this is bbc news. our top stories: indonesia steps up the relief operation for thousands who lost their homes in saturday's tsunami. officials plan a new early warning system for next year. spotlight on the plight of migrants at the us—mexico border as an 8—year—old boy dies in custody on christmas day. the pope calls for peace across the middle east and in ukraine in his annual christmas address from the vatican. in his christmas message, president trump says there'll be no end to the us government shutdown until he secures funding for his border wall. and from walls to calls — did the president put his foot in it by asking a 7—year—old if she believed in santa? hello, and welcome to bbc news.

officials in indonesia say they're stepping up the relief operation for the thousands of people who lost their homes in saturday's deadly tsunami. there's a promise too of a new warning system, to try and avert future disasters. the number of people known to have died has risen to 429. heavy rains are hampering rescue efforts, with some 16,000 people on the islands of java and sumatra evacuated to higher ground. there are fears that further eruptions of the anak krakatoa volcano may trigger more deadly waves. naval vessels deployed around sunda strait have found some bodies washed out to sea. tsunamis this year have exposed the fact that much of the early warning system wasn't working, due to damage by fishing boats or theft from passing ships. the new system will measure the size of waves, enabling it to detect tsunamis caused by undersea landslides. sameer hashmi reports from the coast of west java. three days after the tsunami struck indonesia, the country is slowly

coming to terms with the scale of the tragedy. the government has now turned its attention on providing relief to thousands of people who have lost their homes. several such centres have been set up to collect food and clothing. leading the relief and rescue operations in banten region is commander rico sirait. he says progress has been difficult. the challenge will be mostly because of the weather right now. it's rainy season, during the end of the year. we try hard to still — searching the shore, we have right now. a few kilometres away, tommy manangka was supposed to have a busy christmas, but it has turned out to be empty. his beach—facing resort was shattered when a strong wave from the sea powered its way through these doors on the night of the tsunami. in this muslim—dominated country, tommy is from the christian

minority, and on a day he should be celebrating, he is busy picking up the pieces of his retirement plan. translation: i was with my guests when i saw a huge wave that went over the yard. i shouted, "this might be a tsunami". i asked the people to move up to the second floor, and then the next wave came in so quickly that guests who were in the lobby were dragged all the way to the road. the special forces are stilljointly conducting rescue operations with the national search agency across the affected regions. we have been following the rescue team for the last hour, and they have been going from one beach to another, trying to sift through the debris to look for more survivors. but there are still many people that are missing. the team is still optimistic

and hopeful, even though they realise that this has been a year of disasters for indonesia. the president has ordered the installation of a new advance tsunami warning system. in a country which has been prone to natural disasters in recent years, this could help avoid a future large—scale loss of life. sameer hashmi, bbc news, banten, indonesia. people in areas affected by the tsunami are looking for ways to find some kind of normality in their lives, however fleetingly. as the rescue operation continues, some of those hit by the tragedy have been gathering in local churches for small christmas congregations. rahuljoglekar has more. shining a light during the darkest of times. a community comes together to deal with the loss at christmas. —— with loss. not while this brave congregation may seem defiant in the face of tragedy, almost nobody here seems untouched by it. translation:

we usually celebrate it with joy and facilities. with this in army, we can only pray humbly and not celebrate much for this year's christmas. —— the tsunami. when the tsunami struck it took the residency in banteng tsunami struck it took the residency in ba nteng province tsunami struck it took the residency in banteng province by surprise. nobody could imagine the scale of the destruction that would take so many lives and leave this quiet tourist destination changed forever. during the tsunami we were in the church rehearsing and preparing for today's mass. we heard the tsunami was coming, but we tried to find accurate information, as there was no tsunami warning from the government. once it struck we try to help wherever we could. life must carry on for the survivors of this enormous tragedy. they stoic christmas message from a community looking to deal with their loss at a time when they were meant to be celebrating. —— a stoic christmas message. an 8—year—old guatemalan boy has died after being detained by united states border agents.

the us customs and border protection said the boy and his father were in custody on christmas eve when an agent noticed the child showing signs of illness. the cause of death is not known. it's the second instance this month of a migrant child dying after being detained. earlier i spoke to robert moore, a freelance journalist based in el paso who writes about border and immigration issues. i asked him what more we know about the child's death. he was taken to a hospital in alvarado new mexico, which is about 100 miles north of where we are here in el paso. and he was treated at the hospital. he had a respiratory infection. they were going to release him and then they noticed he had a fever so they kept in for another 90 minutes or so and then gave him antibiotics and send him back with the border patrol to be returned to what appears to be a very small holding cell that is

setup that what the border patrol calls its alan abbado station. these are small cells are really designed to hold adults for a few hours while the paperwork is processed. they have never been designed to hold families or children and they are certainly not designed to hold sick children. and of course this is not the first case even this month of a child dying in custody? this is the second case. both children who were in new mexico when they fell ill. new mexico is adjacent to el paso. the first death involved a seven—year—old what a marlin girl. —— guatemalan. she became ill on december six and was taken to a hospital here in paso, where u nfortu nately hospital here in paso, where unfortunately she passed away. both children showed very similar symptoms. i don't know what to make of that. they had a cough and then

developed a very high fever and quickly began vomiting, and by the time they were taken to hospital, the doctors were not able to save them. robert, what is the situation with those who are making their way through central america, and mexico, to try to seek asylum in the us? because at one point the karrabin ‘s we re very because at one point the karrabin ‘s were very much at the top of the news agenda, but things seem to have gone quietly on that recently. —— the caravans. i think that is because the trump administration has got everything focused on what is happening in tijuana, and the situation in communities like el paso and mcallen in texas have been totally ignored. we have been having thousands of migrants a week coming in to el paso, and behind me right now, immigration and customs enforcement is offloading about 200 central america migrants to be cared for in paso for the next couple of

days until they can be connect with theirfamilies. days until they can be connect with their families. —— el days until they can be connect with theirfamilies. —— el paso. we have a huge humanitarian issue going on here in el paso right now which is not getting much coverage. these are desperate migrants from central america, coming up through mexico, and although the focus has been on san diego and tijuana, the bulk of them have been crossing in the states of texas and new mexico. we have this awful situation developing where el paso is coming —— is running out of space right now, to house and feed them. there are volu nteers house and feed them. there are volunteers gathering behind me right now to help feed about 200 people who have just been dropped off by ice in downtown el paso. many of these people have respiratory infections. they are sick, they have obviously come on a long journey. the weather is cold. so it is terribly sad that we have had to make children die, but i think it would be naive to say that this isn't expected. that was robert moore, speaking to

me earlier. earlier this month, mexico agreed to a plan by the trump administration that means people seeking asylum in the us stay in mexico while their applications are processed. they are now spending christmas stuck in the violent border city of tijuana, and conditions there are getting worse. from there, will grant reports. some well‘s family imagined they would be building their lives in the us rather than a tent in mexico right now. but not any more. under new rules they must remain in mexico, in such flimsy accommodation, as they wait on their asylu m accommodation, as they wait on their asylum applications. the change was asylum applications. the change was a temporarily measure for humanitarian reasons, the foreign ministry said. because mexico is considered a safe third country. how safe, though? in recent days two on durian teenagers from the caravan we re durian teenagers from the caravan were killed on tijuana's streets. —— honduran. we saw this family off on

their journey. they are honduran. we saw this family off on theirjourney. they are typical of theirjourney. they are typical of the migrant families. poor, exhausted, and fleeing the threat of violence. having risked everything to reach this point, they are relu cta nt to to reach this point, they are reluctant to turn back now, but know they could spend months if not years waiting in one of mexico's most dangerous cities. translation: we cannot go back, because i have had death threats from the gangs in honduras. a came to the house looking for me several times, so we had to escape. —— they came to the house. as the weeks of hardship take their toll, food is scarce and conditions unsanitary. the city has opened a second migrant shelter, but it is not enough. there is now an increasingly large number of people who will be stuck in these conditions and this legal limbo, not just through christmas, but well into next year. hundreds have already returned to central america, and the mexican authorities are encouraging others to do the same. to head home for christmas. this

decision on asylum has caught many off guard. translation: how can you ask for asylum from one country and be in another? it doesn't make sense. president trump hated the old system, calling it catch and release. this change is what he wa nted release. this change is what he wanted from mexico. for those trapped at the border, this new agreementjust made a bleak christmas even tougher. the sudanese security forces have reportedly used live ammunition in clashes with demonstrators who marched on the presidential palace in the capital, khartoum — the latest in a series of anti—government protests. they were demanding the resignation of president omar al—bashir. earlier i spoke to isma'il kushkush, a journalist who has covered sudan extensively. he gave me more details about what happpened today. there was called today by the professionals association, which is an assembly of trade unions,

independent trade unions, out of the, different from the sudanese government sanctioned saddam trade unions federation. —— sudan. hundreds if not thousands took to the streets in khartoum, with the intention of delivering a memorandum calling for the resignation of president omar al bashir. they were met with tear gas and bullets in different parts of khartoum, mainly downtown near the main square. the downtown near the main square. the downtown area of khartoum, there have been reports of casualties and many injured. and is it clear specifically what the protesters want? well, in the beginning, when the protest started, they started early in december but december 19 was the biggest protest that took place, ina was the biggest protest that took place, in a northern city, when high school students were protesting the

price of bread which had tripled from £1 to £3. but the demands are now much higher. they are calling for regime change. they are using the same slogans of the arab spring, that the people do manned the fall of the regime. they want president bashir, after 30 years, to resign. it is interesting, isn't it, i understand that one of the senior military officers has made a rare public intervention, saying to the state news agency that the government has to provide a decent living to the people. how much of a concern will it be for the government that there has been this intervention from a senior military figure? yeah, that is a very interesting point. mr hameti, the person in charge of the rapid defence forces, made a speech to his troops, and he was critical of how the government was handling economic

issues in the country, and i think that the political ruling party in sudan, the national congress party, will be looking at that very carefully. it has hinted that there might be actually divides within the security class and the government. and the president, omar al—bashir, has said that he will deliver real reform. was he any more specific on what that means? what we have seen so far has been very general. there are talks about raising the minimum wage and so forth. i think with most of the protest is, there is widespread belief that they have heard this before, that there have been calls for economic reform and political reform and they have heard this before and they do not see any genuine transformation, any genuine

attempt at making all sudanese become part of the solution in the country, economically and politically. let's get some of the day's other news. syria says its air defences have intercepted missiles fired by israeli aircraft close to the capital, damascus. a military official said a weapons dump was hit and three soldiers were injured. witnesses reported seeing an object moving over the city and then hearing a loud explosion. israel confirmed the attack. in the past it has targetted iranian and hezbollah sites in syria that it regards as threats to its own security. thailand's parliament has voted to approve cannabis for medical use. recreational use will remain illegal. marijuana was used in thailand as a traditional medicine, until it was banned in the 1930s. a key lawmaker called it a "new year's gift" to the thai people. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the queen delivers her annual christmas message, saying goodwill to all is needed "as much as ever." the world of music has been paying

tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums over a career spanning over three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said that it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years.

thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: indonesia has confirmed it will buy a new tsunami warning system, after the number of people known to have died in the latest disaster rose to nearly 430 people. president trump has said the partial shutdown of the us federal government will last until he gets funds to build a wall on the mexico border. as said, president trump has said the partial shutdown of the federal government is going to last until he gets the funds to build a wall on the mexico border. the shutdown began at midnight friday after opposition democrats resisted the president's demand for $5 billion for his mexico border wall. here's mr trump speaking to reporters earlier. i can't tell you when the government's going to be open. i can tell you it's not going to be

open until we have a wall or fence, or whatever they want to call it. it's a barrier for people bringing to our country — it's a barrierfrom drugs. it's a problem in this world today. it's called human trafficking. human trafficking is one of the hard to believe problems, and we are not going to let that take place. we are working so hard to catch these traffickers. they are bad people. as soon as i said i want to build a wall, they were all against it. it's like — take another example. take james comey. everybody hated comey. they thought he did a horrible job. the democrats hated him. they were calling for his resignation, they were calling for his firing, including schumer, including nancy pelosi. untilifired him. and once i fired him,

everybody said, "oh, why did you fire him?" you need to look at some of those people. this is what we're doing now. take a look at some of these people. literally the day before ifired him, they said he should be fired. as soon as i fired him they said, "oh, what did you do that for? there was a terrible thing to do". it is a disgrace, what's happening in our country. but other than that, i wish everybody a very merry christmas. thank you very much, thank you. pope francis has stressed the need for love between people of all races, nations and religions in his traditional christmas message. addressing the thousands who gathered in st peter's square, he appealed to worshippers to embrace other cultures, and to celebrate diversity. the pontiff also spoke about the world's humanitarian disasters. james reynolds reports from rome. cheers and applause on christmas day a pope can often enjoy the luxury of the world

stage largely to himself. at midday in blinding sun, vatican bands held at francis's entrance onto the balcony of st peter's basilica. the pope addressed the pilgrims and tourists in the square below. he called for a resolution of conflicts in the middle east, africa, latin america and asia. he also sent a message to minority christian communities. translation: a particular thought goes to our brothers and sisters who celebrate the birth of the lord in difficult, if not hostile situations. especially where the christian community is a minority often vulnerable or not ta ken into account. the high ceremony of the traditional christmas address is a short

breatherfor some of the problems facing this pope. this year, francis has been criticised for his failure to understand the scope of the clerical sexual abuse crisis. the pontiff has asked bishops from around the world to come to this city early next year to work out how to respond. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. the queen and members of the royal family have attended church in sandringham in norfolk. prince philip wasn't there, but a palace spokesman said he was in perfectly good health. also absent was camilla, the duchess of cornwall who is recovering from a heavy cold. meghan, the duchess of sussex is enjoying her first christmas as a member of the royal family; she was the first non—married partner to be invited to sandringham last year, now she is due to give birth to a royal baby in the spring. here in the uk, the queen's christmas message has

been broadcast — with the monarch saying "goodwill to all" is needed "as much as ever". some cultures believe a long life brings wisdom. i'd like to think so. perhaps part of that wisdom is to recognise some of life's baffling paradoxes, such as the way human beings have a huge propensity for good and yet a capacity for evil. even the power of faith, which frequently inspires great generosity and self—sacrifice, can fall victim to tribalism. but through the many changes i have seen over the years, faith, family and friendship have been not only a constant for me but a source of personal comfort and reassurance. only a few people acknowledged jesus when he was born. now billions follow him.

i believe his message of peace on earth and goodwill to all is never out of date. it can be heeded by everyone. it's needed as much as ever. a very happy christmas to you all. donald trump's in hot water, but this time, not with another politician but rather, santa claus himself. here's how. despite a partial us government shutdown, one agency that hasn't ground to a halt is norad. it's a us and canadian government agency and on christmas eve it has a santa tracker — this is what it looks like. young and old can follow the movements of father christmas as he delivers presents around the world. american children can also call in to talk to its employees, and some of those calls get patched through to the president and his wife. that's what happened to one girl named collman. have a listen to part of her conversation with mr trump. are you still believe in santa?

because at seven is marginal, right? does he even need to ask? really? i know which list he will be on next year. a special delivery has been received at flamingo land resort in north yorkshirejust in time for christmas. this baby giraffe was born during the run—up to the festive period at the park's zoo in malton. staff posted this picture of the calf and its mother. the new arrival — which is a member of the endangered rothschild's giraffe sub—species — is already up and about. there are only a few hundred rothchild's remaining in the wild. this is bbc news. thank you for watching. hello. christmas day beginning at —8

in north—east scotland but as the day went on the temperature hit over 14 day went on the temperature hit over 1a celsius. most of us had a mild and dry christmas day and that is how it will stay for boxing day. high pressure in control. spanning from the continent across the british isles. most of us will be dry in the day ahead but not all of us. this weather front will change things the north—west scotland. if you are close to that you will see rain at times. and this is how the day is starting. north—east scotland is still close to freezing. this is where boxing day starts with the frost. elsewhere plenty of cloud, drizzly and places, misty for many of us as well. as the day goes on, more rainy north—west scotland. elsewhere we will see some sunshine towards the north—east of scotland.

parts of north—east england, north—east wales should see sunshine develop more widely across southern counties of england during the afternoon and into the channel islands as well. across—the—board temperatures are into double figures for that mild un— seasonal feel to things. from wednesday into thursday morning, rainy north—west scotland is as. a good deal of cloud around with a few breaks here and there are more especially across southern england, maybe into south wales and this is where we will see the lowest in pictures. this is where we are most likely to see frost in places and it could be fog patches perhaps slow to clear. where they do clear we will see sunshine and again on thursday, north—east scotland will see blue sky in places and many other places will be cloudy but still essentially dry. the temperatures are still on the mild side that many parts of england and wales may just side that many parts of england and wales mayjust shave a couple of degrees of that for boxing day. high

pressure is still close by, generally in charge going into friday but we will see a weather front coming in from the atlantic. ahead of it, southern areas could start friday again with dense fog —— fog. a weakening spell of rain moving across scotland and northern england and nothing left of that rain as it moves further south during the day. behind that you see sunshine coming through and temperatures are still on the mild side thick spell of rain is affecting parts of scotland as saturday begins but for most over the weekend with high pressure close by it is dry, cloudy, but mild. this is bbc news, the headlines: officials in indonesia say they're stepping up the relief operation for thousands of people who lost their homes in saturday's deadly tsunami. there's a promise too of a new warning system, to try and avert future disasters. the number of people known to have died has risen to 429. a second child has died after being taken into custody while trying to cross into america

from mexico with his family. the 8—year—old boy from guatemala had been complaining of a fever. thousands of central american migrants are spending christmas on the streets of the violent border city of tijuana. the pope has used his annual christmas message to appeal for peace in conflict zones. he urged israeli and palestinian leaders to engage in dialogue and called for a political solution to the conflict in syria. and he urged people to view differences between them not as a danger, but a source of richness. now on bbc news, it's been a year in which climate scientists warned it's now or never to save the planet, and a paralysed man took his first steps.