hello, you are watching bbc world news. i'm james menendez. our top story this hour: police in germany arrest two men on suspicion of planning an attack on the country's largest shopping centre. meanwhile, a europe—wide hunt continues for a tunisian man suspected of driving a lorry into crowds at a christmas market in berlin. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: australian police foil what they believe was a terror plot targeting melbourne on christmas day. five people are arrested, and explosives found. a breakthrough in the battle against ebola. the who says an experimental vaccine may be completely effective against the deadly virus. i'm aaron heslehurst. in business: a bleak christmas for the world's oldest bank. italy's monte dei paschi

requests a state bailout, after plans to save itself come to nothing. plus: it is a $660 billion relationship, but could trump's tough talk spell a costly trade war between the us and china? let's begin in germany, where police have arrested two men on suspicion of planning an attack on the country's largest shopping centre, near the border with the netherlands. the suspects, two brothers originally from kosovo, were detained in duisburg. germany remains on high alert following monday's attack on a christmas market in berlin, which killed 12 people. the tunisian man suspected of carrying out that is still on the run. catriona renton reports. caught on a taxi's dashboard mounted camera, the moment the lorry ploughed into the christmas market.

the footage has been slowed down. 12 people were killed and dozens more we re people were killed and dozens more were injured. you can see people flee. this is anis amri, filming himself, humming a tune in berlin. a video posted to his facebook page in september. the 24—year—old is now europe's most wanted man. first, his id documents were found in the cab of the lorry, then his fingerprints we re of the lorry, then his fingerprints were discovered on the driver's door and insight, leading police to believe he was driving the vehicle. raids at the addresses of anis amri's known contacts in germany turned up nothing. his family in tunisia last saw him five years ago. they say he wasn't religious, drank alcohol, and dream of owning a car and starting a business. his mother spoke to reporters. translation: i have four sons, including spoke to reporters. translation: i have foursons, including him, and i think we will not be counting him

any more. the news is very bad. we wa nt to any more. the news is very bad. we want to know the truth, if it is really him who did this, and then we will all punish him. i will never say that he was my son, because he isa say that he was my son, because he is a traitor to us, and to tunisia. he won't be my son any more. translation: what we hope for is that our brother is innocent, and if he is not innocent, we condemn this act. germany's security services remain on high alert. last night, police arrested two brothers, originally from kosovo, suspected of planning an attack on a shopping will in the western city of oberhausen. it is not clear if the alleged plot was in any way connected with monday's attack in berlin. now, the market is back up and running. and while crowds are thinner, the atmosphere is sombre and there is no music. it is a show from berliners of defiance, strength, and not giving in.

police in australia say they have prevented a terror attack in melbourne, possibly planned for christmas day. five people have been detained after a series of raids in which explosives were discovered. 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 prime minister, malcolm turnbull, sought to reassure the australian public. we are approaching the christmas season, we are approaching the christmas season, a we are approaching the christmas season, a time when we come together in peace and love with our families. we congregate in public places for christmas, for new year's eve. it is a time of happiness and joy. these

terrorists sought to disrupt it. they have been thwarted. they are in custody. they are no longer a threat. to australians' security. let's speak to the bbc‘s hywel griffith, in sydney. good to have you with us. an attempt to reassure the australian public, but worrying news for people. yes, indeed. because we're going into very busy periods globally, but in australian life, melbourne is the centre of attention. notjust christmas day, but opting day, whether boxing day test against pakistan occurs here in sydney, a huge global event with the new year's eve fireworks, so part of the message we heard from the prime minister is that people should carry on with life as normal. they should not be cowed by these potential act of terror, and australians have almost become used to hearing of the police thwarting these plots. we are told this is the 12th plot that has

been neutralised or stopped within the last two or so years, ever since australia was put on a probable terror warning. nonetheless, australia was put on a probable terrorwarning. nonetheless, ithink this has shaken people, when it comes, obviously, just a couple of days before christmas. have the police said anything about how they uncovered this plot? we understand some of these people were known to the police, they were of interest to them and were in the two or three surveillance operation. we understand that time they have been gathering digital evidence, but also seen some of the men carrying out a reconnaissance mission to go to an iconic point within melbourne by the flinders train station, by st paul's cathedral. therefore they decided to escalate their operation to stop these men, to bring them in, in a series of five raids, and within the last couple of hours, the first of those man has appeared before the courts in melbourne. the 26—year—old has been charged with one count of

preparing an act of terror. and all those arrested are not recent migrants. that has of course been the focus of the debate in europe. but people who have lived in australia for a long time. yes, what some people refer to as the homegrown terror threat. of the five men, four australian—born but of lebanese descent, the other egyptian born but an australian citizen. they are all relatively young, in their 20s, and the description we have been given is that they were self radicalised. that is to say they have not been brought in externally, these are people who have been radicalised by isis baht propaganda, by following events overseas. —— isis propaganda. it is not the first time we have heard of such events growing in australia, the australian government says that while they will do everything possible to stamp out this threat, it is something people need to be aware of. 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 its military nuclear potential. it has become clear that pressure from donald trump led to a delay in a un resolution condemning israel's settlements policy. the security council vote was meant to happen on thursday. it is reported israeli officials contacted donald trump's transition team after they had failed to persuade the obama administration to veto the draft resolution. the syrian army says it has taken complete control of aleppo, after the last rebel fighters were evacuated from the ruined city. state television showed crowds waving flags and celebrating, shouting slogans in support of president assad. more than 35,000 fighters and civilians have been evacuated from aleppo's last rebel enclave over the past week. the philippines' independent human rights watchdog has said it will investigate claims by president rodrigo duterte that he personally killed drug suspects while mayor of davao. the commission on human rights

will also examine reports that so—called death squads killed several 100 people in the southern city. mr duterte has responded to the charge by calling members of the commission stupid idiots. and aaron is here with all the business news. i thought you are going to do the stupid idiot segue! it says a lot that if was. because i would have done it. i would have sent from one stupid idiot to another. he is our blisteringly intelligent business presenter. we have been looking at the italian banking sectorfor a presenter. we have been looking at the italian banking sector for a few weeks now. we start in italy, with that deepening banking crisis, because in the last few hours one of the country's biggest banks says it will request a government bailout. we are talking about monte dei paschi di siena. its boss has been flying around the world, desperately trying to raise money from investors to keep it afloat. but late on thursday the bank admitted it had failed.

itjust couldn't find enough takers. after a late night meeting, the italian cabinet has passed a decree creating a bailout fund. let's give you some of the background to this. monte dei paschi is not only italy's oldest bank, it is the world's oldest. it was founded in 1472, and became one of the country's most powerful financial institutions. fast—forward 5.5 centuries, and things aren't looking quite so good. a string of bad decisions has left it with a pile of non—performing loans, bad debts that borrowers are unlikely to pay back, totalling 47 billion euros. this summer, it was singled out in stress tests by the european central bank as the shakiest of all 51 major banks in europe. its share price has plunged. it has lost nine tenths of its market value this year.

deposits have been flowing out of the bank. this week it warned the money could run out within four months. the terms of this bailout could be politically explosive. under eu rules, private investors have to suffer losses before taxpayers' money can be used. some 40,000 private investors hold monte bonds. and then there is the question of how many other italian banks will need a bailout. so lots more in 20 minutes' time. this is probably just this is probablyjust the beginning for the italian banking sector. we are also in the us. as we were reporting this time yesterday, president—elect donald trump has

chosen peter navarro, an economist fiercely critical of china, to head a new white house trade council. the appointment comes on top of his combative remarks during the election campaign about the impact of chinese imports on american industry and jobs. so are we facing the real prospect of a trade war between the world's top two economies? we will see. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcaaron. some good news in the battle against ebola, now. an experimental vaccine has been found to be highly effective in preventing the deadly virus. the trial was conducted in guinea, one of the west african countries most affected by an outbreak of the disease that ended this year. andy beatt reports. a major milestone in the fight against ebola. tests of an experimental vaccine in guinea found

a pioneering treatment to be up to 100% effective. nearly 6000 people received the vaccine. all were free of the virus ten days later. the trial has been stopped early in order to immunise everyone exposed to ebola across the country. what we have shown is that in the vaccinated people we have had zero cases of ebola, while at the same time we have had 23 cases in the people who we re have had 23 cases in the people who were not vaccinated with ebola. so you compare zero to 23 and you can calculate that you have a vaccine which has shown 100% efficacy. guinea was at the centre of the largest outbreak of ebola in history. first identified in 2013, it swept through west africa, killing 70% of those infected and presenting the world health organization with one of its biggest challenges. more than 11,000 people died, and until now there was no known cure. this trial represents a

triumph for the who and the canadian government, which developed the vaccine. once it receives regulatory approval next year, hundreds of thousands of doses will be available. other drugs are in development, and despite this success , development, and despite this success, the treatment is only effective in tackling one strain of the virus. more research, more funding, is urgently needed. now, though, if and when the next ebola outbreak hits, the world won't be defenceless. 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 of shkoder where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news. i'm james menendez. the latest headlines: as the hunt for the suspect in the berlin market attack continues across europe,

german police arrest 2 brothers on suspicion of targeting a mall in oberhausen. police in australia have arrested five men suspected of planning a terrorist attack in melbourne on christmas day. next year, nato is going to beef up its military presence in europe. it's a response to what the alliance believes is russian aggression following the annexation of crimea in 2014. our defence correspondent jonathan beale has travelled to latvia, where some of the 4000 troops will be based. russia only respects strength and it they see breaks in the west, they will take advantage of those. that is what they are saying at the moment, russia? is what they are saying at the moment, russia 7 potentially. this is what is happening on a

regular basis in latvia, at a big training base where us forces have been conducting military exercises using live ammunition. next year, there will be us tanks based here as well. i am a commanding general in the us army. it is worth remembering that the last american tank left europe three years ago. the uk had announced it was leaving the continent, dimeback the great britain. after all that, is when russia invaded ukraine so this is in response to what russia has done to change the security environment. nato's responses to place 4000 troops in estonia, lithuania, that

you and poland but vladimir putin views that as aggressive. the two countries share a border of 170 miles. latvia has recently built a fence on its side. we headed east to find it. latvians say this is mostly about stopping people smuggling but they are also worried about recent military activity by the russians over the border. big snap exercises that the russians have been conducting. they call it the new normal. it will not be a repetition of 1994 were the

political leadership decided not to resist soviet power. not everyone sees russia as the problem. i came to see an mp. if we have aggression polemics it will cause some reaction from russia. the latvian government is measuring the temperature of our relations. is it a cold war? yes, yes, it is. more than 35,000 rebel fighters and civilians have been evacuated from aleppo's last rebel enclave, over the past week. the international red cross says all those who wanted to leave syria's second city have managed to get out. the majority left for rebel—controlled territories outside the city, where living conditions are still harsh. our correspondent lina sinjab has more. a moment of relief for aleppo's

children, finally warm and safe and away from the hell of the wall — no more fear, no more tears, just fun and laughter and they even compete who gets their picture taken. this school has turned into a temporary shelter for many families who fled the horror of eastern aleppo stop this 75—year—old is among them. he made it through with his wife and children and their families. this classroom has now become their home. they have some food and some measure to stay warm. they are left with only the clothes they were wearing. translation: are left with my whole family. we did not take anything.

the regime got the man on the floor and took everything. money, phones, everything. i only have family papers with me. where do we go back? to the war and bombardment? enough. their grandson arrived ill. they waited in freezing temperature until they were evacuated from eastern aleppo. he is constantly coughing, the grandmother tells the dog. he cannot sleep at night. they were stuck for days after the evacuation was it. they were among hundreds it will push back from the crossing point, threatened by gunfire. they are not expecting to go back to aleppo any time soon. translation: we would love to go back when things are safe. there is nothing like home. we have three houses but we will not go back under fire. i would

live in tents and not go back. this is what they escaped from. what was their home turned into a ghost town. this family is moving to the border with turkey to live in tents but it may not be the safe haven they were hoping for. refugee camps were targeted before and, as long as they say in rebel held areas, they may face bombardment from government forces. syria's bought is not over yet. —— war. as a presidential candidate, donald trump vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from america, threatening to cut federal funding for so—called ‘sanctuary cities', which protect them from prosecution. santa fe is one such city — and it's taking a defiant stance as the president—elect prepares to take office.

the bbc‘s 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 that when a resident comes in contact with local law inforcement he will not be asked about his legal status and the localjail will not hold undocumented immigrants for deportation procedings 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 illigally 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. don't forget our website for co nsta nt don't forget our website for constant updates, including what is going on in germany. now for the

weather where you are. hello there. yesterday, weatherwise, was the calm before the storm. the storm in question is barbara, only the second named storm of what has been quite a storm—free winter so far. but that is all set to change as this system continues to develop and deepen and that's going to come racing off the atlantic across the north—west of the uk as we go through friday. look how tightly packed the isobars as well are as they work into the north—west of scotland — that's where the strongest winds are going to be. we could well get some wind gusts up to 80—90 miles per hour. it will be a windy enough start to the day across all parts of the country. quite breezy for england and wales. gales quickly developing for northern ireland and scotland. and there's rain to come as well. the rains won't last too long in any one place and, as this band of rain swings across the irish sea, it will be quite squally in nature, it could have some wind gusts of 60, maybe 70 mph, on this band of short—lived heavy rain. after a bright start across eastern england, eventually we will see that rain swinging through as we head through friday evening.

now, the strongest winds will target he western isles through friday afternoon and then the northern isles as we go through friday evening and overnight. gusts could reach 80, maybe 90 miles per hour hence the met office amber weather warning in force for these strong winds. it's an amber be prepared warning. those blistering conditions then will continue overnight as barbara gradually pushes northwards. the strongest winds will pass but it will stay very blustery through the night with some wintry showers being blown in across the hills of scotland so you could have some difficult driving conditions first thing christmas eve. england and wales will be quieter as the band of rain clears through. we'll have clear skies to start the day. some decent weather for travelling around christmas eve for england and wales. sunny spells coming through. it will cloudover across the west, later on. band of rain works into northern ireland and western scotland. with that rain will come some slightly milder air so those temperatures will be lifting, again towards the north—west late on. the highest temperatures 10—11 degrees towards the south of the uk. what about the big day itself? well, for christmas day, we're looking at south—westerly winds. still quite windy with this weather front approaching but between these two weather fronts we've got a wedge

of mild air crossing the uk so rather than being a white christmas for many of us it will be a warm christmas. indeed, across parts of southern england, we could see highs of around 15 degrees. it will stay it windy and overnight we could well see some snow returning to the hills of scotland. this is bbc world news. the headlines: as the hunt for the suspect in the berlin market attack continues across europe, german police arrest two brothers on suspicion of targeting a shopping centre in oberhausen. the brothers, originally from kosovo, were detained in duisburg. police in australia have arrested five men suspected of planning a terrorist attack in melbourne on christmas day. a train station and a cathedral are thought to have been among the targets. an experimental vaccine has been found to be highly effective against the deadly ebola virus. the trial was carried out in guinea, one of the west african countries most affected by an outbreak of the disease that ended this year. donald trump 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.