this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 10: 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 single use 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 and also region, age, industry, contract work. are you permanent? are you temporary? are you full—time or part—time? we basically threw the kitchen sink and we still found statistically significant results between different groups. a british cruise ship entertainer is missing after going overboard on christmas day. and in half an hour, victoria derbyshire looks back on some of the memorable moments from her programme in 2018. 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 maintaining car parks. car park charges have been abolished in wales and most of scotland, but still remain in england and northern ireland. 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 cost for single use 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's 1.9 million black, indian and pakistani employees. it looks at 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, male counterparts because of things like being in lower skilled jobs or having a poorer quality education. the resolution foundation says even after taking all of those into account, black, indian, pakistani and bangladeshi workers still face shortfalls. their research 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 men were the worst hit among non—graduates, earning on average £1.91 per hour less. the think tank wants the government to build on the gender pay gaps it's already made firms publish earlier this year by doing the same with pay according to ethnic background.

at the moment only 3% of employers voluntarily publish their ethnic pay gaps. itn, one of the companies that did so, found that its black and white ethnic minority employees are paid 21% less per hour than 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 dance and musical theatre graduate arron hough, who was working on board the harmony of the seas before he went missing on christmas day. injuly, arron‘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 of 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. the 118 bus travelling between morden and brixton collided into the building on streatham vale late last night. three people have been treated for minor injuries. police say no—one has been arrested, but roads in the area remain closed as they investigate the circumstances behind the crash. all flights near the volcano that triggered the tsunami in indonesia last week have been rerouted, as it continues to spew lava. authorities in indonesia have raised the alert level at mount anak krakatau after a series of further eruptions. the tsunami on saturday hit

the islands of sumatra and java, killing at least 430 people. hundreds more remain 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, a landslide at anak krakatau, which sits in the sunda strait, caused that deadly tsunami which killed more than 400 people. the volcano is still erupting, sending clouds of ash kilometres 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 islands outside of that exclusion zone and also telling people on 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 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 closest to the volcano. the areat of sunda 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 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 mosques 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, the only place in the world where you will find the last remaining java rhinos. rangers there are also worried about them. 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, which measured a 4.8 magnitude, and 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 around 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. 10:14am.

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 for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's hollie. well despite stretching their lead at the top of the premier league yesterday, liverpool managerjurgen klopp says it means nothing at the halfway stage of the season. after comfortably beating newcastle united at anfield, they now go six points clear ahead of tottenham, while champions manchester city have slipped to third after suffering another defeat. it means liverpool are now

the favourites to lift the title, but klopp says he's taking nothing for granted. it will be until the final day, that's how it is, but we are in it. that's important, that we are in and around. at the moment we are at the top but that is only at the moment important. what we do is constantly creating a basis for the rest of the season. creating a basis for the rest of the season. 0bviously creating a basis for the rest of the season. obviously the basis after the first part of the season is a pretty good one. meanwhile, manchester united caretaker boss 0le gunnar solskjaer says he's enjoying watching paul pogba play with a smile on his face again, after the midfielder starred once again during united's victory over hudderfield. solskjaer received a superb reception on his old trafford return, admitting it was rather surreal. i've not got used to it yet because it isa i've not got used to it yet because it is a very humbling experience knowing that i am a part of this

tea m knowing that i am a part of this team andi knowing that i am a part of this team and i am leading them out. let's see if i get used to it in a few games‘ time. let's see if i get used to it in a few games' time. it was surreal? yes, of course, when i walked down here and played and was captain of a couple of games, but this of course was very, very different. let's have a look at where things stand currently. liverpool leading spurs by six points, with manchester city a further point behind in third. chelsea have pulled slightly away from arsenal in fourth, following their win at watford and the gunners' draw at brighton. manchester united in sixth have closed the gap on the top four after their back—to—back wins over cardiff and huddersfield. napoli head coach carlo ancelotti has revealed they tried to have their league game against inter milan suspended because of alleged racist chanting. the former chelsea manager says they asked three times for the game to be stopped at the san siro yesterday due to the abuse aimed at his defender kalidou koulibaly, who was sent off with nine minutes to go. he said the senegalese player was put on edge by the crowd's

behaviour and that his red card influenced the outcome of the match, which inter won 1—0. ancelotti says next time his team will leave the pitch, even if they have to forfeit the match. cricket, and india remain in a strong position after day two of the third test against australia in melbourne. the tourists resumed on 215—2. 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 loss. 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 christchurch. he ripped through sri lanka's batting order inside 40 minutes. at the close, new zealand were 231—2 in their second innings, a lead of 305 runs. finally, wayne rooney may be a rather familiar face at old trafford. he is, after all, the club's leading all—time goal—scorer. but that doesn't mean he gets any special treatment when it comes to security. rooney, who now plays for dc united in the states, was patted down by staff when he arrived at old trafford yesterday, 18 months since he last wore the red jersey. he played for united for 13 years in total but clearly they weren't taking any chances. that's all the sport for now. i will have more for you in the next hour. thank you. see you later. let's just take you live to the andrew airbase in maryland in the

united states. air force one has landed after that the prize trip by president trump and his wife to iraq late on christmas day. it was a secretive trip and air force one was flown with no lights on and the windows closed, the blinds drawn on the windows, said that it was a com plete the windows, said that it was a complete surprise and secret trip. they were concerned about security. he wasn't concerned about his own security, he said, but those people travelling with him. he said on that trip that he defended the decision to pull us troops out of syria. he said there were no plans at all to withdraw us forces from iraq, where they have been since the invasion in 2003. he said he wants to remove us forces from syria but iraq could still be used as a base to launch attacks on isis militants. these are

the pictures in maryland, waiting for donald trump and melania to leave that plain after that surprise trip to iraq. 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 helicopter at 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 another adventurer. 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. 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 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 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. let's go back to the andrews airbase in maryland where donald trump and melania have just left air force 0ne, arriving back after that surprise visit to iraq, visiting some of the us troops. there have been us forces in iraq since the invasion in 2003 and on the trip, donald trump said he would not pull us troops from iraq. it was a subject that was discussed off—course in the of donald trump's decision to pull us troops out of syria. —— of course. donald trump

said he wanted to remove us forces from syria but iraq would still be used as a base to launch attacks on isis militants. he said the mission in syria was to remove isis from its strongholds and not to be a nation builder. that is then back in the united states after that surprise visit. a man has died following an explosion at a house in hampshire. the emergency services were called to the property in andover in the early hours of this morning. a number of neighbouring properties have been evacuated. an investigation into the cause of the blast is under way. 0ur reporter steve humphrey is there. the pictures look really dramatic. tell us more about what happened.- far as we know, there was an explosion at about 2:30am. the sad news is the body of a man has been recovered from the wreckage. at the moment behind me there is a very big

emergency services presence. we have seen a emergency services presence. we have seen a fire service aerial ladder and a search dog. also a lot of people here from the gas distribution company sgn and there isa distribution company sgn and there is a bit ofa distribution company sgn and there is a bit of a smell of gas around here. you can see is a bit of a smell of gas around here. you can see over is a bit of a smell of gas around here. you can see over my shoulder the entire end of a 3—storey terraced properties here on this housing estate north of andover has been completely destroyed. we have just been round the other side and seen just been round the other side and seen the rather strange sight of a bath hanging out of the side of the property with no wall. we do know that a lot of the neighbouring properties have been evacuated and we have seen small clusters of neighbours talking to emergency services this morning. as i say, a joint investigation is under way, between the police and the fire service. everybody wanting to know exactly what has caused this tragedy, coming as it does between christmas and new year. at the moment a lot of unanswered questions but what we do know is that there

has been a major explosion here, as you can has been a major explosion here, as you can see has been a major explosion here, as you can see behind me. investigations and searching our run going. thank you. now we can catch up going. thank you. now we can catch up with the weather with carol. there will be a lot of cloud around and some brighter breaks in north—east scotland, north—east england and southern england. for the rest of us there will be a lot of cloud that we will see glimmers of cloud that we will see glimmers of brightness and sunshine at times. temperatures between nine and 11. for the evening and overnight, a fair bit of cloud around and dense fog patches forming across southern england. a weather front coming in from the west will introduce thicker cloud and also some rain. no problems with rust with temperatures like these. tomorrow we start off with that weather front producing

rain across scotland. as it moves out of northern ireland and into england and wales, it willjust be a band of cloud with some drizzle but it will brighten up across scotland, northern england and northern ireland, with temperatures 11 to 13, above average for this stage in december.