this is bbc news. i'm carol walker. the headlines at four: rescue workers continue the search for survivors of the tsunami in indonesia. more than 370 people are now known to have died. there are fears the death toll could rise with warnings of more deadly waves triggered by volcanic eruptions. ministers discuss security arrangements at airports following the drone activity that led to the closure of gatwick. thousands of rail passengers face disruption over christmas because of major engineering works. respect and understanding, the queen uses her christmas speech to deliver a message of goodwill to all. chris evans bids a festive farewell to listeners as he hosts his final radio 2 breakfast show. good afternoon.

indonesia's disaster agency now say at least 373 people were killed, and a further 128 are still missing, following the volcanic eruption and tsunami that swept through sunda strait on saturday. more than m00 people have been injured. thousands of people who live on the islands of java and sumatra have been forced to evacuate to higher ground as the tsunami hit coastal areas. in the last few hours, there have been more eruptions from the anak krakatau volcano, fuelling fears of another tsunami. rebecca henschke reports. rescue workers clear away the rubble in a race to find survivors. but today, they have only been pulling out bodies. this ocean fronting villa was full, hosting an end of year work

event in this popular local tourist destination. villas like this one built right on the shore didn't stand a chance when the huge waves hit. this, the state of the swimming pool, and the villa now. teams from the military and the search and rescue teams are here, clearing away the rubble to make way for what will be a slow rebuilding process here. across this devastated coastline, the recovery effort is under way. teams have arrived to restore power and phone lines. translation: we want to get the phone lines up again, so people can call their families and tell them how they are, and about the situation here. presidentjoko widodo has visited, and praised the relief effort. but he faced tough questions about the state of the country's tsunami warning system,

and vowed to do better. translation: we don't know yet for sure where the source of the tsunami was, it's still be checked. in the future the relevant agencies will provide detection equipment. systems that can give a warning to everyone. the national disaster agency confirming today that the country's tsunami detection buoys system has been broken since 2012. authorities are telling people to now keep away from the beaches, due to fears that ongoing activity from the anak krakatau volcano could trigger a new tsunami. all along the coast, people have come back, taking the risk to pull out anything of worth from the rubble. this is what is left of this man's house and shop. translation: i do feel scared coming back, but i had to take what i can. i can't get the images of the huge

waves out of my head. despite what he's gone through, he says he will rebuild his beach cafe here in the same spot. it's all we have, he tells me. rebecca henschke reporting there. we can now speak to a world leading expert in the study of volcanoes, dr janine krippner — a volcanologist at concord university. thank you forjoining us. tell us what your analysis is as what is caused this disaster. it is too early to save the shore but based on satellite imagery and images that have, alt, it looks like landslide of the volcanic edifice cause material to come into the sea which might have triggered the tsunami. this is essentially a piece coming off the side of the volcano, going

into the water and triggering the tsunami. yes, volcanoes are inherently unstable. they are piles of love and rocks so this is unknown hazard of volcanoes. —— piles of lava and rock. it is one of the most active volcanoes. you surprise there appears to have been no warning of what happened at all? no, i am not surprised. the location of the potential triggering of this tsunami means that the warning would be extremely difficult in this case. if it is the volcano that has been active for long time, surely this is something that the authorities could have foreseen? yes, maybe they could have. it is a nose hazard of the volcano. —— known hazard. understanding when this will happen and how big is extremely

difficult. giving people warning at the right time is an enormous task. it is unlike the earthquake that have triggered other tsunamis, this is not one that you can predict when it is going to happen, even though there is a strong likelihood. exactly. when you have a tsunami, the retreat further out to sea, there is time to pick up the signal and for people to interpret that the tsunami is coming. this is very different. it originated much closer to shore. what about the likelihood of further eruptions and further tsunamis triggered by that? eruption could continue for quite some time based on the proximity, it is an active volcano, we cannot tell the stability of the volcano right now so stability of the volcano right now so there's a chance more collapse. we do not know. there is nothing

further that the authorities could oi’ further that the authorities could or should be doing now to try and provide better warnings, better protection than those communities that are at risk. the communities or along oceanfront in indonesia should be very aware of how to spot a tsunami coming and what to do immediately. it is really important that it immediately. it is really important thatitis immediately. it is really important that it is deeply ingrained in how people behave because when people are faced with a crisis, they often freeze. so knowing what to do immediately if you see the water changing, get to higher ground. immediately if you see the water changing, get to higher groundm is not worth risking it. thank you very much indeed for talking to us. the christmas getaway this year is being hampered by widespread disruption to train services, with over 300 sets of planned engineering works taking place around britain. several major towns and cities are affected including are affected, including liverpool and manchester. and many services out of london to the rest of the country have been affected,

as navtej johal reports. even santa would struggle on public transport today. these travellers in manchester are among the thousands braving it on a day of disruption. they are having to deal with schedule changes as festive engineering works begin to bite. we watched it on the news this morning, so we were worried because i'm here to see family from australia, and there was no problems whatsoever. my train was fine, but i heard that victoria was affected. liverpool lime street is also running reduced services throughout the week, but it is here in london such as at euston where they are bearing the brunt of the problems. there are no trains running from paddington until after boxing day, and none between victoria and clapham junction until the new year. rail passengers trying to get between the capital and east anglia, south wales, the midlands and north all face disruption. in total, there are 330 engineering works taking place across the country. 25,000 people will be working on the railway

system over the next week, as part of a ems million investment across the network during christmas and new year. so why is it happening now? network rail says this is the time of year when demand is at its lowest. it's expecting trains to be 50% quieter than normal. also the work it says it does now will ensure a more reliable service in the future, but that doesn't help these passengers here at london euston today, who are facing a reduced service. the advice to passengers is to plan ahead. this is nothing like a normal monday. services will be closing down early evening, and no trains running anywhere on christmas day. boxing day, there will be a skeleton service on a very few lines. so if you can avoid it, maybe leave the travelling today to those with a sleigh. navteonhal, bbc news, london euston. ministers have been discussing

security arrangements at airports this morning following last week's drone sightings at gatwick airport. officers say the investigation remains active after the release without charge of a couple from crawley. despite earlier saying sightings may have been mistaken, 67 reports made by the public, passengers, airport officials and police officers are being investigated. a reward of £60,000 has been offered for information. a couple questioned by police over the drone disruption which closed the airport for almost 36 hours have said they feel "completely violated" by the experience. paul gait and elaine kirk say the ordeal has left them "deeply distressed" and they are receiving medical care. they were arrested and released without charge after two nights in custody. the rspca has released cctv footage of a man abandoning a dog from a car in stoke on trent. the charity is trying to trace a man in the car who is seen unclipping the dog's lead before

running back to the vehicle and leaving last monday evening. the distressed staffordshire bull terrier chases the care as it drives away. —— chases the car. the dog, named snoop by staff at a vets, is being cared for at boarding kennels. four men who arrested on cargo ship in the thames estuary have appeared in court, charged with affray. the grande tema left nigeria two weeks ago. the group were detained after police boarded the ship on friday following reports that the crew had been threatened. around 3000 people have been evacuated from an apartment building in sydney after residents heard a ‘loud crack‘. police say, the newly opened 0pal tower had moved "one to two millimetres". residents are now preparing to spend christmas eve in an evacuation centre, as an emergency operation takes place, to determine the extent of the damage. fire and rescue, specialists,

ambulance, paramedics and public works engineers will be making entry to level ten to investigate the cause of the crack and to determine whether the building is safe to inhabit, or if any further remediation works are required. the queen will urge people to treat each other with respect, during her annual christmas message which will be broadcast tomorrow. the comments, which have been released by buckingham palace to newspapers, are likely to be seen as an attempt by the monarch to calm the debate over brexit. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. throughout her reign, the queen has always been notably cautious whenever it's come to making a comment which could be construed as an observation about the political debate. but with the nation divided over brexit, it would be strange if the head of state, in her one personal message of the year, did not make some attempt to address people's concerns. her christmas message was recorded earlier this month at buckingham palace,

when the brexit debate in parliament was at its height. in the broadcast she will say this. "even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding." the context of those remarks isn't clear from what buckingham palace has released. it may be doubted whether the queen has said anything explicit about brexit, but it's clear that the palace is hoping these few words, and a reference to the need for the christmas spirit of good will to be heeded, will be construed as an attempt by the monarch to soothe the brexit debate. nicholas witchell, bbc news. there were a series of telephone conversations with the chief executive of america's sixth—largest

bank to calm down fears about the economy. about of continuing trade war with china and a partial government shutdown have been exacerbated by reports that president trump has discussed firing the chairman of the federal reserve, jerome powell. donald trump has tweeted about this in the last few minutes he said, "the only problem our economy has is the fed. they don't have a feel for the market, they don't understand necessary trade wars or strong dollars or even democrat shutdowns over borders. the fed is like a powerful golfer who can't score because he has no touch — he can't putt! samira hussain is in new york for us. donald trump, once again, taking to twitter to vent his theory. certainly these attempts to calm the markets appears to have the opposite

effect. yes, there's quite a lot to diejust right effect. yes, there's quite a lot to die just right there. let us talk about the treasury 62 —— secretary. there's a lot to discuss. he then, on twitter, but the statement about this conversation, which is something that is quite unusual. first steven mnuchin ascot if they had enough liquidity to shore up the financial markets if it was needed. i'm the reason why he was asking about that, it has to do with the financial crisis. these checks were put in place after the financial crisis when the banks did not have enough money to really shore up the economy. that is what he was talking to the banks about. he put out this statement in a way to try and corn financial markets but if anything,

it has worried them all because now banks are wondering, financial markets are wondering why are you wondering about this, this was not a concern of ours, what do you know perhaps that we do not? donald trump's tweets there seems to suggest that he is now serious with the fed. what are the likelihood is a —— likely implications of that? we have heard from president trump and his feelings about the us federal reserve, that is america's central bank, the reason is the federal reserve has been slowly raising interest rates. the rising interest rates is a direct impact on the us stock market. we have seen the us stock market. we have seen the stocks have been trading lower and the president does not really like to see the stock market is not doing well because truthfully, he has invested a lot of his capital in how well the us financial markets

are doing. the fact that we think that us markets are not doing as well this year, that has a direct impact to his policies and his politics. that is why you are seeing a lot of his anger really being levelled at the federal reserve. presumably this partial shutdown of the government is not going to make it, not going to do anything to reverse the trend. it is all of it, there is the partial shutdown, we heard over the weekend from some people in the white house suggesting that this shutdown could actually last into the new year. we have trade tensions between the united states and china. we think that the us economy, despite it's still growing, how fast it is grown, is actually slowing down more than people expected. there is really whole host of political, economic

issues that are going to be plaguing us markets going forward in 2019. many thanks for the latest from, well, it looks like a rather blustery new york. rescue workers continue searching for survivors of the tsunami in indonesia. more than threejune 70 people are now known to have died. rail disruption planned over christmas because of major engineering works. security arrangements are discussed at airports after the drone issue that led to gatwick being shut down. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. arsenal midfielder henrikh mkhitaryan has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a broken foot. the armenia international has fractured a metatarsal

in his right foot. mkhitaryan was subbed at half—time during the carabao cup quarter—final loss to tottenham and missed the premier league win over burnley at the weekend. arsenal are away at brighton on boxing day. tottenham are just two points behind second placed manchester city in the league. that's after spurs beat everton and city suffered a surprise defeat at home to crystal palace. that result meant leaders liverpool maintained their li—point lead at the top, jurgen klopp though isn't reading too much into the reigning champions surprise loss. totte n ha m tottenham had the most difficult summer tottenham had the most difficult summer period, i don't talk about not signing players, because if you have the right team, why should you signed players? it isjust have the right team, why should you signed players? it is just because the players played the full walcott briley and playing so far up the seasonis briley and playing so far up the season is more than impressive. that is the situation. a lot of teams are

in what you call the title race. well, liverpool face newcastle on boxing day, who's manager rafael benitez says it would be a ‘miracle' if his side were to avoid relegation from the premier league. benitez‘s side failed to win any of their opening 10 league games, but are currently 15th in the table and 5 points above the relegation zone. benitez has said "for me, it is almost clear and if we can be better than three teams, it will be another miracle." less than 48 hours after retaining his ibf featherweight world title with a unanimous points win over carl frampton on saturday, josh warrington is now eyeing up a unification bout against one of the division's other belt holders. warrington has now taken his professional record to 28 wins and no defeats, including six knockouts. it's these big nights that get me up for it. when i am the underdog or my back is against the wall, that is when i get fired up for the training sessions.

another belt to go alongside this one would be lovely, and all them boys, they whet my appetite and to take the fans that have followed me through thick and thin stateside for a crazy weigh day would be something special. there was plenty of domestic interest as the sydney thunder beat rivals sydney sixers by 21 runs in australia's big bash earlier. jos buttler top scored for thunder, hitting 63 runs as his side went on to reach 169 for 9. steve 0'keefe took the wicket of buttler, and also that of england captain joe root, who scored just nine. tom curran was facing his england team—mates and he top scored for the sixers with 62. their total of 148 though meant they fell 22 runs short of their target. british number one johanna konta is confident of an upturn in fortunes next year with new coach dimitri zavialoff. konta's form dipped after reaching

the the semi—finals of wimbledon in 2017 and rising to fourth in the world. she will go into the new year 37th in the rankings but feels "better equipped to deal with challenges on court" after a "very strong pre—season". that's all the sport for now. adam, thank you. christmas can be a difficult time of year for young people who've recently left ca re, they often have no family to spend the festive period with and friends tend to be with their own loved ones. 0ur reporter ashleyjohn—baptiste, who himself grew up in care, has been to north—west england where volunteers are busy making plans for care—leavers to celebrate the big day together. a glimpse of christmas spirit. volunteers gathering to organise a festive dinner for young people who have left the care system. we're at a location in wigan, where volunteers have come together

to prepare for a christmas dinner for ca re levers. now, i grew up in care in south—east london. i never had this sort of event put on for me when i was in care, or when i left care, so i'm really excited to see how this will impact the care community here in wigan. shall i help? alex and susie are siblings who were split up in care. having spent eight years without seeing each other, they were reunited at a christmas eventjust like this one last year. just being able to be together was really nice. christmas is, like, meant to be a time for, like, family and we look down on christmas we can see a time where we didn't have much as a kid. now when we come back now, you get presents, you get food, it's good. it's a nice place to be at christmas time. it's like being at home, sort of thing. your own little family. you go home with a big bag of presents at the end. it's nice.

what would christmas be like for you both without this christmas dinner? it's a really happy time of year for us two, because that's what we've missed for so long. it's normally a time for family, and that brings all the negatives back for us, i think. this is one of scores of dinners taking place across the country for care leavers. the initiative comes from the poet and campaigner lemn sissay, who also grew up in care. christmas is not the easiest time for a lot of people who have left care, because they don't have the family round them, they're not used to getting presents. this christmas dinner is a way of letting them feel love from the community. growing up between four foster families and a care home, i know first hand the unique set of challenges confronted by many young people, when they leave care. merry christmas. and whilst it will take more than a dinner to solve their problems, events like this at christmas, when most people are with theirfamilies, aim to give care leavers

a sense of home. ashleyjohn—baptiste, bbc news. blood donors are being urged to keep their appointments before christmas. the service is warning failure to arrive on time, or turn up at all, could hit blood stocks over the critical festive period. caroline davies reports. it's not only the shops that are busy in oxford street today. a few paces away, so are the beds at the re—opened blood donor centre. one of the first through the door is ian, who has been donating for nearly 50 years. i believe this is my 160th. and he's seen what blood donation can do. in 2003 his son was hit by a drunk driver. he was very much on the borderline, but he beat the odds, you know. yeah, itjust made me want to do that much more. cheering them on from the sidelines are hannah and her motherjulie. i've got cystic fibrosis, and then i was put on a waiting list for a heart and double lung transplant. luckily i got my transplant, but also i needed to have blood transfusions to make that

happen as well. we were waiting for the call and you don't know if that call is going to come. we didn't think she would make it. well, it's the gift of life. it is. it's the gift of life, blood or organs, it is the gift of life. on his first donation is eugene. it's like a little pinch. it doesn't hurt at all. it's like an injection, basically. there's obviously a need for people of black and ethnic groups to give blood, there's a shortage. i thought why not come down on christmas and give blood. fewer than 1% of londoners give blood, and there's a push to encourage more black and ethnic minority donors, particularly to help sickle cell patients, like six—year—old angel. injune she turned blue and was struggling to breathe. she was rushed to hospital. she had to have an emergency blood transfusion, which basically saved her life. if it wasn't for the kindness of an unknown blood donor she wouldn't be alive today. and for all of those who do donate, angel has a message. thank you.

caroline davies, bbc london news. the news agenda over the last few months has been dominated by the twists and turns of brexit. reality check correspondent chris morris has been getting to the bottom of the technicaljargon. today he takes a look at the irish border backstop. you may have heard about the backstop. it is a baseball term really, so what does it have to do with brexit? think in terms of the safety net and you get the general idea. the backstop is key to talks over the future of the irish border after brexit. why? this line between the irish republic and northern ireland will be the only land border between the uk and the european union. and that matters for trade because in theory there should be checks on stuff crossing the border after brexit. but no—one wants new inspections at the border, they'd bring back memories of 30 years of conflict in northern ireland.

checkpoints could become a target. the uk and the eu hope to agree a trade relationship in the future that keeps the border as open as it is now. but if they can't, or if there is a delay, that is when the backstop comes in. it is a legal guarantee to avoid a hard border under all circumstances. the trouble is the uk and the eu don't see eye to eye on how the backstop should work. the uk says the eu's version could undermine the union between northern ireland and great britain. the eu says the uk's plan could damage the integrity of its economic area, the single market. for both sides, these are really important principles so they are looking for a compromise before time runs out. the backstop has to be part of the withdrawal agreement that needs to be signed before brexit is due to happen in march 2019. and without a backstop,

there will be no brexit deal at all. chris evans has bid an emotional farewell to listeners to his final radio 2 breakfast show this morning. he said it was a "sad day" as he left after nine years at the helm. evans is off to virgin radio but will be back on the bbc in the next series of strictly come dancing. 0ur arts editor will gompertz listened in to his last show. there's flash photography in his report. singing. ta—ra! and with that, chris evans signed off for the last time as host of britain's most popular radio show. he took it over in 2010, from a broadcaster who was an inspiration to him, the late sir terry wogan. he said, because he was such a wise guy, he said that there may not ever be a right time to go, but there could be a wrong time to stay, so i'm taking the great man's advice. and the kind of show we wanted to do

today is we really wanted to leave them laughing, not, you know, crying, because there have been a lot of tears throughout the show. hopefully always for the right reasons, but enough now. happy christmas, everyone. and there was plenty of laughter to go with the tears from the presenter. most of all, of course i would like to thank my wife natasha... my gravity, my compass, my guiding light. he then put his wife on air, who also choked up. today's gobsmackers are chosen by noah and eli evans for their mum, tash. oh, for goodness' sake! so, this is the radio 2 breakfast show studio that chris evans made his own for nearly nine years. he might have gone but there is still a hint of him here, in the shape of this cart deck which played all his well known jingles. wonderful day, wonderful week,

this is london, tarzan yell and all the rest of it. and in a way, that gives a hint of his talent as a broadcaster, that he was able to transform this quite dull soundproof space into a vivid, wonderful world which interviewees responded to and listeners loved. and there's no cheaty turbo charging here. it wasn't all plain sailing for him at the bbc. his then £2.2 million plus salary proved controversial when made public. and then there there was that short lived and much criticised stint as a presenter on top gear. delivers all that power right to the back of your head. but his high energy, good humoured breakfast show was a success. zoe ball will take it over in the new year as he moves over to virgin radio, before returning to the bbc to strut his stuff on strictly come dancing 2019. will gompertz, bbc news. the weather isn't very christmas day. in the north of the country it has

been so cold and stee, quite festive here but elsewhere across the uk, really mild. tonight it will turn foggy. really mild. tonight it will turn foggy, very foggy over really mild. tonight it will turn f°99y' very foggy over parts really mild. tonight it will turn f°99y, very foggy over parts of england from yorkshire down to the south coast, meaning christmas day, the start could be pretty tricky when it comes to travelling in some areas, especially the central and southern and eastern areas where we have clear skies now. you can see the cloud to the west, we don't think there will be fog here. mild and drizzly here which tends to stop the fog but to the east, the fog will form and this area here is the fog forming during the course of this evening and into tonight and tomorrow morning. it will be pretty chilly in the north, temperatures down to “11 in aberdeenshire but in the south and the mouth, a tropical 9 degrees. the big day, christmas

day, some patchy frost and fog. the fog will be further south. the weather isn't looking too bad, it's going to be dry, maybe some drizzle and phil hogg. with the high—pressure, dominating much of western europe, not much happening —— and in some areas the sun will come out. round newcastle, merseyside, and mild for christmas, 12 degrees in belfast and plymouth. boxing day, a cheeky weather front sneaking into northern scotland, so maybe a few spots of rain, especially in the western isles. south of that, rather a lot of cloud. the wind arrows coming from the south, so this is quite mild air, meaning many western areas will see temperatures into double figures. 11 in belfast and

even scotland. in the south come your best bet for sunshine is the south coast and london. for the rest of christmas week, not much change at all, a bit of cloud and sunshine. temperatures may be easing down to single figures. to summarise, patti fog and frost —— patchy. some sunshine over the next couple of days. that's it from me. merry christmas. the number of dead and missing from the indonesian tsunami rises to over 500. the operation to recover the dead goes on while it's a race against time to find those still missing. there are fears of another tsunami as the volcano continues to spew hot ash and smoke. the queen's christmas message — her majesty will call for unity and understanding. the christmas getaway is hampered by engineering works — more than 300 separate projects across the rail network. and tears and cheers

as chris evans signs off from his radio 2 breakfast show for the last time. good afternoon. the death toll from the indonesian tsunami has now risen to 373 with 128 people still missing or unaccounted for. people living along coastal areas have been warned to seek higher ground, amid concerns that the anak krakatau volcano could erupt again and trigger another tsunami. on saturday, giant waves crashed into coastal towns on the islands of sumatra and java. officials have warned the death toll could rise. the sunda strait region, closest to the anak krakatau volcano, was the worst affected, with buildings reduced to a tangled mess.

rebecca henschke reports from carita, injava. rescue workers clear away the rubble in a race to find any survivors. today in this villa, none have been found. villas like this one, built right on the shore, didn't stand a chance when the huge waves hit. this, the state of the swimming pool and the villa now. teams from the military and search and rescue teams are here clearing away the rubble to make way for what will be a slow rebuilding process here. the tsunami hit this popular local tourist destination at night without warning. the national disaster agency admitting their tsunami detection buoy system has been broken since 2012. when presidentjoko widodo visited

to inspect the relief effort here, he faced some tough questions, and vowed to do better. translation: we don't know yet for sure where the source of the tsunami was. it's still being checked. in the future, the relevant agencies will provide detection equipment, systems that can give a warning to everyone. that comes too late for these families, here to find loved ones amongst the dead. those identified, ta ken away in ambulances. others, like this man, are still searching. translation: we are not at peace. we just want him returned to us in some way. we are preparing ourselves to accept the worst. the vocalist of the band seventeen, which was performing on stage when the tsunami hit, is here to put his wife to rest. posting this video on social media,

he says, we are travelling again together, my love. authorities are warning it may not be over yet, telling people to keep away from the beaches due to fears that ongoing activity from the anak krakatoa volcano could trigger a new tsunami. the relief effort is well under way and this evening, there has been rain throughout the day. ambulances coming in and power supplies being returned to most areas and also phone lines. a much slower

rebuilding process will have to begin and the people here may never get over what they have lost in another natural disaster to hit indonesia on the eve of christmas. rebecca, thank you. the queen will encourage us to treat each other with respect during her annual christmas message which will be broadcast tomorrow. the comments, which have been released by buckingham palace, are likely to be seen as an attempt by her majesty to calm the debate over brexit. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. throughout her reign, the queen has always been notably cautious whenever it's come to making a comment which could be construed as an observation about the political debate. but with the nation divided over brexit, it would be strange if the head of state, in her one personal message of the year, did not make some attempt to address people's concerns. her christmas message was recorded earlier this month at buckingham palace, when the brexit debate in parliament was at its height. in the broadcast she will say this. "even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding."

the context of those remarks isn't clear from what buckingham palace has released. it may be doubted whether the queen has said anything explicit about brexit, but it's clear that the palace is hoping these few words, and a reference to the need for the christmas spirit of good will to be heeded, will be construed as an attempt by the monarch to soothe the brexit debate. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the us treasury secretary steven mnuchin has made a series of calls to the heads of america's six largest banks. it's being seen as an effort to reassure investors after big falls in the us stock market. it comes amid a partial government shutdown following a row over government spending plans and donald trump's call for more funding to build a wall along the us/mexican border. 0ur correspondent samira hussain is in new york where the stock market will close shortly. samira an unusual move this by the treasury secretary? it is an unusual move by mnuchin? it is an unusual move by mnuchin7m

is certainly very rare for the treasury secretary to make it public that he spoke to the big us financial institutions. but that is what happened over the weekend. he did talk to them about the view of theissues did talk to them about the view of the issues you mention, the partial government shutdown, of course. what mrmnuchin government shutdown, of course. what mr mnuchin wanted to make sure was the us banks had enough cash on hand to shore up financial markets and the us economy, should it be needed. this was a safety measure put in place after the financial crisis. the trouble is, us investors will not really worry about this at all. instead of easing financial worries, he may have stoked them even further. it has left us investors wondering what is it the treasury secretary perhaps knows that we actually don't. thank you. chris evans has bid an emotional

farewell to listeners of his final radio 2 breakfast show this morning. he said it was a "sad day" as he left after nine years at the helm. evans is off to virgin radio but will be back on the bbc in the next series of strictly come dancing. 0ur arts editor will gompertz listened in to his last show. there's some flash photography in his report. singing. ta—ra! and with that, chris evans signed off for the last time as host of britain's most popular radio show. he took it over in 2010 from a broadcaster who was inspiration to him — the late sir terry wogan. he said, because he was such a wise guy, he said there may not ever be right time to go, but there could be wrong time to stay, so i'm taking the great man's advice. the kind of show we wanted to do today, was we really wanted to leave them laughing, not crying, because there's been a lot of tears throughout the show. hopefully always for the right reasons, but enough now. happy christmas, everyone. and there was plenty of laughter,

but also, at times, a very emotional presenter. most of all, most of all, of course i would like to thank my wife natasha... my gravity, my compass, my guiding light. he then put his wife on air, who also choked up. today's gobsmackers are chosen by noah and eli evans for their mum tash. oh, for goodness' sake! now do you get it? do you get it now? thanks for that! so, this is the radio 2 breakfast show studio that chris evans made his own for nearly nine years. he might have gone, but there's still a hint of him here, in the shape of this cart deck, which played all his well known jingles — wonderful day, wonderful week, this is london, tarzan yell, and all the rest of it. and in a way, that gives a hint of his talent as a broadcaster, that he was able to transform this quite dull, soundproof space into a vivid wonderful world, which interviewees responded

to and listeners loved. and there's no cheaty turbo charging here. it wasn't all plain sailing for him at the bbc. his then £2.2 million plus salary proved controversial when made public, and then there was a short lived and much criticised stint as a presenter on top gear. delivers all that power right to the back of your head. but his high energy, good humoured breakfast show was a success. zoe ball will take it over in the new year as he moves over to virgin radio, before returning to the bbc to strut his stuff on strictly come dancing 2019. will gompertz, bbc news. the christmas getaway this year is being hampered by widespread disruption to train services, with over 300 sets of planned engineering works taking place around the uk. several major towns and cities are affected including liverpool and manchester. and many services out of london to the rest of the country have been disrupted too,

as navtej johal reports. struggling to get away for the christmas getaway. thousands of rail passengers across britain are facing up to huge—scale engineering works this week. these travellers in manchester are among the thousands braving it on a day of disruption. but it's in london, like here at euston, where journeys are bearing the brunt of the problems. no trains run from paddington until after boxing day, and none between victoria and clapham junction until the new year. rail passengers trying to get between the capital and east anglia, south wales, the midlands and north all face disruption. in total, there are 330 engineering works taking place across the country. 25,000 people will be working on the railway system over the next week, as part of a £1118 million investment across the network during christmas and new year. so why is this happening now? network rail says this

is the time of year when demand is at its lowest. it's expecting trains to be 50% quieter than normal. and, it says, the work it does now will ensure a more reliable service in the future, but that doesn't help these passengers here at london euston today, who are facing a reduced service. it does put a dampener on things, but i think, you know, it's life. we live in the north, so we breathe railway disruption. it's disgraceful. the advice to passengers is to plan ahead. this is nothing like a normal monday. services will be closing down early evening, and no trains running anywhere on christmas day. so, if you can avoid it, maybe leave the travelling to those with a sleigh. merry christmas! navteonhal, bbc news, london euston. the decline in the value of the pound has provided an unexpected christmas boost to retailers in northern ireland with shoppers from the republic, which uses the euro,

crossing the border in droves to grab a bargain. colletta smith has beenjoining them for a bit of last minute shopping and finding out what all the fuss is about. it's the last—minute christmas dash. there's a lot of stuff actually that they've sold out already. this week, stores in northern ireland have seen the biggest increase in shoppers of anywhere in the uk. and there's one big reason for that. much better value with the sterling conversion, yes, and the booze is quite cheap. what's in the bags? wow, you've got kids' stuff. yeah, lots of presents, yep. christmas present shopping. any grocery shopping today? no. a bit of shopping, that's the height of it. where do you come from today? i'm from monaghan, county monaghan. and have you done a big shop today? yes, a big christmas shop, yes. groceries. exactly, yes. irish government statistics show

that one in five shoppers from the republic have travelled north this year to get more for their money. border towns like newry have felt the boost. it's been a tough year for retailers, as broadly broadcast but as i say, we benefit greatly from the southern trade, shoppers coming from as far off as dublin. it's something we've always benefited from. 66.28, please. down the road, the tills are ringing, in two currencies. a euro, 33.67, please. the fall in the value of the pound has been a huge boost to seamus' business. 75% of his customers cross the border. northern ireland's retail sales are driven by southern irish people, there's no doubt about it. we're one of the people that is quite happy there's been a vote to leave the european union. so much fluctuation with the currency, it's been very advantageous for us. each of these would have cost you 1 euro, 23, a couple of christmases ago. now that'sjust1 euro, ten. if you multiply that across a big family shop,

spending hundreds of pounds, the savings add up. the washing powder, for me, is cheaper, right, you know. there's great bargains in that shop. and in the off—licence as well. while retailers across the uk have had a tough year, a steady stream of shoppers travelling across the border have given northern ireland shops a christmas bonus. colletta smith, bbc news, in newry. finally, it seems father christmas is already on his rounds. the angel of the north has been gifted a santa hatjust in time for christmas. it was spotted by motorists on the a1 with its new festive feature. it was added overnight, but the stylist remains a mystery. that's it. i'll be back with the late news at 11:30pm. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. goodbye. hello. this is bbc news. when you've opened your presence and

eating a christmas lunch it is time to settle down for some festive tv. john maguire has been behind—the—scenes of call the midwife and wind up what is in store for the christmas special. it wouldn't be christmas without someone it wouldn't be christmas without someone is calling the phone box. for the seventh year running, the dramas of the house will take pride of place on bbc one. it is the fabled morecambe and wise slot. it's unbelievable, none of us take it for granted. it is such an honour. it's incredible, the way the public care

about it, really. we're having the most wonderful time making it. about it, really. we're having the most wonderfultime making it. as your turkey digests and use it on the sofa, spare a thought for this doctor, whose wife writes and produces the show. what i christmas is like and their house? they are chaos, terrible, because she performs and incredible public duty, to have her christmas ruined, when eve ryo ne to have her christmas ruined, when everyone else has their christmas dinnerand everyone else has their christmas dinner and goes to watch call the midwife, she makes christmas dinner for everybody and then has her doubts rents because she has a show on at christmas because there is a great responsibility at christmas and we always feel that. tomorrow night's special kicks off a new series which takes us into 1964. jenny agutter is one of the original cast and says part of the show‘s

success is how it captures the times it covers. when we started in 58 there was a sense of the war being left behind, but it had its ramifications. the nhs had started, a lots of new things. then there is an emergence of new art and music and science, going into space. it was a very powerful, extraordinary time. despite the snow and decorations the programme was filmed in may. very special guests are is kingdom choir, returning six days after seeing at harry and megan's —— meghan's wedding. it is phenomenal, surreal, fun. magical. tomorrow night, hark the herald angels will be sung but as a special trade, a reminder of how they wowed the royal

wedding of months ago. #as wedding of months ago. # as long as you stand # as long as you stand # stand by me # stand by me #so # stand by me # so darling # so darling # stand by me # stand by me # stand by me # sara ooh # stand by me. the christmas special of call the midwife is on bbc one at 7:45pm tomorrow. now, the weather. no snow this christmas but if you want it a little festive we've got the next best thing in northern parts of the country, some frost around and also some fog will be forming across parts of england during the course of this evening and overnight. it could prove troublesome first thing in the morning. could be very thick indeed. a lot of cloud across the south—west of the british isles right now. in the north, we've got more sunshine but it is very cold here, temperatures in some areas below

freezing during the day, a huge contrast between the north and the south of the country where it is a lot balmier here in cornwall. tonight, as we edge towards christmas, and the fog forms across northern england, the midlands, east anglia, the south—east as well, the london area will be affected by some fog too. again, a big contrast in the temperature. clearer skies and frost in scotland and the north—east of england. not the case elsewhere. the forecast for the big day itself, patchy frost and fog around, not necessarily in the same place. it will be a mostly dry day though. a little bit of sunshine on the way too. the weather is very settled because we have high pressure, it is dominating the whole of the weather across western parts of europe. here is christmas day itself. you can see a lot of cloud across the country but there will be some breaks, maybe for newcastle, maybe liverpool, towns and cities also in wales could get some sunshine. and mild. a mild christmas day across western parts of the uk.

a little bit colder towards the east. but whereever you are, it certainly isn't going to be that cold. so, wednesday, boxing day, we have a weather front affecting the north of the country. this means perhaps a little bit more cloud and some spots of rain in western and northern scotland. to the south of that, again, i think variable amounts of cloud and sunshine. your best bet for some sunshine on boxing day, i think the southern counties here. it could end up being a very pleasant day for places like southampton, portsmouth, london. the further north you are, the more likely you are to hang on to the cloud. the outlook through thursday and into friday, it stays relatively mild. again, variable amounts of cloud. light winds. there's always going to be a chance of some frost and fog. so then, let's summarise christmas week. patchy fog on the way, there will be a touch of frost and some sunshine. bye— bye. this is bbc news i'm carole walker. the headlines at five: rescue workers continue the search for survivors

of the tsunami in indonesia, more than 370 people are now known to have died. there are fears the death toll could rise, with warnings of more deadly waves triggered by volcanic eruptions. thousands of rail passengers face disruption over christmas because of major engineering works. respect and understanding — the queen uses her christmas speech to deliver a message of goodwill to all. chris evans bids a festive farewell to listeners as he hosts his final radio 2 breakfast show. and in half an hour, a festive edition of click brings us the latest from the world of technology and gadgets.