this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 9am: an increase in hospital parking charges. new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in england put up their fees in the last year in an effort to reduce the use of plastic, the government says the price of a 5p carrier bag in england will double. black and minority workers in britain lose £3.2 billion a year in an ethnic pay gap, according to a new report. we looked at occupation, age, industry, contract work, temporary, full—time, part—time. we looked through the kitchen sink and we found significant results between different groups. a british cruise ship entertainer is missing after going overboard on christmas day. and in half an hour, we look at how the social media giants came under fire and the printed press got smaller.

that's in review 2018: the media year. good morning. more than a third of nhs hospitals in england have raised the cost of parking over the past year, with some patients and staff now paying double the price. several trusts have defended the higher costs, saying some or all of the money went back into patient care or was spent on maintaining car parks. our correspondentjohn donnison has been looking at the figures. paying to park at hospitals is a bugbear of both patients, visitors and staff. the press association gathered data from 124 nhs trusts across england. 43% of them admitted prices had gone up over the past year

for visitors or staff or both. the most expensive was royal surrey county hospital in guildford, charging £4 for a stay of just one hour. airedale nhs foundation trust in yorkshire saw the cost of a 2k hour stay more than double to £8. analysis of data published by nhs digital in october shows that nhs trusts made more than £226 million last year from parking including penalty fines. the royal college of nursing said its members were being overcharged for doing theirjobs. a department of health spokesperson said the government had been very clear that patients, their families, and hard—working staff should not be subject to unfair parking charges. those charges have been abolished in wales and most of scotland. labour has pledged to get rid of them in england as well. john donnison, bbc news. the 5p fee for plastic carrier bags

in england will be doubled to 10p, and will extend to all shops, under plans set out by the environment secretary. the change is contained in a government consultation aimed at further reducing the plastic used by consumers and could come into effect in january 2020. smaller retailers, who are exempt from the current levy, supply an estimated 3.6 billion single—use bags annually. black and ethnic minority workers are paid £3.2 billion less than their white counterparts each year, according to the think tank the resolution foundation which focuses on people on lower incomes. it analysed data from 100,000 people over ten years. the government says it's already consulting on plans to force companies to reveal their ethnicity pay gap. claire lomas has more details. this report puts the focus on the

uk'si.9 this report puts the focus on the uk's 1.9 billion black, indian this report puts the focus on the uk's1.9 billion black, indian and pakistani employees. it looks that two things, pay gaps and what it calls pay penalties. the former is when black and ethnic minority workers get paid less than their white counterparts, because of things like being in lower skilled jobs or having a poorer quality education. the resolution foundation says that even when taking that into account, black, indian and bangladeshi workers still face shortfalls. they found the worst affected group was black male graduates who were being paid an average of £3.90 less per hour than their white peers. among female graduates, black women faced the biggest gap, £1.62 an hour less than their white colleagues. pakistani and bangladeshi women were the worst hit among graduates, earning an abta edge of £1.91 per hour less. —— an average of. at the moment only 3% of

employers voluntarily publish their ethnic pay gaps. itn, one of the companies that did so, found that it's black and white ethnic minority employees are paid 21% less per hour than their white co—workers. ministers say they are consulting employers on this very idea. claire lomas, bbc news. a search is taking place for a british cruise ship entertainer, who went overboard in the caribbean on christmas day. the us coastguard was alerted after 20—year—old arron huff failed to turn up for his shift on harmony of the seas where he'd been performing in a musical. monika plaha reports. it's one of the world's largest cruise ships, longer than the eiffel tower, with the ability to carry 8000 passengers. one of them was 20—year—old dancer and musical theatre graduate arron hough, who was working on board the harmony of the seas before he went missing on christmas day. injuly, aaron's talent agency tweeted that he would be joining the cast of grease: the musical. harmony of the seas is currently

sailing on a seven night itinerary, which departed from florida last sunday. the ship was 267 miles north—west of aguadilla, puerto rico, at the time arron went overboard and is due to call at haiti before returning back to florida. a spokesperson for the ship's operator, the royal caribbean, said that after a review of the ship's camera footage, arron was seen entering an area on deck five at around 4am and wasn't seen again. they say their team is providing support for arron's family and friends through this difficult time. the harmony of the seas will complete its scheduled itinerary as the us coastguard continues to lead the search. the foreign office say they are providing assistance to arron's family. monika plaha, bbc news. 11 migrants have been found on the shore in folkestone after crossing the channel in a small boat overnight. the bbc understands another four

migrants have been picked up by the border force this morning from a small boat off the coast at dover. there's been a sharp rise in the number of migrants trying to cross from france since october. police are investigating after a double decker bus crashed into a house in south london. these are incredible pictures of what happened. the 118 bus travelling between morden and brixton collided into the building on streatham vale late last night. police say there were no serious injuries and no—one has been arrested, but roads in the area remain closed as they investigate the circumstances behind the crash. all flights around an erupting volcano that triggered a tsunami in indonesia over the weekend have been rerouted. authorities in indonesia have also raised the alert status at mount anak krakatoa to the second highest level, after a series of eruptions spewed out lava. on saturday, tsunamis hit coastal towns on the islands of sumatra and java, killing at least 430 people. hundreds more are still missing.

this morning, the country's disaster management agency said a three—mile exclusion zone had been imposed. 0ur indonesia editor rebecca henschke reports from jakarta authorities are watching this volcano very closely because they believe underwater volcanic activity caused a landslide at anak krakatoa, which sits in the sunda strait, because of that deadly tsunami which killed more than 400 people, and the volcano is still erupting, sending clouds of ash metres into the air. they are particularly monitoring the tremors. because of that, they have raised it to the second highest level. they have also expanded the exclusion zone to five kilometres. helicopters are evacuating communities in irelands outside of that exclusion zone and also telling people our land on both sides of the strait in sumatra and java to stay

well away from the beach due to fears that perhaps there could be another tsunami as this volcanic activity appears to be increasing. they have also directed all flights to avoid this area. of course volcanic ash is very dangerous for aeroplanes. and this is a busy flight aeroplanes. and this is a busy flight path between the two main islands of indonesia, so planes are being told to stay well away from this area. relief effort is now getting into some of the communities onjava, getting into some of the communities on java, closest to the volcano. getting into some of the communities onjava, closest to the volcano. 0ne area was cut off because of damage done to bridges and roads and aid is now getting into that community there which was very badly hit by there which was very badly hit by the tsunami. there has been bad weather and a lot of rain in the area making it even more difficult for those who have lost their homes and are now living in evacuation centres, in masks and town halls. 0ther centres, in masks and town halls. other people are having to leave

from these islands that are dotted in the sunda strait, and also there is concern about animals as well. this is a world heritage area, at the bottom of java, this is a world heritage area, at the bottom ofjava, the only this is a world heritage area, at the bottom of java, the only place ina the bottom of java, the only place in a world where you will find the last remaining java rhinos. rangers there are also worried about them. rebecca henschke reporting. at least 20 people have been hurt in italy where an earthquake has hit the area around mount etna in sicily. several buildings were damaged by the quake, magnitude 4.8, which struck in the early hours of the morning. it was the most powerful since the volcano erupted on monday. president trump has made a surprise visit to us troops in iraq. he defended his decision to withdraw us forces from syria which prompted his defence secretary, james mattis, to resign last week. 0ur washington correspondent, chris buckler, has more. president trump travelled with the first lady to iraq to spread some christmas cheer and to thank troops

for their service and sacrifice. we came to al asad this year. 0ur eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep america safe, strong, and free. last week, in a sudden and surprise decision, he announced that american forces would be leaving syria, causing concern in washington and several corners of the world. but mr trump said he believed a lot of people were going to come round to his way of thinking. he went on to insist that "it's time for us to start using our head". one person who remains unconvinced is the outgoing defence secretary, jim mattis, who resigned over the president's plans. mr trump says he is in no hurry to find a permanent successor to general mattis, a sign that he intends to push forward with what he believes is right. it's reported that the pentagon has been asked to draw up plans to severely reduce the number of american troops in afghanistan. many in the military feel there is still much work left to be done there and in syria. and there has been widespread criticism of mr trump's suggestion

that the so—called islamic state group have been defeated. even with those questions about his foreign policy, mr trump may well feel that that trip to iraq has been a brief break from the battles he is facing here in washington. there are concerns about the economy, the stock market, and the partial government shutdown which left hundreds of thousands of federal workers over christmas either on unpaid leave or not knowing when they will be paid. mr trump insists he will only accept a funding deal if it gives him $5 billion for a border war with mexico. and democrats insist that is not going to happen. it has left many believing that this shutdown will last for some time to come. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. the defence secretary, gavin williamson, has said he has grave concerns about the chinese technology firm huawei being involved in upgrading the uk's mobile network. australia, new zealand and the us have all restricted the use of huawei

technology in new 5g networks because of security fears. mr williamson told the times newspaper it was something the government would have to look at very closely. schools in england are being told to eliminate unnecessary plastic, with carrier bags, straws and food containers set to be replaced with sustainable alternatives. the education secretary, damian hinds, has asked for increased communication between schools and suppliers about the plastic packaging of milk cartons and other day—to—day essentials. here's joanna jaworska. this is throwaway britain. 2018 has seen many people try to cut down on their use of plastics but will it continue next year? the education secretary has said he wants schools to try to stop using single—use plastics by 2022. that means cutting down on items like plastic bags, straws, bottles and food packaging. it's been inspired by one primary

school in devon who have swapped cling film for foil in their kitchens, have milk delivered in recyclable containers, and they've reduced the use of straws by using washable bea kers instead. each year, more than 8 million tons of plastic enter the sea. the majority of man—made plastics are not biodegradable, meaning they will not rot, and not all plastics can be recycled. but some academics have warned that we need to be careful about what we replace plastics with. glass or metal containers are heavier which means that more energy is needed to transport them and that can lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. the new year may be a new start but the fight against how to clean up our planet continues.

joanna jaworska, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: an increase in hospital parking charges — new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in england put up their fees in the last year. in an effort to reduce the use of plastic the government says the price of a 5p carrier bag in england will double. black and minority workers in britain lose £3.2 billion a year in an ethnic pay gap according to a new report. sport and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. well the premier league certainly looks a lot different this morning. another big win for liverpool over newcastle and that defeat for manchester city to leicester, means thatjurgen klopp‘s men are even further ahead at the top. six ahead of tottenham, who went second, and seven

ahead of champions city. austin halewood rounds up the best of the action. and there goes the final whistle. a christmas to forget for pep guardiola. some had begun to think it was impossible, but the second defeat for manchester city in five days has thrown the premier league wide open. the champions had plenty of chances at leicester, but there can often be magic in the air at the king power. it's come out as far as ricardo, and what a hit! a goal that dropped city down to third, and with liverpool still undefeated, a turning point in the season? we played man city still in... what is it? eight days, a week? so, if i will be at man city, i would think it was only four. so that means absolutely nothing. so liverpool aren't getting ahead of themselves, but when your defenders start doing this, things are going pretty well. a missile from dejan lovren lifting liverpool even further above manchester city. a four—goal demolition of newcastle means they are now firmly the team to beat, seven points ahead of the champions. but a new contender is emerging down south, tottenham

thrashing bournemouth 5—0. 11 goals in just four days for spurs, another ruthless display taking them into second. while talk of the top four may still be premature, smiles were finally back at old trafford. 0le gunnar solskjaer managing his first home game, and just seven days into the job, the turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable. and then pogba! already the celebrations becoming familiar, his side playing with the talent they had all along. paul pogba apparently happy once again. finally, at old trafford, things could be starting to look up. austin halewood, bbc news. elsewhere everton thumped burnley 5—1 at turf moor. brighton and arsenal played out

a 1—1 draw and chelsea won 2—1 at watford to move two points clear of the gunners in fourth. the games at fulham and crystal palace both ended in draws. in the scottish premiership, scott sinclair scored a hat—trick as leaders celtic beat aberdeen 4—3 in a thriller at pittodrie. the game was poised at 2—2 going into the final five minutes before goals from 0dsonne edouard and sinclair sealed the win to extend their lead at the top to three points. elsewhere, rangers were held to a 1—1 draw at home to hibs. there were also wins for hearts, kilmarnock and stjohnstone. clan des 0beaux was the surprise winner of the king george vi chase at kempton. the 16—1 shot ridden by harry cobden narrowly beat veteran thistlecrack in a dramatic finish giving trainer paul nicholls his tenth win at the boxing day showpiece. the gold cup winner native river came in third. india remain in a strong position after day two of the third test against australia in melbourne. the tourists resumed on 215 for two. cheteshwar pujara hit 106,

while skipper virat kohli added 82 to maintain their control of the match. however the australians fought back to take five wickets after lunch before india declared on 443—7. australia faced six overs before the close and made eight runs without losing a wicket. the series is currently tied at 1—1. trent boult‘s stunning burst of six wickets in 15 balls helped new zealand dismiss sri lanka for 104 on day two of their second test in chrischurch. he ripped through sri lanka's batting order inside 40 minutes. at the close, new zealand were 231 for two in their second innings — a lead of 305 runs. that's all the sport for now. i will have more for you in the next hour. thank you. see you later. there are 1.8 million single parent households in the uk,

and for a long time it was believed that if a child was in one, it had a negative impact on their life. new research suggests otherwise. frankie mccamley has been to meet a group of single parents to hear how perceptions about them have changed. a cup of tea and a friendly ear for these single mums in kent who get together regularly to share their concerns when it comes to bringing up children on their own. the women are just a handful of the 1.8 million single parent—headed households in the uk, but for some the prospect of being a single parent was daunting. well, when i first became single, i thought, "that's it. see you later. life's over. how am i going to cope? i can't cope with this. how am i going to pay the bills? how am i going to look after my kids?" it's clear that this group are determined to overcome any negativity. my son was studying, doing his a levels, and was studying sociology. he came home one day and he said, "mum, can you believe this? ijust read in a study that said if you are from a single parent and you are a little black boy

you are not going to do well. how dare they?" he was so angry, you know. i said, "so what are you going to do about it?" he said, "i'm going to show them that i'm going to do my best." and the positives, they say, are priceless. they help me at work. they help me at home. i know that if any problems, they can come and tell me and they really are my little best friends. that's been the best part of being a single parent, i think. and their experiences may be more common than previously thought. typically surveys suggest that one in four families with children are headed by a single parent at any one time. this latest data suggests that it's more likely to be one in three families. and despite the concerns these mums have, researchers did not find evidence of a negative impact on children who live in a single—parent household. in fact, the researchers believe that children who are living or have lived in single—parent families score as highly or higher than those in two—parent families when it comes to things like life satisfaction, relationships, and family life, which some historians say

is a complete u—turn to what people thought in the past. i think a lot of people feel uncomfortable when people behave unconventionally, as they see it. they want everyone to have really rather similar lives and this notion that it's normal to live in a long—lasting marriage and bring up secure children and have really stereotypical happy families. and if people don't behave like that then there is something wrong and that's somehow a threat to social stability and conventional morality. but for these ladies, and many other men and women across the country, their single—parent family is the norm, and it will not stop them from living full and happy lives. frankie mccamley, bbc news. a us explorer has become the first man to cross antarctica alone and unassisted. 33—year—old colin 0'brady finished

a race across the ice in 53 days, beating british army captain louis rudd. kim gittleson has more. newsreel: antarctica is the new land of opportunity. go south, young man, go south. for over 100 years antarctica's inhospitable landscape has both repelled and attracted, luring adventurers who want to conquer the seemingly unconquerable. colin 0'brady‘s antarcticjourney began on 3rd november, when he was dropped off by a helicopter on the edge of the ronne ice shelf. it was the start of a nearly 900 mile or 1600 kilometre trek across the waste of the continent. his was a race against another adventurer, the british explorer louis rudd, who was embarking on the trek in honour of his friend, henry worsley, who died in his solo attempt in 2016. rudd and 0'brady progressed through extreme conditions, unaided by kites or by drops

of food and fuel. to stay in touch, mr 0'brady documented his journey on his instagram account, where he showed off the black tape he wore on his face to stave off frostbite, and the heavy sled filled with provisions that he dragged for 12 hours each day. in an incredible feat, mr 0'brady completed the last 80 miles, or 130 kilometres, of his trek by travelling for 32 hours straight, arriving at the ross ice shelf and accomplishing what he said was an impossible first. kim gittleson, bbc news. and to another extraordinary challenge. a frenchman has set off to cross the atlantic in a barrel—shaped orange capsule, propelled only by ocean currents. jean—jacques savin, who's 71, left el hierro in spain's canary islands and hopes to reach the caribbean in as little as three months. he will drop markers along the way to help oceanographers study atlantic currents. 0livia colman, dominic west and lily collins, just some of the big name actors

starring in the bbc‘s new adaptation of les miserables, but not one of them is singing from the rooftops about it. the six—part drama leaves the songs from the musical to one side, and asjohn maguire has been finding out, the series goes back to basics and explores the story of love and revolution. action. taking les miserables from the page, and there are almost 1500 of them, to the screen requires a huge number of people. it starts with the writer. andrew davies' cv includes house of cards, pride and prejudice and war and peace. now he's recreating les mis. i've kind of got a taste for these great big books now. so, on set in brussels, is he nervous about watching his words come to life? yes, you can get a bit anxious hoping that they'll get it right. in fact, you're really hoping they'll do more than that, that they'll do something better

than you even imagined, and a lot of the time that is happening here. the clothes help to tell the story. it is a costume drama, after all, and i'm shown items that are created new and then distressed to make them look old and worn by relentlessly tough lives. it needs hours. it really needs a long time to get this kind of texture into it. i think they've done an amazing job. it's beautiful. much of this new adaptation has been filmed in belgium. from high—society paris to toulon prison, the locations help to transport the audience to the france of two centuries ago. so with the story, the script, the actors, the director, and vitally the costumes all in place, it comes time to choose the locations. what about this place? an original napoleonic jail. it's atmospheric and it's certainly quite spooky. of course, hair and make—up play a tra nsformative role. not a bad match at all. there you go. that's transformed you straightaway into a dandy. it didn't take much, did it?

here you go. we reckon you are the most famous movie make—up artist in the world. why? because of that picture of you with aidan turner. that one? i always get cut out of that one, don't i? we use facial hair to denote class distinction. beards are used for beggars and the prisoners are often germans. it's the icing on the cake with the costumes. that is something you would get, like that. very dignified. so from the beards to the barricades, les miserables is set to blow you away. john maguire, bbc news, belgium. now carol has got the weather. hello again. this morning has been cloudy and drizzly with mist and fog as well. into the afternoon there

will be a lot of cloud around but we will be a lot of cloud around but we will see some brighter breaks in north—east scotland, north—east england and southern england. there will still be a lot of cloud for the rest of us but glimmers of sunshine at times. temperatures between nine and 11. for the evening and overnight still a bit of cloud around and a dense mist and fog forming across southern england. the weather front coming the west will introduce a thick cloud and also some rain. no problems with problems with frost, with temperatures like these. tomorrow we start off with our weather front producing rain across scotland, as it moves out of northern ireland across england and wales, it will not be much more than a band of cloud with the odd bit of drizzle. it will brighten up with sunshine in scotland, northern england and northern ireland with temperatures 11 to 13, above average for this stage in december. if

hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in england have put up their parking fees in the last year — in some places, the charges have doubled. in an effort to reduce the use of plastic, the government has set out plans to increase the price of a carrier bag in england to 10p — and extend the policy to all shops. black and minority workers in britain are losing £3.2 billion a year in an ethnic pay gap — according to analysis by the resolution foundation thinktank. the us coastguard is searching for a 20—year—old british cruise ship entertainer, who went overboard from a royal caribbean vessel on christmas day. and ash erupting from the kra katau volcano in indonesia has forced flights to be rerouted, days after it triggered a deadly tsunami. now on bbc news, it's the year the social media giants came under fire, the printed press got smaller and blockbuster tv got even bigger. the bbc‘s amol rajan gives his take on the last 12 months in review

2018: the media year. hello and welcome to the media year 2018. in the next half an hour, we are going to look at the intersection between technology and the media over the past 12 months, a golden age of tv and audio and the increasing impact of data on all our lives. this has been the year of the techlash, a global backlash against silicon valley's biggest companies prompted by controversies over privacy, misinformation, foreign interference and much else besides. and one company has been in the spotlight and feeling the heat more than any other. facebook‘s wobbles and worries morphed into constant woe. revelations emerged about a british data firm, cambridge analytica,