Watched Christmas Day programme of the decade. And later on i will be looking at the stories that weve covered from britain by the coastal towns this year, thats an half an hour with me simon mccoy. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. Spanish police have named a british holiday maker and his two children, who drowned in a Hotel Swimming Pool on the Costa Del Sol on Christmas Eve. Gabriel diya, who was 52 and from london, died with his 16 year old son, praise emmanuel and his nine year old daughter, comfort. The family had been staying at the Club La Costa world resort, near fuengirola. An investigation into what happened is under way. 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. A 14 year old girl, the childrens sister, raised the alarm. Today in south east london, neighbours of the family have been speaking of their shock. They were just beautiful, lovely people. I am absolutely devastated, i am still trying to get it in my head that this has 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, and is also supporting bereaved family members, and here tonight at the Foreign Office it says it is continuing to support a british woman in spain, understood to be the childrens mother. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 40 and 11 30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are nigel nelson, the Political Editor at the sunday mirror and sunday people, and the political commentator, jo phillips. More than 70 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 Officers 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. The home office has said it would try to return anyone who arrived in the uk illegally back to mainland europe. The bbcs Jonthan Joseph explained what happens to those migrants picked up by british authorities. 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. 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 120 miles an hour 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. 0nly 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 have been 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 were many people skiing. Police say a man shot dead on Christmas Eve was attacked in front of his family after a night out. 36 year old flamoor be cheery, 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 four thousand people will be prescribed three weeks of exercise. Firefighters in australia are bracing themselves for a return to heatwave conditions, replacing recent cooler weather. There are over 70 bushfires in the state of New South Wales, about half of them burning out of control. 0ur correspondent phil mercer has travelled to the town of bilpin to meet the owner of an orchard, nearly half of which has been destroyed. 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 a0 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. For 20 years israels longest serving Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has led his likud party with an iron grip but now he faces a challenge to his leadership. More than 100,00 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 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 he wants 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 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 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 2nd 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. 0ur 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 lets talk to tv critic Emma Bullimore who joins us from chelmsford. A very good evening to you, i cant wait to see it, i was working last night have not watched it yet, there was so night have not watched it yet, there was so much anticipation about this and boy did it deliver in terms of those viewing figures. Absolutely. Im so happy to be talking about properly brilliant figures because sometimes at christmas we have to sort of get excited and say welcome a6 sort of get excited and say welcome a 6 million is really good these days but these were properly good figures, a peak of over 12 million and thats just on the night. 0nce you have consolidated figures once eve ryo ne you have consolidated figures once everyone has watched on iplayer youre going to be looking at 1a or 15 million. Thats a proper Christmas Special. Thats something that people have planned their evening around and have been genuinely excited about watching. Thats really significant because lots of people say now ive got netflix, no one sits around together asafamily netflix, no one sits around together as a family and watches anything, eve ryo ne as a family and watches anything, everyone is doing their own thing. It shows us that if its good enough 01 it shows us that if its good enough or special enough people will build their day around it. People will sit down and watch live tv. A lot of 16 01 down and watch live tv. A lot of 16 or sa year olds and certainly in the younger half of that age range, people will not have seen this with a series originally went out, they may have watch them more recently in preparation for this. But what does that say about this combination of factors, and the writing about the programme . Its a special thinkable when it said, is right nothing touches people in the same way. The last time we had Something Like this was the carolina royal family and people thought this is going to be brilliant, im looking forward to it but gavin and stacey has that same wa nt but gavin and stacey has that same wantan but gavin and stacey has that same want an idea that thats your family, thats my family and although its worth watching its not so boring that nothing happens, they dont go over the top. Its not something ridiculous that would not have at it in everyday life, and thats what make it feel relatable and special and gives you that christmas and tingling feeling. When it comes back you think, oh please that the characters be the same in the writing be the same, and it was. It managed to keep everything that was good about it, and reproduced it for this christmas, that is no mean feat. I read a couple of interviews with ruth jones feat. I read a couple of interviews with ruthjones in the run up to this she was talking about going out to la to write this with james cordon, without success last night, how much pressure is there going to be for another series, not a Christmas Special . There would have been pressure had adjusted well but the fact that they left on a cliffhanger and being very naughty, they knew what they were doing, it people are definitely to see what happened what did he say, was the a nswer to happened what did he say, was the answer to that big question . If they did not want to see already that definitely do now. Because they said we will not do any more and then they did no one is going to believe them. Every interview they do for them. Every interview they do for the rest of their lives people will be asking about this because they wa nt be asking about this because they want more. As you say, the best Christmas Day tv ratings for more than a decade. People will be looking at this and wondering how this sort of success can be replicated. Especially when youve got terrestrial tv competing against so got terrestrial tv competing against so many other different platforms 110w. So many other different platforms now. And that is generally a good thing. It keeps the quality of tv really high, higher than it has been for a long time. Your game has to be good. I think what we need for christmas and for Something Special is either every union of characters like gavin and stacey or something we would never get the chance to see at any point of the year. If you make it special and unique and does not matter if its on netflix or bbc, wherever it is people will sit and watch it. Theres no room for laziness it has to be brilliant. People looking at this thinking what can we bring back for next year . What can we do that is special enough to have this effect and certainly the bbc will be to ruth and james certainly the bbc will be to ruth andjames and certainly the bbc will be to ruth and james and saying please give us another one. Fingers crossed. Emma, thank you very much. The headlines on bbc news. Spanish police have named the three british holidaymakers who died in a Swimming Pool on Christmas Eve. Gabriel diya and his two children drowned at a hotel on the Costa Del Sol. More than 70 migrants in small boats have been rescued trying to cross the channel to the uk. At least 16 people are dead and many missing after a typhoon rips through the philippines, leaving a trail of devastation. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres chetan. Good evening. Sta rt start with the football. Currently goal this in the inner clock, a win for liverpool with more than 13 points clear of lester at the top of the table. Chelsea have lost consecutive home games for the first time in the premier league since 2011 as southampton moved three points clear of the relegation zone with a 2 0 win at stamford bridge. Chelsea never got going and it was the visitors who took the lead with this brilliant strike from michael 0bafemi just after the half hour mark. And then. With 20 minutes remaining, a superb team move saw the ball break for Nathan Redmond who wrapped up the win. It moves southampton up to 14th. Elsewhere, jordan ayew scored a last minute winner as Crystal Palace beat west ham 2 1. Sheffield united stay sixth, behind tottenham after being held to a 1 1 draw by bottom place watford. In the late game, Manchester United came from behind to beat newcastle 4 1 antony martial scored twice. Celtic remain five points clear at the top of the scottish premiership after a 2 1win at st mirren. The opening goal came just after the 20 minute mark thanks to callum mcgregor. Celtic doubled their lead ten minutes later after a good finish from james forrest. St mirren got a late consolation but it wasnt enough. Hearts remain bottom after they lost to 2 nil to hibernian in the edinburgh derby. Meanwhile alfredo morelos got the only goal of the game as second place rangers beat kilmarnock1 0. Declan gallaghers dramatic injury time winner got motherwell a 2 1win at ten man ross county, they stay third. Wins too for aberdeen and stjohnstone. Sam curran took four wickets and James Anderson made an instant impact on his return to test cricket as england made a promising start to the first test in south africa. Anderson, englands leading wicket taker, struck with the first ball of the day in centurion, as Patrick Gearey reports. In centurion, a nod to a man who has gone well beyond 100. A man who has gone well beyond 100. Test match 150 forjimmy anderson. Hes always had that knack. He spent four months fighting back from injury and wont care if the radar was out, as long as the batsman is. He set the tone and spoils with stuart. The catcher, ben stokes, the Sports Personality of the year, who spent some christmas visiting his father in hospital. The series is meant to mark the start of englands future, the likes of sam curran, freshfaced but fierce. This blend had south africa at 111 5. Time for others to lead. Quinton de kock is a master of the counterpunch. With every run, the day seemed hotter, the afternoon longer. Fine if youre in your boxing day chair, but as another centurion centurion looked like he would be saluted, curran stopped de kock. South africa got more troublesome runs. South africa lost their ninth wicket in the closing minutes, but they arent yet all out. England finishing boxing day with leftovers remaining. Patrick gearey, bbc news. In rugby union, cardiff blues beat dragons 16 12. Shane lewis hughes celebrated a new contract with cardiff by scoring their first try ten minutes in at arms park. Jarrod evans added the extras to give them a 7 nil lead. Taine basham responded with a try for dragons just before half time, but it wasnt enough to beat the blues. In the days other game, scarlets whitewashed the 0spreys by 44 points to nil. Steffan evans with a couple of tries for the home side. They move up to second in conference b. Thats all the sport for now. You can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. Thats all for me, i will have more for you on sports day at 1030. 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. 0ur 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. People in some parts the world have been watching the last Solar Eclipse of the year. It was visible across much of the middle east and south asia where people witnessed the annular Solar Eclipse. It is also known as a ring of fire where the moon doesnt completely cover the sun. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben rich. Christmas day was mostly dry, quite a lot of sunshine as well, boxing day has brought more in the way of wet weather, over the next few days many of us return to something drier, but with a lot of clout and a milder field. Through the night ran across Western Areas and tending to pull away i suspect, rain will continue to move across Northern Ireland getting into western scotland equal parts of northwest england at the end of the night, certainly turning milder in the west but for the east a chilly night once again, one or two places in Northern England and scotla nd two places in Northern England and scotland could just see a touch of frost. For tomorrow will see outbreaks of patchy rain moving across scotland in Northern England and other band of rain bring rain back into western scotland and Northern Ireland but generally speaking not a lot of dry weather to be had. Limited brightness and bits of sunshine, Single Digits across these eastern areas and for west, through belfast and plymouth milder for all of us into weekend and drive for all of us into weekend and drive for most as well some brain towards the north and the west. Rain