this is bbc news, i'm mike embley. 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 eight—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. and a controversial call from president trump, as he asks a seven—year—old if she believes in santa. officials in indonesia are stepping up the relief operation for the thousands of people who lost their homes in saturday's deadly tsunami. there is a promise, too, of a new warning system to try and avert future disasters. it is now confirmed at least a29 people have died.

heavy rains are hampering efforts to get help and supplies to about 16,000 people on the islands of java and sumatra who have had to evacuate to higher ground. there are fears that further eruptions of the anak krakatau volcano may trigger more deadly waves. naval vessels deployed around the sunda strait have found some bodies washed out to sea. tsunamis this year have exposed the fact that much of the early warning system hasn't been working for years, partly because of damage by passing ships, theft, or vandalism. a new system would measure the size of waves, to detect tsunamis caused notjust by earthquakes but 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 loss at christmas. but, 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 festivities, but with the tsunami, we can only pray humbly, and not celebrate much for this year's christmas. when the tsunami struck, it took the residents here in banten province by surprise. nobody could have imagined the scale of destruction,

that was to take so many lives, and leave this quiet tourist destination changed forever. translation: during the tsunami, we were in the church rehearsing and preparing for today's mass. we heard that the tsunami was coming, but we tried to find accurate information, as there was no tsunami warning from the government agency. once it struck, we tried to help whoever we could. but life must carry on for the survivors of this enormous tragedy. a stoic christmas message from a community looking to deal with their loss, at a time when they were meant to be celebrating. an eight—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 is the second instance this month of a migrant child dying after being detained. from north carolina, we can now speak to justine

orlovsky—schnitzler, who is a spokesperson for the humantarian organisation no more deaths, which tries to stop the deaths of migrants in the desert. good to talk to you. can you tell us more about the situation they are? shaw, specifically about this case, i don't know many more details, i think, than you do. what in terms of the border crisis more generally, this has certainly been a very deadly yearfor people this has certainly been a very deadly year for people attempting to ci’oss deadly year for people attempting to cross into the united states. and yet, as total numbers, the number of people trying to get across the border, has gone down year—on—year for years, hasn't it? it is true, but deaths have increased, and we know that to be true partly from the remains that we find as aid workers and with the medical examiners' offices, but also from understanding that for those who are crossing, the route is increasingly deadly and dangerous, leading to higher deaths.

so, as it becomes more difficult to ci’oss so, as it becomes more difficult to cross at more organised places, people go for the wilder parts, which are much more risky. i suppose it is quite possible, as well, we don't know how many people are dying. some of the bodies will be, frankie, even by wild animals. absolutely, we have two estimate that there is a higher body count than even the official count. what we do know is since the 1990s nearly 9000 remains have been found. so you can only imagine what a higher number would look like from already an astounding figure. how much are you able to help it will try to get across? it is difficult for us to gauge numbers specifically, especially in leaving aid, we don't interact with people directly. we leave supplies around heavily trafficked migrant corridors. so it is difficult to say exactly numbers, but we, you know, we hope that we are reaching as many people as

possible. and how are your relations with the border force? that can be tricky, can't it? it can be. nothing we do is unknown to border patrol. we are known to them as an aid organisation, and none of our work is illegal. that being said, several of our volunteers are facing rather major legal challenges. one of our volunteers, scott warren, was arrested last january and charged with harbouring, and he faces up to 20 years in prison if can it did. so legal challenges have absolutely increased, especially in the last couple of years. thank you very much for talking to us. 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. samuel'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 asylum applications. the change was a temporarily measure for humanitarian reasons, the foreign ministry said, as mexico is considered a safe third country. how safe, though? in recent days, two honduran teenagers from the caravan were killed on tijuana's streets. we saw samuel and baby madeleine often on 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 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've had death threats from the gangs in honduras. they came to the house looking for me several times, so we had to escape. as the weeks of hardship take their toll, food is scarce and conditions unsanitary. the city has opened a second migrant shelter, but it isn't enough. there is now an increasingly large number of people who will be stuck in these conditions and this legal limbo, notjust 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 wanted from mexico. for those trapped at the border, though, this new agreementjust made a bleak christmas even tougher.

it is reported that sudanese security forces have used live ammunition in clashes with demonstrators marching 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. isma'il kushkush is a journalist who has covered sudan extensively. he gave us more details about what happpened. there was a call today by the sudanese professionals association, which is an assembly of trade unions, independent trade unions of the — different from the sudanese government—sanctioned sudan trade unions federation. and 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 in downtown,

near the abu jinzir square, and the downtown area of khartoum. there have been reports of casualties, and many injured. 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 pontif 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 heralded 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 breather from 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. 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. our main headline: 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. let's stay with that story now. rudy pinem is christian aid's emergency programme manager and joins me on the line from jakarta. to the up—to—date, how much are you

able to do and how many people are you being able to reach? right now, we're reaching the 1160 households. —— just bring us up to date. —— 360 households. so we have a medical tea m households. so we have a medical team there right now. and what are your team is finding when they get there? the people there, because in lampuing, it is not like in bandung, close to jakarta. so right now, they are still giving medical assistance with doctors and nurses there, and also assessing about what is needed in the next coming days. the

government says it is stopping up the operations, are you finding that you are getting everything you need to get to the people? -- stepping up. yes, it is quite manageable right now and also, it is still accessible, it is a practical location. so far, i think we are quite safe right now, but let's see after two weeks of the operation, we will see if there are other needs. are no because of the fears of another big wave or plenty more big waves possibly, a lot of people have evacuated to higher ground, presumably that makes it a lot harder to reach them, to get help to them? yeah, because right now, the government, they do not have any tsunami warning system, caused by the volcanic under the sea, because

it is not working right now. there was like a landslide under the sea but we do not have a system to avoid devastation. the government already released the warning to people earlier this year, so think it is better right now to stay away from the beach because the volcanic situation is still on the level to warning right now. there are hopes that the situation will worsen with tsunamis caused by land strikes.

this is thank you very much. 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 a fence, or whatever they want to call it. i'lll call it whatever they want, but it's the same thing. 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're not going to let that take place. we are working so hard to catch these traffickers. they're 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 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?" take a 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? that was a terrible thing to do". it's 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. president trump saying something is there which is certainly open for dispute, of course. —— some things. 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's due to give birth to a royal baby in the spring. 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. electric scooters have become a multi—billion dollar business, and a familiar sight in cities such as paris and los angeles. they're also increasingly visible on streets in the uk — even though they are being banned for use on public roads. now there are calls for the law to be changed, as joe miller reports. they've been taking off across europe and in the us. equipped with an electric motor, these traffic—beating scooters can zip along at 20 mph. commuter lloyd bennett is a convert, despite warnings about their safety. it's not something that concerns me. just — i'm not going fast, you know. if you're going along somewhere that's really busy, you can turn the power down,

so you go a lot slower, and just take your time. it's just really easy, really simple to get round. it's no different to a bike. there is one key difference. e—scooters are still illegal in the uk, and are only allowed on private land. yet at this dealership in london, business is booming, and customers don't seem to be put off by the prospect of breaking the law. they've just come from san francisco, they'vejust come from paris, they'vejust come from israel, and they see everybody on them, it's a very green solution, it's easy, and they don't understand why the government doesn't take it to the other step. he wants e—scooters to be treated the same way as electric bikes. so far, the company's appeals to authorities have fallen on deaf ears. the government has committed hundreds of millions of pounds to developing energy—efficient transport, but e—scooters like this aren't part of the mix, despite an increase in popularity, and there's no sign of the law

being changed in a hurry. enthusiasts say e—scooters are one of the few convenient alternatives to overcrowded trains and buses. but motoring organisations say rules on how they should be driven are desperately needed. fairly rapidly, we're going to need some legislation to clarify where they can travel, how they can travel, and also some guidance in terms of the highway code. the global boom in e—scooters has been fuelled by sharing schemes, and the fear of an avalanche of vehicles might be behind britain's reluctance to embrace them. but inokim's boss says better regulation could keep numbers down, and he's convinced, if the uk gets on board with e—scooters, it won't look back. joe miller, bbc news. donald trump's in hot water again,

with a lot of parents and quite possibly 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 the first lady. that's what happened to one girl named coleman. have a listen to part of her conversation with mr trump. do you still believe in santa? because at seven, it's marginal, right? mrtrump there, marginal mr trump there, marginal indeed. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello.

christmas day started at —8 in north—east scotland but as the day went on in north—west scotland, the temperature hit plus 1a celsius. most of us had a mild, 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 for north—west scotland. if you are close to that, you will see rain at times. and this is how the day is starting. but very mild with it. north—east scotland still close to freezing. so this is where boxing day starts with a frost. elsewhere, a good few degrees above freezing, plenty of cloud, drizzly in places, misty for many of us as well. as the day goes on, more rain in north—west scotland. elsewhere, we will see some sunshine towards north—east scotland. parts of north—east england, north—east wales, should see sunshine developing more widely

across southern counties of england during the afternoon and into the channel islands as well. almost across—the—boa rd temperatures are into double figures for that mild unseasonal feel to things. from wednesday into thursday morning, rain in north—west scotland easing, a good deal of cloud around, a few breaks here and there but more especially across southern england, maybe into south wales, and this is where we will see the lowest temperatures as thursday begins. 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 some sunshine and again on thursday, north—east scotland will see blue sky in places, many other places will be cloudy but still essentially dry. the temperatures are still on the mild side but many parts of england and wales mayjust shave a couple of degrees off that compared for boxing day. high pressure is still close by, still generally in charge going into friday but we will see

a weather front coming in from the atlantic. ahead of it, southern areas of the country could start friday again with dense fog in places. 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 get to see some sunshine coming through and temperatures are still on the mild side. another spell of rain affecting parts of scotland as saturday begins, but for most over the weekend with high pressure close by, it is dry, often cloudy, but mild. this is bbc news. the headlines: officials in indonesia say they are stepping up the relief operation for thousands of people who lost their homes in saturday's deadly tsunami. there is 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 eight—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.