this is bbc news. the headlines: a tsunami hits indonesia causing widespread disruption. at least 220 people are dead and more than 700 injured. the death toll is expected to rise. emergency services battle to save the injured. and eyewitnesses have described scenes of chaos after the waves struck at night. the water came in at about five metres high, and many cars were flown and hit our village. two people arrested in connection with drone sightings at gatwick are released. police say they are no longer suspects. tributes are paid to former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown, who's died at the age of 77. and the us government shut down set to run through christmas — as the stand—off over the border wall with mexico continues. rescue teams in indonesia

are searching for survivors of a deadly tsunami that has killed at least 220 people. hundreds more have been injured, and the death toll is expected to rise. walls of water rushed into coastal towns along the sunda strait, which divides the islands of java and sumatra. it's thought the tsunami was triggered by an underwater landslide, following an eruption of the krakatoa volcano. caroline rigby reports. it began as any other evening, then this. the tsunami struck indonesia on saturday night, hitting beaches including popular tourist spots along the sunda strait, the channel between the islands

of java and sumatra. the pop group seventeen were performing when the wave engulfed their stage. their singer confirmed on social media that the band's bass player and tour manager had died, and others, including his wife, were missing. officials say the death toll is likely to continue to rise. we hope that we will find other survivors but i do not know, maybe we will find casualties or dead bodies. we are afraid that casualties or dead bodies will be increased. hundreds more were injured in the disaster, which authorities say may have been caused by underwater landslides following an eruption by the nearby krakatoa volcano. earlier in the evening, it was quite heavy eruptive activity. butjust prior to the wave hitting the beach, there was no activity at all.

it was just dark out there. suddenly, i saw this wave coming and i had to run. when the second wave hit, then it was much bigger. streets have now turned to mud and hundreds of buildings are seriously damaged. the water came in about five metres high and many cars were flown and hit our village. the country's disaster management agency says high seas from a full moon could have contributed to the strength of the waves. indonesia is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis because it straddles the so—called pacific ring of fire, where tectonic plates collide. this latest disaster will bring back memories of the boxing day tsunami, 14 years ago, which killed more than 225,000 people. caroline rigby, bbc news. 0ur indonesia editor rebecca henschke is in the coastal town of anyer,

where people are gathering what they can from the rubble. we are in anyer and here behind me are some quite substantial houses that were also reduced in part to rubble by the waves. some recovery effort taking place, the clearing away of that rubble so that some of the slow rebuilding process can begin. electricity is down here. this is the electrical wire but there is no power to these communities, no running water, so people have been taking what they can from the rubble to kind of get through the next few days over christmas. that will be very tough. people's clothes, possessions from these holiday villas on the ground. over here gives you a sense of the power of the waves. these houses have been smashed into by cars that the community here says were parked on the other side of the road. they have now been smashed into what is here, so smashed

into what was a holiday villa, full at this time of year. a little earlier i spoke to aulia arriani from the indonesian red cross in the capital, jakarta. she told me that many people in the affected area are too afraid to return to what is left of their homes. it was a powerful wave with heights of 30—90 metres, which caused injuries and extensive damage on both sides of the street. right now, lots of people are still in shelter and others are going to families up on the hill. they are still frightened and afraid to come back to their homes because they are afraid that there will be big waves and tsunami coming back again. what are your teams on the ground able to do to help those people?

0ur volunteers are already on the ground, they have been in the field since last night. they are helping to do the evacuation, trying to find some survivors or maybe some casualties or dead bodies. they are still working with the search and rescue teams. also, we have volunteers working to give health assistance in shelters. for example, they are working together with the health team, giving first aid to the community that is staying in the governor's office. we also dispatched some relief like blankets and drinking water and also tarpaulins. was the area prepared for this? indonesia has had tsunamis before so do people almost expect this kind of thing to happen?

i don't think people last night knew that this would happen. as you know, the tsunami strike is very sudden and a lot of people were there in the tourist areas because it is christmas time, you know, and also new year. a lot of people are already on holiday. they are probably staying up there for a few days and they did not know anything about it. we know that indonesia is very, you know, a lot of disasters happen in indonesia but i don't think people knew that last night the tsunami would hit them. do you think the death toll, are you worried that the death toll, which is about 168 at the moment, that it will rise? previous experience of these kind of disasters suggest that is often the case. yes, so our challenge with the tsunami disaster is we have

reports on 30 people, probably more, still missing and we hope that there will be more survivors or we will find survivors. but i don't know, maybe we will have, you know, find casualties or dead bodies. yes, we are afraid that the casualty or dead bodies will be, you know, increased. a spokesperson from the indonesian red cross. the death toll has risen to 220. friends and colleagues have been remembering the former leader of the liberal democrats, lord ashdown, who's died at the age of 77, just months after revealing he was being treated for bladder cancer. he led the lib dems for more than a decade, from 1988 until 1999, and is credited with making the party a significant third force in british politics.

vicky young has taken a look back at his life. this is how most people will remember paddy ashdown — the action man, the party leader with the least affection for westminster. long before he fired his first political salvos, he was a military man. a marine, he saw active service in borneo and malaya. after a period as a diplomat, and some time on the dole, paddy ashdown got involved with the liberals, elected mp for yeovil in 1983. later, in 1988, after the painful merger with the sdp that formed the liberal democrats, he became leader. i say to the millions out there who are concerned about poverty and about unemployment, come and join us. the party was at rock bottom in the polls, and financially crippled. paddy ashdown built it up again, but at some cost to his home life. he admitted an affair with his former secretary, tricia howard. what paddy said stands.

he's made a statement already, and i was perfectly well aware of what he was going to say. fears that his party's poll rating would suffer were unfounded, and in 1997 he guided it to its greatest election achievement since the ‘20s, doubling the number of lib dem mps. charles kennedy is duly elected the leader... paddy ashdown resigned the leadership in 1999, handing the baton onto charles kennedy, and retiring from the house of commons two years later. he spent time in bosnia, at some personal risk, at the height of the war there. and in 2002, he became the high representative in bosnia and herzegovina. but he wasn't done with westminster politics. in 2015, after the lib dems had spent five years in coalition with the conservatives, lord ashdown returned to chair the party's general

election campaign... and we are saying the conservatives are the largest party. ..famously disputing the exit poll's prediction of a dire result. if this exit poll is right, andrew, i will publicly eat my hat on your programme. this is a hat. andrew, you are so predictable, aren't you ? ijust knew you'd... i wanted to get a bigger one. he inspired respect for his constant ideas and enthusiasm, and his efforts to build the liberal democrats into a force in national politics. 220 dead is the latest death toll from indonesia. everybody is warning the death toll is expected to rise. james massola is the south—east asia correspondent in indonesia for the sydney morning herald

newspaper and is in anyer. you have seen for yourself some of the devastation. how bad is it? you have seen for yourself some of the devastation. how bad is mm is awful. cars flipped and thrown. tractors, boards, houses have been essentially wiped out. the devastation here at anyer and further down the road is pretty bad. to what extent did people there have any warning that this was coming? there was not a lot of warning. the volcano that erupted is active and has been erupting intermittently for months. the locals were not particularly concerned. the volcano itself when this is not in happened damage the early warning system that would have been the tripwire to warn

people to say there is a tsunami coming. 0fficials people to say there is a tsunami coming. officials say that did not go off. this two people by surprise. 220 is the death toll at the last count. do you think it will rise? is this a bigger disaster than that? almost certainly the death toll will rise. for example the number of people missing is put... 0ne rise. for example the number of people missing is put... one of the medical clinics said there were 36 people missing from just a small village. if that is repeated in village. if that is repeated in village after village along the beach road then we are likely to see many more people either badly injured, missing orsadly many more people either badly injured, missing or sadly dead. for the survivors, is there any question of getting aid to them soon because they are in a pretty desperate situation? certainly. what has

struck me is we are about 100 kilometres from the capital do cut and we have seen a lot of aid getting through today compared to what i have seen in previous earthquakes and tsunamis. that is because the capital is so nearby. we have seen police, army, rescue workers. it is pouring already. is that a state of readiness perhaps because of the boxing day tsunami that because such a massive loss of life? and there have been other seismological episodes as well in indonesia since then, other smaller keeper mikes. yeah. it is a combination of a state of readiness. the political weight sits injava, it is the biggest island in this nation by a mile and there are more resources on the island of java than some of the other places where we

have seen natural disasters in the last six months and in the last ten yea rs. last six months and in the last ten years. in that sense it is fortunate for people here in anyer and further down the coast. thank you. the south—east correspondent in south east asia for the sydney morning herald. a man and a woman arrested in connection with multiple drone sightings at gatwick airport have been released without charge. the disruption lasted for three days, as tens of thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled or delayed. gatwick airport has offered a £50,000 reward through crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. 0ur correspondent, jenny kumah, is at crawley police station for us this morning. these two people who were arrested are released. what more are the

police saying? they were arrested on friday night. within the last hour 01’ so friday night. within the last hour or so police have released a statement saying they have been released without charge and they say they fully cooperated with inquiries and they are satisfied they are no longer suspects in the activity that brought flights to a standstill at gatwick airport. police are continuing with their inquiries. gatwick airport offering a £50,000 reward than any information leading to an arrest and conviction for those involved. in the meantime things are getting back to normal at gatwick. they hope to run a full schedule of flights, around 769 flights are expected, just one cancellation is on the cards at the moment. they are warning people to ta ke moment. they are warning people to take precautions, to check before they leave, because there could

still be some knock—on effects to flights. that is the latest from crawley police station. the headlines on bbc news: a tsunami hits indonesia causing widespread disruption — at least 220 people are dead and more than 700 injured — the death toll is expected to rise. two people arrested in connection with drone sightings at gatwick are released — police say they are no longer suspects. tributes are paid to former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown, who's died at the age of 77. sport and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. anthonyjoshua says dillan whyte deserves a shot at his world titles, but he may have to wait his turn. whyte knocked out dereck chisora in the 11th round at london's o2 arena last night. after the fight whyte

called for a rematch with world champion anthonyjoshua, who he hopes to face at wembley next year. butjoshua, who was watching at ringside, says he would prefer to take on either deontay wilder or tyson fury. joshua's talking rubbish, man. talking rubbish. i am not going to sit around and wait for him. i'm not going to waste four months of my career waiting for him, seeing what he is doing. i haven't got time to do that. my career needs to progress. there's fighters that wait two years, wait to hear, wait for the call. i can't do that. time is ticking. josh warrington retained his ibf featherweight world title belt with a thrilling points win over carl frampton at the manchester arena. warrington got the better of the former champion frampton from the very first round but somehow the northern irishman managed to stay on his feet right up to the final bell. virtually from the first bell the

crowd were on their feet and it was nonstop action for 36 minutes for the 12 three—minute rounds landed was just about boxing as good as it gets. it was absolutely fabulous. i have been ringside for many years andi have been ringside for many years and i have not eaten too many bitter fights than that, particularly all british fears in a british ring. he went in as the underdog, as he did when he won the world title at elland road in may this year. he produced yet another performance of his life. liverpool will go into the festive season with a four point lead at the top of the premier league after manchester city lost to crystal palace. palace won 3—2 against the champions at the etihad stadium. that wasn't the only shock of the day. leicester city beat chelsea 1—0 thanks to a goal from jamie vardy. 0le gunnar solskjaer‘s reign as manchester united's interim manager got off to the perfect start with a 5—1victory against cardiff. and match of the day pundit alan shearer says, after the departure ofjose mourinho, united looked like a completely different side.

for the first time in a premier league game this season united outran their opponent. you are talking about manchester united. the firing ofjose mourinho was right? it was. something had to change. players were not giving as much as they should have and they cannot get rid of all the players. it was the right decision. and this afternoon spurs have chance to cement third place in the table at everton. but the tottenham manager knows it is going to be a challenge. marco silva's men are unbeaten in their last six matches at goodison park. it isa it is a very good coach and there is a lwa ys it is a very good coach and there is always pressure when you arrive in a new club, you need time. of course they are doing very good. they have very good players. it is going to be very good players. it is going to be very tough to play against everton.

rangers have the chance to move ahead of aberdeen and go second in the scottish premiership this afternoon as they travel to stjohnstone. the game has just kicked off at mcdiarmid park. rangers have not lost away at stjohnstone in the league since 2010 and are unbeaten in their past five away league games. and finally, fans of spanish club real betis gave hundreds of local children an extra special christmas gift during their game yesterday. responding to a pre—match appeal, they threw thousands of teddy bears and other soft toys from the stands. the toys were gathered up before the second half and will be distributed to disadvantaged families in the region. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. universal credit is leaving too many claimants with children facing a stark choice between turning downjobs or getting into debt, mps have warned.

the work and pensions select committee says the way parents have to pay for childcare up front, then claim it back afterwards, is a "barrier to work". the government says the system is designed to cut out fraud and error. the us government will remain partially shut down over christmas after politicians in the senate failed to resolve their differences over the budget, during a special session. democrats oppose donald trump's plans to use federal funds to build a wall along the us—mexico border. there was further bad news for mr trump as his top official in the fight against so—called islamic state quit over the decision to pull us troops from syria. chris buckler reports. in the us, some government buildings have been closed and many federal employees have been told not to go to work, not because of christmas but because of a government shutdown. senators however, were working. they were called to a special session of

congress to try to find a funding deal acceptable to all. but without any sign of compromise, democrats and republicans were left simply blaming each other. they brought this about because they are under a lot of pressure, we all know this, from theirfar left, and feel compelled to disagree with the president on almost anything and certainly this. the rows about donald trump's long promise for a physical barrier along the border between mexico and america. he's been unable to get mexico to pay for the controversial border wall. in the us, democrats have refused to give the president $5 billion he says he needs to build it. so mr president, president trump, if you want to open the government, you must abandon the wall, plain and simple. relationships between the white house and even some republicans in congress were damaged during the last week, after president trump made

a surprise and sudden decision to pull us troops out of syria. it led to the resignation of his defence secretary, jim mattis, and now another member of his administration is leaving as a result of the president's plans. brett mcgurk is the us special envoy to the global coalition fighting the so—called islamic state group. in his resignation letter, he made clear his concerns that the president's claims that is had been defeated were premature. only a week ago, mr mcgurk raised fears of an early end to the campaign in a bbc interview. the point is, the military commitment does not end with the end of the caliphate. that is absolutely right. there is no timeline on it? no timelines. washington is preparing for a short christmas break but goodwill is in short supply, and with a government shutdown and questions about presidential policy, this seems like a less than happy holiday for donald trump. chris butler, bbc news, washington.

when donald trump announced that he was withdrawing us troops from syria and afghanistan, it caused grave concern amongst some allies. there are fears the president's decision may have a negative impact in the fight against the so—called islamic state and militants in afghanistan. the bbc‘s martha kearney has been to kabul, where she spent time with british forces who may now have to work without us help. british helicopters over a military base in kabul but how much longer can they rely on us allies, after reports that 7000 american soldiers are to be sent home in the coming weeks? especially since it seems the security is worsening. the soldiers joke that this is a kabul taxi. helicopters like this and black hawks are in constant use over kabul. it is a sign of how the increased security problems mean that road travel is more dangerous than it was in the past.

the recent spike in violence makes the idea of speedy us withdrawal all the more surprising. 30 countries support the coalition, but the us provides most of the infrastructure, and it seems that america's closest allies may not have known about the trump plans. before the news broke, i spoke in kabul to the head of the uk armed forces. everything i've seen during my visit here over the last 2a hours or so would suggest they are wholeheartedly committed to this particular mission, as is nato and the international community more broadly. at the recent geneva conference, the international community enhanced that commitment. i think these are different missions with different requirements. we are in the back of a british army vehicle, known as a foxhound, a heavily armoured vehicle. we're travelling from the green zone, where the government departments, nato headquarters, a lot of embassies are. until last night, the city

was on black, which meant there was a risk of threat and vehicles like this couldn't go out. but that has been lifted so we can travel through the streets now. the british forces here in afghanistan were increased this year by 440. but it is afghan forces who actually fight the taliban. nearly 30,000 have been killed since 2015. those are big numbers and the question of whether that is sustainable is a question we ask ourselves regularly. 0n the other hand, that is why peace is important. i think afghans are much more committed to this idea than once before. it gives everybody hope. there may be some optimism about the current peace talks but this is certainly a volatile time in afghanistan with presidential elections next april. now, the prospect of us troop withdrawals, which could ultimately lead to the end of the international coalition here. martha kearney reporting from kabul. now it's time for a look

at the weather with susan powell. hello. the forecast for christmas week is a pretty quiet one. the weather is settling down thanks to a building area of high pressure but the high will trap underneath it quite a lot of cloud so some quite grey prospects in the coming days. for the remainder of today, some slightly brighter fortunes through the afternoon for northern england and northern ireland, still staying very cloudy to the south and further rain to come across southern england. scotland gets the best of the sunshine but temperatures are struggling after the frosty start. more rain pushing into southern counties of england and southern wales through the evening. clearer skies sinking from the north will set us up for quite a widespread frost for christmas eve morning. milder to the south though, where we have the covering of cloud and some rain around. that should continue to push away through monday morning and for many areas, we are looking at a dry christmas eve with some brightness, although it will feel a shade cooler than it has through the weekend,

especially in the south. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: a tsunami hits indonesia causing widespread disruption — at least 220 people are dead and more than 700 injured — the death toll is expected to rise. emergency services fight to save the injured. and eyewitnesses have described scenes of chaos after the waves struck at night. the water came in at about 5 metres high, and many cars were flown and hit our village. two people arrested in connection with drone sightings at gatwick are released — police say they are no longer suspects. tributes are paid to former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown who's died at the age of 77. and the us government shut down set to run through christmas — as the stand—off over the border

wall with mexico continues. back now to our top story — more than 220 people have been killed and 843 injured after a tsunami hit coastal towns on indonesia's sunda strait, government officials say. the tsunami waves struck at night without any warning, destroying hundreds of buildings. officials say the tsunami could have been caused by undersea landslides after anak krakatau volcano erupted. joining us now is cecilia reed, volcano journalist and geology blogger. it was a submarine landslide. this volcano, anak kra katau it was a submarine landslide. this volcano, anak krakatau has been robbed the last couple of months. it has been very corrupted. as it

erupts, it causes the flanks of the volcano to become quite unstable. the more material that is deposited on the surface of the landscape, in this case, because it is a island, it can land underwater, as well, built up under water. that also helps to strengthen and destabilise the... said that weight and that sudden change tranquil is the lens to slip and slide, and that's when you get a landslide. so this happened underwater, the energy that is released from the landslide creates a huge column of water. to either how powerful the boxing day tsunami was in comparison to this winkers—mac tsunami was in comparison to this winkers-mac i don't think this one is as strong, but it's been pretty

strong. have there been any warnings about this happening. since that boxing day sue namy, there have been attem pts boxing day sue namy, there have been atte m pts to boxing day sue namy, there have been attempts to get an early warning system into place. there is a system in place because of the boxing day tsunami. but it only picks up earthquake induced ones, not submarine landslide ones. because this was caused by a landslide underwater, did not really register on the early warning system. and also the system doesn't pick up signals from that area u nfortu nately. signals from that area unfortunately. so, how common are sue namy —— tsunamis in that part of the world. how common are these tsunamis. because it is the ring of fire, it is a common thing to

happen. so the ring of fire is basically a rim around the whole pacific ocean, where there is a lot of tech tonic activity —— tectonic activity. then the land is prone to created tsunamis and submarine landslides. as we have seen today, 220 is the death toll. thank you so much for talking to us. let's get more now on the death of former liberal demcrat leader lord ashdown. he was 77. someone who worked with paddy ashdown for many years was fellow liberal democrat baroness shiley williams. she has been speaking to the bbc about the man she knew. i knew him quite well as a fellow

campaigner and in a small party like the liberal democrats you are battling all the time. he was brilliant at that. he and i met quite often on the campaign trail in britain and outside it, in particular the occupation of kosovo. that was rather unusual. we spent a lot of time together at that time in a fairly risky situation. i got to like him tremendously partly because first of all he never exaggerated. secondly he had a very strong sense of his responsibility not only to our people but to people in other countries as well, a commitment to bringing democracy through trying as far as possible to make people behave well, and also because he never had the slightest sign of fatigue. he faced each situation calmly and in light of the facts and

and with a determination to have the best possible outcome. there was almost an unbroken legacy between his military background, because he had a distinguished military career, people often forget that but he worked not only in the diplomatic service but perhaps most significantly within the forces themselves. and people do not remember now that he was for example with a small boat squadron, a risk—taking squadron, putting torpedoes under large ships in wartime. he also worked very hard on things to do with discovering for example whether other bigger countries should intervene. a typical example was tony blair asked him to tell him, then the prime minister, whether we should intervene in kosovo to try to prevent what was becoming an increasingly awful situation. not so much terrorism but a lot of sniping, poor behaviour. there was a sense that he was part of the same man. he could live his way through very tough situations and treated

all this with seriousness. 0n the other hand he was somebody who would enjoy himself in private, talking to friends, going out for dinner together and so forth. a very wonderful combination of people. baroness shirley williams remembering paddy ashdown who has died at the age of 77. please bear with us, you we will be back with the lunchtime news. good afternoon.

rescuers are desperately searching for survivors after a tsunami hit the coast of indonesia killing more than 220 people and injuring hundreds of others. the tsunami waves struck at night without any warning, destroying hundreds of buildings. the tsunami is believed to have been caused by an undersea landslide following eruptions from the anak krakatoa volcano, striking coastal towns on either side of the sunda strait. 0ur correspondent rebecca henschke has this report from indonesia. a work party to celebrate the end of the year. on the stars of the night, a local rock group in full swing. when suddenly, the wave engulfs the from behind. members of the band we re from behind. members of the band were killed. the singer asking his fa ns were killed. the singer asking his fans on social media to pray for

them. this popular local tourist destination now a disaster zone. beach vendors look forward to this time of year when local tourist flock to the beautiful beaches here, but now, this is what their shops look like. places that would have been filled with tourists, eating food and buying drinks, now com pletely food and buying drinks, now completely destroyed, amongst it, the plates and drinks, knick—knacks that would have been bought. this lady says she doesn't know how they will rebuild. translation: we were all set up the christmas and the new year holiday period, but it has been destroyed by the waves and the rest has been stolen. what am i going to do. families here say they had no warning, and there was confusing information coming out from the government. translation: what was the government doing? efforts, —— at

first, they said there had not been a sue —— tsunami. it was clearly a tsunami. here at this local clinic, desperate families carry out the grim task of 20 identify the dead. grim task of trying to identify the dead. officials believe underwater landslides caused by volcanic eruptions at the nearby mount anak kra katoa eruptions at the nearby mount anak krakatoa may eruptions at the nearby mount anak kra katoa may have eruptions at the nearby mount anak krakatoa may have triggered the huge waves and the volcano remains active. authorities are warning that there could be another tsunami and are telling people to stay away from the beaches. rebecca henschkejoins me now from the scene in indonesia. from what you have seen, how bad is the devastation? either side of the main road that runs along the coast here is a scene of devastation. houses closest to the beach are

normally made out of quite flimsy materials, bamboo, wood and leaves, and they have been reduced com pletely and they have been reduced completely to rubble. but on the other side of the road where i am standing, more substantial buildings, houses, villas and hotels, have also been destroyed. in one place we still that about three cards, people said, had moved across the road and smashed together on top of the villa, giving some sense of the power of those waves. and we have seen local medical centres struggling to deal with the injured. earlier today there was a siren that went off mistakenly, and it sent people into a panic again because they thought there had been another tsunami. the atmosphere here is very tense, and as you can see behind me ambulances are going past and medical teams are trying to get into this area. at the same time, people

are being told to leave because another tsunami might hit. 0k, rebecca, thank you very much indeed. rebecca, thank you very much indeed. rebecca henschke, our indonesia editor, at the scene. a man and a woman who were arrested in connection with drone activity which caused widespread disruption at gatwick airport have been released without charge by sussex police. flights were grounded last week after drones were spotted close to the runway. our correspondentjenny kumah is at crawley police station. what more are the police saying? the two people were arrested on friday night, and a short time ago the police announced they had been released without charge. in a statement, they say that the pair fully cooperated with inquiries, but police officers are satisfied that they are no longer suspect in the drone incident. those incidents resulted in flights being grounded at gatwick for a number of days.

every time they tried to reopen the airport, there was another sighting. meanwhile the police say they are continuing with their inquiries. gatwick airport say they are offering a reward, £50,000 reward, in return for any information that leads to an arrest or conviction. in the meantime, things are getting back to normal at gatwick. they are expecting to run a full schedule of flights but the advice is if you are travelling today, checkjust before you go in case your service is affected from any knock—on effects of the midweek disruption. thank you. jenny kumah reporting from crawley police station. mps are warning that the way childcare is paid under the government's flagship benefits policy universal credit is preventing people from accepting jobs. a report by the work and pensions committee says making parents pay for childcare costs upfront then claiming the money back from the government can leave

households waiting weeks to be repaid. homelessness in the uk is at a record high according to the charity crisis, with 170,000 families and individuals experiencing destitution. the charity blames the problem on a shortage of social housing, housing benefits, and a lack of homeless prevention schemes for people leaving care. the government said it is investing £1.2 billion to address the problem. tributes have been paid to the former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown, who died yesterday at the age of 77. paddy ashdown led the party for more than a decade until 1999 and is credited with making the lib dems a significant third force in politics. theresa may said the former royal marine had dedicated his life to public service. our political correspondent jessica parker has more. the military man turned diplomat and politician.

paddy ashdown cut an impressive figure, and a popular one. his success in building up the liberal democrats after its painful merger in the late ‘80s means he leaves an undoubted legacy. the action man, unafraid to push political boundaries. come and join us. he never had the slightest sign of cowardice. he faced each situation calmly and in the light of the facts and so on, and with a determination to have the best possible outcome. that courage, and a passion for foreign affairs, could cause some concern amongst colleagues. he took a great interest in the balkans, even when he was leader, and i used to try quite a lot of the time to persuade him not to go, because he exposed himself to risks, for example, going into sarajevo, running the gauntlet of snipers and shelling

and things of that kind. but that's the kind of person he was. what you saw, you got, and a great deal more as well. although he never held high office himself, lord ashdown helped set the foundations for what the liberal democrats would eventually become, a party of coalition government, and he was never afraid to offer some sage advice to his successors. he came to see me in my office when i was deputy prime minister, and he said "i have to talk to you about something which is highly important, and will have a big effect on my political fortunes and that of the coalition." and i thought, "what have i done wrong now?" he said, "you've got too fat. you must lose weight." and so anyway i received those instructions from him, and did try to act on them as well, as i always did. outspoken, dynamic,

paddy ashdown was a man of irrepressible energy. he could sometimes exhaust his colleagues, but more often it would inspire them. jessica parker, bbc news. the actor michael sheen is helping to pay for security to protect the latest artwork by banksy, which appeared on a garage wall in port talbot several days ago. the image, showing a child enjoying snow falling, has been covered in a protective screen. last night, a man tried to damage the mural, but was chased away by a security guard. the next news on bbc one is at 16:55. bye for now. hello, you are watching bbc news with me ben brown. let's bring you an update on that investigation into the disruption in gatwick airport last week, where hundreds and hundreds of flights were cancelled because of drilling activity around the runway. thousands of passengers had theirflight

the runway. thousands of passengers had their flight is delayed or cancelled. two people were arrested, they were released by sussex police, and are no longer suspects, and also the police are saying that while there enquiries are continuing, they are investigating persons of interest, and also saying that a damaged drone has been found, and is being forensically examined. so that is from detective chief superintendent jason dingley of sussex police saying that they have found... they have offered a £50,000 reward that anyone coming forward with information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for that drone activity around gatwick. let's bring you more

on that tsunami. coastal towns on the sunda strait. the western tip of java was badly hit. he has been speaking and described a scene of destruction. i was not there last night, but i am here now, and what i have seen is a really devastating situation, about 200 villagers have been more or less 80% destroyed. and a lot of... up to the moment, we have about 90 plus and every minute, another dead bodies coming to our place. can ijust confirm that. we have found 90 bodies in your hotel resort alone. is that what you're saying? that is right, yes. at the

moment, there was 74 already in the hotel, and the families have to identify. how many people are saying in your hotel last night? there are about 500 people, and they are dancing, singing at the beach club, and it also at the restaurant, and suddenly the tsunami came. so we do not know how many have not been found and are missing. not know how many have not been found and are missinglj not know how many have not been found and are missing. i amjust going to ask you, how many people have come forward and said they are safe. have you managed to put a list together. with 500, if 90 are dead, then 410 up and accounted for. that was not including our staff here. we have of course a list, but i don't have of course a list, but i don't haveit have of course a list, but i don't have it with me, because the office has also been flooded with water, so

ido has also been flooded with water, so i do not know. tomorrow, possibly... how much of your hotel remain standing? are you on the beach? are on the seafront? our doctors are looking after the patients. so not exactly at the beach. and what are people telling you about what happened during the evening last night, happy spoken to your hotel manager? abbey had their stories? yes. i have seen what happened, talked with many people there. so it was just talked with many people there. so it wasjust suddenly, talked with many people there. so it was just suddenly, feeling the earthquake, and people are shouting, running around. so, that is what happened. our general manager of the hotel was also injured. he is recovering in his house. that was a

man who runs a resort in the western tip of java. you man who runs a resort in the western tip ofjava. you had him saying, very badly affected by that tsunami that hit last night. mps are warning that hit last night. mps are warning that universal credit is leaving too many claimants with children facing a stark choice between turning down jobs or getting into debt. the working pensions select committee says the way parents have to pay for childcare upfront and then claim it back, is a barrier to work. the government says the system is designed to cut out fraud and error. louisa is director of child poverty action group, says that the prisoners does not fit around people's real lives. the one thing that these families rarely card manages financial risk. so the starting point is, you need to paper your childcare upfront. if you are using a nursery, the charge is by

the... if you are heading back to work in january, the the... if you are heading back to work injanuary, the charters are you have origi had to pay that money. universal credit bugs on a strict monthly system, and it won't pay y°u strict monthly system, and it won't pay you back for that until the work is done that relates to the childcare. it may be some months before you are getting that money back. if you are on universal credit, the chances are you are already in significant debt, is any payment upfront and going to be a major obstacle. is it your view that universal credit need to beef scrapped or reformed? the government say that it is a signification of the welfare benefit system. they have worked very hard to iron out some of the difficulty is that it has had in it introduction. there area number of has had in it introduction. there are a number of known issues. administration issues are probably the easiest to fixed. the design issues could be fixed, also, but it would take a degree of investment, and the most important thing, is to stop rolling it out other people,

because it is causing a lot of chaos and misery, especially in the run—up to christmas. do you agree with it in the double, the idea of rolling all the barriers benefit into one universal credit. it is a lovely idea, but in reality, it is a bit of a meth. what it does, is it adds lots of different benefits, all working with their own means test into one leg means test. the clunkiness of the system to determine who gets what, and most importantly, when they get it, makes it largely unusable for anybody whose life is at all, did it, and predicted the leurink apparent, it is causing enormous problems. that is causing enormous problems. that is louisa mcgee and, a director of policy at the child action comedy group. hello, our forecast the christmas week is a pretty quiet one. things

settling down, thanks to a building area of high pressure. that high blood trapped under it quite a lot as cloud. some quite great prospect in the coming days. the remaining of the day, some brighterfortunes through the afternoon, still staying cloudy to the south. some further rain to come across southern injured and scotland get the rest of the sunshine. temperatures do struggle after the frosty start. a lot more rain pushing into southern counties of england, and clearer skies thinking down from the north will set us up for quite a widespread frost. that's the christmas eve morning. mile to the south, where we have the —— mild to the south, with the cloud. that rain should push away through monday morning, and the many areas, we are looking at a dry day the christmas eve, with some brightness, and it will feel a shade cooler than it has through the weekend, especially in the south. this is bbc news. the headlines: a tsunami hits indonesia causing widespread devastation. at least 220 people are dead

and more than 700 injured. the death toll is expected to rise. emergency services rush to save the injured. eyewitnesses describe scenes of chaos after waves struck at night. the water came in at about five metres high, and many cars were flown and hit our village. two people arrested in connection with drone sightings at gatwick are released. police say they are no longer suspects. uk homelessness reaches a record high, according to the charity crisis. tributes continue to be paid to former liberal democrat