this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 10: crowds gather at sandringham, where the queen will lead members of the royal family at their traditional christmas day service. prince andrew arrived at an earlier service in sandringham with his brother prince charles — he recently stepped back from public duties. three members of a british family have drowned at a holiday resort on the costa del sol — spanish police are investigating. the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. hundreds of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays, as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. and in half an hour, our media editor, amol rajan, sits down with the editor of private eye, ian hislop, to take a look back at 2019.

good morning. merry christmas. the queen will lead members of the royal family for the annual festive church service at sandringham this morning. yesterday, the duke of edinburgh rejoined his family after spending four nights in hospital. prince george and princess charlotte will attend the service for the first time. prince andrew, who stepped back from royal duties last month, has attended an early morning service with prince charles. charlotte gallagher reports. the brothers walked side by side into the charge for the 9am service.

charlotte gallagher reports. prince philip arrives back at sandringham by helicopter after spending four nights in a central london hospital. he walked out unaided and without a stick. a huge relief for his family that he's home to spend christmas day with them. this hasn't been the smoothest year for the royals, something the queen appears to acknowledge in her christmas message, describing 2019 as "quite bumpy". later today, the royal family will attend church on the sandringham estate. the duke and duchess of sussex, meghan and harry, of course won't be here. but it's believed that prince george and princess charlotte will attend the service for the first time. we could also see prince andrew attend. there was speculation he might not go because of the scrutiny and criticism surrounding his relationship with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. whoever attends, the royal family will want to put on a united front after months of newspaper headlines. charlotte gallagher reporting. and charlotte is in sandringham, where the royal family are expected

to arrive in the next hour. the sun is finally up in sandringham. even though it was cold and dark this morning it didn't stop hundreds of people from queueing up from the early hours of this morning. 0ne from the early hours of this morning. one woman turned up at 1am after taking four buses, a train, and then getting a lift from her son. it shows you despite a bumper yearfor son. it shows you despite a bumper year for the british son. it shows you despite a bumper yearfor the british royal son. it shows you despite a bumper year for the british royal family, which the queen reflects in her christmas message, their popularity is still incredibly high. i am joined by two people, keith and julie from nottingham. why did you decide to come down today? we are a fan of the royals. this is a great thing to do on christmas morning. being in the queue is great because you make a lot of friends. even though you never know anybody. and it isjust the

though you never know anybody. and it is just the anticipation beforehand it is just the anticipation before hand and getting it is just the anticipation beforehand and getting a really close—up look at the royals. beforehand and getting a really close-up look at the royals. you don't get that normally, do you, when they go to a —— buckingham palace or windsor castle? here, they talk to people, they come up to people? that is exactly right. normally they are slightly isolated. you get a person to person feeling with this. you can see their faces close up. in real life that makes such a difference. it is quite something seeing the queen in real life. you see her in books and pictures but to see her in real life, she is such an institution? pictures but to see her in real life, she is such an institution7m is nice to see all of the royal family, all of them together as well, which is really nice. who are you most excited about seeing today? probably the little ones. we are thinking that prince george and princess charlotte will be coming today. their first christmas princess charlotte will be coming today. theirfirst christmas day service. if they do come, that will

be the photo that everybody once. i understand you have a story of a photo you took a couple of years ago and he could have made a lot of money from it, potentially, because when meghan came for the first time there was a big clamour to get photographs of the fab four, william, harry, catherine and meghan. you got one, another lady sold it. what you think about that? you take photos. when we saw that one in the paper without, that lady must have been standing really close to us. we have got one exactly the same. obviously we didn't think about sending it anyway. this year if you do get a good one, possibly of the children, you are thinking, where can i send this? possibly, yes, definitely! what are your family and friends think of you giving up part of your christmas day to see the royals? they think we are crazy. absolutely crazy. we did it two years ago. and i would encourage anybody who is thinking of doing it

to absolutely do it, because you would have a thoroughly enjoyable morning. it is well worth doing. would have a thoroughly enjoyable morning. it is well worth doingm isjust a lovely morning. it is well worth doingm is just a lovely way to spend christmas morning. and it is a really, really good atmosphere in the queue. everybody is excited to see the royals. it has got such a christmas spirit. there are people handing out hot chocolate and everybody is very excited to see the royals on christmas day. charlotte gallagher at sandringham. those royal arrivals in about three quarters of an hour. we will show them live when they happen. a new photo taken by the duchess of cambridge of her husband and children, has been released with a christmas message today. the duke of cambridge is pictured kissing their youngest child, prince louis, with princess charlotte and prince george. the picture was taken in norfolk earlier this year. the foreign office says it's helping a british woman, after three members of the same family drowned in the swimming pool of a holiday resort in spain. it's thought a nine—year—old girl got into difficulties in the water,

and her 16—year—old brother and theirfather died after trying to help her. nick quraishi reports. the christmas holiday that turned to tragedy in one of spain's top tourist destinations. police divers visible next to the pool which claimed the lives of the three family members. it is understood that a nine—year—old girl first got into difficulty in the water, her 16—year—old brother and father, who was 52, then jumped in to try to save her. why none resurfaced from one of the many pools here is now the subject of a major investigation. hotel firm clc world resorts, which runs the complex, released a statement.

the firm says it's helping the authorities fully with their investigations into the deaths, while the foreign office has confirmed its offering assistance to a british woman following what happened. nick quraishi, bbc news. 0ur news correspondent, emily unia, is here with me now. still many questions unanswered about this? yeah, absolutely. we are waiting for the results of the postmortem examinations that will hopefully tell us more about what happened. we have seen in some of the pictures from the resort diners inspecting the pool, perhaps the pump. there are questions being asked about whether this could have had anything to do with the pump, a reference to previous incidents involving swimming pool tragedies and pumps of this nature. we don't have a lot of information at the moment. we know it is a large complex, around 21 tools. not clear if they were lifeguards. a lot of

questions to be answered about what happened and what caused this terrible christmas eve tragedy. thank you very much indeed. a woman has died in a serious crash on the m1 motorway, which happened last night on the northbound side near junction 12. it was one of two accidents on the motorway overnight, with police from both hertfordshire and bedfordshire forces involved. the northbound carriage remains closed but the southbound carriageway has reopened. the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. speaking before the midnight service, dr david hoyle said he was hoping the nativity could unite people after years of political conflict. 0ur religion editor, martin bashir, reports. this is the first christmas season for the new dean of westminster abbey, dr david hoyle. an ancient cathedral where monarchs have been crowned and poets celebrated, it is at the heart of our nation, a nation that he says

is bitterly divided. i see the divisions everybody else sees. i feel them. i get angry. and i get disturbed. i live in westminster where i bump into it all the time. we need some hope in all of this. i think we've become angry and i think we've become despairing. dr hoyle says that we need an intervention from outside and that the message of christmas offers the possibility of genuine engagement without hostility. peace isn't the moment when the arguments stop. peace is the moment when we can contain are arguments. and that's where we are really struggling at the moment, it seems to me. we can't enjoy our variety. we have to be this or that. i think the gospel suggests this and that, they are both god—given. we can do this together. the story of a child refugee born

in perilous circumstances is not the image depicted on most christmas cards. and yet, as the dean of this historic abbey makes clear, redemption and reconciliation are possible, though the task ahead is a challenging one. martin bashir, bbc news. pope francis has marked midnight mass at the vatican, telling worshippers that god loves everyone "even the worst of us". thousands of people packed st peter's basilica in rome for the service. the pope also spoke of change, urging his followers to stop trying to change other people and try to change themselves. 0ur rome correspondent, mark lowen, reports. in the gilded splendour of st peter's basilica, this was a solemn christmas eve mass. the seventh that pope francis has led. his homily talked of god's love.

"you may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete mess of things," he said, "but the lord continues to love you." that will be seen by some as a reference to church scandals, including sex abuse. francis' papacy is in many ways reformist, shaking up the traditional governance of the church. perhaps then there was a pointed message in his words, we change, the church changes, history changes once we stop trying to change others but try to change ourselves. among those taking part in the liturgy where children are chosen from countries including venezuela, iraq and uganda, a clear gesture from the leader of 1.3 billion catholics who often focuses on the plight of migrants and victims of war, as well as on extending the reach of the church to its periphery. after the spirituality of midnight mass comes the pope's christmas day message, when he is expected to touch a little bit more on political themes close to the heart of the 83—year—old pontiff. mark lowen, bbc news.

bethlehem has experienced its best christmas period for tourist numbers in two decades after thousands of people gathered to mark christmas day. the town is honoured by christians and pilgrims as the birthplace ofjesus christ. the festivities centred on the church of the nativity. the headlines on bbc news: crowds gather at sandringham, where the queen will lead members of the royal family at their traditional christmas day service. prince andrew arrived at an earlier service in sandringham with his brother prince charles — he recently stepped back from public duties. three members of a british family have drowned at a holiday resort on the costa del sol — spanish police are investigating.

hundreds of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays, as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. figures released by firefighters in new south wales reveal nearly a thousand houses have been destroyed. thousands of australians have moved from their dayjobs to help the firefighting efforts, and a change in the weather conditions have aided attempts to control the bushfires. thankfully we're seeing a bit of respite here across the state. in the last 2a hours we've seen between 30 and 50 milimetres of rain falling in northern new south wales. hopefully that will put an end to fires across northern parts of new south wales, but certainly around the sydney area, central and southern parts of new south wales we have a long way to go with next to no moisture falling across those areas. so, some rain — but how much, and is more forecast? here's our correspondent,

shaimaa khalil. there isn't much for and they need a lot of eight to get the help that they need on the ground as far as firefighting is concerned. we did get a little bit of rain in sydney. there is a little bit of it are predicted for some areas in new south wales but many firefighters that i have spoken to have said that really mother nature needs to help us really mother nature needs to help us out here with a lot more rain, which isn't forecast. what is actually forecast are soaring temperatures within the next few days, definitely going through the weekend. that is what they are worried about. firefighters are using this lull in the weather with cooling temperatures to contain smaller flames as they flare up, try for them not to travel, and doing the backfiring, which is a scorching areas around houses and around areas that they are concerned about, for it to be burned out, for the fire is not to travel. but really what they are saying is, as they continue to

grow more tired, because they have been nonstop, it is a concern about the rising temperatures within the next weekend. to chile now, where a fire in a poor neighbourhood of the city of valparaiso has destroyed more than fifty homes. the city's entire fire service, with help from the military, are tackling the blaze, which began in a forest and spread to the city. two high—risk districts have recieved an order to evacuate, as soaring summer temperatures and strong winds whip up the flames the city's mayor says the situation is likely to get worse. translation: at least 60 homes have been damaged. this number is likely to increase because many are in bad shape. it is difficult to know at the moment. president trump has kept his promise to reduce the numbers of people being given asylum in the us. but his opponents — including the mexican government — say his new measures may be putting asylum seekers at risk. those who apply often face a wait in mexico for months, and even then their chances are slim.

for an increasing number, fleeing persecution in their own countries and unable to return, the crackdown has led them to desperate measures. ana gabriela rojas reports from matamoros, on the mexico/texas border. as winter approaches this corner of the world becomes even more hostile to those seeking safety and security. fernanda is too scared to go home to honduras, where she is wanted for political activism. desperate to be reunited with family in the us, she has spent four months in squalid conditions on the border. now she has taken a step that fills any parent with horror. she sends her seven—year—old son across the border along. so, fernanda took her boy to this border bridge and said goodbye.

this man had to make the difficult decision. he wanted to give his eight—year—old son a chance of a future. so with a piece of paper with a relative's phone number, he sent him across the border. fewer adults seeking refuge now get asylu m fewer adults seeking refuge now get asylum because of president trump plasma crackdown. but if miners

arrive alone, the us must take them a lawyer who volunteers here says people are becoming increasingly desperate. now almost on a daily basis i talk to at least several families who have sent over children, or teenage children who have presented themselves without their parents. this former asylum officer says america's migration system is designed to keep people out, even those at risk. they are not actually evaluating if someone would be persecuted and tortured. and no matter what that individual says to the officer, they will be sent back to mexico. we are sending bad people we know will be harmed. we are violating international law. fernanda's son is still in the custody of us authorities. but she says she has no regrets. what would you say to people who criticise you for sending your son?

for her and many others it is still not clear when or even if they will be reunited again. it's the bookies' favourite to be the most watched programme this christmas — gavin and stacey is back on our screens with a one—off special tonight. yesterday we had an exclusive peak behind the scenes at filming in barry. today, james corden has been telling our entertainment correspondent colin paterson why they decided to bring it back. are you asking me to step in? what? are you asking me to... # step into christmas! # we can watch the snow fall forever and ever... james corden, i never thought this would happen. back on the set of gavin and stacey, what made you decide to do it again?

it was more of a sense of i think — ruth and i thinking, why don't we just explore it, see if there's anything there, if there's a story there, it would be interesting to see where they are. we didn't tell the bbc, we didn't tell any agents or anything, we just did what we did the first time around, really, which was sit in a room and talk about it and see what we have. we used the house up here is our sort of greenroom. and look to you find in any these houses, it is ruthjones and joanna page, relaxing between scenes. ifeel like i have walked into the show, this is very peculiar. yeah, yeah. it is quite funny, we're sort of like our characters, just gossiping. what are you reading? mind your own business. for ruth and i there was very much a feeling of like, well, the time to do it is when you don't need to.

the last thing we wanted the show to look like was sort of emergency, break—glass quest to get back on television or for relevance somehow, you know? and so, look, it comes with a huge amount of pressure. it's a strange feeling but we hope people enjoy dipping back into their lives for a moment, you know? they're all hyped up about tomorrow, they are. hyped up? how do you think i feel? we send each other little things like i heard someone say this today in the supermarket and i thought it would be something pam would say. you were as fascinated as the fans are? we are as interested as everybody else in it to see where it is at. we are lucky we get to find out first. we've just been filming upstairs, it's 101. when people watch this they will go, ‘0h, i remember,

that was the hottest day of the year', that's what it is. basicallyjames is rushing around in the hot room and i am lying under a very synthetic, thick duvet. the thing with the show has always been trying to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, you know? that's where the show was born from. it's that, like, something so small as two people, seemingly so small, as two people choosing to spend the rest of their lives together has a monumental impact on lots of other people's lives. this is where we shot a scene the other day, the top of the stairs here. matt and i. it was incredibly tight for space. we always want to try and shoot it in its surroundings. so the famous scene where gavin and stacey talk that they had been engaged... was on this very doorstep. it was right here, on glenda's doorstep. ijust had a drink with your ex—fiance. oh, my god. how do you think i feel, stace? was it clifford? no. leyton ? no.

howell? no, ahmed! but he's moved to swindon! he's home to see his mum. it's an iced, erm, oat latte. it's incredible. there's been a lot of cold acting, isn't there? kind of like... but only when you remember to do it. so there's gonna be some takes where people are going brr, and other takes where they're like, ah... have you not got suncream on? you got it? i don't know what i'm looking at. hello. hang on, hang on. you are back here in barry island. mm. when you think you have a us talk show, it mustjust blow your mind. yeah, the trick is not to think about it too much. because i think it's dangerous to have a sort of rear—view mirror and looking at the things you've done, you have to keep looking at the things that you're going to do or want to do. i think that's the trick to sort

of holding yourself together and not perhaps starting to think that you're a bit more of a dude than you really are. fan: hello! hello. anywhere — i don't care. are you sure? i'll sign it. but do not get this tattooed. what's going to surprise people about this? surprises? there might be a couple. you might find some things that you've been wondering about, mostly all we want it to be is a joyful hour. here we are, all set, ready, and action! oh, my god, oh, my god! stacey, would you kindly inform everybody that dinner will be ever—so—slightly delayed? well done, ben. could this become a regular thing, every ten years you revisit the characters? oh, that would be a terrible idea.

it definitely will not become a thing that happens every decade. i can guarantee you that. people might watch the special be like ‘that was awful, why did you ruin it?‘ and that's the pressure of it. they all like each other, our characters, really, they‘ re really lovely bunch to be around. we love our characters, they are a lovely bunch so it will be nice to see them having christmas day again. the gavin and stacey christmas special airs tonight at 8:30 on bbc one, and brea kfast‘s full behind—the—scenes tour is available now on the bbc iplayer. what do you think father christmas does to relax before he goes to deliver his presents? read a book, take a long bath? well, how about surfing? thousands of people turned out at cocoa beach in florida on christmas eve to watch nearly 600 surfing santas hit the waves.

the event has been taking place for ten years and has raised thousands of dollars for charity. four stranded deer who were rescued from a river in greater manchester have been named dancer, prancer, dasher and blitzen, in homage to their sleigh—pulling cousins. daring dasher escaped and swam upstream, but the other three were reluctant to follow. they were all eventually saved by the rspca and fire service in a rescue that took four hours. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. no white christmas today. but for many something better. it is dry and sunny. it will stay that way for the rest of today. isolated showers in the north of scotland. an isolated share in the west. swanson from dawn to dusk for most.

temperatures between five and 9 degrees. levels they should be out for the time of the year. if you have got christmas day travel plans for this evening, across parts of central and northern england, and into central and southern scotland, the risk of dense fog patches. they will clear later as the breeze picks up. by the end of the night rain across much of northern ireland, wales and south—west. a milder end to the night. a touch of frost across parts of scotland and eastern england. wet in northern ireland to start. sunshine and showers for the rest of the day. the rain spreads its way into northern and eastern england, central and southern scotland. snow over the hills. all in all it is set to turn milder. hgppy in all it is set to turn milder. happy christmas.

hello this is bbc news with me, julian worricker the headlines: crowds gather at sandringham, where the queen will lead

members of the royal family at their traditional christmas day service. prince andrew arrived at an earlier service in sandringham with his brother prince charles. he recently stepped back from public duties. three members of a british family have drowned at a holiday resort on the costa del sol — spanish police are investigating. the dean of westminster abbey says britain is in need of the hope offered by the christmas story. hundreds of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays, as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. now on bbc news, our media editor amol rajan sits down with the editor of private eye, ian hislop, to take a look back at 2019.