good morning. welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty. our headlines today: the owners of a spanish hotel where a british man and his two children died say their drowning was a "tragic accident". a powerful typhoon tears through parts of the philippines, leaving at least 16 dead and tens of thousands stranded. a team effort that is saving my life and prolonging my life and i can only be grateful for that. this time last year, you, me and the big c's deborahjames thought it was her last christmas. find out how, 12 months later, a new cancer treatment is helping her stay alive. england's cricketers begin their test series in south africa

in a couple of hours. it's the first of four tests. ben stokes is expected to play after his dad was taken ill on christmas eve. and after your christmas day sunshine, your boxing day weather includes offers on cloud, rain and slightly higher temperatures. i will have all of the details here right here on breakfast. good morning. good morning. it's thursday the 26th of december. our top story: the drowning of a man and his two children in a swimming pool on the costa del sol was a "tragic accident," according to the resort owners. the three family members were found unresponsive on christmas eve at club la costa world near fuengirola. sean dilley reports. this was the scene of a christmas tragedy in one of spain's most popular tourist destinations. a nine —year—old british girl is thought to have found herself in trouble in this pool before her 16—year—old brother and 52—year—old father jumped in to help her. why none of

them emerged alive is the subject of a major investigation. a british tourist told the bbc she spoke to the children's mother. i noticed she was distraught and she was saying help me, help me, please help me, my children are drowning. it was horrible. i did not sleep. i can't even begin to tell you how distraught i feel and i don't want to imagine what the mother is going through. it is still not clear how 3—member of one family came to die here but the owners of club la costa world which runs the resort claim spanish police found nothing wrong with the hotel's facilities. they say: meanwhile, the foreign & commonwealth office as it is giving

assistance to a british wine in spain. —— woman. sean dilley, bbc news. a powerful typhoon has caused major disruption in parts of the central philippines. 16 people are thought to have died and 25,000 have been stranded since the storm hit the islands yesterday. catherine karelli reports. a far from peaceful christmas in the central philippines. typhoon pha nfone has brought sustained winds of almost 200 kilometres an hour, terrifying local people... woman screams. ..and leaving a trail of destruction. heavy rain has left many homes flooded. more than 16,000 people had to spend the night in improvised shelters and at least 100 families have been left homeless. the typhoon, which has damaged infrastructure, stopped many people visiting their families for christmas. filipinos are well used to tropical storms and typhoons, with around 20 hitting

the island nation each year. the most deadly in recent times was typhoon haiyan in 2013, where a massive storm surge left more than 7,000 people dead. and many of the areas worst hit back then have borne the brunt of this latest storm. catherine karelli, bbc news. thousands of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. our correspondent phil mercer joins us now from bilpin, which is two hours north—west of sydney. every time i see these images behind you, the pictures like this of devastation, it neverfails you, the pictures like this of devastation, it never fails to shock me. morning. there is a financial cost to all of this, there is certainly an emotional cost as well. what you can see behind me used to bea

what you can see behind me used to be a packing shed. bilpin is a very famous apple growing town here in the blue mountains to the north—west of sydney. the main road up here is called the bells line of road and it was closed for quite a long time because when you come up the main highway from sydney and during the road, it is not so long before you see these charge trees, child bushland on both sides of the road and we were speaking to a woman who helped to establish a business just a short distance away and she was in tea rs a short distance away and she was in tears as she was looking at 30 years of ha rd tears as she was looking at 30 years of hard work, both hers and the current owner just gone of hard work, both hers and the current ownerjust gone in the matter of moments, and it is safe to say i think that parts of australia, it feels like it is on a war footing, that we have been battling so footing, that we have been battling so many places, notjust here in new south wales, there are active fires in the states of victoria and also south australia too and hearing new south australia too and hearing new south wales, this is the epicentre of australia's bushfire crisis. today, conditions are better and the authorities are trying to use this to contain more than 30 fires that

still burn out of control in this state and another 30 or so are under control. so call the conditions are allowing the authorities to try to get the upper hand on his fires before more hot and windy weather comes back and we expect that in the next few days —— cooler conditions. so it is a lull today but we expect there will be more dangerous days ahead in the weeks to come. there will be more dangerous days ahead in the weeks to comem there will be more dangerous days ahead in the weeks to come. itjust feels relentlessly with the weather adding to the problems. phil, thank you so much. the royal navy skipped yesterday's festive celebrations to monitor a russian ship as it made its way through the english channel. the hms tyne was sent at short notice from portsmouth to monitor the vessel over the past 48 hours. the commander thanked his crew, and said national security didn't stop for christmas. a murder investigation has begun in south west london after a man was shot dead on christmas eve. police were called to battersea church road at around 9pm on tuesday, where they found the victim, believed to be in his 30s. no arrests have been made.

you might be gearing up for a boxing day walk this morning. well, new research shows just how popular a stroll by the sea has become. nearly 30 million people ambled along england's coastal paths over the past six months, boosting the economy and helping to create local jobs. the data has been collected by natural england, which is currently establishing a 2,700—mile path around the entire english coastline. people across the world looked to the skies this morning to spot a rare ring of fire solar eclipse. sadly, it wasn't visible here in the uk, but much of the middle east and south asia witnessed the total annular solar eclipse — where the moon doesn't completely cover the sun. it was the third and final eclipse of the year. stunning. something else worth watching. millions tuned in last night for the return of gavin and stacey after 10 years, and it ended

on a huge cliffhanger. i will not ruin it for you. the christmas special has been a hit with the critics and fans, who are hoping for another series. but the show‘s writers, james corden and ruthjones, said there are currently no plans to bring it back, as it's difficult to find time to write more. but the pair did get together to watch the programme go out last night. it is eight minutes past six. deborahjames — or ‘bowel babe,‘ as she's known to anyone who has followed the podcast you, me and the big c — has shared every step of her cancer journey. this time last year, she didn't think she'd be celebrating another christmas, but she has been kept alive, thanks to some new treatment and her medical team at the royal marsden hospital. she's been back to meet them. let's take a look. this time last year, i honestly thought i was celebrating my last christmas. the cancer had progressed. the actual words from my

oncologist were i cannot promise you it won't regress quickly. i am deborah james, i have it won't regress quickly. i am deborahjames, i have metastatic bowel cancer and i have been living with cancer for three years. i host the award—winning podcast you, me and the big c on bbc radio 5 live. hi! hello! welcome back! thank you. it is nice to be here not as a patient. absolutely, absolutely. it is slow the growth of two of my tumours that were inoperable places, one was wrapped around an artery and i could not be more grateful to have this treatment. we know that we have consta ntly this treatment. we know that we have constantly got you in the right place so we can give a higher dose more safely, it is a team effort. but ultimately a team effort that is saving my life and prolonging my life and i couldn't be more grateful for that so thank you for that. you are very welcome. you are very

welcome. over the last year i have been taking the new targeted drugs andi been taking the new targeted drugs and i am one of the first people actually in the uk to be on the combination. it is actually stabilised my cancer. i have had hundreds and hundreds of test and you never get used to them. people like beth help administer those drugs and are very much part of my family and! drugs and are very much part of my family and i trust you guys and i know you are what you are doing and it isa know you are what you are doing and it is a friendly face all of the time so never underestimate what you do for me, it is amazing, so thank you. thank you, deborah. thank you very much. let me give you a hug. i'm probably going to cry. the more we move on with cancer, the more we find out about it, the more examples of people like me living and that is because of new treatments, because of new ways that we have being treated. hello! and actually, that is something we should be celebrating. as part of your treatment, we tried to that all of your tumours. exactly. this is the

tiny probe which is very thin. i've never seen tiny probe which is very thin. i've never seen this, i cannot believe this actually goes inside of me. thank you for literally destroying, zapping, burning, bleating, you have used every tool in the box to help keep me alive and just thank you. you are very welcome. very welcome. soiam you are very welcome. very welcome. so i am now in you are very welcome. very welcome. soiam nowina you are very welcome. very welcome. so i am now in a very weird place where i am living with cancer but we all know that at some point, my luck might run out and the drugs might run out and actually, the cancer may be on the move again and none of us know when that might be. and living with that dark dog of fear is really, really challenging and i don't have a solution for it. but i know that having an army of people who have your back helps. every single person plays a massive part in keeping me alive. my new year's resolution is to stay alive. and

maybe run a marathon and maybe do strictly. and you can listen to you, me and the big c on the bbc sounds app. the time is now 12 minutes past six. it's time now for a look at the newspapers. let's look at the front pages. the daily telegraph carries a picture of princess charlotte. it says she and her brother prince george charmed the crowds at sandringham as they attended their first festive church service with the royal family. it was a tale of two christmases for the queen, according to the daily mail. the paper says she was buoyed after her great—grandchildren attended the church service, but the absence of a poorly prince philip and the duke of york cast a shadow. the i paper says it could be a green christmas as people spend less in the boxing day sales, due to environmental concerns. and the guardian leads online with what it calls a "national scandal" after revealing thousands of children in care are being placed in unsafe homes.

here's matt with a look at this morning's weather. what a treat! i loved the corsage yesterday but i am loving the tie even more! it is so smart! thank you, little bit of christmas sparkle, keeping things going after yesterday's, very good good morning to you all, we have slightly grey skies and boxing day whether sale really, clouds on offer for almost all of the country and yes, there will be special discounts on wind and rain later as things turn mild across the uk. not quite there yet with the mild weather for all, actually across parts of scotland eastern england, temperatures around freezing, fog too through parts of yorkshire and lincolnshire and milder in the west but rain has been pushing in, that starts boxing day in northern ireland, parts of the

southwest, a gap between the first band of rangers, moving in so it will be raining on and off through the day rather than to persistent and it will push eastwards parts and northern east anglia england stay dry through the afternoon by the time the rain lives it will be and but you seem to be parts of southern scotla nd but you seem to be parts of southern scotland driest weather of all the north—east of scotland but here we stay with a rather cooler theme, 5-7d stay with a rather cooler theme, 5—7d across these areas and up to about 12 towards the south—west but here with further bursts of rain we will see a strengthening wind, could get very close to goforth around suncoast later on. and some heavy rain here into the evening across wales and south—west england pushing back towards northern ireland. not making too much progress eastwards overnight, it will still stay a little bit on the cool side to eastern parts but should be frost free. tonight in the western mild night, 7—11, and the air will be pushing its way slowly northwards and eastward behind this weather front for friday. as we go friday, we will all gradually started to get into the milder air with one

exception, possibly something scotla nd exception, possibly something scotland and north—east england. a bit of a grey, damp study many areas, misty and murky across parts of england and wales. ran across scotla nd of england and wales. ran across scotland and northern ireland, this is where we see the wettest weather at times and across the far west of scotla nd at times and across the far west of scotland but note the temperatures into the second half of the day, around 812. a few glimpses of sunshine making it feel warm across the south. around friday night into saturday, further rain in northern scotla nd saturday, further rain in northern scotland but we continue to see it push northwards. high pressure the further south and east you are, starting with mist and fog first thing on saturday morning but if you are out on saturday, most of you will have a dry day. the greatest chance of rain will be across the highlands and the western isles of scotland. double—figure temperatures for many, maybe around eight or nine degrees across eastern areas but as we go into sunday, it is a similar sort of theme, so after the rain today and tomorrow across the parts of england and wales it should be dry for many. some rain in the far

north—west of scotland. but for sunday, just note those temperatures. if you have got some gloves, scarves and hats in your christmas stocking you certainly will need them this weekend because because the highs of 1a degrees in the north of scotland, north—west of northern ireland, but even across england and wales a touch cooler, still double—figure temperatures right across the board. as we go into the week which takes us into 2020, it does look like many places will stay dry, the greatest chance of rain will be across parts of scotla nd of rain will be across parts of scotland where it will stay fairly breezy, further south you are the winds will be lighter and as i said very little rain around too. nager, after the rain today, things looking much drier indeed. and a good deal milderfor much drier indeed. and a good deal milder for those much drier indeed. and a good deal milderfor those who much drier indeed. and a good deal milder for those who have any golfing presence and need to head golfing presence and need to milder for those who have any golfing presence and need to head up to try them out. what are you hinting at over there? you know exactly what i mean. was your stocking full of golfing gift? i did not, i think i have got too much! i got book tokens which i was

delighted about. delighted about. what is your temperature then for when you think gloves, hats and scarves should come out because mine would be out at ten or 12 degrees still. really? no, five or six for me. lower than that even. positive freezing. so hardy, aren't you? this is balmy for this time of year. but is balmy for this time of year. but isa is balmy for this time of year. but is a different debate, whether or not it is balmy, whether these are temperatures for when the hat, gloves and scarves come out. one will be out up until i reckon 1a degrees would be mine. there you go. keep them on through the christmas period. thank you very much! thank you for your permission! see you later! ben is going to have the support for us ben is going to have the support for us shortly. firefighters in australia battling wildfires were given some respite on christmas day thanks to cooler temperatures. but that may be short—lived as it's forecast to be more than a0 degrees celsius by the weekend. one of the worst affected areas

is new south wales — i'm joined now by ben shepherd from the state's rural fire service. then, good to talk to you. it is such a contrast to the weather we are having over here. tell me how your teams have been coping and communities have been coping during this period you have been battling these fires. as you mentioned, we we re these fires. as you mentioned, we were fortu nate these fires. as you mentioned, we were fortunate enough to get a little reprieve in the weather for christmas day and again today. we are seeing some cooler temperatures and light winds. that is giving us a chance to get some containment on these fires. but we are gearing up for what will be a difficult weekend and difficult start to the new week. we are expecting temperatures to remain at about a0 degrees. at this stage it does not bode well for the coming week. how are your teams coping? it has already been a long

and trying season, unfortunately. we have had more than 800 homes destroyed, eight lives as well, and millions of hectares burnt up so it is going to be a problematic start to the new year. still no rain on the horizon. it will be a lot more weeks of difficult firefighting yet to come. what kind of tactics are you deploying, because it does seem that this is almost unprecedented, with the length of time this has been going on, are they new tactics that can be deployed? no, look, firefighting in itself, there are only a number of ways we can actually fight a fire and the biggest thing we have control over is the actual fuel. but we do undertake burning ahead of the main fire fronts and that's what we try to use conditions like we currently have. despite there being reprieve from fire activity this is the opportunity to get on the front forward and get fires contain. we're talking massive fires. one of the

fires, the gospers mountain fire, over a00,000 hectares. the green wattle is over 300. we are now dealing with more than three million hectares that have been burnt this year. it has been a massive fire season. with no real rain on the horizon it will be a busy few weeks and we don't seem to get any real break to give the firefighters a much—needed rest. break to give the firefighters a much-needed rest. is there any way predicting when these will be brought control or are you simply at the whim of the weather, so to speak? we gladly take some of your rain at the moment. we need to hundred— 300 millilitres to correct it. -- 200. we hundred— 300 millilitres to correct it. —— 200. we haven't even seen it in the far noth of the country. the monsoon is yet to set in as well. it is an incredibly late start to the monsoon. all we are getting isjust

a dry weather and, unfortunately, heatwave after heatwave. we will see a number of days over a0 degrees this coming week, where many parts of these fire grounds will see a1 — a3 degrees over some days. we need some rain. at this point itjust doesn't seem to be on the forecast. sending all the best to you and your teams who are fighting these fires and obviously need the rest. our thoughts to you and the communities dealing with us. thank you very much for taking us through this. ben shepherd from the new south wales rural fire service talking to me from australia. thank you forjoining me this boxing day. ben is taking us through the sport. no—one likes being ill over christmas. no—one likes being ill before a big game over and this appears to have hit the england cricket team. around eight players in this squad, almost as they landed

in south africa for their test series, have come down with flu symptoms. it has affected a lot of the bowlers are now three more players are doubtful for the first test that starts in 1.5 hours time. ben stokes isn't one of those players. but his dad was taken ill, into intensive care in hospital on christmas eve was that he was in doubt for the match as well. his father is still in intensive care although ben stokes to train on christmas day so he is expected to play today. it has been one thing after another for england's players. not the ideal preparations. there are illness concerns over chris woakes, jack leach and ollie pope — all three missed christmas day training due to illness. bowlers jofra archer and stuart broad do look like they've recovered though and captainjoe root is trying to make the best out of a bad situation. this we made provisional plans in getting two guys out in overton and bess and they have trained very well in the last couple of days as back

up. and that's why they're here. because these things can happen sometimes. you've got to deal with it as sometimes. you've got to deal with itasa sometimes. you've got to deal with it as a side. and, fortunately, we have some very fortunate players who have some very fortunate players who have been in and around the squad, and if given an opportunity would be desperate to prove a point and stead there on the series. it might only be boxing day, but one game today could go a long way to deciding the premier league title. liverpool could go 13 points clear at the top if they win at second placed leicester. it's a busy time of year with most teams playing twice in two days. liverpool bossjurgen klopp has some strong opinions on it all. none of us managers has a problem with boxing day. none of us. but plainly 26 out of 28 is a crime. it absolutely not ok. and we still have it. every year the managers, this year we have 26 and 29th, it is like a holiday. buti year we have 26 and 29th, it is like a holiday. but i understand all the others who have morning, not morning, are telling us itjust

should not happen. one player who won't feature in today's match against leicester is liverpool's alex oxlade chamberlain. the england midfielder picked up an ankle injury during his side's victory in the club world cup final. he'll also miss the match against wolves on sunday. and in the early kick—off, tottenham will be without son heung—min for their match against brighton, after they lost their appeal against his red card. son was sent off in the second half of their defeat to chelsea last weekend, so he misses three games. two managers are taking charge of their new clubs for the first time this afternoon. carlo ancelotti's everton are at home to burnley and mikel arteta will try to haul arsenal out of the bottom half of the table, as they take on bournemouth. there are two more rounds of fixtures in the scottish premiership before the winter break too. the top two celtic and rangers meet on sunday. celtic are five points clear at the moment ahead of a trip to ninth placed st mirren this afternoon, so they know a win will keep them top into the new year. rangers are at home to kilmarnock. all the fixtures across all the leagues can be found on the bbc sport website. another boxing day tradition

on the other side of the world is the gruelling sydney to hobart yacht race. the skies around sydney harbour were relatively clear of smoke from the bushfires for the start. home team and race record holder comanche has taken an early lead. 628 nautical miles it is to tasmania. it's expected to take them nearly two days to complete the race with calmer winds forecast this year. that probably means some of the smoke from the bushfires probably won't affect the sailors out at sea, about a0 nautical miles from the coast. we were just talking about the bushfires. it is good that these events the bushfires. it is good that these eve nts ca n the bushfires. it is good that these events can keep carrying on with such a contrast to what is happening on the mainland. unbelievable images. ben, thank you very much. see you in the next hour. smart toys and gadgets with internet or bluetooth connectivity will have been popular gifts this christmas, but concerns have been raised about their security and how easily they can be hacked. so if your child received something like this, can you be sure it's safe?

i'm joined from york by tech expert ken munro. good morning. happy boxing day. see you have the toys with you. explain what these smart toys are. one of the first ones that came up was a karaoke microphone. it doesn't secure the connection to your smart phone properly. it means in theory someone could get it to say unpleasant things to your child. the same thing with this karaoke machine as well. you can connect to it and then someone from the street outside of the next—door house could say unpleasant things if they wanted to to your kids. it is a bit unsettling. it is a bit unsettling, it is really concerning. technically, imagine me as someone who does not understand this stuff, you don't have to imagine it, it is true. how does this work, how could somebody remotely connected to a toy that a child has? it is ridiculously

easy, all you need is your phone. and if you can connect to a bluetooth device you can connect to one of these and talk to the child through it. it is not even really packing, it is just connecting to a bluetooth thing. how can parents protect their children. we are saying if they do manage to connect they could say something to the childlike "come outside, there are suites outside". and talk to a small child. the connections on these two devices are only one way. they are effectively just bluetooth speakers. i was surprised that which didn't call for a ban on bluetooth speakers. there are others that have 2—way interaction. this is an interactive kit split‘ doll, she has a microphone the child can use. if you connect to her you can have a 2—way interactive chat. think is really distasteful. we are hoping the new practice will up the game somewhat. what are the manufacturers

saying about this? they are really not saying very much as far as we can make out, which is why we have been strongly encouraging regulations. the u.k.‘s department of culture, media and sport are consulting on regulation and we are hoping for more next year. their international laws around, the us state california brings in regulation on the first of january which bans products like this that aren‘t safe in california. if they aren‘t safe in california. if they are to secure you can‘t sell them. are there any warnings on the packaging or warnings that parents can adhere to any guidelines that they can think about? that is the sad thing about it. it is virtually impossible for a parent to work out if these devices are safe and secure or not. that is why, frankly, i would ask you if you really need something with a microphone? do you need something with a camera that you will give your child? if you don‘t absolutely needed i would question at security. let'sjust be clear, i don‘t want to panic or

scaremongering is morning, there is a very short window, isn‘t there, for someone to be able to hack in? it is something like 30 seconds and it has to be done at exactly the same time the child is connecting or the person is connecting to the toy, is that correct? not quite. that is one of the toys that which looked at, a bluetooth walkie—talkie. if you wanted to connect that you had to be around the child for about 10-15 to be around the child for about 10—15 seconds while they turned them on. these products, there bluetooth connections are on all the time. so long as you are within range, next—door neighbours, people on the street outside could potentially be listening to your kids. it is not that difficult. well, think that is for many people. argue for explaining that. ken munro, who is a tech expert there. —— thank you. the headlines are coming up. i will see you shortly.

hello, this is breakfast with me, naga munchetty. good morning. here‘s a summary of today‘s main stories from bbc news. a man and his two children drowned in a "tragic accident" in a hotel swimming pool on the costa del sol — that‘s according to the resort‘s owners. the three family members were found unresponsive on christmas eve