Watched Christmas Day programme of the decade. And in half an hour well look at some of the best of the travel show from 2019. Good evening. Spanish police have named a british holidaymaker and his two children, who drowned in a Hotel Swimming Pool on the Costa Del Sol on Christmas Eve. On the Costa Del Sol gabriel diya who was 52 and from london died with his 16 year old son praise emmanuel, and his nine year old duaghter comfort, at the Club La Costa world resort, near fuengirola. An investigation into what happened is underway. The owners of the hotel have described it as a tragic accident. Helena wilkinson reports. This is gabriel diya, the 52 year old father who died trying to rescue his daughter. Here he is with nine year old comfort, on a family holiday when on Christmas Eve she got into difficulty in this Hotel Swimming Pool. Despite her fathers efforts, she also died, as did her 16 year old brother, praise emmanuel, who also tried to help. Postmortem examinations confirmed that all three drowned. A14 year old girl, the childrens sister, raise the alarm. Today in south east london, neighbours of the family have been speaking of the shock. They were just beautiful, lovely people. I am absolutely devastated, i am still trying to get it in my head that this is really happened to them. It isjust so cruel, so unfair. Shocking, shocking. Somebody like that, drowning especially, who went for a holiday, it is a bit shocking. Gabriel diya was a parish pastor, one of the churches he was associated with has paid tribute, saying their thoughts were with his family and friends at this difficult time. The hotel owners have described the incident as a tragic accident and say the investigation found no concerns relating to the pool or procedures in place. But questions remain as to precisely what happened to a father and his two children on their Christmas Holiday in spain. Answers to those questions will be the focus of the Police Investigation into this Christmas Eve tragedy. Officers in spain are trying to piece together exactly what happened in the moments before, and tonight the resort has issued a new statement saying it is fully cooperating with the authorities, it is also supporting bereaved family members, add here tonight at the Foreign Office it says it is continuing to support a british woman in spain understood to be the childrens mother. Helena wilkinson reporting there. 71 migrants in small boats have been rescued trying to cross the channel to the uk. 49 people in four boats were met by border force and brought to england, while a further two boats were dealt with by french authorities. The coastguard said it had been co ordinating several search and rescue operations. Well, following the incident, the home office have said it would try to return anyone who arrived in the uk illegally back to mainland europe. Were joined now in the studio by the bbcs jonathan josephs. Tells about more about what happened. At about 1 30am, the british authorities were alerted to these four small boats in the English Channel that had come from france, trying to reach britain. 49 people were on board, 48 men and women and one child. They came from afghanistan, ran a direct originate. They called the Emergency Services themselves and it was an exceptional amount of resources, three boats, a helicopter, and a small plane, an operation led by the coast guard. They brought them all ashore but i am told that two of the small boats we re am told that two of the small boats were actually refused when they were offered a rescue by the french authorities. They wanted to wait until they were in british waters so they could then be taken back to britain. Which is something of a familiar pattern in these cases. Separately, 22 other migrants have been rescued by the french authorities and ta ken been rescued by the french authorities and taken to hospital by treatment for hypothermia. What happens to them now . Those that have reached britain will have been given medical checks, like the maggots that have been treated in france, likely they have been suffering from hypothermia. They will then be interviewed by immigration officials in dover. Their cases assessed, they will be put in government accommodation whilst there asylum claims, assuming they put those in the, are processed. If the minor involved in this was unaccompanied, they will be taken to a Reception Centre in kent. There are concerns from some migrant charities that human traffickers in france are using the forthcoming january deadline for brexit as an incentive to try to get more migrants to make this crossing at the moment. So it is possible we will see more of these cases in the coming weeks. Whats been the political reaction to this . The local mp, conservative natalie elphick, has been responding. I spoke to her early and she says that the french authorities in particular need to do more, they need to take more action, specifically they should be more patrols and all of those who are caught, however they are, should be returned to france, because that is supposed to be the agreement. So that is what she is hoping for. She also says that there needs to be more done in terms of Police Operations against the people traffickers who are facilitating all of these crossings. And encouraging migrants to take the stage journey through one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes, and she also explained that she met with home secretary last week and that more resources a re secretary last week and that more resources are supposed secretary last week and that more resources are supposed to be coming to dealing with this problem, suggesting, given that meeting happened so soon after the election, thatis happened so soon after the election, that is a priority for the government. As weve heard the Home Office Said it would try to return anyone who arrived in the uk illegally back to mainland europe. Bridget chapman for the Kent Refugee Action Network said that the government may not have the right to send Asylum Seekers away. As weve heard the Home Office Said it would try to return anyone who arrived in the uk illegally back to mainland europe. Bridget chapman for the Kent Refugee Action Network said that the government may not have the right to send Asylum Seekers away. Iam i am baffled by them saying that. Under international law, anyone can present themselves at a border in mechanic claim for asylum. There is no way to send them back until they asylu m no way to send them back until they asylum claim has been processed. If there asylum claim proves to be u nsuccessful, there asylum claim proves to be unsuccessful, then they can be returned, but these people arriving in our experience, and we work with a number of people that have made this journey, they have good asylum claims, likely to be successful. There is no way to set them back, so iam there is no way to set them back, so i am slightly baffled by the home offices statement. In the end it is the people traffickers, the criminals who are organising these kinds of journeys, who criminals who are organising these kinds ofjourneys, who dita be tracked down and punished, because they are risking people slice. Absolutely, i dont think anybody is a founder people traffickers, me or the home office, but the fact is we need to find legal routes for people to make this journey, need to find legal routes for people to make thisjourney, shutting need to find legal routes for people to make this journey, shutting the door in theirfaces to make this journey, shutting the door in their faces is to make this journey, shutting the door in theirfaces is not to make this journey, shutting the door in their faces is not going to make them go away. Neither me are the home office. If we find safe routes for them, that would shut down the traffics business overnight and that is the way we have to move forward. Some people might say you need to deter people from making these journeys, might say you need to deter people from making thesejourneys, because they are very perilous, dangerous journeys in which people are risking their lives. I completely agree that nobody should be making a journey across a channel in a small dinghy. It is anecdotally dangerous journey. But the push factors, the reason people leave their countries are enormous. A very prone in number relatively want to come to the uk, at those people that you are going to make thatjourney. We can ignore it, or shut the door, but that doesnt work. Theyd just find more difficult and dangerous routes. My organisation would say we need to be more responsible about theirs. If they are making theirjourney more responsible about theirs. If they are making their journey and have good asylum claims that are likely to be successful, lets look at making and finding safe and legal ways for them to make those claims. At least 16 people have died and many more are missing after a typhoon hit the phillippines on Christmas Eve. The storm brought winds of i20mph at its height and has left a trail of devastation through the centre of the country. James waterhouse reports. Typhoon phanfone first arrived on tuesday night. With it came wins of almost 120 mph, causing devastation and fear. The storm then worked its way over the islands of the central philippines. Only today is there a sense of the damage caused. Buildings were reduced to rubble. Villages were devastated as the typhoon swept through, leaving residents to pick through the debris left behind. It was so powerful, even large boats were overturned. The philippines is no stranger to tropical storms and typhoons, with around 20 arriving each year. The most powerful one to hit land ever in the world, typhoon haiyan, struck in 2013, leaving more than 6,000 people dead. Today, as a country rebuilds, the red cross warns it could take weeks to bring back power and running water. Not only that. Many people are still missing. James waterhouse, bbc news. Rescuers have been looking for possible victims of four avalanches that have hit ski resorts in austria and switzerland. Authorities say there were no casualties from the three avalanches in austria, but rescuers dont know how many others could still be buried under the snow in switzerland. So far, six people were pulled from the snow there. The swiss rescue services are still continuing to look through that snowmass because it came down on a marked ski slope. I think they are hopeful because we have not had reports of people missing. They say they want to loop through the entire body of snow that came down, to be absolutely sure. Some good news, the people who were pulled from the snow, four of them basically unhurt, two of them taken to hospital but also only lightly injured, nevertheless there is going to be a very detailed enquiry as to what happened here, because thats no, on a day when the avalanche risk was not especially high, three on a scale of five, came down onto a marked ski slope that was open and on which on a bank holiday there we re on which on a bank holiday there were many people skiing. Firefighters in australia are bracing themselves for a return to heatwave conditions, replacing recent cooler weather. There are currently 72 bushfires in the state of New South Wales, about half of them burning out of control. Our correspondent phil mercer has travelled to the town of bilpin to meet one of those affected. Simon tadrosse lost 40 of his orchards when the fires tore through. The emotional and financial toll has been immense. He stayed to defend his property in the Blue Mountains against flames 40 metres high and he almost died. What was the most frightening bit for you . Um, facing it, driving towards it in the tractor and you couldnt sort of really get out of it. That was the frightening thing. But obviously i made it through, but scary, very scary. What was it like looking into that beast of a fire thinking you might not make it . Its worrying, very worrying. Yeah, look, you cant bring a life back, you only get one chance, and if you lose a life thats the end of it. Your trees, your houses, your buildings, you can always rebuild. Communities have been traumatised by the fires and recovering from devastation like this could take years. Cooler conditions today in New South Wales are helping the firefighting effort, but more dangerous days do lie ahead. Here in australias most populous state more than 70 blazes are still burning, but this is a nationwide crisis. There are still active fires in the states of victoria and south australia. Phil mercer, bbc news in bilpin, the Blue Mountains. The headlines on bbc news. Spanish police have named the three british holiday makers who died in a Swimming Pool on Christmas Eve. Gabriel dee yaa and his two children drowned at a hotel on the Costa Del Sol. More than 60 migrants in small boats have been rescued trying to cross the channel to the uk. At least 16 dead and many missing after a typhoon rips through the philipines leaving a trail of devastation behind it. Police say a man shot dead on Christmas Eve was attacked in front of his family after a night out. 36 year old flamur beqiri, who was a swedish national, was killed in battersea in south west london at about 9pm. Neighbours described hearing multiple gunshots followed by a woman screaming for help. Patients diagnosed with cancer in england are to be given the option of a Fitness Programme to help them cope with their treatment. As part of a trial over the next few years, its hoped 4,000 people will be prescribed three weeks of exercise. For twenty yea rs israels longest serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led his likud party with an iron grip but now faces a challenge to his leadership. More than 100,000 members of israels governing party, are eligible to vote on whether the veteran Prime Minister should lead them into the next election. Barbara plett usher reports from jerusalem. The man who would be king. Gideon saar has issued the most serious challenge to the party in a decade. I feel a great awakening challenge to the party in a decade. Ifeel a great awakening on challenge to the party in a decade. I feel a great awakening on the ground. People understand that a change has to come today. With the help of god, together we will make that change today. He once Party Members to vote for change because he says the Prime Minister failed to form a government after two general elections and has no chance of doing so in elections and has no chance of doing soina elections and has no chance of doing so in a third. There is a growing sense of disquiet. This is an important day because there hasnt been any voting for this party for the past five years. There is a feeling of decay in the democracy from within the party. Generally in israel. Mr netanyahu is not expected to lose, he has a dedicated base and solid support even though he has been indicted on corruption charges. There is a party traditional fierce loyalty to the leader. Otherwise it may look like his grip on power is weakening. He campaigned hard and develop to the ballot and continue to press for votes during the day. We brought great things to this country, and to continue bringing this country great things we have to go and vote for me. For you. Gideon saar is an inspiration to some, nothing like the adoration showered on mr netanyahu by the party faithful, but his challenge has opened a crack in likuds united front. The seychelles, off the coast of east africa, is setting itself up as a hub for marine preservation. The first ever large scale coral reef restoration project began there, and now they are starting to see results. With over half of the world s reefs already lost because of rising sea temperatures, theres hope this tiny chain of islands could hold the key to saving coralfrom extinction. Catherine byaruhanga has more. Theyre called the reef rescuers. Atina and chloe work in the indian ocean trying to find ways of saving the worlds dying coral. Today, theyre checking on their nursery. Its a man made coralfarm and one of the biggest in the world. This is a large scale coral reef restoration project. The nursery that we use is a rope nursery. So our coral fragments are actually placed inside a rope and then they are hung mid water. Over half the worlds reefs have already been lost because of Climate Change. Coral gets its colour and its energy from the algae which live inside it. As the water gets warmer, though, the algae becomes toxic, so the coral evicts it. This is called bleaching. With its food source expelled, the coral often die. From the nursery, the small coral are brought down and cemented to the ocean floor. Within minutes, fish swim to what the reef rescuers call super coral. Our coral gardening methodology identifies resilient colonies by visiting reefs shortly after bleaching events and looking at which colonies have survived and have some level of confidence that they are resilient and will make our restoration site resilient from further Climate Change events. The nursery is also an open water classroom. From the surface, i can see hundreds of coral beneath me. Scientists have come from all over the world to learn how its done here. This technique has already been taken to countries like colombia and the maldives and next are kenya, tanzania and mauritius. The reef rescuers project was born here on cousin island, a thriving world class nature reserve. Cousin island was the desired prize. It was set up by nirmal shah. Hes been running conservation projects here for over three decades and hes already thinking about the next big idea. So, all these experiences weve learned from scratch, we know the entire technique now. So the next step is to grow corals on land, tinker around with them until they become resilient to Climate Change and plant them back. Scientists predict most of the worlds coral will be gone by 2050. Innovation might be the only way to preserve them. Catherine byaru hanga, bbc news, the seychelles. The hit tv show gavin and stacey returned to our screens last night after almost a decade away, and pulled in the highest Christmas Day tv audience in 12 years. An average of 11. 6 Million People tuned in for the shows christmas special, according to initial figures, with the queens christmas broadcast in second place. Seven of the top ten most watched programmes yesterday were bbc shows. James corden sent a tweet with a picture with his co star and co writer ruthjones, describing the gavin and Stacey Christmas special as a labour of love and thanking everyone for watching. Our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has more. Step into christmas, step into christmas. Its been close to ten years since the shows last episode. Its return, greeted with elation from fans and the biggest Christmas Day audience for more than a decade. Maybe some cheese and rose its absence for so long helped last nights one off special, continuing the story of a boy from billericay and a girl from barry island. Why am i stood here . Easy, this is where i first told you i love you. Feel like must watch, appointment to view television, for millions. I will now show you the big, glamorous sets we use. During filming, james corden, who co wrote the story with ruthjones, spoke about why they had brought the programme back. Sorry, everyone, but dinners going to be ever so slightly delayed. It is more a sense of, i think, of ruth and me just thinking, why dont we explore it and see if theres anything there, if there is a story there . We just did what we did the first time round, really, which was sit in a room and talk about it and see what we have. You were handsome, you were pretty queen of new york city when the band finished playing, they howled out for more. Christmas day viewing figures have been in decline, partly because of the growth of streaming services, partly because the programmes were often festive editions of shows already regular parts of the schedule. Gavin and staceys success could perhaps lead to more favourites from the past returning to our christmas tv screens. Lizo mzimba, bbc news. Its christmas earlier i spoke to tv critic toby earle who said there seems to be an appetite for another series of gavin and stacey. The real fear about something the realfear about Something Like gavin and stacey returning is whether a not it was going to be able to recapture the magic which drew so many people the first time. You would have to say that they managed to somehow find the essence of those characters and present them asi of those characters and present them as i have nothing had really happened in the intervening ten yea rs. Happened in the intervening ten years. It was incredible that it presented characters who had managed to sail very severely through the turbulent waters of the last decade, there was no mention of us territory, no brexit, no donald trump, no light olympics. Nothing had happened at the last decade that seem to affect them in anyway. It is kind of admirable and the wait was written. Also kind of surprising. But this is a fantasy world which a lot of people wanted to return to. Where it was just about a group of individuals and their own various ways exhibiting their affection for one another. I todays standards, the audience was huge. 11. 6 million, thatis the audience was huge. 11. 6 million, that is before catch up. Yes, 4996 of people watching tv at that time watching gavin and stacey. I thought it would do maybe 8 million, which is big given the fact that the number one programme at christmas over the last several years has managed around 6 million. To reach over 11 and peak with over 12 Million Viewers is absolutely olden times numbers. The wallace and gromit film in 2008 pulled injust under 14. 5 million over a decade ago, that was big. That is a jewish number. We havent been anywhere near this sort of number in a very long time indeed. Because of the way we watch tv these days. Also it was something of a piece of event television, a sitcom which has somehow for ten years still maintain a relationship with an audience, people still interested. It was marketed and there was a lot about it returning. As a fishing expedition, whether unknown people will be interested in a new series, they have added a whopper. Will be interested in a new series, they have added a whopperlj will be interested in a new series, they have added a whopper. I suppose there is something about christmas where a lot of people, with a family is, they want something in the evening, some family entertainment, so this kind of show is ideal. Yes, you are sick and tired of talking by this stage, you have had enough, enough of your family and whoever else, so you want something you can all watch together, and while you have the likes of strictly, a comedy with this pulling power hasnt really been around for a while. Given the fact it had a relatively short run in terms of the shows longevity, it wasnt like ole. The fa ct longevity, it wasnt like ole. The fact that it still generated this level of interest is remarkable and you have to wonder, where the bbc be looking for other old programmes which seem to have a very loyal audience might be interested in bringing back . Also, james corden and ruth jones, bringing back . Also, james corden and ruthjones, after this reception, how could they potentially turn down a new series . Iimagine the potentially turn down a new series . I imagine the bbc will be on the phone trying to make sure, see if they get an answer. People across certain parts of the middle east, india and South East Asia have witnessed the last Solar Eclipse of the decade. The path of the eclipse allowed millions of people to see it. Shaun hassett has more. This is an annular Solar Eclipse, or as some people call it, the ring of fire. It happens when the moon covers the suns centre, but leaves the outer edges visible. Although it doesnt feel this way for many of us in the Northern Hemisphere right now, we are getting closer to the sun. That means the sun is actually larger in the sky than average, so the moon is not able to cover it completely, leaving an annulus of light, hence an annular solar collapse. Millions of people were able to see this. From astronomers in the uae, to schoolchildren and their teachers in mumbai. To these crowds in singapore, where people will not get another chance to see the ring of fire until 2063. Its an annular eclipse, and the next one will be when i am in my 60s, and so i might as well take my youth and look at this lovely ring of fire. It took around five hours for the path of the eclipse to move across the indian and pacific oceans. For those watching on the ground, the celestial show was even shorter. Its only two minutes but its so intense that you talk about it with your friends and family for the next. Month. Whilst some places will have to wait decades for their next annular Solar Eclipse, others will not have to wait anywhere near that long. The good news is a very similar, in fact even better eclipse will occur on the 21st of june next year. The path of that eclipse will take in parts of africa and the middle east and southern china. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben rich. Good evening. Many swapped out a dry and often sunny Christmas Day for a grey and often soggy boxing day. This was how it looked to the south east of london for one of our weather watchers. Some brightness, certainly some dry weatherfor a time across the far north of scotland, and more of us will see drier weather. There will be quite a lot of cloud, and it will start to turn a little bit milder. Rain across Western Areas as we go through tonight, rain across wales and the south west tending to pull away, rain continuing through northern ireland, into western scotland, some rain getting into north west england. Turning milder in Western Areas, but further east, particularly Northern England and parts of scotland, cold enough for a touch of frost. Into tomorrow, a warm front pushing eastwards, bringing patchy rain, another frontal system bringing rain into the north west, between those two weather fronts a south westerly wind sucking some increasingly mild air in our direction. Heres friday, that warm front bringing patchy rain eastwards,