this is bbc world news today. our top stories. rescue workers search for survivors of the tsunami which hit indonesia's coast, killing at least 220 people. there were scenes of chaos after waves struck at night. over here, an image that gives you a sense of the power of the waves. these cars, i'm told, were parked on the other side of the road and they've been pushed into each other, on top of what was a holiday villa. a new face at the pentagon — patrick shanahan will be acting us defence secretary from january, after president trump brings forward the departure ofjim mattis. and in the premier league, tottenham brush aside everton 6—2 at goodison park, moving them two points behind second—placed manchester city. hello and welcome to world news today.

in indonesia, rescue teams have been working into the night looking for people trapped and injured by a tsunami which has killed more than 200 people. people are being advised to stay away from the coast, with a high—wave warning in place, after saturday's tsunami hit the sunda strait. that's the channel between the islands of java and sumatra. authorities think the giant wave was probably caused by an underwater landslide that was triggered by an eruption of the nearby volcano, anak krakatau. beaches on the strait, like carita on the west side of java are popular with day trippers and foreign tourists — and they're just 60 kilometres from the volcanic island. 0ur correspondent rebecca henschke sent this report. a popular local tourist destination, now a disaster zone. the only road in, cleared to allow aid supplies to get through. people here now trying to piece

together their lives. the next second, a wave engulfed the stage. the lead singer confirmed that four band members had died and that his wife is still missing. this coastline, where the band were playing, is now littered with rubble. 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's 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 they hadn't been a tsunami last night. they took ages to act. these waves were devastating. it was clearly a tsunami. over here, an image that gives you a sense of the power of the waves. these cars, i'm told, were parked on the other side of the road and they have been pushed into each other on top of what was a holiday villa — full at this time of year. here at this local clinic, desperate families are looking for their relatives. the injured are still arriving, and the death toll is still rising. translation: the victims

were local people who own shops and stalls here, but there were many visitors too. we are trying to open the access road. last night, a lot of debris had been dragged in and it clogged the road. officials believe underwater landslides, caused by eruptions at the nearby anak krakatau volcano, may have triggered the huge waves. it's still active. authorities are warning that there could be another tsunami and telling people to stay away from the beaches. doctor sue dawson is a hazard geoscientist at dundee university. ijust wonder i just wonder whether it's ijust wonder whether it's possible to say whether there is likely to be any further activity from this volcano, if indeed that was the cause of the tsunami. well, it

seems, as we've moved through the day, new information is coming out all the time. there has been no evidence of seismic activity which would indicate an earthquake, so it looks very likely that the tsunami isa looks very likely that the tsunami is a result of the volcanic eruption. the problem with that is the volcano will continue to erupt and is doing so, so there is likely threat in the future days and weeks ahead. the volcano has been erupting pretty much actively since june ahead. the volcano has been erupting pretty much actively sincejune of this year. it's only now that things have reached a state where it has led to the volcanic sediments being released into the ocean and then the tsunami occurring. that distinction between soon army caused by seismic

activity, earthquakes in other words, and volcanic activity, is that why there was so little warning? are they harder to anticipate? yes, they are much more difficult to anticipate. having said that, if there was an earthquake so close to the coastline, it's really difficult to give very much warning, but there is usually time for some and it would be detected. in indonesia there isn't a volcanic tsunami warning system. everything is concentrated on the earthquakes because that has been the cause of many of the tsunami over the last few centuries, really. you go back to 1883 when krakatoa itself blew up and caused a devastating soon army and caused a devastating soon army

and 36,000 people lost their lives. since then it's been relatively quiet and pretty rare. it's been out of the public awareness, i think. so what you're saying is this kind of triggerfor a soon army what you're saying is this kind of trigger for a soon army is not common at all, even in that region? certainly there is a history of it but all of the information and all of the concentration of studies and research and the warning system has all been on the big earthquakes because they have usually been associated with the more mega soon army, the catastrophic events we saw in 2004, for example —— mega soon army —— tsunami. . thanks forjoining us. and you can find more on our website, including the stories of people who survived the tsunami, told in their own words.

president trump has announced his replacement forjim mattis as defense secretary. he's patrick sha na han, currently serving as the deputy secretary of defense. he has a background in industry, and will take over on the first of january. the announcement comes as the the french president, emmanuel macron, has criticised mr trump's decision to pull us troops out of syria. a number of us allies are unhappy with the move, and jim mattis resigned shortly after president trump announced the decision. mr trump has now tweeted that the withdrawal will be slow and highly co—ordinated. our correspondent chris buckler is in washington. will come onto the cereal withdrawal ina will come onto the cereal withdrawal in a moment but this replacement at the pentagon, the new secretary of defence, what do we know about him and where he stands on issues like the withdrawal of troops from syria? patrick sha na han is the withdrawal of troops from syria? patrick shanahan is a former boeing businessman so he is someone with a different background to james

mattis, who was a general in the marine corps, and was called mad dog mattis at one stage. it will be a very different person taking this acting post. president trump hasn't said how long he will be acting for. we believe there will be some continuity because he has been working below continuity because he has been working beloinm mattis but you have the sense that president trump wa nts to have the sense that president trump wants to appoint somebody he believes in and who is going to listen to him on some key issues. it is clear that president trump is following isolationist policies, as opposed to some of the things that jim mattis was clear about in his resignation letter. for example mattis is concerned that allies are not being kept on board, that relationships are not being maintained. he believes that there should be a global approach to tackling these issues. something he shared with brett mcgurk, the us special envoy to the global coalition to fight is, who has also

put forward his resignation, again criticising donald trump, saying he doesn't believe in the policies trump is pushing. but we don't get a sense from the white house that they are prepared to back down on that sudden and surprise announcement from trump that he will pull us troops out of syria. there was concern in washington and that includes some senior republicans in congress. the announcement by president trump to pull american troops out took many by surprise. some may seem that —— may say that he is growing back on that by saying it is being coordinated and offering some reassurance by saying he is having discussions with the turkish president to avoid a power vacuum. i'm not sure how many reassured —— i'm not sure how many reassured —— i'm not sure how many reassured —— i'm not sure how reassured people in washington will become especially trump was mike critics. he made the announcement soon after talking to

president erdogan. he's been talking to him again and you are right that he's been talking about trying to stop a power vacuum emerging, working with him, but many will say thatis working with him, but many will say that is going to be quite difficult to do because of the different influences. there are concerns about russia, iran, turkey all grabbing some influence and beyond that, the kurdish fighters, they are concerned that they will be targeted by turkey as they tried to establish and get their hands on more territory in syria. the truth it is going to be difficult to contain what is happening in syria and with the us pulling out there are many critics who feel that is potentially only going to cause more problems and create more difficulties for other countries to deal with. that's why we heard criticism from president macron. the french must consider how they will respond, whether they get more involved in syria. he may talk about a slow and coordinated pull

but it's still clear that president trump wants to leave syria. thanks. as chris mentioned, france's president macron has said he ‘deeply regrets‘ president trump's decision to withdraw the us military from syria. i spoke to salih muslim, who's based in northern syria, where he represents the democratic union party of syria, which draws its support from the kurdish community. i asked him what impact a withdrawal of the american troops, who have often supported the kurdish forces, would have. well, they were consulting your people, and training, as advisers on the battlefield. they were not fighting directly, they were in the back lines. so this is what they were doing until now and maybe you can recognise that as there are no casualties at all in the battles. of course we have given thousands of martyrs but no casualties

from the international coalition at all. we were in the front lines. what will the effect be of the us troops leaving in that region of syria? well, the decision by mr trump saying isis was finished, actually it is not finished. we are talking about maybe 4,000 skilled fighters of is in the area and the heavy clashes have been going on for three days. so is is not finished yet, other than the other areas. so what we are afraid of, maybe they will find an opportunity to organise themselves and to be a threat to everybody again, over the world, especially the timing, now turkey is threatening invasion from the north side.

so this makes us worried about that. the timing, the invasion on the turkish side and from the other side, the weakness on the fronts, the fighting areas in the east. we've heard from the french president emmanuel macron that french troops will remain in syria. does that give you some reassurance? only not the french troops, also, as we are talking about the international coalition against the terrorism. the uk, france and germany and others. they said they were not satisfied with the decision. i hope if they can take the place of the united states but mainly the united states were leading in the coalition so i don't know, really, if they will be helpful or not. british police investigating the rogue drone flights which closed the uk's second biggest airport,

gatwick, are examining a damaged drone found near the perimeter fence. they've also released, without charge, two people who were arrested on friday. here's police spokesman jason tingley. while those two people have been in custody, we have been dealing with the investigation with an open mind. we have been continuing with our house to house enquiries with regards to the sightings of the drone activity. also i announced earlier that we have recovered, yesterday morning, a damaged drone. as a result of information from a member of the public. that is being forensically and digitally examined to try and pursue the perpetrator or perpetrators involved in this, if that drone itself has been involved. i can't say to you now that it has but obviously we are pursuing it as a significant line of enquiry. through the process we will also be keeping an open mind as to whether other drones were involved that we

that we may be seeking too. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: a visit to uzbekistan — how a country that's often accused of violating human rights is trying to transform its image. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael who has died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold over 100 million albums in a career spanning three decades. us troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of manuel noriega. the pentagon said it failed in its objective to capture noriega and taken to the states to drug charges. the hammer and sickle is hastily taken away and in its place the russian flag is hoisted over what is no longer the soviet union but the commonwealth of independent states. they broke slowly over lockerbie over the pan

am flight, nose down in the soft earth. you can see what happens when a plane eight stories wide and a football pitch wide. 30,000 feet. thousands went to midnight mass in a town where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news today. i'm ben bland. the latest headlines. a tsunami hits indonesia causing widespread devastation — at least 220 people have been killed and more than 800 injured. the death toll is expected to rise. president trump has brought forward the departure of his defense secretary, jim mattis, to the end of the year. patrick shanahan will take over from generaljames mattis, who resigned on friday. jeanette kwachi has all the sport.

we've had the seasons highest scoring premier league match this afternoon. tottenham are nowjust two points behind second place manchester city with spurs completing a comprehensive 6—2 win over everton at goodison park. mauricio pochettino's side ran everton ragged and tottenham and are nowjust two points behind second place manchester city. harry kane scored twice as did son heung min, while dele alli abnd christian eriksen added the other two. very pleased, i think the performance was fantastic. difficult to talk to much. i'm very proud of all my players. they deserve all the credit. that performance after playing on wednesday, i think was to show that quality was fantastic. we scored one goal first. we scored

the second goal first. the referee didn't give it. i don't know why. and afterwards, the game wasn't finished. we have to keep our organisation, keep strong. after the mistake at 1—1 they were stronger than us, faster. it is something we have to realise why. so here's a quick reminder of how the premier league table will look at christmas. spurs nowjust two points behind defending champions manchester city. and five points clear of chelsea and arsenal. liverpool out in front and four points clear. former manchester united goalkeeper peter schmeichel says the club should appoint a director of football and believes he is the man for the job. his comments come after united sacked jose mourinho as manager on tuesday and brought in?0le gunnar solskjaer as caretaker boss. schemeichel says more changes are needed at the club for them to get back to their best. it isa

it is a good idea. if not for ever, at least for a period of time. what's really important is to get the manchester united culture back. a director of football who knows the clu b well a director of football who knows the club well and understands it. i would like to see someone who has played there and understands it. i can bring some of this alex mentality back to the club. to be com pletely mentality back to the club. to be completely honest i'm actually thinking about putting my name in there. i'm considering if i have the qualities. if i come up with a yes to that question then i will throw my name in the hat. indian all—rounder ravindra jadeja will be available for wednesday's test match against australia after recovering from a shoulder problem. jadeja missed the last test in perth, which australia won to level the four match series at 1—1. head coach ravi shastri has also given an update on ravi ashwin and batsman rohit sharma. as far as ashwini is concerned we

are going to evaluate over the next 48—hour is. mohit sharma looks good. he's made very good improvement but we will see how he does tomorrow. he looks good as of today. australian cricketer tim paine will have a special co—captain for the test. after being called up to the test team earlier this month, archie schiller is going to lead his country out in melbourne. the seven—year old has battled through adversity having undergone multiple surgeries due to a heart condition. now if you've ever run a marathon, you'll know how gruelling it can be. now imagine running it in snow, in minus 20 degrees, in antarctica. 600 miles above the south pole, 57 athletes recently braved the bitter temperatures for the ice marathon, which costs about $17,000 just to enter. poland's piotr suchenia won the men's race in less than four hours. lithuanian roma puisiene won the women's race in just over five.

i don't fancy that at all. that's all the sport for now. the central asian republic of uzbekistan is frequently criticised by human rights groups for its poor record on abuse. but it wants to change its image — and it's using its history as a key point on the ancient trade route known as the silk road, linking the far east to europe, as a way of promoting tourism. the bbc has rarely been able to report from the country over the last decade, but the bbc‘s ben tavener and cameraman maxim lomakin have been invited to see how the country is attempting to lure in foreign visitors. an opposition injail. a muzzled press. isolationism. some of the things uzbekistan has long been associated with. but this central asian country, with its rich silk road history, is keen to change that. after decades of dictatorship, the country's new president is betting on tourism

to reinvigorate the country's economy. uzbekistan has a huge unrealised tourism potential. in 2017 you had roughly 3% or 4% of the gdp attributed to tourism. i expect to see a significant increase, starting this year, probably. for most, uzbekistan's ancient silk road cities are the main attraction. when we head across country, every spare inch of land is covered in fields of cotton. we ask to stop and film, but our request falls on deaf ears. human rights activists say over 1 million people on the government payroll were forced to work the fields last year. translation: we still have teachers forced out before school to pick cotton. they use their holidays to do it. certainly, any weekend during the cotton harvest, you'll see teachers and doctors out there. nothing has changed.

a un agency has since reported progress on forced labour, and the government insists it is tackling the issue. as far as human rights, you can see such a huge push from the government, from the president himself, in order to stop the forced labour. judge not based on the last 20 years, but based on the past one and a half years. uzbekistan undoubtedly has a lot of the elements, the history, the culture, the hospitality, that could make this country a successful international tourism destination. what's less clear is whether some of the larger issues, things like the state of the country's democracy and alleged human rights violations, whether they would make people think twice about coming here. almost any place in the world, you can talk about politics, you can about human rights. so, in my opinion, things like travel can really be a force for good. $5552 5 55532; ,,55 the steps being taken to ready

the country for mass tourism are plain to see. but is the country as determined to follow through on pledges to improve on human rights, or are these promises just for show? billionaire elon musk‘s space x company has launched a falcon 9 rocket into orbit. ignition. liftoff. there it goes. the craft took up a new ultra—precise navigation satellite for the us air force, that could eventually improve domestically—used gps systems too. the global positioning system iii — nicknamed vespucci — lifted off from cape canaveral in florida. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @benmbland. a bit ofa

a bit of a grey and damp day across most of the country but this week, christmas week of course, most of you will be dry. light wind, crucial if you are on the move but that will lead to some patchy frost by day and night. tonight across northern and western areas we will see fog. this area moving into the continent but leaving a weather front around the southwest and the channel islands. rain turning lighter and patio. to the north, fog patches in northern ireland and central scotland and especially north—east wales, down to the midlands and north—west england. but the blue on the chart indicates that we go to the start of the festive week with a bit of frost. compare to ten and 11 in the far south—west of the country where it

will stay grey on christmas eve with some patchy rain and drizzle. there may be some fog in east wales and the west midlands. elsewhere, a dry day, some good sunshine for the majority and feeling cooler than the weekend. temperatures in single figures for many. finishing the day with fog over eastern england which may last into the night and into christmas day. in northern and eastern areas, blues on the chart area sign eastern areas, blues on the chart are a sign of trust. but more cloud in the west lifting temperatures as we go into christmas day. for the big day, cloudy in the west with some drizzle but mostly dry and the closest we will get to something white may be a bit of festive frost across northern and eastern areas. he will see the best sunshine. varying cloud to allow some sunshine. always a chance of drizzle in the west and at its mildest, temperatures 10—12 here. middle

single figures especially in the east, especially where there is fog, which may be an issue into the night and boxing day in the south—east. the wind will be lightest here. wind skirting the north of the uk, especially parts of scotland bringing rain on boxing day. at least the wind will be light, nothing too troublesome from that point of view. some lingering fog patches and temperatures on the up relative to christmas day, round 9-11 relative to christmas day, round 9—11 degrees. this is bbc world news, the headlines... rescuers in indonesia are continuing to search people trapped and injured by a tsunami which has killed more than 200 people. the destruction is making rescue efforts more difficult, but heavy lifting equipment is being moved to badly—hit areas. president trump has announced that the us deputy secretary of defence, patrick shanahan, will replace his former boss, jim mattis, onjanuary the 1st. general mattis resigned last week over mr trump's plans to withdraw us troops from syria. the french president, emmanuel macron, has criticised

mr trump's decision to pull out us troops, saying an ally should be dependable. speaking after visiting european troops in chad, mr macron said he deeply regretted the move and paid tribute to general mattis. other us allies have also voiced their concern. two people arrested in connection with flying drones at gatwick