a70,000 times, but british boxing's success comes ata but british boxing's success comes at a price. boxing is really flourishing at the moment, there so many good fighters in big fights that the number of free weekends where television companies can put the fights on those weekends and when there are arenas big enough to house the expected turnout, they are free as well. getting all the sectors in place not easy. these are

much anticipated clashes, going head—to—head in the ring and on the box. that's all the sport for now. 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! in a moment we'll be joined by viewers on bbc one — for the early evening news with clive myrie. but first, we've time to bring you a little more on one of our main stories. 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. gina lay—vis was 2a weeks pregnant when she went to belgium to have the surgery performed on her unborn daughter, frankie, who is now four years old. she told my colleague shaun ley about her experience. 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? at that stage we did not know much about it other than it was a problem with the spine 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 us. 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 the uk which we had not realised at the 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 paid the rest of it. but that would have involved travelling. it mitigated the effect. can you explain about that? we were told that she would be lucky if she could sit unaided. with 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. some mums might think, it is, to have that stress on top of being pregnant, 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 it done at 2a weeks. what would be your advice to other mums and dads in that situation, because it sounds frightening, an operation on your unborn child. when it could be done afterwards. 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. power more than 300,000 homes.

learning about the technology that controls them. and i am at imperial couege controls them. and i am at imperial college with this wind tunnel can generate speeds of up to 100 mph. by be finding out how it can keep pedestrians safe. whether world, new year's eve at a:30pm. good evening. a man and a woman are being questioned by detectives in connection with the "criminal use of drones," near gatwick airport. the suspects are from crawley in west sussex and police are searching a house in the town. sitings of drones over the last three days led to the cancellation or delay of a thousand flights, affecting more than 1a0,000 passengers. today, the airport has remained open but a backlog of flights has meant continuing problems for travellers.

jenny kumar has the latest. tonight, police activity at a house near gatwick airport. officers have searched inside the property and examined vehicles parked on the drive. this comes after sussex police confirmed last night that a man and a woman had been arrested in connection with illegal drone activity. at gatwick today, flights have been getting back to normal after three days of disruption, but there is a backlog to clear and frustration amongst passengers. we fly off to france today, skiing in the alps. the kids, taking them away properly for a first white christmas, and yeah, it's been really anxious times for us. i only had a couple of weeks at home so it's cut my trip short by a day, which is really upsetting when you don't get to see your family and friends that often. so i was really sad, i've been really sad about it, but i'm excited to be on the ground and back home. it's not ideal, we're not happy

with that, we don't have a very long holiday, so it's frustrating to miss out on some of it. it seems rather stupid that this incident had to happen at all. the disruption caused widespread chaos, affecting 1000 flights and 150,000 passengers. today, six flights have been cancelled, but the airport hopes to run the majority of services. 0ne estimate is that the disruption is costing airlines around £15 million as they refund customers and make arrangements for others to get to their destination in time for christmas. more details have emerged about the two people who have been arrested, a a7—year—old man and a 5a—year—old woman, both said to be from crawley. gatwick airport say they have measures in place to keep the airfield safe and that they will try and keep as many flights running as possible. it seems that the nightmare before christmas is coming to an end, for some.

thanks, jenny. jenny kumar in cawley. a partial shutdown of the us government has come into effect, after congress and president trump failed to resolve their differences over the budget. mr trump, who has to sign off any deal, has refused to approve short—term funding, unless $5 billion is made available for a wall along the border with mexico. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler is at the white house. any sign of a resolution to this? senators are back inside congress trying to find a way through this mess but as it happens now, the shutdown is in full effect, meaning 800,000 federal employees in the lead up to christmas are without their money. they don't know when or if they will be paid. around half that number have been told they have been temporarily let off and the other half have been told to go to their essentialjobs, like law—enforcement, but they don't know

when they will get a paycheck. this is for donald trump's border wall, a barrier between mexico and america. he once funding for that. republicans and democrats had been discussing a figure of $1.6 billion, but that's far away from what mr trump wants. he wants $5 billion and at the moment there doesn't seem to bea at the moment there doesn't seem to be a compromise that will satisfy all sides, democrats, republicans and mrtrump all sides, democrats, republicans and mr trump himself. there are some tensions between congress and the president, in a week where he has pulled out of syria, pulled troops out, causing the resignation of the defence secretary james mattis, and several congress republicans are unhappy about that as well. today another resignation, brett mcgurk, the us special envoy to the global coalition to fight isis has stepped down over what he describes as a strong disagreement with the president. donald trump doesn't seem to be backing down. on twitter he said that the troops are still coming home. thanks, chris.

two teenagers have died in a road crash involving a suspected drink—driver. two vehicles collided on the lincoln bypass in the early hours of this morning. the occupants of a blue ford mondeo were pronounced dead at the scene. one man is being questioned by police. retailers hoping for a last minute rush of christmas shoppers on so called super saturday may be disappointed. footfall on the high street is down again this year, with figures showing trading this festive season may have already peaked. sarah corker reports from leeds. # joy to the world, the lord has come # with three days to go until christmas, millions of us are hitting the high street to bag those last few presents. in leeds today, shoppers were certainly getting into the festive mood. so we tried to get things online, but then you can't feel it and touch it, so we've come into leeds because you get the atmosphere, and to me the two days before

christmas, where everyone is running around getting shopping, are kind of like a nice atmosphere, it's quite nice to come out and see everybody. it's actually quite stressful, i'm in such a bad mood. i can't find anything i want, i should have prepared, but it happens every year. why have you left it until the last minute then? i always do, every year. it's not last minute — christmas eve is last minute. i have seven grandchildren, ranging from nine months to 23, so... so you've got all the food to feed the family. oh yeah, definitely. shoppers are expected to spend more than £1 billion today, which has been nicknamed super saturday, and many retailers are banking on that last—minute rush to boost sales after a difficult run—up to christmas on the high street. prices are being slashed to boost sales and shift stock. 2018 has been one of the toughest years on record for retailers, who are being squeezed by rising costs and online competition. todayis today is normally the busiest day for christmas shoppers in the lead up for christmas shoppers in the lead up to christmas but this year the

situation is different and consumers are feeling less confident around the future so they have been reining back their spending, so footfall, the volume of activity, the people going to retail destinations, is lower than last year. even for internet retailers, sales this season have been lower than expected. it's christmas, should be organised! one thing people are splashing out on is turkey and trimmings. it has been nonstop since 6:30am. we were busierthan trimmings. it has been nonstop since 6:30am. we were busier than a normal saturday and we have the staff to cope. it may be one of the busiest shopping days but this year more than ever, the high street has lost some of its sparkle. sarah corker, bbc news, in leeds. 0le gunnar solskjaer, ?the new interim manager at manchester united, has taken charge of his first game at the club. the norwegian replaced jose mourinho, who was sacked earlier this week. united are playing cardiff city, a club formerly managed by solskjaer.

the game kicked off around half an hour ago. and the champions manchester city will head into the christmas break four points behind leaders liverpool after a shock home defeat to crystal palace. chelsea were also surprisingly beaten at home, by leicester. in the early kick—off, arsenal ran out easy winners over burnley. here'sjo currie. arsenal, looking to put a bleak week behind them and close the gap on the top four. with mesut 0zil back in the team as captain. for burnley, the opportunity to pick up some much—needed points before heading into christmas. and their afternoon at the emirates got off to an action packed start, as firstjoe hart had to be alert to deny maitland—niles, before ashley westwood went close at the other end. but it wasn't long before pierre—emerick aubameyang found a breakthrough, prodding home to put burnley in a spin. there's the breakthrough. and aubameyang was at it again just after the half—time break. the striker shooting this rocket past hart to put arsenal

well on top in the game, and take him top of the premier league goal—scorers table, with his 12th of the season. but burnley weren't done yet. ashley barnes scoring their first away goal in the league since the start of november, to give the visitors some hope, with this low finish. however that was extinguished in injury time. as they pushed for an equaliser, arsenal countered, and alex iwobi scored from close range to give his manager an early christmas present. we love our work. today we can enjoy. tomorrow is for the players also. and then on monday continue working, for brighton. so arsenal maintained their push for a champions league spot. burnley‘s difficult season, though, continues. jo currie, bbc news. 0ne resident of a norfolk village got a surprise, with an unexpected visitor in the back garden — a baby seal. the pup was four miles inland when it was discovered in terrington st clement. it's believed the three—week—old male somehow ended up in the drainage system looking for food.

a rescue centre is feeding and monitoring him, before he's released back into the wash estuary. that's it. i'll be back with the late news at 10:15. now on bbc one, time for all the news where you are. this is bbc news. the headlines at six. police investigating the drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex, following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley. meanwhile, the airport has so far run a full service today —