this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. tributes pour in for archbisop desmond tutu, nobel laureate and veteran of south africa's struggle against apartheid — who has died at the age of 90. new coronavirus restrictions come into force in scotland, wales and northern ireland — as the uk's devolved administrations try to limit the spread of the omicron variant. omicron causes chaos for travellers — 7,000 flights cancelled around the world over the christmas weekend. three, two, one! cheering. and swimmers across the uk take the plunge in festive style and follow a christmas tradition.

this is bbc news. the main stories at the top of the hour, but first... witness history introduces us to some of the team's favourite films from the past 12 months. hello and welcome to witness history with me. here at the bbc in london. with more remarkable moments from the past as told by the people who were there. and in this episode, we present five of our most memorable recent eyewitness stories. coming up, remembering the founder of north korea. also, the forensic pioneer unearthing war crimes. why us police bombed philadelphia and afghanistan first man in space. we start with the story of a true trailblazer who made history in 1960.

he became the modern world first female head of government when she was elected prime minister of sri lanka as it was known. her daughter spoke to witness history. you are the first woman prime minister. would this make your influence less or more strong? considerably more strong. do you think they'll be more capable than the problems the men are? that remains to be seen. my mother was incredible. she shed her reticence, she came forward and on every political platform, she spoke.

my father was prime minister first from 1956 to '59 of sri lanka. sadly, his enemies assassinated him. my mother had no intention of going into politics. her three children were fatherless and she wanted to devote all her time to bringing them up. but there was such a pressure from the party and the people in general that finally she agreed because she was convinced that it was her duty. we won the election in 1960, but right—wing forces started saying the nastiest possible things running down women. how can she lead a political party? she was_ how can she lead a political party? she was utterly unruffled. she said don't _ she was utterly unruffled. she said don't worry— she was utterly unruffled. she said don't worry about it, she carried on.

as for us, we three felt, my god, we lost our father to politics. now, are we going to lose her mother as well? but she never forgot that she was a mother. she took on the mantle of the role its first woman prime minister very comfortably. she took to it like a duck to water. i was quite amazed at how she became passionately of the international scene. she played a very important role there. the first woman premier sirimavo bandaranaike. i i noticed in no time at all, the way she was carrying herself with the great sense of authority, walking in the cabinet meetings, she had files clutched like that in her left arm and walked with her head held high.

she came across in a very strong way when she was negotiating one—to—one with leaders of other countries. i have never, ever her losing her temper. she would get angry but in a very calm, stern manner. she would say what she had to say which was far more effective. she was very proud of her second daughter, my mother could see that she was a born leader. the new president took the oath of office _ the new president took the oath of office in_ the new president took the oath of office in all— the new president took the oath of office in all of— the new president took the oath of office in all of the _ the new president took the oath of office in all of the country's - the new president took the oath of office in all of the country's main . office in all of the country's main languages — she was overjoyed when my sister became the president of sri lanka. she saw the legacy that her husband left behind which she took on from there. the mantle had now fallen on her

daughtec — the first woman prime minister has died at the age of 84. _ but she has been voting in the general election. | the daughter of the current president. i being the world's first female prime minister was very important to her. she felt very proud that she had done it. do you hope to see more women and politics? - i certainly hope so. her remarkable achievements. the next story is about another pioneer in a very different field. a forensic anthropologist from argentina who is dedicated her life to searching for the remains of missing victims of war atrocities and state violence. in her search for the truth, she remains in more than 30 countries and among them, el salvador. the scene of a brutal civil war in the 1980s.

we end up exhuming the remains of close to 140 kids that were all in this very small one room house. we were exhuming all these little dresses and whatever they have in their pockets. those kinds of details are actually the ones that kind of, devastate you. they are very hard. yes. i started doing the forensic work on human rights cases in 1984 when democracy returned to argentina after a quite brutal military government. as a student, we were just finishing very close to the area. it wasn't something that we were thinking of, let's form an international organisation that will do this globally.

it was more like, if we want to be consistent with what we think and what we believed, we thought we could not say no. in december 1981, the army entered to the area as well as another 500s that were nearby, separated children, women and men, executed them, burn their houses and everything. removing any possibility of civilians support. at the time or we arrive, you could still see human bones in different parts of the houses. this indicates where we found all of the spent cartridges. this wall here was where the victims are probably lined up

before being executed. we were just amazed about what we were finding. we have never worked on a case of that scale at that time. i see the work that we do in different parts of the world as part of a reparation process. where something horrible happened, we cannot fixed what happens, but we can provide some solace by providing information and returning the remains of people to the land and we really so important that that is. these are crimes that are often political crimes and part of a political situation. and so, you learn to wait and push as much as you can so that the evidence can be heard.

wright, and have its day in court. but, it is a work that requires a lot of patience. often, we felt very strong feelings of frustration. this process is never—ending and so, we never feel completed. complete closure. rarely. the forensic anthropologist. now, to a very different kind of historical mystery. the same family that have ruled north korea for over seven decades. the original korean leader, how exactly did he get the job? 101—year—old professor who came from the same village as he was starting out on his rise to power. in north korea, he is praised as the greatest leader of all time.

kim il—sung is at the heart of the kim dynasty. the origin of north korea begins with kim il—sung. over 70 years ago, when i first met kim il—sung, i was 25 years old. back then, we knew him by his real name. after 40 years ofjapanese - domination, they make the start back on the road back - to national independence. we were both from the same area and i had gone to the same primary school. my school seniors said that she was always the football team captain.

they also said kim was a bossy child who ordered the other kids around. kim asked of village elders to celebrate his homecoming after the war. 0ver breakfast, we asked now that korea is free from japan, what the future hold? just like a schoolboy reporting to a teacher, he said first, japanese collaborators must be purged. next, all land should be nationalised. lastly, all businesses

will become state—owned. during the occupation, korean guerrillas fought the japanese. a fighter called kim il—sung led many battles. about 20 days after that breakfast meeting, a welcoming ceremony for the famous fighter was held. those who went said instead of seeing kim il—sung, it was our old friend from the village. they went in for a closer look and it was him. some ordinary citizens were also suspicious. they expected kim il—sung to be in his 505 and an experienced military veteran. this man was in his 305. some people were asking if it

had all been staged? that is when i realised perhaps kim il—sung had been chosen by the communist while in exile to lead and take on the name of kim il—sung. kim's breakfast talk soon became a reality. this was a time of chaos. the communist party flourished. anti—communists were pushed out. by the spring of 1947, i feared i could go to jail too if i stayed any longer. that was 101—year—old professor kim. you can watch witness history every month on the bbc news channel or you can catch up on all our films with more than a thousand radio programmes and our online archives which is set

for bbc witness history. our next eyewitness story takes us to the 1980s and hugely controversial operation by us law enforcement. in may 1985, police in philadelphia dropped a bomb on a residential street to end the standoff with the radical black activists. 11 people died, five for children. the former philadelphia reporter remembers that tragic day. the siege had been under way for 36 hours when the police, who had put sharpshooters in a nearby rooftops decided to bring an air power. the bomb was dropped with the aim of blowing a hole through the roof. it's a slow—motion sequence shows, there was a devastating miscalculation. watching that fire burn the way you did in knowing that there were people in that house and children in that house, it was just an extraordinary sense of rage.

you wanted to do something, but there was nothing that you could do. what happened on may 13, 1985 is the most horrific incident that i ever covered as a news reporter. in the nearly 40 years that i have covered move, still to this day, i am not entirely sure of what they are, they have fashioned themselves as black revolutionaries who adapt to environmentalism and many times their lifestyles were not in conformance with life in an urban area. and as result of that, there are many clashes with police.

in the early '805, it was an organisation that relocated and over the years progressed, they began to fortify the house. they built a bunker on the roof, they also had a public address system on their roof and they would harangue the neighbours sometimes 24 hours a day. so the shots would've been coming from the second floor or the first floor. the police were in their houses on the outside of the street here and so, they were shooting in. so it was from here and here, gunfire — so it was from here and here, gunfire coming into the house of the organisation. wow. i saw the helicopter hover

over the area and then there was this horrific explosion. the ground literally shook and my knees buckled. and as the fire started raging with more intensity, you could see the flames literally jump across the street to the south side and within about 90 minutes, the whole block was on fire. it was surreal. 11 people in that house perished. six adults and five children. did you hearthe big bomb? it shook the whole house up. it did? and what happened then? everybodyjumped down and went downstairs in the garage.

this incident took place during the administration of a black mayor. it was just unfathomable to people and that created a distrust and a dissatisfaction that persists in many ways to this day. and finally, an uplifting story in every sense from afghanistan. back in 1988, abdul became the first afghan to go to space. he spent nine days with a russian crew on the space station. it was a symbolic moment of the soviet war in afghanistan but as you will hear, the mission almost went tragically wrong.

the soviet space rocket was successfully launched from central asia heading for the space station. for the first time, nap it was on a mission commander and his afghan colleagues separated for the flight home that the problems began.

it was when they separated for the flight _ it was when they separated for the flight home that the problems began. 90 minutes into the four hour return flight _ 90 minutes into the four hour return flight 6 _ 90 minutes into the four hour return flight a computer malfunctioned. within the next three hours, two cosmonauts were trying to fire manually rockets that might bring them back to earth, if they fail, there could be marooned in space.

the two cosmonauts have returned to earth safely after spending a day stranded in space with their oxygen running out. pick—up teens were soon on the ground~ — they made light of their troubles. the first man from afghanistan to go to space. well, that is all for this edition of witness history here at the bbc in london. we'll be back next time with more first—hand accounts of amazing moments from the past. but from now, for the rest of the witness history team, goodbye.

hello, understandably there's always a lot of talk about snow at christmas and though there has been sent, for many places there have just been rain. and lots of rain since christmas eve. this is the radar picture over the past few hours. this weather system has moved through bringing rain and as you can see we have had snow in the pennines. it is a very wintry scene this morning from county durham. for many places, it is the rain, the standing water and the spray making for difficult travelling conditions. a lot of cloud and further outbreaks of rain towards northern and eastern parts of england. there is still some sleet and snow in the hills. a very brisk south easterly wind running into mainly scotland and northeast england adding an extra chill two things. it is still mild towards the southwest. hereit into

wales it will brighten up gradually. there are still a few showers. we continue taking some rain, and some snow and sleet over the highest ground overnight. else while the wind will be easing with a lot of low cloud and mist and fog around. while temperatures for many stay above freezing. you canjust while temperatures for many stay above freezing. you can just see some blue in parts of northern england and scotland. you might get a frost. into tomorrow, the northern and western isles having a cloudier day with patchy rain and showers around. another weather system taking outbreaks of rain. northern ireland, some cloud and brighter spells as well. the far north of england especially scotland away from the far north there will be some sunny spells to be had. quite windy with outbreaks of rain to the south. that will go into monday evening. tuesday, another weather system taking an area of rain particularly across central swathes of the uk and windy towards the

south of that. it will be quite mild here. temperatures around six or 7 degrees and scotland and 12 or 13 to the south. if you think that is mild, another weather him system bringing more rain across the uk in wednesday. it will bring some very mild air into the uk and that is transported northwards on the south westerly wind. blustery with rain, but temperatures reaching into the mid teens. quite wildly around the midlands. it will stay mild and wet and windy for the start of the new year.

and mourners have already gathered outside here, many are bringing wreaths and other

tribute to the man who was known as a unifying figure against south africa was not a racist apartheid government. africa was not a racist apartheid government-— this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe i'm shaun ley. our top stories... tributes pour in for archbisop desmond tutu — nobel laureate and veteran of south africa's struggle against apartheid,who has died at the age of 90. there was a sense in him that life was to be celebrated, even when the troubles of soweto where he was a priest, that actually when you look at reality, every human being is a stand—in for god. new coronavirus restrictions come into force in scotland, wales and northern ireland, as the uk's devolved administrations try to limit the spread of the omicron variant. they were due to be £10,000 here at cardiff arms park today to watch the

festive rugby derby. they will now