in a struggle before the attack happened. the arab news looks at saudi arabia's budget, to be released later. the article says electricity, petrol and water prices will go up, and expats will face new fees. an opinion piece calls it short term pain, long—term gain. italy's parliament has approved a plan for the government to borrow up to 20 billion euros to bailout the country's troubled banks. one of the world's oldest banks, monte dei paschi, says it may run out of funds within four months. that's in the ft. in the international new york times, russian president vladimir putin's relationship with america's likely next secretary of state is under the microscope. rex tillerson, current chief executive of exxon mobil, has gone from once criticising russia to saying he has a close relationship with mr putin.

and the japan times reports outgoing un secretary general ban ki—moon has given his strongest signal yet, that he'll seek to become south korea's next president. joining us is oliver cornock, managing editor at oxford business group. good morning to you. good morning. is the third day we have lead on the truck attacks in berlin. —— it is. this is one of the most significant details, he was under surveillance but there was evidence that they stopped following him? yes, and -- an all—too—familiar discussion. was hea an all—too—familiar discussion. was he a lone wolf or was there a group behind him? security services will behind him? security services will be asking these questions. it raises lots of questions. the public want answers. often they are not available. i think it also calls into question the information sharing between organisations, he

had history in italy and tunisia. it does raise questions and perhaps calling for their needs to be rated integration between organisations. it isa integration between organisations. it is a story that keeps growing. we will be following that closely, there is now a 100,000 euros reward for information leading to his arrest, there is concern in germany that he may be part of a bigger terrorist cell and have support. and this is big news for angela merkel in terms of opening the doors. raising many questions going into an election. that will weigh heavily. talking about saudi arabia, it is budget day today. lots of analysis in the arab news, for good reason. they are going to announce the impact it will have. what is your take? you spoke about short-term pain, long—term gain. that has to be

the message that gets through. we can take heart in reports that the budget deficit has been reduced by about $100 million last year, and looking atjust about $100 million last year, and looking at just under 80 about $100 million last year, and looking atjust under 80 million this year. it does say that the president can get things under control, and we do need to continue this reform process. 2016 was a very painful year for saudi arabia, we saw contract is not getting paid, alex evans not receiving funding. it isa very alex evans not receiving funding. it is a very tight rope that saudi arabia is treading on —— public servants not receiving funding. the oil prices are really important. their difficult year, 2016, has perhaps forced their hand when it comes to that historic agreement on

oil prices, trying to price out the fracking industry? absolutely. the subsidy question is an enormous one. there is a very special social contract within saudi arabia and the re st of contract within saudi arabia and the rest of the golf whereby the state is able to use its largess to fund the public. that is changing and thatis the public. that is changing and that is they fundamental shift. the enormity of that cannot be underestimated —— gulf. enormity of that cannot be underestimated -- gulf. you answered my questions before i ask them. i was going to ask if there was a sense that the saudi arabian budget was even more important than the uk budget, because is it true that the saudi arabian government involvement in keeping people employed and keeping people in their lifestyle, just being able to help them exist, is more important than its maybe in the uk? i think that has been 100% true the uk? i think that has been 10096 true and it is nowjust, it is reducing in how true it is. the big

roll of 2030, this massive reform plan, the enormity cannot be underestimated. the goal is to reduce the public sector funding through private sector growth. that has to be the big goal. they want to eliminate their reliance on oil as the main source of income by 2020, is that correct and is it possible? it is certainly not going to be eliminated. diversification is not going to be severance. oil will still be an important part of the budget. yesterday morning, looking for private funding, but that has changed? yesterday was the deadline for private retail investors to come forward with what they hoped would bea forward with what they hoped would be a substantial sum in terms of buying shares in italy's oldest bank, the world's oldest bank. they

didn't raise the funds required. they need help from elsewhere. it will be helped by the government.- morgan led to be consulting set. we are talking about the bank 's share price which is 86% down. capitalisation questions now. the eurozone is already wobbly. money going into the north... this does raise some very significant questions long—term. i wonder whether we are just kicking this can down the road a little bit further. what it is a very important bank in italy. —— north. they are going to be battered again, there is a lot of political change in italy. i think it does raise serious questions about the capitalisation of european countries. those who hold bonds in this bank, who are pensioners in italy, there are many italians who put their money into this bank many

yea rs put their money into this bank many years ago with a guarantee they would get it back with interest. they could actually see, they might have to take some of the write—down on this bank which would not go down well with the population of italy. in the international new york times, in 2018, the next secretary of state has said russia must expand. he is best buddies with vladimir putin? he was heading up a company that did 80 $500 billionjoint—venture was heading up a company that did 80 $500 billion joint—venture with russia ——a. he was given an award by russia ——a. he was given an award by russia which, as this announcement was made, was suddenly removed from his wikipedia page. that was very interesting. it was a reward given

by vladimir putin that recognise him as being a friend of the russian people? it is easy to get into conspiracy theories and be negative. we have to be balanced. is there are some hopeful the corporate sector? there are new angles coming out. perhaps donald trump's angle and business could be useful to the corporate sector. lord knows they do need some positivity, to chile financially. perhaps some businessmen will take heart from a bit more corporate focus —— particularly financially. let's show you some pictures, you are going to like this. this is in november in wisconsin. the local police departmentjust released it. this young man has been stopped by a police officer. he said, sorry, i am late for a presentation. a police officer said, let me help you, i can

do your neck tie for you. the police officer was being his mum! he did not get a fine, just a warning. that is lovely, police get such a bad press, especially in america. they could be seen to be doing this through the power of the dashboard camera. through the power of the dashboard camera. british policeman used to carry a little notebook which included instructions about how to deliver a baby. in new york, they used to carry pistols, in italy, submachine guns. i have always told people about the difference between police around the world and how they deal with the public. a lovely picture. thank you very much indeed, thank you for all of your appearances throughout 2016. see you in 2017. have a good holiday. thank you. thank you. hello there. well, the run—up to christmas is looking unsettled, as you have probably heard. spells of wet and very windy weather on the cards, certainly very windy weather

across the north of the uk. and it is going to be very windy overnight across scotland and northern ireland. frequent showers here, particularly for scotland, with some snow over the higher ground. a few showers across western britain as well, but i think for the midlands, the south and the east, it should stay dry. quite chilly, though, with temperatures not far off freezing by the end of the night, and there will be some mist and fog forming, too. but across the north it will remain very windy. some icy patches to watch out for as well. these showers will be wintry, some snow over the higher ground, maybe down to lower levels as well. there will be plenty of showers across northern ireland, some of these moving across the irish sea into north—west england, for wales, and into south—west england as well. now, for the midlands eastwards, though, it is a dry start, really chilly, but at least it will be bright through the morning, with some sunshine around. but watch out for the mist and fog across the south—east corner. some of it could be quite dense. but i don't think it will last that long, because the breeze will continue to pick up all the while, so that should clear.

showers, though, will continue to move eastwards, but i think many southern and eastern areas should remain dry, and those showers becoming fewer as we head on in towards the afternoon. but frequent across the north, further heavy ones, with some hail and thunder mixed in, some snow to the high ground, feeling really cold and raw because of the strong wind. and then itjust gets worse as we head on in towards friday. met office amber "be prepared" warnings are being issued for the second named storm of the season. storm barbara will impact the united kingdom as we head on in towards friday. it will bring all of us a spell of rain, very windy for us all. but it is the north of the uk, closer to the storm centre, which will be battered by exceptionally strong winds. now, we are looking at gusts up to 90 mph across the north mainland of scotland, to the northern isles, 80 mph for the western isles, 70 mph for northern ireland, and 60 mph potentially for northern wales and north—west england. so this is likely to be very disruptive. keep tuned to the weather forecast. as we head through christmas eve, it remains very windy indeed. best of the weather across the south, will be fairly

mild, with some sunshine, but we will continue to see gales and showers across the north, with a wintry mix over the high ground. for christmas day, we are also looking at some very windy weather, particularly across the north, with a spell of rain which will spread right across the uk. another pretty deep low moving through to bring us those strong winds, and also that spell of rain. but it will be exceptionally mild across the south. in fact, we could see record—breaking mild temperatures across the south—east. very good morning. this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. an international man—hunt for the main suspect in the berlin christmas market attack, as it emerges he was being watched until just market attack, as it emerges he was being watched untiljust a few months ago. he was known to have ties to a radical islamist group. now german police are facing questions about why they dropped their surveillance operation. good

morning everybody. it is thursday 22 december. also this morning: a boost for rural broadband. £400 million is going to be spent on getting remote areas faster connections. i will have more on where