this is bbc news — i'm vicki young. the headlines at 3:00pm. a tsunami hits indonesia causing widespread devastation — more than 220 people are dead and more than 700 injured. emergency services are battling to save the injured. eyewitnesses describe scenes of chaos after waves struck at night. the water came in at about 5m 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. and in half an hour, a festive edition of click brings us the latest from the world of technology and gadgets.

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 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've 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. dr sue dawson is a hazard geoscientist at dundee university. thank you for speaking to us. can

you explain how this eruption seems to have caused the tsunami? is it a straightforward explanation? good afternoon. well, it's not a straightforward explanation. the volcano anak kra katoa straightforward explanation. the volcano anak krakatoa has been erupting for the last couple of months on and off and it would seem that there was a particularly violent eruption overnight that has either led to the side of the volcano, the flank collapsing into the ocean and leading to a tsunami, oi’ the ocean and leading to a tsunami, or has triggered what we call submarine landslides triggering the tsunami. at this stage we aren't sure which is the correct because. if it was more of a landslide, with

the more unusual in these circumstances? tsunami is attributed to volcanoes are relatively rare. they are usually associated with seismic activity and earthquakes. but because the volcano sits in the ocean, any release of material will lead to a tsunami and that seems to have been what we've seen here. we've seen in the past that this is an area of the world where this kind of activity is more common than other places. that is the case, presumably they can expect that to u nfortu nately presumably they can expect that to unfortunately continue. yes, the area has unfortunately been hit by many tsunami patients throughout history. the biggest one of course was in 200a. the anniversary, 14

yea rs was in 200a. the anniversary, 14 years ago, is coming up on boxing day. krakatoa years ago, is coming up on boxing day. kra katoa itself years ago, is coming up on boxing day. krakatoa itself hasn't erupted —— erupted in 1983 and caused a devastating tsunami that killed 36,000 people. the area isn't averse to the sort of tsunamis but volcanic eruptions tsunamis are rare and are harder to predict and prepare. white it is difficult but is there any way of predicting this kind of activity? there has been a lot of talk since the september tsunami in sulawesi and the apparent failure of the early warning system and the tsunami hazard warning system. the problem is that is only set up for seismic activity and not volcanic activity.

we don't have anything in place at all. the other problem is the volcano and the tsunami are so close to the coastlines that have been affected, it's almost impossible to warn people. you only really can make sure there is a good understanding of education about tsunamis and what happened in the past. they are possible from volcanic eruptions as well as earthquakes and hopefully a volcanic and landslide tsunami warning system can be put in place to prepare for the future. thank you. 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". matthew downie, director of policy and external affairs at crisis, told me more about why homelessness is on the rise. well, all forms of homelessness have been going up for a number of years now. the most visible form is rough sleeping, and those figures have gone up to 12,000 people sleeping rough now in england, scotland and wales. we've also known for a long time there are thousands of people in hostels, night shelters, refuges, bed and breakfasts, and all of these people are still homeless. 170,000 households in britain are 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 indeed that those who are homeless can be found shelter? the two main things that need to happen are that everyone that's homeless needs somewhere to live.

they need somewhere affordable to live, so we need more social housing and more affordable housing. we simply have nowhere near the numbers that 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 just doesn't cover it. through universal credit we need to see the rates 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 that they leave behind homelessness for good. 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. 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. let's talk to detective chief superintendent jason tingley from sussex police who joins us from gatwicks terminal 2. this couple has now been released, i'll be back to square one? —— i'll be back to square one? firstly, we aren't back to square one. if i can talk about the two people in custody. i've got some feedback on

the earpiece... just checking you can hear me? yes, we can hear you. i'll carry on and then i'll stop if there is feedback but it sounds ok at the moment. firstly, in relation to the two people released from custody, it's really important we say i am satisfied they aren't suspects with regards to this incident. i should also say they have fully co—operated all the time they've been in custody. we were working on information from a member of the public to progress that investigation. we have been dealing with that with a very open mind over the last couple of days while they've been in custody. we have also been furthering other lines of enquiry in terms of persons of interest, house—to—house inquiries where we've known where the drone sightings have been, and lastly what isa sightings have been, and lastly what is a significant part of the investigation, the finding of a

damaged drone close to the perimeter fencing at gatwick yesterday morning which obviously we are investigating in terms of the forensic opportunities that may bring baked ina digital opportunities that may bring baked in a digital sense and also dna and otherwise —— both in a digital sense. we aren't back to square one, we are progressing and will respond to any information or intelligence we get. to return to the couple, some will say they've been treated rather unfairly, they have done absolutely nothing wrong and yet images and names splashed all over the newspapers and they are com pletely the newspapers and they are completely innocent. well, i'm satisfied the arrest of those two individuals was lawful. we treated them and make sure we are looking after them in terms of that welfare and support after their release from custody. but i will say about the disclosure of personal details and parts of the investigation in

relation to those arrests, we will never from a policing relation to those arrests, we will neverfrom a policing perspective disclose that information. that has been disclosed through the media and it causes some frustration in terms of the investigation itself but more importantly the impact on those two individuals. we will pursue and progress information given to us particularly from members of the public or intelligence from agencies, i can't stress enough the impact on those two individuals of what has been released and we would not have chosen in any event to provide that information to anyone and we wouldn't do that in any normal investigation. secondly, it frustrates the investigation in terms of that information being released in the public domain. particularly when there are specific parts of the evidence and investigation we would rather not be out in the public domain. it frustrates an effective and thorough investigation and one might say that

has probably hinted at in terms of how quickly we've been able to get toa how quickly we've been able to get to a resolution in terms of them being released from custody. how challenging has this investigation been? you are talking about a damaged drone, it sounds as if it's near to the airport. how certain are you that might have been one of the drones involved? it will be a working assumption that it may be connected. again, we have to look at this with an open mind. we will be fore nsically this with an open mind. we will be forensically examining it which is happening now. we are also going through a number, or many reports of sightings of drone activity over the last two days. we are meticulously going through that information to see if it produces any further lines of enquiry and also where we may focus efforts in terms of house—to—house inquiries, cctv footage and any other information that will help us work through the investigation. you say you've got an

open mind, are you even considering the possibility there may not have been genuine drone sightings in the first place? that will always be a possibility but what we are working with is a range of information from a number of people. members of the public, police officers and staff working at gatwick who will say they've seen a drone or something that looks like a drone in the sky in the previous few days. we have to work on that basis. we cannot discount the possibility that there may have been no drone at all but if you think about the recovery of the drone itself i mentioned earlier, and also the number of people that say they had seen a try, we have to work with that information. —— seen a try. we will be working in full consultation and engagement with gatwick airport limited and we have

a strong relationship with those members of staff in terms of that and we'll review that as we work through many aspects of this investigation. thank you forjoining us. 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. in sport, rangers are back to second in the spl after coming from behind to beat stjohnstone 2—1. rene ross scored both their goals, the winner came in the 88th minute. wasps could go third in the rugby union

premiership table if they get a bonus point win against bath. it's 6-3 to bonus point win against bath. it's 6—3 to wasps at the moment thanks to two penalties. dillian whyte could bea anthonyjoshua's two penalties. dillian whyte could bea anthony joshua's next two penalties. dillian whyte could bea anthonyjoshua's next fight after he knocked out dereck chisora last night. in other boxing news, josh warrington retained his world featherweight title by beating carl frampton on a unanimous decision. a full update in the next hour. 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 correspondent rebecca henschke sent us this report from carita beach in westjava.

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 at 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 this 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. rebecca henschke, bbc news, carita. 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. as we've been hearing,

senior politicalfigures have been remembering the former liberal democrat leader, paddy ashdown who died yesterday. lord ashdown, who was 77, had been diagnosed with bladder cancer in october. someone who worked with him for many years was fellow liberal democrat baroness shirley 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 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. on 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.

now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. hello again. if you've got travel plans for the next few days, it looks like christmas week isn't going to get in your way. settled, fair, thanks to an area of high pressure, although really rather dull and grey for many of us. it doesn't look particularly settled for the rest of the day and overnight, simply because we have this weather front close by to the southern counties of england. at least that helps to keep temperatures up there. elsewhere, under clearing skies, it will be a cold start to the new day on monday. that's christmas eve, of course. and there will be some fog in the forecast for northern ireland, around the merseyside area as well. but monday is shaping up to be a really decent sort of day. late in the day, i think we'll find fog forming again across the line of the a1 corridor. throughout the day, the cloudless skies down towards the south—west. here we are, christmas day itself, a lot of cloud round. the best of the brightness somewhere

across the eastern side of both scotland and england. mildest out towards the west. despite the sunshine, pretty chilly in the east. 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.