the latest headlines: the death toll in the indonesian tsunami has risen to 373 — but more than 100 are still missing. rescue workers are continuing to search for people trapped in the wreckage, and there are fears that another big wave could hit any time. us financial markets have closed on the worst christmas eve trading day ever. president trump has blamed the federal reserve for the state of the us economy. senior democrats have blamed him. they accused 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, who first made the allegations last year. she said kevin spacey bought her son drinks in a bar in boston, before groping him. mr spacey has said he doesn't remember the incident. time now for one of our programme highlights of the year. for decades, australia's anangu people have been asking tourists not to climb uluru.

from the end of 2019, the chain that makes the climb possible will finally be removed. as rebecca henschke reports, it is a vital step for the anangu people in reclaiming the rock. it's considered one of the great natural wonders of the world. and is a deeply sacred place for australia's indigenous anangu people. one of the oldest civilisations on earth. uluru, also known as ayers rock — a sandstone monolith in the heart of northern territory‘s red centre — dates back more than 500 million years. tourists from all over the world visit the site every year. for decades, there's been a bitter row over the controversial practice of climbing the rock.

have you guys heard that the aboriginal people don't want people to climb? yes, i do. and i understand that. but, i'm going to do it anyway. yeah. there are signs here at the base of the climb clearly saying, "please don't climb. it's against traditional law". translated into six languages. but still, every day we've been here, there's been a steady stream of climbers. indigenous communities have long campaigned for the behaviour, which they consider deeply offensive, to end. now, the time for talking is over. from november next year, the climb will close. i'm here in the spiritual heart of australia, where i was born, to find out why it's taken so long, and how the anangu people feel about the multi—million dollar

tourism operation that's been built around their sacred site. uluru is steeped in ancient stories about the creation time. the anangu people believe that in the beginning, the world was unformed and featureless. from this void, ancestral beings emerged and travelled across the land, creating all living species. uluru is the physical evidence of feats performed during the creation period. they've walked this land for over 50,000 years. the anangu believe they are the direct descendants of the ancestral beings that created uluru, and are responsible for the protection of these ancestral lands. ladies and gentlemen...

pamela taylor is one of the rock's traditional owners, a painter, and holder of the sacred stories enshrined in it. the rock has got a lot of stories, some of them i can't tell you, they're too sacred. what would happen? i'd be in trouble. individual stories passed down orally as precious inheritance through families. some shared with outsiders like me, in the hope that they will understand their significance. pamela's family holds the story of lungkata, a greedy and dishonest blue—tongue lizard ancestral being, who came to uluru from the north and stole meat from the emu and went back up to his cave. the foundation of anangu life and society is known as tjukurpa — a huge word that

encompasses many things. it's religion and culture, but it's also law, with clear punishments for breaking it, explains auntie alison, another western desert elder. everything's taught privately through the elders. i sat down as a kid, learning and listening with my elders. so you can have that and pass that to your girls. and through that process of listening to your elders, hearing those stories, do you get a sense of what's right and what's wrong? yes. all that is taught to us, the protocol, what's right and what's wrong. and how to behave. how to respect other people over the boundaries. over here, overthere, overthere.

we get taught all that, to respect other people's country. these creation stories are the anangu's spiritual compass. they say the caves, marks, and rock formations all live and breathe with them. senior traditional owner sammy wilson's family holds the story of kuniya, the python woman at uluru. sammy tells me that she fought liru, the poisonous snake here at uluru, and signs of that ferocious battle are all around this water hole. for 11—year—old tilly, going to uluru and into the caves, where there are rock art tens of thousands of years old, is a deeply spiritual experience. i felt like my nana was right beside me, and my grandpa, my great—great—grandpa. and ifelt sad, because it was

a very long time ago, when he passed, when he did that painting. and is that place a very special place for you? yeah, because we're not really allowed to go in the rock, because we'll get sick, and on that rock, when you step on that rock, you'll get sick because you're stepping on your culture and your dreaming. stepping on the dreaming is what hundreds of thousands of tourists around the world have done. including princess diana and prince charles, when they visited. the indigenous owners have asked us not to show footage of the climb, which is why we're not doing it. when the first known white australian explorers came

to the area in 1873, they named the rock ayers rock, after the premier of south australia, henry ayers. ayers arrived in australia with his wife, ann potts, from england in 1840. he gained wealth and power through mining, before entering politics. over the next three decades in parliament, he exercised significant influence over the shaping of modern australia. voiceover: this is the goal: ayers rock looms up like a giant mound from ten miles away... by the 1950s, increasing numbers of nonindigenous australians were flocking to ayers rock. the radio mast goes up to confound the spirits of the primitive men who've made the rock for untold ages the focal point of their legends and ceremony.

and the anangu people were displaced. they mightn‘t look it, but they're nearly civilised. then to climb the rock itself. no easy task, as the side steepens to an angle of 60 degrees, and the surface is flaky and treacherous. the big climb became the white australian's sacred duty. it's almost like a rite of passage. they have heard from their parents and often their parents' parents that you have to come out here and climb. and australians like to conquer things, and i think that's probably one of the reasons, but it's not just australians — we get a lot of europeans, a lot of people from asia particularly, that do want to climb. many of the climbers i meet at the base of the rock have come to do it before it closes. it's always been my dream, and ifinally made it. yeah, it — i like to do challenges. i'll see how far we get in the morning. have you guys heard that the aboriginal people don't want people to climb? yes, i do.

and i understand that. but, i'm going to do it anyway. yeah. because this will be the last chance, because they're closing it off next year, and next year, i'll be too old. so you don't feel at all kind of uneasy about that, if they say that this is like a sacred site for them, like climbing notre dame or a sacred church? i hadn't thought of that aspect of it. no. no, me neither. no. i think we need to work with them, and understand their culture and things like that. and in years to come, they might change their minds and say, "all right, let's open it again" or something like that. or they might open it for a certain period of a time each year or something like that. i came here with some girlfriends specifically to climb it before they closed it, we just wanted to get the full experience of uluru. and you know why the climb is closing, don't you?

that the anangu people don't like it, they feel like it's trampling on one of their sacred sites. did you not feel at all bad doing it? idid. i did, and after climbing it, i'm glad that i climbed it and had the opportunity to climb it, but i respect why they don't want people to climb it. ravi because it's very sacred and very important to them. so when you were climbing, you didn't feel at all bad? idid. there's parts of me that did. but the experience, wanting to get the full experience of the rock, i suppose... pushed that aside, to... i don't know, get the overall experience of it. it wasn't until 1985 that the anangu people, after being recognised as traditional owners, were presented with the freehold title deeds for the uluru national park area. an event known as the handback.

the 2,000 invited guests were there to enjoy a happy occasion, and it was. just before sunset, they handed over the title to uluru national park — 1,300 square kilometres of land, including ayers rock and mount 0lga. in 2011, the indigenous land council bought the ayers rock resort, with a promise to employ and train aboriginal people forjobs in the tourism sector. as well as being blown away by the natural beauty of this area, equally impressive is the tourism machine that's been built around it. buses bringing in hundreds of people each day into this very isolated area. about 300,000 visiting each year, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars into the australian economy. the threat of losing the tourist dollar if they pushed for the climb

to be closed was enormous pressure for the indigenous owners. you said it felt like a gun was held at your head. and talk they did. in an historic vote, the board of 12 people, including eight anangu elders, decided to shut the climb down last year. i was there on the day when the decision happened, and there were tears in people's eyes. notjust anangu, but from staff who have been here for many, many years. everyone was just so excited that finally the decision had been made. why has it taken so long, though? well, anangu are very mindful, particularly for tourism, that there are many people who do want to climb uluru, and that's why you have the lead

time of two years for the decision to be implemented. so again, they've done things the right way, there's been a lot of consultation, and the tourism ministry is fully supportive of the decision. sammy wilson has set up his own tourism company to try and get some of those visitors to see the land through their eyes. he's referring to the 35 people who have died attempting to climb uluru. we actually say to people, it's the equivalent of you clambering over notre dame. once you explain it that way, people are horrified, and they realise, but if you say it's culturally significant and it's really important to traditional owners, that doesn't resonate. when we actually explain what you have done is sacrilege, they are taken aback and they understand.

later in the day, pamela, who was planning to climb uluru in the morning, catches up with me at a different part of the rock, and she's very keen to talk again. my true reason for climbing is my ego, because i'vejust turned 70, i've got two replacement knees, and i want to see if i could challenge myself to get as far as i can. and you've been thinking about that since we saw you last? i have been thinking about it since i saw you last. and yes. it's the ego? it's the ego, definitely ego. almost 200 years since the british invasion, australia remains the only commonwealth country to have never signed a treaty with its indigenous people. last year, around 300 indigenous leaders came together at uluru, demanding real legal and political recognition and power as the first nation people of australia. it is important to us. you know, it is important. governments and people should

respect and recognise that. we are the first people of the land. i work for my black government, they are the teachers. we have doctors and lawyers and anthropologists and nurses. everything in our system. i grew up on anangu land, in an area european settlers called —— i grew up on anaway land in armidale, in an area european settlers called new england, because with its cool climate and rolling hills, it reminded them of home. where's the ham ? but my family on my father's side were amongst the first settlers to come from europe to south australia. what you think, rebecca?

do you like prawns? yes! while i was working on this story, i realised i had a much closer connection to uluru, or ayers rock, then i had realised. with the arrogance of invaders and the ignorance of outsiders, they gave the rock the name ayers rock after my great—great—great uncle, henry ayers, who was a senior politician in australia at the time. a connection i've only recently realised, and i'm not sure how i feel about it. i spent the day thinking about this connection. after years living away from australia, this trip has made me realise how dislocated non—indigenous australians are to the stories of the land we live in. i tell sammy that henry ayers is my great—great—great—great uncle. the person that, the first white person to come here named this rock after.

it's something ifeel a little uncomfortable about. i want to say sorry for the disrespectful way and brutal way that families like mine treated aboriginal people in the past. his reaction surprises me. he's excited, because he says his great—great grandfather met explorer william goss. yeah, sorry about that. later that afternoon, i tell alison.

well, aboriginal people don't hold grudges. what was past is past. with alison's language skills, she works as a bridge between the elders, the government and the tourism operators. today is dancing in a welcome ceremony for visitors here for a cultural festival. on stage is tilly, with her all—female schoolgirls drumming group. it's an event that showcases indigenous culture from across australia, for a mixed audience. renowned australian indigenous country music singer troy cassar—daley is a regular performer here. what it does is bring people from the outside and helps immerse

them in some cultural things they'll never see in sydney, black and white people should all come here and carry a bit of the spirit home. i mean, touch your foot over there near uluru and take a bit of that feeling with you, it's not hard to feel it, it's a great place. and then, as night falls, a new way of stories being told is revealed. indigenous australian fashion brands using material with the paintings that tell the ancient stories of the creation time. led by australia's leading indigenous model. indigenous art work is on canvas and things like that, but i think it's really great that now it's being put into fashion, it also has lots of meaning behind it, there is a story behind it, it's notjust a normal dress you would buy in a shop. it's special. elder auntie alison, who helped organise this festival, says she wants to see more of this kind of tourism at uluru. a sharing of stories, rather than conquering the rock.

i want the world to see, i want australia to see the culture is alive and well here today. do you think there's enough of this kind of talking? no, i would like to see more about this kind of talking. when the parks close, there will be opportunities to sit down and talk more. when the climb closes, you mean? yeah, because there will be time for elders to teach. the sharing of our shared australian history in order to heal and create a new, more inclusive, modern narrative on this ancient land. hello there.

over the last few hours, we've been watching temperatures drop like a stone. yes, it's turning into a cold night, with quite a widespread frost. out to the west, we've got a lot of cloud showing up on the satellite picture, as well. with that, southerly winds dragging up quite a lot of moist air, bumping into that cold air over the uk. it's a good combination for some fog, and the met office have already issued a yellow weather warning for patches of fog within this yellow weather warning area, that covers a good part of england. and, with the visibility dropping below 100 metres in places, the fog will bring some dangerous or hazardous driving conditions out and about on christmas day. so, if you're planning a journey to visit friends or family, please leave a little bit of extra time, and let's make sure everyone arrives safely. now, aside from the fog, it's going to be a cold start. as i mentioned, a fairly widespread frost. lowest temperatures

across eastern scotland. in the north and west of scotland, we've got a weak weather front bringing a little bit of rain for a time at christmas day, but that should tend to clear away. we'll be left with mainly cloudy skies across the west, could be thick enough for an odd spit of light rain or drizzle just about anywhere, but it is a mainly dry day. coldest across eastern areas, after that colder start to the day. with a lot of cloud around, temperatures will be slow to rise, and indeed there could be fog patches that linger all day. into boxing day, we've got a weather front pushing into the north—west of the uk, bringing some rain to northern and western areas of scotland. but away from that, with more cloud around, it shouldn't be quite as cold a start to the day on boxing day. temperatures typically above freezing — six, seven, eight degrees celsius for a number of us. but as we go through the day on wednesday, boxing day, yeah, it's going to be another cloudy day. there's that rain, then, across the north and west of scotland, with the breeze picking up here as we go through the afternoon. further south, we may well see a few breaks in the cloud coming up into southern parts of england.

so the skies might well brighten up here. it will be a mild day for most of us, temperatures typically around ten or 11 degrees celsius. now, we'll take a look ahead into thursday, which is the day after boxing day, if you're struggling with your days. it's going to be another pretty cloudy day, and again there could be a bit of rain in scotland, not amounting to too much, it has to be said. a greater chance of seeing some sunshine coming up in the south. but here, we could start the day on a locally cold and frosty note, and those temperatures not quite as high. seven or eight celsius, england and wales, fairly typically. still pretty mild there for northern ireland and scotland. now, i have to say — give you the forecast for the rest of the year, and for most of us, it's going to stay pretty quiet, and that includes in the run—up to new year's day. that's your latest weather. bye— bye. happy christmas and welcome to breakfast with louise minchin. hello, very good morning. happy christmas and welcome to breakfast with louise minchin. 0ur headlines today: rescuers battle to prevent disease spreading in the wake of the tsunami in indonesia that's killed more than 370 people. after three days of disruption at gatwick airport, the government says drone detection systems can now be deployed throughout the uk. as the actor kevin spacey is charged

in america with sexual assault and releases a video addressing allegations made against him. as christmas celebrations get under way around the world — we'll speak some of the one million people here in the uk who are still at work.