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 yea r‘s guilty of manslaughter after last year's tipper truck crash in bath

which killed four people including a young girl. the international committee of the red cross and syria says the operation to help people leave areas once held by rebels in aleppo was close to an end. an update on the markets... the move to increase university tuition fees in england to £9,250 a year has been launched without any announcement from the department for education. the change will affect more than 500,000 students beginning in the autumn. it will mean tuition fees will begin to rise each year with inflation. with me is our education correspondent sean coughlan. did we know this was coming? yes, we did, we need a government wanted to do this, before the summer they signalled their intention to raise fees to £9,250 and thereafter by

inflation but i suppose what's controversial is how they've done it. the opposition parties were poised to oppose this and they wa nted poised to oppose this and they wanted to scrutinise plans but while they'd been waiting for it to appear, they found out today it's happened and the government put these regulations which allow them to increase fees on a website, not the department for education website but another website which the opposition accuses of being a far—flung distant website and there they are, they say they've done. why they are, they say they've done. why the stealth, do you think? the government says it is not being stealthy, we told you and once we we re stealthy, we told you and once we were doing it, this isjust an operational process. the opposition parties are furious, they say it's a big dealfor lots parties are furious, they say it's a big deal for lots and parties are furious, they say it's a big dealfor lots and lots of families and what's happened here is they are trying to smuggle it out of christmas so everyone will go off to the christmas parties and forget about it and they will avoid the scrutiny and the force that might have come with it. if you are already a student does this affect you or is it new students starting

in the autumn next year? it can be both. if you start in the autumn you are definitely going to have to pay this higherfee are definitely going to have to pay this higher fee in are definitely going to have to pay this higherfee in england. but stu d e nts this higherfee in england. but students who are already at university who are going into the second or third year could be liable if their universities choose to apply it, it's up to the university. i know some will increase, you will end up paying 9250 this year having paid 9000 last year. all of these fees will then dressed which is piled on after you left and you start repaying once you start working. the idea is that from now ona working. the idea is that from now on a rising tuition fees will be in line with inflation of the prediction is that inflation by the end of next could be 3%. prediction is that inflation by the end of next could be 396. exactly. that means fees will go up and up and they've been capped at 9000 for some time. you will remember how controversial they were when they went to 9000, and they've been left there ever since. there's been great

hesitation about taking this step of raising them above that point, they have now, in a way that people might not have expected. indeed. thank you for joining not have expected. indeed. thank you forjoining us and enjoy your christmas. the funeral has taken place in moscow of the russian ambassador to turkey, andrei karlov. the ambassador was shot dead three days ago, while he was giving a speech in ankara. from moscow steve rosenberg reports. the farewell began at the foreign ministry. flanked by a guard of honour, ambassador karlov lay in state. three days after he was assassinated in turkey. vladimir putin came to pay his respects. he has awarded andrei karlov his country's highest honour, posthumously, hero of russia. from the president to the widow, words of comfort. then the coffin was brought here, to the cathedral

of christ the saviour. the orthodox priests chanted prayers and blessings. they sang hymns for the soul of the deceased. it's very rare for an ambassador to be killed on duty, said the head of the russian church. andrei karlov will go down in russian history as a hero. this is the man who killed him, an off—duty turkish police officer. god is greatest, he had shouted. don't forget about aleppo, about syria. they were in mourning today in ankara at the russian embassy. but heavy security here meant it took some time to deliver the wreaths. as russia mourns the murder of one

of its ambassadors the country's leadership doesn't want this to harm relationships with turkey or to weaken moscow's resolve to fight terror. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. and update for you following on from that report... on the situation in syria. we knew this was coming but it's now been made official, according to syrian state television, the syrian army has now declared victory in aleppo. and they say thanks to the blood of art maters the sacrifices made by our and allied brave forces, the stea dfastness and allied brave forces, the steadfastness of our proud people, the general command of the army and armed forces announces the return of security to aleppo after it was liberated from terrorism and terrorists. remember aleppo for the last four gears or at least the eastern half of the city has been in

the hands of rebels they have been fighting to topple president assad but we've seen in the last few months a relentless onslaught by the syrian army backed by russian aircraft and russian attack helicopters and so on, in an attempt to drive the rebels out of the east of the city and now, the syrian authorities are saying that has been achieved. officially, all of aleppo, the northern city of aleppo, the country's second city is now in the hands of the syrian government. moving on... retinitis pigmentosa is a rare inherited condition which causes blindness. until now, there's been no cure. but now nhs england says it will fund further testing of a so—called bionic eye implant, which surgeons say can make a real difference to sufferers. here's our correspondent keith doyle. bionic eyes have been around for a long time in the world of science fiction but it's only now they've

been used in the everyday real world. keith has been blind for over 20 years. a genetic illness called retinitis pigmentosa meant he gradually lost his side but now he's got some of it back. thanks to this bionic eye. it gives you more than interest, instead of walking about total darkness everywhere, and sitting in total darkness, you've got all of these shapes to work out what they are, windows, lights, people, cars, everything. with a contrast in colour you can try and make out what the shapers. surgeons have had success with trials of this which is a miniature camera mounted on glasses which transmits a wi reless on glasses which transmits a wireless signal to the implant at the back of the retina. this stimulates cells to send a signal to the brain, allowing the blind person to see in a limited way. for us it's an important step, for people in the future, hope, infuture an important step, for people in the future, hope, in future of using

electronic devices coupled with a biological system, it's fantastic, the first demonstration that you can doa the first demonstration that you can do a complex hook up, i guess, between an electronic voice and a complex biological systems which the retina is. as many as 15,000 people in the uk have the condition although all do not go on to lose their side. now ten people will receive implants over the next year funded i nhs england, fired at manchester royal eye hospital and the other five—year at the eye hospital in london. if it's all a continued success more people will get the chance to have their side restored with this bionic eye. you can see your glasses on the table instead of knocking them over, you can see your plate on the table, all these things, they sound like little things but immunoblot when you are used to being totally blind. -- but they mean a lot. this wireless device will improve as technology advances but it's already transforming lives. it's amazing

what difference that little bit of light can make to your life. keith doyle, bbc news. ahead of christmas, dipping effort across parts of the uk to bowl bridge is understanding between faiths and communities. in manchester group of muslim friends have been handing out hundreds of christmas gifts to homeless people. mohammed and his friends have them handing gifts to the homeless in time for christmas. it's not long before you pass a homeless person. if you are in a position to help people i think we should. it's the only way we are going to get help and if you look at some of these people, they are really nice and it's unfortunate they have nowhere to go. giving charity is one of the requirements of the islamic faith. how's things, you 0k? requirements of the islamic faith. how's things, you ok? he spoke to

these young was limbs developing a good relationship with some of those sleeping rough in manchester. when i was a kid, i wouldn't have spoken to a tramp, i would have was a kid, i wouldn't have spoken to a tramp, iwould have been was a kid, i wouldn't have spoken to a tramp, i would have been like, what's up? but now, the way the world is turning, kids, young kids, will come up and say, there is 10p. you know the person who lives here? yes, we've seen him if you times, we give him tea and coffee and hot food but he's not in at the moment. i think we will leave him a gift. it's fantastic for community cohesion to get young men from the asian and moslem community to go out of their way and help people from all backgrounds who are unfortunate and find themselves homeless. with the charity shelter estimating more than a quarter of a million people are homeless in england alone, mohammed says the festive period is a good time to bring people together. we have a full or of news coming up,

stay with us but first, a look at the weather news. darren has all the details. good evening. a lot of people out and about travelling tomorrow, in time, some heavy rain, particularly some very windy weather. the worst of the weather across northern parts of the weather across northern parts of the weather across northern parts of the uk. it's all coming from the atlantic, this area of cloud marks the second named storm of the season, storm barbara. ahead of that we have had a winter chill, mixed fortunes, more snow in scotland, some poor weather, contrast that with the crisp winter sunshine that we had in the midlands. following that, largely clear skies through this evening and overnight. further north, sharma is becoming fewer and less wintry, turning chilly for a while but later in the wind will stay on, cloud coming in and this

rain in the north west is the first sign of this storm heading our way. a deep area of low pressure. storm barbara, the centre of which heading to the north of scotland, windy weather for all of us, some to the north of scotland, windy weatherfor all of us, some heavy rain. turning wet and windy in the morning in scotland and northern ireland. into the afternoon, at band of heavy rain and squally wind driving into western parts of england and wales, the weather not as bad across east anglia and the south—east, lots of showers after the heavy rain. it's then, into the evening, the wind will ramp up a notch or two, across the north of scotla nd notch or two, across the north of scotland in particular, we could get gusts of 80—90 miles an hour. here we have this amber be prepared wind warning from the met office. the worst of the wind will tend to ease as we head into friday. the centre of the storm moves away, still very windy across northern parts of the

uk. into christmas eve morning, blustery showers to come on christmas eve, again, a bit of snow over the hills of scotland, bright and breezy further south, dry, cloud increasing, rain coming into the northwest. this weather front driven by the next area of low pressure, not quite as intense deep, the wind not quite as intense deep, the wind not quite as strong on christmas day. the wind trolling in some mild air, temperatures could reach 15 degrees. it will be windy, gusty winds around on christmas day, could cause some disruption and some rain pushing down from the northwest with colder weather later on christmas day. this is bbc news, i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 7.00pm.

police say anis amri, the chief suspect in the berlin market truck attack, left finger prints on the vehicle. as it was back to business for the berlin christmas market, the chancellor angela merkel commended the public for their response to the attack. translation: i must say, over the last few days, i have been very proud of the calmness and composure shown by people and also of course the officers that have been at work here. two men have been found guilty of manslaughter after a tipper truck crashed in bath last year, killing four people, including a young girl.