a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mke embley. our top stories: german police make more arrests as they continue their search for the main suspect in the berlin attack. shock as donald trump tweets that the united states needs to greatly expand its nuclear capability. australian police foil what they believe was a terror plot targeting melbourne on christmas day, five people are arrested, explosives found. describing life under siege in aleppo, the seven—year—old syrian girl whose social media messages moved so many, around the world. we start with news from germany where police have arrested two

people suspected of planning an attack on a shopping centre. local media reports two men aged 28 and 31 were arrested in duisburg just before 1am in the morning local time. earlier in the evening, police in nearby oberhausen deployed heavily—armed officers at the centro mall and its christmas market. a brief statement from essen police says the two men are suspected of possibly preparing an attack on the mall. it doesn't specify whether the shopping centre or the busy christmas market outside were the alleged targets. the news comes as the search continues for the main suspect in monday's attack on a christmas market in berlin. german police now say there's clear evidence that a tunisian man, anis amri, was driving the vehicle used in the attack. his finger prints have been found in the truck driven into shoppers, killing 12. at the family home in tunisia, amri's brother called on him to give himself up. chancellor merkel has praised the calm way germans have responded to the attack, as our europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports.

it is new footage that hasjust emerged. the scene immediately after monday's attack, filmed from a dashboard—mounted camera. a few seconds earlier, this is what happened. we have slowed the footage. from the left comes the lorry at speed, heading straight for the christmas market. and this is anis amri, the man police say was driving it, filming himself humming nonchala ntly in berlin, the video posted to his facebook page in september. now, the 24—year—old tunisian is europe's most—wanted man. police first found his id documents in the cab of the lorry. now, tests have shown his fingerprints on the door and the bodywork. the conclusion — he was at the wheel. angela merkel this afternoon thanked germans for their measured reaction to the attack. translation: our thoughts are constantly with the victims' relatives, and with the injured. we owe it to them to give this our very best. i can say that we have done a lot in recent years to meet

the challenge of terrorism. the police raids in germany earlier today targeted anis amri's known contacts, turning up nothing. his family, back in tunisia, last saw him five years ago. they say he wasn't religious, drank alcohol, and dreamed of owning a car, starting a business. translation: if my brother is listening to me, i want to tell him to surrender, for the sake of our family. we'll be relieved. if he did what he's suspected of having done, he'll be sanctioned, and it will be a dishonour for us. but i'm sure that my brother is innocent. anis amri left his family, travelling illegally to italy, in 2011. he spent four years in jail for violence and theft, but without a passport he couldn't be deported to tunisia. so, last year, he moved to kleve in germany. denied asylum, once again he wasn't deported. security services feared he was trying to get automatic weapons for an attack.

but, with no new evidence, surveillance of him was halted in september. so there are serious questions. should the authorities have taken the threat posed by anis amri more seriously? but, for most germans, as the markets reopen here, with new security barriers, criticisms of the police are less important than how they respond. so getting breitscheidplatz back up and running today was symbolic for berlin. we have to respond to the terrorism, that we don't care, we're going to open, we are not scared. because it's exactly what they want. the crowds were thinner than usual, but wanted to show they wouldn't be cowed. "i've come to show we must not hide", says rosemary. "i'm very sad. i was here on monday. luckily i left before it happened." "i feel anger and sadness, more anger", says annika. "i didn't know any of the victims, but it makes me really angry." not so much fear as defiance, then, berliners determined to show

they won't give up the things they value and enjoy. donald trump, just a month from being sworn in as american president, has said the us must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability. he made the call, which would be a break with decades of american strategy, in a post on social media. hours before, vladimir putin said russia should "fortify hours before, vladimir putin said russia should fortify its military nuclear potential. mr trump's advisers insist he's warning of the dangers of terrorist groups and unstable regimes getting nuclear weapons. here's our defence correspondent jonathan beale. america and russia still hold more than 90% of the world's nuclear stockpiles, both able to deliver destruction on a massive scale, by ground, sea or air. for a quarter of a century, they have been reducing their nuclear arsenal. but the question now, is the arms race about to resume?

tonight, president—elect donald trump tweeted: it caught many tonight, president—elect donald trump tweeted: it caught many by surprise, including the obama administration. i can't speak for what the president—elect‘s nuclear views, or his policy going forward. that's for him and his team to speak to. what i can speak to is the approach that this administration has taken, to try to get us on a path to a world without nuclear weapons. president putin, too, has been ramping up the nuclear rhetoric. today, addressing his military commanders, he talked of the need to strengthen russia's strategic nuclear forces. translation: we can say with certainty that we are stronger now than any potential aggressor. anyone.

both the united states and russia have made large cuts to their nuclear arsenals since the height of the cold war. but they still have many weapons. the us has stockpiles of 7,000 warheads, of which 1,900 are deployed, or ready to use. russia has just over 7,000, with just under 1,800 deployable. while the uk has 250 warheads, of which 120 are available to use, and could be fired from its vanguard submarines. both america and russia are already modernising their nuclear weapons systems, at significant cost. what is not clear now is whether donald trump now wants to go much further. tensions have been rising with russia, these us troops on exercise in the baltics a response to its intervention in ukraine. russia's military campaign in syria has deepened the rift. but donald trump has signalled he wants to improve relations with moscow, so his comments might

be more directed at north korea, whose unpredictable leader boasts of now being a nuclear power, or even iran. donald trump has threatened to rip up a deal over its nuclear programme, still suspicious of iran's intentions. what donald trump did with that tweet was restart the nuclear arms race. it's notjust strengthen our nuclear arsenal, it's expand our nuclear arsenal. we have arms control agreements that limit, that reduce, that cap the weapons we deploy. he pays no heed to that, seems to want to bust through the caps. with nuclear weapons, words matter. once again, a donald trump tweet has surprised, and raised plenty of questions. jonathan beale, bbc news. it's become clear that pressure from donald trump led to a delay in a un resolution condemning israel's settlement policy. the security council vote was meant

to happen on thursday. but egypt, which proposed the resolution, requested a postponement. egyptian officials said the president abdel fatah al sisi and mr trump had spoken over the phone and agreed that the incoming us administration should be given a chance to deal with the palestinian case. the obama administration was considering abstaining, in a significant break with past us policy on israel. police in australia believe they have foiled a terror attack in melbourne, planned, allegedly, for christmas day. several people have been arrested in overnight raids in the northern suburbs, explosives were found. we found the makings of an improvised explosive device. we believe that there was an intention to conduct a — what we call a multi—mode attack, possibly on christmas day. the possible locations that we've been working on have been federation square, flinders street station and st paul's cathedral. the bbc‘s hywel griffith gave us the latestjust now from sydney.

we're learning more about those people who've been detained. five men, four of them australian—born, the fifth an egyptian—australian citizen, all in their 20s, all living in different suburbs around melbourne. now, we understand, during the raid, that the police officers recovered some forms or elements of an improvised explosive device, and weapons, knives, possibly a firearm too. so when they appear in court later they will be charged with serious terrorism offences, planning what the police allege was a multi—mode attack, a major attack, right in the heart of melbourne. and we understand that they were intercepted after a surveillance operation lasting two or three weeks. some of the men, we're told, were known to the police, some not. but they say that they're now confident that they've picked up a large part of this cell, which they believe were about to be active. and the phrase being used about them is self—radicalised. yes, suggesting really that this

is a homegrown terror threat, not people who've come into the country. as i said, all five living here for the last few years, but inspired, we're told, by the so—called islamic state propaganda and events oversea. some of that radicalisation may be happening online. of course, we're yet to know exactly how that threat would have played out, the police saying here that this is the 12th operation they've managed to thwart in some two years or so. and this is a period when melbourne, and other cities, like sydney, see thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people passing through. christmas day, then boxing day, and the major cricket test in melbourne, here on new year's eve, the fireworks drawing in lots of people. so they see these as key, marquee events which would be potentially susceptible to a terror threat. but they will be fully policed, and they can carry on enjoying the australian way of life.

the italian government has approved a decree that will allow it to use up to 20 billion euros of public money to bail out struggling banks. italy's third largest bank, monte dei paschi di siena, immediately said it would ask for a capital injection. it's failed to raise the 5 billion euros of fresh capital it needs from the private sector. an experimental vaccine has been found to be highly effective against the deadly ebola virus. the trial was conducted in guinea, one of the west african countries most affected by the outbreak that ended this year. final results show of the nearly 6,000 people who received the vaccine, all were free of the virus ten days later. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: solidarity in santa fe. in the so—called sanctuary city, how do people feel about donald trump's campaign pledge to deport undocumented immigrants? we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach, and people started to run,

and suddenly it was complete chaos. united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had been 90% successful, but it's failed in its principal objective, to capture general noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of the pan—am's maid of the seas, nose—down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: the police in germany have made further arrests, as they continue their search for the chief suspect, anis amri — whose fingerprints were found in the lorry driven into a christmas market in berlin. donald trump has said in a tweet that the us must strengthen and greatly expand its nuclear capability. there's new pressure on the philippines' president, rodrigo duterte. the independent human rights watchdog is to investigate his claim to the bbc that he personally killed several drug suspects. tom donkin reports. philippines president rodrigo duterte was swept to power injune on a promise to rid his country of illegal drugs and those who traffic them. his critics argue he has authorised police, vigila ntes, and so—called death squads to shoot suspected users and dealers on site. by his own admission, the president himself says

he has personally killed. earlier this week, the un cited that confession, calling for an independent human rights group in the philippines to act and investigate mr duterte for murder. they've agreed and will reopen an earlier investigation into the actions of the president. we are hoping with these new revelations and admissions we can further the investigation and ultimately have charges. mr duterte has been unforgiving when discussing his methods. recently he admitted to the bbc that he himself had killed drug suspects while he was mayor of the southern city of davao. i killed about three of them, because there were three of them. i don't really know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies, but it happened. as i said, i cannot lie about it. in his typically defiant style, he has responded to the investigation against him: while the many, and in some cases

mysterious, recent killings in the philippines have alarmed leaders around the world, rodrigo duterte has vowed to continue his campaign as long as he is in power, knowing full well that for the moment, while he is president, his country's constitution guards him from prosecution or punishment. tom donkin, bbc news. here the prince of wales has warned of the dangers of religious persecution and intolerance, and he likened the current threat to religions and religious groups around the world to the situation in the 1930s. prince charles said religious freedom was particularly at risk in the middle east, as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. religious persecution is as old as faith itself. a coptic church blown up in cairo. christians in iraq and syria kidnapped or driven from their countries.

attacks on yazidis and jews and others. tolerance and freedom of worship are important to the prince of wales. he recently attended the consecration of a new syriac orthodox church in west london. he is troubled by the growing evidence of intolerance. normally at christmas, we think of the birth... in a broadcast for bbc radio's thought for the day, charles likened the persecution of religious minorities and refugees to what happened to thejews in nazi germany. we are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world who are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. all of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. i was born in 19118, just after the end of world war two, in which my parents' generation had fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman

attempt to exterminate the jewish population of europe. that, nearly 70 years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. he ended his broadcast with a plea for tolerance. whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same. to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of god. the prince's intervention has been applauded. i think it was bold, strong, timely and necessary. here is a man who will one day be defender of the faith in britain, who has always said he wants to be defender of faith itself. and he is protesting the rise of religiously motivated violence throughout the world. it was strong and courageous and deeply humanitarian. in due course, when he is king

and supreme governor of the church of england, charles knows that his freedom to speak out will be constrained. but for now, and on subjects such as this, he feels he has a duty to try to make his voice heard. nicholas witchell, bbc news, at clarence house. the syrian army is now saying it is in complete control of aleppo. state tv has shown crowds waving flags and shouting slogans in support of president assad. among thousands of civilians brought out was seven—year—old bana alabed, whose posts on social media have moved so many around the world. orla guerin went to meet bana and her mother. hello, i am bana. i am seven years old. i am from aleppo. from the rubble of aleppo to the red carpet in ankara, bana alabed and herfamily are now being hosted by the turkish government, which opposes the syrian regime.

when we met, this child of war told me how her own home was flattened by a bomb. translation: we were playing happily and planning to go out, and suddenly it landed. so we got scared and ran to the basement. when our house was bombed, we got out of the rubble safely. but we were about to die, because the house was collapsing. her updates from inside aleppo echoed around the world, with help from her mother, who manages her twitter account. but some have questioned whose views were being shared. when your mum was tweeting, was she tweeting your words or tweeting her words? me and mum. together? yes. her mother, fatima, insists the twitter account was bana's idea, but admits it is a way

to combat the regime. i think there now was a big fight out there. and i think our twitter was a weapon. your twitter was a weapon? yes. but the tweets attracted threats, and made it harderfor the family to join the mass evacuation of eastern aleppo. fatima got bana on to one of the buses disguised as a boy. today, the last opposition fighters retreated from their former stronghold, and by the evening the syrian army was in control of the entire city, for the first time in more than 11.5 years. just days after escaping all this, bana dreams of returning. translation: i was happy to leave, but sad at the same time. i wish i could go back

to aleppo, go back home. i want to live in my house, because i love it, even if it had been bombed. i love my house. in english: we shall overcome some day. before saying goodbye, bana sang us a song about childhood and stolen freedoms. # i am a child with something to say...# one voice, raised for countless others, who often go unheard. orla guerin, bbc news, ankara. donald trump has threatened to end federal funding for the so—called ‘sanctuary cities' which protect undocumented immigrants from prosecution. santa fe is one of them, and its officials are defiant. franz strasser reports. we will end the sanctuary cities. cities that refused to co—operate with federal authorities will not

receive taxpayer dollars. we are not going to be bullied by federal policy that has us compromise values that we know are very defining for our community. what is a sanctuary city? well, all it means is that when a resident comes in contact with local law enforcement, he will not be asked about his legal status and the localjail will not hold undocumented immigrants for deportation proceedings unless they regard them as violent criminals. despite threats of funding cuts by donald trump, major us cities have already come out in favour of remaining sanctuaries. they represent a quarter of all undocumented residents in the us. and if they don't cooperate, it is going to be hard for the president—elect to enforce his deportation plan. i want you to know your city

will stand by you and protect you every step of the way. with14% of our population being made up of immigrants, we can't afford to lose them back into the shadows or to see them leave our community because we rely on them showing up day in and day out to provide critical services to our community. my children are american citizens and i am not, and that worries me a lot because we can be separated. fabiola entered the country illegally with her parents when she was a child. an executive order by president obama in 2012 gave her temporary legal status, a place at nursing school, and a job at the hospital. yeah, i have betterjob. my kids have a better quality of life. we have a better quality of life, um, and we are thinking about buying our house. yeah, ‘cause i feel safe, i don't feel afraid. that executive order,

along with her city sanctuary status, is now under threat. my fear is that i'm not going to feel free any more, i'm not going to feel confident to buy a house. critics of sanctuary cities say they shield criminals from being detected by federal authorities and put residents in danger. santa fe's mayor says while the city has always pursued violent criminals it will not use its local police to enforce sweeping deportation plans. we need law enforcement to focus on combating crime in our city that can be hurtful to our citizens, not being stanchions of a federal policy that seeks to destroy families and hurt people. that is it for now. thank you very much for watching. hi there.

i'm sure you've already heard but barbara, the second named storm of the season, is heading to the uk for friday. now, yesterday was the quiet before the storm in many respects. barbara, out in the atlantic, continues to develop and deepen, and that's going to be swinging to the north—west of the uk over the next 2a hours. it has been a relatively storm—free start to winter, of course, but that is all set to change as barbara comes hurtling in off the atlantic. tightly packed isobars really squeezing together and focusing the strongest winds on scotland. as we start off the morning, the breeze will be picking up across all of the uk, but it will become quite windy quickly in the day across northern ireland and scotland. quickly, gales will develop here but the strongest winds will be heading into the western isles as we head through friday afternoon. this band of rain then pushes its way eastwards across the irish sea, where we could get gusts of 60mph, perhaps 70mph around some of the exposed coasts and hills. this band of rain is going to be very squally indeed. eastern england starting on a dry and bright note, but it will cloud over, and eventually we'll see this band

of rain arrive during the evening time. but it is not the rain that's going to cause problems with barbara, no, the met office's amber weather warning is in force for the strong winds. gusts of 80mph, perhaps 90mph focusing on the western isles through friday afternoon and then heading towards the northern isles as we go through friday evening and overnight. so the windy weather will continue as barbara slips northwards. blustery wintry showers will follow then as we go through friday night with snow returning to the mountains of scotland. things could get quite tricky, even blizzard conditions higher up. further south, the band of rain clears through, and we will be left with dry conditions as we start off christmas eve. so some decent weather for travelling around actually across england and wales, but further north, and west, we've got those blustery showers, still some further falls of snow to come across the mountains of scotland. those temperatures will be dropping away a little bit on christmas eve. highs ranging from around 4—11 degrees celsius, from north to south. heading into the big day itself, christmas day, you can see on the charts, still tightly packed isoba rs.

but notice they're tilting towards the south—west so southwesterly winds washing over the uk, and those southwesterly winds are mild winds, so we're going to have quite a mild day. you can see this yellow colour working its way across the country. some of us around london could get up to around 111—15 degrees. so, yes, very mild, but it will also continue to be very windy, particularly across the north—west. even quite stormy for some across the exposed north—west. but then as that works through, we'll be back into the colder air, and late on christmas day, we could have some snow showers returning to scotland. the headlines on bbc news: german police have arrested two men they suspect of planning an attack on a shopping centre near the dutch border. and across europe, police are still hunting the tunisian anis amri. his fingerprints have been found in the cab of the truck that ploughed through a crowded christmas market on monday, killing 12 people. donald trump has said the united states must greatly strengthen and expand

its nuclear capability. his transition team later said he was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation among terrorist organisations and rogue regimes. police in australia have arrested five men suspected of planning a terrorist attack in melbourne on christmas day. they say the plot may have involved explosives and other weapons. high—profile locations, including a train station and a cathedral, are thought to have been the targets. now it's time for hardtalk. welcome to my review of hardtalk 2016.