this is bbc news. i'm vicky young. the headlines at 4:00pm. 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 battle to bring the injured to safety. eyewitnesses describe scenes of chaos after 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. homelessness in the uk reaches a record high — according to the charity crisis. tributes continue to be paid to former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown, who's died at the age of 77. in halfan

in half an hour i'll be looking back ata in half an hour i'll be looking back at a momentous year for science, when astronomers sent a probe to touch the sun. while back on earth, climate scientists warn it was now oi’ climate scientists warn it was now or never to save the planet. rescue teams in indonesia are searching for survivors of a deadly tsunami that has killed at least 220 people. 100 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 anak krakato volcano. rebecca henschke has this report from indonesia.

a work party to celebrate the end of the year. on stage, the stars of the night, a local rock group in full swing, when suddenly the waves engulf the stage from behind. four members of the band 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 tourists 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 completely destroyed. amongst it the plates and drinks, knick—knacks that would've been bought.

rani says she doesn't know how they will rebuild. translation: we were all set up for christmas and the new year holiday period, but it has all 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? at first they said there hadn't been a tsunami last night. they took ages to act. these waves were devastating. it was clearly a tsunami. here at this local clinic, desperate families carry out the grim task of trying to identify the dead. officials believe underwater landslides caused by volcanic 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. let's talk to colin macpherson —

a professor at the department of earth sciences at durham university in the north of england. thank you forjoining us this afternoon. we were hearing about what might have caused this tsunami. presumably, the thinking is it was potentially the eruption of anak kra katoa potentially the eruption of anak krakatoa or could potentially the eruption of anak kra katoa or could it potentially the eruption of anak krakatoa or could it be something else? it seems to be associated with an eruption of anak krakatoa. the volcano certainly erupted yesterday evening local time with quite a vigorous plume produced, ejecting material about 15 kilometres into the sky. but what about 20—30 minutes before the tsunami hit the shores around the sunda strait. so,

the likelihood is that the volcano and its eruption is at the root of this. whether it was the explosion itself or whether that activity dislodged material that was on the side of the volcano is not absolutely clear, given the large amount of water that would have to be displaced to generate a tsunami, the landslide idea seems to be the one that's most consistent with most of observations so far. this is an area that in the past has experienced volcanic eruptions but also tsunamis as well. it is an area that will never get used to that but is used to this kind of activity. that will never get used to that but is used to this kind of activitym is used to this kind of activitym is used to volcanic and seismic earthquake activity. the root cause of this tsunami seems to be different from the very large one in 2004 on boxing day, and from the one earlier this year in sulawesi which

we re earlier this year in sulawesi which were clearly caused by large earthquakes. there is no seismic evidence, seismometers have not recorded a large earthquake associated with this event. that's why the eruption of the volcano and perhaps the movement of the failure of the flanks of the volcano and movement of the material of the fla nks movement of the material of the flanks seems to be the most likely explanation. it's a very active area, it's one of the things that makes it fascinating to study. also, the volcanic activity is what leads to the presence of lots of fertile soil and natural resources which is why so many people choose to live there. for those living there, trying to recover and for the rescue teams, they will be keen to know whether there is any way of predicting whether there will be any more eruptions, anything else that could make this happen again in the coming days. it's very difficult to

predict. the eruption of the volcano has been going on for about six months. there's been moderate levels of material being injected out of the top, small explosions, lava flows a nd the top, small explosions, lava flows and so on. last night's large eruption was clearly a continuation of that but it was a much more extreme event. whether there will be more of those is not possible for us to predict at the moment. thank you. 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. sussex police say a damaged drone has been found and is being forensically examined. flights were grounded for more than 36 hours when drones were first spotted close to the runway on wednesday night. our correspondentjenny kumah is at crawley police station and gave us this update

a short while ago. well, the two people were arrested on friday night. a short time ago, the police announced that they had been released without charge. in a statement, they say that the pair fully cooperated with enquiries, but officers are satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents. those incidents which 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 enquiries. gatwick airport say they are offering a reward. a £50,000 reward in return for any information that leads to an arrest or a 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 to check before your flight, just in case your service is affected by any knock—on effects from that midweek disruption.

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 forforeign 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. mps are warning that the way childcare is paid under the government's flagship benefits policy universal credit is preventing people 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. new figures from the charity crisis suggest that more than 170,000 individuals and families are experiencing the most extreme forms of homelessness — which include sleeping on the street. it says many people are also living in what it describes as "unsuitable

temporary accomodation". let's speak to matthew downie, director of policy and external affairs at crisis. thank you forjoining us this afternoon which is obviously a busy time of yearfor your afternoon which is obviously a busy time of year for your charity. just explain why you think these figures have increased in the way they have in recent years. all forms of homelessness have been going up for a number of years. the most visible form is rough sleeping and base figures have gone up to 12,000 people sleeping rough in england, scotla nd people sleeping rough in england, scotland and wales. we've known for a long time there are thousands of people in hostels, night shelters, refuges, b and all these people are still homeless. there are 170,000 households in britain experiencing those worst forms of homelessness. this can't continue, and with the

right policies we can do something about it. what policies would you like the government to be pursuing to try and make sure this isn't increasing and that those who are homeless can be found shelter? the two main things that need to happen 01’ two main things that need to happen or that everyone that homeless needs somewhere to live. they need somewhere to live. they need somewhere affordable to live, so we need more social housing and affordable housing. we have no where near the numbers we need. secondly, it's one of the clear and most common causes of homelessness is people just not being able to afford their rent. that's because housing benefit doesn't cover it. three universal credit we need to see the rights of housing benefit go up. with those things we can stop causing homelessness but with specialist help we can make sure every single person's life is put back together and they can leave behind homelessness forget tell us about the work of your charity

crisis and what kind of will be going on over christmas, but you will be trying to help people over this time. crisis provide services all year round but at christmas we open 15 dedicated centres where we expect to welcome between 4000 and 5000 people. they will experience the warmth and comfort of a christmas amongst people there to ca re christmas amongst people there to care for them and also will get specialist advice with benefits, specialist advice with benefits, specialist health care support and will be entertained. they will have fun and what you and i would expect which is a decent christmas. the most important thing is we make sure we introduce all of those people to oui’ we introduce all of those people to our year—round services so this isn't just a our year—round services so this isn'tjust a one off, so that people really do have their homelessness ended afterwards. thank you. the headlines on bbc news.

a tsunami strikes indonesia — 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. uk homelessness reaches a record high — according to the charity crisis. more now on the tsunami which has 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. our indonesia editor rebecca henschke reports. this popular local tourist

destination has been turned into a disaster area at a time when holiday—makers flock to these beautiful beaches here to celebrate christmas and the end of the year. all along this road that runs along the coast, we've seen devastation. on this side, the stalls and houses made out of bamboo and wood, all set up to receive visitors, have been completely reduced to rubble. their owners devastated that a time when they were hoping to make some money they've lost everything. on the other side of the road is the more substantial buildings. the villas and hotels made out of cement, that have also in places crumbled because of the waves. in one place we saw three cars that had been picked up by the waves, moved across the road and landed on the top of one of these destroyed villas.

the number of injured is still in the hundreds, and many have been rushed to hospitals outside of this area that is not set up to cope with these kind of disasters. in one clinic we saw the body bags of those who died here laid out in the car park, with desperate family members having to come there to try to identify their loved ones. the government is telling people to stay away from the beaches. this was an unusual and very unpredictable tsunami. it happened at night in the pitch black and they believe it was triggered by volcanic activity at anak krakatoa, the volcano that sits out in the sunda straits. it's been erupting and officials say an underground landslide may have been strong enough to trigger tsunami.

given that the volcano is still active, another tsunami may happen so people are very much on edge here and have been told to go to higher ground. 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 row‘s 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 24 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. on 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. they're two of some of our most famous sporting heroes.

torvill and dean became british, european, world and olympic champions, cheered on by huge tv audiences. now a christmas day one—off drama tells their story from early childhood to the peak of their careers. lizo mzimba's been to meet them, and the actors who play them on screen. the winter olympics, 1984. close to half the uk population watched nervously as, to the tune of ravel‘s bolero, two friends from nottinghamshire took to the sarajevo ice. now, the story of jayne torvill and christopher dean's journey to the top of the ice dancing world has been immortalised for a christmas day tv drama. well, we were quite honoured and humbled, really, because no—one has ever done that before. and to think that they thought our story could be a story as part of a drama, it was... yeah, we thought it was a fantastic idea. i think we were very humbled by it,

and the fact that somebody would be interested to, as you say, immortalise it and put it on film, and for hopefully millions of people to watch. when they first met, they of course never dreamt they would become two of british sport's best loved figures. you're here — good. a lot of responsibility for the actors playing them. you have met christopher, haven't you? well, you've seen him around, anyway. there are a lot of people we need to serve. we need to serve the script, we need to serve the director's vision, we need to serve our own vision, and on top of that, the public's vision of these two amazing skaters, and then them as well. there is pressure. i hope that they enjoy it, and they see some kind of similarities in what we're doing on screen. behind the scenes of their public skating life, there are perhaps hints that their relationship was briefly more thanjust friendship.

the chemistry has to be right. we spent 40—plus years together, and at some point as teenagers, you know... you kind of think about it. yes. and then i think we thought, no, we're all right. we would rather focus on the skating. yeah, the skating became the most important thing. many of those watching won't have even been born when torvill and dean scored their olympic victory. many, though, could still find it an inspiration. funny to be a fly on the wall in some of the households watching, because you can imagine the young children saying, "well, who are they, what did they do?", and then the parents going onto youtube and showing the actual olympic performances. but also i think kids, whether they're in skating or any sport, they can see the potential. you know, it's all about dedication and passion and perseverance to get to the top. it's not handed to you, you have to work really hard for it.

torvill and dean — still remembered today as the nottinghamshire ice dancers who skated their way into sporting history. now it's time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom to phil avery. is it ice skating weather? not here. this was sent in a while ago from the lincolnshire coast. thank you for this. no matter how much christmas sparkle i put on the next graphic, the christmas week message is it's going to be settled but really rather dull and grey. this is the way of it later on today. we've got this banner of cloud across southern counties, ramping up the rain. rain further north petering away with time. best of the sunshine

in scotland and northern ireland just before sunset, we hope. chilly across the north. mild in the south. that weather front doesn't really go far very fast. further north, as the skies begin to clear, a touch of frost away from the coast and some fog on monday. merseyside area, northern ireland and one or two pockets elsewhere. monday is a decent day, still the remnants of cloud in the south—west keeping it mild. despite the sunshine further north it's going to a chilly day. watch out for some of the lingering fog. hello. 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 the injured to safety. 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 leader lord ashdown, who's died at the age of 77. now on bbc news, it's been a year in which climate scientists warned