hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: fingerprints of the suspect anis amri, have been found on the door of the lorry used in the berlin christmas market attack. chancellor angela merkel says she's hopeful an arrest will be made soon, and she's proud of the way her country has responded to the attack. i must say, over at the last few days i have been very proud of the composure shown by people. and also the officers that have weaned at work here. two men have been found guilty of manslaughter, after a tipper truck crashed last year in bath, killing four people including a young girl. the international committee of the red cross in syria says the operation to help people leave the remaining rebel—held parts of aleppo is in its final stages. in a bbc radio 4 ‘thought for the day‘ broadcast, the prince of wales has warned of the growing danger of religious persecution comparing it to the dark days of the 1930s. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look

at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news... president—elect, donald trump, has tweeted that the us must strengthen its nuclear capabilities signalling a possible u—turn on almost 30 years of de—proliferation. we'll have reaction from washington. we'll be looking back at the tumultuous events in 2016 in our special review programme, the year in politics. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello, i'm olly foster, these are our sportsday headlines tonight. one win in 11, one point above the relegation zone. pa rd ew

get the push at palace. so who's up for a relegation battle at selhurst park? sam allardyce is the favourite to take over. and british archers still have their sights on tokyo, despite losing all their olympic funding. good evening. alan pardew has been sacked. the crystal palace manager has seen his team win just once in their past 11 matches and he leaves the club just one point above the relegation zone. our reporter david ornstein is with me. david, he lasted just under two years at the club and this was probably a fairly easy decision. his record has been poor. i know you spoke to determine steve parish this afternoon and t said the

clu b parish this afternoon and t said the club was stuck in a rut. you spoke to mejust after club was stuck in a rut. you spoke to me just after the decision was announced and he said relegation was so costly that crystal palace had to act. he said something very interesting about the style of play at crystal palace, everybody including alan pardew and the board had bought into them playing a more expansive style of football under the former newcastle boss but that haven't worked and now it's time to wind of the dial back the other way which suggests they will go for a more conservative style of football under a new manager. meanwhile crystal palace and parish placed on record their sincere gratitude for the tremendous service of alan pa rd ew the tremendous service of alan pardew which led palace to the fa cup final pardew which led palace to the fa cupfinal in pardew which led palace to the fa cup final in may for they played manchester united, speaking about his hard work and dedication, improving so many areas of the club. pa rd ew improving so many areas of the club. pardew issued a statement thanking everybody at crystal palace for their support, underlining the

effo rts their support, underlining the efforts of the players, steve parish and his board but not making any mention of the american co—owners josh harris and david blitzer. they have probably given a thumbs up on this decision behind—the—scenes. look at his record, finishing in the top half of the season, but look at the calendar year statistics for 2016, shocking, there for is the worst of all 92 premier league and football league clubs. also, one win in11, in that football league clubs. also, one win in 11, in that sequence was a run six straight defeats, they said a point and six straight defeats, they said a pointand a six straight defeats, they said a point and a place above the relegation zone in 17th. this time last year crystal palace were six in the premier league, outside the champions league places on goal difference alone but it has been a sorry story. you remember how strong the defence was under tony pulis, it's gone the opposite way. they feel from speaking to people at the clu b feel from speaking to people at the club they've been unlucky with

refereeing decisions and this bird is still high. whoever comes in as manager will hope to continue the spirit but continue the result. that's get about, who will come in and is offer a relegation battle and is proven, the bookies have gone one way? some allardyce 4-1 on. some reports suggesting an agreement has been reached in principle with some alibis, we don't have confirmation of that, he would seem to fit the bill in the sense that he's available following is short lived reign as england manager. he's never been relegated from the premier league, he plays a style of football but it would seem crystal palace are keen on, he likes to keep a tight defence and he's proven in getting results. he seems to be keen on the job and tears, we understand, one of the candidates in the frame. others include roy hodgson, anotherformer england manager, chris coleman, anotherformer england manager, chris coleman, another former crystal palace player, juergen klinsmann, because

of the american co—owners, another united states manager but sam alla rdyce united states manager but sam allardyce domain united states manager but sam alla rdyce domain man united states manager but sam allardyce domain man in the frame. david, thank you. some good news for spurs fans. the captain hugo lloris has signed a new contract to keep him at the club until 2022. he's the latest of their first team stars to commit long term to the club. he said, "it shows again how much i believe in this project and hopefully the best year is ahead." harry kane, delle alli and christian eriksen have all signed new deals recently. champions manchester city women have made their first signing of the transfer window. they've completed a deal with birmingham for england under—23 midfielder melissa lawley, for an undisclosed fee. george north won't play for northampton against sale tomorrow. saints say he'll continue with a full training schedule to ensure he's fully prepared for first team action. north hasn't played since a head injury in the game against leicester earlier this month.

northampton were criticised for allowing north to play on even though he appeared to be briefly knocked out. the club escaped punishment after an investigation into the incident. london welsh have been granted a temporary licence to play their next two championship games, but have been deducted 20 league points. earlier this month, the club announced they would be going into voluntary liquidation. they're now trading temporarily as a new company. the exiles have lost half the players on their books but are confident they've enough of the squad left to fulfil their fixture against london scottish on christmas eve. and they are away at yorkshire carnegie on new year's day. john william has died at the age of 93. he capped and his country to two trouble crowns in the 1950s. ——

triple crowns. england have cancelled their rugby league pre—season training camp, which was scheduled for dubai in january. a number of super league coaches had expressed concern about the timing of the camp, given the late end to the season following the four nations. the trip was to form part of wayne bennett's preparations for next year's rugby league world cup. alastair cook has been named captain of the international cricket council's test team of the year, that's despite england winning just one of their last 8 tests. cook is considering his future as skipper after their 4—0 series defeat in india. england have four representatives in the team, more than any other nation, withjoe root, jonny bairstow and ben stokes also included. grand national winning jockey john buckingham has died. he was 76. he was best known for riding the 100—1 no—hoper foinavon to victory at aintree in 1967. his was the only horse to escape a mass fall at the 23rd fence because he was trailing so far behind and that fence still bears the winning horse's name. after losing all their

funding for the build—up to the tokyo olympics in 2020, british archery are considering an appeal. as it is, the archers, who are based at the national sports centre in shropshire, will have to getjobs to allow them to carry on training. four other sports have also lost their funding. nick clitheroe reports. naomi from leamington spa has been the four olympic games already, she is coaching youngsters in the academy and is considering another shot at a medal in tokyo but that became a top prospect because archery and beat lottery funded and she and her team—mates will have to find part—timejobs to help she and her team—mates will have to find part—time jobs to help and support their dream. quite a few people at university now, for them to be able to train, go to university and get a job, that will be tough. it means there will be less rest time and any spare time

aduu less rest time and any spare time adult training will be working which is tough but it gives you some mental resilience as well. uk sport said tough choices had to be made under prioritises sports with medal prospects but tokyo. the man brought in to improve archery performance disagrees with the assessment. they say that, we would dispute that, we've been on a trajectory the last year and we've been on a trajectory the last yearand a we've been on a trajectory the last year and a half which says that is not the case, we have a world leading coach here to back us up on that. archery is not alone in missing out, future rugby also based here lost its £3 million funding, with £3115 here lost its £3 million funding, with £345 million to be assured amongst 31 sports there is or is going to be winners and losers, success in rio dejaneiro saw gymnastics funding rise by more than £2 million. the para archery team saw its total rise by a million but other sports have lost. if this

sport is to be successful in tokyo smaller sports like ourselves need to play their part. there is a wider impact, behind—the—scenes gb archery will have to cut costs and that could mean redundancy. tough choices lie ahead for the sport. that's all from sportsday. there'll be more sport here on bbc news throughout the evening. you are watching bbc news. violent crime committed by people who are over the age of 65 in england and wales, has increased by almost 80% since 2012. the figures, obtained under a freedom of information request by the bbc, cover minor assaults to murder. part of the rise is being put down to how the police log crimes. graham satchell has more. i'm not asking what he was in for, but you say a long sentence. he was a lifer.

he killed his wife. he was a lifer? he killed his wife? a cafe in bournemouth. stuart, in his 70s, is talking to nick, 60. both are convicted fraudsters. nick is still on probation. i don't feel old at all. and because people are fitter and healthier and more active, they're going to carry on doing stuff, and stuff leads to problems. problems like crime. the over—60s is now the fastest—growing age group in the prison population. figures obtained by this programme show a dramatic rise in police recorded crime for people over the age of 65. violent crime in the pension age group is up 79% since 2012. the numbers are relatively small — up from just under 4000 in 2012 to 7000 incidents recorded last year. but almost half of all crime police recorded in this age group was violent. i think we've romanticised older people. we thinkjust because they're getting older, they'll be the sweet old lady, but they're not.

they're frustrated, they're lonely, they're angry. criminologist roger graves says some older people becoming more violent is easily explained. the frustration of being an old person with not enough to do, with social services being cut, there's sort of a failure of the social contract with the elderly that leads to anger and resentment. so are britain's pensioners really becoming saga louts? there are some other things going on here. for years and years, police—recorded crime figures were massaged to meet certain targets. today, the way police record crime has completely changed. police forces are now looking to make sure we record things accurately, ethically, and that's shown by the number of crimes that have gone up over the last two or three years. officers might have gone to an incident five years ago and used their professional judgment.

two people in their late 60s or 70s having an argument, that might qualify now as violent crime, which they would then record. i don't think they would have done that five years ago. so this is the property. we have four bedrooms here, one is an emergency room... this is the first refuge in the country specifically for older women. we filmed it when it opened last year. ava, the charity that runs it, has seen women in their 60s, 70s and even 80s come here for help. many, many times, he went for me, blacked eyes. just a variation of beatings over the years. this woman, who we're calling sarah, was abused by her husband for almost 20 years. i'm now 63. how old is he? he's 65, coming up, i think. he'sjust got older and nastier. when you were younger, did you feel as though if you'd reported what was happening, that the police would have taken you seriously? no.

but now, it's a different world now. they do take it seriously. and that is a significant change. police are now investigating domestic violence and historic sex abuse cases much more assiduously, and that is one reason for the rise in today's figures. whether it's growing anger and resentment or thatjustice is finally catching up with offenders, more and more older people are ending up on the wrong side of the law. graham satchell, bbc news, bournemouth. it is 6:45pm. top stories. fingerprints of the tunisian national annis amri have been found on the door of the lorry used in monday's christmas market attack in berlin. two men have been found guilty of manslaughter after last