rescue workers are continuing to search for people trapped in the wreckage, amid fears that another big wave could hit. us financial markets have closed on the worst christmas eve trading day ever. president trump has blamed the federal reserve for state of the country's economy. senior democrats have launched a scathing attack on mr trump — accusing him of plunging the country into chaos. the american actor, kevin spacey, has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenager in 2016. the alleged victim is the son of a us television news anchor, heather unruh, who first made the allegations last year. she said the actor had bought her son drinks in a bar in boston before groping him. mr spacey has previously said he didn't remember the incident. chris evans has bid an emotional farewell to listeners of his final radio 2 breakfast show on monday morning. he said it was a "sad day" as he left after nine years at the helm.

our arts editor will gompertz listened in to his last show. there's some flash photography in his report. cheering. 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, ‘cause 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 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. 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's 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 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. 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. now on bbc news — one of the highlights of 2018 from our documentary series our world. in this award—winning film, my stolen childhood, brigitte sossou perenyi takes a journey through west africa to understand why her family gave her away to a religious shrine 20 years ago. this is ghana, west africa. when i was seven, i was brought to this country, and forced into a system i knew nothing about. this is me. i was held as a slave in a religious shrine. what crime is this child paying for? translation: her uncle committed adultery. thousands of women across west africa have lost their freedom

because of a practice called trokosi. and it is still happening. does she know why she is here? now i am on a journey to try and understand what happened. to find answers to questions i have had on my mind for years. what is trokosi? and why did my family give me away? hey, this is brigitte... yeah, you are my uber. my name is brigitte sossou perenyi. i live and work in accra, the capital city of ghana. it is the city where i feel most free. but my first memories in this country are among my darkest.

i was trafficked here from my home in neighbouring togo, and held in captivity as part of a practice called trokosi. trokosi is illegal, and it is not often talked about in accra. but to my surprise, richard tells me his own grandmother is living as a trokosi. this same system robbed me of my childhood. 20 years later, i am on a journey to understand what really happened. i was told i had to leave home, to go and live with my uncle. i was placed on the

back of a motorbike. i didn't even know the driver. i thought it was the strong wind causing my tears, but i think i was actually crying, because i was being taken away from my family. and then i was left at a place i had never been before. i didn't even understand the language. they took away my clothes and wrapped me in a purple cloth. they even took away my name. how old is this girl? seven years old? do you know why you are here? in 1997 i was filmed by an american news crew at the place

i was being held, a shrine run by a priest dictated —— dedicated to the worship of deities. i was labelled a trokosi, a ‘wife of the gods,‘ paying for a crime committed by a family member. do you miss your parents? yes. i rememberfeeling a range of emotions. neglect, rejection, isolation. adding to that the idea of, that could have been my life, that could have been my life. and that‘s why i feel like i don‘t watch it much. but this report changed everything. with the help of a charity called international needs, an american viewer flew to ghana to negotiate my release. his name was kenneth perenyi, and he would become my adoptive father. he took me to the us

where i spent the next 13 years. i was relieved to be out after about a year in the shrine. but there was a huge emptiness that could never be filled. i was still thinking about my togolese family, my birth family. but it was in my heart in my mind. i never stopped thinking about them. a few years later, my american dad and i agreed i should go and look for them. the charity that freed me helped me find my village and filmed my return. my family had no idea i was coming. i didn‘t even know if i would find all of them alive. i hadn‘t seen my mother since i was seven years old.

ifound out i even had a little brother who i had never met. that day was so surreal. almost like a dream. now that i‘m older, i feel ready to explore the cultural background of trokosi. it is practised in parts of ghana, togo and benin, by various ethnic groups, one of which is the ewe. i am driving into ghana‘s volta region, a lush area of lakes and rivers, where trokosi is most prevalent. right now we are following richard

whom i met on the first day of the journey. after our chat in the uber taxi, richard invited us into his community to speak with a group of ewe elders. to mark our arrival, they were saying prayers and pouring libation to their gods. but they believe if you offend the gods, they can bring misfortune. i would like to know if there has ever been human sacrifice. he is talking about trokosi,

where you are banished from the community to pay for the crimes of your family. another elder tells me that two of her relatives were sent to the shrine. given this fear of punishment from the gods, i can understand why the trokosi practice has survived for over 300 years. but for me, life in the shrine meant no life at all. each day, i was walking at 5am, and sent to fetch water.

i had to carry heavy buckets on my head. it was hard, physical work for a child. i was made to sweep the compound and work long hours on the farm. i wasn‘t allowed to play, or even go to school. i was in total isolation. 0n the campus of the university of ghana, i am meeting up with dr robert ame and reverend walter pimpong. they are both experts on the trokosi practice. they have spent their lives raising awareness of the abuses that go on in the shrine.

sexual servitude was common, and many women will bear the children of the priests. i was liberated before puberty, so i didn‘t have to go through this. but i wanted to know why someone would serve time for another person‘s crime. it is believed that they have a right to select any member of their family to serve in the shrine, whether that person committed a crime or not. by the collective principles, they believe they are doing the right thing. when i left the shrine in 1997, there were about 5,000 trokosi women and children in ghana alone. thousands were liberated and trokosi was made illegal in 1998.

but no priest has ever been prosecuted, and the practice still goes on. i meet back up with richard, the uber driver whose grandmother is still living as a trokosi. she is one of the few who became a trokosi after she married and had children. speaking to her, it seemed she is happy to be serving as a trokosi, because she believes it protects her family. as night fell, a young trokosi girl wearing a blue cloth came

to speak to me. i felt sad because she misses her mum. and i know how that feels. for me, growing up without a mother was devastating. what kept me going was a few cherished memories of my early childhood. i remember my mum and dad and four siblings, all girls.

i‘m the second. i was closer to my dad. i think i was a daddy‘s girl. for dinner, he would build this big fire. he would dig the ground around it and roast corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes and yam. it was so good. it was really good. i remember at night, we would lie under the stars and the moon. life was simple. i‘m going to visit my family in the village in togo where i was born. it‘s at least a day‘s journey from the volta region in ghana.

i haven‘t been back for a few years. ifelt apprehensive. i‘ve spent my whole life wondering why they gave me away, but i have never had the courage to ask. this time, i feel ready to find out the truth. this is it. 0n the right. it‘s right here, on the right. since i left at the age of seven, i‘ve lost my mother tongue. i have visited a handful of times, but i have to use a translator.

my youngest sister, and her baby. my niece. i wanted to speak to my father. all i knew was that one of my uncles had sent for me, but i had never known what my father had agreed to. my uncle‘s house was in the capital, lome, a long way from my village. to find some answers, my father went to a soothsayer. are you aware now where i was taken?

he took me to ghana, the volta region of ghana, and i was left in a shrine, he left me. i was forced to be there for the rest of my life. you‘re not understanding me. i don‘t want to use the word blame. for many years i was sad because i was not with my family but now i am ready to put that behind me. if i was angry at my family, if i wanted to blame,

i wouldn‘t be here. i wouldn‘t. accept the way things are. when things don‘t make sense, tracing your roots and asking questions is too much, the emotions are too much and the weight is too much. right now, my head hurts. i have a headache. last night‘s conversation with my dad was really difficult, but i needed to know the truth. i was dwelling on the fact that i couldn‘t communicate with them and that i was taken away and that‘s because, that‘s why i can‘t speak french, that‘s why i can‘t speak, because i was taken away. so i was sort of dwelling on the negative. my parents were lied to. they thought they sent me to live with my uncle to get a better education.

they didn‘t choose to send me to the shrine, and that was a huge weight off my mind. from this point forward, we can only build, and the last few days is a start to building that bridge, it‘s a start to building that relationship, building that connection. i‘m back in the volta region of ghana, close to the village where i was held captive in the shrine. being here is not easy for me. but feeling the love of my family has given me strength to return. there was a young girl that i was doing the chores with, her name was christiana. she was the only one i remember. we parked up near the shrine. i was paralysed with fear. what i remember about this place is pain and loneliness and sadness,

and isolation. and, um, getting out and walking about doesn‘t feel natural to me. i wanted to see if christiana was still here. i found her still living in the town. 20 years after we were both freed, we recognised each other right away. do you know who i am? yes. who am i? thank god for your life. we haven‘t seen each other in so long. i miss you. laughs thank you. i missed you too. i‘ve always thought of you. after spending five years in the shrine, christiana was also freed after appearing in the 1997 news report. she had never seen it before.

are you happy here? do you want to run away? and why don‘t you run away? where are your parents? they died? translation: when my father died i stopped going to school, even though i had wanted to become a doctor. i feel very sad because by staying here, i have lost my chance at an education. that‘s not your life anymore. you‘re out. why are you crying? yes, we were not supposed to be in there, but we are out now.

we are out now. it was amazing to hear about christiana‘s life outside of the shrine. i‘m free. i can decide to go to anywhere. today i can eat, if i say today i will eat, then i can eat, if only i have money. ican wearanything. she showed me her tattoo celebrating her reclaimed name. how does it make you feel when you look at that? i feel happy. why? because i am... i am that i am. laughs that is my name. yes. the name that my parents gave to me. sometimes, your past is worth getting back to.

not to hold you back, but to strengthen your future. my deep faith in god and the love of my family and friends have allowed me to grow into the person i was born to be. somebody decided that was supposed to be our lives. it is incredible that we have been given a second chance, to have life. hello there. the day has arrived, christmas day and those planning a journey to visit friends or family, please bear this in mind. the met office have issued a yellow weather warning for some dense patches of fog. it covers a large part of england, with visibility expected to drop below 100 metres in places. please allow a bit of extra time, let‘s make sure eve ryo ne bit of extra time, let‘s make sure everyone arrives with their friends 01’ everyone arrives with their friends orfamily everyone arrives with their friends or family safely on christmas day.

aside from that, it is going to be a cold start as well. quite widespread frost across the eastern part of the country in particular, the rain coming around the northern side of scotla nd coming around the northern side of scotland for a time, potentially drizzle on the coast and hills just about anywhere in the west. it is he the temperatures will be at their highest, a mild day, around ten to 12 degrees. there will be some areas where are fog patches linger on to the afternoon. high—pressure, boxing day, as it is a way to the new continent. you‘ll get a few showers, but otherwise, it stays mainly dry. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the search goes on for survivors of the indonesian tsunami. 373 people are now confirmed dead — more than a hundred still missing. 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.

there are fresh warnings another killer wave could hit coastal areas, as the anak krakatau volcano seethes and threatens. the american market meltdown continues as president trump launches a fresh attack on the us central bank. kevin spacey is charged with sexually assaulting a teenager at a bar in massachussetts two years ago.