this is bbc news. the headlines at four o'clock. thousands escape east aleppo as evacuations from the syrian city continue, including nearly 50 orphans who had been brought to safety after being trapped for months. with russian backing, the security council voted to quickly deploy un observers to aleppo to monitor evacuations and report on the fate of civilians there. theresa may gives herfinal statement of the year to the house of commons. she tells mps she did not feel snubbed at the brussels summit last week and she is confident brexit is still on track. the supreme court is expected to rule next month on whether the government requires legislation in order to do this. i am cleared the government will respect the verdict of our independentjudiciary but i am clear whichever way the judiciary goes we will meet the timetable i have settled. it is also clear to my owi'i have settled. it is also clear to my own discussions with european leaders that they are becoming

increasingly frustrated by her shambolic government and the contradictory approach to brexit negotiation. thousands of workers stage a series of strikes in trains, post offices and airlines in the run—up to christmas. also in the next hour, the head of the international monetary fund, christine lagarde, is found guilty of negligence by a special french court. the ruling relates to a payment of more than £320 million to a tycoon when she was french finance minister. and there is chaos at stormont as members work in a row over a no—confidence vote in the first minister. and with riots in birmingham and towel over the past few days, thejustice secretary will stand up in the house of commons in half an hour to answer questions from mps over concerns about the prison system. good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. the united nations security council has voted unanimously to deploy un observers to eastern aleppo. thousands of people have been leaving the rebel area of aleppo following the resumption of evacuations from the battered enclave. aid workers say nearly 50 children from an orphanage are among those who've left, some of them critically injured. but tens of thousands are still trapped in the city. here, the government has announced more aid for civilians fleeing fighting in syria. richard galpin reports. many in east aleppo, including children, waited outside yesterday in freezing conditions. hoping the buses would take them away from the hellish conditions of this, the remnants of the rebel stronghold. but it was only in the early hours of this morning that finally

the evacuations resumed. after a new deal was struck between the warring factions. already today, more than 4000 people have got out. for these families, huge relief. medicine and food now available. amongst them was this seven year old girl, bana al abed, whose plight has been followed by hundreds of millions around the world. helped by her family, she wrote a series of tweets, she feared they would all be killed. we endured endless bombardment in aleppo. we have managed to escape the destruction because our house was reduced to rubble. i would like to say thank you to all those who have been asking about our news. also able to escape today was this group of 47 orphans who had been

trapped by the fighting, some critically injured. they are too had used the internet to make a last—ditch appeal for help. this video going viral. translation: please allow us to evacuate aleppo. we wish to leave so we can eat and drink. we love peace. but it is notjust the people of east aleppo being taken to safety today. these buses are carrying hundreds of villagers who have been surrounded by rebel fighters in the nearby province of idlib. allowing these people to escape was a key part of the agreement reached at the weekend. translation: this agreement is a humanitarian one. those evacuated include injured or sick individuals, as well as elderly people. today, there is hope that most of these civilians

caught up in the fighting here will reach safety. but many thousands more weight to be evacuated, and the ceasefire is very fragile. richard galpin, bbc news. earlier i spoke to geert cappelaere, unicef regional director for the middle east about the 47 orphans children evacuated from eastern aleppo. we are indeed immensely relieved that, finally, the voices from the children themselves have been heard, responded to and that at least that group of children are now in much safer areas, have a little opportunity to get their childhood back. where are they all now? some of them are really quite ill. they are. at the request of the caregivers who have been living with the children in the orphanage, we managed to evacuate the children

from the idlib province. they are currently in a centre being taken care of. we ensure that the children who need medical attention are being assisted by medical personnel. the children also all will receive counselling because of what they have gone through over the last months is truly traumatic. the children are really in need of counselling so we have dedicated councillors with them and, of course, giving some winter clothes. we are just giving children back a little bit of childhood. there is an important debate under

way at stormont and a vote of confidence in the first minister, arlene foster. a motion of no—confidence in her which she has described as a kamikaze motion with no prospect of success and a coup d'etat attempt worthy of a carry on film. we should get that very soon, so we film. we should get that very soon, so we will bring you the latest from stormont and on the political upheaval there injust stormont and on the political upheaval there in just a few minutes. theresa may is insisting the uk wants to remain a close partner with the eu after brexit and said she did not feel snubbed at the recent summit last week. she was excluded from an informal dinner where 27 eu metres discussed brexit. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in westminsterfor us. this memorable pictures of theresa

may with no one to talk to add that summit. she said she didn't feel snubbed. she is playing that down. downing street made it clear there are other pictures which showed where she was talking to her eu cou nterpa rts where she was talking to her eu counterparts and she was in no way feeling left out. she was not invited to the dinner in the evening but theresa may really playing down the significance of that, making it clear that the uk would not invite the other 27 to its meetings to discuss tactics on those brexit negotiations. she wouldn't expect to be invited to any chat about that. it sounded like there wasn't a lot of talk about it. theresa may making it clear to mps just now that there was a lot of discussion about syria. she said there was talk about migration, security and about nato, as well, of course, as some chat about brexit. not surprisingly, mps are keen to quiz her on all that.

she is not giving much away, talking about how parliament is waiting for this ruling from the supreme court which will come in january this ruling from the supreme court which will come injanuary about whether parliament has got to have a say before article 50 is triggered, but she is determined to stick to her timetable. i explained that two weeks ago this house voted by a considerable majority, almost 6—1, to support the government by delivering the referendum result and invoking article 50 before the end of march. the uk supreme court is expected to rule next month on whether the government requires parliamentary legislation in order to do this. i am cleared the government will respect the verdict of our independent judiciary but government will respect the verdict of our independentjudiciary but i am clear that whatever with the judgment goes, we will meet the timetable i set out. theresa may saying she would never get the best dealfor the uk saying she would never get the best deal for the uk if saying she would never get the best dealfor the uk if she saying she would never get the best deal for the uk if she set out in advance exactly what her negotiating

position would be. that didn't stop mps, including jeremy corbyn, pushing for more detail. we have had intriguing words from various ministers over the last week or so about whether the uk might remain in the eu customs union, would there be some transitional deal? we know there is a two—year clock that will start ticking once we trigger article 50, but a lot of talk that that will be about how we leave, about the divorce settlement, if you like. the new arrangements may not be talked about or negotiated until after a ll be talked about or negotiated until after all of that. the timetable is still pretty uncertain. mr corbyn wa nted a nswers. still pretty uncertain. mr corbyn wanted answers. can the prime minister today do what the secretary of state for brexit, the chancellor of state for brexit, the chancellor of the exchequer, the secretary of state for international trade and of the permanent secretary to the eu all failed to do last week and give this country some real answers? can she tell us when the house while

received the government plans for article 50, how long we will be given to scrutinise that plan? can she also tells how long the british government envisages the whole process ta ken government envisages the whole process taken and can she tell us if the british government will be looking for an interim transitional deal with the european union? these are basic questions that still have not been answered nearly six months after britain voted to leave the european union. there were no more details on all of that. theresa may did say that she was keen to agree early on and arrangement, a dealfor eu citizens to make sure they have the right to stay in the country they have chosen to live in. so far that hasn't happened. she said eu leaders have made it clear there would be any negotiations and to article 50 is triggered, but she is making it clear she is determined to do that before the end of march. the post office says a third of its large high street branches are closed because of a strike

by staff, protesting againstjob cuts and changes to their pensions. there's also been further disruption on southern rail, as rmt members stage another 48 hour strike about guards on trains. talks are taking place at the conciliation service, acas, to try to stop ba cabin crew walking out over christmas in a dispute about pay. downing street has condemned the action, saying unions were showing a ‘shared contempt‘ for people trying to go about their daily lives. here's our business correspondent, john moylan. postal workers brought a special delivery for the government today. outside the department for business, mail bags containing 70,000 postcards from the public, backing a campaign to fight closures of flagship post offices. we are defending postal services across the uk, the very future of high street post offices is under threat. we know the government and the company are lining up to make further announcements in january to close

and franchise more of our high street post offices. the timing of the day's strike is designed to put maximum pressure on the post office. this week is by far its busiest for handling parcels and letters, and christmas cheer would appear to be in short supply elsewhere as well, with a number of strikes. planes and trains are also at the heart of this christmas of discontent. southern rail passengers face more disruption as 400 conductors walk—out today and tomorrow. airline travellers will also face double trouble this week, as baggage handlers for swiss port are set to strike this friday and saturday. this will mainly affect regional airports. and talks got underway this morning to try and head off a strike over pay involving thousands of airlines of british cabin crew. but why is it all happening now?

the reality is that management is not listening to them, they need to do something that shows they are serious about the issues that matter to them. the post offers claims it is business as usual, while dozens of city centre sites are closed, post—office insists its modernisation plans will go ahead. what we can't do of course is change a strategy which is about improving post office services for customers in an increasingly competitive marketplace, with changing lifestyles. the post office needs to change and is changing. some say that union laws should be tightened to prevent this disruption. government says it keeps these issues under review. norman smith is in westminster. 0ur correspondent, daniel boettcher, is outside the conciliation service acas in central london where talks are taking place to try and resolve the row at british airways. a season of strikes. how are those

discussions going? have you heard about what is going on behind those doors? no, we understand the talks are still going on. we don't know what progress, if any, is being made, but at the same time, there is a warof made, but at the same time, there is a war of words being carried out through statements that have been released to the media. this is about some ba cabin crews. the company employs about 16,000, for and half thousand are on what is known as mixed fleet contracts, so they fly both long and short haul. 0f mixed fleet contracts, so they fly both long and short haul. of those, just over two and a half thousand are at unite members. the talks between unite and ba. this morning, british airways released a statement saying it was going to run a full schedule on christmas day and boxing day, despite the proposed action. it said they had been working on

contingency plans to make that happen and the british airways ceo and chairman says we are making sure that this attempt to ruin christmas for thousands of our customers feels. he says we urge you had to abandon this strike which is serving only to cause anxiety among our mixed fleet cabin crew colleagues. the company says people on these contracts are burning what ba says isa contracts are burning what ba says is a competitive salary package without crew working full time receiving a minimum of £21,000 a year, but unite dispute that figure. it says new entrants on these contracts are paid £12,122. it accuses ba of using figures which are misleading. it also says in its statement that the airline and unite had agreed to an embargo on comments as the talks you continue and len mccluskey, the general secretary, says it is disappointing british airways has put out misleading commentary to the media and broken

and agreed embargo on comments while negotiations are ongoing. he describes ba stands as aggressive. we don't know whether these talks will conclude today, whether they will conclude today, whether they will go into another day. also, tomorrow, there will be separate talks between unite and swiss port, trying to find a resolution to a separate dispute. some breaking news coming in from turkey. we are hearing that the russian ambassador to turkey has been shot and taken to hospital. that is according to turkish television. the turkish broadcaster saying the russian ambassador to turkey has been shot in anger, taken to hospital. no more details at the moment other than to say he has been seriously wounded in that counterattack. no clue as to who may have been responsible for that, but

we will bring you more as it comes in. let's go back to syria and the evacuation of alaba. let's get the latest from our if correspondent who is in beirut monitoring the situation. james, a lot of people will have been looking at the pictures of the unaccompanied children who have been evacuated and looking at those pictures with some relief because they have endured a terrible ordeal. that is absolutely right. 47 orphans in an orphanage, we understand all lost their parents in the bombardment of east aleppo. many thousands of children have been affected in eastern lebanon. well over a million children in the cold war have had those close to them killed in what they themselves have been injured. we understand so far 20,000 people have been able to

leave east aleppo according to the turkish authorities. that would mean something like 20 to 30,000 are still there. this evacuation is moving at a real place. just yesterday those buses that were attacked on their way to get people out of government held villages which had been laid siege to buy rebels really did make a lot of people wonder whether this whole evacuation process would ever go ahead, but it has and it has gone very quickly. women, children, the sick, the injured, fighters themselves and their families have been able to get out from east aleppo. they are going to holding areas in the countryside where they areas in the countryside where they are given all the things they were missing during the time they were in east aleppo, food, medical supplies and the like. the 47 orphans will be there somewhere along with the young seven—year—old girl whose mother tweeted from east aleppo, what it was like living there. they are all

they're getting the health and medical attention that they need but the real question is what happens next is remarkable while they are getting the help they want now, they are all being given the chance to go to another rebel held part of syria, it isa to another rebel held part of syria, it is a deliberate, it is the last major rebel held areas in the country. a lot of people are saying you have saved people from east aleppo, you are going to now send them back into similar circumstances in idlib province. a lot of people will be homeless. people will be watching to see what happens to these many thousands who are going 110w these many thousands who are going now to the last remaining rebel stronghold and if the united nations, who have passed this resolution to allow monitors into the country, if they will make much ofa the country, if they will make much of a difference to the people who have left east aleppo and other parts of syria that are being evacuated. just a brief update on

the situation regarding the russian ambassador to ankara he has been shot. turkish media reports say the ambassador has been shot in an assassination attempt. reports saying that he is heavily injured and has been taken to hospital. that is all we have on that at the moment, more on that as we get it. let's go to stormont now because there is a no—confidence motion being debated in the assembly over the first minister arlene foster, that she has been described as an attempted coup d'etat and a kamikaze motion with no prospect of success. this is all over this motion... it has been debated in the assembly chamber. the democratic unionist party leader making clear she has no intention to step aside and it is all over the renewable heat

incentive which overspent its budget bya incentive which overspent its budget by a projected £400 million. we will bring you more from stormont as it comes into us. another line on that shooting in russia where the ambassador has been wounded. he was visiting an art exhibition in the turkish capital when he was shot. several other people were wounded, according to two turkish television stations. the attack came after several days of protest in turkey over russia's role in syria. lines coming through on that shooting all the time. 0ur our latest headlines. thousands more syrians have been evacuated from east aleppo, including a seven—year—old whose tweets about conditions there are gained attention around the world. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says britain is becoming increasingly isolated on the international stage

and urges minister to build better relations with european partners. thousands of workers are staging a series of strikes hitting trains, post offices and airlines in the run—up to christmas. in the sport, a triple century as india in fact a record—breaking test score of 759 declared on england at the close of the fourth supplement 12 without loss, 270 behind. all four home nations have been punished by fever for displaying poppies last month. and it has the biggest fine of £35,000. scotland and wales are fined £15,500 and northern ireland, £12,000. the 2017 bobsleigh world championships will be held in a german resort after saatchi was stripped of the right to stage it following allegations of russian state—sponsored doping. i will be back with more on those stories. in the past hour the head

of the international monetary fund, christine lagarde, has been found guilty of negligence over a huge compensation payment made eight years ago the french court has found that ms lagarde, french finance minister at the time, was responsible of a payment of more than $400 million to the tycoon, bernard tapie. ms lagarde was not present in the court in paris for the verdict, having left france for washington. the imf board will meet shortly to discuss the outcome of the case. earlier i spoke to our paris correspondent, lucy williamson, and i asked her explain the details of the case. well, the court found she was guilty of not appealing against an arbitration deal that resulted in this massive 400 million euros pay—out back in 2008. it was a pay—out back in 2008. it was a pay—out to barnard tapie, the old

estate in the adidas sport company, and he complained the french state bank had so little at a fast profit and they. this arbitration deal had been a very long time in the negotiation and it came to fruition about a year after christine lagarde became the french finance minister. she gave the green light for the deal to go ahead, it was later overturned and that has held this case came about. the court found she was negligent because she had given the green light. what are the implications? she is an important figure in the world economic and financial stage. the imf board meeting. did she lose herjob over this, because she has been found guilty but not given and punishment and spirit a criminal record as well? those are the key elements. the imf have supported her so far and everyone will watch what comes out of this meeting to see what a decision diptych. she has been found guilty, her lawyer says they will

appeal and, as you say, she has not been given a sentence. she could've had afine, been given a sentence. she could've had a fine, 15,000 euros, she could have spent a year in jail, but that hasn't happened and her lawyer has confirmed that she won't have a criminal record against her name. it is possible the imf could maintain support for her. mps holding an inquiry into combating doping in sport have been hearing from a number of key witnesses today. representatives from team sky, british cycling and the world anti—doping agency are appearing before the culture select committee at westminster. 0ur correspondent richard conway has been watching the hearing. there are two main issues under discussion with leading figures past and present from british cycling. chief amongst them has been the question of the medical package delivered to team sky in 2011. it was reported that this was a medical package delivered. the contents of which have always remained something of a mystery. the current speaker at the committee

was asked about this by the daily mail. he was unable to provide a satisfactory answer as to why that package was delivered. today he has come before mps and told them that the content of that package which was delivered to the team doctor was a non—prescription decongestant. he said it was flown out as part of a regular trip if someone was coming on a logistics trip, the team doctor asked for this substance to be brought out. it is regularly available in france, which is where it was flown out to, which has caused questions from mps as to why it was necessary to bring it from the team sky base in the uk. in trying to clear up this matter of why the substance was used, he said it was a non—prescription decongestant and there was no wrongdoing. the uk anti—doping have been looking into this matter for some time.

they said that they were happy for questions to be posed to members of british cycling from mps. he has attempted to give clarity on that issue. world soccer‘s governing body fifa has fined all home nations for displaying poppies during world cup qualifiers last month. england were given the biggest penalty, more than £35,000. scotland and wales were each fined more than £15,000, and northern ireland got a fine of more than £11,000. england and scotland players wore armbands with the symbol when they met at wembley on armistice day. and wales and northern ireland's respective games featured displays to mark the event. fifa disciplinary committee chairman claudio sulser said he ‘fully respected‘ the commemorations but stressed the rules ‘need to be applied to all member associations‘. as we have been telling you, the

vote of no—confidence against the first minister, arlene foster, that vote happened in the last minutes. 39 la is forwarded to exclude 136 voted against. under stormont rose, she survives. we have had the result in the next few minutes. there was a numerical majority in favour of the no—confidence motion. 75 assembly members voted. 39 voted for the no—confidence motion and 36 against. the motion still feels. why? no—confidence motions under the rules here have to have a majority of unionists and nationalists in

favour in order to pass. in this insta nce favour in order to pass. in this instance it didn‘t happen because the 36 assembly members who voted against the no—confidence motion we re against the no—confidence motion were members of her own party, the democratic unionist, who are the biggest unionist party. therefore a majority of unionists were not in favour of the no—confidence motion and false. during the debate mrs foster described the motion as a kamikaze motion. 0pposition politicians were critical of the stormont executive, the dup, and their attitude towards the dup, and their attitude towards the failings in the renewable heat incentive, president green energy scheme which landed the taxpayer with a bill of potentially £400 million because of an over generous subsidy. where does this go from here? well, interestingly the dup‘s main partners in the power sharing coalition are sinn fein. they did not vote in this debate today. they had wanted mrs foster to temporarily

stand aside while a judge—led investigation took place into the failings of the green energy scheme. mrs failings of the green energy scheme. m rs foster failings of the green energy scheme. mrs foster made it clear she wasn‘t going to do this of the deputy first minister said the party will return to the issues later in the new year. it has developed between the two coalition partners because of this failed green energy scheme. it is unlikely source for a crisis at stormont, but the parties are indicating that they remain committed to the institutions of government here while there is a rift, it is not a casmed and i think the administration will survive. news from turkey where the russian ambassador to turkey has been shot in what appears to have been an assassination attempt. shot and seriously wounded according to some

reports. the russian ambassador to turkey has been wounded. he was attend ago photo exhibition which was called russia as seen by turks. there was a report saying that photographs from the scene showed a man lying on the ground with an armed man dressed in a suit standing near him. we‘re now hearing there is still gunfire, more gunfire, being heard from the site of that shooting of the russian ambassador in the turkish capital, ankara. we will bring you details on that as we get it. now, let‘s take a look at the weather forecast with tomasz schafernaker. we have got strong winds on the way. no major snow on the horizon at all. that‘s not the biggest problem. in the short—term, we are dealing with

cloud, mist and drizzle. it has been so grey laty and mild and it doesn‘t feel like december and it doesn‘t feel like december and it doesn‘t feel christmassy and look at that grey cloud across most of england and wales. scotland and northern ireland, different story today. it has been gloriously sunny. the sun is setting now. almost set. this area, this weather front here, the cloud and the rain denotes the colder air that‘s across scotland and northern ireland and that‘s milderair in and northern ireland and that‘s milder air in england and wales. tomorrow, this weather front stalls, sits in the same place so we will have that dividing line between the two, but notice almost two fronts are starting to collide. this is the start of the really unsettled weather that‘s heading our way as far as this week is concerned, but as far as tomorrow is concerned, it isa as far as tomorrow is concerned, it is a split. we have got the rain and the unsettled weather in the far north—west, but still for the time being, england and wales is in for some relatively fine weather and sunshine, a bit of drizzle and wednesday and thursday and into the weekend that‘s when things really go downhill. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines: evacuations in syria are underway again from east aleppo and government held areas including nearly 50 orphans brought to safety after being trapped for months. the united nations security council has approved a resolution that calls for the immediate deployment of un observers in eastern aleppo. theresa may has updated the commons on last week‘s eu summit. she‘s told mps that she‘d reassured the other member states that britain was committed to a "smooth and orderly exit" from the eu. i want the deal we negotiate to reflect the mature relationship that

close friends and allies enjoy. thousands of workers stage a series of strikes affecting trains, post offices and airlines in the lead up to christmas. a vote of no confidence in northern ireland‘s first minister, arlene foster, has failed to pass in the assembly. the head of the imf, christine lagarde, has been found guilty of negligence over a huge compensation payment made eight years ago, when she was finance minister. apologies that was a picture of the rabbi lionel blue who has died. we are expecting to hear from liz truss, the justice we are expecting to hear from liz truss, thejustice secretary in the house of commons. there is the scene live. she is is going to be talking about that riot at hmp birmingham on

friday. we‘re hearing from our home affairs correspondent danny shaw, it has emerged there was an incident at cardiff prison involving prisoners transferred from birmingham after friday‘s riots. we will be there in the commons shortly. before that, it is time for the sports news with tim hague. england have suffered more misery in the final test against india. they conceded their highest test total ever as india declared their first innings on 759—7 in chennai, breaking their own test records as well. karun nair was unbeaten on 303 — only the third batsman in history to turn a maiden century into a triple. at the close, england were 12 without loss — 270 runs behind, needing to bat out the final day to avoid a 4—0 series defeat. to win this, the last couple of test

matches. so won‘t want to get on the plane ina matches. so won‘t want to get on the plane in a couple of days‘ time having lost another test match. they will want to bat as well as they possibly can to bat out the three sessions. football‘s world governing body fifa has fined all four home nations for displaying poppies during their world cup qualifiers last month. england and scotland players wore poppies on armbands on armistice day. wales and northern ireland‘s games featured displays on the pitch or in the stands. england got the biggest fine of £35,000. scotland and wales were fined £15,500 each and northern ireland £12,000. leicester city have confirmed they‘ll appeal jamie va rdy‘s red card from saturday‘s game at stoke city. the england striker was sent off in the first—half for a dangerous tackle, but leicester believe vardy was knocked—off balance before making the challenge. liverpool can go back to second

in the premier league tonight but they‘ll need to beat everton in the merseyside derby. it‘s the first one for liverpool managerjurgen klopp at goodison park and he says derbies offer a unique kind of pressure. everybody makes it bigger than it after the game than it is. especially if you win it. if you win it, everything is good, but it causes you a lot of problems if you lose it. it‘s not that you talk five weeks about it when you win it, but very often it is like this when you lose it. so it‘s pressure, of course, but i like these situations. no worries. the pressure. if you walk through liverpool for example for players and everybody will speak about that game and it is easy motivation to bring to the players and then it's

about technical questions, about control, emotions, because that's always a big part in the game. don't make stupid faults and don't make stupid reactions and stay with 11 on the pitch. i‘m looking forward to that game later. team sky boss sir dave brailsford has told a house of commons select committee that a package delivered to them at the 2011 criterium du dauphine contained a decongestant. the race was won by sir bradley wiggins. an allegation from the daily mail had put them under pressure to reveal the contents of the package, but they couldn‘t until now because of an ongoing uk anti—doping investigation. brailsford told a culture, media and sport select committee that the package contained fluimucil, a substance not banned by authorities. there is always lessons to be learned and you have got to start with yourself. i have looked at myself long and hard in the mirror and thought about this carefully in terms of how i handled the situation

personally. i could have done better. i like to think in performance we have done pretty well, but in the way i managed this, i would start at myself first and not look at anybody else. we run a fantastic operation. we have got fantastic operation. we have got fantastic people. they are of the highest standards. they have got great inat theing gritsy and they don‘t deserve to have had this shadow cast over them. that‘s all sport for now. i‘ll have more in the next hour. thousands of people have been leaving the east of aleppo following the resumption of evacuations from the battered enclave. it‘s believed that up to 30,000 fighters and civilians may eventuallyjoin the exodus. among those to have left is seven—year—old bana alabed, whose tweets from the besieged rebel area of the city attracted a worldwide following. her mother fatemah said she felt a mix of relief and sadness. me and bana want to tell the world

about how much the people are suffering from bombs and everything because there is no life there. so we will tell the world what is happening and we are happy because our voice is listened to all over the worldle. —— world. i am sad because i leave my country. i leave my soul there. i want to take our freedom there. not be like a refugee

in other countries. i want for my kids a good future. they make us leave our country. the number of lives lost because of suicide in england is unacceptable according to a group of mps. it remains the biggest cause of death in men under 49. in a report, the health select committee says a government prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn‘t result in any improvements. it‘s due to be updated early next year. earlier i spoke with the chair of the committee, dr sarah wollaston and she outlined some improvements they‘d like to see. well, we‘d like to see first of all them implementing the strategy because the strategy that they produced in 2012 was very sound, but there wasn‘t a focus on actually how thatis

there wasn‘t a focus on actually how that is implemented across the whole country and there is great variation around the country and the extent to which local authorities are putting into place suicide prevention strategies. so we know what works and we know that we need to use every opportunity to intervene at every opportunity to intervene at every stage along the journey at which people are contemplating ending their own lives. a third of people aren‘t in contact with health services at all in the year before their department of health. death. and so what we need to do is look at ypres of those groups and say where we re ypres of those groups and say where were the opportunities that we are not taking to intervene? and that involves it being everybody‘s business. we know there are fantastic number of voluntary groups around the country doing amazing work, supporting people, how do we link those in better with local authorities and with health services to make sure that there is a real clear alternative there for people and one person who gave very compelling evidence to our inquiry

said my son wasn‘t hard to reach, it was the services that were hard to reach. so we need to make sure that people know about them and that they are easily accessible. the department of health, you probably know, put out a statement saying, "we are investing £1 billion almost in providing mental health support in a&e and home based crisis care." but is it perhaps more than a question of money? well, as i say, it is about it being everybody‘s business. yes, money is one part of this, but also the workforce and what we have made recommendations about are actually speeding up the roll—out of lay aceon psychiatry services in every casualty department and we have made recommendations as well about how health professionals communicate between each other and with people‘s families, with consent and encouraging people who are contemplating taking their own lives to involve their families and friends, but how you ask that question, and encourage people to do

thatis question, and encourage people to do that is very important. so there are many, that is very important. so there are any that is very important. so there are many, many aspects of this that we cover in our report. and as i say, it is about a change of mindset here. instead of thinking of suicide as being inevitable, saying that we have to do everything we can because we feel this is preventible. a convicted paedophile has become the oldest person in britain to receive a prison sentence. ralph clarke is 101—years—old and last week he was found guilty of carrying out a string of sexual offences against young children in the 1970s and 1980s. today he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. from birmingham crown court, phil mackie reports. 0n the surface, he is a frail old man, but ralph clarke was a serial sex offender who abused three very young children 40 years ago. after suffering in silence for decades, last year they found the courage to tell the police and had come to court to face

the man who attacked them. he saw it as his god given right. it wasn‘t. he has damaged so many lives. so many lives in such a massive way and he has no remorse. even now he can't see he has done wrong. he is evil. he deserves to be in prison. he deserves to die in prison. he deserves to rot in hell. they're happy. they got me a thank you card, all it says is they are happy to be believed. that is all they wanted, was people to believe them and to listen to him in court and know he is lying. clarke never showed any remorse. he shook his head. his victims were in tears as they saw him for one last time. ralph clarke used fear and intimidation to control the victims and sexually abuse them. he took full advantage of their young age and the situation in order to carry out the offences.

judge richard bond said even though it was a deeply upsetting experience for the victims, he said the case sent out a message. he said that those who were sexually abused, even in the distant past, can rest assured that any complaint will be treated with sympathy and compassion, and the victims who i spoke to after they left court said they were glad ralph clarke was going to jail. he should have been in prison 40 years ago. people like him should never come out. never come out. we have been in our own prison for the last 40 years. and he has lived his life. calrke can‘t be released on license until he has clarke can‘t be released on license until he has served half his sentence, when he will be 108. so it is likely the man who abused three little children decades ago will die injail. the oldest man ever sent to prison. the latest from turkey. we have been

reporting how the russian ambassador to turkey, to ankara, has been shot in what appears to have been an athats nation attempt. he was making athats nation attempt. he was making a speech at the opening of an exhibition in ankara when he was shot. he was taken to hospital. reports say he is in a serious condition. so let‘s get latest on that. we can join condition. so let‘s get latest on that. we canjoin our condition. so let‘s get latest on that. we can join our correspondent who is in istanbul. what more do we know? i can bring you latest now. interior minister, the turkish interior minister, the turkish interior minister, the turkish interior minister entered the building where the exhibition was held. there was a police operation under way to seize the gunman and that police operation is over. reports suggest that the gunman has been killed and the russian ambassador is heavily wounded and taken to hospital and there are three other people who are lightly wounded. the russian ambassador was

attending a photography exhibition. he was conducting a speech there and there are photographs emerging that have emerged to the turkish media showing the exact moment of the assassination attempt and in those photographs you can see the russian ambassador lying on the grown along with several other people lying on the grown. the russian ambassador being shot and by him a man dressed in black standing holding a gun. that is the gunman. reportedly, he has entered the building saying that he isa has entered the building saying that he is a policeman. reports suggest they entered the building as such. witnesses say the ambassador was shot from the back initially and then the gunman told everyone else to lie down and then he shot the ambassador again telling everyone else to go outside the building and then the operation was held and the operation as i said is now over and the gunman is reportedly shot. the

ambassador taken to hospital heavily wounded. it is obviously too early to know what the motive might be for this assassination attempt, if that‘s what it was? this assassination attempt, if that's what it was? yes, we can't actually speculate at the moment about who was behind this assassination attempt and what his motives actually could be. there have been in the past, in the last couple of months, assassination attem pts couple of months, assassination attempts held by russian gunmen, but from what we understand the moment, this gunman wasn‘t russian, but a turkish speaker holding police, police id, but some of the witnesses suggested that they initially thought this gunman was a member of the escort of the russian am bass do, but the russian ambassador is not known to have bodyguards or people who would protect him. there are speculation about who this gunman might be circulating in the

turkish media and what the motives could be, but this is a very significant assassination attempt and if the ambassador has actually lost his life it will have deep grievances on moscow‘s side. lost his life it will have deep grievances on moscow's side. celine, thank you very much indeed. the latest there on the shooting of the russian ambassador to turkey, shot while speaking. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: thousands are evacuated from aleppo. a vote of no confidence in northern ireland‘s first minister, arlene foster. within the past few minutes, turkish

media have said that the russian ambassador to ankara has been shot in an attack in an article gallery in the capital. —— art gallery in the capital. hello. i‘mjamie i‘m jamie robertson. we are going to look at the main stories and particularly the one about apple which is challenging the decision by the european commission which awarded £11 billion to the irish government because they said that apple owed it in back taxes. how determined do you think the european commission is to get its machine and how determined do you think apple is not to pay it? well, i think both are being pretty hard—nosed i think both are being pretty ha rd—nosed about it i think both are being pretty hard—nosed about it and you have got the irish government caught in between. there is a battle going on for the tax dollars of

multinationals like apple particularly when you have a headquarters which they have in ireland which isn‘t particularly connected with where a lot of their economic activity happens. caught in the middle is the irish government and they are on apple‘s sides, one of the rare cases where you have got a government saying we don‘t want billions worth of tax coming in. but it is 13 billion euros. so, you know, if ireland stands alongside apple and loses the case, that‘s some pretty good consolation for them. it would take over their health care budget for a year to give you some context. the other story is the strikes which are affecting so many people. just looking ahead to the next year, we have got almost full employment. we‘ve got very low wages or wages which don‘t some to be moving up. we‘ve got approaching high inflation. is that a recipe for more strikes do you think? is this a trend we will see continuing? yes,

it isa trend we will see continuing? yes, it is a trend we have seen for sometime now. wage growth has been anaemic and yeah, inflation is going to tick up. i suppose it depends how much it will tick up. the bank of england says it will be 2.5% to 3%. some economists saying it will be nearer to 4%. it was 5% in 2011 and wage growth was lower than it is now back then. so it maybe, but i think it depends on how high inflation ticks up and these things take sometime to get going and the other thing to bear in mind about inflation is, it is probably a one off adjustment from falling sterling and higher oil prices. it may not be sustained beyond 2017. 0ne sustained beyond 2017. one last story about the markets. they are not particularly going anywhere today, but we are seeing the banks taking a hit. is that to do with the bank can i sis that‘s going on in italy? yes, it was more problems in italy with the share package, the rescue package that they put together and that‘s really

affecting the whole sector. now, of course, you know the banks are all intercon ked so there is a fear of contagion, the uk banks are in a better position than they were, you know, ten years ago. so much safer, but still risks there. now a look at how the markets. the london market managed to claw its way above 7,000 for the first time since october, but it is hardly a convincing rally. this is a rally that‘s called the trump bump. there were bigger rallies in 2004 after the election of president bush. in 1952, theisen how lasted until 1946. president

bush‘s lasted until 2007. that‘s the business news. there is a round—up of all the other top business stories on our website: bbc.co.uk/business the broadcaster and rabbi lionel blue has died. he was a regular contributor to thought for the day on radio 4 on which he shared his struggles with his faith and homosexuality. he was the first british rabbi to speak openly about being gay. since i couldn‘t find anyone to love or who would love me. i began to love god instead. i then began to see people in a different light. i saw god‘s image in them and they seized to be pushy crazed crazed cattle. rabbi lionel blue.

more coming up at 5pm with all the top stories. let‘s get a look at the weather now with tomasz schafernaker. bottom in the short—term, it is grey and drizzly and unpleasant, but by the time we get to tomorrow evening and certainly wednesday, thursday and certainly wednesday, thursday and into the christmas weekend, things are going to change. the jet strea m things are going to change. the jet stream is going to be ramping up. we will be going bonkers by the time we get to the end of the week. it could be 200mph and it will be whipping up these areas of low pressure and they are going to be sent in our direction, but that‘s a way off. you don‘t have to worry about it too

much. bear it in the back of our mind. but at the moment we have got a lot of cloud and drizzle on and off through the day. across scotland and northern ireland, it has been a different story. we had that bright end to the day. we had sunshine and tonight underneath the clearer skies it will turn misty and frosty in places. temperatures down to freezing. further south, places. temperatures down to freezing. furthersouth, it is milder. so this is what it looks like tomorrow morning around 8am. touch a frost for sure across scotla nd touch a frost for sure across scotland and northern ireland. you can see some fog patches forming as well. to the south across the bulk of england and wales we have the bits and pieces of rain in the west here and cloud, low grade cloud, sort of shrouding some of the hills and an unpleasant start, but in one or two places the clouds will break up. ithink or two places the clouds will break up. i think a distinct difference between england and wales, scotland and northern ireland tomorrow. look at this, a band of rain coming in. that‘s the start of this really

u nsettled that‘s the start of this really unsettled weather that‘s heading our way. the gales are still out to sea. across england and wales, it is relatively quiet and by the time we get to wednesday, look at these isobars. you get to wednesday, look at these isoba rs. you can get to wednesday, look at these isobars. you can try and count them if you like. there are many of them. that means the winds are picking upment they are starting to push the weather fronts through across the uk. that means that the mist and the low cloud and the drizzle is pushed out of the way and instead, we get showers and actually we get shots of colder air coming showers and actually we get shots of colderaircoming in showers and actually we get shots of colder air coming in from the north so across scotland and northern ireland, solicitor of the showers will be wintry. in the south, we still have that sort of on and off rain. the outlook thursday and into friday, there will be some lulls in the unsettled weather. but we are closely watching christmas eve, christmas day and boxing day for some nasty weather, but it is too early to give you an awful lot of detail. that‘s it. today at 5pm: rail and postal

workers insist their industrial action isjustified in the run—up to christmas. post office workers are protesting against pension changes, job security and potential closures. the very future of the high street. as is under threat. we know the government and the company are lining up to make further announcements in january to close and franchise more of our high street. and there‘s been further disruption on southern rail, as rmt members stage another 48—hour strike about staffing levels. we‘ll have the latest from the conciliation service — as talks continue on the ba dispute. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm: