this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at four. in iceland, three british tourists including a child have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge. four others are critically injured. an increase in hospital parking charges — new data suggests four in 10 nhs hospitals in england put up their fees in the last year. my friend's mum's dying. i've been in to drop some stuff off, and it's just cost me three quid. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two young children in margate, kent. britain's most senior police officer says a no deal brexit would potentially put the public at risk. we would hope that we will have as much as possible of the instruments we currently have, or something very similar, as quickly as possible, in order to be able to keep our public safe. the defence secretary voices grave concerns about the chinese firm huawei's involvement in upgrading

the uk's mobile network. and coming up in half an hour — stephen sackur looks back at some of hardtalk‘s stand—out interviews of 2018. three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland. four other people in the four—wheel drive have been taken to hospital with critical injuries. the car crashed through a barrier on a single—lane bridge and then fell eight metres onto a river bank. my colleague simon mccoy spoke to adolf erlingsson, a tour operator, who was one of the first people at the scene. it happened in the south

of iceland, along a main road. of iceland, along the main road. what we call the ring road. it is by a river, about half an hour east of a small town on the map. this is a one track bridge, and it crashed through the railings? yes, very strange, but somehow the driver must have lost control of the car and it just went through the railings, and crashed down onto the bank, which is kind of sandy, there's no river, so it wasn't submerged in water or anything, itjust landed there on a sandy bottom and flipped over

and was totally destroyed. i don't know how soon after it happened you got there, but there was obviously some sort of rescue operation to get those who had been injured out? well, just before i arrived at the scene, i was overtaken by a police car with flashing blue lights, high—speed, and when i got there were two police cars and i got out of my van and went to see if i could help. there were just two police officers and me to begin with. and we were trying to assess the situation, find out who was alive and who we could help, and so on, and try to get people out of the car. very difficult, and i appreciate you talking about it now, this only happened a few hours ago. how difficult was it to get the people out? how far down from the bridge was it where it came to rest? the fall from the bridge

i would estimate something like five or six metres. so about 15 or 20 feet. and the car was a total wreck. when i got there, four people were out of the car, one of them deceased, and then there were three people trapped in the car. i think two of them were deceased, the driver was alive, and trapped more or less under the dashboard. i couldn't see his face, but we were trying to get the people out of the car and help them. and it was a very difficult situation. we understand that we're talking about seven british people. were they able to talk? did you talk to any of them? yes, outside of the car, there was one adult and two children, more or less

semiconscious. i talked a little bit to the grown—up, and then i tried to talk a bit to the driver and calm him down. as i say, he was trapped inside the car, i was trying to tell him to save his energy and try to be patient, we would try to get him out of there. and he gave you no indication as to what had happened, why the car had come off the road? no, no, no. and is this a popular tourist area? oh, yes, this is the most popular tourist area. this road leads to, among other things, the glacial lagoon where i am right now. and my guess is they were on their way here. this is the most popular destination on the south coast, so probably they were on their way here.

a horrible thing for you to see, and clearly you did everything you could for those that were still alive. yes, of course. we just did what we could, and then more rescue people came, and when i had been there for about half an hour, there were enough rescue people and professionals there, so i left at that stage. but then they were starting to cut the car up and try to get the driver out. we had turned the car over a bit, soon after i arrived, we had an suv with a winch and we used it to sort of lift the car up a little bit to alleviate the pressure on the driver and try to get him out.

and they were just continuing with that work when i left. and presumably an area like this, an incident like this, everyone will be in shock. of course. the road is now closed and has been since the accident, and will be presumably for a couple of hours more. and i know they had two helicopters flying in to take people to hospital. the first news was that four people had died, but then they corrected it to three, fortunately. but yes, it was a horrible sight to come there and see the wreckage and the people there. 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 correspondent duncan kennedy has more. hospital car parks, a place for health or wealth? that is the question posed by today's figures showing many hospitals have raised their prices over the last year. this one in guildford tops the list in england, one of dozens of hospitals who made a total of over £226 million from parking fees. the hospital here says the money goes to front—line care and maintenance for all of the car parks, but what about visitors? what do you think about the parking charges here?

they're expensive but like everywhere else, you have to pay it. i think the system is complicated and people are ill, you don't come here through choice. you know this is the most expensive hospital that there is in terms of parking? yes, typical surrey, isn't it, really? 43% of hospitals admitted prices have gone up over the past year for visitors or staff or both. the royal surrey county hospital is already charging for stay of one hour making it the most expensive in england. the royal surrey county hospital is already charging for a stay of one hour, making it the most expensive in england. the airedale nhs foundation trust in west yorkshire saw the cost of a 24—hour stay more than doubled to £8, something locals

have strong views about. i think it's atrocious. i have been in to... my friend's mum is dying, i have been into drop some stuff off and it has cost me three quid. it does work out expensive — it could be £10 per day. are the carparking charges fair? no, i don't think they are. they should be free because people turning up to the car parks cannot necessarily afford it. the department of health today said it is very clear that patients, their families and hard—working staff should not be subject to parking charges. to unfair parking charges. the charges have been abolished in most of wales and scotland but they remain in england bringing an additional pain that many people that come into hospital would rather do without. a 37—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murdering two children. police say the young children were discovered at a property in margate in kent in the early hours of this morning. the woman remains in custody. britain's most senior police officer has said a no—deal brexit would be costly for her force and could potentially

put the public at risk. the metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick, said the scenario would be very challenging in the short term, but that efforts were being made to help forces cope, post—brexit. we've set up an eu coordination unit to help local forces continue operating after we exit the eu, under whatever circumstances. we would hope clearly that we would have the instruments that we have at the moment. you're saying that the consequences of not having those instruments would be that we will be

less safe ? instruments would be that we will be less safe? the consequences are that ina new less safe? the consequences are that in a new deal scenario we would have to be placed some of the things we karen li use in terms of access to databases karen li use in terms of access to data bases anyway in karen li use in terms of access to databases anyway in which we can quickly arrest and extradite people, these kinds of things, we will have to be them as effectively as we can and that will be more costly and slower and potentially put the public at risk, yes. let's speak to georgina wright, an independent brexit researcher, who recently provided expert testimony to the exiting the european union select committee on the impact of brexit on security. thank you for adjoining us. so, listening to cressida dick this morning, is she right to be concerned? i mean, obviously, this is one key area that would be quite heavily impacted by a no deal brexit. if you think of what happens now, the uk as a member state can access all sorts of eu instruments

and data bases. access all sorts of eu instruments and databases. in practice it means it can share criminal records, it can share dna, it can share a vehicle registration numbers, all sorts of things as easily across borders and with other member states as it would within the uk. if the uk left in march with no deal in place, thenit left in march with no deal in place, then it would no longer be able to access these instruments. so what was reported today was, what do we do, do we start negotiating a separate agreement that would allow us some separate agreement that would allow us some form of access even though we don't have a withdrawal agreement in place? or we don't have a withdrawal agreement in place? 0rdo we don't have a withdrawal agreement in place? or do we have to prepare for the worst? and so we shall see. asi for the worst? and so we shall see. as i said earlier, you provided expert testimony to a select committee on security and brexit — what if any advice did you give about what we should be doing?|j think about what we should be doing?” think my main sort of message was, we need time, essential. obviously, now we are a member state and what we are trying to do is extract

ourselves from the eu but also keep some of the benefits that we've had, so a ccess some of the benefits that we've had, so access to these databases, which are crucial not only for the uk's security but for the eu's security as well and the eu side has said absolutely they want to maintain strong co—operation. but like everything else it needs to be strongly negotiated, and unique time for negotiations, as we've seen, they can become complicated and you can have an expected hurdles. you also need to know when we can start negotiating and we have not really started negotiating ourfuture yet, security as well as trade and access to waters and all sorts of things because we are still on the terms of the exit. so time, when are we going to do this? and also, if the uk parliament rejects the withdrawal agreement, what will the trust levels be, will the uk and the eu really be able to strike support agreements? will there be that trust

and what conditions will there be? do we have to accept some form of role for the european court of justice, as we do right now as a member, to access these eu instruments? what are the terms? there are lots of questions so my main message is, we need time. obviously, the eu will lose out as well because the uk provides substantial funding into a well because the uk provides substantialfunding into a lot well because the uk provides substantial funding into a lot of these systems, these security systems, for example i understand there was a satellite system which they are providing funding for but they are providing funding for but they will know longer have access to. what are the implications there? the eu also supposedly losing out? you're right that there are budgetary implications in this, obviously, the uk provides quite a lot to the eu budget. at eu member states have already said that they discussed their future eu states have already said that they discussed theirfuture eu budget which does not include obviously

british spending in that. and they have reallocated it. so it is not really financial concerns as such, much more about actually it is in the interests of both sides to cooperate with satellite but also on judicial and police matters, lots of issues. but how will that co—operation work? this is a very new form of co—operation, this is the first time a member state has voted to leave. if you have your red lines on the other side has red lines, you need to see how you can make it work. and at the moment, you know, we are due to exit in march 2019. we need a withdrawal agreement in place to allow for a smooth exit. and if we don't have that withdrawal agreement in place, then what are we going to do? ,we'rejust losing time because this has never been done before. a man has been killed following an explosion which destroyed a house in hampshire. the blast happened in the early hours of this morning in andover. rescuers are continuing to search

the area, and a number of neighbouring properties have been evacuated. gas engineers are working with the emergency services to try to identify the cause. the defence secretary has reportedly said he has "very deep concerns" about chinese firm huawei being involved in upgrading the uk's mobile network. gavin williamson's comments came after some nations restricted use of the firm's products in 5g networks over security concerns. our defence correspondent jonathan marcusjoins me now. jonathan... how serious a risk is this chinese firm huawei? well, it is something which is causing concern in many countries, australia, new zealand and the united states have all moved to restrict the use of its technology in communications systems. here in britain the bt

confirmed that it was stripping out huawei equipment in a new communication system for the police and emergency services. so there are genuine concerns, this isn't fa ntasy. genuine concerns, this isn't fantasy. the defence secretary is raising growing concerns inside government, concerns which were raised by the head of m16 only some days ago. just how embedded is huawei in britain's telecommunications system ? huawei in britain's telecommunications system? well, they are now huge global player. china is fast becoming the united states of the 1960s and ‘70s in key areas of technology. the company, of course, was founded by an officer in the chinese army. it is widely regarded as having close ties to the chinese estate. the company itself, of course, insists that it agrees with the need for security and integrity of national communications infrastructures to be maintained. it saysin infrastructures to be maintained. it says in a statement today that it is very willing to have a dialogue with the british government and with the

industry here more generally. it notes that it is a major investor in the british economy. but it says that that dialogue has to be based on that that dialogue has to be based o n fa cts that that dialogue has to be based on facts and demonstrate up evidence. the extent to which this isa evidence. the extent to which this is a statement designed to offer reassurance or is is a statement designed to offer reassurance or is there just the hint there of a potential threat? it does underscore a problem, but china is now both a major economic player, a major economic part of the many countries, as well as a potential strategic competitor. and that dichotomy, the balance of those two aspects, is going to become more and more difficult, particularly for britain once it is on its own and it has left the european union. jonathan marcus, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... in iceland, three british tourists including a child have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge. four others are critically injured.

new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in england have increased parking charges in the last year. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two young children in margate, kent. time now for a full round—up of the sport from the bbc sport centre. inter milan have been ordered to play two matches behind closed doors after napoli defender kalidou koulibaly was racially abused yesterday at the san siro. the club is considering whether to appeal and it comes after the senegalese defender was the target of chanting in the 1—0 loss. mayor of milan giuseppe salah has since apologised the day after napoli head coach carlo ancelotti revealed they tried to have the game suspended. the former chelsea manager says they asked three times for the game to be stopped due to the abuse aimed

at koulibaly, who was sent off with nine minutes to go. he said the player was put on edge by the crowd's behaviour during their 1—0 defeat. translation: the state of mind of one player was affected by racism, and that is very bad. we are doing a campaign on this and i think everybody is involved, the federation, the referees. we would like to know how many times we will have to complain before a match will be halted. and next time, if they wa nt a nswer be halted. and next time, if they want answer as, then we will stop the match ourselves. this happened on the same day that ancelotti's former club chelsea again saw alleged anti semitic abuse levelled at their london rivals tottenham. it comes in the same month that chelsea fans were singled out on an away trip to hungarian side vidi in the europa league. blues manager mauricio sarri says it's stupid people who are to blame. first of all, i want to speak firstly with my player. second, i don't want to generalise. because

for the 99 cases, percent, ourfans are for the 99 cases, percent, ourfans a re really for the 99 cases, percent, ourfans are really very good and wonderful. and in every community i think there are some stupids. and so all together, we have to fight against the stupid people. but not against the stupid people. but not against the chelsea phone. but not against the chelsea fan. tottenham manager mauricio pochettino has said his side need to be consistent if they're to challenge for the premier league title this season. spurs have scored 11 goals in their last two matches and moved second ahead of manchester city after the boxing day fixtures. they're still six points adrift of liverpool though and the argentine isn't getting carried away. we need to show our self, we need everyone that we can be a real contender, being consistent during the whole season trainer we are there because we have the belief and

because we are working so hard of course we have the quality, it is difficult to be in the position we are to dave, but still we are a question mark, we will see if we are capable during the whole season to be consistent like in the first half of the season. mauricio pochettino's former side southampton are in action tonight when thery take on west ham at st.mary‘s. take on west ham at st mary's. you'll be able to keep across the game on 5live and on the bbc sport website. onto cricket and india hold the upper hand heading into day three of the second test against australia in melbourne — after a 170—run stand between cheteshwar pujara and captain virat kohli. the tourists resumed day 2 on 215 for 2 — while pujara hit 106, and kohli added 82 to maintain their control of the match. the australians did fight back to take five fight 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 with the four match series currently tied at one—all. the favourite elegant escape has won the welsh grand national at chepstow handing trainer colin tizzard a second success in three years. the 3—1 shot, ridden byjockey tom o'brien, fought off a late charge from ramsees de tie—yay to win by over a length. that's all the sport for now. let's return now to our main story, three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland. four other people have critical injuries. our correspondent ben ando joins me now with the latest. this happened on a bridge in the south—east of iceland, an area often used by tourists who are touring

around the edge of the island. you can see the bridge itself, the surface of it is kind of ribbed steel, designed to give you grip. the police have said that it might have been i seek, it was very cold in iceland as you expect in the middle of winter. it is quite possible i suppose that the driver lost control. we know that it was a toyota land cruiser, they went through the barrier on the side of the bridge, they feel about 30ft-40ft and the bridge, they feel about 30ft—40ft and hit the riverbank below, which was hard ground. there was another tour guide who was following who describe it, described it in his words, that the vehicle was smashed to theses. we know now that the vehicle has been recovered and taken to a nearby town and it still has two of those who died inside it. four others have been taken to hospital and are said to be seriously hurt. going back to the bridge, when we saw that video, you can see they're pretty well reinforced, iceland as a country

because of its weather must be well prepared for driving conditions? yes, they are used to this and they use a—wheel—drive vehicles nearly all the time. this is their national route one, the biggest road in iceland, it goes all the way round the island but it is only a single carriageway and that particular part was only single track, as you approach it, you can see 200 metres to the other side and you wait to see if someone is coming the other way and you only pass through if it is clear. we think it was dark at the time this happened because of the time this happened because of the time this happened because of the time of year. we don't know if someone was coming the time of year. we don't know if someone was coming the other way or whether they lost control, we don't know why they went through the barrier in this way. a us explorer has become the first man to cross antarctica alone and unassisted. 33—year—old colin o'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 o'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 o'brady progressed through extreme conditions, unaided by kites or by drops of food and fuel. to stay in touch, mr o'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 o'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. now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. hello. whilst for many it has been another dry, cloudy sort of day, i have to say there have been some real exceptions in the weather crown, some real sparkling jewels coming in, both from scotland and indeed down towards the south—western quarter of the british isles. the settled spell thanks to that high pressure, doing its stuff for much of the british isles, although overnight, the settled spell will be somewhat interrupted as this new weather front comes from the atlantic, spreading cloud and rain to the west of scotland into northern ireland, maybe into the far north of england. further south, just watch out

for some quite dense fog patches particularly south of the m4 corridor, where if your skies stay clear, it will end up being quite a chilly night as well. what news of friday? well, eventually, we will push that weather front right across the top two thirds of the british isles. following on behind, i think a better chance compared to thursday of seeing some decent sunny spells. still a lot of cloud around, the fog will eventually lift for most areas further south, and then it will be dry again. temperatures 9 to about 12 celsius. bye— bye. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland. four others are critically injured. four in ten nhs hospitals in england have put up their parking fees in the last year, the new data shows that in some places, charges have doubled. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder

following the deaths of two young children in margate. britain's most senior police officer, cressida dick,