this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america, or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: floral tributes for victims of the volcano eruption in new zealand. the russian and ukrainian presidents agree to try for a ceasefire in eastern ukraine by the end of the year. a justice department report concludes political bias did not drive the fbi's investigation into russian interference in the us presidential election. china claims all the people sent to what it calls "re—education camps" in the western xinjiang province have now been released. and one of the last surviving british pilots who fought in the battle of britain has

died at the age of 101. some breaking news from new zealand. ina some breaking news from new zealand. in a news conference in the last few minutes, police say they are launching a criminal investigation of the circumstances of the eruption on white island. police say the body is still on the island are covered in ash. let's listen in. the responsibility of the criminal investigation, to support the coroner and work with work safe. investigation, to support the coroner and work with work safem there a chance that humans won't step foot back on the island? we are

doing everything we can to get back to that island, absolutely doing everything we can. that is my primary objective at the moment, because that is what we need to do. it is important for the family, it is important for the friends. so we are determined. we are going to do everything we possibly can. are determined. we are going to do everything we possibly canlj understand there are checkpoints outside the airport. why are they there? sorry, i've got no idea. in terms of stopping people from going to the island in the situation like that, because it has been active prior to the eruption, and it is a privately owned island, who actually has the power to stop those two companies going to the island prior to the eruption? —— to companies. companies going to the island prior to the eruption? —— to companiesm is quite complex because it is privately owned so in effect the minister for local government becomes the local authority for the

island —— tour companies. that responsibility for maintaining the overall emergency and is sits with the bay of plenty civil defence emergency management group. maybe that's something we could provide some more detail about separate from the stand—up today. would that be possible? thank you. inaudible. police just confirmed yes. thank you. that press conference from new zealand. the new zealand authority saying it is possible not all who have survived so far will survive. 11 australian tourists are unaccounted for and two people from the uk. our correspondent compiled

this report. the extraordinary few moments after the volcano on white island erupted. it hit briefly and fiercely, filling the air with huge plumes of smoke and smouldering ash. the people on this boat had left just moments before the eruption. the boat operators were not taking any chances. go inside! go inside, go inside! go inside! translation: we were on the volcano for about an hour. ten minutes after we left and got on the boat, the volcano started erupting. the boat turned around and went back to the island to try to help the people who were still there. i'm not sure if everyone got out alive. white island is one of new zealand's most active volcanoes, but it's also a popular tourist destination. thousands come here for walks and scenic aeroplane rides. nothing escaped the devastation here, the scale of the damage clearly shown here with this

sightseeing helicopter, barely recognisable under the thick, smouldering ash. down the beach, a large group could be seen waiting to be rescued. at this stage, we can confirm that amongst those currently listed as missing or injured are new zealanders who were part of the tour operation, and tourists from australia, the united states, the united kingdom, china and malaysia. that is to the best of our knowledge. emergency operations are now in place in many hospitals around the country. 3! people have been taken in for treatment so far. the injured who were brought to shore from the island were all suffering from burns. we now know that three people were treated, then released from wha katane hospital here. those with more severe burns and critical conditions have been transferred to specialist hospitals across the country. we also know that five of those initially rescued died from their injuries. a monitoring camera filmed a group

of people at the rim of the volcano moments before the eruption. then it went black, raising questions about why tourists were allowed near the area in such hazardous conditions. about three weeks ago, we raised the alert level to indicate that there were signs of increased unrest, and therefore a slightly higher probability of an eruption. but, really, that goes down to the tourist operators who inform the tourists and decide whether or not they should go or not. police say the situation on the island is still dangerous and unstable for rescuers to go in. they've confirmed that there is no sign of life there at the moment, and that whoever is still on the island has not survived. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, whakatane. the leaders of ukraine and russia have declared they will try to fully to bring you up—to—date on some of those lines from the press

conference, police are saying not all the 3! people who survived the explosion are expected to survive their injuries, and they are saying that all new zealand hospital burns units are currently full to capacity. a criminal investigation is being launched into why people we re is being launched into why people were on the environment in the circumstances, and the australian prime minister, scott morrison, has said i! prime minister, scott morrison, has said 11 australian tourists are unaccounted for. police sources say among the group on the island, this is not necessarily the group killed oi’ is not necessarily the group killed or injured, but simply the nationalities of the group who were on the island, two people from the uk, fourfrom on the island, two people from the uk, four from germany, on the island, two people from the uk, fourfrom germany, 2a from australia, five from new zealand, two people from china, one person from malaysia and nine people from the united states on the island. more on that soon as we have it. the leaders of ukraine and russia have declared they will try to fully and comprehensively implement a ceasefire in the conflict in eastern ukraine by the end of this year. the joint announcement came at a summit in paris between the two, along with the french and geman leaders. but there was no agreement on the withdrawal of russian—backed

forces, and ukraine's president said very little was achieved overall. this report from our correspondent sarah rainsford. their arrivals underline their differences. ukraine's president working his modest "man of the people" image, russia's leader going for full—on power projection. but these talks were the two leaders' chance to seek common ground, to revive a deal on ending ukraine's conflict, that has stalled for three years now. just beyond the palace gates, two women make clear who they blame for the fighting. the striking protests quickly smothered, though not their demand to stop putin's war. in eastern ukraine, troops are still battling russian—backed fighters, despite multiple ceasefires. 13,000 people have been killed and huge numbers displaced in the past five years. but volodymyr zelensky was elected

promising to end the bloodshed. for that, he said he needed to sit down with vladimir putin. their encounter was chaperoned by france and germany. but ukraine's leader was under pressure not to make major concessions here. russia under no real pressure to make any, though the conflict is a giant splinter in its relations with europe. at least they all made it to the press conference. three years ago, hostility ran too deep. this time, the two spent some 90 minutes in bilateral talks, too, and tried to sound optimistic at the end of it all. translation: the meeting was long and difficult, but the mood of the meeting was rather positive. it is true, and i want to make it clear, we will have the chance to continue the discussions in four months and see the results of what we will manage to achieve. translation: the process of achieving a ceasefire needs to be synchronised with the implementation of political reforms in ukraine in the minsk agreements.

in the first place, this means introducing changes to the country's constitution, which gives donbass a permanent special status. the concrete results were pretty thin — another ceasefire, and another prisoner swap by the end of the year. 0n the big issues of border control and the status of separatist areas, there is still open dispute. but, as these leaders left paris, there was a new sense of momentum. the four have all agreed to meet again in four months, and that in itself counts for progress. sarah rainsford, bbc news, paris. a thick blanket of smoke is smothering australia's biggest city, sydney, triggering a chorus of smoke alarms in offices, shops and homes. schoolchildren are being kept indoors at break time, some ferries have been cancelled, and sports activities curtailed. rising temperatures have again aggravated the wildfires that have been burning for weeks. conditions are expected to worsen, with winds forecast to strengthen and further fan the blazes.

the chairman of the housejudiciary committee has said mr trump's conduct is a threat to the united states, and clearly impeachable. concluding his panel's hearing on monday, jerrold nadler said his committee would proceed with impeachment. meanwhile, the watchdog that oversees the united states justice department has concluded political bias played no part in the fbi inquiry into possible collusion between russia and donald trump's 2016 election campaign. laura trevelyan has this story. raise your right hand. the impeachment inquiry is hurtling forward, and today, the judiciary committee was centre stage. lawyers for democrats and republicans were sworn in, and immediately the arguments began. i will not recognise a parliamentary inquiry at this time. is this when we just hear staff ask questions of other staff, and the members get dealt out of this whole hearing? the gentleman will not yell out, and he will not attempt

to disrupt the proceedings. this hearing is the chance for democrats to present the evidence they've gathered before they formally produce their articles of impeachment against president trump. the evidence shows that donald] trump, the president of the united states, has put himself before his country. he has violated his most basic responsibilities to the people. he has broken his oath. democrats are facing criticism for rushing to impeach the president without trying to subpoena key witnesses from the white house. their response is they cannot wait. president trump's persistent and continuing effort to coerce a foreign country to help him cheat to win an election is a clear and present danger to our free and fair elections and to our national security. republicans say democrats are just trying to rerun the 2016 election, and the case against mr trump is non—existent. to impeach a president who 63 million people voted for over eight lines in a call

transcript is baloney. as this argument was raging, a long—awaited report into the origins of the russia investigation against mr trump was released. the inspector general, michael horowitz, did not find evidence that political bias affected how the fbi conducted that investigation, and said officials had sufficient evidence to open their inquiry. but there was sharp criticism of how the fbi handled an application for a wiretap targeting a former trump advisor, carter page, something the president seized on. this was an overthrow of government. this was an attempted overthrow, and a lot of people were in on it. and they got caught. they got caught red—handed. democrats say there could be a vote on articles of impeachment against the president later this week. the stage is set for a partisan battle royale. the air force in chile says a military cargo plane with 38 people on board has disappeared.

in a statement, it said operators lost contact with the plane just over an hour after its departure from the southern city of punta arenas. a sea rch—and—rescue team has been activated. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we will find out why these christmas trees in the netherlands are facing the chop. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been

gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila. she's facing seven charges of tax evasion, estimated at £120 million. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: new zealand police say they're launching a criminal investigation after a volcanic eruption on white island, which they say left as many as 13 tourists dead. the presidents of ukraine and russia agree to implement a full ceasefire in eastern ukraine by the end

of the year, but failed to produce a political breakthrough. a senior chinese official has claimed that all the people held in detention centres in the western region of xinjiang have now been released. a mounting body of independent evidence, including reporting here on the bbc, suggests more than a million uighur muslims have been sent to the centres in the past few years. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth is one of the few western journalists to get access inside the camps. with international outrage still growing over the mass internment of muslims, xinjiang's camps, china says, are no more. translation: all the students who took the classes have graduated. with the help of the government, they have achieved a stable employment and live a happy life. china has long insisted that these places are schools for tackling extremism. on our tour, we were shown supposedly grateful muslims being taught to be loyal communist citizens.

but away from the show camps, the guards, the queueing visitors, the barbed wire and the watchtowers make clear that enrolment is anything but voluntary. information and access are so limited in xinjiang, beijing's claim that the camps have closed is impossible to verify. but while aspects of the system may well be changing, it is highly unlikely that this massive system of coercion and control has been dismantled. state media has been showing new factories, some built next to the camps, in which graduates are being put to work for meagre wages and, reports suggest, little choice. and separate to the camps, xinjiang's prisons have also been filling up at an extraordinary pace. while for china as a whole,

the arrest rate per head of population has remained stable, in xinjiang, it has skyrocketed. 0ur reporting has highlighted the human cost of china's policies. if xinjiang's disappeared masses really are being released, then many will ask, "where is the proof?" john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. let's talk to one week activist in canada. his grandfather died in may shortly after being released from one just days before the general election in the uk, the government's handling of the national health service, and the prime minister's response to criticism of it, has taken centre stage. borisjohnson has come underfire for an incident in which he at first declined to look at a photo of an ill young man, who'd had to sleep temporarily on a hospitalfloor, because of a lack of beds. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg has been watching the prime minister on the campaign trail. not long left to roll. borisjohnson wants to win,

and hopes he can do so by taking territory that has been labour forever, but where the majority voted leave. people in this part of the country, people across this country, spoke and said that they wanted to leave the eu. now is the moment for us to get on and do it. beyond that familiar mantra, though, is he really in tune with millions of people who rely on public services and worry about them? do you want to take this country forward ? like four—year—old jack's parents, whose son had to wait on the floor in a leeds hospital, pictured on the front page of the mirror newspaper today. i'm talking about this boy, prime minister. i know, i know you are. how do you feel looking at that photo? of course, and let me tell you — let me tell you that i haven't had a chance to look at that, but i'll look at it. why don't you look at it now, prime minister? i'll study it... borisjohnson awkward when an itv reporter asked him to respond directly to the photograph. you refused to look at the photo. you've taken my phone and put it in your pocket, prime minister. his mother says the nhs is in crisis. what's your response to that? i'm sorry. look, it's a terrible, terrible photo, and i apologise, obviously, to the families, and all those who've had terrible

experiences in the nhs. although he was flanked by a former labour mp today, this is not safe ground for boris johnson — not at all. why were fake websites set up... there were tricky questions from the audience on the tories‘ behaviour online, brexit, and the tv licence fee. it certainly wasn't his home crowd. do you really think, after nearly a decade of a very significant squeeze on public spending, that you as a party understand the concerns of people in the north of england? especially since today you struggled to look at a picture of a four—year—old boy on the floor of an emergency department in a hospital in leeds? well, i'm very proud of what we are doing to rebuild leeds general infirmary, and it's one of the — one of the hospitals that we will rebuild from the beginning. it will be a fantastic project, and we are putting, as i say, the biggest ever investment into our nhs. borisjohnson is here trying to get people to vote tory in this part

of the country. do you think that's going to happen? i hope not. why? we've had nine years of awfulness. but others are for turning. we're changing to tory. i never — yeah, yeah. how will you vote this time? for tory, just to keepjezza out. at this late stage, though, today labour was given a big chance in front of a big crowd in bristol to push on the bruise. the daily mirror today shows this picture of a four—year—old boy, suffering from pneumonia, being treated on the floor of a hospital, and... all the way through, they've attacked the tories on how they've dealt with the health service. the tories have had nine years to fund our nhs properly. cheering it's time to bring their regime to an end, and elect a labour government that's determined to fund our nhs properly.

the health secretary was dispatched to leeds general to try to calm things down. it's not good enough, and i've apologised. i've got three small children myself, and i've spent too many evenings in a&e, and i know what it feels like. shouting the health secretary, though, was harangued by a small group of labour protesters on his way out. the two sides in this election are miles apart. with only three days to go, tensions are on the rise. get out of here! laura kuenssberg with that report. one of the last surviving raf pilots who fought in the battle of britain during the second world war, has died at the age 101. maurice mounsdon was one of only four remaining members of what churchill called the few, the 3,000 airmen who defended the skies above southern england from the nazi luftwaffe in 1940. now, christmas trees can be a controversial topic at this time of year — whether to get one or not, real or fake? whether to chop one down or get one

in a pot that can be replanted in the name of sustainability? a national park in the netherlands is encouraging people to help themselves to a free tree to help the environment. rich preston has the story. the rangers in the eastern hoge veluwe park are desperate for you to come and take their trees away. so says the sign — christmas market, cut your own tree. and they won't charge you a penny. turn up, grab a saw, and start cutting. that's because the scots pine is an invasive species here and is threatening to take over the natural heathland habitat. for example, in this area, we have several lizards, crickets, lichens, and most of them are quite rare, they are on the european red list, so when this area becomes a forest, then all these rare species disappear. the rangers have been struggling

to control the spread of the trees. they say transport fumes and over fertilisation of farmland has boosted nitrogen levels. the nitrogen has an effect of the growing of plants, and at the same time, we saw that the total area of the forest becomes bigger, so also the influence from all of the pine trees became much bigger. fortunately, at this time of year, there are plenty of people happy to help themselves to a free christmas tree. and it's made all the more easy knowing they are also helping the local habitat. it is not a complete free for all however — trees are limited to one per visitor.

0nafarless on a far less happy note, just a reminder of that story again, those lives on the volcanic eruption in new zealand. police have launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances that put 47 people around an active volcano on white island as it erupted. they think 13 people may died, many people are missing. aerial studies of the volcano suggest no—one is left alive. police will also say of the 31 that survived the eruption, not all may survive their injuries. the australian prime minister, scott morrison, said 11 australian tourists are unaccounted for. it seems 110w tourists are unaccounted for. it seems now all new zealand hospital burns units are full to capacity. just a couple more figures, details

of people on the island, not necessarily injured or dead, but these people were on the island. two in the uk, fourfrom germany, 2a in australia, five from new zealand, one from china, nine from the united states. that is it for now. thank you for watching. following hot on the heels from the storm, our next batch of wet and windy weather racing in off the atlantic as this area of cloud is moving into the west of the british isles. now, earlier in the night we had temperatures down as low as “i! celsius across eastern england. although, over more recent hours the winds have been picking up and the rain has been moving in, we've seen those temperatures continue to actually rise, so by dawn, 9—10 degrees in the west, a mild start to the day for a number of places in the west. mild, but for many of us it is a wet start to the day. eastern england starting off with some early—morning brightness. the cloud and rain spreads and this

rain will be heavy for all of us. the winds will be really quite gusty and squally, particularly so across parts of north wales, northern ireland, wales and parts of scotland. in exposure, 60—70mph gusts, otherwise 50—60mph, so there is risk of some disruptions. that band will push through, quite mild for a number of places, colder and will be arriving from the west. so temperatures lowering through the afternoon in western scotland. stornoway, 6 degrees. transport disruption is a possibility on account of those very strong winds, heavy rain in the windy conditions also bringing surface water and spray to the roads. 0vernight, it will turn quite a bit colder, a number of towns and cities avoiding a frost on account of the brisk winds but it will be a chilly night nevertheless, temperatures 3—5 degrees celsius. and for wednesday, a colder day on the way. a day of sunshine and showers, a day when the showers will be most frequent and heaviest across the north—west, where there will be hail and thunder moving in,

and snow over the high ground as well. temperatures, 6—9 degrees celsius. a much colder kind of feeling day. that's wednesday's weather. on thursday, another area of low pressure moves in from the west, this one bringing some less cold air across england and wales in particular. a chilly start to the day, though, in a number of places. as the rain moves in, some snow over the hills of northern england, perhaps to scotland as well, where the slightly—less—cold air never really reaches, so it will be a chilly day in scotland. otherwise as the cloud and rain spreads in, we will see temperatures rising to around 10—11 degrees for the likes of london, cardiff and plymouth. beyond that, temperatures dropping again a little bit as we head into friday and the weekend, a mixture of bright spells and passing showers in the forecast. that's your weather.

this is bbc news. the headlines: police in new zealand say they are launching a criminal investigation after a volcano eruption left as many as 13 tourists dead. aerial reconnaissance flights over the area on white island have detected no sign of life. australia's prime minister, scott morrison, says he fears as many as 11 australians are among the victims. the ukrainian and russian presidents have agreed to fully implement a ceasefire in eastern ukraine by the end of the year. the joint announcement came at a summit in paris. but there was no political breakthrough, nor any agreement on the withdrawal of russian—backed forces. the watchdog that oversees the us justice department has rejected president trump's claim that the fbi inquiry into possible collusion between russia and his election campaign was politically motivated. it did, however, pinpoint what it said were procedural errors in the investigation.