this is bbc news. i'mjane i'm jane hill. the headlines at 2pm. a tunisian suspect is reportedly being hunted by german police — after the lorry attack on a christmas market 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 the guard ceremony at buckingham palace. a multi—millionaire property developer is found guilty of murdering his escort girlfriend after she threatened to blackmail him. the queen and yougov edinburgh have delayed their journey to the queen and yougov edinburgh have delayed theirjourney to sandringham today after coming down with heavy colds. i'm ben brown. also this is oui’... huge explosions tear through mexico's most popular fireworks market. at least 29 people have been killed

and the emergency services say they expect the death toll to rise. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. police in germany have reportedly launched a nationwide hunt for a tunisian man who's believed to have carried out the lorry attack in berlin. lets go there and join robert hall. still a very sombre mood at the kaiser wilhelm church, the market closed and shuttered as this huge police investigation fans out across germany. the police say very little, safe to tell the public they are

hunting a man they have named as anis a, who they say is 23 years old. other than that, a great deal of press speculation, not only about him, the fact he may or may not have different identities, about the fact he may or may not be wanted by police on other alleged offences. there is also talk of a police operation at kleve, a town on the german— dutch border, which may well be connected to paperwork found in the cab of the lorry used in monday's attack. a wide—ranging investigation covering a number of areas. here's christian fraser to give us more detail. amid the chaos and the panic of monday night's attack, the man at the wheel of this truck slipped into the wheel of this truck slipped into the dark undetected. the man arrested, aged 23—year—old pakistani migrant, has already been released without charge. now, we discover, there is a new suspect, said to be a tunisian asylum seeker still at

large. german newspapers are carrying a photo of a 21—year—old man known as anis a, who used a mix of identities. he said to be known to german police and was wanted on charges of assault. the truck, carrying 25 tonnes of steel girders, had travelled from poland to this factory in berlin. the driver was polish. lukasz factory in berlin. the driver was polish. lu kasz urban, factory in berlin. the driver was polish. lukasz urban, a 37—year—old family man, later found polish. lukasz urban, a 37—year—old family man, laterfound dead inside the cab. his cousin, who owned the drug company, said they lost contact with him around four in the afternoon. he was called yesterday to identify the body. translation: there were stab wounds on the photo i was shown. it was clear he had been fighting, his face was swollen and bloodied. i learned about the gunshot wounds from police who told me that apart from being stabbed he was also shocked. that struggle inside the cab has left important clues. there were a sign papers

found beneath the driver ‘s seat. where might this suspect have intercepted the truck? on monday morning mr urban arrived ahead of schedule at the steel factory in berlin ready to unload, there was no space and he was asked to come back later. he never returned. at 8pm just a few miles from the factory, the lorry ploughed into the christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 49. the driverfled into the urban park. a 23—year—old pakistani man was arrested near the victory column monument but there was nothing to link into the truck and in those precious few hours the real suspect, possibly injured, and in those precious few hours the realsuspect, possibly injured, had escaped. mr urban, it seems, was kept alive. perhaps until the very moment of the attack. a gps tracker is reported to show that around 3:1i5pm the truck was driven erratically as if someone was

learning to drive it. the blood spots found inside the cab could be that of the suspect, police have since checked all hospitals in berlin, where victims of the attack continued to be treated. 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 extremities. and the pelvis. one of the 12 victims is said to be this woman, a 31—year—old italian, who has not been heard of since the attack. her phone and metro pass we re attack. her phone and metro pass were found at the scene. there's no doubt the early slip—up in this investigation piles more pressure on to the embattled chancellor angela merkel. it will not help her cause the tunisian they are hunting appears to have slipped into the country earlier this year when she opened the doors to thousands of refugees. you go to france nowadays, you see military on the streets, a place like this would have had

armoured vehicles protecting it. the germans said, we don't want to do this, we don't want our christmas feeling to be destroyed. it's an understandable, nice, gentle way of looking at things, but it's the wrong way. that's yesterday. things have got to change. even today, i think, there's not enough police on the street. the anxiety felt by people in berlin will be shared by many others around europe. we've been here before. the simplicity of this attack, the background of the suspect, the clues that were missed. and, of course, the difficulty in trying to stop them. a little more about the scene. you can see the crowd of people behind me. they are all gathering, there area me. they are all gathering, there are a series of shrines around the market. they started to be created last night, candles and flowers

being laid out. since then there has been a steady stream of passers—by, people in town for their christmas shopping, going to and from offices. so many of them stopping, pausing, some shedding tears, because i think the enormity, the impact of what has happened is beginning to strike. not just in berlin, but across germany. let's get more insight into the investigation. you heard what christian was outlining. i want to bring ina christian was outlining. i want to bring in a security consultant. let's talk about this development, the manhunt for the man we believe to be tunisian. are you surprised in a nyway to be tunisian. are you surprised in anyway this is onlyjust emerging now? the fact they are announcing they found identity papers in the cab of the truck, now, this afternoon, is a bit of a surprise. we would expect an announcement like this to have been made earlier. they believe they have this suspect in custody, until late yesterday

evening. it probably slow down the process , evening. it probably slow down the process, dismissed as a tourist. he was already known in germany. i'm surprised it came out so late, on the other hand, it is also part of the other hand, it is also part of the process. let's stick with that element. the papers. it may seem strange to many people watching and listening, that somebody who carried out and act like this, whoever that might be, left papers behind. it's a typical signature of the so—called islamic state. at the same type of procedure, attackers leave behind some form of identity paper, it's probably a sign the idea was to commit suicide. on the other hand, now he's on the run, it probably contradicts that. it's very typical, it's not, at least in the last year and a half, it's been very common. this vehicle travelled something like five kilometres across berlin, turned into the market in an act of

brutal murder, and after a second turned back out of the market again, do you suspect this was a planned attack, that somehow misfired? the fa ct attack, that somehow misfired? the fact the perpetrator had to run in a hurry? i think the aspect that is more telling is the original driver was still in the cab. if the autopsy report is accurate and the reports that have come out are accurate, that have come out are accurate, that he fought the assailant just prior to the attack, it explains why they go on so well. and the route he choseis they go on so well. and the route he chose is not very good, not the optimal. based on the location, he had a much better aspect to drive in. it didn't work out so well. i expect it to have been partially planned, but not as detailed as in nice this summer. do you, obviously we're seeing a manhunt spreading out across germany, given the delay you referred to, how difficult is it going to be for police to get back

on the right trail? it'll be difficult because they are going on the assumption he is badly injured, it's an advantage to them. the other problem is, if the planning was far enough he has a safe house somewhere, it'll be difficult, we've seen somewhere, it'll be difficult, we've seen an somewhere, it'll be difficult, we've seen an example this last in paris. the man was on the run for two days, still made it to belgium, they found him a couple of months later. it could be a similar case. it depends on his network in germany. if he is well networked it'll be a problem because a lot of people will be able to provide, willingly or unwillingly, a haven for him. the job got a lot harder. he could still be in the city, still be a risk? absolutely, they say he is armed. they definitely consider him to be armed and dangerous. definitely be cautious. thank you for talking to me. this is a developing situation,

we await further confirmation. perhaps further news of what the police operation consists of and how it's progressing. when we get that we'll bring it to you. let's talk about the knock—on in this country. in london, scotland yard is bringing forward extra security measures for the changing the guard ceremony at buckingham palace, because of the berlin attack. roads around the palace have now been closed for 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. let's go to the palace and join correspondent richard lester. —— richard lister. anything different to the casual observer? people used to the casual observer? people used to driving around this part of london will have noticed extra disruption this morning. usually

there are some road restrictions during the ceremony for the changing of the guard. but now, and from now on, there will be much more extensive road closures. the major roads leading to this side of the palace where the ceremony takes place are shut between ten tick 10:45am and 12:30pm, sometime before and after the ceremony. they are com pletely and after the ceremony. they are completely shut, for a much greater extent. today there were temporary barriers at the end of the mall in that direction and the end of the road in that direction and that direction, so people couldn't get close before, during and after the ceremony. i thought there were more armed police than we usually see at this event. talking to some of the people who came here today to see the ceremony take place, they said the ceremony take place, they said the sight of those extra police made them feel safe. we were a bit iffy. we spoke about

it. everyone here today is in support of what happened out there at the moment. it's not going to stop us going anywhere. you should not be afraid of any terrorist at all, so we are going to do what we like to do. very safe, safe. the policemen are everywhere, so yeah... it hasn't put you off coming here today? not at all, we came from paris, everything's fine. we're here from new zealand, we were going to come regardless, you've got to carry on life, don't you? changing of the guard attracts tourists from all over the world, every time it happens it takes place pretty much every other day this time of year. the crowd here today, about a thousand by our estimate, on a par with what it usually is. it doesn't seem with what it usually is. it doesn't seem people were put off by what happened in berlin earlier this week and the people we spoke to didn't notice any change in security. drivers will have noticed and during this three month trial period,

certainly, the police will assess whether they have the balance right in terms of the way they close the road and whether they need more permanent barriers than the temporary cones and stop signs they had in place at the end of these major roads today. let's get more on the potential implications of what happened in berlin. david lowe, a former counter—terrorism detective, joins us now from liverpool. thank you for being with us. let's start off with the increased security around buckingham palace and the changing of the guard ceremony. is it a sensible precaution at this stage? without a doubt it's a sensible precaution. you look at london itself, there are a number of events that happen in the public arena and this time of year all around the country. we mentioned the christmas market. most of the major towns and cities have one. we look at this intensity of

the period up to new year, there will be a lot of public events. it makes sense to review the system we are already in. and to see if they could be stepped up and made perhaps a bit more secure. we've seen a few measures around the country, as you highlighted. buckingham palace. birmingham, putting more physical para meters birmingham, putting more physical parameters in. it makes sense. in the long term, having seen the lorry and truck attacks in nice, now berlin, when we think of the uk, there are potentially countless soft targets. large groups of people. it's impossible to protect everyone from any eventuality of that kind. yeah, these are the warnings we've had for a while now, from andrew sanders in mi5, alex youngerfrom mi6, and the various heads of the counterterrorism units through the country. there is an element of luck. there has been lots of hard work conducted over the last few

yea rs. work conducted over the last few years. though we're these physical in place, the best form, any form of prevention, is to information, having people pass information on, no matter how trivial. it could really help prevent future attacks. one of the key dangers is the person who has been influenced themselves and takes it upon themselves to carry out some sort of act. that really is difficult. in terms of counterterrorism police and mi5, is it perhaps easier to try to foil a plot that involves explosives, that is necessarily relatively sophisticated, compared to a lorry attack where all you have to do is jump attack where all you have to do is jump in the cab of the lorry? without doubt. if you're looking at using explosives, you're looking at various terrorist cells. they've got to communicate. they'll have some form of electronic footprint that

can be picked up. an individual who decides to go out and carry out an attack, this is, if you like, the nightmare for the intelligence services and counterterrorism policing, the hardest one to stop. hence the reason we see more physical measures put in place to try and prevent these. i'll keep my fingers crossed because i normally look up the attacks we've had in europe over the past couple of years and chances of them happening are still remote. trouble is, when we have an attack, casualties are high, you look at the timing. we're talking about christmas, a time people should be relaxing, socialising and enjoying themselves. it had that impact from monday night. david lowe, former counterterrorism detective in liverpool. we'll have continuing coverage of the attack at the christmas market in berlin here on bbc news and you can also keep up to date with the latest developments online on the bbc news website.

the rest of the news. the queen and prince philip have cancelled plans to travel by train today to their estate in sandringham, norfolk, for christmas, after coming down with heavy colds. this was announced by buckingham palace in the last hour oi’ so. buckingham palace in the last hour or so. royal correspondent nicholas witchell gave me all the latest details. buckingham palace has now said, officially on the record, the queen and the duke of edinburgh have heavy colds. heavy colds. and so have decided not to travel to sandringham today. the queen was, as you mentioned, due to catch a train from london to king ‘s lynn this morning, to travel to sandringham to begin the christmas break. she normally catches the 11:01am from liverpool street. but she didn't catch it. that's what started the questions being asked about what was

the cause for this departure from the cause for this departure from the plan? it transpires both she and the plan? it transpires both she and the duke of edinburgh have heavy coats. i would the duke of edinburgh have heavy coats. iwould imagine the duke of edinburgh have heavy coats. i would imagine they will wish to travel as soon as they feel able to they certainly won't want to miss the family christmas at sandringham, so i'm sure they will return to their plan for christmas in the next day or so. it's absolutely part of the christmas tradition, lots of members of the royalfamily tradition, lots of members of the royal family gathered at sandringham, presumably the palace doesn't give indications as to when they hoped they might be able to get there. they are not. there was the big christmas lunch for members of the royal family at buckingham palace yesterday, all the family together. there was no suggestion then anyone was blowing their nose rather unexpectedly, but it transpires today these heavy colds, and there is a lot of it about everybody has a sniffle almost at the moment. i'm sure they will wish to gojust as the moment. i'm sure they will wish to go just as soon as they are able, because other members of the family will be heading to sandringham. but

not, of course, william and catherine, we know they are staying with the middletons for christmas this year. the rest of the family, cold or no cold, i'm sure, will be there. the latest headlines on bbc news... a tunisian man is reported to be being hunted by german police after a lorry was driven into christmas shoppers in berlin, killing 12 people. in london, extra security measures put in place, including for the changing of the guard ceremony at buckingham palace. the queen and duke of edinburgh have delayed their journey to the queen and duke of edinburgh have delayed theirjourney to sandringham after coming down with what the palace says are heavy colds. in sport, northampton saints have escaped punishment after an investigation into the handling of a head injury to wales and lions wing george north. he's been out of action since landing on his head against leinster earlier this month. the two type wimbledon champion

petra kvitova won't even hold a racket for at least three months. she's had surgery to her playing hand after a knife attack at her home. williams paving the way for va ltteri bottas to home. williams paving the way for valtteri bottas to join mercedes in formula i. valtteri bottas to join mercedes in formula 1. williams previously turned down one offer but are expected to conclude a deal in the new yearfor him expected to conclude a deal in the new year for him to replace retiring world champion nico rosberg. law on those stories just after half past. —— more on those stories. a multi—millionaire property developer has been found guilty of murdering his escort girlfriend. newport crown court heard that peter morgan — who's married with 2 children — admitted killing georgina simmonds after she threatened to blackmail him — but he denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. our wales correspondent sian lloyd reports. georgina simmonds, a 25—year—old mother of one. murdered by the man

who called himself her sugar daddy. she had met peter morgan four years ago while working as an escort. the court heard the 54—year—old became infatuated with her. during the trial the property millionaire admitted strangling georgina simmonds with twine but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. this was peter morgan before he met georgina simmonds, the footage of him restoring an old windmill was shown in court. it was one of the places the pair would later meet. the married father of two paid her £10,000 a month, took her on helicopter flights and bought expensive gifts. she later moved into a bungalow in the grounds of a ruined tudor mansion. police visited the party when georgina simmonds was reported missing after failing to pick up her daughter from school. this record is morgan claiming he didn't know where she had gone. where do you think she was going? but georgina simmonds was already

dead. peter morgan had hidden her body in the barn next to his home some 20 miles away. he told the court he had heard her threatened to blackmail him and leaving. morgan had been using a bugging device similarto had been using a bugging device similar to this one, disguised as a plug. he was using it to listen in to georgina simmonds‘s conversations. inside there is a sim ca rd conversations. inside there is a sim card and microphone. the property developer can activate it from his own mobile phone. over the two month period he called it 514 times and spent hours on end listening in. this was the moment he told police officers what he had done. the problem was once i had attempted to murder her, i could have got in

trouble for that and she would have still gone on and blackmailed me, couldn't she? peter morgan told psychiatrists he was having a midlife crisis. the court was told he had asperger‘s syndrome, but it was not a defence. the murder of georgina simmonds had been carefully planned. the number of victims of historical child sexual abuse in football has grown, according to new figures released by the national police chiefs council. 429 victims have been identified by police, 155 potential suspects have been identified. 148 football clubs in all, spanning the breadth of the game, are said to have been impacted by these abuse enquiries. a labour backbench critic ofjeremy corbyn has announced he's leaving the house of commons. jamie reid is standing down as mp to take a job at the

sellafield nuclear plant in his combrinck. vicki young has been following departments. is announced he's going to stand down as mp and take a job in the nuclear industry at sellafield, in his constituency. in cumbria. now jamie reid has been a very vociferous critic ofjeremy corbyn, the labour leader. he stood down from his position on the labour front bench as soon asjeremy corbyn was elected leader. he's insisting it has nothing to do with his views on mr corbyn, he says they have a very good personal relationship. he says it's much more about wanting to serve his community in the best way possible. is given an article to the guardian newspaper on the website, from reading that it seems clear its about his family life, he has four children. one is a teenager. three others as well. he says it's a long journey, long commute, going from cumbria down to london. it sounds

like it's been taking its toll and he thinks it's the best decision for his family. politically, this could be pretty tricky for labour. the majority in that seat is about two and a half to lead a gritty win half thousand. —— two and a half thousand. —— two and a half thousand. it was a constituency that voted very much to leave the european union. about 62% voted to leave. ukip under the new leadership of poor michael will feel they have a chance here if they can make inroads into the labour vote. something they've talked about doing particularly in the north of england. this will be a real test for them and a tricky by—election, probably in february, for labour.- least 31 people are known to have died ina least 31 people are known to have died in a series of explosions at a fireworks market in mexico. footage shows a single store catching fire,

triggering a chain reaction of blasts. the third major blast at the market since 2005. correspondent will grant sent this report. ca ptu red will grant sent this report. captured on mobile phone footage, the moment this 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 cleared. a fire at the main fireworks market outside mexico city was likely to have devastating consequences, most exacerbations in mexico involve fireworks, so in the run—up to christmas it was full of shoppers. the local authorities have already confirmed around 50 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 ata the area when there was an explosion at a shop at the end of the road then a series of blasts came on after the other, people started to fall down a lot. they started running, pieces of concrete and brick started falling all over the street. it was very loud, there were several explosions, we saw the smoke. we thought it was the gas station, then we saw it was the fireworks. we had several very strong explosions and then the smoke came up. the time being the authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the tragedy. whatever is behind it, this the first explosion at san publico. 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 stricter regulations on the fireworks industry but many mexicans are angry the rules are often never applied or never enforced, and that mexico state's market traders and shoppers lost their lives through a potentially avoidable accident. the british and half past two, let's see what the weather prospects are. louise lear has those. how is it looking? things are starting to hot up in terms of the weather and stormy activity. at the moment we have some pretty squally showers driven along by gale force gusts of wind is, at times, through scotland. some of those showers with hill ethan stone, chiefly to higher ground. even deposit at lower levels. further south, a band of rain pushing through the midlands into the south—west of england, it will gradually move south and east overnight. it will clear through

quite quickly, then behind it with clearer skies temperatures will fall away. in sheltered areas a touch of light frost. showers continue into scotland, eyes could be an issue towards dawn, particularly with temperatures hovering close to freezing. in miserable start across northern ireland and scotland. further south, much of england and wales, away from west facing coasts, decent spells of sunshine. keep abreast of the weather forecast, because a storm is arriving as we go through friday and into saturday. an amber weather warning has been issued. hello, this is bbc news with ben brown and jane hill.