this is bbc news, the headlines at 11. a tunisian suspect is reportedly being hunted by german police, after the lorry attack on christmas shoppers in berlin left 12 people dead. vigils to those who died, as police release their only suspect without charge and step up their investigation. they're following up more than 500 leads. the christmas market behind me still sealed off, still patrolled by armed police. in mexico, at least 29 people are killed and many more injured after a huge explosion at a fireworks market. a european court ruling preventing the government retaining internet data, in what critics called the "snoopers charter", is to be challenged by the home office. also — the number of victims of historical child sex abuse in football has grown. detectives are investigating 155 suspects at 149 clubs, after more than 400 people came forward with allegations that they're victims of abuse. and new safety checks

on people who buy drones are being considered by the government. good morning and welcome to bbc news. all the very latest developmentments from germany. all the very latest developmentments from germany. reports from germany say police investigating the attack on a christmas market in berlin on monday are hunting for a tunisian man. well, there is still a sombre mood around this area. we are by the doors of the church. i wa nt to we are by the doors of the church. i want to talk about that latest development. i think we need to

treat things with caution, because a lot of this is coming from the german media, and not from the police, there has been no official statement from the police, nor any form of press conference, let nel you what is emerging or what has merged in the past hour or so it is being said the police are looking for a tunisian man, who is 24. he is said to be from a region on the border between tunisia and libya. 0ther from a region on the border between tunisia and libya. other reports say that this man was known to police, he was known to police because he was wanted for assault, but he disappeared before he could be arrested are on detained, in techion —— connection with the allegation, he is regarded as very dangerous and he is regarded as very dangerous and he is regarded as very dangerous and he is thought to societe with extreme islamic groups. that is what we know about this man, 24—year—old man at the moment. we are waiting

for official confirmation from police, let us turn from that to the fall out, if you like from what happened, what is the latest situation regarding those who are still injured in hospital? well, this morning the german president has been to visit the hospital, and outside, he spoke to journalists. translation: now the fate of these victims is especially moving, this attack on innocent people, this tact on our way of life, we will answer this with a readiness to help, with human contact, with sympathy, by being there for others. well, there are round 30 people still in hospital, some of them seriously injured. a spokesman for the hospital, he gave some detail on their condition.

in hospital there have been 13 patient, one is dismissed, eight of them are heavily injured, two of them are heavily injured, two of them died, and we have now here in this hospital four patients with severe trauma of the lower extremeties. and the pelvis. so what of the wider investigation? some of the work is still being carried on here, the market still sealed off about as the scene is examined. police are particularly interested in tracing the movement of that lorry. it travelled about five kilometres from an industrial estate on the outskirts of berlin into the centre of the city. they is have been on the scene in that industrial estate trying to establish how or well a hijack took place, did a second man enter the lorry cab at that point? were both men in the lorry cab up to the point where it arrived here at the church

and what happens in that cab prior to the incident coming to an end in a few short minutes? that is all being pieced together, here on the scene, people are still coming to pay their respects, to light candle, leave messages in support of the victims you have been hear about. some of them. here is an update from catriona renton. this had been a place filled with festive joy. now, silence and sadness, as people come together to support each other. members of berlin's muslim community stood outside the nearby church, asking for peace. translation: we want to clearly distance ourselves from every person that attacks our society. germany is our home. we love germany, we want to live here. berlin is our city, and we won't allow our life to be threatened. it is still not known who crashed this lorry, or where they are. this was the immediate aftermath.

12 people were killed, dozens more injured, when the christmas market was attacked on monday evening. fabrizia di lorenzo's family in italy fear she may be one of those who died. the lorry itself is key to the investigation. it appears it was hijacked. it's owned by a polish man. he said his cousin, lukasz urban, should have been at the wheel. he was found shot dead in the passenger seat. police had arrested a man from pakistan who came to germany to seek asylum earlier this year. he was released without charge. the so—called islamic state group claimed the attack, but the person or people behind it are still at large. the director of the bnd, the german security service, warned only two or three weeks' ago that the christmas markets would be a likely target, and it was necessary to be vigilant, so it wasn't as if they hadn't thought this through. the area where this attack took place is not difficult to block off to traffic during a market.

it is surprising to me that anyone could get a lorry that close, a big 25 tonne lorry. it looks as if the german police and security services were somewhat slow. last night, berlin's brandenburg gate was lit up in the colours of the german flag. the city's mayor has urged residents to be vigilant, but not lock themselves in their homes while the search for whoever did this continues. catriona renton, bbc news. so let us just go back to the breaking news in the past hour or so, media reports here, as yet unconfirmed by police, that the hunt has extended and is particularly concentrating on a 24—year—old tunisian man, he is named only as anisa, she from the tunisian libyan

border. he is wanted for assault but disappeared before he could be arrested on that allegation, police say he is extremely dangerous. we are waiting for more news and when we get it we will bring it to you. on that german officials not confirming the reports but one newspaper has published what it says it isa newspaper has published what it says it is a photograph of the wanted man, we are going to be speaking to the london correspondent at the german newspaper die welt. at least 29 people have been killed in an explosion at a fireworks market in mexico. emergency services said dozens of others were injured, and they expect the death toll to rise. it's the third major explosion at the site since 2005. will grant reports. the moment the san pablito fireworks market was engulfed in flames. within minutes, the entire site destroyed in a blaze of smoke, noise and deadly explosions.

once the smoke cleared, the scale of the damage became clear. a fire at the main fireworks factory was always likely to have devastating consequences. most big celebrations in mexico involve fireworks. so in the run—up to christmas, it was full of shoppers. the local authorities have confirmed 30 deaths and many more injured. once nearby residents got over the initial shock of the blast, they did what they could to assist the emergency services. translation: we were in the area when there was an explosion at a shop at the end of the road and then a series of blasts came one after the other. people started to fall down a lot.

they started running and pieces of concrete and brick started falling all over the street. it was very loud. there were several explosions and we saw the smoke. we thought it was the gas station, but then we saw it was the fireworks. we heard several very strong explosions and then the smoke came up. for the time being, the authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the tragedy, but whatever is behind it, this isn't the first explosion at san pablito. in 2005, just before mexican independence day, the market caught light, injuring more than 120 people. at the time, the mexican government vowed to impose strict regulations on the fireworks industry, but many mexicans are angry that the rules are often never applied or never enforced, and that mexico state's market traders and shoppers in london, scotland yard is bringing forward extra security measures

for the changing of the guard ceremony at buckingham palace, because of the berlin attack. roads around the palace will be closed during the ceremony. the restrictions are being introduced sooner than planned, but police say the change is "a precautionary measure" for the next three months, and is not based on any specific intelligence. our correspondent, richard lister, is outside buckingham palace tell us more about the changes there richard. yes, i mean the changing of the guard at buckingham palace is one of the most famous ceremonial events in the uk, possibly in the world. every year thousands of tourists come to see it taking place, it happens every other day at this time of year, you can see there are still an awful lot of people here, if people have been put off by what happened in berlin on monday, it doesn't seem to be showing here and the people we have spoken to have said they feel very safe, they have said they feel very safe, they have been reassured by the large police presence, we have noticed more armed police than we have seen

on similar occasion, when the guard is changed, what is different though this time, is that traffic is being kept much further back, there are a lwa ys kept much further back, there are always some road closures associated with the changing of the guard, this time what the metropolitan police have put in force, in conjunction with the royal parks is road closures that keep traffic much further back, the mall is closed, as is constitution hill and the access road to this part are also closed. they were closed half an hour ago, they will remain closed until after they will remain closed until after the ceremony has finished at 12.30. this is part of a three month trial of the security precaution, it had been planned for some time, but the metropolitan police say they brought the date forward, for when it was due start to today, in response to the tact in berlin. i mean obviously, changes are not brought in lightly, because there is an impact in terms of cost, and people power involved in it. so there is

obviously the practical side. there is an element of reassurance for people trying to go about business as normal. you been able to speak to people ability how they feel about the change of security? -- have you been able. yes, i mean people we have spoken to say they feel very safe, in fact we haven't spoken to one person who said they were worried about coming here, because of what happened in berlin, one family from the midlands said they had thought about it but they felt they would be safer than ever, because of the heightened awareness by law enforcment and security in terms of trying to put the maximum measures into place, soefsh that we have spoken to have said they are not put off by events like this, this isn't the only large—scale gathering that london sees at this time of the year, or any time of year, of course new year's eve celebrations are another headache for the police and cities round the country have been putting their own measures into force, in birmingham the christmas market there was

surrounded by concrete bollards earlier this month. greater manchester police say they too are ensuring there is a heightened police presence at the various christmas markets round manchester. so this is a problem for police enforcements all across the country, not just enforcements all across the country, notjust in london and the steps that are being taken here outside buckingham palace today, had been in training for some time. thank you. the government had to borrow £12.6 pounds in november to make up the difference between its income and expenditure. that's more than what most economists were expecting. our economics correspondent andy verity gave me more details a short while ago. the figures look on track to meet new less ambitious deficit reduction goal has were set out last month by the chancellor philip hammond. our economics correspondent gave more details a short while ago. if your income is £1,000 and you spend £1,100, you have a deficit, you are overspending

your income by £100. it is similar with the government, if they are outspending their income, the amount of overspend, they have to borrow. it is about half a billion more than most economists were expecting. only a bit down on what it was in the same month last year. in march, the government projected that the deficit was going to come down very sharply, by something like 20 billion. more recently, in the autumn statement, the government accepted it would not happen, and it would only go down by a couple of billion. on these figures, there is a risk we may end up borrowing more than we did last year. this is all because they are projecting that the economy will grow more slowly. so, fewer transactions, fewer people employed, less income tax and vat, and so the government's economy does not grow as fast, so it has to borrow more. it feels like a long time since the plan was outlined by george osborne to cut the deficit

and get into surplus. looking ahead at the path that these figures indicate, what are the predictions? in the autumn statement, the obr said that even by five years from now, 2021/22, we would still have a deficit, we would still be outspending our income. a lot more pessimistic than it was six months before the budget, when george osborne said that by 2020 his austerity measures would mean that we are in surplus. the goal of getting the budget into surplus is now a remote prospect. you are talking about the day—to—day spending. when you look at the total level of debt, what is that? if you look at the debt in the year to date, you have an overspend of £60 billion. added to the accumulated debt that we have built up over the years, you are talking about £1.6 trillion. that is about 84% of the value of the economy, so everything we produce,

every car, every haircut, every cup of coffee we buy, add that up, we are borrowing 84% of that, which is serious. the hope had been it would start coming down soon. it has been coming down as a proportion of the economy, but it keeps going up as a pounds—and—pence value. a tunisian suspect is reportedly being hunted by german police after a lorry was driven into christmas shoppers in berlin killing 12 people. in mexico at least 29 people have been killed and many more injured after a huge explosion at a fireworks market. the european court ruling superintendenting the government retaining internet data in what critics called the snooper‘s charter is to be changed by the home office. and in sport michael vaughan says he expects alastair cook to step down

as england captain after their 4—0 series defeat in india. he is right to ta ke series defeat in india. he is right to take his time over the decision. the two time wimbledon champion petra kith have a won't hold a racquet for three months, she has had surgery to her playing hand after a knife attack at her home. and dylan hartley is likely to remain as the england captain. eddie jones does say that he believes he has let the country done with his latest ban. i will be back with more just after half the home office has said it will seek to overturn a european court ofjustice ruling which found the government should not retain internet data under the dripa law which critics called the "snoopers charter". the court's judgment said "eu law precludes a general and indiscriminate retention of traffic data and location data". let's cross over to westminster and get more on this

from our political correspondent, vicki young. tell us what this ruling means? well, the government says it is very disappointed with all of this, it is worth remembering this is an incredibly controversial piece of legislation, when it went through parliament, there were many, many critics as you say, who said this was a snoopers' charter, that it really took away people's rights, that it was the government overstepping the mark. on the other side of the argument, you have counter—terrorism, experts, you have the police, and the government who say this is a matter of trying to keep up with the criminals, to make sure that for 12 months internet providers have to keep information so they can be looked at, they can look at who was communicating with who, where they were when they were doing that, as it went through parliament people said it went too far, today, the european court of justice seems to have backed that up. the government says it will fight this, the legal process will

continue, it will go to the court of appeal. the home office said it will put forward robust arguments to the court of appeal about the strength of its existing regime for communications data retention and access. now, the liberal democrats we re access. now, the liberal democrats were one of the parties who fought this through palm. their view, they have called it an orwellian nightmare which they say intrudes into people's privacy. it really is all about that balance, the police saying they need these power, they need to be able to keep people safe and so that is why they require companies to keep this information, other the other side there are those who say this is a general trawling for information, it is far too general, it is not specific enough, you need to have much morejudicial oversight before you can keep and look at this kind of information. we will have to see where the legal process ends. the home office has put out information saying it has used in information 95% of serious

and organised crime investigations handled by the crown prosecution service. and has played a significant role in every m15 counter—terrorism operation over the last decade. the home office is saying it will fight to be able to keep that, but it is a ruling that applies to eu member state, as we are leaving, what does that mean for what the government's options are? they could try and sit tight and wait till we leave, given that is a couple of years away, that would be a problem, remember, this is all about criminal investigations it is about criminal investigations it is about organised crime, it is about paedophilia, about counter—terrorism operations, the authorities have to do things legally, as things stand, we are in the eu, the ecj has given the ruling, depending on what the court of appeal does the government and authorities have to act within the law, they want to make sure they can bring people tojustice, i think in the short—term they would have to comply with this. the home office also said they have been making plans on all of this, it may be they

have to be more specific about the kind of operations when this would apply, we will see. it is the kind of things the critics in parliament, one of whom at the time was david davis who is the brexit secretary now, they thought this would be the case, that some of the courts might rule it was just too general, just to us have this blanket trawling of information, the government and ministers very much fought it and they will continue to do so. thank you vicki. the number of victims of historical child sex abuse in football has grown, according to new figures released by the national police chiefs' council. the figures show that 429 victims have now been identified by police. 155 potential suspects have also been identified. and 148 football clubs, spanning the breadth of the game, are said to have been impacted by abuse inquiries. with me is our sports news correspondent richard conway. it is staggering isn't it, the latest figures. it shows the scale

of the issue facing british football, we have got you know over 20 police forces across the country, now investigating operation hydrant which is collecting and collating this information, talking about the over 800 referrals and the number of victims and potential suspects they are now dealing with, so it is a huge issue for british football and it isn't going away any time soon, national police chief's council saying they encourage anyone else with information, who feels they we re with information, who feels they were a victim to come forward and they say they are acting swiftly upon these allegations. how are clu bs upon these allegations. how are clubs responding? is there any sort of unified response in the way they are handling it. some clubs have been criticised for not reacting properly to what has been going on. it is very piecemeal approach. the football association is where we are seeing a co—ordinating effort. they are conducting an internal review into what it knew and when but they are looking what the the clubs knew

and when, so we have seen them take action against dario gradi at crewe, he has been suspended pending that investigation, and we await an update from them. we may hear something from them later week, the fa, to give an update on their inquiry, we will have to wait and see. it is at the fa on a football level this is happening, however they are conscious not to hinder the police investigation they say they are taking a secondary role, letting the police get on with theirjob, trying to support them as much as they can, saying theirjob for the moment is to be in the background and help with those investigations. thank you richard. 59 near misses involving drones an airline es have been reported in the uk over the past 12 month, our technology correspondent reports. earlier this month, amazon made its first delivery by drone. just one potential use

of an exciting new technology. but after a number of reports from pilots of near misses with drones, there is mounting concern about safety. if people don't use drones responsibly and follow the rules and regulations that are in place, obviously, that is a safety issue first of all, but could also affect the long—term future of drones as well. there are already plenty of regulations. for example, i cannot fly here because we are too close to buildings and people. while professional users of drones have to register with the civil aviation authority, anyone else can just buy one and start flying. the government is consulting on regulations which would mean new drones would have to be registered, users would have to pass a theory test, like that for drivers, and there would be tougher penalties for using drones in no—fly zones. peter, an experienced drone owner, believes it is already too complex. if you put in too—complicated rules, you will scare people off and deny the future industry this pool of talent that we need. there will be thousands of new drone

owners this christmas. whenever new rules come in, they are being told they will be safer if they follow the drone code. we will speak to the director of a drone manufacturer after half past 11. now eating lot of processed meats might makes a what symptoms worse, the study says preservatives in meat could irritate the airways if people have more than four portions a week. experts say the link has knots been proved and people should focus on eating a healthy diet. let us catch up with the weather. good morning, lots going on through the next few day, none of the quiet conditions we have had for so many of the last few days and week, there is wet and windy weather on the way

already blustery out there through the rest of today, some showers, some of them wintry in parts of scotland, particularly north—west scotland, particularly north—west scotland, northern ireland seeing some showers. gales at times here, also a heavy band of rain sinking south and east across england and wales, some spells of sunshine in between the areas of wet weather, a wet end to the day in the south—west, then that rain slides eastwards, we see some fog patches in southern parts and a touch of frost. the showers keep going for northern ireland and scotland, where there could be icy stretches tomorrow morning. tomorrow, another blustery showery day in the north—west, the further south and east you are, nor in the way of dry wetten and sunshine. four our five with the showers in the north. here comes trouble. thursday night, into friday, a big christmas travel day of course, and storm barbara is going to make her presence felt, particularly in the north of the uk, where the met office have issued an amber warning for the strength of this is bbc news. the headlines:

german police are reported to be hunting for a tunisian suspect, whose identity papers have been found in the lorry which drove into a berlin christmas market. reports are police are searching in a western area of germany. at least 29 people were killed and dozens more injured as a series of explosions tear through a fireworks market on the outskirts of mexico city. people started to fall down a lot, they started running and pieces of concrete and brick started falling all over the street. scotland yard is bringing forward extra security measures for the changing of the guard ceremony at buckingham palace, because of the berlin attack. government borrowing fell in november to £12.6 billion — down 0.6 billion from november last year. a european court ruling preventing the government retaining internet data, in what critics called the "snoopers charter", is to be challenged by the home office. the number of victims of historical child sex abuse in football has grown —

detectives are investigating 155 suspects at 149 clubs after more than 400 people came forward. before we go to the sports, let me bring you an update on the latest about the police operation in germany, hunting for a suspect they believe may have been driving the truck when it drove through the christmas market in berlin, killing 12 people. reportedly, police are searching for a tunisian suspect, so it seems a police operation is underway. they have not confirmed independently they are searching for a tunisian man, but it is being reported in the german media, a man

who was an asylum seeker aged between 21 and 23 from tunisia is being searched for by police after identity documents were found in the truck. there is another report in a newspaper suggesting the polish man found dead in the passenger seat may have prevented their being a higher death toll. the truck, it seems was hijacked from a polish lorry driver. the reports now suggest the man who was the driver of the truck was not shot until after the truck had gone through the market. the body reportedly showing signs of a fight. it has been suggested the driver tried to grab the steering wheel away from the attacker. the tabloid

newspaper says it has talked to people familiar with the postmortem examination, who say he was shot after the rampage. so that is one report. we'll keep you up—to—date with the latest reports and check them out. but most of the information coming through in the german media. the police not confirming that report they are hunting for a tunisian suspect after identity papers were reportedly found in the truck. now let's get the sport. the former england captain michael vaughan says even 1% of self—doubt should lead to alistair cooke quitting as skipper. alistair cooke admits he has thinking to do after the england 4—0 defeat to india and admits he is close to stepping down. he is stubborn, mentally very tough. probably been through this spell a few times in his captaincy but carried on. looking at his face and

body language in particular over the last three test matches looks like he might be thinking about calling ita he might be thinking about calling it a day. petra kvitova won't even be able to lift the tennis racket for at least three months. she spent almost four hours yesterday having surgery on her left hand and believes she is lucky to be alive after a knife attack at home in the czech republic. it is thought it was a random burglary and she wasn't specifically targeted. we should hear the details of an investigation if a head injury to george north was conducted correctly. a concussion panel was set up after he was allowed to play on against leicester this month. despite landing on his head, television replays appeared to show the winger lying motionless after a midair tackle. he has been out of action since that time but he could return on friday. england's head coach eddiejones is appearing to stick with dylan

hartley, despite his sending—off in a club match with northampton. he are suspended for six weeks after earning the third red card of his career. he admitted the challenge was reckless saint dylan hartley had let down his country. but he said his skipper should be allowed to pay the penalty and get on with it. celtic manager, brendan rogers, said they showed character and resilience in beating partick this last night, despite not being at there. scott sinclair scored the only goal of the game. they are 14 points clear at the top of the scottish premiership. they have a game in hand over second place rangers. peter berry united will travel to sta mford peter berry united will travel to stamford bridge to face chelsea in the fa cup third round after beating notts the fa cup third round after beating n otts cou nty the fa cup third round after beating notts county 2—0. peter boro struck with less than two minutes gone. edwards, the scorer. just five minutes later, paul taylor made his first fa cup goal a memorable one.

liverpooljoel matip is one of several cameron players refusing to go to the africa cup of nations which begins in january. go to the africa cup of nations which begins injanuary. they told their coach they are not interested in being selected after he named them in his squad. the angry manager said they got personal interests above that of the national team and suggested the cameroon team might ask the 30s suspend them at club level for the duration of the tournament. val terry bottas looks likely to become lewis hamilton's team—mate at mercedes. felipe massa has been persuaded to stay on for another season. mercedes have had an offer for bottas turned down but a deal is expected to be concluded in the new year. that is all the sports now, we will be back in next hour. let's get more

on the latest into a truck attack in berlin. police said they are looking for a tunisian man afterfinding identity documents in the vehicle. 12 people killed and dozens injured when the lorry ploughed into shoppers and tourists in the german capital. me is the london correspondent for a german newspaper. lots of reports coming through from the german media. police not confirming the latest report the identity documents are found in the truck and the prime suspect, a tunisian man. will the police identified the suspect formally, if they believe that is who they are searching for? to begin with, we have to thank this heroic polish guy. he may have caused the perpetrator to lose his identity

ca rd perpetrator to lose his identity card in the cause of a struggle. when it was all coming to a whole is commonly had to leave in a hurry and badge with the crowd and disappear, not being able to pick up what he left in the. that is an important piece of evidence. it is difficult to trace him. he is a man in a country of 82 million people. but they have a strong lead, which hopefully will lead to an arrest. that is something germany needs badly, to have this dark cloud of anxiety and fear removed from their minds. as long as he is still a large, they cannot have a peaceful or enjoyable christmas. they will be worrying, where will he strike mess? not helped by the fact somebody was arrested very quickly but the police had to say actually, there seemed to be actually be no link. it was mysterious, this arrest. the guy they got hold of seemed to have been

running away from the scene. why did he run away, if he was innocent? but there are lots of mysteries still to be resolved, i am sure. but this is not totally unexpected and events. we have known iis was planning to cause mayhem by using lorries as weapon of choice, you don't have to be involved in bomb—making, which is complicated. just grab the wheel of a lorry and smash yourself into a congregation of people. we knew this might happen, but nobody thinks it will happen in your neighbourhood. you assume it will happen somewhere else. there are too many vulnerable places that cannot be protected. we are defenceless, in a sense, towards this new strategy, if it is one that they are pronouncing of using this kind of method of assassination.

angela merkel said yesterday it would be truly awful if the person who carried out this attack was someone who had gone to germany seeking asylum. the reports are on the person that police are now hunting is that he was tunisian. one newspaper saying he had received permission to stay in germany in april but was classified as dangerous by the authorities. it had not been heard of anywhere else, but he was under investigation and had links to an islamist preacher. he had a different identities, one of which he used to apply for asylum. these reports, and this is not independent confirmation. how does this fit in with politics in germany? when angela merkel said she hoped it wasn't one of the refugees who came to germany. if it were so, it would undermine even more drastically, her policy of rolling

out the welcome mat to close to 1 million people arriving last year. which is so contentious to this day. they are doing their best to accommodate them and germany still has a great deal of goodwill towards them. but any such incident would reduce that goodwill close to zero, considering angela merkel has an election in september, which will cast a big doubt over her chances of winning it. it is enough for her coalition not winning enough votes for the alternative germany to enter parliament, to take votes away from the cdu to make a return to power for angela merkel impossible. we are ona for angela merkel impossible. we are on a ten about her future political fight. thank you. and one of his final moves to protect the environment before leaving power, president obama. ..

new offshore oil drilling in the arctic, and off much of the atlantic seaboard. the incoming trump administration favours more drilling and more use of fossil fuels, but mr obama invoked a law from the 19505 which will be difficult for the incoming president to reverse. peter bowes has been following this story. well, it is a widely—used provision in the law that he is invoking to take this action, a provision that gives the president the power to withdraw federal waters from new oil—and—gas drilling. now, this is a joint action with canada, the prime minister therejustin trudeau has made a long—term commitment to protect the arctic from drilling. president obama has said that it is the arctic‘s unique ecosystem that is really behind this decision. the risk of damage from a spill, the high cost of working in this remote and frigid region, as he put it, and concerns about climate change. he also added that it would take decades to fully develop the infrastructure necessary on a large scale to drill for oil and gas in these areas.

he said this is coming at a time when we need to continue to move decisively away from fossil fuels. this is being seen, in part, as president obama attempting to secure his legacy in terms of environmental policy. it could also be seen as scuppering the future president donald trump's attempt to pursue more oil—and—gas drilling. he made no secret of the fact, during certainly the campaign, that he favours deriving energy from fossil fuels. an official at the white house has said they are quite confident that future president trump would not be able to undo this provision announced today by the current president, obama. if he did want to go down that road, it could potentially involve years of legal action and possibly the passage of a new bill by congress. look to the skies and there is an increasing chance

you might spot a drone. online retailer amazon is trialling the use of the flying machines for deliveries, and enthusiasts can pick up leisure models for under £20 from high street retailers. well now, the government is considering new rules requiring anyone who buys a drone to register it and to take a test to prove they know how to fly it safely. 59 near misses involving drones and airliners have been reported in the uk over the past 12 months. we can now speak to nigel king, director of the northumberland—based drone—maker, quest uav. he's in our newcastle studio. thank you forjoining us. what do you think about this idea anyone buying a drone should have a test to prove they know how to fly it safely? hello, yes. we consider anything that improves the chances of safety for equipment for people for aircraft is a good thing. we fully endorse any assistance that

can help this. we do recognise in the really small drones, it might not be appropriate. but there comes a time in terms of size and speed of aircraft that can fly around the sky, some kind of education and guidance is needed to fly them safely. how would you define the size and speed of a drone that would require that and are those drones available to anybody to buy off—the—shelf? available to anybody to buy off-the-shelf? i have a couple of drones here. here is a really small commercial one. probably costs about £40. very easy to operate and can zip around the sky and is unlikely to cause much damage, the propellers can pop off quite easily. but there is another one freely available for up is another one freely available for up to £500 and depending on the kit thatis up to £500 and depending on the kit that is on it. this is a much more sizeable beast. you can imagine

these propellers spinning around holding up the weight of the aircraft, if they hit somebody could cause damage and will hurt. there is quite a discrepancy in different sizes. we are very much of the opinion that once you are getting into this larger size, guidance, this thing of a test is really quite important. the one you were just holding up sells for up to £500 and there are others similar to it. who is buying them and what are they using them for? there is a mixture for the low end, just recreation, having something better than the remote control car they might have had a few years ago. but then moving onto something which is called fpb, first person view. the wearer can use goggles and see what the drone can see and fly using those goggles. that is still recreation but then we

can move to the next level where it is used for things like general landscape photography, wedding photography. where there is a commercial use for the drones. thank you very much indeed for talking to us, nigel king. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: in mexico 29 people have been killed and many more injured after an explosion at a fireworks market. the european court ruling preventing the government retaining internet data in what critics call the snoopers charter, is to be challenged by the home office. there are an estimated 23 million sheepin there are an estimated 23 million sheep in the uk. now there are two more, but they are not ordinary

sheep. they have been developed in north wales to see how she'd respond to the weather. what they tell us could lead to a change in the landscape of the countryside. nick miller reports. everything isn't quite what it appears in this field. the sheep sends it. look closely, you might. it is a unique experiment at bangor university's research farm to find out what sheep can tell us about the weather and how it affects them. this isn't a real sheep. neither is this one. thankfully, pip jones from bangor university is a real human. why have we got fake sheep? they may be fake, but they tell us about real sheep and the environment they experience on a farm. we have our sheep and we have met station which is measuring radiation, wind and temperature. those things together tell us how the sheep is feeling. on a day like this, when it is really windy, it

must have an impact on how the sheep feels, but how can you tell? it is so much colder when the wind blows, it is called wind—chill. and maintaining core body temperature is increasingly harder. what we are doing with these sheep here, we are maintaining them at 39 degrees with... this maintaining them at 39 degrees with. .. this array maintaining them at 39 degrees with... this array of heat is just here. we also have a microcomputer. what the computer is recording is how much energy the sheep is using to keep that temperature in the prevailing conditions. the energy bit sheep are using to stay warm is being diverted away from them putting on weight. the longer it ta kes for putting on weight. the longer it takes for them to reach the required wait to go to market, the more expensive they are to produce. if we are talking money as a farmer and a businessman, i am are talking money as a farmer and a businessman, iam interested. what cani businessman, iam interested. what can i do to stop my sheep getting cold in the first place. the first thing is to plant trees. they did

that on average about 40 years ago. it makes a difference. they put this in front of groups of trees here and it works. that is why this research is partly funded by the woodland trust to show woodland and pasture in our countryside don't have to be mutually exclusive. what is the big picture? one of the big questions is how we value the customer services we get from sheep farming. what about those other factors, what about those other factors, what about a flood mitigation and climate regulation and biodiversity. how do we put numbers on those. these are providing the numbers that show it is in farmer's interests to give up some of their production over to growing trees. because the sheep production is better. the eventual aim of this research is to produce a practical toolkit for farmers to show them the best places to plan

for effective shelter. then these fa ke for effective shelter. then these fake sheep can be put out to pasture, knowing they have created a warmer world for the real one. let me bring you some breaking news from newport crown court. we are hearing a multimillionaire newport crown court. we are hearing a multi millionaire businessman accused of murdering his girlfriend has just been convicted of murder. peter morgan had denied the murder of georgina symons on the grounds of diminished responsibility. he admitted strangling the 25—year—old mother of one. but, he has denied murder. we are hearing from the court he has been found guilty of murder. ajury of 11 had been deliberating for more than ten hours and thejudge deliberating for more than ten hours and the judge had deliberating for more than ten hours and thejudge had previously said he would take a majority verdict. they

have now returned that verdict and it is he is guilty of murdering his girlfriend georgina symons. we will be live at the court with our correspondent who has been covering that, a little bit later. now, let's get the business. government borrowing fell in november to £12.6bn, according to the office for national statistics. that's down £0.6bn from november 2015. however the fall was slightly less than analysts had been expecting. uk firms need to maintain "barrier—free" access to european union markets after brexit. the cbi warns that british companies should not be subject to trade tariffs, and face only "minimal" other barriers. the government said it was committed to delivering the best possible access to european markets for uk businesses. mps have called for the pensions regulator to be given much stronger powers to thwart rogue employers who fail to support their pension schemes. the commons work and pensions committee says the regulator should have the power to impose "punitive fines" of as much as £1bn.

following the collapse of the bhs pension scheme, the mps say the regulator itself needs to be reformed. let's get more on the cbi hearing. as we have been hearing, at their employers group is calling on the government to ensure britain maintains barrier free access to the eu. the report includes a sector by sector breakdown and looks up the economy as a whole. but agriculture could be seriously impacted by it changing relationship with the eu. joining me now from southampton is our guest, deputy president of the national farmers' union.|j our guest, deputy president of the national farmers' union. i think providing the government takes a whole economy approach, there is no need for agriculture to be disadvantaged. what we wouldn't want

is for one sector of the economy to be prioritised over agriculture, different trade deal secures that would really have a knock—on and detrimental affect. so the whole economy approach is vital. what would you stand to lose if we did not trading relationship with europe we currently have, what are you most worried about? it has been about trading tax—free with 500 million consumers, which has been enormously beneficial to europe and the uk. for instance, we export 3 million tonnes of wheat, 80% of which goes into the single market. a lot of it to france and some of it to italy and germany. also 38% of our land production goes into the single market. if we didn't have unrestricted access to the single market, you would be trading bmb single market, you would be trading lamb with a 51% tariff, so you would price it out of the marketplace. we have an integrated supply chain so a lot of our raw ingredients are coming from europe and the same vice

ve rsa . coming from europe and the same vice versa. it is about taking the time to prepare for this and making sure we have a whole economy approach, thatis we have a whole economy approach, that is so important. you say all industries vying for the top position as we approach these negotiations because we have heard from manufacturing and we have heard from manufacturing and we have heard from the car industry, we have heard from the car industry, we have heard from the car industry, we have heard from the property market, all of them wanting the right deals, particularly financial services, which is our biggest export. how should the government prioritise that list, who do they need to give precedence to? i would say there is nothing more important than the food you eat. for an island nation with a huge population, 65 million and rising sharply, and maintaining the ability to provide food, it is absolutely vital. much as building our economy is important too. but the food industry can be a major

player in that. we are world leading and there is a great opportunity with brexit to have us as a real driver of the economy, which we have seen other countries across the world do. it is very much about landscape by diversity, tourism and the attractions people come to this country. we have one of the safest food supply chains in the world and obviously we don't want that disadvantaged and the british people don't either. good to talk to you. a quick look at the markets. this is the current state of play across europe. the dow is still shy of the 20,000 mark. we will keep a close eye when it opens later. you are up—to—date. let's get the weather. very good morning. more turbulent

speu very good morning. more turbulent spell of weather ahead, compared to the gloomy conditions of recent days and weeks. wet and windy weather on the way. disturbed weather today. squally showers particularly to the north—west. as you can see here on the radar, some of the showers across scotland are falling as snow. we have this band of rain, which has been tapping up over the last hour or so. some wet weather for a short time across northern england, wales and into the midlands. patchy rain across the south east. generally outside of those rainy areas for england and wales, we will see spells of sunshine. scotland will continue to be buffeted by strong winds, potential gales in places, heavy, thundery showers with snow over high ground and temperatures of two or three degrees. showery for northern ireland. much of northern england drying up this afternoon, spells of sunshine and not looking bad across east anglia. but down

towards the midlands, the south—west of england and south wales, a band of england and south wales, a band of rain which could be heavy. it will set in across the south—west before the wet weather runs its way east across southern england through this evening. clearing skies behind it. fog patches and a touch of frost. it is blustery up towards the north—west. we will keep some showers in the night and there could be icy stretches to take is to tomorrow morning. tomorrow, another blustery showery day across scotland and northern ireland. a few showers through northern england and wales was the south—west. more in the way of sunshine in the south. not a bad looking goat. but there is trouble on the way. in the shape up this deepening area of low pressure to thursday night into friday. the storm system has been named storm barbra and the met office are concerned about the strength of the wind in northern parts of the country. the met office has issued this amber be prepared warning. how strong global winds be? across parts

of northern scotland because could see gusts up to 90 miles an hour on friday. 70 malls are now in north wales and north—west england. this isa wales and north—west england. this is a big christmas travelling day. rain moving quickly southwards and eastwards, temperatures on friday eight to 12 degrees. they may not be the end of the stormy weather. wet and undo weather at times over the christmas weekend. if you are travelling june into your bbc radio radio station and we will have the latest. we will keep you up—to—date here and louise lear will be back with more on the weather in half an hour. after the lorry attack on christmas shoppers in berlin left 12 people dead. vigils to those who died, as officers are said to have found a tunisian identity document in the lorry. in london, extra security measures including for the changing of the guard ceremony at buckingham palace. million mare property developer peter morgan is found guilty of

murdering his escort girlfriend georgina simons. murdering his escort girlfriend georgina simons. in mexico, at least 29 people are killed and many more injured after a huge explosion at a fireworks market. a european court ruling preventing the government retaining internet data, under a law critics describe as a "snoopers charter", is to be challenged by the home office.